Hacking The Afterlife podcast

HACKING THE AFTERLIFE with Jennifer Shaffer, Eddie Hassell, Classrooms in the Afterlife, SANTA

Hacking The Afterlife podcast

Show Notes

As always, the podcast is around whatever topic that Luana Anders, our moderator on the Flipside wants to discuss. In this case, it was about how to modify stress, how to change the paradigm, and most importantly, to talk about Santa. I make a joke about how you never see Santa and Satan in the same room - both have the same letters, both wear red outfits, what's up with that? Jennifer avoids answering me and talks about how Luana is making a connection between Jesus and Santa. I offer an explanation and Jennifer "taps her nose" which is how Luana shows her that I'm on the right path. The idea that Santa represents a gift giver, someone who gives gifts without asking for anything in return - no loyalty, no fealty, no religions beliefs - just flat out, "here's the gift I'm giving you based on what you need." Jesus - in terms of the data, the research (see THE GREATEST STORY NEVER TOLD AS TOLD BY JESUS AND THOSE WHO KNEW HIM for context) - he shows up in 15% of NDE's whether people believe in him or not, so it's not a religious point that is being made. It's a giving point. And when Jesus shows up, people talk about feeling "unconditional love" or "indescribable joy" or "non judgmental acceptance." All of which could be viewed as "Gifts" to give someone. Luana talks about how the world would shift in 24 hours if everyone on it could give unconditional love for that time frame - but suggests that just doing ten minutes of focused meditation a day - and giving yourself love while doing it, is a way to chip away at the problem. Again - Luana Anders is my pal who I was with for 20 years, who died in my arms in 1996. When I first started meeting up with Jennifer over 10 years ago, she talked about Luana being in the room - and eventually we realized that she brought us together. In this podcast, for the first time, I realize that Luana is "teaching a class on the flipside" (parts of which include this podcast) where she's showing people offstage how to communicate to a denser realm, using telepathy or by reaching out to someone like Jennifer whose filters are lowered or down. Jennifer talks about how her doctors have suggested that her being in the Delta state for a number of hours per day, has healed her brain from the traumatic injury she experienced after a car accident many years ago. Her doctors have suggested that its her work that has helped to heal her brain. However, that also means that her filters are less than others - and the density of our realm is what the class is about. It's another mind bending podcast, but the discussion is lighthearted. Eddie Hassell, the later actors makes an appearance at the beginning to explain how and why he "set off the fire alarm" in Jennifer's home (to reach out to his mother). Then I recount the battery on my car dying - and Luana said that was "done to prevent you from having a car accident that day." It sounds like wishful thinking, except I wasn't aware I'd left the flashers on the car on - didn't see them in the garage, didn't hear them as I normally would. All I can say is "Thank Lu, I appreciate it." She also said she was with me and my pals and family on Thanksgiving - which is a fun thing to consider. Again another mind bending podcast and it includes Santa!!!

More from Hacking The Afterlife podcast

Oct 23, 2026

I ran across the debut episode of our podcast from March 20, 2020. All the guests we had spoken to before - so it wasn't new for us to have them show up in our "classroom in the afterlife" that is moderated by Luana Anders.

Oct 16, 2026

Another mind bending podcast. Amelia Earhart is in the news - and came through to talk about what the expedition means to her. She then was followed by the screenwriter, my old boss Robert Towne who wanted to weigh in on Tom Cruise's performance in the film "DIGGER." Robert worked with Tom often, and he gave it a rave. And then - both Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel stopped by - whom we interviewed before in BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE FLIPSIDE BOOK THREE, and they gave their thumb reviews. Mind bending stuff all the way around. The recent book SHE WAS NEVER LOST: The Amelia Earhart Saga is available everywhere.

Oct 10, 2026

This is a rerun of a podcast from two years ago - it didn't have subtitles but I've included them now. This was an unusual podcast just based on the folks who showed up to chat with us. Jennifer and I had taken a trip to the Chateau Marmont on Sunset Blvd, and we had a group of folks who stopped by to say hello. At some point John Belushi talked about "ghost watching" - not to show up in the hotel to watch people onstage, but to watch "the other ghosts wandering around." Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson showed up to talk about early exits - people who leave the stage early for whatever reason. And that brought a bunch of people forward, from JFK to Elvis, to Matthew Perry, Robin Williams and others... the point they were making is that people leave the stage in all different fashions, and it's about focusing on who they were while they were onstage, and not how they left it. We had a brief chat with Gene Hackman again - to clarify what happened in light of the police reports... and he made a joke about it. I try to repeat the advice that these folks are available to anyone if they take the time to ask them questions. But be prepared for them not being all that interested in questions that relate to our journey and not theirs. I asked my old pal Charles Grodin about what it was like to see his old friend Gene, and then we shifted to an event that happened later in the day. While dining at Musso and Frank's in Hollywood two members of my group saw "a ghostly figure" sitting in the corner of the room. They didn't know who it was or could be, but said he "looked like the actor Robert Downey Jr." (And even then they didn't know his name either, and asked questions about someone named "Downey") They also heard him talking about "table #1" to them - so I invited the waiter to stop by the table and simply asked about any ghosts people might have seen in the restaurant. He said "Charlie Chaplin" and I asked where table #1 was - and he mentioned the table that I had lunch with Jonathan Winters - which was table #1 - and how that's where Charlie liked to dine. We asked Charlie about why he was seen "scribbling notes" and he said it was the place he liked to have good ideas and good food, but also said in this instance, he showed up so that members of my group would see him, and that would inspire me to invite him to chat on our podcast. I don't know how else to put it - but Jennifer and I have been doing this weekly for ten years. Not everyone who shows up in our conversations is a celebrity - but because of my 40 years in the business, and Luana Ander's 300 TV shows and movies (my friend who moderates our podcast from the Flipside, who passed in 1996) I'm not surprised when people do show up that we can recognize. Jennifer's father Jim also stopped by to clarify some things, and I must say - the topic of leaving the stage early came up - if someone is in need of help or counseling, there is help - and one should reach out to 988 and the counselors there from any telephone. But in my desire to not use the S word in the podcast, I tried to leave it out of the conversation, as the algorithms will generally not want it to be discussed - but the important point was made by people offstage - that is to realize that life goes on no matter what happens, and that everyone onstage signed up to be onstage, and should see what things might occur or happen that we could not be aware of. Oh, and Robin Williams showed up to not only discuss the same topic, but to confirm that during a recent guided meditation, this woman saw him in her "classroom in the afterlife" - and he confirmed that it was him BEFORE I COULD ASK THE QUESTION. Anyways, all of it is mind bending, and hopefully whomever needs to hear what they are talking about is able to hear what they're trying to say. Thanks for tuning in!

Oct 3, 2026

THIS IS A PODCAST WE DID ON THIS DATE TWO YEARS AGO IN 2024. Before the book SHE WAS NEVER LOST came out... but the story remains the same. This version has subtitles for the hard of reading, but the sound is the same for the hard of hearing! xo

Sep 23, 2026

Today's episode begins with a discussion about talking to people on the flipside - Jennifer describes the over 200 people that she read recently, and gives an account of one of the stories where someone came through and flipped out their family when the grandmother said "I'm so glad you didn't get that tattoo!"

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