If you haven't yet become a fan of Rachel's podcasts, consider me grabbing you by your collar and saying: "YOU MUST CHECK THIS OUT!!!" Rachel is a natural interviewer and always delivers a fascinating talk.

Returning this week are actors, Andrea Geones and Michael Laskin. Andrea and Michael teamed up to create a code of ethics for acting classes with one goal in mind: to create a safe and healthy environment for actors and acting students. After experiencing the unhealthy and cult-like culture fostered within many acting classes where sexual, financial, and psychological abuse were the norm, they created https://www.findyouractingclass.com/ and wrote a code of conduct for acting teachers to agree to and endorse, as well as guidelines to help teachers ensure that they are running their classes ethically.

Andrea is a Los Angeles native. In addition to acting and piano, she has studied singing, guitar, and flute. She currently is in school earning a b.s. in nutritional sciences while she pursues her career in acting. She is also a freelance writer for online publications, including where she originally wrote about the cult-like atmosphere of acting classes. You can find her article here:
https://www.wordsbetweencoasts.com/actors-beware-you-may-be-in-a-cult/

Michael Laskin has been a working actor for over 40 years, across all platforms:  film, theatre, and television.  Twelve years ago he started The Michael Laskin Studio, an acting studio in Los Angeles.  His book, “The Authentic Actor - the Art and Business of Being Yourself”  has been praised as a fresh, newly examined, and non-dogmatic approach to the work and the life of an actor.

In the second half of Rachel's two-part discussion with Andrea and Michael, the actors break down their code of ethics and describe the personal experiences that directly inform many of the guidelines. Andrea explains the feelings of vulnerability and helplessness that acting students often feel and shares about the emotional abuse she experienced from teachers. Michael provides more insight from his perspective as an experienced teacher and explains how his outrage at the abusive practices became a catalyst to join Andrea in pursuit of a healthier and safer environment for students.

Before You Go: Rachel examines how systems of control keep people in place by manipulating them into a feeling of scarcity and explains why claims of exclusivity can be a red flag.

Thanks to our newest Patreon supporters, Deborah Schneider and Rosa Egede!!

You can always help support us for free by leaving a review on Apple/ iTunes, it really helps the visibility of the show!

To help support the show monthly and sign up for cool Indoctrination stickers and tote bags, please visit:
www.patreon.com/indoctrination

Want to support the IndoctriNation show with a one-time donation? Use this link! www.paypal.me/indoctriNATION

http://www.michaellaskinstudio.com
http://andreageones.com/

Playhouse Abuses w/ Andrea Geones and Michael Laskin

Our guest this week is Olga Yurkova from Ukraine. Olga edits the Context and Opinions sections of StopFake.org. She teaches different audiences how propaganda works and how to identify fake news, consulting with a range of organizations and collaborating with mainstream media as a journalist.
Yurkova explores propaganda methods and finds out new ways to overcome these challenges. In June 2017, she and her colleagues Maarten Schenk and Jordy Nijenhuis launched a project called Forbidden Facts, which explains how fake news spreads online through clickbait headlines on Facebook that reach out to skeptical audiences.
Yurkova has 15 years of experience in journalism. She headed the local multimedia newsroom in Ternopil city for six years. She then ran the Donbas and Crimea department at the national multimedia newsroom Nova Informacia for three years. She has been working as a new media trainer since 2012, and for fighting propaganda, Yurkova was included in the list of New Europe 100 and was named a TED Fellow in 2018.
Olga describes the disinformation campaign launched by Russia to influence Ukrainian popular opinion and the blatant and shocking false narratives that she set out to expose with her projects Forbidden Facts and StopFake.org .Throughout the conversation, Olga shares with Rachel her perspective on disinformation in the media landscape and talks about her work combating propaganda.
Before You Go: Rachel expands on the importance of Olga's ideas around building information resilience and media literacy, explaining the manipulation of emotion that mass media often utilizes to influence large populations into believing certain narratives.
Thanks to our newest Patreon supporter, Jenny Cornbleet!!

Please support us for free by leaving a review on Apple/ iTunes. It really helps the visibility of the show!

