For the first time, read L. Ron Hubbard gushing about working with Leni Riefenstahl

We have a very special treat for you today, and it’s thanks to Mitch Brisker.

Mitch is one of the most interesting people to come out of Scientology in recent years, he has a memorable book out, and we’ve actually been talking to him for a couple of years. One of the first things he told us when we got to know him was how glad he was to see that we had written at The Daily Beast about L. Ron Hubbard’s interesting 1960 encounter with Adolf Hitler’s favorite filmmaker, documentarian Leni Riefenstahl.

Mitch said that very few people had known much about that story, but we got lucky when one of our readers tracked down an actual copy of the screenplay that Hubbard and Riefenstahl worked on together, an intended remake of Leni’s popular 1932 Alpine fantasy, Das blaue Licht (‘The Blue Light’).

After Hitler came to power in 1933, he tapped Riefenstahl to make two of the films most associated with the Nazi movement, 1935’s Triumph of the Will that captured a rally at Nuremberg and 1938’s Olympia, about the 1936 Berlin Olympics. After the war, Riefenstahl was held in internment camps for three years, and after her release she fought a constant battle over her reputation, claiming that she had been naive about the Nazis and was not part of Hitler’s cabal.

In 1960, one of the people hoping she could make a comeback was a young Canadian film editor named Philip Hudsmith, who tried to raise enough money so Riefenstahl could remake The Blue Light and recapture her pre-war success. Initially, Hudsmith had persuaded W. Somerset Maugham to write the screenplay, but the aging writer pulled out when it became clear that the press was still quick to bring up Riefenstahl’s connection to the Nazis.

Hudsmith then turned to Hubbard, which seemed a curious choice. Hubbard had very little Hollywood experience, despite what he claimed later. His 1935 story “The Secret of Treasure Island” was turned into a 15-part serial in 1938, but there’s little evidence that he was involved in much else, despite his claims that he secretly contributed to many films, including Stagecoach.

Certainly, by 1960, whatever Hubbard had done in Hollywood was long behind him. By then he had moved to England where he was running his ten-year-old movement, Scientology, from an estate in Sussex.

In our investigation, we learned the reason why Hudsmith had turned to Hubbard after Maugham dropped out: Hudsmith himself was an early Scientologist. For the collaboration, Riefenstahl came to London, where she actually moved into an apartment Hubbard had there as the three of them worked on the screenplay. Ultimately, the movie was never made. But Hubbard and Riefenstahl continued to correspond for years afterwards.

Now, for the first time, thanks to Mitch Brisker, we have a real gem: The initial reaction from Hubbard after Hudsmith initially approached him about working on the project.

It’s a 4-page letter dated March 4, 1960 from Hubbard’s Sussex estate, Saint Hill Manor. Hubbard, of course, is flattered that he’s been chosen for the project, and so he can’t help waxing nostalgic about his Hollywood work as well as griping that greater success had eluded him, which he tends to blame on “Ed Muhl, manager of Universal-International.”

It’s also interesting to see Hubbard discuss his ideas for how the film could be modernized for a contemporary audience. Here’s our description of Riefenstahl’s original version of The Blue Light for our Daily Beast piece…

Das blaue Licht was Riefenstahl’s directorial debut, and starred her as Junta, a 19th-century woman who lives in a cabin in the Italian Dolomites. The residents of the nearby village of Santa Maria have decided she is a witch, and she does appear to have a special power: the ability to scale a sheer peak that casts a spell on the town every full moon with a mysterious blue light, which lures the young men of the village to their deaths when they try to climb it.

A German artist named Vigo then arrives at the Italian hamlet, and he falls for Junta but also discovers her secret about how to safely reach the blue light—which is actually a grotto filled with valuable crystals that catch the moonlight—and then informs the village, which plunders it. After Junta discovers that her secret cave has been looted, she falls to her death.

The film has very little dialogue and a thin plot, but its strength, particularly for its time, was Riefenstahl’s attention to the landscape, time-lapse photography, and stunning Alpine climbing sequences.

So, with that in mind, enjoy this look at Hubbard’s palpable excitement as he thought about the ways to rewrite this Alpine fantasy.

