Ep.1 Scientology

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:24):
Welcome to Hidden Cults, the podcast that shines a light
into the shadows. Here we explore the strange, the secretive,
and the spiritually seductive. From fringe religions to doomsday prophets,
from communes to corporate empires. These are the movements that
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(00:47):
led them, the followers who followed, and the echoes they
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(01:10):
Reach out. The first step is often the hardest, but
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future Listener Stories episode. Your anonymity is guaranteed always today's episode.
It began in the mid twentieth century not as a religion,

(01:31):
but as a self help philosophy from the mind of
a science fiction writer. Today it's a billion dollar organization
with tax exempt status, Hollywood stars, and a reputation built
on secrecy, influence, and fear. This is the story of scientology,
from l. Ron Hubbard's early writings to the rise of
David Msscavage. From celebrity endorsements to high profile defections, from

(01:52):
beliefs about alien souls to allegations of abuse, surveillance, and control.
This isn't just a religion. It's a movement that redefined
what power looks like in modern spiritual America. Let's begin
the mind behind the movement nineteen eleven to nineteen fifty.
Before the blue buildings, the tax exempt status, the celebrities,

(02:13):
or the scandals, there was just a boy, A clever, curious,
and ambitious boy named Lafayette Ronald Hubbard born in nineteen
eleven in Tilden, Nebraska. Ron as he preferred to be called,
grew up in a world on the edge of modernity.
His father was a naval officer, a man of rules
and order. His mother was educated and literate, encouraging her

(02:35):
son's voracious reading habits. By the age of twelve, Hubbard
claimed to have read much of Western philosophy and Eastern mysticism.
A self declared prodigy, absorbing knowledge by the armful, but
Ron wasn't content with simply reading about the world. He
wanted to dominate it, and more importantly, he wanted to
rewrite it. His early life, even as told by himself,

(02:58):
was a mix of grand adventure and exact, gaggerated exploits.
He spoke of traveling through Asia, learning secrets from Tibetan
monks and Chinese mystics, but records suggest that these trips
were brief, guided and hardly the spiritual journeys he would
later make them out to be. Still, a pattern was forming.
Hubbard didn't just live his life, he mythologized it, and

(03:20):
people listened. By the nineteen thirties, he'd begun turning that
myth making into money. He found work in the booming
pulp fiction industry, writing at a furious pace for magazines
that paid by the word science fiction, adventure, westerns. You
name it. If it involved a dashing hero and a
far fetched premis, Hubbard could write it. His stories weren't

(03:42):
just prolific, they were wildly imaginative, filled with bizarre technology,
authoritarian governments, and salvation through the mind. The lines between
his fiction and his beliefs were already starting to blur.
World War II brought a shift in tone. Hubbard joined
the US Navy, eventually commanding a patrol vest According to
his own accounts, he was a war hero, injured in battle,

(04:04):
decorated and healed through techniques that would later form the
foundation of his mental science. But the official Navy records
paint a very different picture. He was relieved of command
multiple times, once for mistakenly shelling Mexican territory. There's no
documentation of war wounds or heroism. Instead, there's a trail

(04:25):
of bureaucratic trouble and questionable leadership. Still, Ron never let
facts get in the way of a good narrative. Following
the war, he returned to civilian life and began to
distill his ideas into something bigger, something more lasting. He
was deeply critical of psychiatry, calling it abusive, unscientific, and
morally bankrupt. In its place, he offered something revolutionary, a

(04:49):
system of self improvement based not on brain chemistry. Serti
led on confronting and controlling the mind. In nineteen fifty,
that system got a name and a manual. Dionetics, the
modern science of mental health, was unlike anything else on
the shelf. It combined elements of psychoanalysis, hypnosis, and science
fiction into one sprawling doctrine. At its core was the

(05:11):
idea that the human mind was divided into two parts,
the analytical and the reactive. The analytical mind was logical, capable, precise,
but the reactive mind, filled with n grams, or unconscious
memories of pain and trauma, was the true source of
human suffering. The solution audit those enngrams, relive them, confront them,

(05:32):
clear them. Through this process, a person could become clear,
a new state of human existence, free of irrational fear, anxiety,
or pain. In essence, they could become superhuman. The book
was a sensation. It became a best seller, promoted in lectures,
newspaper ads, and radio spots. Dionetics groups began popping up
all over the country, filled with people eager to rid

(05:53):
themselves of emotional baggage and ascend to mental perfection. But
as demand exploded, cracks began to show. The early dionetics
movement was chaotic, lacking formal training or regulation, anyone could
claim to be an auditor. Critics in the medical and
psychological communities blasted the system as pseudoscience. Former believers turned

(06:14):
on Hubbard when promised breakthroughs didn't materialize, and when one
of the movement's first high profile clears failed a simple
memory test in front of an audience, faith in the
system started to collapse. By late nineteen fifty, the Dionetics
foundations were running out of money, lawsuits were mounting, internal
power struggles threatened to derail the entire project. Hubbard needed

(06:37):
a way to salvage it and fast. What he did
next would change the course of history. He reframed everything.
Dionetics wasn't just a mental health tool. It was a
spiritual science, a belief system, and with that one maneuver,
the concept of scientology was born. But before we get there,
it's important to understand this l Ron Hubbard wasn't simply

