Hacking the Afterlife Holiday Edition; Jennifer Shaffer, Luana Anders talk to people offstage about the coming year!
Hacking The Afterlife podcastShow Notes
Welcome to the podcast Hacking the Afterlife. I tend to put information here that gives context to the podcast. In that vein, for those unfamiliar with what we're doing: At what point in time is it okay to ask recently deceased people questions on the flipside? When is too soon? When is it inappropriate? Some context: as a filmmaker, I’ve written and or directed 10 feature films, made a number of documentaries about the afterlife, and have spoken at UVA Medical school DOPS regarding how the footage shows consciousness is not confined to the brain. Jennifer Shaffer works with law enforcement agencies nationwide on missing person cases. I’ve interviewed some of those agents from the FBI, LAPD (NYPD) who work with her on a daily basis. A third of her practice is pro bono work with law enforcement. She also works with a number of people who knew Rob and Michelle, and the families of Kobe Bryant and Steve Jobs have allowed her to mention that she works with them. Ten years ago, I began working with Jennifer - we met for lunch and have been talking since then. The past five years on our podcast. Our moderator on the flipside is Luana Anders - who worked with Rob Reiner in the film THE LAST DETAIL. Luana died in my arms, and began visiting me not long after (back in 1996). It took me until 2004 to investigate how it was possible she could communicate with me - and upon meeting Jennifer I realized I could have conversations with her. And indeed - we’ve been doing that nonstop for over ten years. Luana was in many films - worked with Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson and others - and in my case, I worked with Ray Charles in the film LIMIT UP where he plays “God.” The point is that it’s “six degrees of separation.” If Luana knows someone, or I worked with someone, it’s easier for us to verify those details. I knew Penny Marshall, we did a gig together once, I appeared on Laverne and Shirley once (cutting room floor because Harry Dean Stanton’s song went long.) So when this question is asked; “Are you going to be speaking to Rob and Michelle soon?” it comes from the couple of hundred interviews we have on the podcast HACKING THE AFTERLIFE on YouTube. In terms of our podcast, people tend to miss the notion that we aren’t in charge of the guest list. Since Jennifer and I have begun to talk to the flipside, it’s really up to Luana Anders to decide who is “ready to be interviewed.” In terms of how that works, sometimes I “hear” a voice from someone I knew or know - and when that happens, I’ll say to myself “Well, if this person wants to show up for a conversation, they know where to find us.” And then - since Jennifer and I have been doing that for over the past ten years, frequently I’ll show up for a meeting with her - and she’ll say “so and so is here.” That has happened more often than I can recall. I can report that I heard Robert Kennedy’s voice one day saying “I understand you’re the person I need to speak with to get a message to my family.” I had the presence of mind to not judge that I heard his distinct voice - and said to him; “Actually I’m not the guy, you need to find Luana.” The next day I went to meet with Jennifer and she said before I could say anything; “Robert Kennedy is here.” The other day during the Frank Gehry interview, I heard his voice (or had the impression of hearing his voice) saying “Yes, I’ll be on your podcast.” And not believing that it was actually him and not my imagination, I said to him “Well, we met through Sally Kellerman, so if you do want to speak to us, Sally should show up and I’ll know it’s you.” And during that podcast, at first Jennifer said “Luana says you have someone” and then said “Hot Lips is here.” (Sally Kellerman’s role in the film MASH.) So I knew that Frank was available to converse. In this case, we have spoken to Rob Reiner’s ex, Penny whom I was pals with. When she crossed over, we have a conversation with the one and only. We’ve also interview Garry Marshall, whom I knew w
More from Hacking The Afterlife podcast
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.
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!"