Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer REDUX with Luana, Jimmy Carter, Elvis and pals
Hacking The Afterlife podcastShow Notes
HERE'S A PODCAST FROM A YEAR AGO - 2025... LAST YEAR'S Happy New Year! Well no time like the present to kick off the new year with a mind bending podcast courtesy of Jennifer Shaffer and Rich Martini. Jennifer's web page JenniferShaffer.com has links to her "Uncorked" events, or to book with her directly, RichardMartini.com is where one can book a guided meditation with Rich. So the other day in my kitchen (and I don't know why it's the case, but I sometimes get a message or feeling there that someone wants to talk to us) President Jimmy Carter popped into my head. It of course could have been because he'd just passed away - but I try not to judge why someone shows up, or if someone shows up. I just leave it aside, and see what happens when we start the podcast. And as we often do, I left it up to our moderator on the Flipside, Luana Anders to suggest the topic for the day. And she told Jennifer: "Richard has someone who spoke to him yesterday." Which is accurate. And just prior to the podcast - literally a minute before, I remembered that happened, and I looked up Jimmy on Wikipedia so at the very least I had some of his background correct. as it is - at some point I call the King of England before Elizabeth "Edward" when everyone knows that's not her father's name. But Jennifer didn't say his name - just pointed out that she was seeing him when Winston Churchill showed up. (For historians out there, the story of Winston sleeping in the White House and seeing a ghost is old news.) As noted, when over the past ten years we have someone Presidential show up (We've had all chats with Hoover, FDR, Truman, JFK, Nixon, Reagan, Bush Sr.. and folks associated with the Presidency - Abe Lincoln, Mary Todd Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, RFK, John McCain - those interviews are in the books BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE FLIPSIDE (books 1, 2 and 3). Some of them are searchable on the podcast - Abe, JFK, RFK, etc... but it wasn't surprising what Jimmy said about seeing Reagan on the flipside, how McCain stopped by - and the legions of people who loved him were there to greet him. Interesting that he said Rosalyn was "with him" frequency wise - he spoke about the regrets he had from his life (associated with war) and the things he was proudest of. I asked him a question about a film project I've been working on - something only he would know about, the land case in Maine. Fun to hear him say it's a story "that should be told." He also talked briefly about people off planet - since he saw a UFO back in 1969, and says that the kinds of work they're doing are benevolent... nothing to fear. The same kind of things I've heard in the research behind CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FLIPSIDE KIND. We asked him who he was surprised to see - and he mentioned Winston Churchill and Elvis - who was friends with him. Paul Newman showed up - I wasn't aware of their friendship, but Jimmy talked about Paul's food charity work, and we asked Paul some questions about his journey, including what it was like to welcome his wife Joanne Woodward home. (Joanne is still on the planet, but has Alzheimers - from the research, multiple conversations with people offstage, our loved ones who have dementia are "90% already home" - so it's normal for them to interact with each other. As my friend's father Jack Tracey told us in his last weeks of being here, "It's like leaving a leg in the pool." I didn't mean to imply she is gone - just was asking him what it was like to see her "higher self" on the flipside.) So while one is watching the nation mourn this President, while the nation has a funeral for him, honoring him and his service, be aware that he hasn't disappeared or is gone: he's just not here. Available. Like everyone is. Hope this helps. WE'LL BE BACK NEXT WEEK!
More from Hacking The Afterlife podcast
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.
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!
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
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!"
Another mind bending podcast... Elvis introduced Jennifer to his friend Dolly Parton. I had an inkling she would show up this week - as the day she passed I heard her voice say "I'd love to be on your show Richard" or something to that effect. I know I was thinking about something else at the time, so was suprised to hear it. And for the next couple of days it felt like we were having a conversation - me hearing Dollyisms (as a jaded blues music player, Dolly was not on any of my play lists, although I admired her voice and writing skills). So for a couple of days, I kept hearing funny comments and remarks - and then nothing the past few days, so I wasn't sure if she'd show up or not. But she did. Jennifer is a huge fan, and becomes emotional while repeating what Dolly asks her to say. Jennifer wasn't aware of the duet "Islands in the Stream" with Kenny Rogers, but Dolly made her aware of that. I asked her the same questions I ask all of our guests; who greeted her? (Husband Carl). Was that a surprise? (No, because he'd been standing by for her since he left). She spoke about her mediumship abilities - something I'd read about prior to the session. Other tidbits of fun - and observation about what it's like on the other side, and how musicians hang out together. She was and is a fan of Aretha's - and brought her along with... We spoke briefly with my pal Charles Grodin about the premiere of the documentary on TCM about him last friday night "Rebel With a Cause" and he mentioned to Jennifer his work with getting people out of prison (she hasn't seen the documentary, so it's not something she would know about). Anyways, just another day at the office. Enjoy.