This week I have Dr. Alexandra Stein, social psychologist and author of the book Love, Terror and Brainwashing. We discuss various aspects of cult behavior and psychology.
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This week I have the sometimes crass, sometimes downright vulgar but always informative Yvette d’Entremont, aka SciBabe, with me to talk about the nonsense of Gwenyth Paltrow’s Goop, David Wolfe’s avocados and all the rest of the health woo and other pseudoscience out there that trips people up and takes their money and their time without giving anything substantial back. We also go over how to protect yourself and find out what you need to know when visiting the doctor so you get the kind of treatment you need and deserve.
You can find Yvette’s site here: http://scibabe.com
The Cochrane website is here: http://cochrane.org
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This week I talk with Ron Miscavige Snr, former Scientologist and Sea Org member and also the father of Scientology’s current leader, David MIscavige. We discuss life on the Sea Org base in Riverside as well as his impressions of Shelly Miscavige, his history as a salesman both in and out of the Church and more.
Ron’s website is here.
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This week, guest John Sweeney is on board. An active BBC journalist who took on the Church of Scientology in 2006 and faced off with the Church’s senior executives, and who has since been in North Korea, Russia and almost every country in the Middle East, discusses what these places are like, what kind of experiences he had and how these relate back to cult mechanics and attitudes.
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This week, second generation former Hare Krishna, Nitai Joseph, guests on my show to discuss growing up with Hindu beliefs and how this led to him joining a splinter group of the Hare Krishnas and how this affected his family and his life. I make comparisons between what he experienced and how Scientology acts towards its members too.
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I received an academic paper recently from Dr. Stephen Kent, sociologist from the University of Alberta and his research assistant, Terra Manca, published in 2012 about the conflict between Scientology and psychiatry. Published in the journal Mental Health, Religion and Culture, it was titled “A War Over Mental Health Professionalism: Scientology vs. Psychiatry.” This sparked a lot of thoughts on the war Scientology declared against psychiatry and in this podcast, I lay down some history and facts about all this.
My YouTube Mental Health series with Sunny Pereira
Tony Ortega article from February 2015
Tony Ortega article from May 2017
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This week, I did a live stream of my podcast from Philadelphia, where I am attending the International Cultic Studies Association’s annual conference. I was part of two presentations here and I discuss those and what cult “recovery” has meant for me personally.
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This week, I address the all-too-common language we are hearing these days about the need for violent uprisings and riots to combat the growing fascism of the Trump administration. Conversely we see similar calls on the Right and this is becoming ridiculous. I take this on and give some perspective on why now more than ever, we do need to be civil.
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