On this episode of Cults, Culture & Coercion, I sat down with one of my most trusted colleagues and best friends, Jon Atack—author, artist, poet, musician, and the recognized world expert on Scientology. Jon’s latest book, If Scientology Ruled the World: Nazi Occultists, Sex Magick, Space Aliens, and the Second Coming, begins with a chilling thought experiment: what if Scientology actually took power? To be clear: Jon does not believe that Scientology — which is facing serious challenges in maintaining current members and recruiting new ones — could ever gain enough popularity to control any government, let alone all the world’s governments. Still, with its extreme beliefs and ruthless disregard for human rights, Scientology could serve as a stand-in for any authoritarian movement. And there are many active Scientology offshoots. As I argue in my book The Cult of Trump, authoritarianism exists worldwide, and harmful groups influence politics through lobbyists, cash, and manufactured populism. Maybe a Scientology group won’t take over, but the idea that a destructive movement could dominate a nation, or even the world, isn’t far-fetched. In this book, Jon connects the dots with Nazi occultism and Hubbard, destroys eugenics, Nazi Aryan race theory, and so much more. With Nazism on the rise worldwide, this is a really important book—easy to read yet fastidious in its research. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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