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 Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He has a new edition of the book for sale, and for more than a year on Saturdays he helped us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and rehashed in books, articles, and especially on the Internet. He was kind enough to send us a new post.
Jon has previously talked about how long it can take a former Scientologist to recover after the years of indoctrination laid in during auditing. But why does it take so much time? In this piece, Atack suggests that a quicker recovery is possible — but only if a former church member can see clearly how L. Ron Hubbard’s ideas were so empty to begin with. Take it away, Jon. Continue reading Jon Atack: What it’s like for the Scientologist who gives up the dream of being superhuman
With the Ideal Org program stalled (Nancy Cartwright just can’t seem to raise enough dough to put the Valley project over the hump) and Scientology leader David Miscavige’s other big surprises all worn out, this New Year’s Eve announcement was one of Scientology’s most underwhelming ever.
You see, Miscavige is really stuck in a bad situation now. It’s been nearly 29 years since the old man dropped his body, so no new “technology” is coming from L. Ron Hubbard, wherever he is. Meanwhile, there’s massive disillusionment among the rank and file, who are sick of being hit up for donations and told about “massive expansion” when in reality the church is dwindling fast. Continue reading LEAKED RENDERINGS: What Scientology’s (post-KCET) new media center will look like
 Filming was still going on just a few weeks ago on the Louis Theroux BBC feature about Scientology, so we don’t expect it to be in theaters for some time yet. But now we do have a glimpse, at least, of what BBC Films says its movie is going to be about.
In an online catalog, a complete two-page spread is devoted to Theroux and his documentary, which now has a title: Stairway to Heaven: Louis Theroux and the Church of Scientology. Continue reading First look at Louis Theroux’s BBC film on Scientology: ‘Stairway to Heaven’
 Our own TheHoleDoesNotExist, a longtime contributor to the Bunker community, hostess to a special 2013 party in Clearwater, and also the impresario behind the Bunker’s theme song, surprised us by sending in a story she hasn’t shared publicly in its entirety before.
THDNE was interviewed by Lawrence Wright for his epic 2013 history of Scientology, Going Clear, for what turned out to be a very brief mention in the book. Over pages 128 to 134, Wright describes the troubled life of Quentin Hubbard, son of Scientology’s founder L. Ron Hubbard. Wright explains that Hubbard wanted his son to help take over management of the church from him, but Quentin himself had dreams of being a pilot. Continue reading A Scientology untold history special report: ‘My lunch with Quentin Hubbard’
 And so 2015 begins here in the Underground Bunker. We want to thank our great commenter community for a wild build-up to this moment. And now, we’d like to take a moment to celebrate what we think is going to be a really exciting month of January.
The big event, of course, will take place in Utah on January 25. We’re starting a countdown to that big day when Alex Gibney’s HBO documentary, Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Faith, opens at the Sundance Film Festival. Continue reading Happy New Year 2015 — now the real Scientology countdown begins!
 We hope you have something fun planned for tonight as we welcome in 2015. Whether it’s a wild party or just staying home with loved ones, enjoy yourselves and be safe.
We’ll always be a little on edge as the clock strikes midnight after what happened three years ago — we had put a lot of work into a story we timed to appear right as the new year began, a primer we titled “What is Scientology?” We thought it would be a good way to start 2012 as our coverage at the Village Voice continued to gain steam. Continue reading Scientology’s 2014 in review: So long to another great year in the Bunker!
 Bob Duggan We’re nearly done with our year-end look back at the most significant stories here in the Underground Bunker. And now we’re looking at October, when we released our biggest investigative story of 2014. But first, there was a mess at PAC base that we needed help understanding… Continue reading Scientology’s 2014 in review: Our October surprise was all about the Duggans
 Myles Binford Myles Binford, the Orange County, California businessman was organizing a running race in order to benefit a couple of Scientology’s front groups. Binford is an OT 8 — the highest step on the Bridge to Total Freedom is Operating Thetan Level Eight, and the people who have completed it should be able to affect matter with their minds and fly around outside their bodies and all sorts of other superhuman stuff, but they are always too modest to show those abilities, for some reason. Continue reading One Scientologist is out to teach HBO a lesson for its upcoming documentary
 With the new year only days away, we’re still looking back at the most significant stories we covered at the Bunker in 2014.
Join us as we look through the best stories of August. Continue reading Scientology’s 2014 in review: New lawsuits and a house for sale in August!
 We’re still looking back at the most significant stories we covered here at the Bunker this year as we get ready to welcome in 2015.
Today, we’re looking at the stories of July, and once again we had some real fireworks lighting up the summer. And wow, what a surprise we had for readers on Independence Day: Scientology’s ‘disconnection’ policy was defeated by one Missouri family when Jeremy Powers defied the church and finally returned to the family he had spurned on Scientology orders. Continue reading Scientology’s 2014 in review: For July, a stunning story of independence
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Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He has a new edition of the book for sale, and for more than a year on Saturdays he helped us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and rehashed in books, articles, and especially on the Internet. He was kind enough to send us a new post.