 
L. Ron Hubbard
Saint Hill Manor,
East Grinstead,

4th March, 1960

Philip Hudsmith, Esq.,
Adventure Film Productions Ltd.,
74, Marylebone High Street,
London, W.l.

Dear Philip,

Your courteous letter and an excellent treatment received.

This is a great story in all sense of the word. I feel honored that my box office has not been wholly forgotten and am very happy to be allowed to exercise another and fond part of my activities. I love scripting and always have and what wonderful stuff this “Blue Light” has. Further, I have an enthusiasm for out-doing Hollywood. It is a private vendetta. I wince when in California producers recall fondly the box office, for it has always been my opinion that it would have been much greater if they hadn’t gutted my scripts. And also Ed Muhl, the manager of Universal-International needs a lesson.

But please pardon these digressions. I easily could go into full cry at the whirr of a camera. Not even Hollywood could dim my belief that the cinema was a grand and total medium for a story — one becomes so impatient with cold, black words — and it is a great thing to see them come alive in co-operative artistry. So forgive the outburst.

The German/fantasy films have always been an inspiration to me. I believe there have not been more than half a dozen great movies in this class and all but one were German and “The Blue Light” was amongst them. But these pictures, I feel, were all before their proper time for America. Only a few cities had “foreign film” houses and these were small audiences. I feel to-day, whatever my opinion is worth, that a fine fantasy, stark enough, would sweep the American screen as well as in Europe. Apparently America is growing up to this and yet its own production units are too formulated to step out of their own bounds.

American TV has introduced a new note of drama and action that goes far beyond the coolness of current pictures. This new standard has changed the public taste. It is wild, stark, hyper-emotionalized. It takes some working to peak over the top of TV theater drama. Only now has the public appetite been whetted toward the German fantasy type. So to do one and do one right, straight in the tradition and a bit more so, would be to unlock the door of success for the U.S. market. Meanwhile in Europe, the Italian high drama has been keying into existence a receptive European audience for horror. “La Strada” is a fine example of success in both Europe and America.

I mention these views as my own, to prelude any suggestions I have and to clarify my attitude. I favor a full, all out rendition in the best Germanic fantasy tradition, up-dated to set a mark they won’t be able to reach for another quarter of a century.

The film could be set up, as well, with some unconscious responses planted smoothly to react like a bomb. Ed Muhl at Universal-International used some of such that I worked out for him in ’50 but he didn’t have the vehicles and they exceeded the holy Hollywood formula. “The Blue Light” could utilize such easily. The audience mind reacts in certain ways and it can be made up to fasten upon a picture such as this and not easily forget it.

Now, for comments on the treatment. At a cursory glance the frame is adequate. The internal story is excellent and needs only to be better counter-pointed. But the frame adds nothing. So we use a frame that does add something — unsolved, questions and contrast.

Here we have the lovely frailty of a legend. We are introducing it into a crass material world which in the end will destroy all its beauty. We should exaggerate this contract throughout — by sound, by characterization, by shot composition. For instance we can counter-point the elfin xylophone wind music of Junta’s life with the low brass such as the RCA piece composed for their “Adventure in Hi-Fidelity Sound” which I have. That’s not my province but I put it in to show what I mean by contrast.

The characters of the people, for a modern look, should be as I see it, sweet, gallant and lovely for Junta, Guzzio and Vigo but entirely fragile and purposeful only in beauty. For all the remaining cast we have low brass, self-righteousness, greed, and the purpose of stupid destruction. For instance Tonio can be a masterpiece of conceit and crass purpose, opposed by Guzzio a child knight-errant, beautiful of thought and deed and utterly unable to defend anything. In Vigo we find the quiet, dreamy hero and dismay the audience utterly by the hero betraying, since heros don’t.

By strengthening conflict and injecting tension and more than a hint of madness throughout, we could take any audience by storm and leave it slightly stunned. They would not forget Leni or “The Blue Light ” again.

