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

Randal Kleiser and Sally Kellerman

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.  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, the documentary "Hacking the Afterlife" premieres on Gaia.com on June 21st. Tune in and check it out.)

Hacking the Afterlife chat with Jennifer Shaffer, Junior Seau, Robin Williams, Prince and my mom

Another mind bending session with Jennifer Shaffer.

Here's the video:

This turned out to be an episode where folks came forward from the flipside to talk about the pandemic.  Junior Seau wanted to reinforce the idea that hyperbaric oxygen therapy cures a host of brain issues (and a shout out to Joe Namath), Robin Williams wanted to speak about depression and the pandemic - how to alleviate it.  Prince wanted to talk about using water and music to help with mental issues, Dr. Salk spoke about the properties of elderberry with regard to the lungs.  A pretty unusual session that included some wise words from my mom, and a neighbor who died of Covid last week.

I'll add that this is an unusual podcast for a number of reasons.  I didn't tell Jennifer it was my mother's birthday (as noted) but she was aware of it.  I didn't ask for Junior Sea to  come forward but he reiterated what he's said before (and is on this page under

Robin Williams showed up to talk about depression and the pandemic - a topic worth discussing. For those fans of thehere were more in the session.) Prince wanted to talk about the healing aspects of water (first time he's offered that, but I understood what he was saying.)

Then my mom came forward to talk about my son - on her birthday. That was sweet and absolutely accurate. I mention her website

Finally a neighbor of mine who died on the floor below us.  I had thought of asking him to show up - but left it up to

Again - not trying to prove anything to anyone. Just getting people to think about stuff that they can consider on their own.

Mother's Day Messages from the Flipside

"We all only get one mother, so try to stay in touch with her."

About the time she was under contract with the Shuberts, hoofing on broadway, playing classical piano concerts in DC. Dorothy Ann Hayes ("Anthy") from Decatur, Il.  HAPPY MOM DAY.

That's a relative statement of course - if we consider for a moment that we may have been doing this play over and over again, based on the many standing ovations we've gotten from our various performances, we do indeed only have "one mother at a time."

Meaning, for someone who connects with a previous lifetime, when they do so, and allow those memories to come forth, they also remember their father and mother from that lifetime.  Are they any less worthy of our love today than they were back then?

Often in this research, people under deep hypnosis will recognize a family member from back then as being a family member now... and say "Oh my goodness, my mother was my sister in that lifetime."  Something to really give us pause as we reflect and remember our mother from this lifetime.

In my case, I've been able to stay in touch with my mother who left her chrysalis back in 2011.  Doesn't mean I don't miss her - after all she was a concert pianist and sitting in the room with her playing was always something to marvel at.  One day she asked me to record music for my dad's funeral - and he was still on the planet.  She said "I don't know if I could play it for him during the mass, as I would be too emotional."




I recorded a concert of her playing - about a half hour's worth.  I use that track in films sometimes, we did use it for my dad's funeral - and we used it for her funeral.  So mom got to play at her own funeral.  Pretty unusual even for my version of reality.

I was meeting with Jennifer Shaffer yesterday, having coffee in Santa Monica, when she suddenly mentioned a friend of our children who had passed away.  When he passed away suddenly a year ago, I had asked about him - and we had a brief conversation about his journey on the flipside.  I didn't know his parents well enough to ring them up and say "Hey, I was talking to your son today..." but hoped that some day I would get a chance to do so.

Which happened yesterday, because he just kind of "dropped in" to our conversation.  What made it so unusual was the method of how he had shown up - one odd occurrence turned out to connect with another odd occurrence, which connected to a third event - all three events together made for this moment when this young fellow sent a series of images, not only to Jennifer but to others.  I was the one to connect the various images - and Jennifer said they added up to a message from this young boy.

I asked him "So why have you shown up here today, and what were those images that you passed along?"  

Jennifer said "He says it was a message for his mom on mother's day."

I took the time to reach out to his folks and have done so, who confirmed that they have had messages from him before.  I was so glad to hear that; you just never know how someone might react when hearing that their loved one has something to tell them from the flipside.  Sometimes it's a direct message - sometimes it's a metaphor of a message - sometimes it's hard to put one's finger on it, other than it "resonates" on some level.

As I've noted here on the blog, Erik Medhus "spoke" to his mother from the flipside - it was recorded by accident during a session with a medium who was communicating with her son.  It's clearly his voice on the audio, and I can confirm beyond any shadow of doubt that his mom, a Houston doctor, did not manipulate the audio, nor could it have been manipulated.  It is what it is. "Love you mom!" says Erik.



Clear as a bell.***

So what to make of this mother's day message? On one hand that we're always connected.  That our loved ones may have left their chrysalis, they may have transformed from a caterpillar to a butterfly - they may be hard to reach, or they may be on some kind of epic adventure - but they are not gone. They just aren't here.

Happy to report that the book Jennifer and I have been working on is close to being finished.  My recent appearance with George Noory on "Beyond Belief" at Gaia is nearly released... and other minor details on this journey.  

But it's good to remember our mom's on mother's day, as it's good to remember our dad's on their day.  And our kids on a day that will eventually become a hallmark card - "kid's day." We are all someone's child, all someone's sibling - if not in this lifetime, then during a previous one.  We can reflect on the unusual path that we took to get here - not only from our previous lifetimes, but through birth with our very own mom.