(06:59):
creating a meta method. He was constructing a worldview, one
in which he alone held the key, a system that
merged science fiction with salvation, storytelling with spirituality, and control
with conviction. This wasn't just about healing, It was about
power and for Hubbard power would soon take a much

(07:19):
stranger and far more dangerous form, from book to belief
nineteen fifty to nineteen fifty four. When Dionetics hit bookstores
in nineteen fifty, it didn't just sell, it ignited. Words
spread like fire. Thousands lined up for seminars, book clubs
became auditing circles, and almost overnight, l Ron Hubbard went

(07:40):
from pulp writer to messiah of the mind. But as
fast as it rose, the dionetics movement began to wobble.
The public was fascinated, but the scientific community was skeptical.
Psychologists and psychiatrists dismissed Hubbard's claims as untested and irresponsible. Still,
the promise of becoming clear to erase pain, fear, neurosis

(08:01):
was magnetic to many. It felt like a revolution in
human potential. The problem the revolution wasn't very organized. Hubbard
never won for structure or slow development. Had launched Dionetics
with no real infrastructure. Anyone could become an auditor, no certification,
no oversight. That chaos led to wildly different interpretations of

(08:22):
his methods. Some followed the book to the letter, Others
invented their own processes. Within a year, there were multiple branches,
power struggles and questions about where the money was going.
Even worse, Hubbard's flagship foundation, the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation
in Elizabeth, New Jersey, was quickly going broke. Lawsuits began

(08:43):
piling up. Some disillusioned followers who donated large sums began
to question where their funds had gone. Then, in nineteen
fifty one, the situation exploded. A man named Don Purcell,
one of Hubbard's early financial backers, took legal control of
one of the foundations to protect its assets from bankruptcy.
Hubbard saw this as a betrayal. He denounced Purcell, declared

(09:05):
his own foundation the only legitimate one, and launched into
a series of lectures to retake control of the movement.
But he didn't stop there. As pressure from critics in
the media grew, Hubbard began to change his story. Dianetics,
he now claimed, had only been the beginning. It was
a stepping stone the real truth, the deeper truth, was
about the spirit, not just the mind. In a move

(09:29):
that was as bold as it was strategic, Hubbard reframed
the entire narrative. He declared that human beings were not
merely brains, and bodies, but immortal spiritual beings, Thetans who
had forgotten their true nature. These Thetans, he said, had
lived for trillions of years, through countless lifetimes, accumulating trauma
and confusion. The process of auditing wasn't just therapy anymore.

(09:54):
It was spiritual rehabilitation. Auditing could recover forgotten memories from
past lives, clear in interstellar trauma, and help Tatan's reclaim
their power. And just like that, Dionetics had become something
more than science. It had become a religion. In nineteen
fifty two, Hubbard officially introduced the Church of Scientology, though
in the beginning it was still more concept than institution.

(10:17):
He set up shop in Phoenix, Arizona, and began refining
his new teachings. He gave them layers, structure, and a
clear goal, something he called the Bridge to total freedom.
It was a spiritual roadmap with clear steps or levels
a person could climb to reach enlightenment. This wasn't just
a mental health technique anymore. It was a journey of

(10:38):
the soul, and it came with a price tag. Each
level of training or auditing required payments. There were courses
to take materials to buy lectures to attend, and the
cost wasn't cheap, but Hubbard framed it as a necessary
investment and exchange of energy. If a Thetan wanted to
be free, they had to commit fully spiritually, emotionally, and financial. Meanwhile,

(11:01):
critics were circling The American Psychological Association and the American
Medical Association issued warnings. The press began to ask tough questions.
Why was the so called science becoming a religion? Why
were former members complaining of manipulation and financial ruin. Why
did Hubbard seem to be rewriting his own teachings on
the fly. But Hubbard had an answer ready. The religion

(11:24):
angle wasn't just philosophical, it was legal. He discovered that
religious organizations were shielded from many forms of government oversight.
The church structure could protect him from accusations of practicing
medicine without a license. It could also help protect assets,
reduce taxes, and deflect lawsuits. In June nineteen fifty three,

(11:46):
he wrote a letter outlining a plan to incorporate Scientology
as a religion in the United States. That same year,
the first official Church of Scientology was established in Camden,
New Jersey, and then Hubbard went global. By nineteen fifty four,
the ch Church of Scientology had expanded to Los Angeles,
where it found fertile ground among spiritual seekers and post
war idealists. California, particularly Hollywood, had long been a breeding

(12:10):
ground for new movements, mystical ideas, and alternative faiths. Scientology
fit right in It promised transformation, answers, power, and l ron.
Hubbard became something more than a founder. He became a prophet,
a teacher of ancient truths rediscovered through science and intuition.
His lectures grew more mystical, more grandiose. He claimed knowledge

(12:31):
of distant civilizations, alien wars, cosmic timelines. He spoke of
a galactic past buried in the unconscious minds of humanity.
But through it all he maintained that Scientology was based
on applied religious philosophy, something that could be practiced, measured,
and achieved through personal effort. He avoided calling it faith,

