Bonus Sample: Scientology’s Sci-Fi Religion
Conspirituality17 Feb 2025

Bonus Sample: Scientology’s Sci-Fi Religion

“You don’t get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, start a religion.” With those words, prolific sci-fi pulp fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard prophesied the course of his life’s work. The 1950s saw the emergence of UFO- and alien channeling-based spiritual groups, as postmodern religious syncretism transformed supposedly ancient angels and demons into benevolent and/or terrifying aliens. No iteration of this fantasy has been more financially fruitful, culturally impactful, controversial, or bizarre than Hubbard’s brainchild: Scientology. In the latest episode of Roots of Conspirituality, Julian digs into the fascinating backstory of this prolific author, revered as prophetic by thousands, pursued as a fraud by the IRS for decades, described as a cult leader by church escapees, and called an abusive madman by his ex-wives. Allegedly… The religion is a complex blend of self-help psychology, elaborate pseudoscience, high-demand paranoia, and alien mythology that, at its height, commanded 100,000 members—and is still valued at roughly $2 billion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Brief: Mikki Willis and Russell Brand Rewrite History

Brief: Mikki Willis and Russell Brand Rewrite History

Mikki Willis recently joined Russell Brand to discuss a whole host of issues, including rather suspect rewritings of the histories of AIDS and Covid-19. Derek and Julian discuss. Learn more about you...

4 Apr 23min

302: The Disinformation Dozen: Wuhan Drift

302: The Disinformation Dozen: Wuhan Drift

Early in this podcast we covered the Disinformation Dozen, 12 wellness influencers and contrarian health figures responsible for spreading the lion’s share of vaccine misinformation on major social me...

2 Apr 1h 6min

Bonus Sample: Peptides: Wellness’s Experimental Jab

Bonus Sample: Peptides: Wellness’s Experimental Jab

Listen to the full episode The wellness industry has been repeating marketing strategies used by the fashion and diet book industries for decades. Influencers are just exploiting novelty-seeking cogn...

30 Mars 7min

Brief: Eulogy for Joseph Baker, Faithful Listener

Brief: Eulogy for Joseph Baker, Faithful Listener

Matthew eulogizes longtime Conspirituality listener Joseph Baker, who died on February 4 at the age of 51. They became online friends when Joseph reached out to say that maybe Matthew was being too ha...

28 Mars 31min

301: Gen X Meets the Manosphere

301: Gen X Meets the Manosphere

Did we all need a streaming manosphere documentary? Many did. Did we need one made in the GenX stop-and-mug slacker analysis-avoiding style of Louis Theroux? Debatable. Today we review Theroux’s Insid...

26 Mars 1h 12min

Bonus Sample: The New Age Muslim Apocalyptic Prophet

Bonus Sample: The New Age Muslim Apocalyptic Prophet

From a repurposed orphanage in the North of England, Abdullah Hashem tells his audience in five languages, across two satellite TV companies, and multiple social media channels that he is the successo...

23 Mars 8min

Brief: The Book Men Actually Need

Brief: The Book Men Actually Need

There's been talk about the "male loneliness epidemic" for years. Yet what about women? Derek reviews economist Corinne Low's recent book, Having It All, in light of this question, contrasting it with...

21 Mars 29min

300: Farming Ballerinas

300: Farming Ballerinas

When Hannah and Daniel Neeleman recently went on camera to explain their position on raw milk, they assured their 22 million-plus following that they were going to follow regulations—with a bit of a g...

19 Mars 56min

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