Unconditional love.  Love unconditionally.  Love the act of love, the gift of love, the giving of love.  It's all the same thing.  We have so few moments together here on the planet, you'd think we'd only spend time enjoying them.  

Here's a poem our daughter wrote when she was ten that her mom posted:

"A Perfect World"  by Olivia

No ba-bang of the guns or quarrelling

People always jubilant, no tears dripping from their eyes

No bullets in soldiers' hearts

The sick would heal and wounds would mend

Where people are always honest and grounds are spotless

All grass would be bright green

But if a world like that existed would anyone appreciate it?

HAPPY MOM'S DAY!!!

***A note about the above audio of Erik Medhus "speaking from the flipside."

I've taken the time to download the two different audio clips of Erik's voice "coming through."  In the first instance ("Interview with Jesus") I put the audio through professional equipment to study the track.  A number of details are worth noting: in the original audio, there are two voices that are whispering (clearly evident as sound) and at one point, someone answers "Yes" to a question (The medium says "He said "yes" a split second later.")  These voices were not apparent to Dr. Medhus, I pointed them out to her (not the other way around.)  

They voices appear on the track about 1.5 times under speed - in other words if they're sped up they "sound normal."  There's no physical way to record two different speeds on the same track.  Further, there is no VOICE PRINT that appears when these voices are speaking. 

In other words, the frequency of the other voices (Dr. Medhus and the medium, in that case it was Jamie Butler) are clearly on the track and can be seen visually. But for the other voices, there is no visual appearance of their voices.  

It's possible that somehow the ear can hear something that is audible but does not appear as a physical voice signature, but I've never seen it before.  In the case of this second appearance of Erik's voice during a session, it's clear that neither the medium nor Dr. Medhus heard him initially - it's only in the recording, after someone pointed it out, were they able to hear his voice.  

Knowing Dr. Medhus as I do, and knowing how professional audio is recorded - there's no physical way for them to have interjected his voice overlapping theirs.  

It would have required a person to be physically present in the room (obviously it's not the case) nor is it believable in any stretch of the imagination that they would have included an actor in this situation - she doesn't charge any money for what she's doing, there's no monetary value here whatsoever, so for someone to suggest that there's a motivation, is really kind of loopy - or insane.  

I understand the difficulty that comes with hearing something that could not be there - it could very well be that we are all experiencing some kind of mass hallucination, hearing a frequency that does not exist - or it could be that somehow, someone recorded her son a decade ago, saying these exact words and then finding a way and a space to somehow download, record that track and then upload it again - but that's not physically possible to do - and the track itself came direct from Dr. Medhus.  

So there is no logical answer to how his voice appears on this audio - and in the absence of any logical answer, there is only one that's left.  It's his voice.  Further - the tone of his voice is casual, not forced - only a trained actor could interject something so casual into a conversation with such ease - "Love you mom!"  

Not said as if someone was shouting in a far away place so that someone could hear them - but said in afterthought - just what he likely always says at the end of these conversations, but can't be heard.  Not said like an actor trying to prove his existence, just a casual "see ya later." 

I contacted Dr. Medhus and told her how I had just done a similar "interview" with "Stephen Hawking" with Jennifer Shaffer and how in our interview some of the same hallmarks were repeated.  

The idea is not "here is what Stephen Hawking is telling us" but to objectively take a number of interviews with the same person with different mediums and compare the answers. Do they consistently say the same things? Or are the answers all over the map?  And if you have 3 or more mediums talk to the same individual (as I do in "Hacking the Afterlife") what does that tell us about the quality of the information?  

But I'm here to confirm that from a professional filmmaker's point of view - there is no logical explanation that I can come up with that isn't the most simple one; Erik spoke to his mother and reminded her that he loves her. My two cents.

(Thanks to Kari Krug for pointing me to this post from Thich Nhat Hanh)

"The day my mother died I wrote in my journal, "A serious misfortune of my life has arrived." I suffered for more than one year after the passing away of my mother. But one night, in the highlands of Vietnam, I was sleeping in the hut in my hermitage. I dreamed of my mother. I saw myself sitting with her, and we were having a wonderful talk. She looked young and beautiful, her hair flowing down. It was so pleasant to sit there and talk to her as if she had never died. When I woke up it was about two in the morning, and I felt very strongly that I had never lost my mother. The impression that my mother was still with me was very clear. I understood then that the idea of having lost my mother was just an idea. It was obvious in that moment that my mother is always alive in me.

I opened the door and went outside. The entire hillside was bathed in moonlight. It was a hill covered with tea plants, and my hut was set behind the temple halfway up. Walking slowly in the moonlight through the rows of tea plants, I noticed my mother was still with me. She was the moonlight caressing me as she had done so often, very tender, very sweet... wonderful! Each time my feet touched the earth I knew my mother was there with me. I knew this body was not mine but a living continuation of my mother and my father and my grandparents and great-grandparents. Of all my ancestors. Those feet that I saw as "my" feet were actually "our" feet. Together my mother and I were leaving footprints in the damp soil.

From that moment on, the idea that I had lost my mother no longer existed. All I had to do was look at the palm of my hand, feel the breeze on my face or the earth under my feet to remember that my mother is always with me, available at any time."

- Thich Nhat Hanh, in "No Death, No Fear”.