(12:53):
he avoided doctrine. Instead, he sold it as a technology,
the tech that, if followed, precisely lead to total spiritual freedom.
And this was key. The tech was sacred. Any deviation
was forbidden. Only Hubbard's words were to be trusted his
writings and lectures became scripture. To question them was to
risk falling off the bridge. By the mid nineteen fifties,

(13:15):
the lines were firmly drawn. Scientology was no longer a
fringe mental health fad. It was a full fledged religion,
with churches, ministers, a growing body of doctrine, and a
tight inner circle around its founder. Hubbard controlled the narrative,
he controlled the language, and he controlled the money. Behind
the scenes, he began laying the groundwork for even more

(13:36):
radical ideas, new levels of thetan recovery, new threats from
invisible forces. In a world where Scientology wasn't just one
path among many, but the only one that worked. He
wasn't just building a belief system, he was building an empire,
and in the years to come, he'd protect that empire
with secrecy, with loyalty, and with war Part three Sea

(13:58):
organ Secrecy nineteen fifty nineteen sixty seven. By the mid
nineteen fifties, scientology had transformed from a disorganized self help
movement into a structured belief system with churches, loyal followers,
and a central doctrine. At the heart of that doctrine
was one man, l Ron Hubbard, who had now positioned
himself not just as a writer or thinker, but as

(14:19):
a spiritual pioneer charting a path to salvation. With the
establishment of Scientology as a religion, came increased scrutiny. Government agencies,
the press, and former members began to raise red flags.
The American Medical Association and other watchdog groups criticized the
church's medical claims. Allegations of financial exploitation, coercive control, and

(14:41):
manipulation began to surface, but Hubbard had seen it coming.
His writings began to emphasize and us versus them mentality.
Scientologists were the enlightened few, and the outside world was hostile, ignorant,
and even dangerous. Critics weren't just wrong, they were agents
of suppression. He called them persons, and in the growing

(15:02):
lexicon of Scientology, suppressive persons or sps were to be
cut off, isolated, and destroyed metaphorically or otherwise. It was
during this period that Hubbard also began building a more
hierarchical structure at the base, where new recruits and curious seekers.
Above them were trained auditors, ministers, and loyal officers, but

(15:23):
the real power sat at the top, with Hubbard and
his hand picked inner circle. To preserve that control, he
created a new layer of secrecy, a layer that would
eventually evolve into one of Scientology's most infamous institutions. By
nineteen fifty nine, Hubbard had acquired a sprawling estate in
East Grinstead, England. It was called Saint Hill Manor, and

(15:45):
it became the headquarters of Scientology's global operations. From this
stately home, Hubbard taught advanced courses, launched training programs, and
further refined the bridge to total freedom. It was also
here that he developed the concept of operating Thetan Levels
OT levels, which would form the upper echelons of Scientology's

(16:07):
spiritual path. These were no longer simple self help exercises
or basic past life regression. These levels promised access to
the most secret knowledge of the universe, knowledge so powerful that,
according to Hubbard, reading it unprepared could cause illness, insanity,
or even death. Scientologists were told they had to progress slowly,

(16:27):
step by step, investing thousands of dollars in hundreds of
hours to reach these exalted states, and once they reached
the OT levels, they were bound by a deep code
of secrecy. Leaking or discussing the materials was a grave offense.
But even as the church was expanding, gaining members, opening
new branches, and pulling in more money, trouble was brewing.

(16:51):
Governments in several countries began to investigate Scientology's tax status,
health claims, and recruiting practices. In the UK, Australia, and
in the United States, authorities launched probes into the organization.
Some governments even banned Scientology outright. Hubbard, always distrustful of outsiders,
began to believe that global conspiracies were forming against him.

(17:12):
He spoke of plots by psychiatrists, governments, and aliens. He
warned of infiltration, and in response, he created an organization
built for absolute loyalty. In nineteen sixty seven, l Ron
Hubbard launched the Sea Organization or Sea Org. On the surface,
Sea Org was a religious order, an elite group of
scientologists dedicated to preserving the church's teachings and expanding its reach,

(17:36):
but in practice it was something far more radical. Hubbard
purchased several ships, including the flagship Apollo, and assembled a
crew of die hard followers. These weren't just casual believers.
They were expected to sign billion year contracts, yes billion,
according to Scientology's teachings. Theadans are immortal, so such a

(17:57):
pledge was both symbolic and literal. It bound the member
to eternal service. Life aboard the Sea Org ships was grueling.
Members worked long hours under strict discipline. Infractions were punished
with physical labor, social isolation, and at times confinement. Hubbard
maintained absolute authority. He issued daily orders, ran training drills,

(18:19):
and conducted personal inspections. Even minor mistakes could result in demotion, punishment,
or public humiliation. Children of Sea Org members were often
separated from their parents and raised communally. Education was limited.
The focus was obedience, doctrine, and service. And this wasn't
just a floating monastery. The Sea Org became the nerve

(18:40):
center of Scientology. It handled upper level training, secured confidential materials,
and enforced internal loyalty. Dissent was not tolerated. Those who
questioned Hubbard or his teachings were labeled suppressive, interrogated, and
often expelled. Back on land, the church was becoming more
aggressive in defending Itselfhubbard developed policies known as fair game.