I’ve worked out another frame for the story. Before the titles we see a bus coming through the mountains, always seen from caves or ledges. We see it all during the titles winding through the roads, closer and closer views. Then at the last title it stops and disgorges crass, loud tourists into Santa Maria and we flash up to the full swinging picture of the Junta held in a boy’s hand for sale. With sound “Who is that?” and we turn to exactly the same face of a tourist asking the boy. The tourist is the same actress but loudly painted, crass, destroyed, in company with the tourists, particularly two men. We already saw her alight when the bus disgorged. She was laughing. Now she is stunned. We go on with the business and run on into the legend. But it is this girl’s face, now hysterically laughing with the two nameless men, now stunned by the mentions of the mountain, that inspires old Vigo to tell the legend.

At the end we pan Vigo out to look at the mountain, just as in the treatment but there is a terrible question in his mind.

We finish on the tourist girl, trying to remember, half mad, then breaking into hysterical screams of laughter and demanding anything — music — drink. Then the elfin music that went with Vigo is finally wiped out and engulfed with brass.

The audience won’t consciously understand the frame but it will strike deep.

Perhaps that’s too brief to get it across. But we’re symbolizing the degradation of a free spirit.

Also that motivation of the legend can be improved by making the villagers believe that the real horde of crystal is in the inaccessible cave but when they find it, the crystal is no better and all they ruin is the beauty of the place. The real destruction of the cave comes about by its being weakened by the villagers and it gradually collapses as Junta, finding Guzzio dead in senseless gallant defence of the place, dances in it with her memory of Guzzio and Vigo. The last we see of her is the final dust of the collapse, and Vigo takes from all that shows of her, her hand, the next day in the ruins of the cave, the crystal.

Also in the opening of the legend we will have to point up the fancied valued of the cave and its inaccessibility by Tonio’s accosting her as she returns from it and Guzzio’s full belief it was he who drove Tonio off. We get faster into the legend by Tonio’s meeting Vigo and believes Vigo is a crystal buyer. “We get the little ones like this from a stream but the big flawless ones are up there. A fortune, a fortune.”

I can see this as a very tight script not too far departed from the original in intention. It is a brilliant story and only needs camera-telling.

I’ve put down my first thoughts on this for you. Remember they are just first thoughts. A play to strike the screens hard will take a lot of doing by one and all.

Could I please have answers to the following:

a. Will it be color?
b. How many scenes long should it run?
c. Is the casting done? If so could I have their names and some stills of them?
d. When do you plan to start shooting?

It will take not long to do a script once we have fully agreed on a final treatment. (I used to do fifty final scenes a day after the treatment was done and almost got boycotted by the eight scene boys.)

And by the way, you didn’t mention contract but I want no pay, only a very small piece of the gross if it smash hits, which I think you’ll find agreeable.

Here, then, as requested, are my views on the matter. I hope you don’t find them too lengthy, too strong or too much in conflict with present plans. My opinion is that we could make a truly great picture for high-key modern release and that an excellent springboard already exists.

Best Regards,

Ron

 
As it turned out, the new version of the screenplay that Hubbard, Hudsmith, and Riefenstahl produced over those weeks in London would turn out to be very faithful to the original film. For our Daily Beast piece, we sought out an expert to give us his thoughts about the writing.

We showed the script to screenwriter John Brancato (The Game), who confirmed something we suspected—that it’s written in a style that was already outdated in 1960. He noted that it was very similar to the original movie, except in places where the dialogue makes things more explicit, and said the new version had a distinct lack of nuance. Brancato wondered if this was Hubbard’s contribution, and had something to do with what the Scientology leader had been writing recently.

“I wonder if he was conditioned from writing things in order to tell people what to do,” he said, referring to Hubbard’s many Scientology books and policies. “The script reads like dialogue by someone who only writes functional prose.”

Riefenstahl, in her memoir, said that Hudsmith was pushing hard to get the film made. So he arranged to have a screening of her film Olympia in London to generate publicity, but it backfired.

“Why didn’t you kill Hitler?” one of the journalists at the screening yelled at her, Riefenstahl said.

The project was dead.

