The Sensibly Speaking Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Cultic Behavior in Social Activism ft. Dr James Lindsay Feb 22, 2020

Show notes

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, but why the underlying theories driving some of these movements are based on bad or pseudoscience. This of course does not mean that the drive for equality of opportunity or human rights for every single person should not be pushed hard and with ferocity. It simply means that there are deeper elements to some of these movements which need to be understood. Enjoy!

James Lindsay’s article on social justice as a religion

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Sensibly Speaking Podcast #233: Jon Atack vs. Scientology (Part 1) Feb 15, 2020

Show notes

This week I am joined by former Scientologist, artist and historian Jon Atack to finally discuss his own 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, but in this episode we managed to squeeze in how Jon got involved with Scientology in the first place, what services he did through the OT levels and his thoughts about them and how he finally got out. Enjoy!

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Reckless Ben and Mike vs. Scientology Feb 08, 2020

Show notes

This week I got a chance to interview Reckless Ben and Mike, the two men who have most recently infiltrated Scientology, recorded what happened inside the church walls and lived to post about it. We cover their whole journey and what drove them to do this in the first place as well as some future plans. Enjoy!

Ben’s GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/infiltrating-scientology-series-finale-stunt

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The Three Apostates on How Cults Use Fear to Control Their Members Feb 01, 2020

Show notes

This week we bring you another Three Apostates, this time taking on the topic of phobia induction, or as Lloyd aptly describes it, fear mongering. All of our past groups and many other high control groups out there purposefully instill fear as a means of controlling their members: fear of death, fear of God, fear of the consequences of leaving and many others. We go into some detail about all of this and why this is one of the more despicable things that cult leaders do because it is actually very effective.

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What is Dominionism and Why Should You Care? ft. Dr. Clint Heacock Jan 25, 2020

Show notes

This week I am joined once again by Dr. Clint Heacock, a former evangelical minister, who has a great deal of personal and professional experience in and out of the evangelical world. He and I discuss in detail the topic of dominionism, a movement within the US Christian world to gain political and social power exclusively for Christians so as to take over government, law, education, art, etc. We go over what this movement is about, who is involved and why we as citizens should know and care about this. Enjoy!

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How You Help Someone Out of a Cult ft. Christian Szurko Jan 18, 2020

Show notes

This week it was my privilege to interview Christian Szurko, a man who assists people out of destructive cult or high control groups through nothing but conversation and life assistance. We discuss many aspects of how he does his work and some surprising outcomes over the years. This podcast is one I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time and I hope it has come out as good as I think it is. Enjoy!

Christian’s website: dialogcentre.org.uk

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Landmark Forum vs. Scientology ft. Dale Dickenson Jan 11, 2020

Show notes

This week, we have a real tour de force. I am joined by former Landmark staffer Dale Dickins from Melbourne, Australia, to discuss in detail the ins and outs of Landmark Forum and the whole array of classes and training they offer, including her experiences volunteering and then working for the Landmark organization. Throughout our discussion I offer comparisons to Scientology, since some of the material in the Landmark classes was cribbed from Hubbard’s works and Scientology even has a special “handling” for former members of Landmark and EST. Enjoy!

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2019 in Scientology and Beyond Jan 02, 2020

Show notes

Today I went live to talk about what happened in 2019, a year in review, especially in the world of Scientology (where things were not so great) and in my own personal life (where things are a lot better). Enjoy!

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Leaving the Witness ft. Amber Scorah Dec 28, 2019

Show notes

This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Amber Scorah, a former Jehovah’s Witness who has an amazing story of actually working as an underground missionary in China to spread the faith before realizing she was herself living under an authoritarian control system. She’s since been on The Daily Show and has done a TED Talk on cultic influences. We talk about her experiences but also found a lot of shared experiences between our two cult experiences. Enjoy!

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My Humanist Christmas Episode ft. Seth Andrews Dec 25, 2019

Show notes

Merry Christmas everyone – this is a Special Bonus Podcast for Christmas featuring Seth Andrews, one of my favorite guests and host of the Thinking Atheist podcast. In this episode, we discuss humanism, kindness and compassion and how we have hit and missed on achieving these in the past years and what our goals are for this new year coming to spread a message of humanism. Enjoy!

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