(19:02):
According to internal documents, individuals declared suppressive could be tricked, sued,
lied to, or destroyed. This wasn't metaphorical language. Private investigators
were hired, enemies were harassed, Critics were followed, sued, smeared
or discredited, journalists, judges, former members. No one was off limits.

(19:22):
In public, the church presented itself as a misunderstood religion
committed to humanitarian goals. It spoke of literacy programs, drug rehabilitation,
and community outreach. But behind the scenes it was becoming
more paranoid, more insulated, and more militant. Hubbard himself became
increasingly reclusive. He moved from ship to ship, surrounded by

(19:44):
a trusted corps of Sea Org members. His communications to
the outside world came in the form of bulletins, policy letters,
and audio recordings. These became doctrine, immutable, permanent, and binding.
By the end of the nineteen sixties, Scientology no longer
just a church. It was an empire floating on international waters,

(20:04):
protected by legal shields, fueled by secrecy, and led by
a man who saw himself as the only one capable
of saving the world. The seeds had been planted, the
walls were up, and the war in Hubbard's mind, was coming.
The next phase wouldn't be about building belief it would
be about defending it at any cost. Part four The

(20:25):
Watchers in the War nineteen sixty seven to nineteen eighty
six Narrator. By nineteen sixty seven, l Ron Hubbard had
cut ties with Land literally. He was now commander of
a fleet of ships in the Mediterranean, living at sea,
surrounded by an elite cadre of followers known as the
Sea Organization. But the ships weren't just for travel. They

(20:46):
were floating fortresses, mobile command centers for a movement increasingly
obsessed with secrecy, discipline, and defense. Inside the Sea org
hierarchy was absolute. Orders came directly from Hubbard. They were
followed without question. Punishments for disobedience could be harsh, isolation, humiliation,
forced labor members who fell out of favor were reassigned

(21:08):
to the Rehabilitation Project Force or RPF, a prisonlike internal
program framed as spiritual rehabilitation. In reality, it was punishment
cloaked in religious language. From his flagship, the Apollo, Hubbard
watched his empire grow. New churches were opening across Europe
and North America. Revenue was pouring in from courses, audits,

(21:28):
and donations, but so was scrutiny. Governments weren't just questioning
scientology anymore, they were investigating it. In nineteen sixty eight,
the British government banned foreign scientologists from entering the UK.
Australia launched a public inquiry, calling the organization a threat
to public health. In the United States, the Food and

(21:49):
Drug Administration had already raided Church offices in nineteen sixty three,
seizing devices known as e meters, spiritual tools used in
auditing that Hubbard claimed could read men, mental and spiritual energy.
The FDA called them fraudulent medical devices. The pressure was rising,
and Hubbard, ever the strategist, decided it was time to

(22:10):
strike back. In the early nineteen seventies, the Church launched
an ambitious and clandestine program called the Guardian's Office. Its
mission was simple, defend scientology at all costs. The Guardian's
Office or GOO, wasn't just a legal department. It was intelligence, counterintelligence, propaganda, sabotage.

(22:31):
Under the direction of Hubbard's wife, Mary Sue Hubbard, the
GEO recruited loyal scientologists to infiltrate government agencies, steel files,
wiretap offices, and monitor critics. This was not metaphor or exaggeration.
It was a coordinated operation known internally as Operations snow White,
one of the largest domestic espionage efforts ever conducted against

(22:52):
the United States government by a non state actor. Operations
snow White targeted the IRS, the Justice Department, and their agencies.
The goal was to purge negative information about Scientology from
government files and gather intelligence on officials. Operatives broke into
federal buildings, posed as employees, and smuggled out thousands of documents.

(23:13):
For a while it worked, the GEO successfully stole files,
monitored investigations, and sabotaged legal efforts against the church. But
in nineteen seventy seven, the FBI got wise. That year,
agents raided Scientology offices in Los Angeles and Washington, d C.
They uncovered a vast network of internal memos, break in plans,
surveillance reports, and cover up attempts. It was damning. Eleven

(23:38):
top scientologists, including Mary Sue Hubbard herself, were indicted and
later convicted on charges of conspiracy, theft, and obstruction of justice.
Hubbard was named an unindicted co conspirator, but he was
never brought to trial. Instead, he disappeared from public view.
He stopped making public appearances. His photographs became rare. Communication

(24:00):
from Hubbard came only in the form of typed bulletins
or recorded messages. Rumors swirled about his health, his whereabouts,
and his grip on reality. Some said he had gone
into hiding. Others whispered about paranoia, declining mental health, and
increasing isolation. But even as his visibility faded, his control
remained absolute. He continued to issue policy, dictate changes, and

(24:23):
oversee operations from the shadows the sea. Organ forced his
rules with military precision. The bridge to total freedom, the
path every scientologist was told they had to walk, became longer,
more expensive, more rigid. New OT levels were introduced, each
promising deeper revelations, greater power. But what lay at the
heart of it all was a secret so strange, so outlandish,

