Blown for Good: Scientology Exposed

Send us a textGrief and grit can share the same room. We open with a tough roll call—Mike Rinder, Jeff Hawkins, and Heber—names that shaped how the world understands Scientology from the inside. Their stories invite a wider look at power, control, and the tactics used to keep people quiet, from humiliation and bullying to PR games that promise access and deliver nothing.We revisit the surreal “inch wives” spectacle and pull out the pattern: deny, distract, and dehumanize. It didn’t hold because people like Jeff turned the lights on—documenting contradictions, sharing receipts, and writing books that translated insider systems into plain language. That legacy matters. It gives new listeners a map and reminds seasoned skeptics why persistence wins. Along the way, we also puncture a familiar myth: getting sick isn’t “PTS.” It’s not proof of hidden enemies. It’s life. When doctrine demands magical thinking, reality eventually walks in.From loss we pivot to building: Comedy Works Denver is hosting a benefit for the Michael J. Rinder Aftermath Foundation. Tickets directly support people leaving high-control groups with housing, transport, guidance, and a community that answers the phone. It’s fitting—and a little subversive—that a comedy club anchors this effort. Scientology brands humor as “joking and degrading.” We call it oxygen. Laughter helps us carry heavy truths without breaking, and it invites more people to care. Expect stories, support, and a few surprises as we rally a room to turn empathy into action.If you can’t make it to Denver, consider donating, sharing the event, or sending an item for the silent auction. Your help builds the safety net that makes leaving possible and recovery sustainable. Subscribe, rate, and leave a review to push these stories further—and tell us: what question do you want answered next?Support the showBFG Store - http://blownforgood-shop.fourthwall.com/Blown For Good on Audible - https://www.amazon.com/Blown-for-Good-Marc-Headley-audiobook/dp/B07GC6ZKGQ/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=Blown For Good Website: http://blownforgood.com/PODCAST INFO:Podcast website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2131160 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blown-for-good-behind-the-iron-curtain-of-scientology/id1671284503 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2131160.rss YOUTUBE PLAYLISTS: Spy Files Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWtJfniWLwq4cA-e...

Send us a textA year of relentless help and louder hope. We open the doors on how the Michael J. Rinder Aftermath Foundation turned complaint campaigns into fuel, scaled a 24/7 crisis line, and put bold billboards across Los Angeles and London so Sea Org members know a safe exit exists. With Claire, Mark, Phil Jones, Matt Pesch, Amy Scobee, and mental health coordinator Jeff Beaumont, we walk through what real support looks like when disconnection has burned bridges and erased lifelines.You’ll hear how law enforcement partnerships now include an anonymous reporting portal and a dedicated agency hotline, making it easier for investigators to understand Scientology’s control tactics and move cases forward. We dig into the support groups led by cult-recovery therapist Rachel Bernstein, why anonymity matters for new escapees, and how a peer buddy system helps during holidays and tough nights. Then we get practical: education grants, GED pathways, and a 2026 push into vocational training so survivors can land steady work fast. Career counselors translate “Sea Org” experience into civilian resumes, replace paper systems with modern tools, and rebuild confidence step by step.We also celebrate momentum: recurring donors are up, total donations jumped, and aid requests more than doubled. Testimonials—kept anonymous to protect safety—show lives stabilized, apartments secured, classes started, and families holding onto hope despite disconnection. Along the way, we share powerful cultural moments: a teaser for Brothers Broken, which lays bare the cruelty of disconnection, and John C. Christensen’s Pain to Promise, a frontline look at how help becomes a new life. The takeaway is simple and stubborn: when a high-control group tries to silence help, the answer is to grow that help, register everywhere, document everything, and keep picking up the phone.Want more people to find this work? Subscribe, share this episode with someone who needs it, and leave a review telling us what you learned or what you’re still curious about. Your voice helps someone else hear the lifeline.Support the showBFG Store - http://blownforgood-shop.fourthwall.com/Blown For Good on Audible - https://www.amazon.com/Blown-for-Good-Marc-Headley-audiobook/dp/B07GC6ZKGQ/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=Blown For Good Website: http://blownforgood.com/PODCAST INFO:Podcast website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2131160 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blown-for-good-behind-the-iron-curtain-of-scientology/id1671284503 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2131160.rss YOUTUBE PLAYLISTS: Spy Files Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWtJfniWLwq4cA-e...

