Jan. 4, 2022
The Church of Scientology Part 1: The Story of L. Ron Hubbard
Super excited to kick off 2022 with this much-anticipated cult!
The Church of Scientology may be controversial; however, its devotees have nothing but praise for its teachings. For instance, actor Tom Cruise once called it “a beautiful religion,” while fellow actor John Travolta publicly stated that it was only being criticized because it “really works well.”
For many, though, the Church of Scientology is nothing but a dangerous cult that brainwashes people, charges them exorbitantly for their membership, and never lets them leave.
Get access to Part 2 right now on our Cultiv8 Podcast Network Patreon
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Transcript
Josh: Hi Fred.
Josh:My name is Josh Schell host of the let's start a cult podcast.
Josh:The only podcast host to now work with other podcasts to expand his grift.
Josh:That's right.
Josh:Let's start a cult along with some amazing other shows have started.
Josh:The cultivate podcast network shows in this network.
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Josh:We are distractions, podcast shots and thoughts, pineapple pizza podcast, and the Dumbfoundead.
Josh:This means some amazing collaborations coming in the future, but that is not.
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Josh:sign up, you will get access to episodes from this show a week early, and ad-free as well as some awesome bonus content from some of our other shows.
Josh:So if you want to listen to Scientology part two after this episode, be sure to go to patrion.com/cultivating podcast network and sign up now with that grift out of the way, it's time to introduce my guests for today.
Josh:That rhymed actually, I didn't even mean that, they are from one of the amazing podcasts.
Josh:Joining the network.
Josh:We are distractions podcast, the podcast that discusses anything from true crime, paranormal stories and conspiracy theories.
Josh:If you need a weird distraction from your everyday life, they are the podcast for you.
Josh:Please welcome Alex and Christie.
Josh:How are you guys doing?
Alex and Christie:Hello, we are doing fabulous.
Alex and Christie:And amongst these unprecedented times, I guess we could say,
Josh:That is fair.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:We've gone into lockdown again.
Josh:which is super fun.
Josh:I love Ontario.
Alex and Christie:we did.
Alex and Christie:We actually probably
Josh:yeah, basically,
Josh:it's like, don't see anyone don't do anything.
Alex and Christie:basically,
Josh:other than that, how were your holidays?
Alex and Christie:well, mine are just starting.
Alex and Christie:So.
Josh:Okay, well, that's good.
Alex and Christie:Christy over here is living her best life.
Alex and Christie:I'm back forward.
Alex and Christie:I am questioning everything.
Alex and Christie:Life's great.
Alex and Christie:Um, no, they were good.
Alex and Christie:Qualities are good.
Alex and Christie:I always hate that.
Alex and Christie:Like weird limbo between Christmas and new year's though, where nobody knows what's going on.
Alex and Christie:Nobody really wants to talk to you.
Alex and Christie:Everyone's
Josh:What's the date.
Josh:And what did, what day is it today?
Alex and Christie:like no one knows what data is.
Alex and Christie:I'm like, I think today is Tuesday.
Alex and Christie:No, it's Thursday, Thursday.
Alex and Christie:Is it really though?
Alex and Christie:Time is a made up construct anyways.
Alex and Christie:So
Josh:We're going down the dark rabbit hole at the beginning of this, this year.
Alex and Christie:start
Josh:yeah.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:You know, if you start low,
Josh:your
Alex and Christie:you only go up.
Josh:Yeah, exactly.
Josh:That's that's, uh, that's my goal for 2022, because
Alex and Christie:Yes.
Josh:2021, I started off positive and it shot me down real quick.
Josh:So
Alex and Christie:And here we are.
Josh:here we are another year, another variant, uh, well, with that doom and gloom out of the way, let's, jump in today's topic.
Josh:in today's episode of let's start a cult, we will be discussing the church of Scientology.
Josh:A group founded in the 1950s by a science fiction writer who created a system of self-improvement and spiritual awakening.
Josh:Thanks to his innate charisma.
Josh:He managed to turn his ideas into an actual.
Josh:One that now boasts millions of members across the globe.
Josh:In part two of this episode, we will be diving deeper into the church of Scientology, breaking down its recruitment and propaganda tactics to figure out how exactly it recruited high profile figures like Tom cruise, John Travolta, and Elizabeth Moss.
Josh:We will also take a look at how it operates and how it became officially accepted as a religion.
Josh:Now, I feel, I know the answer to this, but, uh, do you do know about the church of Scientology?
Alex and Christie:I would say, I know like the topic, but like, other than like Tom cruise, I don't really know what Scientology is.
Alex and Christie:I overhear no little bits and pieces from Leo remedy because I went down a YouTube kind of portal.
Alex and Christie:So I know the premise of it, but I don't know all the nitty-gritty details of it.
Josh:okay.
Josh:Well, that's good.
Josh:now are you guys worried?
Josh:Tom cruise is going to hunt us down after this episode.
Alex and Christie:Yes.
Alex and Christie:It's always worse to do this topic and she's like, someone's going to come for us.
Alex and Christie:And I was like, yeah, I have yet to discuss it on our show because of my fear of Tom cruise,
Josh:Okay.
Josh:Well that's yeah, he is a scary tiny man.
Josh:Um,
Alex and Christie:a tiny, angry couch jumping, man.
Alex and Christie:I don't want to deal with.
Josh:Now I don't know if he knows where Canada is on a map, so we might be safe.
Alex and Christie:Very true.
Josh:but, that is a good point.
Josh:Like I've had many people on and Scientology has obviously come up on my show many times and they're all very nervous, to mention it.
Josh:I don't know why.
Josh:I don't think they'll do anything like
Alex and Christie:no, I mean, I think it's just those fears that you hear when people that have left Scientology, when they start talking about your experiences, you know, oh, I lost my job.
Alex and Christie:I lost my relationships,
Josh:yeah,
Alex and Christie:basically.
Josh:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:I don't know if, because we're not in that Colt, if we would be targeted because I feel as if, you're an ex member, it's an issue.
Alex and Christie:If you're not a member
Josh:They don't really care.
Josh:Yeah, yeah.
Josh:That or, or if you don't hold any power, I don't think we hold any power.
Alex and Christie:yeah.
Josh:uh, so I think we're safe.
Josh:We're safe, I believe.
Josh:so let's, let's actually start by diving into the man, the myth, the legend, Mr.
Josh:L Ron Hubbard.
Alex and Christie:Ooh.
Alex and Christie:Okay.
Josh:yeah.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:He's a fun, fun guy.
Alex and Christie:So excited.
Josh:Lafayette, Ronald Hubbard was born on March 13th, 1911 in Tilden, Nebraska.