(24:46):
it would become the defining controversy of the church. It
was called OT three. OT three, or Operating Theton. Level three,
was a confidential level of scientology, revealed only to those
who had spent years and tens of thous thousands of
dollars progressing through the ranks. It contained a story that
by any standard, reads like science fiction. According to Hubbard,

(25:08):
seventy five million years ago, a galactic ruler named Xenu
brought billions of beings to Earth, then known as Tigiak.
They were stacked around volcanoes blown up with hydrogen bombs,
and their disembodied souls, called body Thetans, attached themselves to
human beings. These Thetans, Hubbard claimed, were the source of
all mental, physical, and spiritual problems on Earth. Only through

(25:32):
advanced auditing could a scientologist remove these body Thetans and
become truly free. The church has always denied or downplayed
this story, publicly calling it confidential scripture meant only for
advanced students, but former members, court documents, and investigative journalists
have all confirmed its existence. For outsiders, OT three was

(25:54):
often the breaking point, the moment when the line between
religion and science fiction snapped. But for men any inside,
the secrecy itself was proof of its importance, they believed
because they had to. Meanwhile, the church doubled down on control.
It developed internal security mechanisms, interrogation techniques, and a growing
database of ethics reports on every member. Dissent was monitored,

(26:17):
Critics were labeled enemies. Families who left the church were
often cut off entirely by those who remained a practice
known as disconnection, and Hubbard he was slipping further away.
By the early nineteen eighties, his communication slowed, rumors of
illness grew. In nineteen eighty three, his son l Ron
Hubbard Junior, also known as Ron de Wolfe, publicly denounced

(26:39):
his father, calling him dangerous, paranoid, and obsessed with power.
The church dismissed DeWolf as bitter and delusional, but the
damage was done Internally. A new power was rising, a
young Sea Org officer named David Misscavage, charismatic, intense, and
utterly loyal to Hubbard. Misscavage began consolidating control, urged rivals,

(27:00):
restructured management, and positioned himself as the protector of Hubbard's legacy. Then,
in January nineteen eighty six, the news came l Ron
Hubbard was dead. He died at his ranch in Creston, California,
reportedly of a stroke. The church announced his passing in
carefully crafted language, claiming he had voluntarily left his body

(27:21):
to continue his spiritual research elsewhere. No funeral was held.
His body was cremated within twenty four hours. For followers,
it was the end of an era. The founder source
as they called him, was gone, but his teachings, his writings,
his rules remained, and at the helm of the church
now stood David Mascabage, ready to carry the torch into
a new age. But with that new age came new tactics,

(27:45):
new enemies, and new levels of control. The battle for
Scientology's soul was far from over. Part five. A New Leader,
a new Face nineteen eighty six to two thousand. When
l Ron Hubbard died in nineteen eighty six, the Church
of Scientology stood at a crossroads. Its founder had left

(28:05):
behind a labyrinth of doctrine, internal rules, secret teachings, and
an army of devoted followers trained to obey. But he
hadn't named a clear successor, at least not publicly. Into
that void stepped David Misscabbage. He wasn't a theologian, he
wasn't even middle aged. At just twenty five years old,
Misscavage seized the reigns of one of the most controversial

(28:27):
and well funded religious organizations in the world, and he
did it with calculated force. David Misscavage had been groomed
for power. He joined Scientology as a child, worked closely
with Hubbard during his later years, and rose quickly through
the Sea org. By the early nineteen eighties, he was
already one of the most influential figures in the church.

(28:49):
After Hubbard's death, he moved swiftly to consolidate control, eliminating rivals,
restructuring internal leadership, and rebranding the church's public face. Internally,
he was praised as a dynamic leader who would carry
Hubbard's legacy into the next century. But behind the scenes,
his rise came with accusations, intimidation, purges, and manipulation. Former

(29:11):
executives claimed they were forced out or silenced. Some reported
emotional and physical abuse. Still, Misscavage maintained his grip. He
now had something Hubbard never truly achieved, mainstream visibility. Under
Misscavage's leadership, Scientology began a full blown public relations offensive.
Gone was the eccentric mysticism of the nineteen sixties and seventies.

(29:33):
In its place polished videos, brochures, well produced events, and
smiling spokespeople. The church invested heavily in real estate, purchasing large,
visible properties in major cities. They called them ideal orgs, gleaming,
high tech church centers meant to project legitimacy, power, and permanence.

(29:53):
But perhaps the most influential shift came in the form
of celebrity. L Ron Hubbard had always emphasized the o
importance of famous people. He even established a celebrity center
in Los Angeles as far back as nineteen sixty nine,
designed specifically to attract actors, musicians, and public figures. But
under Misscavage that idea became a full blown strategy. The

(30:14):
logic was simple, celebrities brought visibility, credibility, and media attention.
If a famous face endorsed scientology, the public might look
past the controversies and see something more, something aspirational enter
Tom Cruise. Cruz had been a scientologist since the late
nineteen eighties, introduced by his then wife, actress Mimmy Rodgers,

(30:35):
but it wasn't until the nineties that his involvement became
central to the church's image. He wasn't just a member,
he was a symbol, charismatic, wildly successful, and seemingly untouchable.
Misscavage and Cruse developed a close friendship. Cruz was given
top tier treatment, private auditing, custom built church facilities, and