Send us a textA ship. A hotel turned school. A childhood taught to keep secrets. Pamela Nicole Williams joins us to trace a rare, ground-level history of Scientology—from her parents’ early work around Hubbard in D.C. and training at St. Hill to life aboard the Royal Scotman before the Sea Org took full shape. Her memoir, Clearly Lies Are True, threads vivid scenes with careful research to show how a movement’s promises filtered into family routines, language, and choices that shaped a child’s sense of safety.We explore the practices that defined those years: touch assists, TRs, personality tests, and the sales script built around “ruins.” Pamela explains how teens get “voluntold” into service, why labels like suppressive person keep people in line, and how sincere belief can coexist with control and abuse. She brings us into the moment repressed memories resurfaced—what it means to question your own mind, how secrecy trained in a high-control group amplifies silence, and why naming sexual abuse is both terrifying and liberating. Along the way, we connect personal timelines to Scientology milestones: early clears, St. Hill culture, the Royal Scotman’s shortages, and the pivot to the Sea Org.This is also a story about repair. Pamela shares how writing became a tool for healing, how she told her adult daughters the truth to break generational silence, and why forgiveness—without forgetting—was the only way out of lifelong anger. We talk practical support too: she donates a portion of book proceeds to the Aftermath Foundation to help people who leave Scientology rebuild with housing, jobs, and community. If you care about cult recovery, childhood trauma, or the mechanics of indoctrination, you’ll find hard truths, clear language, and real hope here.Listen, share with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help others find the show. Subscribe for more survivor stories, deep dives into high-control groups, and tools for healing and rebuilding.Support the showBFG Store - http://blownforgood-shop.fourthwall.com/Blown For Good on Audible - https://www.amazon.com/Blown-for-Good-Marc-Headley-audiobook/dp/B07GC6ZKGQ/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=Blown For Good Website: http://blownforgood.com/PODCAST INFO:Podcast website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2131160 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blown-for-good-behind-the-iron-curtain-of-scientology/id1671284503 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2131160.rss YOUTUBE PLAYLISTS: Spy Files Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWtJfniWLwq4cA-e...

Send us a textThe glossy reels say “global help.” The insiders tell a different story. We sit down with director Mitch Brisker to map how Scientology reengineered Narconon after multiple deaths, shifted operations from the secretive International Base to Los Angeles, and used a made-for-TV sheen to mask liability and control. Mitch was there through the rewrites, the SMP launch, and the clampdowns—and he explains how the organization manufactures impact with paid “PSAs,” inflated statistics, and a media pipeline that looks impressive but rarely reaches real audiences.We pull back the curtain on the Hole and the daily mechanics of punishment: segregated meal times, frog-marched lines of staff, and the phrase “PTS to the middle class” used to shame normal life choices. Mitch charts the rise and fall of key enforcers, including leaders who went from running a 300-person studio to sewing buttons in a laundry building. He also walks us through the film lab that out-resolved Hollywood with Kodak’s help, yet sat underused because it served only in-house projects—a perfect metaphor for a system obsessed with control over outcomes.Then there’s the archive project: CST vaults sealing Hubbard’s writings on etched plates and lectures on gold records, complete with a hand-cranked, solar-capable player. The goal was legitimacy and permanence; the result feels like doomsday optics. Meanwhile, AI models learn from what the world actually watches, which means critical reporting increasingly shapes public understanding while official channels stagnate. If you’ve wondered how Scientology really works—from Narconon lawsuits to SMP’s internal culture and those mountain vaults—this conversation connects the dots with first-hand detail.Enjoy the episode, share it with someone curious about high-control groups, and leave a review to help others find the show. Subscribe for more deep dives into the stories mainstream PR won’t tell.Support the showBFG Store - http://blownforgood-shop.fourthwall.com/Blown For Good on Audible - https://www.amazon.com/Blown-for-Good-Marc-Headley-audiobook/dp/B07GC6ZKGQ/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=Blown For Good Website: http://blownforgood.com/PODCAST INFO:Podcast website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2131160 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blown-for-good-behind-the-iron-curtain-of-scientology/id1671284503 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2131160.rss YOUTUBE PLAYLISTS: Spy Files Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWtJfniWLwq4cA-e...

