Hacking The Afterlife podcast

While Jennifer is on a parent student weekend, am replaying one of our more popular episodes... over 4500 folks have seen it - it is second part of an interview with Robert Towne, the screenwriter, on the flipside (my old boss) and a discussion of Napoleon and a visit with Charles Grodin and Luana Anders. Here's the original liner notes from a year ago in August of 2024...    First; Jennifer's got another one of her Uncorked events in Manhattan Beach - tickets are available, for sixty bucks one gets a glass of wine, two hours with her and others who all get spoken to. The events are fun and easy to attend. UncorkedWineShops.com https://uncorkedwineshops.com/medium-monday-tickets/ For ticket info: JenniferShaffer.com  This is a continuation of our conversation with Robert Towne, my old boss who left the stage last week.  Jennifer mentions how she was walking on the beach the other day and Robert (and his dog Hira) appeared walking next to her... Jennifer did a number of sessions with Robert and so she's used to communicating with him. In this episode, I'm continuing with my list of questions to ask him about - people that we spoke with before, people offstage and if he has messages for people onstage. In this case, Robert was doing a rewrite or polish for a script about Napoleon (I don't know if it was his own, or it was for someone else, like Ridley Scott as Robert wrote "Days of Thunder" for his brother Tony. Comes to mind - when his brother Tony passed, we were doing this research, and Robert asked me about his passing, so we did a session asking Tony what happened.  It's in the book BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE FLIPSIDE. Either way - I want to point something out. We accessed Napoleon and his friend Betsy Balcombe in a previous session - it might be in print instead of in the podcast list - that would be in BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE FLIPSIDE 1, 2 or 3 - and in that instance, she identified herself as Napoleon's friend, and when asked whether he died of natural causes or was "poisoned" we heard her say it was poison. (or not from natural causes). In this episode, I ask Robert if he's had a chance to ask Napoleon about the accuracy of that, and the answer is the word "wife." For those paying attention, that could be the wife of Napoleon (who was having an affair back in Paris, had two children with that fellow and married him) that could be the wife of Balcombe, but his family left St. Helena before Napoleon died, it could be "Fanny" the wife of one of his lieutenants he made a pass at, and nearly jumped off a ship at the thought of being stuck on St. Helena with him - or it could have been any number of wives on the island, as apparently, he'd have flings with quite a few. Wild and crazy guy. But in reading the A. Robert's autobiography of him, it's clear that he died of stomach cancer. The doctors did an autopsy, it's the same disease his father died of - and it's clear to me that is what he died of. "It was a miracle he didn't die from it earlier." In terms of this kind of research, asking questions and getting answers, because I've been doing this for 8 years weekly, I have to allow that it's possible I was asking the wrong question, it's possible that Napoleon was trying to steer the conversation to another topic (like "It was my wife Josephine that caused me to have agita which turned into stomach cancer") or it could be that the word "wife" meant something else altogether.  It's important to note this - because I'm asking leading questions and I could be leading the medium into an area where they are trying to answer my questions based on what they're getting from the flipside. (I've seen people do this, and likely I have done it before as well.) Jennifer says what she hears, senses, or visualizes.  Why he answered "wife" is subject to more questions - because I could revisit the conversation and point out that it was cancer that took his life, so what's he pointing to a wife or his wife, or someone else's wife? Either way - this is one of those things that make people say "well it's all subject to conjecture" so therefore it's pointless to ask questions. But clearly Robert was able to express who Rudy the Rank was, and Charles Grodin is able to express his opinions about the movie we were watching. Either way - we do this work to encourage people to explore on their own - to ask questions, to gauge the answers, to ask more questions and see what one can learn.  If one doesn't want to they don't have to - but clearly if one does want to communicate, they can. Just research the answers (as I've done here.) Hope this helps.

This is an unusual version of the podcast. An old friend passed, someone I've known for 40 years, someone who was friends with our moderator Luana Anders on the Flipside, and by his own estimate was friends with 80% of our class on the flipside. Henry Jaglom was a Hollywood icon, known by everyone, knew everyone, used to hold the most attended New Year's Eve parties where I got to meet the cast of the Sopranos, met Ang Lee, Oscar winning actors, directors - Peter Bogdanovich, would run into my friend Carl Weathers and Sally Kellerman and her husband Jonathan Krane. It was always fun - and Orson was a born raconteur. He also didn't believe in the afterlife at all. He was adamant about it - and if the topic came up, would squint at me, wrinkle his brow, shake his head - just the way Luana's pal BJ Merholz does when the topic comes up. All I can say is Harry Dean Stanton was the King of Skeptics - and when we spoke to him on a number of occasions (and he proved beyond a shadow of doubt he still existed by giving me private health messages to friends of his at his memorial - who were flabbergasted to hear what Harry had to tell them as only he could have known those intimate details from the Afterlife.. Harry told us to tell people to "believe in the possibility of an afterlife so they don't waste another minute of their lives arguing about it like I did." As noted in the podcast, Jennifer was able to squeeze me in today when I told her a friend had passed, without telling her anything about it, and his friends had already reached out to me to ask some questions. So sincere best wishes to his family, to his kids, to his exwives, to all those who loved him and think this is an unusual way to pay our respects.   Yes, I know that Orson Welles was upset that he caught Henry secretly taping him - I heard it from Orson's secretary at a party at Henry's house. She whispered to me that Orson felt so betrayed, "He never left his home again." I didn't have to tell Jennifer who I was asking about - she could see them.  And to be clear - Jennifer is not a movie fan, she spends much of her day on criminal cases helping out various law enforcement agencies pro bono - I've interviewed some of those agents or detectives. She is interpreting what she gets - like when I asked her on BJ Merholz behalf - "who introduced him to Henry?"  I thought it might be their mutual pal Jack Nicholson - but Jennifer got that it was a woman - and wasn't Luana (even though that makes sense) but really couldn't pin down who it was.  Why?  Who cares? She was aware of Bert Schneider without knowing who he was (or how his first name is spelled) and how he "left the planet too early."  (How could she know?)  Or that Dennis was Dennis Hopper, or that Orson was Orson Welles - she knew nothing, zero, zippo about Henry Jaglom and most people who knew Henry didn't know that much about him anyways.  Finally it wasn't until I was listening to the podcast when I realize why Carl Weathers and Sally Kellerman were teasing him about "being in our class."  I realized that they were referring to the fact that he was adamant about life going on - and I suspect those who knew this about Henry will continue to believe that is the case - but in doing this work with Jennifer EVERY WEEK for the past ten years, I can report we've had many skeptics, curmudgeons show up to talk to us about how surprised, gob smacked, shocked they were to realize that life goes on. Life goes on. Get over it. Thanks for tuning in.