To help support the show monthly and sign up for cool Indoctrination stickers and tote bags, please visit:
www.patreon.com/indoctrination

Want to support the IndoctriNation show with a one-time donation? Use this link! www.paypal.me/indoctriNATION

Weapons of Information w/Olga Yurkova

CONTENT WARNING: SUICIDAL IDEATION

Our guest this week, Geoff Law, was raised a Jehovah's Witness in Northern California. As a Witness, he spent 35 years devoted to bible research using only Witness-approved publications, attending three weekly meetings, and spending upwards of 70 hours each month spreading the Jehovah’s Witness doctrine, trying to convert future members. His zeal for his beliefs led him as far as moving to Shanghai, China to proselytize underground, an activity that is currently banned by the government. Geoff grew up identifying as gay in a religion that does not allow its members the ability to identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. The constant bombardment of homophobic rhetoric, being taught to believe being gay is a choice and is wrong, forced to come out to leaders in the congregation, to confess thought crimes and “sins”, and told to pray the “same-sex attraction” away, eventually caused so much self-loathing and depression that suicide seemed the only option.


In 2019, Geoff decided to come out to his friends and family and leave the Jehovah’s Witnesses for good. Since leaving the organization, he’s been on a journey of self-discovery, unwinding deeply ingrained ideologies of sexuality and spirituality, instead of learning to live authentically as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. He is focused on getting the truth about the Jehovah’s Witnesses out to the general public and encourages anyone that identifies as LGBTQ+ in the Jehovah’s Witnesses Organization or in other similar high control groups to find freedom and self-love as they live an authentic and truthful life. 


In today's conversation, Geoff walks Rachel through his experience of growing up gay as a Jehovah's Witness. He explains the difficulties of discovering his sexuality as a young man while navigating the shame and self-hatred he felt because of the archaic and homophobic beliefs of the church. He explains how the homophobic rhetoric of his high control church created in him intense feelings of isolation that eventually led to suicidal ideation. Geoff details his guilt-ridden confessions to the church and also reveals some of the ignorant and hateful writings on homosexuality that can be found in the Church's official archive to this day,  

Before You Go: Rachel examines the intolerance of some fundamentalist religious households and explains what a virtue and gift acceptance is not only for families but for society as a whole. 

Thanks to our newest Patreon supporter, Kamila Forson!!


You can help the show for free by leaving a review on Apple/ iTunes. It really helps the visibility of the show!

To help support the show monthly and sign up for cool Indoctrination stickers and tote bags, please visit:
www.patreon.com/indoctrination

Want to support the IndoctriNation show with a one-time donation? Use this link! www.paypal.me/indoctriNATION

A Witness To Homophobia w/ Geoff Law

This week's guest Rob has been training in martial arts for over 24 years and has earned a 3rd Degree Black Belt in Karate and a Purple Belt in Brazilian jujitsu. He was on the International martial arts team Full Circle and ran his own martial arts school for four years. He has been consulting for martial arts businesses for 10 years and because of his experiences in the industry, he founded McDojo Life, a web entity where he has been exposing fakes, phonies, frauds, and pedophiles for the last decade. 

Throughout the conversation, Rachel and Rob both examine the similarities between cultic religious groups and martial arts schools. He points out the red flags students should look out for and what questions to ask potential instructors. Rob demonstrates with Rachel the five objections technique employed by salespeople, cult leaders, and martial arts instructors alike. 

Before You Go: Rachel provides further insights into how to be safe from control in a teacher/student relationship in any setting and reiterates the importance of examing these relationships even in seemingly innocuous organizations.

Follow Rob's project McDojo Life:
https://twitter.com/mcdojolife?lang=en

https://linktr.ee/mcdojolife

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj0hSixOVSV4HvmbAQjk0WA

Check out the trailer for his upcoming documentary here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkjaGq3DcAw


Thanks to all our Patreon supporters!!

You can help the show for free by leaving a review on Apple/ iTunes. It really helps the visibility of the show!

To help support the show monthly and sign up for cool Indoctrination stickers and tote bags, please visit:
www.patreon.com/indoctrination

Want to support the IndoctriNation show with a one-time donation? Use this link! www.paypal.me/indoctriNATION

Deception In The Dojo w/ Rob from McDojo Life

This week's guests Cody & Kandi are a married couple from a small town in the Ozarks, located near the Arkansas-Missouri border. They met and began dating in 2012. Cody grew up living on his family’s cult compound in rural Missouri, coincidentally near other infamous cult compounds. 