Josh:He was an only child, which is the first red flag.
Josh:his father, Harry Ross was a Naval officer while his mother Lindora may worked as a school.
Josh:When he was two, his parents decided to move to Helena Montana, and it was here where he would spend the majority of his childhood.
Josh:Since Hubbard's father was with the us Navy, he was frequently deployed to far away countries, such as China, Guam, and Japan, whether his son accompanied him on these trips, it remains unclear.
Josh:However, sources claimed that Hubbard lived with his grandparents in Montana while his parents were abroad.
Josh:I'm not sure where his mother was cause she was a school teacher, but I guess she just went along with him.
Josh:I don't know.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:That's kind of finishes like disappeared.
Alex and Christie:Like what she's like, you know what I don't want to be around.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:I, I teach kids on a daily.
Josh:I don't want to deal with my own at home.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:So it seems
Alex and Christie:excessive.
Josh:grandparents.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:after high school Hubbard decided to take up civil engineering at George Washington university in Washington, DC.
Josh:But it's poor academic performance forced him to drop out in a second year with no job opportunities due to his lack of a college degree.
Josh:He decided to turn to creative writing.
Josh:pending science fiction and horror stories for pulp magazines.
Josh:He only earned a penny a word though, which meant that he had to submit a ton of work to earn enough money to live on.
Alex and Christie:I was going to say like, oh, ouch.
Alex and Christie:Okay.
Josh:At that point I just,
Josh:I would just write jibberish and then send it in like,
Alex and Christie:Just, you know, hello, like a thousand times.
Alex and Christie:So many verbs wanting descriptive words.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Josh:It's like when you have a, when you're writing an essay for, class and you have like the, the word count that you have to get to and you
Alex and Christie:Oh, yes.
Josh:filler
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:Google other words other than, because
Josh:yeah.
Alex and Christie:it's fancy big words to use an essay.
Josh:Or are you just, turn the text to white and then you add that in.
Josh:So it counts towards the text, but you're just putting in jibberish.
Josh:I didn't do that if my teachers are listening.
Alex and Christie:Yeah, no, definitely never happened.
Alex and Christie:Uh can't can't say it can't relate to that.
Alex and Christie:Nudge, nudge.
Josh:so interestingly enough, this led to Hubbard earning the Guinness world record for having the highest number of stories translated and published.
Josh:He even became well-known in literary circles that included authors like Isaac Asimov.
Alex and Christie:That's a name.
Josh:Uh, and Robert Hindman, both of whom are regarded as pioneers of the science fiction, John.
Josh:Given the popularity of Hubbard's work.
Josh:It didn't take long for Hollywood to notice his creative genius, his story murder at pirate castle served as the basis for the 1936 film, the secret of treasure island, which was directed.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:Yeah, I didn't know this either until I started diving into it.
Alex and Christie:Yeah, that's insane.
Alex and Christie:I didn't.
Alex and Christie:Other than his connection of Scientology, never heard of this, man.
Alex and Christie:Couldn't
Josh:he has a ton of books and like short stories of science fiction.
Josh:And I've read a couple, I took science fiction as like a, an elective class in one of my colleges courses.
Josh:And, he has a lot like it's, it's quite a few.
Alex and Christie:we running a penny board.
Alex and Christie:I'd write a lot.
Josh:yeah, that's true.
Josh:Well, I mean the amazing thing, like it is, obviously a lot of garbage stuff.
Josh:It's like,
Josh:Steve.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:It's like Stephen King, you just throw enough stuff at the wall.
Josh:Good stuff is going to come out.
Josh:Right.
Alex and Christie:exactly.
Josh:so there are some, some flops, but there are quite a few good stories he has.
Josh:So I would definitely be on the Scientology.
Josh:Go, go recommend some of his, some of his books.
Alex and Christie:No one judges, the treasure island, like a well-known movie, Kristy
Josh:yeah, yeah, yeah.
Josh:Like back in the day, right?
Josh:Like it's not For like nineties, eighties kids Probably pretty big.
Josh:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:cultured.
Alex and Christie:One thing you, not that I was away.
Josh:That's okay.
Josh:That's okay.
Josh:You know, the further you are from Scientology, I think the safer you are, so
Alex and Christie:It's fine.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:exactly.
Josh:Hubbard would later claim that he also helped write the script for the stage.
Josh:Western directed by John Ford and released in 1939.
Josh:However, his name doesn't appear anywhere in the credits.
Josh:So I don't know if it's just something he said lot, but,
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:You just kinda explained it once and was like, yeah, no, no, I did that.
Alex and Christie:I definitely, I definitely did that.
Josh:yeah guys, I was there.
Josh:I was in the room when you said that, that name.
Josh:So I
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:I was breathing the same air as everybody else was in that time.
Alex and Christie:So I'm there for a part of it.
Josh:I lived in Hollywood when this movie came out.
Josh:It basically I was in it.
Josh:so
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:That's how it works in Hollywood.
Alex and Christie:I bet.
Josh:yeah.
Josh:Yeah, I think so.
Josh:in April, 1933, Hubbard married Margaret group grub, something
Josh:like that, a glider pilot who preferred to go by her nickname?
Josh:Paulie
Alex and Christie:Interesting.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:Polly pirate.
Josh:I think that's funny.
Alex and Christie:I love that.
Josh:the couple soon welcome two children, a son named after his father, but was called nibs, which
Alex and Christie:No, the actual name is names.
Alex and Christie:No, I
Josh:Well, that's just what they call them.
Josh:He was, he was named after, L Ron Hubbard.
Alex and Christie:oh
Josh:they just called them nibs for some reason.
Josh:I don't know why maybe he really liked the candy.
Alex and Christie:yeah.
Alex and Christie:Could you imagine you have a dope ass mom, whose name is pirate?
Alex and Christie:Paulie is like, and then,
Josh:your nibs.
Alex and Christie:oh, that
Alex and Christie:poor
Alex and Christie:child
Josh:So unfortunate, they also had a daughter who was clearly the favorite one because her name was Catherine Mae and they just called her Catherine probably, Hubbard and, Paulie's marriage was strained though.
Josh:Thanks to Hubbard's unstable source of income and his wife's suspicion that he was engaging in extra marital affairs.
Alex and Christie:That'll
Josh:yeah.
Josh:Her suspicions were well-founded though.
Josh:And her husband was known for being a flirt and a serial cheater,
Alex and Christie:no, I hate those.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:that must mean he cheated a lot, right.
Josh:To be classified as a serial cheater.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:I mean, if there's anything bad in this world is to be a serial of anything.
Alex and Christie:Right.