This is another milestone.  We only had a half hour, so I began by asking a specific question. The video that I posted, that Jennifer had not seen - was of footage of Saipan in 1944.  I asked Amelia if this footage featured the Electra?  She said it did but the "wrong date." (She says year, but Jennifer later said that meant date to her). The video was 3/4's correct.   Because the footage shows three planes in a hangar on Saipan - two Japanese Zeros and another plane covered by camouflage.  Amelia confirms that this was her Electra - which they found "the next day."  And is part of the book SHE WAS NEVER LOST: THE AMELIA EARHART SAGA.  Read it to give this comment context. Then we invited Robert Redford to speak to us.  It happens sometimes where I feel like "someone is bugging me" and two days ago that happened. So I asked him all the questions that I could muster about his family and friends. I know the family asked for privacy and apologies for asking him for messages for them - but we've been doing this weekly for ten years now. I've learned that even if a person doesn't believe that we're speaking to their loved one, eventually they come to realize it's accurate. Jennifer revealed she did a reading with Jean Smart, the Emmy winner of "Hacks" - and while not revealing anything they talked about, described the process of their getting together. And then throughout the podcast, she had other things come to mind - working on Robert's daughter's fiancee's case in Colorado - something she hadn't thought about in ten years, but came to her the night before he passed. Jennifer has been working with members of Kobe's family (they've allowed her to say that) - and other folks.  The point isn't about celebrity - it's about the fact that Jennifer has the ability to just say whatever comes to mind. I asked Robert how it was he was aware of our class, and Kobe showed Jennifer that it was his introduction that made him show up. We've interviewed a number of his pals, Sidney Pollack's daughter wrote to me that everything we reported was accurate about her, about him turning his chair around and packing his cigarettes while he answered questions. Sidney confirmed a latter he'd written to my pal Phillip Noyce before he passed.  We've been doing this for awhile. So I dove into the interview. He had messages for his pals, I asked for them by first names, but anyone could figure out who he's referring to.   So Jane Fonda, Barbra Streisand, Dustin Hoffman, Bob Woodward, Meryl Streep, Rod Lurie - he has a comment for all of you.  It doesn't matter if one believes it's him speaking to them or not - eventually we'll realize the process.   Jennifer can be reaches at JenniferShaffer.com, I can be reached at RichardMartini.com He gives some sage advice about politics, and lowering the political temperature. 

Another mind bending podcast.  We begin with a general conversation about the terrible event yesterday where a political commentator was gunned down. I mentioned how we've spoken in the past to people on the flipside including Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy, JFK and others who have been killed for their political views.  Unusually, there's a voice that can be heard saying something when I mentioned Robert Kennedy (Bob? Bobby?) that seems to be correcting me. Be that as it may, we begin by speaking to Luana about the "Ohoponopono prayer" (I'm sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you) that our friend Office K introduced me to recently - and the data that shows that there's a positive effect with people who've used it.  I asked Luana Anders, our moderator on the flipside to give us some guidance or explanation about the prayer and why it might be effective. Then Luana wanted to talk about the UAP conference given in Washington DC yesterday.. I don't know if Jennifer had seen it, but I did - and so we got into a discussion about "aliens" and "alien aircraft" from the perspective of FIVE - the head librarian of Akashic libraries (in this region he once told us.) FIVE has appeared in a number of session I've recorded - with other people, 5 appears in the book DIVINE COUNCILS IN THE AFTERLIFE, also on the podcast if one looks up the word "Five" - he uses the number as there's no gender associated with it.  So people won't be confused about 5 being a god or goddess, or librarian. Another term which has no gender attached to it. Five has often been funny and deeply profound, and is the same in this podcast.  Five talks about how aliens are interdimensional, but also how they cannot appear on the planet without "permission" or "being allowed to do so for benevolent reasons."   Five protested that my use of the word "Benevolent" was too strong a word, as it seemed he was saying "they cannot do harm." Prince weighs in at the end to talk about how music is frequency and from the heart. As usual - mind bending conversation about mind bending stuff. I am aware of the high pitched hum in the recording, but did not hear it while recording and tried to tune it out without harming the quality of voices. So apologies for those who are hearing it. Thanks for tuning in!