Send us a textA holiday shouldn’t require a stopwatch. We open up about what Thanksgiving and Christmas looked like inside Scientology’s Sea Org—15-minute meals stretched to 45, staged fireplace photos mailed home as “proof of life,” and a steady drumbeat that family time was off-purpose. While most people are baking pies and booking flights, we were filing petitions, dodging “PTS” labels, and watching “important” church holidays turn into sales marathons dressed up as celebrations.We break down the difference between civilian Scientologists and Sea Org life, from catalog-driven “gifting” and CD Walkmans to the annual wave of winter illness used to justify investigations and denied leave. You’ll hear how “beer and cheese parties” shrank into warm soda and crackers, why big events like Hubbard’s birthday and the IAS anniversary outranked Thanksgiving and Christmas by design, and what it does to your sense of money when a $100 bonus feels like oxygen and disappears in a single sweater at an outlet mall.Then we pivot to rebuilding: hosting sprawling Thanksgivings, creating photo books full of candid chaos, teaching our kids that dinner together is normal, and finding joy in small traditions that don’t need permission. We also share practical, low-drama ways to reach relatives still inside—letters that avoid triggers, steady updates, standing invitations—plus why consistency matters even when you get no reply. If you’re navigating disconnection or planning your own exit, you’re not alone. The Aftermath Foundation and survivor networks have your back.Listen to reflect, learn, and maybe rethink what you want your holidays to mean. If this resonated, subscribe, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a review to help more people find the show. Your support helps us keep telling the stories others try to hide.Support the showBFG Store - http://blownforgood-shop.fourthwall.com/Blown For Good on Audible - https://www.amazon.com/Blown-for-Good-Marc-Headley-audiobook/dp/B07GC6ZKGQ/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=Blown For Good Website: http://blownforgood.com/PODCAST INFO:Podcast website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2131160 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blown-for-good-behind-the-iron-curtain-of-scientology/id1671284503 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2131160.rss YOUTUBE PLAYLISTS: Spy Files Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWtJfniWLwq4cA-e...

Send us a textWhat happens when you strip the mystique from Scientology and just answer the hard questions? We open the inbox and go straight at the topics most people tiptoe around: where Shelly Miscavige is likely being held, why so few members ever reach OT 3, what really happens to body thetans, and why OT 9 and 10 never seem to materialize. No hedging, no euphemisms—just clarity from people who lived inside the system for years.We start by framing how control works at the top: pressure, punishment, and a culture that rewards obedience over truth. That lens makes sense of everything from CST properties and remote placements to the constant delays on new OT levels. If leadership could invent scriptures, why hasn’t it? Because making up higher levels risks exposure if originals surface, which explains the obsessive surveillance of Pat Broeker and the endless “preservation” campaigns that raise money while keeping access scarce. We connect those dots to everyday experiences at Int Base, the few who actually reached OT 3, and why Xenu all but disappears after that—while BT cleanup becomes a life’s work.We also talk about laughter as a pressure valve: South Park’s “pneumonia” myth, The Simpsons’ broadside, and the futility of gagging a culture built on parody. The point isn’t to dunk; it’s to show how public humor punctures private fear. Along the way, we share humane memories—cruise dinners with Ron Miscavige Sr., a trumpet rendition of Happy Birthday, the quiet rituals of parenting after indoctrination. Rebuilding happens in small, consistent choices: therapy, books, united decisions, and the stubborn act of asking better questions.If you’re curious about Scientology, or you left and need language for what you saw, this Q&A is built to be useful. You’ll hear how “religious proprietary secrets” function like trade secrets, why digital access threatened the money machine, and how secrecy keeps the illusion alive. Press play, then tell us the question you most want answered next. And if this helped, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review so others can find it.Support the showBFG Store - http://blownforgood-shop.fourthwall.com/Blown For Good on Audible - https://www.amazon.com/Blown-for-Good-Marc-Headley-audiobook/dp/B07GC6ZKGQ/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=Blown For Good Website: http://blownforgood.com/PODCAST INFO:Podcast website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2131160 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blown-for-good-behind-the-iron-curtain-of-scientology/id1671284503 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2131160.rss YOUTUBE PLAYLISTS: Spy Files Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWtJfniWLwq4cA-e...

