Speaking of Cults

This week I welcome back my friend and DC lawyer Ciprian Ivanof to discuss Scientology lawsuits, both recent and old, and what lawyers for Valerie Hanie may have gotten wrong in their latest fight against the Church of Scientology. We recorded this last week and it was just yesterday that news came down that Haney’s appeal to the Supreme Court was rejected. That decision doesn’t change the opinions we offer here about what went wrong on her case and hopefully how we can make sure the same mistakes are not repeated again. The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #275: Scientology Lawsuits – A Legal Opinion appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome local Denver author Dylan Aames to discuss his book Lies Your Psychologist Told You, a critical take on some of the taller tales that have been accepted as literal or practical truth when perhaps they should not be, including in the very textbooks of psychology. We have some lively and interesting discussion in this one. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #274 – Lies Your Psychologist Told You ft. Dylan Aames appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week we are doing a bit more of a raw interview than usual as I discuss the Scientology experience with former member Shane Rybacki, a second gen member from Detroit and Orange County who had quite a few wild experiences growing up in and around Scientology including a brief stint on the EPF and working for the Office of Special Affairs in Orange County. Now he’s ready to start talking about them. This is the first time I’ve had to bleep out content in one of my podcasts for legal reasons, so don’t be surprised when those pop up. Enjoy! Shane’s GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/syute-family-in-need The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #273: The Scientology Experience with Shane Rybacki appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome Stacie and Jeff Mallinson to discuss how they have been pushing back from within the religious community against “religious wolves,” people in religious settings who engage in destructive cult behavior and abusive religious indoctrination of children. We found quite a bit of common ground and I hope you enjoy this talk as much as I did. Mallinson website Alfie Cohen – psychologist The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #272: Pushing Back against Religious Wolves appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome back Dr. Jonas Kaplan to discuss the possibilities of neuralink or the melding of our brains with electronics, potentially launching us into a whole new sphere of existence in a digital world or using digital tools to assist every aspect of our thinking and our life. Sound like a transhumanist’s wet dream? Well, maybe we can temper all that with some reality. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #271: Connecting Brains and Machines ft. Dr. Jonas Kaplan appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome Tim Ward, co-author of Pro-Truth, to discuss a grassroots social movement towards objective truth in politics, media and social forums. We discuss what this book and movement are designed to do, why this is more than necessary at this point in American culture and we even get pretty deep into the psychology driving so much of the divisiveness these days. I hope you’ll give this one a listen. Enjoy! Pro-Truth Pledge website What is the Pro-Truth Pledge? Click here. The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #270: Truth, Lies, Politics and Cults ft. Tim Ward appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome back Ciprian Ivanof, an attorney practicing in Washington DC, who helps me breakdown and understand some of the legal hurdles and difficulties that former Scientologists and other ex-cult trauma survivors experience in trying to bring their former abusers to justice. This is an incredibly frustrating topic for many and I tried this week to share some of your frustrations and see what do we need to change in how legal cases have been brought against destructive cults. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #269: I Have Legal Questions about Cults ft. Ciprian Ivanof appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome Janice Selbie, a Canadian counsellor who specializes in religious trauma. We discuss a number of points about recovering from religious trauma, including Janice’s own story as a deeply devout believer and her journey out of religion and current views on the matter. Enjoy! Janice Selbie: @Wise_Counsellor Website: https://Divorcing-religion.com The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #268: Recovering from Religious Trauma ft. Janice Selbie appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome Mike Fallek, a journalist/documentarian who has been investigating the online or what he refers to as “hashtag” cult of MGTOW (“Men Going Their Own Way”), a men’s rights group that exists pretty much exclusively on the internet. We talk in detail about this, the cultic elements of it and even how to reach people in these kinds of groups. Enjoy! Mike Fallek My earlier podcast on MRAs The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #267: Hashtag Cults and MGTOW appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