 In July 2013, Cody found out the truth about his family. He was reunited with his mother after 15 years. Cody and his mother have developed a close relationship. Cody also met his father in July 2013, for the first time in 20 years. In November 2013, against the wishes of his family, Cody and Kandi married. After experiencing ongoing harassment by "the family" In 2019, Cody and Kandi moved several hours away from the Ozarks. 

Cody is now in college, pursuing a degree in American Studies, and with the fierce support of his wife Kandi, he has finally started going through the process of leaving the cultic mindset behind. Kandi continues to support him through this process as she continues pursuing her law school where she is due to graduate in May of 2022.

Cody shares with Rachel his experience of being raised in an isolated family compound after being taken away from his parents by other family members involved in the cultic commune. He explains how these relatives attempted to cover up the sex abuse of his mother by elders of the group when she was a child. He talks about experiencing the effects of the religious trauma that affected multiple generations.

Throughout the conversation, Kandi shares her perspective of discovering the abuses and cultic behaviors in Cody's family and explains her thought process as she slowly and graciously led her husband away from the trauma and indoctrination of his family. Kandi explains the negative effects these destructive relatives had on their relationship and what she did to overcome the difficulties.

Before You Go: Rachel examines the ingrained fears that people who grow up with apocalyptic doctrine experience and the difficulties they have in shedding those worries later in life.

Thanks to all our Patreon supporters!!

You can help the show for free by leaving a review on Apple/ iTunes. It really helps the visibility of the show!

To help support the show monthly and sign up for cool Indoctrination stickers and tote bags, please visit:
www.patreon.com/indoctrination

Want to support the IndoctriNation show with a one-time donation? Use this link! www.paypal.me/indoctriNATION

Leaving The Family Compound w/ Cody & Kandi

This week's guest, Zoe Scurletis is a young professional who is currently based out of Austin, Texas.  For most of her adult life, Zoe battled anxiety and depression, and in 2017 she lost a close friend to suicide.  She longed to do something to bring awareness to the mental health community, so in October of 2019, she launched a mental health podcast called Solace and the City™. Through authentic conversations about sensitive subjects, she works to open up the conversation around emotional wellness.  Her goal of the podcast is to reduce the stigma surrounding depression, anxiety, loneliness, and suicide by sharing these powerful stories.

In her conversation with Rachel, Zoe talks about her passion for destigmatizing mental health issues as well as her own struggles with Tourette syndrome. Zoe walks us through the circumstances that led to her experiences with Mark Elliot, an author and public speaker who was a member of NXIVM and claimed his Tourette's was cured by the cult's leader Keith Raniere. Zoe shares how she narrowly averted recruitment into NXIVM by Mark, while Rachel points out some of the red flags to watch out for when being persuaded to join a group.

Before You Go: Rachel explains why a promise can hold such tremendous weight on a person's psychology and the depth to which it can establish or destroy trust in a relationship. She explains the responsibility and emotional maturity needed when making promises to people.

Listen to Zoe's podcast Solace and The City, including more conversation with Rachel here:

https://solaceandthecity.com/32-rachel-bernstein-that-one-time-i-was-recruited-into-a-sex-cult/

Thanks to all our newest Patreon supporters: Julie Richards, Adael Bullock, Amy Keller, and Eve Bryant !!!

You can help the show for free by leaving a review on Apple/ iTunes. It really helps the visibility of the show!

To help support the show monthly and sign up for cool Indoctrination stickers and tote bags, please visit:
www.patreon.com/indoctrination

Want to support the IndoctriNation show with a one-time donation? Use this link! www.paypal.me/indoctriNATION

A Close Call w/ Zoe Scurletis

This week's guest Govinda describes himself as a modern mystic committed to spiritual growth and enlightenment while simultaneously learning to be a balanced and grounded human being in this world. Govinda has been an IT consultant in banking and a successful internet entrepreneur. He has traveled the world in search of communities and alternative ways of living before he co-founded "Awake" in Costa Rica in 2020, a community and center dedicated to support and accelerate what he calls human awakening. 

