Hacking The Afterlife podcast

Hacking the Afterlife with Robert, his dog Hira and friends

This is a wee bit shorter than the other podcasts, partially because we weren't able to get all three of us on camera at the same time, but we invited a friend whose dog passed away over 30 years ago.

 Fans of our books "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" will recognize who this person is, but for now, he's my old boss Robert. Robert had a Hungarian sheepdog who had a heritage. I met his sister at some point, but for three years of my post film school life, I walked this dog around the Warner Bros lot.

Hira was not a dog you "walked." He walked you. He wouldn't leave Robert's office unless Robert was busy, he would finally deign to go outside with me, but walked, ran, wherever he wanted to.  He tolerated my presence behind him - and when he went to do his business, it was long before the days of scoopers and plastic bags.  (Thankfully I missed that era).

But for some reason, Hira would go straight to the head of the studio's office and leave a large memory of himself piled up outside his door. I didn't know it was Frank Well's office, but apparently Hira did. And his secretary would call me and say "I saw you!" And I'd say "You saw me what?" She'd say "You let that dog come over here and soil my boss's front porch!"

And I'd say - "Ma'am I'm sorry. I don't walk that dog. He allows me to accompany him outside. I have no power over where he goes."  I was with him his last days on the planet, and I can attest to everything that is said in this session, and learn new information from him.

That's the point of this podcast - I heard and learned new information from an animal that is no longer on the planet, but revealed details live on camera that I didn't know, that Jennifer could not have known, that are not public record, that aren't possible for others to know - except the person who owned him.

This podcast is for all the animal lovers who have reached out to ask me about pets in the afterlife, or animals on the flipside.  I ask the question directly and he answers it.

Mind bending.

Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer, Father Jim, Luana Anders on the Delta Variant

Another unusual podcast. 

We  begin with a discussion of Jennifer's birthday (Happy Birthday Jennifer!) and her dad stops by to say a few words.  Discussion leads into my recent hip operation and all of the unusual experiences with the #11 that particular day - including a dream my wife had  where Luana reminded her of a previous dream ("Picture 11:11, we meet at the decimals") and she had the experience of hearing information from her about the upcoming operation.

Aside from the fact  that I was in room 11, the surgeon did 11 surgeries that day, my wife picked up the medication and noticed the clock was 11:11 - the discussion became a general one about "How do you guys do that?"

Towards the end of the podcast, Luana wanted to talk about getting vaccinated and the Delta variant. As noted, Luana was a homeopath, knew home medicine, and treated herself for illnesses her entire life - but had a tremendous fear of doctors, based on the cancer treatments her parents went through. 

So we spent months in clinics in Mexico where she'd bounce back  for weeks, sometimes months... but for her to come  forward and recommend that "If it's possible to take the vaccine, take the vaccine" was unusual.

Again, there's no political agenda, we didn't ask her opinion on it, clearly Jennifer was reluctant to "go there" but we did.  And I got her to repeat it; "If you can get the vaccine, get the vaccine."  Meaning, if you don't have an underlying condition that will prevent you from getting it, or a doctor's advice is against it - if you "can get it" then you should get it. (Pfizer, Moderna, or J and J).  

This isn't coming from me, but from someone we love on the flipside.  Any complains must be directed to Luana. (Kidding, not kidding.)

Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer, Blue Suede Shoes, Route 66 and Elvis

Another unplanned visit from someone everyone knew as Elvis Aaron Presley from Tupelo Mississippi.

 I must admit I was never a fan until he started showing up in our class. And then I spent the time to listen to his earlier rockabilly tunes, and grew to appreciate what he'd done with his talent.

To be clear Jennifer and I don't discuss in advance who we're going to speak to, and Luana Anders our trusted moderator is in charge of who gets on her clipboard and into the class.

As noted, a couple of weeks ago it was film producer Carl Laemmle, someone I knew very little about, but had much to say about the journey in the afterlife.

In this episode Elvis wanted to talk about process - the process of how we bring a portion of our conscious energy to a lifetime, and that is never lost, or goes away. He references someone Jennifer and I have no idea - a young girl that met him when he crossed over, but he wanted to speak about that process, and how knowing a bit of it in advance "would have helped him."

Also the topic of chanting and praying aloud comes into play - for those who are religious, consider this a message from heaven, for those more science oriented consider this a "conversation with one's subconscious about how to heal or cure depression."

We've heard it often, that meditation can help heal or cure a person, and meditating on music is also a way to do the same. In this instance, the concept is to "listen to music that elevates your spirit or "heals the heart."