Two weeks ago I posted a podcast with Kat, a woman who had “infiltrated” the Church of Scientology of Austin and ended up having a bit more of a personal journey than she thought she would. We covered a lot of ground in her story but we wanted to give you an opportunity to ask her about the experience and what happened. We did a live stream this morning and got some great questions and feedback from viewers direct to me and Kat and had a great time responding. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #266: Scientology Q&A with Kat appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome back Dr. Jeff Wasel to discuss the detailed and necessary backstory to what could conceivably be thought of as one of the most heinous acts of the US government. We take a stab at explaining this in a different light, while understanding that this is a sensitive topic and we make no efforts to “apologize” for anyone or any group then or now. We are merely reflecting in this podcast on history as it happened, not how we might have wanted it to happen and in what light should or could we think about it now. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #265: The History and Ethics of Operation Paperclip appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome Kat, a woman who purposefully became involved with Scientology in Austin three years ago but came away with a story vastly different from the one she thought she would tell. This is not a victim story and yet we see from this exactly how Scientology negatively influences almost everything it comes into contact with. This story is a good one. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #264: The Scientology Experience with Kat appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome PhD candidate Deborah Powney from the UK, a 14-year veteran of the alcohol marketing business who is now studying psychology and domestic violence. She has a lot to say about how the marketing industry works for real and we get down and dirty on what they are doing and exactly how. This has been a topic that I have wanted to start exposing directly on my channel for some time, as many don’t realize how intensive or persuasive the advertising they see every day is, or how propaganda influences their thinking in ways they would never imagine, not just to buy silly things but also to determine your vote. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #263: Disturbing Ways You are Being Manipulated appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome back Dr. Jonas Kaplan, a cognitive neuroscientist in Los Angeles who has been helping us to deconstruct and understand the supercomputer in all of our heads: our brain. This week, we tackle the subject of memory and it’s a very interesting ride, especially when we make comparisons to what L. Ron Hubbard had to say about memory in Dianetics. Dr. Kaplan was quite amused and I think you will be too. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #262: Memory (In and Out of Scientology) ft. Dr. Jonas Kaplan appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome authors Dr. Myke Merrill and Michael Wilson, who have written Why Do People Act That Way (And What Can I Do About It?). Both Dr. Merrill and Mr. Wilson are men of faith and feel they have found a system of ideas and techniques which can benefit people based on emotions, motivations, perceptions and behavior. We go into this a bit in the show and discuss some basic ideas of where emotion comes from and what kind of things can we do to perhaps curtail or control the unwanted ones? As I say in the podcast, this is not an endorsement of everything these authors have written, but more of a conversation of their ideas. Enjoy! Why Do People Act That Way website Facebook page for Myke & Mike This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp BetterHELP Link The Great Courses Plus link The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #261: Why Do People Act That Way? ft. Myke & Mike appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome author A.P. Sylvia to the show to discuss his book Vampires of Lore: Traits and Modern Misconceptions. He has traced the origin of almost all common myths and ideas about vampires back through history and we talk in this episode about quite a few of them and share our love for the genre. This is a very unusual podcast for my channel but one I really enjoyed doing and I think if you have any interest in vampires at all, this show will have something to teach you. Enjoy! Vampires of Lore: Traits and Modern Misconceptions A.P. Sylvia’s website A.P. Sylvia on Twitter: @APSylviaWrites The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #260: Vampires in Myth and Legend ft. A.P. Sylvia appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome back Dr. David Kyle Johnson from Kings College to discuss practical critical thinking in the real world, including how we apply key ideas to debunk or help evaluate medical or science claims we are told all the time. We dive into some of the pseudoscientific ideas surrounding the current craze around masks to highlight some of these critical thinking principles. Enjoy! Article about masks The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #259: Critical Thinking, Science and Masks ft. Dr. David Johnson appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome back Jon Atack to have a discussion about government morality and how the compares and contrasts with individual morality – a discussion that ranges far and wide and, if nothing else, I’m sure you will find as fascinating as I did. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #258: Do We Need Authoritarian Governments? ft. Jon Atack appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I am tackling Scientology’s Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF) in a way no one has before: a complete beginning to end explanation of the program using the inside Church documents which describe in detail how it is to be established and executed. The RPF is a grueling, hard-labor re-education camp and after hearing this podcast you’ll understand why I say that and what I actually got out of it, both good and bad. Enjoy! Truth Rundown video The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #257: Scientology’s RPF Program Explained appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome Mark Turi, friend, former Scientologist and Canadian, to help me discuss a train of logic I have about critical thinking and the bubble worlds that we all live in and around. This is a non-partisan talk and I mostly dive into my Scientology past for examples of how our thinking, beliefs and emotions can betray our very perception of reality and ensure we are always at odds with one another. File this one under food for thought. I hope you will join us for what we thought was a fun discussion. Enjoy! This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp BetterHELP Link: https://betterHelp.com/ChrisShelton The Great