A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology

This book by Mike Rinder came up once on Lex Fridman in the episodes we index. That mention was a genuine on-air recommendation, not just a passing reference. The people who brought it up: Aaron Smith-Levin. Every occurrence below links to the episode page and to the exact second it was said on YouTube.

Brought to founder L. Ron Hubbard’s yacht and promised training in Scientology’s most advanced techniques, Mike was instead put to work swabbing the decks. Still, Rinder bought into the doctrine that his personal comfort was secondary to the higher purpose of a world-saving mission, swiftly rising through the ranks. Yet he couldn’t shake a nagging feeling that something was amiss, Hubbard’s promises remained unfulfilled at his death, and his successor, David Miscavige, was a ruthless and vindictive man. When Rinder finally escaped Scientology he became one of the organization’s biggest public enemies overnight.