(30:55):
access to the highest ot levels. In return, Cruz became
one of the church's most vocal advocates. He spoke publicly
about how scientology had cured his dyslexia, improved his life,
and given him purpose. Other celebrities followed suit, John Travolta,
Kirsty Alli, Juliette Lewis. Musicians, directors, and influencers joined or
were recruited. The celebrity center became both a sanctuary and

(31:18):
a pr engine. But even as the church polished its image,
cracks were showing beneath the surface. The behind the glitzy
videos and high profile endorsements, many longtime members were growing disillusioned.
Some who had reached the highest levels of auditing found
themselves stuck spiritually, emotionally, and financially. The promise of clear

(31:39):
had become a treadmill, one more course, one more donation,
one more level. Former insiders began to come forward. Some
described a culture of control and fear. Others detailed how
disconnection policies tore apart families, parents forced to cut ties
with children who left the church, Spouses ordered to separate
from suppressive partners. More alarming were the stories emerging from

(32:02):
inside the sea org. Life for rank and file members
was often harsh, long hours, little pay, punitive ethics programs.
Reports surfaced of staff being sent to the RPF, the
Rehabilitation Project Force for minor infractions, forced to do manual labor,
undergo hours of interrogations, or confess crimes they didn't remember.

(32:23):
Those who dared to leave were sometimes harassed. Surveillance, smear campaigns,
and legal threats became common tools in the church's defensive arsenal. Still,
Miscavige maintained tight control. He surrounded himself with loyalists. Internal
communications were filtered, dissenters were removed or silenced. Those outside

(32:44):
the church who criticized it, Journalists, authors, former members were
labeled enemies and targeted for retaliation. Yet, from much of
the nineteen nineties, the church continued to expand. It gained
tax exempt status in countries where it had once been banned,
It opened news centers across Europe and the Americas, and
in nineteen ninety three, after a long and bitter battle,

(33:05):
it won its biggest legal victory of all. After decades
of tension, the United States Internal Revenue Service officially recognized
the Church of Scientology as a tax exempt religious organization.
It was a staggering turnaround. Just years earlier, the IRS
had been one of the church's most aggressive adversaries. Now

(33:25):
it had effectively given Scientology a seal of legitimacy. The
agreement ended multiple lawsuits and investigations. It allowed the church
to operate as a full fledged religion, with all the
legal and financial protections that entailed behind closed doors. Miscavige
announced the victory to members as a spiritual triumph, a

(33:46):
validation of Hubbard's vision, proof that the church was on
the right side of history. But to outsiders it raised questions.
How had the church managed to flip the IRS, what
promises had been made behind the scenes, and why had
so many lawsuits suddenly disappeared. The answers were buried in
confidential agreements, but the impact was clear. The IRS ruling

(34:09):
emboldened the church, solidified its wealth, and made it much
harder for critics to challenge its status. By the year
two thousand, Scientology had become something unique, not just a religion,
not just a business, but a hybrid entity built on secrecy, loyalty,
and control. Its leader, David Misscavage, had proven himself ruthless, strategic,

(34:29):
and fiercely protective of the church. Its most visible faces
were movie stars, its real estate portfolios spanned continents. Its doctrines,
still authored largely by a man who had been dead
for over a decade, remained immutable, but cracks continued to
spread in the public's perception, in the media, and inside
the walls of the church itself. The next century would

(34:52):
bring challenges Hubbard never could have predicted the Internet, leaks, documentaries, whistleblowers.
The war for scientologies future was just beginning. Part six,
Cracks in the Facade twenty to twenty ten. The New
millennium began with Scientology at its peak. Its tax exempt
status was secure, its real estate empire had grown vast.

(35:14):
Its leader, David Misscaveage, ruled with total authority, and its
most famous, faced Tom Cruise, was the embodiment of success, charisma,
and devotion to the church. But behind the clean, ideal
org facades and celebrity endorsements, fault lines were spreading. The
church that had spent decades perfecting control was about to
face something it couldn't contain. The Internet. In the early

(35:38):
two thousands, anonymous message boards, leaked documents, and ex member
blogs began to erode the church's tightly managed narrative, internal policies,
secret teachings and stories of abuse were suddenly accessible to
anyone with a dial up connection, and what people saw
shocked them. One of the earliest and most damaging exposures

(35:58):
came from within. Former high ranking scientologists began to speak
out publicly and in detail. They described the internal operations
of the church not as spiritual but militaristic. Surveillance, interrogations, disconnection,
and harassment weren't fringe exceptions. They were baked into the system.
In two thousand and five, journalist Janet Reichman published a

(36:21):
deep investigative piece in Rolling Stone, laying bare the inner
workings of the church, its culture of control, and its
obsession with celebrity. She described how the church had tracked critics,
managed public perception, and invested enormous resources in maintaining a
spotless image, especially through Tom Cruise. That same year, Cruise's

(36:42):
media blitz went into overdrive. He made headlines for a
series of passionate interviews, including a now infamous appearance on
The Today Show where he aggressively criticized psychiatry and called
antidepressants dangerous. He declared that scientology was the only true
path to mental health and slammed actress Brookshields for taking