Courses Plus link: http://thegreatcoursesplus.com/critical The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #256: Stepping Out of Your Bubble ft. Mark Turi appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I am joined by Adrian Lee Oliver to discuss some concerns and issues he as a black man has with Black Lives Matter both as an organization and political ideology. While I can’t say for sure that this is the last thing I’ll ever publish on this topic, I think the four podcasts I’ve created on critical race theory and BLM cover this territory well. Like Scientology, there is a constructive and rights-driven outer layer to BLM and then there is a very nasty and cult-like inner set of teachings that is quite destructive. I hope you’ll give a listen to what Adrian has to say as it’s quite good. The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #255: The Cult-Like Core of BLM ft. Adrian Lee Oliver appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I am joined by former Pentecostal Alexis Arralynn to talk about estrangement from her family, and cult beliefs and practices she was exposed to as a child which forever altered her world view and ability to survive. We discuss our mutual difficulties growing up in a cult environment and get into why we believe religious indoctrination and child rearing do not go well together. Enjoy! When the Bough Breaks podcast The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #254: Surviving the Pentecostal Movement ft. Alexis Arralynne appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I am joined by Rick Lockhart II, co-host of “In Black & White” on the YFNANews as well as “Color-Full Circle with Rick & Al”. We discuss our mutual concerns and common ground on the topic of Black Lives Matter, both as an organization and a social movement and various reasons for why bias, perception and ideological pitfalls might get in the way of achieving human rights. YFNANews link The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #253: Rick Lockhart II and I Talk #BlackLivesMatter appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I am joined by Benjamin Boyce, fellow YouTuber and alumnus of Evergreen State College in Washington. We get into some nitty-gritty discussion of Benjamin’s experience at the college and how much of what happened with Black Lives Matter there was a sort of precursor to what is happening now with BLM across the country. Benjamin Boyce on YouTube The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #252: Why I Have Concerns about Black Lives Matter ft. Benjamin Boyce appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome a wonderful and very special gust, Erin Louis, author Expose Yourself: How to Take Risks, Question Everything, and Find Yourself. We discuss her past as a stripper, she answers my numerous silly questions about the sex trade and her experiences in it and then we discuss critical thinking, which she has literally written a book about. I hope you’ll give this one a watch because it’s a lot of fun. Enjoy! Erin’s book on Amazon This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp BetterHELP Link The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #251: A Talk with a Critical Thinking Stripper ft. Erin Louis appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome Dr. David Kyle Johnson, a professor of critical thinking, to talk turkey about how critical thinking is taught and its results, how anyone can easily apply some of the most basic and important principles and what all of this has to do with how we live our lives. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #250: We Love Critical Thinking! ft. Dr. David Kyle Johnson appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I welcome Dr. Tim Sludge, former Evangelical minister and creator a nationwide Christian support group before he lost his faith and realized that he had been pushing beliefs he no longer held. He has since written books and spoken on the topic of faith, meta-spirituality and atheism and he’s also a helluva nice man. I think there’s a lot to learn from him. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #249: Losing the Faith ft. Dr. Tim Sledge appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I am joined once again by cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Jonas Kaplan to discuss brains and thinking and what is going on up there when we’re doing that. There’s a lot to know and in this episode we explore what thought consists of, how emotions are a form of rational thought and a lot more. The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #248: How We Think We Think ft. Dr. Jonas Kaplan appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

I am joined once again by Dr. James Lindsay, critical theory critic who helps me discuss the rise and fall of “wokeness” in the American/Western cultures. We have some real fun talking about this and I learned a lot. I hope you’ll give it a chance and listen with an open mind. Enjoy! My first podcast with Dr. Lindsay The post The Rise and Fall of Wokeness ft. Dr. James Lindsay appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week, I am joined by psychologist Hari Parekh from the UK, author of the first actual academic study done on the topic of apostasy and hidden honor-based violence that is perpetuated against family and friends who have renounced their religious faith (among many other reasons). We discuss this subject in detail, how academia has failed us on this up to now and how hopefully we can now start seeing a sea change in how academia deals with destructive cults and abusive behavior. Hari Parekh’s paper The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #246: Apostates and Honor Violence ft. Hari Parekh appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week, Jon Atack and I discuss the difficult topics of redemption and forgiveness for those of us who were part of destructive cults or abusive relationships, what these terms mean to us, how these connect to ideas of revenge but more importantly can lead to real peace of mind for abuse survivors. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #245: Redemption, Forgiveness and Revenge for Ex-Cult Members appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week, I welcome back Mark Bunker, newly elected member of the Clearwater City Council. We talk about his new office and what he is doing, both in the face of the twin threats of COVID-19 and the Church of Scientology. The Wise Old Beard Man has much to say and it is good. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #244: Mark Bunker vs. Scientology in Clearwater appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I begin what will be a series of interviews with Dr. Jonas Kaplan, a cognitive neuroscientist at USC Medical Center whose entire job is figuring out how the brain operates in such a way as to render thinking. In this first episode, we discuss the basic anatomy of the brain and how it works in a predictive fashion, counter-intuitive to how we experience thinking. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #243: Let’s Get Into Neuroscience with Dr. Jonas Kaplan appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I am very happy to get some information out there that I’ve had on my mind for years: the actual occult history of L. Ron Hubbard, or at least as best we know. To help with this, I have Marco Visconti on board, a current believer in magick and Thelema, to describe the actual beliefs and practices of the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) and its history. We compare a lot of notes along the way. Enjoy! Website: http://www.marcovisconti.org Direct links to the OTO-related articles: https://www.marcovisconti.org/wasteland https://www.marcovisconti.org/the-aftermath https://www.marcovisconti.org/5-things-to-expect-after-leaving-o-t-o https://www.marcovisconti.org/another-oto-conspiracy-theory https://www.marcovisconti.org/pies-wide-shut Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/marcovisconti The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #242: The Occult, Scientology and the OTO appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I’ve got a bit of a surprise – we are doing the podcast live and with Jeffrey Augustine of Scientology Money Project fame onboard to talk about the recent troubles Scientologist and self-proclaimed real estate guru Grant Cardone has been having. Stuck at the Flag Land Base in Clearwater, laying off employees and a host of other issues seem to be hitting Grant hard. Jeff and I will be talking about this in detail, with plenty of callbacks to Scientology and how Grant uses it to run his business and his life, and how that may well have had a lot to do with his current predicament. The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #241: Is Scientologist Grant Cardone Melting Down? appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I am joined by Joe Szimhart, who not only has an extensive knowledge of the occult and its history, but also has worked as a cult interventionist and has written & lectured extensively on the history and nature of destructive cults. He and I discuss the occult roots of Scientology, and in fact of almost every different religious cult of the 20th century, and how those roots all seem to meet at Madame Blavatsky. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #240: The Occult, Scientology and Madame Blavatsky appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week the three apostates have met again, this time to discuss the responses and reactions of our former groups to what is happening in the world today. Enjoy! Jonathan Streeter’s channel Lloyd Evans channel The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #239: The Three Apostates Talk Current Events appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

I am joined again this week by former Scientologist, artist and historian Jon Atack to finish our discussion of his full story in and out of Scientology. Like my own, it’s a long and detailed tale and one that has required multiple podcasts to tell all the way through. In this episode, we cover Jon’s experience taking on Scientology in the legal arena. Along the way we take quite a few side roads as we weave the narrative of what it’s like dealing with a ruthless organization that has no qualms about spending millions to ruin people utterly. This is not a podcast for the faint of heart. Jon’s YouTube channel Steve Cannae podcast The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #238: Jon Atack vs. Scientology (Part 3) appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I am very happy to be joined by Dr. Michelle Haslam, a licensed psychologist in the UK and a cult survivor. She has a fascinating story to tell, which of course we compare with Scientology along the way since the parallels between her former group, the New Kamapa Tradition, and Scientology are legion. As a psychologist, Michelle is also in a good position to now comment on the psychological manipulations and control techniques which she experienced first-hand. I think you’ll find this podcast very informative. Enjoy! Jon’s first interview with Dr. Haslam Recovery from The New Kadampa Tradition Michelle’s YouTube channel Be Scofields article The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #237: NKT vs. Scientology ft. Dr. Michelle Haslam appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

BONUS: Today I’m posting a bonus episode of my podcast for this week. Brandon Estrella, a conservative podcaster friend and I (I’m liberal) have done this style of conversation before, finding common ground on issues despite have differing or even contentious views on many things. This podcast isn’t for everyone, as some people hate to hear me talk about politics. Well, if that’s you then don’t listen. Otherwise, I hope you do and enjoy! I look forward to your feedback. The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #236: BONUS – An Impossible Conversation about Politics and Healthcare appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

