Speaking of Cults

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...

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...

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...

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! Whe...

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. YFNANew...

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...

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...

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...

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 Speaki...

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...

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 Th...

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 s...

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 M...

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 S...

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...

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....

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 tal...

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...

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...

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 psychologi...

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 li...

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...

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...