Send us a textA space opera with DC-8s, volcanoes, and billion-soul “implants” shouldn’t be the engine of a modern religion—yet that’s exactly the story that sits behind Scientology’s most guarded levels. We pull the curtain back on the Xenu narrative from OT III, lay out the official claims in plain English, and examine how secrecy, status, and relentless fundraising keep the bridge in motion long after the secret escaped the vault.We walk through the alleged Galactic Confederation backstory, why “body thetans” and clusters become the never-ending problem you’re asked to pay to solve, and how health promises and ethics pressure can keep members from getting real medical care. You’ll hear how Sea Org culture borrows from the “loyal officers” myth, why OT levels are only delivered at advanced orgs, and how moving goalposts for OT 9 and 10 mask an empty pipeline. We also track the turning point—leaks in the 80s, South Park, Boston Legal, The Kaminsky Method—when pop culture and the internet made the once-forbidden story searchable in minutes.Along the way, we share first-hand experiences helping people leave, briefing journalists on front groups like ABLE and Applied Scholastics, and speaking to students about new religious movements. Expect clear explanations, zero jargon, and a guided tour of the logic gaps—geology, physics, and those DC-8 wings in space—that reveal how a mid-century sci-fi imagination became high-priced revelation. If you’ve ever wondered how myth turns into machinery, or why drop-offs spike at Clear, OT III, and OT VIII, this conversation connects the dots.If this resonated, subscribe, share with a friend who’s curious about Scientology, and leave a review telling us what part surprised you most. Your support helps us reach and help more people looking for answers.Support the showBFG Store - http://blownforgood-shop.fourthwall.com/Blown For Good on Audible - https://www.amazon.com/Blown-for-Good-Marc-Headley-audiobook/dp/B07GC6ZKGQ/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=Blown For Good Website: http://blownforgood.com/PODCAST INFO:Podcast website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2131160 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blown-for-good-behind-the-iron-curtain-of-scientology/id1671284503 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2131160.rss YOUTUBE PLAYLISTS: Spy Files Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWtJfniWLwq4cA-e...

Send us a textA church that prepares for the end of the world tells you everything about its present. We dig into Scientology’s underground vaults built by the Church of Spiritual Technology—why they exist, how the etched steel archives are made, and the strange logic behind symbols carved into remote landscapes. The story gets less mystical and more material when you ask a simple question: who gets in, how, and what exactly is being protected?We also open the blinds on Int Base and the Hole, where pressure breeds cruelty and survival games replace ethics. Would Shelly Miscavige have steered the ship differently? Maybe on violence, not on doctrine. Disconnection, high-pressure money tactics, and family splits precede any one leader. And here’s the number that matters: by 2005, Scientology held roughly a billion dollars in pre-paid services not delivered. That’s a massive liability, which helps explain the pivot to pure donations and trophies with no obligation attached. If every paying member asked for the services they already bought, income could collapse for decades.Expect specifics, not slogans. We talk about where the plates are actually manufactured now, who supplies the titanium capsules, why transcripts of leadership meetings are scrubbed clean of expletives, and how event attendance shrinks while rosters inflate with names from the 1970s. We also speak directly to staff under pressure to join the Sea Org: you can walk away, and there’s help when you do.It’s not all grim. Our community’s “Fake Navy Davy” photo contest uses humor to puncture the aura—placing the doll in capitols, burger joints, and make-believe cells—because laughter is a pressure valve and an invitation to look closer. We close with updates from the Michael J. Rinder Aftermath Foundation, including real rescues and the steady work of helping people rebuild a life.If this episode gave you clarity or courage, share it with a friend, subscribe for more deep dives, and leave a review so others can find it. Your voice helps someone else get free.Support the showBFG Store - http://blownforgood-shop.fourthwall.com/Blown For Good on Audible - https://www.amazon.com/Blown-for-Good-Marc-Headley-audiobook/dp/B07GC6ZKGQ/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=Blown For Good Website: http://blownforgood.com/PODCAST INFO:Podcast website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2131160 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blown-for-good-behind-the-iron-curtain-of-scientology/id1671284503 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2131160.rss YOUTUBE PLAYLISTS: Spy Files Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWtJfniWLwq4cA-e...