I am joined again this week by former Scientologist, artist and historian Jon Atack to continue our discussion of his full story in and out of Scientology. Like my own, it’s a long and detailed tale and one that will require multiple podcasts to tell all the way through. In this episode, we cover a bit more of the time period right after Jon left Scientology and got involved with the “independent Scientology” movement with Captain Bill Roberts, a very unique individual, to say the least. Enjoy! Jon’s YouTube channel is here. The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #235: Jon Atack vs. Scientology (Part 2) appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I am honored to host Dr. James Lindsay, who holds degrees in mathematics and physics and the author of five books with a sixth on its way. He has spent years studying acdemia and specifically the rise of various movements within social activist groups over the past couple decades. In this talk we discuss not only some of the ways these activist groups have taken on cultic characteristics, but why the underlying theories driving some of these movements are based on bad or pseudoscience. This of course does not mean that the drive for equality of opportunity or human rights for every single person should not be pushed hard and with ferocity. It simply means that there are deeper elements to some of these movements which need to be understood. Enjoy! James Lindsay’s article on social justice as a religion The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #234: Cultic Behavior in Social Activism ft. Dr. James Lindsay appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I am joined by former Scientologist, artist and historian Jon Atack to finally discuss his own story in and out of Scientology. Like my own, it’s a long and detailed tale and one that will require multiple podcasts to tell all the way through, but in this episode we managed to squeeze in how Jon got involved with Scientology in the first place, what services he did through the OT levels and his thoughts about them and how he finally got out. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #233: Jon Atack vs. Scientology (Part 1) appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I got a chance to interview Reckless Ben and Mike, the two men who have most recently infiltrated Scientology, recorded what happened inside the church walls and lived to post about it. We cover their whole journey and what drove them to do this in the first place as well as some future plans. Enjoy! Ben’s GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/infiltrating-scientology-series-finale-stunt The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #232: Reckless Ben and Mike vs. Scientology appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week we bring you another Three Apostates, this time taking on the topic of phobia induction, or as Lloyd aptly describes it, fear mongering. All of our past groups and many other high control groups out there purposefully instill fear as a means of controlling their members: fear of death, fear of God, fear of the consequences of leaving and many others. We go into some detail about all of this and why this is one of the more despicable things that cult leaders do because it is actually very effective. The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #231: The Three Apostates on How Cults Use Fear to Control Their Members appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I am joined once again by Dr. Clint Heacock, a former evangelical minister, who has a great deal of personal and professional experience in and out of the evangelical world. He and I discuss in detail the topic of dominionism, a movement within the US Christian world to gain political and social power exclusively for Christians so as to take over government, law, education, art, etc. We go over what this movement is about, who is involved and why we as citizens should know and care about this. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #230: What is Dominionism and Why Should You Care? ft. Dr. Clint Heacock appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week it was my privilege to interview Christian Szurko, a man who assists people out of destructive cult or high control groups through nothing but conversation and life assistance. We discuss many aspects of how he does his work and some surprising outcomes over the years. This podcast is one I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time and I hope it has come out as good as I think it is. Enjoy! Christian’s website: dialogcentre.org.uk The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #229: How You Help Someone Out of a Cult ft. Christian Szurko appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week, we have a real tour de force. I am joined by former Landmark staffer Dale Dickins from Melbourne, Australia, to discuss in detail the ins and outs of Landmark Forum and the whole array of classes and training they offer, including her experiences volunteering and then working for the Landmark organization. Throughout our discussion I offer comparisons to Scientology, since some of the material in the Landmark classes was cribbed from Hubbard’s works and Scientology even has a special “handling” for former members of Landmark and EST. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #228: Landmark Forum vs. Scientology ft. Dale Dickins appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

Today I went live to talk about what happened in 2019, a year in review, especially in the world of Scientology (where things were not so great) and in my own personal life (where things are a lot better). Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #227: Live – 2019 in Scientology and Beyond appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Amber Scorah, a former Jehovah’s Witness who has an amazing story of actually working as an underground missionary in China to spread the faith before realizing she was herself living under an authoritarian control system. She’s since been on The Daily Show and has done a TED Talk on cultic influences. We talk about her experiences but also found a lot of shared experiences between our two cult experiences. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #226: Leaving the Witness ft. Amber Scorah appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.