Tony Ortega is a journalist who was formerly the editor of The Village Voice. He's written about Scientology since 1995, and in May 2015 released a book about Scientology's harassment of Paulette Cooper titled 'The Unbreakable Miss Lovely.' He continues to monitor breaking developments in the Scientology world from an undisclosed location in an underground bunker he shares with four cats and one of them wrinkly Shar Pei dogs. Despite his super-secret security protections, you can still reach him pretty easily by sending him a message at tonyo94 AT gmail.com (Drop him a line if you'd like to get an e-mail whenever a new story is posted.) [Header image courtesy John Rickard]
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Jon Atack on the Hypnotic History of Scientology Auditing

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 […]

May 18th, 2013 | Category: Scientology Mythbusting | 570 comments
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Xenu the The Movie Star! When Scientology Almost Revealed Its Secrets on the Big Screen

Last week, we asked Scientology historian Jon Atack about OT III, the most important step on L. Ron Hubbard’s “Bridge to Total Freedom.” That got us talking about Xenu the Galactic Overlord, and Atack confirmed for us that this wild space opera tale was always meant to be taken literally by church members (at least, […]

March 16th, 2013 | Category: Scientology Mythbusting, SMERSH Madness | 286 comments

Scientology Mythbusting with Jon Atack: Xenu the Galactic Overlord, Part 1!

In 1990, author Jon Atack published what is still one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology, A Piece of Blue Sky. Atack now has a new edition of the book out, and it reminded us what an encyclopedic resource he is. So join us as we rely on Jon’s expertise […]

March 9th, 2013 | Category: Scientology Mythbusting, SMERSH Madness | 298 comments

Blogging Dianetics, Part 4: Dynamically Speaking

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.

This week we have a short chapter in which Hubbard defines the four dynamics. Yes, four. Later, he […]

January 25th, 2013 | Category: Blogging Dianetics | 98 comments

Scientology and Past Lives: Was L. Ron Hubbard Actually Serious?

A funny thing happened on Thursday. We reviewed Vance Woodward’s book, Addicted to Scientology, and noted that one of the more interesting things in it was Woodward’s contention that a close reading of Scientology’s foundational texts convinced him that L. Ron Hubbard thought of past-life therapy as a form of make-believe.

Scientologists, however, take very seriously […]

December 8th, 2012 | Category: Scientology Studies | 208 comments
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