Another example of the kind of kismet that happens when Jennifer and I meet up. We don't plan a guest list, we have Luana Anders, our moderator on the Flipside who does that for us. In this episode, the first person that comes through is Mr. Bailey, Luana's cat.  When Luana was on her death bed, her cat escaped from her house and disappeared. She called me in a panic. My soon to be wife Sherry went with me to see if we could find her. Sherry went into the backyard and said a prayer aloud: "Mr. Bailey, Luana needs you now." The cat appeared in the tree above, and jumped into Sherry's arms, a person she'd never met. Mr. Bailey wanted to talk about how animals have the ability to communicate to the afterlife, and while people may have filters on the brain that prevent them from that awareness, animals do not. Mr. Bailey confirmed what we've heard in the past; "animals understand how incarnation works, but humans do not." Hard for some folks to contemplate; dogs smell cancer, elephants can communicate over ten miles, octopuses have 9 brains, and do more with one year of life than humans can do in 90.  Some other pets stopped by to give their support. Then former President Reagan stopped by.  He said that our interview with JFK (a number of years ago, it's in the book BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE FLIPSIDE) inspired him to say hello.  He pointed out that he's had a number of lifetimes with Nancy in the past - even if he was married to someone else to begin with. (Jane Wyman whom Ronald said "raised him.")  I asked who in our classroom of notaries had invited him and he said it was John McCain. John came by some years ago after he passed to ask us to pass along a private message to his daughter, which I did through a producer at Coast to Coast radio.  I don't know if she dismissed the message, as I've yet to hear from her. But in those earlier conversations he confirmed a number of things only he could know - or be aware of.  People I interviewed in his office for the film "Three for the Road" and later, talked about meeting his victims of the Vietnam war on the flipside - and them understanding each other as players in a drama. He talked about the politics of the era when he passed, and this veiled reference to Steve Schmidt's 2020 comments about the current President were what I was referring to as someone had reposted them the other day. We've heard it often - people act out difficult roles onstage to get others to react and do that thing that they're supposed to do.  However, in terms of political debate, the former President deferred from doing so - as he put it "I just came by to express concern for how divide the country is." I asked if there was any advice he could give - some kind of grand gesture or action people could do. His answer was simple, yet profound. Smile.  Start smiling to people we know, then more that to people we don't know, then move that to people we may not like. Just the physical act of smiling changes the paradigm, and everyone can do that on their own. It sounds miniscule - but instead of arguing with someone who clearly still exists on the flipside, I think it's wise to consider that they're saying instead of belittling or berating it.  He was consider the great communicator - and why not listen to his advice. To be clear; we've communicated with a number of Presidents, both Bushes, Jimmy Carter, LBJ, Nixon, JFK, FDR and Truman.  Again - I ask the questions and Jennifer gives verbatim what she's hearing or sensing. It's possible miscommunicate, but when you've been working with someone weekly for ten years, if one is paying attention, we can see that these folks show up often to talk to us. And in this case - Ronnie himself.  While people may start with a defensive posture - defending him, or upset that he might speak on our podcast - the point is that anyone can invite him to have a conversation and see what he says. As noted, we have the current President's father and brother on a podcast, and the last President's late son Beau on that same podcast. It's mind bending to hear them talk about the play we're all involved in.  How we should spend more time talking to each other, coming together, than coming apart. Hard to fathom in today's climate, that that is the message that is repeated often. Enjoy. 

Another one of those mindbending discussions between Jennifer, myself and folks offstage. In this podcast, we began talking about our previous week, which included Jennifer getting a flat tire at a wedding in Utah.   That led to a conversation about a dream I had the night before, where my old mentor Fred Roos (prolific producer, Oscar winner) showed up - and I asked Fred some questions about a documentary that he's appearing in - that hasn't been released yet, but premiered at the Venice film festival last night. When I refer to Mike, I'm referring to the director of that film, when I refer to Ellie, I'm referring to a film director and author who appears in the film (which Jennifer couldn't know) and the questions I ask her are based on my friendship with her since we met in the 1980's.  A generous and very profound person while on the planet. The reference to life being like an "electric toothbrush going off" when someone dies, came from her husband. And my questions about that quote were meant for those who would understand who that might be, and why I might ask it. Everyone who has been on the planet is available.  They may take time to get back to us, but we can ask them questions, ask them for help, ask them to participate in our journey.  Harry Dean Stanton is someone that Ellie knew well, and Fred knew well, and for those familiar with the podcast, we interviewed the great uber skeptic when he passed, and that conversation is in the film HACKING THE AFTERLIFE on Amazon Prime or Gaia. Harry tells us to tell people to "believe in the POSSIBILITY of an afterlife, so then they won't waste another minute of their lives arguing about it like I did." And he did. Anyone who knew him knows that to be the case. Podcast wraps up with an appearance by Prince (I asked Amelia Earhart who impressed her on the flipside) - and he does show up a lot when I ask that question. And Jennifer reminds me that I'm going to be on COAST TO COAST WITH GEORGE NOORY talking about the new book SHE WAS NEVER LOST; THE AMELIA EARHART SAGA - which isn't just talking to her via mediums (there is that) but also new information that shows many people saw her before she left the stage entirely - 7 years after her disappearance. Enjoy.

