Speaking of Cults

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.

Merry Christmas everyone – this is a Special Bonus Podcast for Christmas featuring Seth Andrews, one of my favorite guests and host of the Thinking Atheist podcast. In this episode, we discuss humanism, kindness and compassion and how we have hit and missed on achieving these in the past years and what our goals are for this new year coming to spread a message of humanism. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #225: My Humanist Christmas Episode ft. Seth Andrews appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I am joined once again by Jon Atack, author and historian, to discuss the topic of brainwashing. We dive deep into the various ways academics and cult leaders have tried to “debunk” that brainwashing or mind control are even legitimate topics of discussion and we discuss how brainwashing has been used effectively by many governments and cult groups to control their members. And while this topic alone is fascinating, we also spend a good chunk of the middle of the podcast talking Scientology specifically and Jon sets me straight on some very interesting Church history and the role L. Ron Hubbard’s wife and son played in the church’s development. I am quite sure you are not going to want to miss any of this podcast. Enjoy! Links: Jon’s YouTube channel Open Minds Foundation Jesuit Training Manual The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #224: Brainwashing and Scientology ft. Jon Atack appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week I have guest Louis Martin, author of True Believers, to discuss his experiences with a West Coast martial arts cult he spent several years in before realizing what was going on. In this extensive talk, we cover all the details and do a bit of compare and contrast with Scientology beliefs and practices along the way. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #223: When Martial Arts Goes Full Cult ft. Louis Martin appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.

This week it is the return of the Three Apostates, this time taking on the subject of religious indoctrination of children. As you can imagine, we have quite a bit to say about this and wax hot and cold as we reflect on the difficulties of reporting on this kind of thing and why it is so important for people to know about. The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #222: The Three Apostates – Is Religious Indoctrination a Form of Child Abuse? appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast.