The Trolls Among Us
Inside the real lives of people who came early to intentionally provoking, confusing, and generally screwing with strangers online.
Inside the real lives of people who came early to intentionally provoking, confusing, and generally screwing with strangers online.
Mattathias Schwartz New York Times Magazine Aug 2008 20min Permalink
A couple, well-known New York artists, decamp to L.A., where she intends to direct a movie about a rock star trying to leave a cult. Beck, a friend, signs on, then (possibly under pressure) drops out. Their behavior grows strange, and they rant of constant harassment by Scientologists. They return to New York—to die.
Nancy Jo Sales Vanity Fair Jan 2008 35min Permalink
A reporter who investigated Scientology tracks down the man who once ran the church’s intelligence operations – and who may hold the secret to years of harassment (and the mysterious death of a pet dog).
Joel Sappell Los Angeles Dec 2012 30min Permalink
Scientology’s stronghold on Tom Cruise’s dating life.
Maureen Orth Vanity Fair Sep 2012 30min Permalink
A journey into the controversial religion:
In the next hour or so, Laurie asks me a number of questions: Am I married? Am I happy? What are my goals? Do I feel that I’m living up to my potential? A failure to live up to potential is one of the things known in Scientology as one’s "ruin." In trying to get at mine, Laurie is warm and nonaggressive. And, to my amazement, I begin to open up to her. While we chat, she delivers a soft sell for Scientology’s "introductory package": a four-hour seminar and twelve hours of Dianetics auditing, which is done without the E-meter. The cost: just fifty dollars. "You don’t have to do it," Laurie says. "It’s just something I get the feeling might help you." She pats my arm, squeezes it warmly.
Janet Reitman Rolling Stone Mar 2006 50min Permalink
Alumni report in secret on Delphian, the mysterious boarding school that Scientology built in the mountains of Oregon.
Benjamin Carlson The Daily Sep 2011 Permalink
Reporting from inside the Church’s Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles.
Dana Goodyear New Yorker Jan 2008 20min Permalink
During his 35 years as a member of the Church of Scientology, Oscar-winning writer and director Paul Haggis went “all the way to the top.” The story of why he left, and what happened once he did.
Lawrence Wright New Yorker Jan 2012 1h40min Permalink
An investigation of Scientology.
Richard Behar Time May 1991 Permalink
An early 1995 peek at what happens when secretive groups meet the Internet: a Scientology Usenet group, populated by believers and critics, stirs conflict that results in raids.
Wendy M. Grossman Wired Dec 1995 20min Permalink