But Hubbard and Riefenstahl continued to stay in touch. Thanks again to Mitch Brisker, we know that they communicated in 1979. Mitch has a copy of a letter that Riefenstahl wrote to Hubbard that year in either August or November, depending on whether she was using European dating (“8.11.1979”).

Dear Ron,

I was very much surprised and pleased to hear from you after such a long time.

I regret to say, that I cannot provide photos of a South African village, because I have never been in that part of the continent. I spent my time mostly in the Sudan or in East Africa.

However, I can send you a photo of a Nuba village, if you want. In this case I have to know, whether in colour or in black and white, and which size.

I hope you are doing well. I should be so glad to meet you again!

With kind regards,

Leni Riefenstahl

Mitch points out that Leni had addressed the letter to Saint Hill, but in 1979 Hubbard was actually in California at La Quinta, making films in the desert.

“This would have been the exact time frame, 1979, when Hubbard was writing the script for the tech film ‘How to set Up a Session and the E-meter,’ which takes place in the fictional East African country of ‘Mahali Araficy.’ I am fairly certain that Hubbard’s description of the country is based on photos sent to him by Riefenstahl. I’m very familiar with that film because I directed it (twice — the second time because it was one of the films starring Larry Anderson that had to be reshot after he defected). So, in yet another collaboration, Hubbard reached out to Riefenstahl for location research for one of his Scientology training films.”

Fascinating! And thank you to Mitch for bringing us these amazing new items.

Ron and Leni, still collaborating, nearly 20 years after their London adventure.

We hope even more of the correspondence between the three of them — Hubbard, Hudsmith, and Riefenstahl — eventually shows up.

 
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Technology Cocktail

“Some poor pawn howling for the blood of Scientologists isn’t mad at Scientology at all. But at some earlier practice he got stuck in with mis-definition of its terms. You see, we inherit some of the effects of the whole dullness of Man when we seek to open the prison door and say, ‘Look. Sunshine in the fields. Walk out.’ Some, who need Remedy B say: ‘Oh no! The last time somebody scratched the wall that way I got stupider.’ Why say, ‘Hey. I’m not scratching the wall. I’m opening the gate’? Why bother. He can’t hear you. But he can hear Remedy B as an assist. That’s the channel to his comprehension.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1966

 
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THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.

 
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THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince [14] Mark Bunker [15] Jon Atack [16] Mirriam Francis [17] Bruce Hines on MSH

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney [43] Tory Christman [44] Kate Bornstein [45] Christian Stolte [46] Mark Bunker [47] Jon Atack [48] Luke Y. Thompson [49] Mark Ebner [50] Bruce Hines [51] Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley [51] Geoff and Robbie Levin [52] Sands Hall [53] Jonny Jacobsen [54] Sandy Holeman

 
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Source Code

“You can do this trick yourself if you want to: Hypnotize somebody and have them go home and go to sleep. Then after they get home and go to sleep, so forth, you walk over in your astral body and wake them up and talk to them and give them a message and tell them they are supposed to call you at 10:15 the next morning and tell you the house is on fire. Then you come back in your astral body and get back inside yourself and you go to sleep yourself. At 10:15 the next morning, why, they will call you up and say, ‘I don’t know why, but I have a terrific compulsion to tell you the house is on fire.’” — L. Ron Hubbard, February 2, 1952

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“There is squirrel tech. In this an auditor runs off beat non-standard processes. We’ve long since handled this. There is squirrel admin. People who have out admin TRs and do not know basic lines add to standard lines or knock them out. We are working to handle this with OEC, FEBC and Admin TRs now being done and further developed. There is also squirrel cookery. This normally arises from not having the proper ingredients to hand (supply failure) and not having anyone to wash and slice and peel raw materials so they can be cooked. A standard meal comes from planned menu, correct supply, correct preparation of raw materials and following the exact recipe. From this comes edible meals. This goes into other lines of tech as well.” The Commodore, February 2, 1971

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“I was too late to stop Scientology from getting infiltrated. The reptilians came down from the future too, to infiltrated Scientology from inside with these sleeper children that will wake up in the future controlled by reptilians and take over Scientology from inside. I was also audited on my other time lines and there was another million of time lines from the spirit I came from that were also free of this mind too and they would raise the vibrations of the planet. So what we are doing is we are replacing everyone eventually with new entities with no physical universe mind that can be implanted. So they can’t use mind control on us or fill our minds with garbage since we are created new in the future with no mind, because the spirit doesn’t need this mind. A spirit can just know. So that is how we are wining this game.”