Odd sequence of events allowed me to see Jennifer today.  As she notes in the podcast - someone booked a session which prevented me from seeing her - and then when the day wore on, someone couldn't do their session with Jennifer - so we got together. There's some really mind bending information here.  Jennifer tells the story of her son losing his wallet and passport, credit cards - and then dreaming about where they were, and going out at 4 in the morning and finding them. Luana Anders, our moderator on the flipside shows up to talk about a party going on - and the screenwriter, my former boss Robert Towne comes forward to talk about the new book "She Was Never Lost: the Amelia Earhart Saga." I worked with him for three years, and remained pals with him for the rest of his life.  He became a fan of our work together and had a number of sessions with Jennifer where he was able to communicate with his mother, father, and dog Hira.  (Search that name on our podcast site for some mind bending conversations.) Then on a whim, I asked Robert who surprised him on the other side - and he said (again) it was seeing Will Shakespeare.  So I asked Will some questions about the ending of Hamlet.  Funny answers. Then, because of a mention of William Blake - I asked to speak with a poet named Allen. I met him in 1996 at a concert for Tibet House in New York City.  I was standing by myself in the VIP room (I had traveled with Robert Thurman to India at that time, later we went to Tibet together).  But this poet named Allen came over to speak to me - and I wondered why that was. It's a fun answer he gives. Jennifer had no idea who he was, or his pal Jack, or his pal Lawrence.  Also was curious about the poet Walt Whitman because many compared Allen to him.  Marilyn Monroe stopped by to admonish people for judging others for how they look.  Amelia Earhart stopped by to say again how much she likes this new book of mine, Robert said that there's going to be a 'part two' with regard to the book - (we'll see) and Luana pointed out that the story Jennifer told about finding her son's wallet is related to "opening one's mind up to allow for the answer to come forward." This is pretty much what Jennifer and I have been doing for over ten years. Talking to people offstage and learning new information from them. Enjoy!

Another one of those mind bending podcasts that we do.  Jennifer is back from her vacation, and Luana wanted to talk about a dream that I had last night - where we flew off to a party event where all her friends were.  It happened in the 1980's, and I was revisiting the event, only some of the people at the party are now on the flipside. Luana talks about how to manifest oneself into a dream of a love one still on the stage (she says it's difficult) but she compares doing so with meditation - meaning manifesting something or someone is the equivalent of inviting them to join one's dream. Mind bending. Amelia Earhart stops by to talk about the book SHE WAS NEVER LOST: THE AMELIA EARHART SAGA which is decades in the making.  I have to look up what she meant by "Chapter five paragraph three." As I've mentioned, there's an incredible moment that took place ten years ago - when I was holding a book that was written by Vincent Loomis about Amelia, and she said "open it to page 49, as there's something in there about the military aspect of her mission to Howland island." I opened the book to page 49 and found a reference to "Clarence Beelin" who Loomis said was involved with redesigning her gas tanks. I looked up Beelin and it turns out he owned an aviation company in Boston." But then ten years later, I'm transcribing that section in the book, and I think "Why was that so important for me to hear?"  I took to ChatGPT to ask about Clarence Beelin and I was told that was likely an error - because it was Clarence "Kelly" Johnson who redesigned her gas tanks for longer travel.  What makes that important is that Kelly Johnson went on to create the "skunk works" at the CIA - that he was credited with redesigning her fuel tanks, but further was responsible for all the spy planes in post war history - the U2 spy plane, the SR 71 and other designs - literally the most famous spy plane designer of all time. But the point is - that Jennifer didn't say it - and Vincent Loomis had it wrong in his book. The person who referenced it was Amelia Earhart herself, and wanted to point out why that was an important passage in the book - because it was incorrect! Because the guy who redesigned her gas tanks (so she could make it to Mili atoll where she landed the Electra on an atoll) - and wanted to give him credit for doing so! Anyways, all of it's mind bending, and all of it is in the book. Also Prince stops by to make Jennifer blush. As he often does. The paragraph that Amelia refers to in this podcast: Another mind bending adventure with Jennifer Shaffer Luana Anders, Amelia Earhart and Prince on the flipside. Amelia shows up to talk about the new book about her. In the podcast she said to Jennifer "tell him to look up chapter 5, paragraph 3." (She's done this before, so I'm used to it.) Here's that paragraph: (Chapter 5 "Just a tad off course" was written as if in her voice). "It was in May of 1944 that I had the last of my "ticker tape" parades. I had two in New York city, one after the Friendship which I didn't deserve (I didn't fly the plane, even thought they promised I would) and the 2nd was because I had soloed across the Atlantic but goy waylaid by a faulty maintenance - and landed in Ireland. You could argue in both cases I wasn't being paraded around for what I'd done - but the perception of what I'd done." She's referring to her "last parade" which was on the back of a Japanese truck, hands tied, blind folded, traveling with two American pilots who had been shot down in Saipan in May of 1944 in their B-24 Liberator. Both Jimmy and Bill were executed (their bodies dug up at a Geneva convention inquest after the war) - but numerous islanders saw her on the back of that track with those two American GI's. This is Amelia Earhart telling Jennifer Shaffer to tell me to "highlight" this paragraph because... it's accurate and she apparently likes it. Enjoy!

A request for an encore podcast of our conversation with the Late Honorable Representative John Lewis, Prince and Billie Holiday, moderated by Luana Anders on the flipside, and Jennifer Shaffer (.com) on this side... from the liner notes: Another mind bending session. Apologies for the wifi interruptions on audio... there's a moment in here where I ask Representative Lewis about three names - James, Andrew and Michael.  Prior to the session - I knew who they were. All freedom riders (like John) and two of them he knew well.  When he reported through Jennifer being reconnected with them... and then I asked him to show Jennifer who they were... and she correctly says on camera that they were murdered by the KKK... it doesn't get any more proof of concept than that. The "Emmett" I refer to is the one and only Emmett Till - the 14 year old boy murdered in the South whose death effected John Lewis immensely.  Apologies for becoming emotional - but sometimes this information is overwhelming.  I can only imagine what he describes to Jennifer - the standing ovation from millions of people who had been hurt, whose lives he honored with his life. Last week - we asked him to come forward but I didn't name him - this week Prince returned to introduce him to the class.  He was the one who mentions Billie Holiday and I took the opportunity to ask her some simple questions. It was John who I researched this morning when I realized that he might show up in class today. Apologies to anyone this interview might offend - but in terms of his life, and his journey, I am here to state unequivocally, I film these, I report these for the same reasons that John walked into a wall of billy clubs in order to speak the truth.  The part about Jesus is in the transcripts of both "Hacking the Afterlife" the book and "Architecture of the Afterlife."   The interviews with Dr. King, James Brown, Ray Charles and others is in "Backstage Pass to the Flipside 3."  We're just reporting.

While Jennifer is on a much needed two week vacation, I'll be sharing some of our more unusual podcasts. This was from a year ago.... For those not familiar with this podcast; Jennifer Shaffer is an intuitive medium who works with law enforcement nationwide on missing person cases. She does pro bono work daily for them, and once a week we get together and see what we can learn from the flipside.  We've been doing this weekly for 8 years, the last two on our podcast. I'm a filmmaker, have written and/or directed 8 theatrical feature films, a couple of documentaries.  Some years ago, my best friend died in my arms and started coming to visit me. Instead of being freaked out by it (and her showing up to friends and family members) I started to dig into how that might be. That's resulted in 10 books (Flipside, etc) and four with Jennifer Shaffer. In this edition, a number of people show up that we've spoken with before. We interviewed Kobe just after his passing, it's the last chapter in the book "Backstage Pass to the Flipside 3" - where he talks about his journey, and I ask him questions in Italian. Eventually members of his family have met with Jennifer - so it's not unusual for us that he might stop by.  The construct is this; my friend who passed away is on the flipside, and has organized a "group meeting" or a class as we call it, not to teach folks on the planet, but to teach people on the flipside how to communicate using frequency, images, visualizations on the flipside. Jennifer may get an image, let's say of a character from a TV show, and it may be their way of giving her a thought so that I could say, "Do you mean someone who shares the same name of that character in the TV show wants to speak to us?" That happens often. As noted, Jennifer is doing her best to translate what is coming to her. Like a translator at the UN, the people on the flipside are downloading a lot of information, and she does her best to catch the meaning, syntax and general idea of what someone wants to impart. A number of people stop by who've been interviewed before; Prince ("I was addicted to jumping off pianos, which caused me to use pain killers"), Robin Williams ("Love Love"). Marilyn stops by - refers to something I was writing at MartiniZone.com the other day - and when I asked if she wanted to talk about the manner of her passing, she said she wanted to talk about how she had two children waiting for her on the flipside. Both whom had not come to term.   That concept has been repeated in the research - consistently. A number of people in our podcast have mentioned it, the idea of "those we don't have are waiting for us on the flipside."  Harry Dean Stanton said the same thing - and I was able to verify it (but don't mention it in the podcast.) It's in "Backstage Pass to the Flipside."  Harry came through after he passed and before his memorial. I asked him what he wanted me to impart to his friends (as noted.) He also said that when he passed, "He was in a room with five women" and when he got to the flipside, he was met by a "baby that he didn't have in life."  In other words, a child was there to greet him with this profound unconditional love. At his memorial that I went to a week later, I asked someone who was with him at his deathbed to describe the scene. She said "There were five of us with him, all women."  I asked if he had said anything unusual while she was in the room. She said "Yes, he asked me to hand him the baby. But there was no baby in the room." I had heard THE SAME THING from Harry on the Flipside via Jennifer a week earlier. At some point, the Alpha and Omega stops by - and mentions the one thing he wishes people would not do, that is "get freaked out by his name." (Jesus). I've had a number of interviews with him via various mediums, different hypnotherapy sessions, and multiple guided meditation sessions. As noted in the podcast, I've finished that book and am doing the audible as we speak. Apparently, they wanted to know "when I was going to finish it." Soon.   So thanks to all the folks who showed up, Jennifer's dad Jim, all those people that demonstrate they aren't gone, they just aren't here.  If one has an issue with this podcast, I recommend doing some research into the concept that consciousness is not confined by the brain, I recommend the research from UVA Medical School DOPS, with Dr. Greyson's AFTER, Dr. Tucker's BEFORE, Dr. Kelly's CONSCIOUSNESS UNBOUND.  In terms of the hypnotherapy research, I recommend the thousands of case studies from Dr. Helen Wambach (RELIVING PAST LIVES) Dr. Weiss (MANY LIVES, MANY MASTERS) Michael Newton (JOURNEY OF SOULS.)  My latest book is DivineCouncils.com - where I invited 50 people, half whom had never heard of councils, who visited them, met their guides, teachers, etc.

In today's episode, it's a continuation from last week's discussion about process. We begin by talking about Amelia Earhart and the new book SHE WAS NEVER LOST; THE AMELIA EARHART SAGA. Jennifer and I never plan what we're going to talk about, and when Amelia shows up to talk about the book, I can do nothing more than listen. The rest speaks for itself. It's interesting that we invited Paul Rubens to come and speak to us - but he wasn't ready to (Pee Wee Herman), and then Jennifer saw Ozzy and Hulk Hogan entering the classroom - but neither of them were ready to speak to us either. It just shows how we don't plan what we're going to speak about. People show up and speak when they're ready to - or when Luana Anders says they're ready to - after all she's the one with the clipboard. So today's episode was about Jennifer's work with law enforcement and also how the book came together over the past 30 years. I'm not trying to sell anyone a copy - but the point is, we can all speak to, learn new information from people offstage. Hope this helps someone!