To be clear, I asked if this concept was a religious or a science one - and the answer was that it was literally the fact that one can "heal or help one's health by connecting to, dancing to, swaying to, listening to their favorite singer, to connect with the memory of them, to connect with the heart of them, to connect with the healing light of the universe by listening.

This isn't a new topic nor is it fantastical.  Set aside the idea of who the conversation is with and focus on the content of the conversation and it becomes clear why it's important to know that life goes on, and that we can connect with loved ones on the flipside.  

By the way: the film “Hacking the Afterlife” is available on  Gaia.com Jennifer is at JenniferShaffer.com I’m at RichMartini.com HackingTheAfterlife.com is our podcast MartiniZone.com is our youtube channel This version of “Route 66” is on “Rich Martini on the Rocks” at Amazon or CDbaby.com

Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer, Carl Laemmle, Prince, Ludwig and Vincent

Another one of those mind bending sessions. 

Having spent the past five years chatting with Jennifer on a weekly basis, only starting to film about a year ago, we have 65 podcasts of us chatting with people on the flipside.

We have three books of interviews "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" where we discuss how we met, the process we use, and the many verifications that have occurred on camera in her office, in restaurants.  In this case, one can search through these podcasts to hear other verificiations.

Each week we "enter our classroom" where people are standing by waiting to chat with us. The books were named because Tom Petty described the process of "getting onto the clipboard of Luana the way someone might try to get a VIP pass to backstage at a concert."  My friend of 20 years, who passed in 1996, starting showing up to me and to family members over the years.

Then when I met Jennifer Luana started showing up weekly - that is helping us to access people on the flipside, and vice versa. On the flipside they describe her participation as "showing how it's done."  In the six years of doing this, I've often "asked for people to come forward" - and most of the time Jennifer tells me who it is that I've asked for - said their name aloud prior to a session - in one to three tries.  

Sometimes it takes longer - because again, they're putting images in her head that lead her to say something. So for example, if someone shows up named "Fred" - she might see her husband Fred. And then from there I ask questions about the identify of whomever shows up.

This was one of those examples.  She said "somewhere is here that wants to speak to us, but neither of us would know him."  So it took me the time it took me to figure out who that might be.

Carl Laemmle was a prolific film producer in the 1920s and 30's. He dies at the age of 72 in 1939, making such hit films as "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," "Phantom of the Opera" "Dracula" and "Frankenstein."  I was not aware of the films he made - but doing this research after the podcast, I realize last night while watching "Singing in the Rain" with their parody of the first sound films, I noted to my wife that if one watches "Dracula" (1931) carefully, the actors move over to where a microphone is hidden in a plant or a lamp or somewhere in the room to pick up the sound.  In the film "Singing in the Rain" they had a character with a German accent playing the role of the film director beside himself with fury about planting the microphones on set - and I realize as I write this sentence it was likely a parody of Germans like Carl who emigrated in the 1880's.

Everything I report is accurate - in that it was Carl who suggested that Amelia Earhart star in a film about herself, and how she and Mary Pickford wrote a screenplay together, excerpted in George Putnam's posthumous biography of his missing wife.

Fans of "Hacking the Afterlife" know that we interviewed Amelia extensively and that I've spent 30 years gathering eyewitness reports that claim she was captured, and died in Saipan. (EarhartOnSaipan.com is a webpage filled with details of that sage).  But in this instance, it was Amelia who brought Carl in - and he wanted to "give it a shot" and be interviewed by us.

After my incredulousness wore off (not about the fact he was there, but why he showed up) I asked him to describe what he's up to, and his reply is unlike any we've heard before.  We have heard people can "learn to cook" but his specificity of Indian ovens (ie. tandoor ovens) for specific dishes is accurate but not something Jennifer is aware of.  His description of various salts (Moroccan!) is also accurate, having traveled around the world I know there's more than Morton Salt to be tasted.  That was quite specific.

But then Prince showed up - and as fans of our work know, he's been showing up since he crossed over, interviews are in "Hacking the Afterlife" and a number of times in "Backstage Pass to the Flipside." I'm aware that the vast majority of listeners would turn off the podcast around this moment, but they'd miss him bringing Ludwig and Vincent forward to talk about art and how those frequencies affect their continued work.

We tend to think in human centric terms (how could we not?) about time, about fame, about all of those things that don't mean much on the flipside. The idea that Carl could come forward 80 some years after his passing, and carry on a conversation as if he was aware of everything that's been said since is mind bending.  The idea that Ludwig might be considered 250 years old - but what she had to say about his digestive issues is accurate - and at one point mentions his "blindness" ... because she's not aware that he was going to come to class today, or not really up on his story.