Send us a textA religion that etches its scriptures into stainless steel, presses its sermons onto gold records, and seals everything inside titanium capsules buried in mountains sounds like science fiction. We take you there—mapping Scientology’s Church of Spiritual Technology vaults from Twin Peaks and Trementina to Petrolia, Creston, and an old California mine—while unpacking the logic, the secrecy, and the human cost behind it all.We start with the industrial reality: how books become laser-etched plates and lectures become gold discs, all climate‑controlled and argon‑sealed to survive an extinction event. Then comes the kicker—every time leadership revises Hubbard’s words, the archive must be remade, at huge expense. At Twin Peaks, where much of this work has been done, we talk candidly about clearances, rotating staff to avoid local ties, and why so few insiders even knew these places existed. Shelly Miscavige’s long absence threads through the narrative, including documented ties to more than one site.From there, we drive down a dirt road to Trementina, New Mexico, the airstrip and the once‑visible earth symbols meant to guide future finders from the sky. We explore Petrolia’s paper trail of addresses and voter registrations, the Lady Washington Mine adapted into a vault, and Creston Ranch, where Hubbard spent his last days in an RV on a property with a perfectly good house. Along the way, we compare myth and mechanics, and share first‑hand moments—like late‑night calls and not‑so‑subtle tailing—that show how far the organization goes to keep questions at bay.If you’re curious about Scientology’s real footprint, preservation claims, or the truth behind the “apocalypse-proof” archive, this deep dive connects the dots with reporting, records, and lived experience. Listen, share your take, and help others find this show: follow, rate on your podcast app, and leave a quick review telling us which site stunned you most.Support the showBFG Store - http://blownforgood-shop.fourthwall.com/Blown For Good on Audible - https://www.amazon.com/Blown-for-Good-Marc-Headley-audiobook/dp/B07GC6ZKGQ/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=Blown For Good Website: http://blownforgood.com/PODCAST INFO:Podcast website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2131160 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blown-for-good-behind-the-iron-curtain-of-scientology/id1671284503 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2131160.rss YOUTUBE PLAYLISTS: Spy Files Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWtJfniWLwq4cA-e...

Send us a textWhat does life at Scientology’s international headquarters actually look like when the cameras aren’t rolling? We open the map to Gold Base—also known as Int Base—and walk through who’s there, what they do, and why nearly everything meaningful flows through a single point of approval. From RTC and CMO International to Executive Strata and Golden Era Productions, we explain the org chart you never see in the glossy videos, and how AVC “authorizes, verifies, and corrects” plans that still live or die on David Miscavige’s word.Listeners asked what Gold produces now, and the answer reveals a quiet shift: mass manufacturing moved to Los Angeles years ago, separating living quarters from labor hubs near Bridge Publications and Scientology Media Productions. We address the Hole and the trailers that remain, the surrounding demolitions, and why certain executives haven’t been publicly seen in years. Population wise, the Base peaked around the mid-1990s and has thinned to a fraction, with some older staff moved off-site. The day-to-day reality? Endless approvals for even small liberties, strict security, and drills for fire, floods, intruders, and “blows.” It’s a fortress mindset, built on control and unpredictability.We also tackle the larger question: who sets policy when the founder is gone? Officially, “Hubbard wrote it all.” Practically, contradictions get resolved by canceling non-Hubbard texts and narrowing authority until it sits in one office. We share how paper boards and undated resignations create distance on paper while preserving command in practice. And while PR boasts of worldwide expansion, we hear from on-the-ground sources that some Ideal Orgs can’t keep the utilities on. It’s a telling gap between message and maintenance.Support the showBFG Store - http://blownforgood-shop.fourthwall.com/Blown For Good on Audible - https://www.amazon.com/Blown-for-Good-Marc-Headley-audiobook/dp/B07GC6ZKGQ/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=Blown For Good Website: http://blownforgood.com/PODCAST INFO:Podcast website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2131160 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blown-for-good-behind-the-iron-curtain-of-scientology/id1671284503 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2131160.rss YOUTUBE PLAYLISTS: Spy Files Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWtJfniWLwq4cA-e...