Speaking of Cults

This week I welcome Spencer Schneider, a cult survivor, lawyer and life guard trainer from New York who wrote the fascinating book Manhattan Cult Story: My Unbelievable True Story of Sex, Crimes, Chaos and Survival.” This story demonstrates how some preconceived notions of how cults operate are totally wrong and the red flags are not always as obvious as you think. Spencer does a great job describ...

This week I’ve invited DC lawyer Ciprian Ivanof back to the show to discuss some ins and outs of what has happened in the first two weeks of the Danny Masterson trial in Los Angeles. Tony Ortega has been offering amazing on-the-ground reporting and much of our commentary looks at what he’s been reporting of the victim testimony and how the defense & prosecution have reacted. Enjoy! The post Se...

This week I welcome guest John Christansen, the man who helped ex-Sea Org member Katherine Olson to escape Scientology and go to the Aftermath Foundation to create a new life for herself. We go into all the details of what this entailed and it’s not exactly a nail-biting account, but all the basics I’ve been talking about for years are covered and I hope this helps anyone out there struggling with...

This week I’m very happy to welcome Mike Rinder, former Sea Org executive and Emmy-award winning co-host of Scientology and the Aftermath, now doing media for his new memoir, A Billion Years. We had a great conversation and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #357: A Billion Years with Mike Rinder appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast .

This week I welcome back DC lawyer Ciprian Ivanof to help me dissect some legal points and predictions for the upcoming trial of Scientologist Danny Masterson, an event five years in the making that finally begins next week. We truly hope the victims get the justice they deserve. The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #356: Scientology and the Masterson Trial appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Po...

We all know Scientology is a really bad thing but what about growing up in a Scientology household? What’s that like? What happens to kids who never asked to be indoctrinated into an extremist, authoritarian belief system that seeks to control every second of their lives? In this podcast, Ian Rafalko and I discuss this in some detail and give a firsthand view of what the children of Scientologists...

Well it only took us a year, but educator Pat Hendrickson and I have put together a part two of our talks on how to go about getting an education after leaving a destructive/coercive situation. In this week’s show, we discuss my journey into higher education, what it entailed and how people can take advantage of resources all around them to learn, grow and recover. This podcast is mainly intended...

We’re back and with a bang – a 2-hour discussion with Jon Atack to talk turkey about narcissism, what it is and what it isn’t. This being a chat with Jon, we cover a wide range of topics beyond just narcissism, but all of it interesting. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #353: Deconstructing Narcissism appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast .

This week I welcome back John P. Capitalist to discuss recent news about internet-based cults converting over into real-life activities and the opportunities which led to these destructive groups ensnaring unsuspecting victims into their insane ideologies and practices, including radicalized terrorism. We touch on a lot of topics in this one related to cults, economics and the current world situat...

This week I’m joined by my good friend and former Scientologist, Mark Turi, to discuss issues we’ve encountered in ex-cult or ex-religion groups, social media and personal interactions with ex-cult members who can still carry the effects of the trauma and abuse they suffered and the habits they developed to deal with that, ourselves included! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #351: Extremist Thin...

This week I welcome back Sarah Landry to give us an update on her former guru, Nithyananda, and the fact that he’s currently on the run from the law yet boldly trying to start his own country with UN approval! We get into the details of this thanks to Sarah’s persistent endurance to expose this “god man” for the sexually abusive fraud that he is. The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #350: The Hindu...

This week I welcome Julie Bogart, educator and critical thinker, to discuss her views and work on teaching critical thinking. In the process, we ended up having a far-ranging discussion about education, thinking, faith and facts. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #349: Teaching Critical Thinking appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast .

This week I am joined by Dr. Alexandra Stein, author of the book Love, Terror and Brainwashing and a fantastic expert on the subject of attachment theory as it relates to cultic/abusive relationships and connected with complex PTSD. If that all sounds like psychobabble, no worries because we take these academic concepts and translate them into English for you in this week’s show so you can underst...

This week I am joined by licensed therapist and cult exit counsellor Rachel Bernstein to discuss some of the basic principles behind cult recovery and where we think people might best start. This video is meant for those who are even in a cult now and are thinking about getting out or escaping but don’t know what to do. We hope this one helps. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #347: Cult R...

This week, I welcome back my anonymous guest, identified merely as The Insider, who has some very interesting things to say about current inside events within the Church of Scientology today. We go further into more details of the seeming crash and burn of Scientology which we started in part 1. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #346: An Insider’s View of Scientology (Part 2) appeared firs...

This week I am again joined by John P Capitalist (a pseudonym), a skilled Wall Street analyst who has worked with me in the past to analyze some of the more egregious business nonsense that the Church of Scientology gets up to. This week we discuss the recent troubles we’ve been hearing about and how much of a factor these may (or may not) be in Scientology’s eventual demise. Enjoy! The post Sensi...

This week I am again joined live for the third and final installment of my long-form interview with Sea Org escapee Katherine Olson. Here we discuss the specifics of her escape, the help she received from an old friend leading to her reaching out to the Aftermath Foundation. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #344: Katherine Olson Escapes Scientology (Part 3) appeared first on The Sensibly...

This week I am again joined live in the studio by Katherine Olson, a woman who escaped from the Sea Org a little less than a year ago and has a wealth of information and very personal story to share about her 26 years in Scientology. In this second of what are going to be three parts, we discuss her time in the Sea Org and path to disillusionment and eventual escape from Scientology. Enjoy! The po...

For everyone anticipating part 2 of my interview with Katherine Olson, that will be coming next week. Instead, I have an interview with yet another Scientology insider, so much so that he is anonymously doing this interview as he is still a member in good standing of the Church. We go into some real details of the seeming crash and burn of Scientology right now. It’s entirely possible all of this...

This week I am joined live in the studio by Katherine Olson, a woman who escaped from the Sea Org a little less than a year ago and has a wealth of information and very personal story to share about her 26 years in Scientology. We talked for almost 3 hours and only covered about half the tale, so watch for Part 2 next week. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #341: Katherine Olson Escapes Sc...

This week I am joined by Jon Atack for a detailed look into why it is that we think Scientology auditing procedures are inherently harmful to anyone’s long-term mental health and well being. There are few people in the world more qualified than Jon to discuss this with, so I hope you enjoy it! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #340: Why Scientology Auditing is Bad For You appeared first on The Se...

This week I am doing a deep dive into the book Scientology: A History of Man and the mythology/cosmology of Scientology. It’s not a very deep well but there are some key concepts to go over and I think everyone will find Hubbard’s explanations of past-life horrors to be entertaining and ridiculous. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #339: Scientology’s History of Man and Mythology appeared...

This week I welcome first-time guest Phil Lord, professor of law in Ontario, Canada, to discuss the legal system, Scientology’s shenanigans in and out of court and both the civil and criminal cases against Danny Masterson and Scientology. This is a wide-ranging podcast and I hope you enjoy it! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #338: Scientology, Danny Masterson & the Law appeared first on The...

This week I thought we’d talk a bit about Scientology, violence and Will and Jada Smith, former Scientologists and purveyors of bad vibes all over Hollywood in the last two weeks. The Scientology connection is hard to ignore but I take some time to address that and also then give you the added bonus of what L. Ron Hubbard had to say about violence (you may be surprised). Enjoy! The post Sensibly S...

This week we went live in our new studio space to give some information and tips on talking to people who have a very different mindset from yours. There were some great live questions along the way I also got to answer. Enjoy! The post Sensibly Speaking Podcast #336: Talking to Cult Members (Live) appeared first on The Sensibly Speaking Podcast .