Govinda describes for Rachel the experiences he had at Sat Yoga, an ashram and school in Costa Rica led by Shunyamurti (aka Robert Shubow) He explains the red flags he noticed in the leader and the cultic tactics he used to manipulate the minds of his followers. Rachel breaks down the common psychological traits of cult leaders while Govinda points out where these traits were present in Shunyamurti. Govinda goes on to share how his negative experiences led him to co-found the website www.satyoga.exposed/ which offers a different perspective on the nature of the organization and a voice for the numerous past members of the cult who have had a personal relationship with Shunyamurti.

Before You Go: Rachel speaks about what disillusioned followers can experience when they finally see cracks in the facade of a controlling leader, and what signs are visible when a leader hides their true self.

A very special thanks to Lisa Critchley for their generous support!

Thanks also to all our newest Patreon supporters: Kate Sandler, Jacob Brooks, Amy, Stephanie J Sharp, and Nathan Andersen!! 

We couldn't do it without you!
 
You can help the show for free by leaving a review on Apple/ iTunes. It really helps the visibility of the show!

To help support the show monthly and sign up for cool Indoctrination stickers and tote bags, please visit:
www.patreon.com/indoctrination

Want to support the IndoctriNation show with a one-time donation? Use this link! www.paypal.me/indoctriNATION

Sat Yoga Exposed w/Govinda

In the late 1970s, while Pam was in College, she got involved with Scientology doing many courses and counseling with them. She stayed in Scientology a long time, but around 2001, Pam was in a terrible accident where she broke her neck throwing her into the medical world of surgeries, medicines, Doctors, etc. During her recovery, Pam wanted off the medicines, so she got involved with Scientology’s form of “Drug Rehab” called “Narconon”. Not knowing what to expect, she first went to their facility in the LA area which turned out to be a 3-month nightmare for her, so they flew her to Montreal, Canada to a sister Narconon for many months. Pam desperately hoped they would keep their promises to help her, but this did not happen. These unbelievable experiences badly affected both her mental and physical health. At one point she was down to 84 lbs often having continuous seizures with no one qualified to watch over her, finding herself staying alone in an old Canadian farmhouse for months with little food, medical care, or even a phone- which also turned out to be deadly for her. She felt like a prisoner jailed in a foreign country not knowing anyone or even being able to speak their language. What could she do? This is her grueling story as to how it all happened, Narconon’s lack of any help whatsoever, and how she managed to escape back to her parents in the United States where her years of recovery began.

In part one of Rachel's two-part conversation with Pam, she talks about how she ended up in Scientology, to begin with, and the events that led to her seeking help through Narconon. Through her detailed personal account, she reveals the restrictive and dangerous medical practices of both Scientology and Narconon. Throughout the conversation, Rachel provides insight into the complex healing process that accompanies multiple tragedies and marvels at how Pam overcame the many traumas of her experience.

Before You Go: Rachel explains her admiration for people who speak out against the destructive and controlling groups they left and shares her own personal experiences with harassment from The Church of Scientology.

Thanks to all our newest Patreon supporters: "sdotsharp", and Maggie A Kelly!!
 
We couldn't do it without you!

You can help the show for free by leaving a review on Apple/ iTunes. It really helps the visibility of the show!

To help support the show monthly and sign up for cool Indoctrination stickers and tote bags, please visit:
www.patreon.com/indoctrination

Want to support the IndoctriNation show with a one-time donation? Use this link! www.paypal.me/indoctriNATION