Alex and Christie:Serial killer sealer, serial dater.
Alex and Christie:So you don't hear.
Josh:A serial mascot.
Josh:I know you did tell me the tiger bastard.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:so, so not good.
Josh:clearly not, not a good relationship.
Josh:but he has many we will get into.
Alex and Christie:Oh great.
Alex and Christie:I can only imagine.
Josh:yeah, Yeah.
Josh:Hubbard's career as a writer was interrupted by America's entry into world war II.
Josh:and I, I like to imagine he was annoyed by it.
Josh:He was like, God damn it.
Josh:I can't write anymore.
Josh:There's a war where, I mean,
Josh:yeah, it's so inconvenient.
Josh:So he decided to follow in his father's footsteps and joined the Navy reserve in 1941 while he was made a Lieutenant upon the recommendation of his congressmen.
Josh:He received no other awards later, though.
Josh:Hubbard would paint himself as a decorated war hero who helped create the United States air force and struck down a large number of enemy ships.
Josh:He even said that he was left physically disabled at the end of the war.
Josh:but as noted in the website history 1 0 1 quote in reality, Hubbard never saw combat, never won any medals and was good enough, health to begin working on a variety of stories and novels that would define his public persona before he created Scientology end quote.
Josh:So he basically just stolen, stolen valor.
Alex and Christie:it's just the worst already.
Alex and Christie:I mean, we haven't even been talking, but I'm from that long and it's like, oh, you're the equivalent of like a, a Kyle or a Chad
Josh:yeah.
Josh:March.
Alex and Christie:is very, you know, claims to do everything claims to be the one that
Alex and Christie:is, uh, I just, I don't, I don't mind.
Alex and Christie:I don't
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:Just, Just, an arrow of self-importance that,
Josh:uh, is uncalled for.
Josh:Cause He's just a poor writer.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Josh:do anything else.
Alex and Christie:He's a damn writer for
Josh:yeah.
Josh:Who cheats on his wife a lot.
Josh:so Hubbard's marriage deteriorated even further after world war II later, he would say that his entire family had abandoned him due to his disability.
Josh:However, his daughter, Catherine claimed that her mother actually refused to relocate to Los Angeles, California, where her father was staying at the time.
Josh:He, on the other hand, didn't want to move back to Washington.
Josh:And So.
Josh:the two went their separate ways.
Josh:Which fair enough.
Alex and Christie:yeah, I, it's kinda weird in those situations, like when you just try and meet in the middle, but he's already a piece of shit, so it's like, you know what, this is my out.
Alex and Christie:I'm taking it and
Alex and Christie:see ya.
Josh:I was going to say if I was here, I wouldn't, I wouldn't even care that
Josh:much.
Josh:It's like, yeah.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:If you want to leave that's that's okay.
Josh:sometime in the mid 1940s, Hubbard became involved with 21 year old, Sarah Northrup, the girlfriend of Jack Parsons, a rocket propulsion researcher and founder of the jet propulsion laboratory.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:So Hubbard had moved in with him after separating from his wife and the two developed a close for.
Josh:So close that Parsons didn't even bat an eye when Hubbard began having sex with his girlfriend, which is not the kind of friendship I want
Alex and Christie:I know that's too friendly.
Alex and Christie:I don't
Josh:way too friendly.
Josh:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:too friendly.
Alex and Christie:That, that makes me uncomfortable in so many different levels.
Josh:But you got to wonder how like, charismatic, I guess, like how, how do you convince someone to do that?
Alex and Christie:and be okay with it.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:I don't, I don't understand that.
Alex and Christie:I mean, I feel like I almost need to look up a picture of him because this guy has got to be either a sling something, or he's got to be look like really good looking.
Josh:yeah, he was a decent looking.
Josh:guy up until later in life, he smoked a lot.
Josh:So his teeth were not great near the end of his life.
Josh:And he was very obese.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:So maybe in his younger years he was a heartthrob, but it is still weird.
Josh:Like this is something you'd expect from like the seventies where the people just share partners and stuff, you know, it's the, the decade of love, but, , it's the mid forties, which is very, I feel conservative and,
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:You know what I mean?
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:You don't, you don't do that.
Alex and Christie:I mean, even having an affair publicly demonstrated or whatever would be very taboo, you'd be like underground something going on.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:That's, that's true too.
Josh:Yeah, so besides his, uh, his relationship, during this time Hubbard also became involved.
Josh:Bordeaux temporally or entas a secret of black magic cult founded by a group of German occultists among its members was an English novelist, Alistair Crowley who believed himself a divine prophet, and even founded a religious movement called Thelma
Alex and Christie:Yeah, he's interesting.
Alex and Christie:I kind of want to talk about him someday, cause he's a very individual.
Alex and Christie:I'm just going to leave up
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:Researching this episode.
Josh:I definitely like looking into this.
Josh:I want to do this episode on, on this call.
Josh:I think it would be, kind of cool.
Josh:So you can come, you can come, on for that episode and we can talk trash about Alistair traveling.
Josh:you're in, yeah, you're in the inner circle now.
Josh:in August, 1946, Hubbard married Northrup, despite still being married to his first wife.
Josh:Stealing Northrup from his best friend.
Josh:it was only the following year that Pauli actually learned the news and began initiating divorce proceedings.
Josh:So I guess they separated, but never actually did the divorce, which, isn't uncommon, I feel, but,
Josh:um,
Alex and Christie:wait a long time though.
Alex and Christie:Like, yeah.
Alex and Christie:I mean, it's good to do it, right?
Alex and Christie:Like if you just separate it's, you know, you, you get to live your own life without having to pay for a lawyer to take everything out, but then it makes it a little bit messy.
Alex and Christie:Right.
Alex and Christie:Especially if you want
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:I feel back in the day was probably more of a taboo for a woman to initiate the divorce proceedings.
Josh:You know what I
Josh:mean?
Josh:Still?
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:So I feel it had to take him getting married to someone else for her to actually push for that.
Josh:So.
Josh:The divorce was messy though, as, as Alex
Alex and Christie:Usually.
Josh:guessed, um, with Paulie alleging that Hubbard had subjected her to quote systematic torture, beatings, strangulation, and scientific torture, experiments, and quote.
Josh:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:okay.
Josh:Any guesses of what scientific Torture.
Josh:would be,
Alex and Christie:Torture.
Alex and Christie:Where was
Josh:try to clone her.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:It was one of these old lady science experiment wrote, so something where you're
Josh:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:like keeping it sexual.
Alex and Christie:I dunno.
Alex and Christie:Sexual.