 
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Past is Prologue

2000: Mark Bunker, filmmaker for the Lisa McPherson Trust, was attacked this week by a worker at the home of German Scientologist Gottfried Helnwein. “This morning Mark Bunker went with German film maker Peter Reichelt and Hans Michael Kassel, director of documentary film for the German TV station ARD, to Gottfried Helnwein’s house on Palm Bluffs Road, about a mile and a half north of 33 N. Ft. Harrison. Gottfried is a Scientology artist in Germany who has apparently been denying he is a Scientologist, and Peter and Hans Michael were here gathering documentary footage to prove he is an active Scientologist. As Mark was videotaping, a man ran out of Gottfried’s house and assaulted Mark with a hammer. He hit Mark’s camera twice but luckily did not hurt Mark, although Mark was extremely frightened and shaken when this man ran at him and struck him with a dangerous weapon. The man then went back into the front door of Gottfried’s house, and soon after that two police officers arrived. Mark spoke to Officer Kelly, and told him that a man had just assaulted him with a hammer and asked the officer if he wanted to see it on videotape. He asked Mark if he had informed the man that he was audiotaping him. Then Officer Kelly told Mark that he was going to arrest him for audiotaping the hammer-wielding man without his knowledge. [W]ithin a few minutes Sergeant John Zegzdryn arrived on the scene. Officer Kelly conferred with Sergeant Zedzdryn and then beckoned for Mark, Peter and Hans Michael to go across the street to talk to him. He told them that he could arrest them right then and there and that they better not go anywhere near the particular property again or he would arrest them. He then had the groundskeeper officially notify them that they were trespassing and that they were not wanted there. Then Officer Kelly released them and told them they were free to go. This was apparently all that was going to be done until Mark protested that nothing had been done about the man who had assaulted him with the hammer. Then Sergeant Zegzdryn approached Mark to see if he wanted to file a complaint about the man with the hammer. Mark said absolutely yes, he wanted the man arrested. But the police officers then told us that they were not going to arrest the man, that they were going to refer the matter to the state attorney’s office. The man who assaulted Mark with the hammer is named Richard Bernard.”

 
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Random Howdy

“As a 49ers/Patriots fan with 8 Super Bowl wins between them, I feel Jimmy’s pain.”

 
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing January 29, 2024.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud.

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Complaint filed August 2, motion to strike/anti-SLAPP motions by Scientology to be heard January 9, 2024.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Discovery phase.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

 
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SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.

LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH

An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.

SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

 
Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Valerie Haney: Scientology changed the rules after I nominated Elisabeth Moss, Tom Cruise
[TWO years ago] Another crucial Scientology eyewitness coming forward, starting today at the Bunker
[THREE years ago] Ever wanted to tour Scientology’s creepy ‘spiritual mecca’? Meet your guide, Ted
[FOUR years ago] Professional ham hock Grant Cardone: I’m giving up the Super Bowl for Scientology
[FIVE years ago] The presidential candidate, the controversial guru, the Scientology lawyer — and us!
[SIX years ago] David Mayo, 1940-2017: Scientology’s top technical wizard and target of ‘Fair Game’
[SEVEN years ago] Fed up with Scientology disconnection? Be there to dedicate the new ‘Call Me’ billboard Feb. 18
[EIGHT years ago] The particularly bad timing of Monique Rathbun’s decision to fire her attorneys
[NINE years ago] The shocking case of Scientology mistreatment of the mentally ill you haven’t heard
[TEN years ago] Scientology’s drug rehab facility in Nevada sued over the usual litany of deceptions
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology Mythbusting with Jon Atack: The Tomato Photo!

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on February 2, 2024 at 07:00

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Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2022 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2022), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele

 

Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast

 

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone