Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer and Charles Dickens

It sounds bizarre, I know.  We interviewed Charles briefly in the book "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" so his presence didn't throw me for a loop.   I really did look at a note on my cellphone this morning about a story that he's in - and his pal Washington Irving.  And for him to say "that's why I stopped by" is mind bending to say the least. We start off the podcast with Jennifer revealing that her mom is in the hospital, and her emotions around the loss of her dad, five years ago. He's come by a number of times to chat with us, including taking us on a trip to an Akashic library, as well as going to visit the classroom on the flipside where he described his physics teacher in detail.  The woman has 8 arms, and is known as Ma Durga on the planet - no other way to put it, as we've spoken with her a number of times, and Jennifer has had long conversations with her.  The point isn't that a "deity from earth" is hanging out in the flipside, but rather people on earth have identified a teacher on the flipside as a deity. In this case, I knew that Dickens had visited Washington Irving, I know that he purchased some property in Cairo Illinois (a land scam that claimed it was going to be the next "city on the Nile") I know that he visited a garment factory in Boston where he asked them to tell him some local ghost stories. I know that when he visited Irving, Irving's uncle had taken up resident at his home and his name was Ebeneezer. As Jennifer pointed out, she never could have guessed that name - but Charles was specific about who greeted him when he crossed over (a deaf child, perhaps the model for Tiny Tim) and how his book was about the financial politics of the day, the Victorian era when the rich got richer and the poor died of starvation. Jennifer mentioned the chapter in Architecture of the Afterlife where Tony Stockwell recalled a lifetime in Victorian London, where he and his brother both died of starvation in one of those "workhouses."  Awful places for humans to be place - without any help from the government. So A Christmas Carol was a tale about how to be kind to others and to give around the holiday time. He also gives a review of the film "Splendid" which is both hilarious and mind bending. When asked about it, he said "I hate musicals."  Hilarious reply - and then he said he was kidding, he loved the film and loved what Will Ferrell did with the part. I mean - c'mon - Will's never going to believe that Charles Dickens showed up on our podcast tonight to compliment him on his performance in SPIRITED, but that is EXACTLY WHAT HE DID. We've been doing this for 8 years. Jennifer works with law enforcement nationwide, and just last week was part of an operation that was able to track down and eliminate 450 pounds of fentanyl.  She's the real deal. Apologies for my cough - not much I can do, other than to say, I hope it clears up soon! And happy holidays to you all.  Enjoy our Christmas special with the one and only Charles Dickens!