Josh:It's probably
Alex and Christie:I don't, I, yeah, I don't, I don't, I don't want to know,
Alex and Christie:but are you going to us?
Josh:No, I'm not.
Josh:I That's That was their quote.
Josh:Um, they didn't, well, not from my findings.
Josh:I couldn't find anything that delve deeper.
Josh:Not that.
Josh:I wanted to really, it was probably gross.
Josh:and you know, A terrible thing to happen.
Josh:but in the end, their marriage was dissolved and she was granted full custody of their two children.
Josh:So nibs and Catherine can live a happy life away from their dad.
Alex and Christie:yeah,
Josh:yeah, maybe he got his real name back.
Josh:You never know.
Josh:after the divorce was finalized Hubbard and his new wife moved around first to Laguna beach in California, then to Georgia, before settling in Elizabeth New Jersey, it was there that he would begin writing.
Josh:What would later serve as the basis of the church of Scientology dunt, dunt, dunt.
Josh:I need sound effects.
Josh:Dammit.
Alex and Christie:We all do all.
Alex and Christie:This is the consistent conversation we have on our show.
Alex and Christie:We need like sound effects, sound board, something, something,
Josh:I have a soundboard.
Josh:I don't think there's anything on it that would work for this though.
Josh:Let's let's
Josh:try.
Alex and Christie:you
Josh:Nope,
Alex and Christie:oh,
Josh:sure.
Josh:We'll we'll go with that.
Alex and Christie:I like it.
Alex and Christie:You know what I feel?
Alex and Christie:That's that's the sky nutshell.
Josh:It's a squeaky.
Josh:I thought it was a cricket, but that works too.
Alex and Christie:I was going to say he can also be a cricket.
Alex and Christie:They're
Alex and Christie:pretty annoying and useless.
Alex and Christie:It's great.
Josh:That's very, yeah, they are very loud and annoying.
Josh:Uh, so, in New Jersey Hubbard began collecting concepts from Eastern religions and modern psychology, combining them into a system for mental health that he called.
Josh:Dianetics a name derived from the Greek word for.
Josh:He claimed that this was a program of self-improvement and spiritual awakening that was capable of curing all mental and physical ailments, allowing the person to gain superhuman powers.
Josh:So
Alex and Christie:no,
Alex and Christie:I, someone that works in mental health, no,
Josh:Oh, uh, let's do bad.
Josh:I thought if I thought, if I saw a shrink, I would become unstoppable, but
Alex and Christie:He thinks that, I mean, I'm sure there's people out there that do think that then they come and see me for broken stuff.
Alex and Christie:They go see a psychiatrist, jump off a roof, then go see Christy for next.
Alex and Christie:Right.
Josh:Wow.
Alex and Christie:circle.
Josh:it's full circle.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:You guys will never be out of a job.
Josh:That's.
Alex and Christie:No,
Josh:So this system is explained by business insider as quote, the basic principles in Dianetics is that the brain records every experience and event in a person's life, good or bad, the bad experiences are referred to as anagrams, which could hurt supposedly a person.
Josh:If they're triggered later in life, by carrying out or auditing being asked very personal questions by a trained auditor, the person can be cleared of an anagram, bleeding to being clear, which is perfect with the, sorry.
Josh:This is very poorly.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:It's by business insider.
Josh:So it's
Josh:just gobbledygook.
Josh:, so being clear, which is a perfectly functioning mind and quote, so it sounds like just basic, going to a psycho, a psychiatrist, I guess it would be like, but not trained psychologist.
Josh:Just
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:It's
Josh:auditors,
Alex and Christie:yeah, it's basically, to me it sounds like, okay, you know what, if you go to these people and say, these are all the bad experiences in my life and then learn how to remove those memories.
Alex and Christie:It's almost like a repression,
Josh:true.
Josh:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:as far as my understanding, there's no actual formal therapy where you learn how to repress your thoughts.
Alex and Christie:That's kind of like a brain, your brains own doing
Josh:Right.
Alex and Christie:somebody like Barry stuff.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:But even then, I mean, everything always comes back up to the surface.
Alex and Christie:I don't know cognitively speech, but I mean, that's a, that's a thought that's a, that's a very intense way of going on.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:I don't know.
Josh:Maybe it's just like a, a mindset.
Josh:If, if you go talk to someone and they're like, you're cleared, you're healthy now.
Josh:Maybe that even talking about some of your experiences and then being told that you're Okay.
Josh:Maybe that is even a positive effect on people.
Josh:You know what I mean?
Alex and Christie:Definitely.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:And I can, I can see where probably some people then would buy into that.
Alex and Christie:Right.
Alex and Christie:Cause if you just go and do talk therapy, you just kind of vent out everything that you're feeling.
Alex and Christie:And then at the end of it, they're like, okay, you're good now.
Alex and Christie:It's like, okay, great.
Alex and Christie:I can go jump off.
Alex and Christie:Yeah, I can go jump off.
Josh:I can fly.
Josh:Have you guys ever watched, uh, is it the superhero movie or something?
Josh:It's with Drake bell.
Josh:It's like a spoof on Spider-Man and like the X men,
Alex and Christie:Oh, no,
Josh:ah,
Alex and Christie:either.
Alex and Christie:I've seen those kind of easiest though.
Josh:Yeah, it's a dumb movie, but there's a scene where Tom cruise is in it and he's like, he's like, I can fly.
Josh:I can fly.
Josh:And then it's like cut to him, jumping off a building, and then it's like, Tom cruise is die.
Josh:Uh, so that's
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:exactly.
Josh:so I, this is very much from that I believe, uh, which is
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:Oh dear.
Alex and Christie:It's very fitting that he was acting as that.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:I don't know He's a weird guy.
Josh:I have not going to dive into his psyche right now, but, uh, that'll be part two.
Josh:these ideas were outlined , in the book, Dianetics the modern science of mental health, which was published by Hermitage house on May 9th, 1950.
Josh:Thanks to Hubbard's fame.
Josh:As a science fiction writer, it soon became a national bestseller in particular, it was popular among college students and Hollywood celebrities, both of whom form groups dedicated to studying and practicing the system.
Alex and Christie:Hmm.
Josh:Hubbard's claims became increasingly outlandish as the number of his followers swelled apart from saying Dianetics cured his war injuries.
Josh:He also claimed that cancers such as leukemia were caused by anagrams and thus could be completely healed by adhering to his program.
Josh:Yeah, there's the grift.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:That's homeless.
Josh:Every cult or cult leader.
Josh:I have discussed as claim to cure uncurable diseases or, viruses or anything like that.
Josh:Uh,
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:People still have them
Alex and Christie:weird.
Josh:It's it's weird that we haven't gone that way to cure them all.
Josh:funny how you can't just wish away COVID
Alex and Christie:Yeah, you can try, but uh, he's not going anywhere.
Josh:Can try Alberta, but God damn it.
Josh:It's not going to work.
Alex and Christie:Shots fired.
Josh:in one instance, Hubbard said, quote, leukemia is evidently, psychosomatic in origin and at least eight causes of leukemia had been treated successfully by Dianetics after medicine had traditionally given up the source of leukemia has been reported to be an anagram containing the phrase.
Josh:It turns my blood to water and quote.
Josh:I don't know.
Josh:He,
Alex and Christie:say that in your cured?
Josh:I don't know.
Josh:I think this is one of those things where he's getting paid by the,
Josh:penny.
Josh:And so he just.
Alex and Christie:any, every answer.
Alex and Christie:This is like 700 words with no reason behind it.
Alex and Christie:I find it interesting that this man who didn't complete college and, didn't go to medical school.
Alex and Christie:Didn't
Alex and Christie:study
Josh:of science, uh, college.
Alex and Christie:now knows.
Alex and Christie:Now leukemia is caused your cancer
Josh:Hmm.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:It's an interesting theory.
Josh:I guess we'll call.
Alex and Christie:question, mark.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:We'll go with conspiracy.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:It's just, it reads like one of his science fiction novels, you know what I mean?
Josh:Like that, and that's definitely where many of his ideas come from, and should have probably been read as just science fiction, you know?
Alex and Christie:Probably, but unfortunately there's probably people out there that are heavily following it.
Alex and Christie:yeah.
Josh:yeah.
Alex and Christie:it science
Josh:A lot of people actually, the widespread popularity of Dianetics alarm, the scientific world with hundreds of scientists and medical professionals, publicly criticizing Hubbard's theories, esteemed organizations, such as the American psychological
Josh:Despite these criticisms Dianetics continued to spread its popularity was exacerbated by the national tours that Hubbard conducted through the early fifties, during which he gave lectures and seminars about his system.
Josh:He also asked for huge donations, which many were willing to give.
Alex and Christie:no, no.
Josh:yeah, I don't know if that's surprised anyone.
Alex and Christie:No, not surprised, but also not happy about it.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:his second wife would explain.
Josh:this was in a later interview.
Josh:Uh, she explained quote, these people were paying $500 a piece in the 1950s for training and Dianetics, I felt he was stealing from people.
Josh:He began to believe he was a savior and a hero that he really was this God figure and quote.
Alex and Christie:That's a lot of money back then.
Alex and Christie:That's a lot of
Josh:That is a lot that's American too.
Josh:So
Alex and Christie:Oh yeah.
Alex and Christie:Did people really believed apparently?
Josh:they really believed, Which you feel bad for them.
Josh:I mean, they are, you feel bad because every time I do one of these, it is people that are, people who have leukemia or diseases that are life threatening.
Josh:And so they turned to every possible avenue and that gets them looped into these cults or grifts as, as I like to call them.
Josh:But, uh, yeah, it's sad,
Alex and Christie:And it's hard.
Alex and Christie:It's hard too, because you try to explain reason to them, but they're so caught up in trying to feel better that to them, it's like, well, every other reasonable outcome I've tried, hasn't worked.
Alex and Christie:So I'm going to try this because this is, I'm going to rationalize that now one.
Alex and Christie:Yeah,
Josh:yeah.
Josh:It's like their hail Mary they're just like this.
Josh:Nothing else has worked might as well try for it.
Josh:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Josh:among those who fervently supported Hubbard's cause was done per cell, a millionaire from Wichita, Kansas.
Josh:So we don't have to feel bad for this guy.
Josh:He's a millionaire.
Alex and Christie:Chump
Alex and Christie:change.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:He's probably, responsible for terrible things, but, he agreed to pour his money into building a Dianetics foundation in his home.
Josh:However, he had a falling out with Hubbard shortly after, unfortunately, four Purcell, his original agreement forced him to personally cover the sizeable debt that had been incurred by other failed Dianetics organizations.
Josh:And in February, 1952 per cell, along with the other directors of the Dianetics foundation in Wichita filed for voluntary bankruptcy.
Alex and Christie:Ooh.
Alex and Christie:Ooh, not a good look.
Alex and Christie:My
Josh:Millions, Millions, of dollars down the drain
Josh:for this bullshit, foundation, I guess.
Josh:Yeah, it was as a foundation, but
Alex and Christie:Is it though?
Alex and Christie:Is it a
Josh:they call it a foundation, I guess I should say
Alex and Christie:charity?
Josh:anything can be a foundation if you just call it that.
Alex and Christie:Yeah, if you run with it
Josh:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:anyway, you want.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:Hubbard was undeterred and established the Hubbard college on the other side of Wichita.
Josh:so he could finally, complete college.
Alex and Christie:The only way
Josh:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:we can't complete college make your
Alex and Christie:own.
Josh:your own.
Josh:that's the Donald Trump way?
Josh:Uh, one of his staff members was 18 year old.
Josh:Mary Sue whip, whom he obviously married shortly after divorcing his second wife.
Josh:Sarah Northrup.
Alex and Christie:No, no, no, no,
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:Yep.
Josh:his increasing fame had put a strain on their relationship and he was more than happy to have her out of his life.
Josh:I'm sure she was just as happy.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:Likewise.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:she's like me too.
Josh:where do I start?
Josh:Where do I sign?
Josh:their separation was far from amicable though.
Josh:just like his first one, according to the, 20 15 documentary going clear Hubbard kidnapped their young daughter and fled to Cuba where he asked a local woman to help look after her.
Josh:However, the woman's mental issues prevented her from caring for the child and she resorted to keeping the young girl in a makeshift cage.
Alex and Christie:This is dry
Josh:Yeah, gets worse.
Josh:It gets worse.
Alex and Christie:Josh.
Alex and Christie:Oh my God.
Josh:recalling the ordeal.
Josh:Northrup said, quote Hubbard called me and told me he killed her.
Josh:He said he cut her into little pieces and drop the pieces in a river.
Josh:And that this was my fault.
Josh:Then he called back and said she was still alive this went on and on and on and quote.
Alex and Christie:He's a sociopath.
Josh:yeah.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:I, I think, Northrop, I think eventually gets custody of the child, but, definitely not a, definitely not a good.
Josh:breakup by the sensor.
Alex and Christie:I ended up an alleged murder,
Josh:yeah.
Josh:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:not a good
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:I don't think his Bentall thing is doing very
Alex and Christie:no benefits, some mental health.