I literally did finish reading a biography about him this morning, and am in awe of his talent and output as an artist - but I wanted to dig into something that bothered me, his behavior towards his sister and law and her son is considered beyond the pale - while working on Missa Solemnis and the 7th, 8th and 9th symphonies.  Like the sand in an oyster that turns into great pearls, it was the sacrifice his sister and law Johanna and nephew Frank put up with so that he could create the kind of art that he did.

Vincent mentions a "savage animal" attacking his ear - that could be a metaphor for the "man in the mirror," "some bar fight gone wrong," or literally an animal attacking him - I don't know. It doesn't really matter, because as he put it "I won. I'm the most valued artist of us all."  Funny way to put it - but accurate.

This podcast may offend a few, may startle a few, but Jennifer and I show up unprepared, except for the body of work that's preceded when I turn on the camera and record our podcast.

Enjoy.

Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer, Anthy, Jonathan Krane and Tom Petty

Another mind bending podcast, this one about music and frequency. 

Luana began by directing us to an event that had occurred earlier in the day, when I went to visit her friend Sally Kellerman (still on the planet.)  We talked about Sally's husband on the flipside, my old friend who produced 3 of my films. My mother, a concert pianist stopped by to refer to a photograph I was working with on my latest book a few days ago.

Then Tom Petty stopped by. As noted before, I have never asked Tom to stop by - each time he does it's related to something that we are discussing. In this case, it was the energy of music or how frequency works on the flipside.

As noted in the podcast, he asked us to reach out to someone whom I did reach out to - who said "I wish that I could speak to Tom, but I don't  believe you are speaking to him."  Not everyone is open to the possibility that our loved ones still exist - and further, it can be annoying when a complete stranger says "Hey, I was talking to your pal the other day."

But we have to allow for the possibility that they're outside of time and space and can reach out to us. In this case, I wanted to know some details about music on the other side - not his personal journey, or who he is hanging out with, but specifically what frequency is, what music is, and how we download it. His answers are unusual and profound.

Again, Jennifer and I have been doing this for over five years. We have on numerous occasions learned new information from folks on the flipside, information that cannot be cryptomnesia or something either one of us dreamed, heard or made up.

But I have to note that not everyone is supposed to embrace the idea of "knowing how the play ends before it does."  So one does not have to "believe" that Jennifer and I are speaking to a specific individual, but it helps if one is "open to the possibility" that some form of communication continues on, and those closest to their loved ones can take the time or make the effort to chat with them one on one.

As he noted, this is only about the 3rd time he's shown up, when we have quoted, cited, or otherwise let others take the podium - Prince, Robin Williams and others.  I do not have any direct connection with Tom - despite being a music critic for Variety for a number of years, I never reviewed his shows, never met him backstage as I have with many others who have shown up in our class.  I directed Ray Charles in a feature film, so basically anyone that Ray knows could show up at any minute.

We have interviewed a member of the Traveling Wilburys before, so that may be the connection - or to someone else that Luana knows on the flipside that I'm not aware of.  But like everyone else who shows up in our classroom, if Luana has "put them on the list" I assume they're showing up for a reason.

It was Tom who coined the title of our three books; "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" when he noted that "talking to us, getting onto Luana's clipboard was like someone trying to get backstage to the VIP lounge.  If "the name is not on the list" they don't get a chance to speak.

Enjoy. Also, my documentary "Hacking the Afterlife" premieres on Gaia.com on June 21st. Check it out.

NOTE: THERE IS A GLITCH IN THIS VERSION - AN INTERRUPTION WHERE I STOPPED AN STARTED THE PODCAST (COUNTING DOWN AND SAYING "I'LL CUT THIS LATER") I DID CUT IT LATER, AND THE SAME PODCAST WITHOUT THE EDIT IS POSTED AFTER THIS - APOLOGIES FOR THE GLITCH, BUT DELETING THE ENTIRE EPISODE MIGHT SCREW UP THE LISTING. SO CLICK ON THE SAME NAME LATER DATE)\

Hacking the Afterlife with my grandma, Hira the dog and Charles Grodin part two

Part two of our interview with Charles Grodin, but a week later. 

It starts off with a visit from my Italian grandmother, who answers a couple of questions - I include this because it's a way to demonstrate how people can access loved ones.

Then we interview Charles Grodin again, with some questions about process and clarification. There's a brief discussion with Robert Towne's dog Hira, and a comment about something Chuck mentioned to his friend Paul.  I can report that Paul has responded to what Chuck said about him, offering "Chuck’s words have an absolute connection to what I am doing. Rather astounding if true! Thank you."

