Jeffrey Augustine was so excited about a software upgrade to his podcast, he immediately used it to interview Karen de la Carriere, his wife! And although Underground Bunker readers are pretty familiar with each of them, we think you’re going to get a lot out of this conversation.
Here’s how the topics break down:
In this video Karen discusses Hubbard’s secret instructions on what a Scientologist is supposed to do when he or she is dying, and then what they are to do immediately after death. She next discusses Disconnection in terms of Scientology’s ethics policies. Scientology’s claim that Disconnection is a “personal choice” is shown to be a lie. The State of Clear is examined. Karen and Jeff review how unstable and completely revocable the State of Clear is in Scientology. Clear is essentially a leased state that depends upon a Scientologist remaining in good standing with the Church, not friending the wrong people on Facebook, and other whimsical and arbitrary conditions imposed by Scientology. The podcast concludes with a discussion of the fraudulent nature of refunds and repayments in Scientology. “Advanced Payments” actually means “We in Scientology will never give you back one penny if we can possibly avoid it by a long time-wasting series of tricks, stratagems, and devices.”
Dig in, and let us know what you think about the conversation.
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Harlan Ellison, 1934-2018
Because we’re fortunate enough to share a mutual friend, Harlan Ellison invited us over to lunch one day, and after that he spoke to us on the phone a few times. We treasure every moment we spent talking with him. A hugely influential writer known primarily for his science fiction, Harlan died yesterday in his sleep, his lovely wife Susan revealed. He was 84.
When we had lunch at his house, we asked about L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology, and his answer caught us by surprise. Harlan knew Hubbard, liked him, and liked very much a couple of his books — especially 1940’s Fear — but he thought Scientology was a lot of nonsense. Because they had been friends back in the day, Harlan figured Hubbard had told his minions to leave him alone, and he was grateful for it.
Later, when we had started a new series with Jon Atack and we were going over some old Scientology lore to separate fact from fiction, the infamous quote by Hubbard about starting a religion for the money came up — did it really happen? Atack assured us that it did, and he backed it up with documentation. But we were also aware of a fun interview between Harlan and Robin Williams about the origins of Dianetics and Scientology, and we remembered some of the things Harlan had said to us in person about it — but at an off-the-record lunch. So we called him up, asking if we could reveal what he’d said that day.
To our surprise, he told the story all over again on the phone, and in such rapid-fire manner we struggled to get it all down. Besides the parts he had told Robin Williams, about being around when Hubbard talked about forming a religion with some of his writer friends, Harlan told us a riot of a story about how much trouble telling his Hubbard anecdote at parties got him into. One night, at a swank Hollywood affair, he told his tale about Hubbard inventing a religion for the money, and a woman went ballistic on him. It was opera singer Julia Migenes, a lifelong Scientologist, and Harlan said that she launched herself at him in a manic rage. (Migenes never answered our queries about it.) Susan was at the party and backed up Harlan’s tale. And we all got a good laugh out of it.
“She really went after me. She’d have taken my head off if she’d had an axe. I was completely taken by surprise. It took two people to get her off me,” he told us.
We loved that story, and we’re so grateful that Harlan shared it with us.
When your proprietor turned 50, Harlan called us up and told us we were old and washed up. It was the best present we could have received.
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Bernie Headley has not seen his daughter Stephanie in 5,160 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 1,763 days
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 306 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 194 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 1,369 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 2,143 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 2,917 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 2,263 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 10,829 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 2,497 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 2,757 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 1,797 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 1,509 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,035 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,124 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 2,264 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 2,584 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 2,559 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 915 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 5,217 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 1,323 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 1,726 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 1,598 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 1,180 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 1,685 days.
Mary Jane Sterne has not seen her daughter Samantha in 1,929 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,038 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on June 29, 2018 at 07:00
E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our book, 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, 1995-2017 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2017), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
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
Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten 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
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