Josh:maybe go to a real psychologist instead of a, what were they called?
Josh:Those stupid?
Josh:Auditor.
Josh:That's what they are.
Josh:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:Yes.
Alex and Christie:Yes.
Josh:I forgot about it because it was not a psychological term.
Alex and Christie:actual thing,
Alex and Christie:but we know what you're saying.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Josh:a tax thing.
Alex and Christie:Just go to your tax person for your mental health.
Alex and Christie:It's
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:Just call them up.
Josh:Uh, I think tax people need people who do taxes need the actual help mentally.
Josh:It was very stressful job.
Josh:Um,
Josh:only, six weeks after Hubbard college opened its doors Hubbard, shut it down and moved in with a third wife to Phoenix, Arizona.
Alex and Christie:he's really successful.
Josh:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:Gives us all every project he does.
Josh:Really, Really, afraid of commitment in all, all assets of his life.
Alex and Christie:Just trash.
Josh:he moved with his third wife to, Phoenix, Arizona, where he established an organization called Hubbard association of Scientologists international.
Josh:However, this wasn't enough for him because he can't sit still for two goddamn seconds.
Josh:And on February 18th, 1954 Hubbard filed incorporation papers for the church of Scientology of California, the first ever official Scientologist organization.
Josh:According to the website history, quote, the shift from Dianetics to Scientology included a focus on humans as a mortal souls that are trapped within multiple bodies through various lifetimes.
Josh:So reincarnation kind of,
Alex and Christie:Okay.
Alex and Christie:I mean, I, I, I mean, I get it.
Josh:yeah, it's not a new theory.
Josh:after purging the reactive mind of past trauma scars through the auditing process, an individual can become clear a concept from Dianetics, that represents a major goal in Scientology.
Josh:Those who go clear are believed to have reached a higher level of ethical and moral standards, greater creativity and control over their environment and even less susceptible to disease and quote.
Josh:So you're less susceptible to disease.
Alex and Christie:I find it interesting where it's like, okay, once you audit yourself, you are now better than everybody else.
Josh:it's, it's the same concept in most cults where you pass initiation, you're now better than the initiates and, you know, you go up from there, Right.
Josh:It's, it's just a different version of it.
Josh:It might be the first version of it.
Josh:Cause it was very early on in the cult history.
Alex and Christie:This is such like a pyramid scheme too, if you think about it,
Josh:yeah, yeah,
Alex and Christie:what connected
Josh:Most cults are pyramid screen schemes, uh, just in disguise as, uh, yeah.
Josh:in short, Hubbard had transformed his ideas on self-improvement and spiritual awakening into an actual religion.
Josh:He describes Scientology as quote, the study of knowing lists, it increases one's knowingness, but if man were totally aware of what's going on around him, he would find it relatively simple to handle any out.
Josh:in that.
Josh:And, a lot of jibberish again.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:Trying to get up that we're filler word filler, try and get those pennies.
Josh:I think that almost honestly changed them for the worst that
Josh:the writing words for pennies.
Josh:but basically he's saying like, if you know yourself, you can know world around you basically,
Alex and Christie:Which like I get,
Josh:kind of true, but
Alex and Christie:yeah.
Alex and Christie:If you're, if you're self aware of who you are as a person and try and understand the rest of the world, then I guess could be easier, but he doesn't know everything.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:He just, yeah.
Alex and Christie:Well, that's the thing, right?
Alex and Christie:You only have one perspective of life.
Alex and Christie:You can't know everything about anything else with just one perspective.
Josh:exactly.
Josh:That's very true.
Josh:Very deep, very deep Alex.
Josh:meanwhile, the church of Scientology is official website claims that their teaching contains answers for every question that humankind has ever had.
Josh:Quote, contained therein are answers to life's most profound mysteries, the enigma of existence, the riddle of death, the realization of states that even described in earlier literature, also from these works come Scientology technologies
Josh:so just reiterating the same thing, but you know, in better terms than Hubbard,
Josh:they have a marketing person on staff to just decipher what he's saying.
Alex and Christie:exactly.
Alex and Christie:They're like, we need to hire someone to help make this make sense.
Alex and Christie:Can anyone do this?
Josh:Can anyone help us?
Josh:much like his book on Dianetics Hubbard's church of Scientology became incredibly popular, especially among the Hollywood elites in California in 1956, the government officially recognized it as an actual religion, which meant that it was exempted from taxes.
Josh:this?
Josh:significantly increased, Hubbard's profits, especially since he was charging exorbitant amounts for memberships.
Josh:For instance, members were required to pay around $300 a session with the Scientology auditor who would guide them through their past experiences to.
Josh:eliminate any negative influences.
Josh:Hubbard claimed that multiple sessions were required before someone could completely eliminate all painful traumas and experiences from.
Josh:they're paying for mental health treatment with people who are probably not trained to do this,
Alex and Christie:um, no.
Alex and Christie:And just for reference.
Alex and Christie:So for example, when I go see my counselor for a 60 minute sessions, about $141 Canadian, you're telling in 20, yeah.
Alex and Christie:In the 21st century.
Alex and Christie:So you, this, this gentlemen, this, uh, Kyle equivalent is charging $300 per session with an untrained unregistered.
Alex and Christie:Person.
Alex and Christie:I'm not even gonna say
Alex and Christie:professional professional to be audited
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:And I wouldn't even be surprised if these were an hour long.
Josh:I agree.
Josh:It could just be like
Josh:quick 15, 15 minutes.
Josh:get out.
Alex and Christie:You're here.
Josh:Yep.
Josh:see you next week.
Josh:Uh, that'll be another $300
Josh:and uh,
Alex and Christie:Who has the kind of money back then?
Josh:the Hollywood elites, that's why they were in.
Josh:Or government officials and stuff.
Josh:once an individual was able to achieve this, he was considered clear and could move up to the churches, more advanced levels, eventually becoming an operation via tin or simply OT for short.
Josh:But do you guys know who won't charge you an exorbitant amount of money for a fake therapist, the products and services that support this show, they will charge you a fair price for their products or services.
Josh:I hope.
Alex and Christie:I hope
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:If we get a Scientology had on here, it's just Tom cruise.
Josh:Please join the church of
Alex and Christie:can take a minute just to take a quick break from talking shit about Scientology, to hear a word from our sponsor, the church of Scientology.
Josh:That'd be an excellent grift.
Josh:I should've planned this out better.
Alex and Christie:Ah, you know what?
Alex and Christie:20, 22, I see bright things.
Josh:Yup.
Josh:Yup.
Josh:All right.
Josh:Here's some ads
Josh:And we are back.
Josh:Hopefully you guys didn't get ripped off by our products and services, but, I have vetted them, so they should be okay.
Alex and Christie:Nice, good.
Josh:It's time to dive into the rise of Scientology.
Josh:as Scientology became more popular, individual churches and missions were referred to as orgs, began popping up all over the country.
Josh:And soon spread overseas with chapters established in New Zealand, Australia, and Europe.
Josh:This however would prove to be Hubbard's downfall.
Josh:According to the website history one-on-one while Hubbard's following was expanding, Hubbard began to grow more desperate to preserve the image of his church, presenting his ideologies and thoughts as they emerged many of his statements through the fifties and sixties, contradicted
Josh:Hubbard.
Alex and Christie:well,
Alex and Christie:good luck.
Alex and Christie:Good luck.
Josh:no Hubbard was chasing his lies and circles.
Josh:And as his group began to experience major controversy, his impulsivity and X centricity became forces to be reckoned with and quote.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:So he's now becoming a problem for the, Scientology elite.
Alex and Christie:It's funny because he's always been a problem, but everyone's kind of fed into the problem of once that problem has gotten just bigger.
Alex and Christie:They're
Alex and Christie:like see the red flags.
Josh:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:We're going to have to
Josh:yeah, We're going to have to cut this guy out.
Josh:Uh, the widespread popularity of Scientology also led to
Josh:an increased scrutiny from public officials in Australia, and Australia, the government deemed it as.
Josh:a serious threat to the community, medically, morally, and socially, and its adherence, sadly diluted and often medically ill.
Josh:And, the United States government shared these concerns.
Josh:And in 1963, authorized the FBI to raise the church of Scientology in Washington, DC, their day that they discovered that Hubbard had secretly been taking millions of dollars out of the organization's coffers, which led them to losing their religious tax exempt status.
Josh:So they actually lose it.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:I mean, I was waiting for the FBI to get involved so I can use it at the I'm like, okay, here we go.
Alex and Christie:She's
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:it's interesting.
Josh:Cause I didn't actually know they had I knew they had tax exempt status, but I didn't know, they lost.
Josh:Like they had it and then lost it.
Josh:it takes a while for them to get it back.
Josh:And we'll, we'll go into that.
Josh:I believe in part two, that, that that'll be covered.
Josh:But, in response to this Hubbard established the C organization, which I do want to cover in full in the later, the episode, I guess it'll be a standalone,
Alex and Christie:So
Alex and Christie:C like the letter C
Josh:No,
Alex and Christie:E a
Josh:S E a
Josh:and you'll see.
Josh:you'll see why, uh, So the C organization was a church of Scientology chapter based on the open waters where members lived abroad, uh, board three ships that he had purchased initially believed that this would prevent governments from getting Adam and his group.
Josh:However, this wasn't the case.
Josh:For instance, the Greek government asked Hubbard and his three ships to leave the island of Corfu after they had remained there for an entire year.
Josh:the sea organization was also turned away after attempting to dock and Morocco, Members who joined the sea organization were required to sign a contract stating that they would remain loyal to the church of Scientology for a billion years.
Alex and Christie:Oh, I think it's a problem.
Alex and Christie:First of all, you're in like international water.
Alex and Christie:So like the whole being the C thing is a problem.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:It's I could see it being hard to, uh, stay afloat.
Josh:Uh,
Alex and Christie:Uh, yeah.
Josh:I like that.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:I, I will leave.
Alex and Christie:I'll leave the chat.
Alex and Christie:It's
Alex and Christie:fine.
Josh:that's the end.
Josh:I know.
Josh:I said I have a part two, but that's it.
Josh:We're cutting it off.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:The episode is done now.
Josh:We're canceled.
Josh:Uh, that is, Yeah.
Josh:it's an interesting contract to sign your life away for a billion years.
Josh:But, uh,
Josh:it doesn't matter in the end because many of them were promised an idyllic life on the ocean.
Josh:However, they were instead met with dirty clothes and linen as well as little food and long working hours, Hubbard himself didn't last long.
Josh:Of course.
Josh:And in 1975 left the cruise ships for good.
Alex and Christie:He couldn't even stay on poor with its own fricking plan creates.
Josh:No, No, you can't.
Josh:He's a fucking wild guy.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:He's like, you know what?
Alex and Christie:This sounded like a really good idea.
Alex and Christie:I think I'm just going to leave now.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Josh:he definitely has some sort of like ADHD.
Josh:He has
Alex and Christie:Oh, how some percent?
Josh:cannot sit still.
Josh:Um, he's yeah.
Josh:I don't know.
Josh:He's.
Josh:He's an interesting guy, but, well, Hubbard loved being regarded as the charismatic leader of the church of Scientology.
Josh:He decided to spend most of the seventies and eighties away from the spotlight.
Josh:This was a strategic move by then, since the governments in United States and Europe were chasing after him
Josh:to say, yeah, I wonder why.
Josh:to save the church's reputation, Hubbard launched several projects that aim to infiltrate the federal government in order to dispute their investigations.
Josh:we will go into these in part two.
Josh:but the most famous one was operation snow white.
Alex and Christie:I mean the man's got some interesting names.
Alex and Christie:Let's just, I can't, we can't deny that.
Alex and Christie:No,
Alex and Christie:no.
Josh:I guess it's like a sleeper cell kind of thing.
Josh:I guess if that's what you call it like, oh, snow white.
Josh:So she's sleep.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:I need,
Josh:that.
Alex and Christie:he's not stupid, but he's just not consistent.
Alex and Christie:And he's a little unhinged
Josh:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:I mean he's off his rocker
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:He needs some real therapy.
Josh:Um, so during this time Hubbard's health deteriorated and he suffered from a number of serious health problems, including a heart attack and a, pulmonary embolism and the injuries that he sustained in his motorcycle accident.
Josh:I'm sure I butchered what that was, but,
Alex and Christie:No, it
Alex and Christie:is a pulmonary embolism.
Alex and Christie:You say?
Josh:Nice.
Alex and Christie:Yeah, we have our care that the health person, the health person, every episode where there's something like medically related.
Alex and Christie:And we record if I say at Christie's like, no,
Alex and Christie:no, this is how you'd say it.
Josh:that's handy on a true crime podcast where It
Josh:comes up a lot.
Alex and Christie:helped a lot.
Alex and Christie:If you need her expertise.
Alex and Christie:Yes.
Alex and Christie:She is someone you can use.
Josh:So what is that?
Alex and Christie:It's a blood clot in your lungs.
Alex and Christie:So then you're like
Josh:Oh,
Alex and Christie:in Yorkton, you can't breathe very well.
