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Today I welcome back Jon Atack to continue our series of podcasts to debunk the "basics" of Scientology, one bit at a time. But this time we ended up going way off topic and into a wide-ranging discussion about life, the universe and everything. There's a lot of opinions and admitted half-baked ideas being discussed and I welcome any feedback or additional ideas about what we discuss here, as none of this is about us being right and everyone else being wrong. At the same time, I hope what we discuss is thought provoking and perhaps challenging to some current ideas out there. Enjoy!

This week I welcome back Bryce Blankenagle and Shannon Grover from the Glassbox Podcast to discuss the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. We discuss how its beginnings were heavily influenced by Mormons who went way out of their way to tell the most bald-faced lies imaginable, all in an effort to create and continue mass hysteria at the national level. The destructive effects of this continue to this day and in our current Presidential administration, in fact. Glassbox podcast: https://glassboxpodcast.com/

This week I welcome survivor Stella McCormick, who has a horrifying story to tell about her upbringing in a large religious family run by absolute monsters for parents who locked up her sister in a closet for seven years among a laundry list of abusive behaviors, not just towards their biological children but fostered children as well. This is a grim story and I don't usually include trigger warnings but this one is rough so be prepared. Stella is on TikTok exposing this abuse now and working to bring justice for her siblings. Find her there at stella_mccormick.

We have a bonus podcast episode this week with the release of Tom Cruise's new movie Digger and our take on the Scientology ideas and themes we see in it. To help us in our analysis, we invited professional movie critical Luke Y. Thompson on board and he provides some fun insights to what we hope is an entertaining episode. Enjoy! Luke Y. Thompson https://MortalCinema.com @lytrules on Bluesky, Instagram, X, Substack @lytrulz on Facebook

This week I welcome author Sara Carson to discuss her recently published fiction story Dark Messiah, a tale based on the real-life tragedy of the Jonestown massacre at the order of cult leader Jim Jones. Sara and I have a far ranging discussion about the power of fiction, cult dynamics and Jonestown itself. Her book is now out for you to buy as well. Sara's website: https://sarazcarsonauthor.com Dark Messiah on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GVZMLYCR

This week I welcome film maker and cult survivor Grace Sims to discuss a recent project of hers and some of her experiences growing up in a high control group. Enjoy! Grace's website: https://gracesims.com

This week I welcome therapist and author Veronica Thompson, a self-labelled "Christian therapist" who shares her work and opinions about where religion does and doesn't belong in the therapy space. I know people have strong opinions about this and I believe we had a very nuanced and understandable conversation about it. Enjoy! Veronica's website: https://VeronicaThompson.com

This week I welcome therapist, author and narcissist specialist Dr. Tina Paone to discuss the psychology of narcissism and recovery from it. She is the author of a recently released book on recovery from narcissistic abuse titled Unbroken: Healing from Narcissistic Abuse and Reclaiming Me. Enjoy! Dr. Paone's website: https://drtinapaone.com Dr. Paone's book: https://www.amazon.com/Unbroken-Healing-Narcissistic-Abuse-Reclaiming-ebook/dp/B0GRPNKDS6?ref_=ast_author_mpb

Today I welcome back Jon Atack to continue our series of podcasts to debunk the "basics" of Scientology, one bit at a time. This week we didn't make a lot of progress in our book review as we kept it short and mainly addressed Hubbard and his very outmoded ideas about the human brain. Enjoy! Roehampton University in London is conducting a survey into the effects of mandated shunning—or enforced disconnection—with the aim of introducing new legal provisions to the UK's existing coercive control law. This important study will help shift public opinion, offer protection and safeguarding to former members, and encourage education in our schools about the dangers of high-demand groups and their authoritarian practices. The survey is anonymised. It takes about an hour to complete, but can be done in stages at your own pace. Windy and Savin would also like to talk with people who have suffered disconnection. Please take the survey and let others know about it. Take the survey here: https://stopmandatedshunning.org/survey/ And here's the information page: https://roehamptonpsych.az1.qualtrics... or you may contact the researchers directly: Dr Savin Bapir-Tardy Senior lecturer in Counselling Psychology Roehampton University ([email protected]) Dr Windy Grendele, Senior lecturer in Psychology, Roehampton University ([email protected]) Thanks!

Sorry for the delay in getting this posted this week. In this week's special live podcast episode, I am exploring where we derive meaning and order and morality, which are not ivory tower concepts relegated to an academic education but are in fact, the stuff of our daily lives. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

This week I welcome Anne Peterson back to have a very loose discussion around the things that all cults do or the beliefs/ideas that seem to echo from one to the other. This being our first time on this topic, we cover a lot of diverse ideas rather than have a bullet list of things to discuss, but I hope you find this as fun as we had doing it. Enjoy! Anne's channel:  @ConfrontingTheLine  The workshop page: https://ilumn8.life/op/reclaiming-your-mind-and-life-chris-shelton/

This week I welcome back Bryce Blankenangel and Shannon Grover to help me understand what happens when people want to leave the faith of the LDS Church in terms of repercussions both personally and/or professionally. As always, we go wide on this topic and hope it brings some more clarity to why cults like the Mormon Church act the way they do. Enjoy! Glassbox podcast: https://glassboxpodcast.com

Today I welcome back Jon Atack to continue our series of podcasts to debunk the "basics" of Scientology, one bit at a time. This week we are taking on some of the very basic ideas of Scientology with theta and the simpleton approach of Scientology's philosophic foundations. This is a wide-ranging and hopefully interesting discussion where we pull no punches on how we see Scientology. Enjoy!

This week I welcome NY Times bestselling author and investigative journalist Michael Blanding to discuss his new book, The Gospel According to Hobby Lobby, a surprising and even shocking expose of the hidden agenda behind Hobby Lobby and its owners, the Green family. When religious fanaticism is rewarded with hundreds of millions of dollars in liquid cash, what happens to our rights, laws and freedoms? Hobby Lobby is a lot more than a chain of craft stores and what your money is being used for when you contribute to this religiously fanatical organization harms all of us. Michael's website: https://MichaelBlanding.com

This week I welcome Anna Clark Miller, LMC, a licensed therapist who specializes in religious trauma syndrome and also has her own background of an abusive religious upbringing. Yet Anna hasn't let her own experience bias her views on religion or how she does her treatment and in this podcast we frankly discuss the difficulties on both sides of the therapy relationship when religious abuse is part of the picture. I hope this is as educational and informative for you as it was for me. Enjoy! Anna's website: https://empathyparadigm.com