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PODCAST: HBO ‘Q Into the Storm’ star Fredrick Brennan on Scientology and QAnon

 We hope you had a chance to see HBO’s excellent 2021 investigation into the origins of the QAnon phenomenon, Q Into the Storm, directed by Cullen Hoback. One of the surprising stars of the series was Fredrick Brennan, the young man who had founded 8chan, the imageboard that became the nursery for the QAnon movement, []

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PODCAST: Steve Cannane checks in after reporting from the war in Ukraine

 One of our favorite people in the whole world is Australian journalist Steve Cannane. We first became aware of Steve’s work because he was tearing it up at the ABC with story after story about Scientology in the land Down []

PODCAST: Karen Pressley on Scientology’s radicalizing of Tom Cruise

[Karen Pressley on ‘Aftermath’]

Karen Pressley spent almost 20 years in Scientology, and then turned her experience into a terrific book, Escaping Scientology: My Journey with the Cult of Celebrity Spirituality, Greed & []

PODCAST: Mark Ebner joined Scientology for two weeks and we’re still recovering from it

[From Ebner’s 1996 Spy magazine feature]

 Way back at the turn of the century, your Proprietor and Mark Ebner were both slaving away for a newspaper that no longer exists that was called New Times Los []

PODCAST: Mark ‘Warrior’ Plummer remembers Scientology’s deceptions

 We were very happy we got the chance to catch up with Mark Plummer this week. (Find the podcast episode []

Podcast: Mark Bunker explains that David Miscavige is not ‘missing,’ he’s HIDING

 Over the last few days, you’ve probably noticed some breathless tabloid claims that Scientology’s leader David Miscavige has gone []

PODCAST: Our never-heard 2021 interview with Ron Miscavige about daughter-in-law Shelly

[Shelly Miscavige and her father-in-law, Ron]

 This week, a story we have been covering for a long time, the disappearance of Shelly Miscavige, suddenly became national news, thanks to a joke by comedian Jerrod Carmichael as he was hosting the Golden Globes []

PODCAST: Karen de la Carriere says former president of Scientology is in a nursing home

[Karen de la Carriere and her former husband, Heber Jentzsch]

Karen de la Carriere has been a regular feature of the Underground Bunker going back to our days at the Village []

Special Thanksgiving Podcast: ‘A Billion Years’ author Mike Rinder on Scientology’s epic fails

[Illustration by Observer]

On September 27, we had the treat of meeting Mike Rinder in Manhattan on the publication day of his book, A Billion Years: My Escape from a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology. (See our review of the book []

PODCAST: Leah Remini joins us to talk Scientology, the LAPD, and Shelly Miscavige

 Leah Remini set Twitter on fire this week when she spoke up about the Cory Palka news and about his years of shilling for Scientology while he was commander of the Hollywood []