The point is that people on the flipside can say private message to their loved ones that won't make much sense to anyone else but them. I'm glad to be able to pass the message along from one old friend to another.

Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer - a visit with Charles Grodin

This is an homage to Charles Grodin.

Having known him for 40 years, I know pretty well what his references are, what he's saying or revealing. In this podcast, one could say it's a culmination of 40 years of knowing him, ten years of filming people accessing the afterlife, and five years of filming sessions with Jennifer Shaffer weekly.

It's also our 10,000th download - we have 60 podcasts so far. Jennifer notes that she didn't know Charles outside of the fact that we were friends, she never saw him interviewed, knew nothing about his life, other than seeing him in "Heaven Can Wait." At the end of this podcast, when I refer to "Midnight Run" I forgot that she had not seen the film. I recommend sticking around to the end to hear what he has to say about it. It was an honor to be able to do this on his behalf. It was an honor to know him for 40 years. As I wrote on Facebook about him: Godfather to our kids. The most loyal friend I've ever met or could have the good fortune to have met.

A mentor who was instrumental in my life and journey - tears are not enough to shed, the loss of someone so funny, witty, charming, compassionate - he embodied so much more than anyone knows or has heard about him, or could have known about him. Sherry, the kids and I heard that he passed peacefully this morning, that it was a transition of beauty and grace - and no doubt in my mind he's going to be as entertaining, fun, delightful and charming on the flipside as he was on this side.

My wife pointed out that when Jennifer mentions "Hairspray" after mentioning Warren Beatty, is a reference to his film "Shampoo." What's funny about that reference is that Robert Towne (the writer of Shampoo with Warren) wrote the movie about Chuck's friend Luana (who was dating a hairdresser Richard Alcala) and that Jack Warden, star of that film and also in Heaven Can Wait was a close friend of Chuck's - and an original member of the "Fun Patrol." (Harper Simon, myself and Chuck were the other three members.) Someone you can call day or night and get a laugh from.

We are bereft that he's left the building, if one could add up all the laughs, all the joy, all the fun events this person brought to our world - it would take up too many memorials. The folks who knew him and loved him will miss him the most - the folks who saw him or laughed along at his films and work will talk about him for a long time, every time he appears on camera now and into the future will be another reminder of his unique light. Here's to you Chuck. Charles Grodin. From Pittsburgh. We love you.

We will always love you. And we hope you can swing by sometime to let us know how you're doing. More tributes to come, and when the spark hits, will share some of his wit and wisdom when it comes to mind. Sail on maestro. More seas to explore and conquer. "

All photos and content are used a part of the "Fair Use" idea in copyright law that allows for using a clip to illustrate a point. All original rights are retained by the copyright holders. No endorsements are implied or trying to be made. This interview is based on 5 years of working with Jennifer Shaffer who works with law enforcement agencies nationwide on missing cases pro bono, on ten years of filming people accessing the afterlife with or without hypnosis (100 to date) and the thousands of clinical case studies from Dr. Wambach, Dr. Weiss, Michael Newton and the Newton Institute, and the 100 cases I've filmed (50 without hypnosis.)

For further info, see "Flipside" or "Talking to Bill Paxton" on Gaia or Amazon Prime, see books "Flipside" "It's a Wonderful Afterlife (with a forward by Charles) "Hacking the Afterlife" and "Architecture of the Afterlife" or Jennifer Shaffer's and my three books "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" 1, 2 and 3. The new documentary film "Hacking the Afterlife" will be premiering on Gaia and reflects ten years of filmed research.

See you in the next life, Chuck.

Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer, Bill Paxton, Luana Anders and John McCain

Another fun podcast - Jennifer and I started off by talking about the process - how she helps law enforcement on a pro bono basis, and will be teaching a class soon in the process (details on her webpage JenniferShaffer.com).

She has two workshops - one that covers how to help law enforcement, and the second is for people who want to be part of the group that does.  I've attended in the past, and it's well worth the effort,  if only to understand the process.

Then we celebrated a bit of Luana's birthday - and she insisted I stop mentioning her age (as she was adamant about forgetting it while she was on the planet.)  Funny how she can still get me to laugh about it, although she's been off planet since 1996.

We asked if she had anyone on her VIP list (hence the title of our 3 books "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" because one of our classmates reported that "she's the one in charge of who gets to speak to us.)

Bill Paxton popped up and dusted himself off as if he'd been waiting to speak up. Funny guy Bill. He knew I had been speaking about him last week, and wanted to throw a curve ball in my recollection of how we met, and what it was like for the both of us back then. 

