Scintology - What Do You Get Out of It?

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In the late nineties, we were publishing a number of articles on scientology. And by chance, i was going back to atlanta for thanksgiving dinner with my friend at the time. One of his friends in atlanta was isaac hayes, the african american singer, song writer. I mean, he's huge and and he famously was a scintologist. So there he is, sitting across the table from me,. So i just asked him, you know, why? Why are you a scyntologist? What? You know, what do you get out of it? E said, well, michael, en me. Let me tell

Shermer and Theroux discuss: how documentary films are made • religious fanaticism and why people believe • UFO cults, end-times sects, and cognitive dissonance • Scientology: religion or cult? • neo-Nazis and anti-Semitism • prisons, pornography, and prostitution • Jeffrey Epstein and Jimmy Savile • self-help movements and gurus • deception and self-deception • social proof and human conformity • are humans naturally rational, irrational, or both?

Louis Theroux is a genre-defining documentary filmmaker best known for his explorations of controversial and complex topics. Using a gentle questioning style and an informal approach, Louis has shone light on intriguing beliefs, behaviors, and institutions by getting to know the people at the heart of them — from the officers and inmates at San Quentin prison to the extreme believers of the Westboro Baptist Church; from male porn performers in California to young women with eating disorders in London.