(37:02):
medication to treat postpartum depression. The backlash was immediate. The
public saw not conviction but fanaticism. Cruise's reputation took a hit,
and with it Scientologies. But the real blow came in
two thousand and eight. That year, a video was leaked online,
an internal Scientology promotional reel featuring Tom Cruise. In it,

(37:24):
he spoke with manic intensity about the Church, claiming that
scientologists were the only ones truly qualified to help people,
the only ones who could really save the world. The
video went viral. People weren't just laughing, They were asking
serious questions. What exactly did scientologists believe? Why did they
act with such secrecy, and why was the church so

(37:46):
quick to attack anyone who criticized it. Shortly after the leak,
the Church tried to remove the video from the Internet.
That was their mistake. In doing so, they drew the
attention of an entirely new kind of enemy, a decentralized,
anonymous swarm of Internet activists who called themselves Anonymous. What
started as a joke quickly turned serious. Anonymous launched Project Canology,

(38:10):
a global protest movement aimed squarely at the Church. Of Scientology,
wearing Guy Fawkes masks and coordinating through online forums. Anonymous
stage demonstrations outside Scientology centers in cities around the world.
They chanted, they passed out flyers, they exposed documents, they
published stories from ex members, and they didn't stop. The

(38:31):
church responded with its usual tactics, surveillance, cease and desist letters,
accusations of harassment. But this wasn't like fighting one rogue
journalist or one defected celebrity. This was the Internet. There
was no central target, no one office to intimidate, no
lawsuit to silence a crowd. The striis and effect kicked in.
The more Scientology tried to shut it down, the louder

(38:54):
the story became, and the public, curious and skeptical, started
digging deeper. What they found was disturbing. In two thousand
and nine, The Saint Petersburg Times later renamed the Tampa
Bay Times, launched a multi part investigative series titled The
Truth Rundown. It featured interviews with several former top ranking
Scientology executives, including Marty Rathbunn and Mike Rinder. They painted

(39:18):
a picture of a church obsessed with control and punishment.
They accused David Misscaveage of physically assaulting staff members, micromanaging
operations through fear, and enforcing loyalty through violence and intimidation.
The church denied everything. They called the ex members bitter liars.
They produced videos, affidavits, and rebuttals, but the damage was done.

(39:43):
This was no longer just about Tom Cruise or OT levels.
This was about physical abuse, about psychological manipulation, about a
toxic power structure that silenced dissent and punished transparency. Meanwhile,
membership was quietly declining while the church continued to report
it expansion. Critics pointed out the empty ideal orgs, the

(40:03):
dwindling crowds at events, and the growing number of disaffected
ex members sharing their stories online. The Internet, once just
an annoyance, had become an existential threat to the church's
ability to control its narrative. And then, in twenty ten,
a former high level scientologist named Paul Haggis, an Academy
Award winning screenwriter and director, dropped a bombshell. Hagis published

(40:27):
a scathing open letter explaining why he had left scientology
after thirty five years. His reasons were many, the church's
support of California's anti gay Proposition eight, the practice of disconnection,
the mistreatment of sa ORG members, and the refusal to
publicly acknowledge internal abuse. But perhaps most powerful was his tone.

(40:47):
Hagis wasn't ranting, he wasn't bitter. He was disappointed, deeply
so that an organization he had once believed in had become,
in his words, morally bankrupt. His departure made headlines around
the world. For many, it was the moment they realized
Scientology's grip was slipping. Because if someone as respected, thoughtful,
and loyal as Paul Haggis could walk away, what else

(41:11):
might be true. The two thousands had begun with momentum,
visibility and media charm, but by twenty ten, the curtain
was being pulled back, and what people saw wasn't spiritual enlightenment.
It was control. It was silence, It was fear. The
next decade wouldn't just challenge the church's public image, it
would threaten its very foundation. Part seven Expose Era. By

(41:35):
twenty ten, the walls were cracking and the spotlight was
no longer in the church's control. The carefully polished image
of Scientology as a benevolent misunderstood religion offering spiritual freedom
had given way to something darker, and in the years
that followed, those shadows would be dragged fully into the light.
The age of exposure had begun. The floodgates opened not

(41:57):
with enemies of the church but with its former generals,
high ranking insiders who had spent decades in forcing Hubbard's policies,
protecting Misscavage's authority, and keeping the secrets buried. Now they
were walking out and speaking up. One of the most
visible was Marty Rathbunn, once the second highest ranking official
in scientology. In interviews and videos, he detailed how scientology

(42:21):
handled dissent through manipulation, harassment, and psychological warfare. He described
auditing sessions used as confessionals, later weaponized to control and intimidate.
He talked about David Misscavage's violent outbursts, about the internal
culture of paranoia, and about the lies they were instructed
to tell the outside world. Others followed, Mike Rinder, Amy Scobee,

(42:44):
Jeff Hawkins, all former insiders, now testifying to a system
built not on enlightenment but on coercion. But it wasn't
just YouTube clips or blogs anymore. It was television In
twenty fifteen, actress Leah Remenie, one of Scientology's most famous
and loyal members for over thirty years, left the church,
and she did not go quietly. Remeni's departure shook the foundations.