It was interesting to chat with Bill about golf - I knew he directed a film "The Greatest Game Ever Played" written by Mark Frost, directed by Bill. He mentions two things that I looked up - one is that he played a celebrity tournament and did badly, and the other that he is currently playing with a golfing icon.  In the former, I found that his father John (whom he mentions in this) actually was in a club with the great Ben Hogan, and reportedly Bill met Hogan when he was young.  I think Bill was either referring to Ouimet, the golfer he made a film about, or the late great Ben Hogan (Jennifer describes his outfit.)  It's the kind of detail I didn't know, Jennifer couldn't have known - so she wasn't "reading my mind" - but was answering directly from Billy.

Then, out of nowhere, someone elbowed Bill out of his seat - Bill said it was willingly, but Senator McCain wanted to weigh in on recent political events. And while during the election he took a particularly dim view of the former resident of 1600 PA Ave, his advice this time was to "bind up the nation's wounds" citing Abe Lincoln's ability to do so under more trying circumstances.

I was surprised, but not startled, as certainly he was a man of humor and integrity - and was clearly pointing down the middle of the road for the nation to consider healing. All I can say is it is another unusual podcast, this being our 61st.

Hacking the Afterlife with The Librarian (”5”) and Marlon Brando

It's our 60th podcast.  Yippee.  

 Jennifer was out of town last week, so I was thinking about a couple of people who showed up during previous sessions that we didn't speak to.

She mentioned the "Librarian" (whom I described as Danny DeVito because someone else described him that way in "Architecture of the Afterlife") So I asked if there was a reason he wanted to chat with us.

He implied that he had put it in my mind this past week to ask him some questions - which is often the case. In "Architecture of the Afterlife" he shows up in a session, and in this session I refer to the interview in "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" where a "curmudgeony librarian" who "doesn't look old but has a really old vibe" (who was asked "What are Who is God?"

What makes this so unusual - is that I've met him now through three different people who don't know each other, who couldn't have read about him in any of my books.  And in all three cases, they described the same fellow and in two of the cases, I was invited to speak to him.

So I didn't seek him out - he shows up in "Architecture of the Afterlife" and in a session with Jennifer in "Backstage Pass to the Flipside." When I quote him, even when it's via Jennifer she has no conscious memory of what he said - but she repeats what he said.  Or she refers to what he said to me in a zoom session with someone else entirely (another Jennifer that is in "Architecture.")

So I asked him some questions about the Akashic library.  Interesting answers.

In terms of Marlon, our moderator on the flipside Luana Anders knew many people who knew him (Robert Towne, who wrote that final scene of his in the Godfather, Sam Gilman, Wally Cox, Sally Kellerman and others) - so I have no problem asking him to come forward.  Jennifer doesn't remember that he was hesitant to speak when we did interview him - but in this case, he had shown up to talk about Audrey Hepburn.

But as noted in the previous podcast, Jennifer couldn't think of his name "that actor who plays the Mafia guy who was Al Capone" (clearly not coached as Marlon never played Al) - and two weeks ago, I missed it. But I thought I'd ask him what he wanted to share about her.

In the interim I looked up the fact that he had spent an evening with her and because he was unnerved by her, didn't speak - and she took that to mean he didn't like her. And it's a matter of public record that he wrote to Audrey when he heard that and apologized - public record that Jennifer is not aware of.

Again - not trying to prove anything to anyone - there is no hierarchy on the flipside, it is accurate that his will was found in a chair in Jack Nicholson's house, I've seen it, and I know what happened to it.  She mentions that as well, but it's not common knowledge.

Anyways - a bit all over the map, but not less interesting than the rest. 

Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer and Howard Schultz, Luana Anders

This is a session I filmed back in 2017. 

The idea was to create some form of expression where we could discuss the afterlife in real time, and put it somewhere. Pre podcasts.

Now when I view this file, I realize we were doing the same thing we've been doing for the past year.

In this session, my old friend Howard Schultz, the producer of many successful TV shows ("Extreme Makeover") shows up to chat with us about the process of talking to the flipside.

A portion of this clip will be in the new film from Gaia "Hacking the Afterlife."  As one can see, I've been gathering clips for that film for quite some time.

At this point, Jennifer and I had been filming these kinds of conversations for about a year or two. Filming it in her office in Manhattan Beach was a way to demonstrate that we can do it on camera, live - which was a precursor to our podcast.

Jennifer's on vacation this week, so I pulled this rabbit out of the hat.  If I had shown it years ago, it wouldn't make sense, but in light of our podcast, fits right in. Enjoy.