FOLLOW ME ON
Daily Notifications
Sign up for free emails to receive the feature story every morning in your inbox at tonyortega.substack.com

Categories

Hysterical Hyper-Sight, and Other Lost Concepts of Dianetics

Welcome to our ongoing project, where we blog a 1950 first edition of Scientology’s bible, Dianetics, with the help of ex-Scientologist, Bay Area lawyer, blogger, and author Vance Woodward. Go here for the first post in the series.

Vance, in the chapter “Diagnosis,” L. Ron Hubbard gets down to specifics, instructing an auditor how to assess []

ADVERTISEMENT

Love in the Time of Miscavige

For years, she worked closely with Scientology’s leaders, David and Shelly Miscavige. And she was there when it all went wrong.

By Tony Ortega

The RTC Building at Int Base

We have a very unusual story for you today, and in order to tell it, we need to adopt some unusual conventions.

Not only are most of []

Scientology Means Never Having to Tell an Ashtray You’re Sorry

Claire Headley is taking us on our journey to train as Scientologists. She and her husband Marc were Sea Org workers who escaped from Scientology’s International Base in 2005. She spent years working with Scientology’s “tech,” and was trusted to oversee the auditing of Tom Cruise. Go here to see the first part in this []

We Need Your Help, Scientology Watchers

The Underground Bunker is already largely fueled by its readers. Our worldwide tipster network keeps us informed of the latest breaking stories, and feeds us inside information that you can’t get anywhere else. For 17 years we’ve been writing about the world of Scientology, and since this time two years ago, we’ve carved out something []

Writers of the Future Live-Blogging! Black Tie Not Required

Karen Black at last year’s gala

The tuxes have been fitted, the limos have been rented, the speeches have been written, and the strange dances have been choreographed. And now it’s time to party the way only Scientology knows how!

Well, we don’t actually know if this year’s Writers of the Future gala will feature []

Scientology Sunday Funnies: Buffalo Gals Go ‘Round the Outside, and the Return of DEDE!

We have so much for you today, we hardly know where to begin. On Sundays, we bring you the latest wacky Scientology fliers and mailers and other things that our worldwide tipster network has brought us during the week. And today is special — tonight, Scientology is holding its annual posh gala for science fiction []

The Saga of David Mayo: Scientology’s Banished Tech Wizard

Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He now has a new edition of the book out, and on Saturdays he’s helping us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and []

Scientology’s Lavish Annual Party for Pampered Sci-Fi Writers, This Sunday!

Last year, we noticed that some former winners of Scientology’s “Writers of the Future” awards were nervously wondering if they’d been had.

With so much bad publicity plaguing the church, was it really such a good thing to win an award from an organization becoming increasingly known for things like locking up its executives in a []

Dianetics: Your Life Was Ruined Before Birth by Your Parents and Their Dumb Culture

Prenatal engram material?

Welcome to our ongoing project, where we blog a 1950 first edition of Scientology’s bible, Dianetics, with the help of ex-Scientologist, Bay Area lawyer, blogger, and author Vance Woodward. Go here for the first post in the series.

Vance, in this next chapter of the section on therapy, “The Auditor’s Role,” Hubbard []

Brit Writer’s 27 Years in Scientology is Suddenly News in France — Our Man in Paris Explains Why

RJ Ellory [Photo: E. Garault]

We have a very special treat for you today. We noticed recently that French publications were suddenly making a big deal about a British crime writer and his long association with the Church of Scientology. Naturally, we turned to our man in Paris for help understanding why.

Jonny Jacobsen is []