Narconon, Pain, and Perseverance w/ Pam

In the late 1970s, while Pam was in college, she got involved with Scientology doing many courses and counseling with them. She stayed in Scientology a long time, but around 2001, Pam was in a terrible accident where she broke her neck throwing her into the medical world of surgeries, medicines, doctors, etc. During her recovery, Pam wanted off the medicines, so she got involved with Scientology’s form of “Drug Rehab” called “Narconon”. Not knowing what to expect, she first went to their facility in the LA area which turned out to be a 3-month nightmare for her, so they flew her to Montreal, Canada to a sister Narconon for many months. Pam desperately hoped they would keep their promises to help her, but this did not happen. These unbelievable experiences badly affected both her mental and physical health. At one point she was down to 84 lbs often having continuous seizures with no one qualified to watch over her, finding herself staying alone in an old Canadian farmhouse for months with little food, medical care, or even a phone- which also turned out to be deadly for her. She felt like a prisoner jailed in a foreign country not knowing anyone or even being able to speak their language. What could she do? This is her grueling story as to how it all happened, Narconon’s lack of any help whatsoever, and how she managed to escape back to her parents in the United States where her years of recovery began.
In this conclusion of Rachel's two-part conversation with Pam, she tells the story of how she ended up being transferred to a remote Canadian farmhouse, where she was trapped alone and suffering for weeks. She details the heroic steps a young girl took to help get her to a travel agency where she was eventually able to get home to her parents. Rachel provides insights on the trauma Pam experienced and her long and difficult road to recovery.
Before You Go: Rachel provides some psychological context to what Pam experienced throughout her ordeal. She breaks down the difficulties of complex trauma and the Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome many in her position struggle with.
Thanks to all our newest Patreon supporters! We couldn't do it without you!
You can help the show for free by leaving a review on Apple/ iTunes. It really helps the visibility of the show!
To help support the show monthly and sign up for cool Indoctrination stickers and tote bags, please visit:
www.patreon.com/indoctrination
Want to support the IndoctriNation show with a one-time donation? Use this link! www.paypal.me/indoctriNATION

Narconon, and On and On... w/ Pam

Our guest this week, Beth Matenaer, is a licensed professional counselor and trauma therapist living in South Carolina, who has worked with adults, children, adolescents, and families for more than 25 years. As a survivor of the Troubled Teen Industry, she has devoted her decades-long career to treating clients who exhibit the complexity of post-traumatic stress (PTSD) and other victims of high-conflict systems. Additionally, she is the co-creator and Clinical Director of the innovative Think Boxing program. As an adolescent, she was sent to a program heavily modeled after the Synanon cult. This self-help style school used attack therapy, loss of personal agency, physical labor, and isolation from friends and family as a way to tear down “troubled” teenagers in order to reform them. 

Throughout their conversation, Beth shares with Rachel both her clinical expertise and personal experience, she sheds light on complex trauma or (CPTSD) and how it often goes unrecognized or mistreated. Beth also tells the story of her traumatic time at a "Troubled Teen" program, where she was subjected to unhealthy “cultic” and exploitative relationships with staff members. She goes on to explain what happened when she ran away from the program and how her experiences inspired her to become a therapist focusing largely on misunderstood youth, traumatized children and adults, and highly dysfunctional family systems.

Before You Go: Rachel emphasizes the importance of conducting research into any program before becoming involved, especially for parents who are often deceived by programs in the "Troubled Teen" industry. Rachel gives some tips on what parents should look out for when scouting programs and offers some advice on how to maintain a trusting relationship with their children.

More info about Beth here: http://www.bethmatenaer.com

More info on Beth's therapeutic boxing program here: www.Thinkboxing.co

Thanks to our newest Patreon supporter "Free from RF"!!

You can help the show for free by leaving a review on Apple/ iTunes. It really helps the visibility of the show!

To help support the show monthly and sign up for cool Indoctrination stickers and tote bags, please visit:

www.patreon.com/indoctrination

Want to support the IndoctriNation show with a one-time donation? Use this link! www.paypal.me/indoctriNATION

A Complicated Cookie w/ Beth Matenaer

Rachel catches up with award winning independent investigative journalist Tony Ortega, who has been writing about Scientology since 1995. An important contributor to the famous expose "Going Clear", he's worked with: Jon Atack, Paulette Cooper, and many more to expose the dark underbelly of Los Angeles' most insidious cult. 

His new book "Battlefield Scientology" launches next month and his website, "The Underground Bunker" is updated frequently. Keep up with him at https://tonyortega.org/

Stay Tuned Before You Go: Rachel speaks on how important freedom of speech is in fighting back against brainwashing, and the secret language of Nu Shu that Chinese women taught themselves when they were forbidden to read and write.

Season 1

Scientology's Belly of the Beast

Support this Show

Scientology's Belly Of The Beast w/ Tony Ortega - S1E15

Welcome to IndoctriNation: A weekly podcast covering cults, manipulators, and protecting yourself from systems of control.

Scientology's Belly Of The Beast w/ Tony Ortega - S1E15

IndoctriNation

Recent comments

Related tracks