Another mind bending episode. We continue talking about process where we left off last week, Jennifer talking about her gratitude meditation that she does every night and again in the morning that keeps her on an even keel.  I asked Luana Anders, our moderator on the flipside if she had anyone who might want to chat with us.  She said Amelia Earhart was here to talk about the book I've just released; "She Was Never Lost: The Amelia Earhart Saga." Now that may sound weird to some - but we never plan our podcasts. And then Jennifer held up her phone and played a clip of the actress Gwyneth Paltrow reading the Kindle version of my book aloud.. That was MIND BLOWING - it comes from the "speechify app" - where you can choose who is going to narrate your book, and as a writer/director/author - who has taken around Amelia Earhart projects for years... I can't tell you how cool that is to hear GP's voice. Our kids went to preschool with hers and I'd see and her mom around the school. I never spoke with her, but she's got a great voice - and hearing her speaking the lines from the book was... I don't know how to put it other than "otherworldly." Because I've written some of the book in 1st person - based on 30 years of researching AE's story, just "giving it a shot" as to what it might sound like for me to "channel" (it's a loose word, I'm not claiming I'm doing that, but it's like that) the great aviator. Then - Jennifer - who has done this before (it's in the transcripts in the book!) said "She's referring to Chapter Five.  Well - that is the chapter where I speak in Amelia's voice. While speaking to her through Jennifer 10 years ago, I had a copy of "Soaring Wings" by George Putnam in my hand - and Jennifer said "Something she wants to point to in pg 49."  So I looked it up and read it - and Jennifer said "I could hear her voice while you were speaking as if she wrote that passage." The passage was about a fellow involved with planning her "Last Flight."  What makes it so very odd is that I named the name that is in the book - and when I looked him up, I found he was the owner of an aviation company. But a few days ago, before finishing the book, I had a feeling to look that up again. Turns out the name was WRONG! And the person who she met with was a famous spy craft designer - who designed the U2 and other spy planes - head of the "Skunk Works" unit - and this guy redesigned her fuel tanks for her long distance trip! What are the odds that I would hear Jennifer mention a page, then TEN YEARS LATER revisit that page, and then learn that the page was inaccurate, it was referring to the CIA super designer who created all of the spy planes we use!  (I know it sounds uncanny, but it happened a couple of days ago!) Anyways, I'm flattered she appreciates the book, I'm flattered that my old boss and mentor Robert Towne says he helped me with the book - and all of it, just every part of it is truly mind bending. Thanks for tuning in!

Every now and then Luana suggests an unusual topic rather than bringing someone forward to speak with us.  In this case, she wanted to talk about the process of communication with people offstage. Jennifer speaks about her process, working with law enforcement, and how she gets information from people offstage and passes it along to a particular person who works with an agency - and then they take those visuals, impressions, and dig through the known aspects of a particular case. The law enforcement person is in charge of what information should be followed up on, what aspects of what Jennifer says that should be followed up.  Sometimes it's like working on a procedural television series - each week it's more information, more clues... sometimes it's given to her in a download,  as much information as possible. Sometimes it's bits and pieces as the person who is offstage is learning how to communicate.  Needless to say, the law enforcement cases are also driven by emotions and a time element, especially when someone is missing. Jennifer speaks of how she tries to not judge whatever comes in - and report objectively what she's hearing, sensing or seeing. In our work together, when someone comes in that is known to our "class" or group of individuals we've spoken to on the flipside, they are assisted by friends (and Luana) in how to translate their thoughts into visuals so that Jennifer can pick up what they're imparting and translate that into a sentence. As she notes, she can misinterpret a visual... or later, it becomes clear what that visual was meant to impart. Almost the way a translator takes language and turns it into sign language for the hard of hearing, or those without sound. Each gestures carries meaning, and we string together that is being said or passed along. We never plan what we're going to talk about prior to the session... unless something happens to me (Like sensing someone in the room, and hearing them say something like Brian Wilson did when I felt I heard him say "I'd be honored to be on your podcast." Odd way of saying "I'd like to pass messages along to my loved ones" but Brian was someone who spoke with a different vocabulary as everyone knows.  But for those who are curious why we "talk often to celebrities" - that's not always the case. Other than Luana, who is a pretty cool example of someone who is a celebrity on the flipside for her ability to help people communicate with loved ones onstage. To book a session with JenniferShaffer.com or to book a guided meditation with RichardMartini.com - we're both available for private conversations.

We did a podcast in Jennifer's office in Manhattan Beach, lensed by Max Carlson who is in the midst of making a documentary about spirituality. We talk a bit about Jennifer's birthday week - and ask Luana Anders on the flipside how they celebrate birthdays over there. One of Jennifer's friend's son stopped by, the actor Eddie Hassell, and then others weigh in with birthday wishes - Prince,and then a long conversation with Paul Newman about racing, and then a discussion with the actor Charles Grodin about a screening I went to last week about him - the documentary film REBEL WITH A CAUSE by James Freedman. Then an unusual visit from Amelia Earhart to congratulate me on finishing my book about her.  It's something we've talked about in the past, but I didn't ask, and Jennifer didn't know that I had finished it and am about to publish it. So that was nice to hear! As noted, we do this podcast to demonstrate to folks how easy it is to talk to people offstage.  No reason not to learn how to do that effectively.

It's that time of year when our pal Jennifer Shaffer hits another milestone. In this podcast Luana Anders and Jennifer's parents Jim and Linda stopped by to say hello and remind her of their being close by at all times. A visit from Kobe and Amelia to weigh in on a couple of questions, but mostly a discussion of how to stay in touch with people offstage. Jennifer works with law enforcement agents nationwide on a daily basis and once a week takes time out to talk about the process and what she's learned doing this kind of work. One can book a session with Jennifer or attend one of her "Uncorked" events in Manhattan Beach via her website JenniferShaffer.com - one can book a guided meditation over zoom with Rich via his website RichardMartini.com Thanks for tuning in and Happy Birthday to Jennifer!!!

Another mind bending podcast.  In this we begin by talking about our recent appearance at Contact in the Desert. I did a guided meditation with a law enforcement person who reached out to me today to talk about something that occurred to him. He knew someone in the midst of the conflagration in downtown LA, and based on something we discussed at the convention, he did a meditation where he "asked his higher self to ask the higher selves of some of the rioters" to leave the scene.  He was surprised to later hear that they had mysteriously shifted direction and wondered if it was possible to affect change with that kind of intent.  Jennifer talked about the power of prayer, and I talked a bit about the effectiveness of meditation. Then we asked our moderator Luana Anders if anyone wanted to stop by; and Prince stopped by.  We said happy birthday to him, and I asked if he was stopping by because of a recent musician who had left the planet. He said "no."  I asked Luana if she was aware of who I was talking about even if Jennifer was not. She said she was. I started to say I had "heard this person's voice" in my kitchen yesterday saying "I'd be honored to be on your podcast." It was such a weird thing to hear, and since I've had a bad cold, I got emotional repeating the story. Apologies for getting choked up.  Then Jennifer realized who this "Brian" was.  Having been a music reviewer at Variety for some years I talked about a concert I'd reviewed, and am familiar with the documentaries (Frank Marshall's) about his life, and "Love and Mercy" with my Chicago pal John Cusack. I had many questions for Brian, including his mental issues, and he said they were related to the idea that he was "born without musical filters" and like some others we've interviewed, said "He was also hearing music since he was a child."  (See the book TUNING INTO THE AFTERLIFE) I asked him if he had a message for our mutual friend Van Dyke Parks (whom I last saw at Sally Kellerman's funeral) and when I asked him who he was surprised to see on the flipside, it was a name we've heard many times in our group; Aretha. I asked Aretha about a story I heard Cynthia Erivo tell yesterday on the BBC about Aretha coming backstage to sing to her.  It was interesting to hear Aretha downplay the event, since it was so meaningful to Cynthia.  Also Brian said he had met many others, or was in the process of meeting people, including John Lennon (He'd met the Beatles, but said he and John weren't close) but pointed out that he'd just gotten home and there were a lot of people to see. I apologized for peppering him with questions, then tried to tell him about being in a grocery store yesterday in Santa Monica, told the staff he had passed (they all reacted) I shouted to the manager "Can you put on some Beach Boys in honor of Brian?" and he did. And everyone in the store began to sing. It make me think of getting a pick up truck with massive Marshall speakers and drive around the National Guard playing the Beach Boys which they would appreciate and love as well.  The music makes people happy.  Just another mind bending half hour at the office.  Thank you Jennifer for your talents!

Another one of those mind bending podcasts.  We begin by reviewing our visit to Contact In the Desert over the weekend, where we did a lecture and a workshop. (Both are available at the ContactInTheDesert.com website) In our lecture members of the audience asked questions from Jennifer and in the workshop, our moderator on the Flipside brought someone who is from another planet. In that case, Jennifer could see this "green glowing light" that turned into a humanoid looking being when I asked for it to "manifests as someone that Jennifer could see."  He self identified as "Nojah" - someone who is from the "Pleiadian group of planets."   He shows up again in our podcast, after a visit from Prince... when asked what he wanted to speak about, Prince said "well you invited the class to come to Contact in the Desert, so I was there."  Jennifer talked about the "crowds of people" that were there - not only the folks walking around to visit the events, but those folks on the flipside "accompanying them." Then our new friend Nojah showed up - spoke about the idea that humans experience things in a tactile way, and how we can share that information, experience with our higher selves, which shares it with people who are curious about it. He spoke about the idea of the multiverse - which I took to mean that there are many dimensions in any given space at any given time, so there's a lot of different people who can access events simultaneously.  Jennifer took it to mean the idea the multiverse represents us in different time frames, different profiles.  I've heard the proviso "Well, we only get one life at a time, otherwise we wouldn't learn anything." (Which may or may not be accurate, I'm just reporting). We then had a visit from two folks who've visited the podcast before; "Ma Durga" - the 8 armed teacher of astrophysics and other classes, and "5" the self identified "head librarian."  I tossed a couple of questions in their direction, and 5 said in order to communicate with him "Pray, but not in the religious sense" - which I assume means a version of "meditate with purpose" - and when asked to clarify, said "I already answered this" and then said "Yes, it helps to have a mediator" (which could be a hypnotherapist, medium or someone doing a guided meditation.) All of it mind bending. Hope this helps!