(43:07):
She was bold, famous and unapologetic. She'd grown up in Scientology,
recruited others into it, donated time and money, and followed
its rules until she began to question why was David
Muscavich's wife, Shelley suddenly missing from public view. Why were
her questions ignored? Why were members cut off from their
families Without explanation, she was labeled a suppressive person and

(43:30):
cast out, so she picked up a microphone. In twenty sixteen,
Remini partnered with former church spokesman Mike Rinder to create
a television series called Scientology and the Aftermath. The show
aired on A and E and became an instant cultural flashpoint.
Each episode featured stories from former members, tales of broken families,

(43:51):
psychological trauma, financial ruin, and systemic abuse. It wasn't just sensational,
it was devastating, and it struck a chord. For the
first time, the stories were being told on a major
platform without legal gag orders or intimidation tactics working fast
enough to stop them. The public began to see not
a misunderstood church, but a machine, a machine that promised

(44:14):
salvation but often delivered control and fear. The church responded
with its usual fire smear websites, legal threats, media statements.
Leah Remedi and Mike Render were attacked online, portrayed as liars, traders,
bitter opportunists, but it didn't matter. The genie was out.
At the same time, journalists continued their investigations. Tony Ortega,

(44:37):
a former newspaper editor, launched The Underground Bunker, a daily
blog chronicling everything Scientology didn't want the world to know.
Court documents, internal memos, interviews, financial data. All of it
was published, piece by piece. The puzzle of Scientology's inner
structure was exposed, and so was its decline. Despite its
claims of worldwide expansion, signs pointed in the opposite direction.

(45:01):
Former members revealed that the church had stopped measuring success
by membership growth and had shifted focus to real estate.
Empty ideal orgs, opulent but hollow dotted major cities. Events
looked impressive but were often sparsely attended. Estimates from independent
researchers suggested that Scientology's active membership had dropped to perhaps
twenty thousand or fewer worldwide, down from the hundreds of

(45:24):
thousands claimed by the church. While money still flowed in
from loyal donors and lucrative celebrity endorsements, the soul of
the church the people was fading. And then there was
the question no one could ignore. Where is Shelley. Shelley Misscavage,
wife of David Miss Cabbage and a longtime Scientologist in
her own right, had not been seen publicly since two

(45:47):
thousand and seven. Leah Remeny raised the question loudly. Law
enforcement performed a wellness check and later stated that she
was fine, but skeptics were not convinced. The lack of
a public appearance, even during the height of controversy, only
deep in the mystery, and it raised an even darker question,
what happens to people inside the church who become inconvenient?

(46:10):
As lawsuits mounted and defectors multiplied, new cases emerged. Former
Sea York members told stories of being forced to have
abortions to remain in service. Others described psychological breakdowns from
endless interrogations. Stories surfaced of families being ripped apart by
the disconnection policy of surveillance teams sent to stock ex
members of harassment campaigns that lasted years, and still Scientology endured.

(46:35):
It adapted, It tightened control. It leaned harder on celebrity,
on real estate, on online pr David Misscavage, now rarely
seen in public, maintained his grip from behind layers of
loyal lieutenants, and the church's legal team remained aggressive, threatening,
and well funded. The question isn't why the church survives,
it's how. The answer lies in three things, secrecy, structure,

(46:58):
and fear. Secrecy allows the tech Church to protect its doctrine,
keep its members isolated from outside criticism, and maintain control
of the narrative structure, especially the sea org and internal
ethics systems ensures absolute loyalty and punishes deviation. And fear.
Fear is the mortar. Fear of disconnection, fear of punishment,
fear of losing your family, your friends, your eternity. And

(47:20):
yet cracks still widen. Today, Scientology faces a world that's
no longer easy to manage. The Internet cannot be silenced,
whistleblowers keep coming, investigative documentaries continue to surface, and younger
generations are skeptical of any institution that demands secrecy, obedience,
and financial devotion in exchange for spiritual clarity. Scientology's mythos

(47:43):
ancient galactic wars immortal thetans Evil Psychiatrists, now lives in
the public square. The mystique is gone. What remains is controversy,
courtroom battles, and a slowly eroding membership held together by
legal pressure and internal surveillance. The church will say this
is persecution, its critics call it exposure and the truth

(48:05):
The truth depends on who's telling the story. Join us
next week on the podcast as we dive into one
of the most infamous cults in modern American history, the
Branch Davidians. Led by a self proclaimed prophet named David Koresh,
this radical offshoot of the Seventh Day Adventist Church believed
the end of the world was not just coming, it
was imminent. With an arsenal of weapons and a growing

(48:27):
number of devoted followers, they settled on a compound just
outside Waco, Texas. In nineteen ninety three, everything came to
a head a tense fifty one day standoff between the
Branch Davidians and US federal agents ended in a fiery
catastrophe that shocked the nation. Seventy six men, women, and
children lost their lives, and the word Waco became forever

(48:47):
linked with tragedy, controversy, and conspiracy. Who was David Koresh,
what did his followers believe? And how did a quiet
religious sect become the center of one of the deadliest
confrontations in US law enforcement history. That's next week right here.
Don't miss it.

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Ep.1 Scientology

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