Josh:That explains a okay.
Josh:That makes sense.
Josh:Cause they've explained the next part.
Josh:So, uh, these were exacerbated by his unhealthy lifestyle.
Josh:not only was he obese, but he smoked constantly, even going so far as to task a team of teenagers to hold out ass trays for cigarettes.
Alex and Christie:concentrate.
Alex and Christie:Oh,
Alex and Christie:can you imagine this, her tips?
Josh:yeah.
Josh:So just giving teenagers, secondhand smoke is an excellent excellent way to go.
Alex and Christie:know, I wonder if he ever considered doing his own personal audit.
Josh:Ooh,
Josh:no, he, he, was clear.
Josh:Okay.
Josh:How dare you.
Josh:Question
Josh:question.
Josh:His mental state.
Josh:Sadly or not.
Josh:So sadly, probably not.
Josh:So sadly on January 24th, 1980 6, 78, 74 year old L Ron Hubbard passed away after suffering a stroke
Josh:by then, he hadn't made an official public appearance in over six years.
Josh:He was cremated with his followers, scattering his ashes at the sea, in the sea, on the sea.
Josh:Sure.
Josh:I know one of those,
Alex and Christie:Some do with.
Josh:yeah, yeah, yeah.
Josh:So he's, he, he, maybe he did need those billion years.
Josh:He needs those people out there.
Josh:Hubbard's death.
Josh:However, didn't spell the end of Scientology.
Josh:Rather.
Josh:It marked the beginning of a whole new era for the church today.
Josh:Its ranks include high profile, corporate executives and Hollywood celebrities.
Josh:it also now has more than 11,000 local chapters and 184 countries.
Josh:with.
Josh:many claiming that at least 4.4 million people are recruited each year,
Josh:from his humble beginnings in, the Midwest L Ron Hubbard managed to turn his ideologies into religious organizations that now boast an international presence and millions of members, thanks to his charisma and aptitude for propaganda.
Josh:The church of Scientology remains a force to be reckoned with.
Josh:And that is the end of part, one of Scientology.
Josh:So what did you guys think of L Ron Hubbard?
Alex and Christie:Again, he's given me Kyle or Chad vibes.
Alex and Christie:I think he could have benefited from seeing a psychiatrist or a real one.
Alex and Christie:just interesting, but the red flags kind of right off the hop, it's like, ah, now I get it.
Alex and Christie:I see why he is the way he is.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:And why the church is the way it is.
Alex and Christie:yeah,
Josh:Um, why it is so toxic comes from a toxic mind.
Josh:So,
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:It's can see how like it is when you look at it from outside of your, like how do people fall for this, but then people in it you're like, well, I can kind of see a little bit,
Alex and Christie:like, depending on desperate or your views or whatnot.
Alex and Christie:Exactly.
Josh:and that is, apart from like the Hollywood elite and, the people that had the money and were not sick or ill, the people that were, preyed upon for their, illnesses and things like that, it is hard to, blame any of them for, for joining but, we will do the cult critique segment next week.
Josh:when we finished part two.
Josh:Alex Christie, please tell Fred my audience where they can find weird distractions podcast and tell the people what it's about.
Alex and Christie:yes.
Alex and Christie:We're just a weird podcast of friends, basically.
Alex and Christie:you can find us, we were on like various platforms.
Alex and Christie:You could just search us.
Alex and Christie:We're on apple, Spotify, Google, all that good stuff.
Alex and Christie:Lots of media.
Alex and Christie:The Alex's great.
Alex and Christie:Instagram, Twitter took
Josh:Yes.
Alex and Christie:and yeah.
Alex and Christie:Yeah, we're out there.
Alex and Christie:You search us.
Alex and Christie:We'll find us.
Alex and Christie:Yeah, for those listening, if you like the sound of our voices.
Alex and Christie:That's cool.
Alex and Christie:Um, we talked about conspiracy theories, paranormal stories, folklore, urban legends, just kind of basically, and we rotate those topics each week.
Alex and Christie:So for example, we, one week we'll talk about true crime case next week.
Alex and Christie:We'll do paranormal the week after that conspiracy theories.
Alex and Christie:we haven't, we've only done two Colts on our show.
Alex and Christie:I'm just realizing
Alex and Christie:that now we've
Alex and Christie:done.
Josh:we can add, we can add to that list.
Alex and Christie:No for sure.
Alex and Christie:I, I, there's definitely a lot more out there that I know.
Alex and Christie:I think we'd want to cover, but we've only talked about the Alamo or not the Alamo.
Alex and Christie:Oh my gosh,
Alex and Christie:Susan.
Alex and Christie:And.
Josh:never heard of that call.
Alex and Christie:The Alamo, you know, alimony though.
Alex and Christie:No, tell me and Susan a Lambo.
Alex and Christie:I can't remember how to pronounce her name.
Josh:Hm.
Alex and Christie:long.
Alex and Christie:And then we talked about the anthill kids.
Alex and Christie:So that was like our first,
Alex and Christie:we went hard.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:That is a, it's an intense called
Alex and Christie:intense.
Alex and Christie:Yeah.
Alex and Christie:We decided, you know what, let's just go to the bank.
Alex and Christie:Let's just make everyone depress listening to us.
Alex and Christie:But yeah, if you, if that's your vibe, if you want a distraction, that's that's, we got you.
Alex and Christie:That's where you can find us and tune in.
Alex and Christie:And thank you so much for having us on we're super excited for part two.
Josh:Awesome.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:So, so definitely go check out weird distractions podcast.
Josh:they are the only other Canadian podcasts on the cultivate network.
Josh:Uh, we need to change that, but until then we need to stick together.
Josh:So, so yeah, definitely go check them out.
Josh:it's incredibly informative, funny at many times where, Where it shouldn't be funny is the
Alex and Christie:Where could it be funny somehow?
Alex and Christie:Make it funny, but that's because
Alex and Christie:we're
Alex and Christie:dark.
Josh:Yeah.
Josh:So that's this podcast too.
Josh:So if you like this podcast, you will definitely like their podcast.
Josh:speaking of which, if you enjoyed this episode, please give us a five star review on apple podcasts, pod chaser, good pods.
Josh:And now Spotify.
Josh:That's right.
Josh:If you're listening on Spotify, you can finally rate the podcast.
Josh:if you really love this episode and can't wait to hear part two, go to patrion.com/cultivate podcast network, or use the link in the show notes to get access to Scientology part two today, as well as a ton of other bonus content from shows on our network.
Josh:thank you, Fred for listening and thank you, Alex and Kristy for joining me today.
Josh:See you in Scientology part two.