A Memorial Day weekend podcast.  Michael Hutchence, who passed in 1997 stopped by to say hello.  He said that he wanted to "talk about death" but it wasn't until I was uploading this I realized he was referring to "a day where we remember people who have passed away." I mentioned that we had spoken to him briefly before, that transcript is in one of our Backstage Pass to the Flipside conversations - if memory serves me it was a brief conversation about his crossing over unexpectedly. In today's podcast he talks about who greeted him on the other side, and what that was like - as well as the perspective he has now after this amount time has gone by.  He mentioned how in the interim he's realized that he had planned to "leave early" - not that the events is chosen in advance, but that there's the aspect of "returning home." When asked about that, he talked about already being back on the planet in there different individuals. While this may sound unusual - it's not unheard of.  We bring only a percentage of our conscious energy to a lifetime - the average is between 20 and 40% (based on interviews) - but that leaves behind 60 to 80% of our conscious energy - so in essence, we can do multiple journeys at the same time. It's rare, I've only spoken to a few individuals who are aware of participating in that sort of journey - but it has been reported.  The point is that those individuals won't meet each other, but they will experience things to learn or teach lessons.  In this case, Michael said he was back as a "homeless person" as well as a saxophonist living in London named Louis. (Or Luis).   Anyways, we had a lively discussion about that aspect of how consciousness functions or incarnations works. Then Elvis stopped by - and also wanted to discuss his journey.  I reminded him how he had returned to visit us a few years after our first conversation to talk about the unborn child that greeted him on the other side, and how he felt such overwhelming unconditional love during that experience. I asked him some questions about that - and then Jennifer's father in law stopped by and had some observations for her - and her father told her that he had told this gentleman that the only time Jennifer "believes she's talking to us" was on our podcast. Another mind bending adventure.  Happy Memorial day and thanks for tuning in!  And a reminder, we're appearing at Contact in the Desert this weekend, a lecture on Friday at 11 am (May 30th) and a workshop demonstration on Saturday at 11 am (May 31st, 2025).  Enjoy!

Our host on the flipside, Luana Anders wanted to talk about our upcoming talks at Contact in the Desert on May 30th at 11 am, and May 31st at 11 am. To those fans of the podcast, Luana is our moderator on the flipside.  She passed in 1996, but brought Jennifer and I together and has been moderating our discussions for ten years. Today she wanted to discuss our upcoming lecture and workshop on Friday May 30th at 11 am (See JenniferShaffer.com or ContactInTheDesert.com) or on Saturday May 31st at 11 am. As Luana has suggested (or I suggested it, and she modified it) we'll talk about the process on Friday, how Jennifer can bypass the filters on the brain and talk to people off planet, and how by way of telepathy she's able to communicate with people no incarnate (which includes people who normally incarnate on other planets, as we've met a few.) Then we'll do a demonstration on Friday of how to do that - an upcoming presentation for the workshop on Saturday where we'll dive deeper into this idea of communicating with people offstage. In this instance, Luana has ALREADY LINED UP GUESTS but she's not telling us who they're going to be ("It's a surprise.") Think about that for a minute - it's not a sales ploy or some kind of tool - we honestly don't know who she's going to bring, but whomever she does bring will be ready to talk to us about why they did agree to participate. Mind bending to say the least. Also a visit from the dog Hira (Robert Towne's dog Hira who was actually nominated for an Oscar for getting the screenplay credit for "Greystoke") and Mr. Bailey who has spoken to us before. Robin Williams stopped to say hello and remind us "Whatever you need, send it out." He reminded us to "Pray" - not in a defensive way, but in a positive way.  He also said "Get out of your head" which should be the headline for this episode. Meaning get out of your head, get out into nature, get out of the rut we put ourselves in. Wise word from one of the wisest wordsmiths. So again - we will be appearing May 30th at "Contact in the Desert" and May 31st - both at 11 am. On Friday it's a lecture about telepathy and demonstrating how Jennifer does what she does - and on Saturday it's a workshop in showing people how to do the same. Come on down!

This is our 2025 Mother's Day special.  We didn't plan it that way, but that's what it become. As we've noted in the past, Jennifer and I don't plan any aspect of our podcast other than asking Luana Anders, my pal on the flipside, who wants to come forward and speak with us. Jennifer and I have been doing this weekly for ten years, the past five on our podcast.  In today's episode Mother Teresa came forward to talk about Mother's day - and how women are built like Gaia - the mother earth - for compassion and empathy and whether they have or had children, they should be honored as mothers. I made a fun suggestion to invite Christopher Hitchens to chat with us - we've spoken with both Mother Teresa and Hitchens in the past - both transcripts are in the books BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE FLIPSIDE - but interesting to note that Mother Teresa nixed that idea. As I note in the podcast he was in denial about their being an afterlife - she said she had met him on the flipside, and no she didn't want to invite him to speak. She wanted to talk about the loving energy that people share and should focus on.  I asked her about the story of "Pope Joan" and I was startled to hear her confirm that it occurred.  That's mind bending - because the Church claims it did not, but if one has ever lived in Rome, they know that some streets are blocked off permanently - and no one is allowed to go down them.  According to legend, Via Papalis - between St John Lateran the old Vatican and the city - Pope Joan fainted from loss of blood, either from a miscarriage or from her period - and she was erased from the history of the church. Jennifer didn't know the story, but Mother Teresa does - and said it was true, and is "one of the greatest stories in history."  Mind bending because one could argue it presages the story of the film "Conclave" - I asked questions about the new Pope Leo, and we were told it was "meant to be" that he is the "Pope that is needed in this time." They won't alter our future with info - but this was mind bending to say the least. I invited the philosopher St. Augustine to share his opinion because the New Pope is from the Augustinian order - and he said "drink the wine." (Referring to his book "Confessions" and Jennifer's recent post about a client on the flipside who regretted he didn't drink the wines he had collected.  Jennifer's father Jim stopped by, and then when asked who wanted to speak, Jesus showed up.  Unlike most podcasts, I didn't edit any of the pauses between questions. So if one is listening there will be long periods of silence - if they're watching they will see Jennifer's face go through various emotions when hearing the answers. The answer is love. And Jesus repeats that in his answers to my questions. It's all about love - and "everything is always okay." Happy Mom's day.