One of our favorites joins us this week, Mat Pesch. Mat was formerly in charge of the money-making and money control divisions at the Flag Land Base -- the single largest source of revenue for scientology on earth. Mat joined us on The Aftermath S 2 Ep 9 The Business of Religion. His no nonsense explanations of the inner-workings of the scientology business machine are at times humorous, but always horrifying. We cover a lot of ground in this episode. Mat was the Dissemination Secretary, over the 2nd (of 7) divisions of a scientology organization responsible for marketing, booksales and … [Read more...]
Episode 54: The Sea Organization Deep Dive with Hana Whitfield
Hana Whitfield is such a pleasure to talk to. One of the nicest, kindest people I have had the pleasure of knowing, she is also one of the most interesting. She helped us on The Aftermath, appearing on the episode "The Life and Lies of L. Ron Hubbard" (S2 E 13). Hana joined the Sea Org before it was the Sea Org (it was originally named the Sea Project) in 1967, and went on to Captain various Sea Org ships and bases. We do a deep dive into the early years of the formation of the SO, her recollections of Hubbard, his "Mission Into Time" and much more. Hana was a highly trained scientologist … [Read more...]
Episode 50: The Bridge Deep Dive Part 1 with Bruce Hines
We earlier had Jon Atack join us for two episodes taking a deeper look into the life of L. Ron Hubbard. This week, our old friend Bruce Hines joins us for Part 1 (of 3) where we take a look at the scientology "Bridge to Total Freedom" in more detail. In this episode we address the lower levels of the Bridge. Bruce was a highly trained scientology "Auditor" (counselor) and "Case Supervisor" (one who oversees auditors to ensure they are following the words of Hubbard exactly). Bruce appeared on an episode of The Aftermath and did a series of articles for Tony Ortega with Claire Headley on the … [Read more...]
The Great Wisdom of Ron
Every day, Tony Ortega has a piece of Hubbard wisdom from the same date in history. The one from May 28th struck me. “Now, you’re a registrar and somebody is coming in, or you’re signing up PCs. (All of you have to wear a registrar’s hat at one time or another.) And you’re trying to get somebody to get some auditing, you’re a registrar, see? And there you are one fine day with a yow-yow-yow and a scream-scream-scream standing in front of your face: Seventy-five hours of auditing have been delivered — he feels terrible! He says, ‘Oh, I could kill everybody in the place,’ and he ought to go out … [Read more...]
WISE Shows Their Stuff (And a MythVision Podcast)
OK, these people claim to have the "only workable technology" of management, sales, PR, marketing, personnel and anything else you can think of. If this promotional piece and their accompanying video represents the pinnacle of what they've got... This looks like it was put together in an 8th grade computer class. These are the experts? They actually do believe that because they have some scribbling from Hubbard that says it is "the only workable technology of ______" that it's true. But what is even more remarkable is that they then offer their … [Read more...]
Episode 37: Mormon Stories Host Dr. John Dehlin
This week Leah and I venture into the world of Mormonism with Dr. John Dehlin. I recently appeared on his long-running and very popular podcast, Mormon Stories, and we are now welcoming him to ours. He is not just a podcaster, he is a non-profit CEO, activist, public speaker, and religious transitions coach. He advocates for the rights of skeptics in Mormonism, LGBT rights, equality for women, and other individual views outside mainstream Mormonism. He has Master’s degree in Instructional Technology, and a Ph.D. in Clinical and Counseling Psychology. We learned a great deal from John … [Read more...]
Episode 34: Journalist and Author John Sweeney
Our friend and scientology nemesis, journalist, author and podcaster John Sweeney, joins us this week. John was for many years a correspondent for the original TV investigative magazine show, Panorama. He did a program about scientology for Panorama in 2007, where I was one of the "handlers" on behalf of scientology. It was a catalyst for me leaving -- I was in London defending scientology and Miscavige from the "chaos merchants" at the BBC. After I had left, I did a second Panorama show with John explaining some of the things that had happened in that first program. We had a lot to … [Read more...]
Episode 31: NXIVM Whistleblower Sarah Edmondson
This week, Leah and I talk with Sarah Edmondson, featured in The Vow, author of Scarred and host (with her husband Anthony "Nippy" Ames) of a new podcast, A Little Bit Culty. We talked about the similarities between Nxivm and scientology, the systems of control and even the language are remarkably similar, so much so that there is little doubt in my mind that Keith Raniere studied Hubbard. We talk about The Vow and what recovering from a cult experience is like and the impact of Scientology and The Aftermath had on her. Both Nxivm and scientology use the idea of personal … [Read more...]
Episode 23: Activist and Blogger Stefani Hutchison
Leah and I talk with Stefani Hutchison this week, and the conversation was a true delight. We cover a lot of topics. Stefani was never a scientologist, but she has become a very effective and vocal whistleblower on the abuses of scientology. She is an example of what anyone can do if they want to take an active role in ending the pain and suffering that scientology causes for so many. I will post the link here once available. Here is how Stefani describes herself on her blog. I am a stay at home mother of one wonderful son. Married over 25 years to a wonderful man who puts up with … [Read more...]
Recent Podcasts with Jon Atack
I have done a couple of podcasts with the wonderfully informed Jon Atack. The second of them went live yesterday and Tony Ortega included it on his site. I am including it here also, as well as the earlier one, as I think the discussions are illuminating. Jon is such a wealth of information. And has such good takes on all things scientology. Leah and I are planning on talking with Jon on our fair Game Podcast soon. That should be a treat. This is the most recent episode of Jon's podcast. I recommend you subscribe to his YouTube channel too: This is the one we did about 6 … [Read more...]