Speaking of Cults

This week I am joined by author Steven Tiger to discuss his book and ideas concerning Christian apologetics and how trying to find logical and even scientific reasons to have faith is a bit of a fool’s errand, as well as what the point of apologetics is in the first place, which is not to convince unbelievers. We had a far-ranging discussion and I hope you enjoy it. Steven’s Book on Amazon The pos...

This week I welcome Gavin Fox to help explain more about the origins of QAnon on 4chan/8chan and the jump to mainstream social media. We have a wide ranging discussion about this and hope it helps bring some more clarity to what is a very unclear and bizarre movement. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #308: The Origins of Qanon appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast .

This week I welcome back channel favorite Jon Atack to discuss more aspects of Hubbard and Scientology as well as get an overview of Jon’s new book, Opening Our Minds and some thoughts on predators and critical thinking. Enjoy! Jon’s book on Amazon The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #307: Jon Atack is Opening Our Minds appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast .

This week I’m giving a sort of QAnon 101 for my viewers. It may be that we’ll do more episodes about QAnon depending on the feedback to this one. Here I talk about QAnon’s origin story, the fascinating mechanics behind how it evolved and some of the more obvious cultic aspects of how it is organized and how its followers have become extremists. I cover a lot of territory. Enjoy! Washington Post ar...

This week I welcome back Ciprian Ivanof to help me dissect Scientology’s organizational and personnel craziness. This week we offer some commentary on Hubbard’s most advanced lectures on administration and then get into some war stories I have about how we used Scientology in handling staff and Sea Org members. We cover a lot of territory. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #305: Scientolog...

This week I welcome special guest Zara Kay, founder of Faithless Hijabi and a woman with a story to tell about her persecution as an ex-Muslim in her homeland of Tanzania last year. She is now safe and back home in Australia, but little thanks to the Australian government. We go over all the details of her ordeal and what she is doing as a hands-on activist to help ex-Muslims. Enjoy! Faithless Hij...

This week I welcome back Ciprian Ivanof to help me discuss Scientology’s kind of nuts management culture and organization. This week we focus on sleep deprivation and stress and we had a lot to say. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking #302 – Sleep Deprivation and Stress in the Sea Org appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast .

This week I welcome back Aaron Smith-Levin so we can give some updates on Clearwater and Scientology including some future campaigning Aaron himself will be doing for the City Council later this year. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking #300: Scientology, Clearwater and the City Council appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast .

This week I welcome Hannah Prosser, a survivor of childhood domestic and religious abuse who was involved with the Haldeman Mennonites in Muddy Pond, Tennessee. Her story is at times heartbreaking and horrifying but is ultimately a survivor’s story of escape and recovery which she now wants to share with the world in her first-ever interview about her life. She has just published a book about her...

This week I welcome returning guest and friend of my channel Ciprian Ivanof for the first in what we expect will be a short series of podcasts about Scientology’s leadership and management theories and the gross inefficiencies that really do keep the organization from growing or becoming even more prosperous for real. Of course, we aren’t doing this to give Scientology advice, but to show up just...

This week I welcome back Jon Atack to discuss Scientology, recovery from cults, enlightenment, history and a whole lot more in this very wide-ranging discussion. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking #298: Jon Atack appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast .

This week I welcome former Congressman Joe Walsh, a Tea Party conservative and former Trump supporter turned protestor who believes the GOP has gone off the rails and the reasons for that pre-date Trump. We go into all these details and more in this wide-ranging conversation. Enjoy! We reference Joe’s radio talk show in this podcast, but within the last 24 hours, Joe announced the unfortunate news...

Matthew Sheffield is a conservative-turned-progressive political pundit, podcaster, author and media personality. He started his first conservative website in 2000, dedicating it to criticizing Dan Rather. He then went on to help create NewsBusters and became the founding online managing editor of the Washington Examiner. He now hosts a politics and technology podcast called Theory of Change and i...

This week, I welcome Ariela Sarai, a 21-year-survivor of Avatar, to discuss her experiences being recruited into and working for this destructive cult which has so many similarities to L. Ron Hubbard’s Scientology that Avatar has been called “Scientology Lite.” I think you’ll see from Ariela’s experiences that there was nothing “lite” about the abuses she endured for years trying to “save the worl...

This week, I discuss the just-breaking story of Hollywood producer Scott Rudin, who according to reports has serious anger management issues and has allegedly abused assistants and co-workers for decades. The patterns of behavior and even specific actions and words Rudin reportedly used are so amazingly similar to what we know about David Miscavige and Sea Org executives at every level, I simply h...

This week I welcome back Seth Andrews, host of The Thinking Atheist channel and podcast and an all-around great guy. In this wide-ranging discussion, we take up issues with religion but spend a lot more time describing our issues with the atheist side of the coin and problems we want to see rectified in how atheists approach believers. There’s a lot more too including some Scientology references....

This week I talk from a psychological perspective on the surprising power of gratitude and how this helps us maintain perspective. I share some very personal experiences of this in my own life as well. Enjoy! Harvard Medical School article Dr. Summer Allen article The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #292: The Power of Showing a Little Gratitude appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast .

This week I welcome neuroscientist Tom Beakbane to the show to discuss his book “How to Understand Everything” and the subject of consilience, a word Tom has used as a foundational idea for a multi-faceted approach to looking at our relationships, our biology and even consciousness itself. If nothing else, we certainly had an interesting conversation. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #291...

This week I am offering something a little different: an interview I did for Paganicon 2021 on the subject of cult indoctrination and radicalization and how this might also apply in groups and relationships. We had a great time, even if I was a little chatty, and I hope you enjoy it. My earlier interview with Penny The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #290: Indoctrination and Radicalization in Cults...

This week, there was a bit of a kerfuffle in Clearwater over the Scientology and the Aftermath reunion and Cult City Tours which happened on Hubbard’s Birthday on March 13th. In this podcast, I go over the city council meeting that happened two days ago and my opinions and commentary on the entire matter as it relates to Clearwater and Scientology. Enjoy! Clearwater City Council Meeting video The...

About two years ago, Melissa and I did a podcast about mental health, suicide and treatment, talking intimately about our own experiences as well as what we have learned. This week we tackle this subject again, especially some of the issues we’ve encountered or learned about in getting help and some ideas we had about how we can help one another despite these issues. Enjoy! #MentalHealth #Scientol...

This week I am joined by my wonderful wife, Melissa, to discuss the psychological principle of double binds and how these are control mechanisms used to deceive, manipulate and control people in not just cults like Scientology but also in domestic partnerships. We talk about what these are, where the ideas come from and I give a lot of examples from my own Scientology experience. I hope that this...

This week I talk somewhat intimately about what has been happening in my own recovery from Scientology and how my recent education has really ramped up that process in both good and not-so-good ways, and what this has taught me firsthand about cult recovery. The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #286: Recovering from Scientology – Another Layer appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast .

This week I welcome Curt Jaimungal and Desh Amila, two filmmakers who have produced Better Left Unsaid, a new documentary about the rise of Left-wing extremism in the United States and across Western nations. We discuss various points from the documentary and our mutual concern about what we see as radicalized behavior on the part of some on the extreme Left. There is a lot to unpack and learn fro...

This week I welcome back Anthony Magnabasco to discuss the growing conversation/inquiry method called Street Epistemology. We talk about what it is and what it isn’t and how when used properly, it can be a great tool to increase understanding and tolerance in our increasingly divided times. Enjoy! Anthony’s Social Media: https://linktr.ee/magnabosco Street Epistemology Resources: https://tinyurl.c...