Discerning The Unknown
Unveiling the Psychic World: Truths, Scams, and Personal Journeys
What drives someone to develop and hone their psychic abilities? Join me, Ryan Peterson, as I kick off the premiere episode of "Discerning the Unknown" with my long-time friend and esteemed guest, John Russell. From our early interviews back in 2003 to the present, John's journey as a psychic and investigator has been nothing short of fascinating. We reminisce about those early days and dive into his influential books, like "Riding with Ghosts, Angels and the Spirits of the Dead" and "20 Ways to Increase Your Psychic Abilities." Prepare to be captivated by personal anecdotes and stories that challenge conventional beliefs, all while encouraging you to stay open-minded and curious.
In this episode, we tackle the darker side of the psychic and spiritual world, helping you identify and avoid common scams. From notorious figures like Peter Popoff and Ernest Angley to the everyday tactics used by fraudulent psychics, we expose the methods of manipulation and emphasize the importance of critical thinking. Through revealing personal experiences and practical advice, we aim to equip you with the knowledge necessary to navigate this often-deceptive landscape. It's a candid look at the pitfalls and potential dangers that lurk within the realm of psychic practices.
We also explore the intriguing world of spirit photography and the impact of historical figures like Harry Houdini on modern-day skepticism. Reflecting on John Russell's experiences with spirit photography and psychic predictions, including a perfect track record with presidential elections, we weave a narrative that underscores the importance of questioning visual evidence and sensational claims. Ending on a thought-provoking note, we delve into religious indoctrination, the arbitrary nature of tribalism, and the shared humanity that unites us all. Join us on this journey to challenge beliefs, reveal truths, and advocate for healing and improvement for everyone.
What drives someone to develop and hone their psychic abilities? Join me, Ryan Peterson, as I kick off the premiere episode of "Discerning the Unknown" with my long-time friend and esteemed guest, John Russell. From our early interviews back in 2003 to the present, John's journey as a psychic and investigator has been nothing short of fascinating. We reminisce about those early days and dive into his influential books, like "Riding with Ghosts, Angels and the Spirits of the Dead" and "20 Ways to Increase Your Psychic Abilities." Prepare to be captivated by personal anecdotes and stories that challenge conventional beliefs, all while encouraging you to stay open-minded and curious.
In this episode, we tackle the darker side of the psychic and spiritual world, helping you identify and avoid common scams. From notorious figures like Peter Popoff and Ernest Angley to the everyday tactics used by fraudulent psychics, we expose the methods of manipulation and emphasize the importance of critical thinking. Through revealing personal experiences and practical advice, we aim to equip you with the knowledge necessary to navigate this often-deceptive landscape. It's a candid look at the pitfalls and potential dangers that lurk within the realm of psychic practices.
We also explore the intriguing world of spirit photography and the impact of historical figures like Harry Houdini on modern-day skepticism. Reflecting on John Russell's experiences with spirit photography and psychic predictions, including a perfect track record with presidential elections, we weave a narrative that underscores the importance of questioning visual evidence and sensational claims. Ending on a thought-provoking note, we delve into religious indoctrination, the arbitrary nature of tribalism, and the shared humanity that unites us all. Join us on this journey to challenge beliefs, reveal truths, and advocate for healing and improvement for everyone.
The Discerning the Unknown Podcast Debunking myths and revealing truth.
Speaker 2:Your host is Ryan Peterson. You're gonna like this. Here's Ryan Peterson. This is my premiere episode of Discerning the Truth. It's a podcast where we will debunk some myths. We will talk about the truth. We will have expert guests on. I'll have journalists on this show in the near future talking about maybe news of the day. We'll talk about those old standby myths that, like the JFK assassination, the moon landing, all those that people believe Whether the earth is flat, we'll talk about that. We'll give you some evidence that researchers have actually come up with to prove things like all that I just mentioned are probably hoaxes and we'll give you the proof. We'll show you what actually happened.
Speaker 2:I do want to express this is not a news show. So basically, I don't want you to get all of your information from this show. If you're getting all your news from Facebook memes or one particular news source that I actually consider more entertainment, then you're not setting yourself up for the truth. This is an entertainment show, so I'm going to present you as much truthful information as I can. The guests will introduce as much information as they can. It's still up to you to decide, but my goal is for you to be well-rounded, get information from both sides. You have to decide for yourself, but sometimes, as they say, the truth is out there. I want to give you a little bit of background on myself and why I decided to do this show.
Speaker 2:I come from real radio. Back in the day when there was a such thing as local radio, you could call your local radio station at a local number, talk to the DJ whether it was on-air personality, whatever we called ourselves at the time I was the guy who'd answer the phone. I was the guy you heard on the radio introducing music. I started that in about 1989 at small Midwest radio stations. I actually went to a real broadcasting school in the Midwest that at the time was very reputable. Chances are, if you were in radio somewhere in the Midwest, either you or somebody at your station probably went to this school. So in 1991, I got an associate degree from there and started my trek into radio. I've done everything Started off as a part-time board operator, did overnights on an AM old East station, eventually moved up to music director, went to larger markets and in radio in the day.
Speaker 2:Back in the day the idea was to gradually hone your craft and move on to bigger and bigger radio stations in bigger and bigger markets. Everybody, of course, wanted to be Howard Stern. He started small, made it big, he went through the ranks. He did it right. Whether or not you like his show I haven't heard much of it but he did it right and he obviously has been successful of it. But he did it right and he obviously has been successful.
Speaker 2:I well, I made it all the way to Dubuque in my radio career. So that's one thing I recall my dad always saying. He pulled me aside and said son, if you're going to make it in life, make sure you make it in Dubuque. So I did in Dubuque, so I did Um. Now when I uh, I eventually moved up to a program director and a talk show host in a small radio market. That was in 2003.
Speaker 2:I had actually been out of radio for a little while and, uh, I was a, uh, I was a police officer for a little while. There is proof of that Um. But I was a police officer for a few years, went back into radio and became program director and a talk show host and I really wanted to, really wanted to present information, some, some things that a lot of listeners hadn't really heard on the radio before and in 2003,. There were things you know in the paranormal that were starting to get very popular.
Speaker 2:But I noticed that when I started talking about paranormal issues and paranormal events on the radio, it got a lot of phone calls and it got a lot of interest Now by a lot of phone calls. They were both good and bad, and this was a pretty small station at the time. And they, after receiving some of these phone calls good and bad, and this was a pretty small station at the time, and they, after receiving some of these phone calls good and bad mostly good actually, but some bad who just didn't like the paranormal being on the air but they came to me and said you know, we've never gotten calls about anything on this radio station, so keep doing what?
Speaker 2:you're doing and I did so. I did that for three years. I had a lot of fun guests on. One of the first on the paranormal realm that I talked with was the guest I'll have on today. His name is John Russell. He is a psychic, he is an investigator, a researcher. He's probably one of the most realistic psychics that you are ever going to meet, because he does give both sides of the issue.
Speaker 2:Now I want to. I want to stress and just before the show, john and I were talking here and he said it right. He said just because it can be faked doesn't mean that it always is. So I want you to keep that in mind with with this show. Uh, you know, I'll show some obvious fakes, uh, but uh, that is intended to make you discerning. You know, maybe it's unknown, but be discerning. Of course, decide for yourself. But uh, I'm going to show you some pictures here from from back in the day, what people thought was absolute truth, in fact, about spirituality. And nowadays, you know, it's 125 years later and we look at that and say people bought that. So you know, times change and as we get more information, just like science, as we get more information, sometimes views change and we have to evolve as the news evolves. We have to evolve as science evolves. Science is always searching for new facts that we didn't know before. You know other other theologies, other philosophies, kind of stick with what's always just been done or believed, and that's the way it goes.
Speaker 2:Now, on that old show that I did in Wisconsin in 2003, like I said, I had a lot of paranormal guests on and some of them were intriguing. You know a lot of psychics. I've interviewed a lot of psychics, had a psychic on every week, but we talked about ghosts, we talked about UFOs, we talked about I don't think the term UAP was really out there yet, but talked about spirituality and all of it. Some of them were kooks and some of them were pretty interesting. So after I ended that show and I went back into law enforcement, I didn't really present it at the time as I'm going to debunk uh, these, these people, these psychics and paranormal researchers. I presented it as completely uh, listener, believe what you want to believe, but here is what I'm presenting and uh, the problem with that is no matter what you put on the radio or on TV or on the Internet, somebody is going to believe it's true, somebody will buy it.
Speaker 2:And I got to thinking maybe I contributed back then unwittingly, but maybe I contributed to the spread of fake news. That was not my intent. So and I kind of developed that opinion, after you know, spending more time in law enforcement and trying to find evidence, trying to find proof, doing real investigations that you know were done properly, and I thought, gosh, you know, fake news today is just spreading rampant and it can be dangerous. It can be dangerous what you believe. That Facebook meme that you post can be dangerous. Somebody will believe it and it creates myths, it creates rumors, false information. It creates. You know, we don't even know half of it, but I'm going to have guests on who will tell us, you know, some of the research of fake news, believing fake news and not being discerning by looking at other sources. So we're going to do that on this show.
Speaker 2:I've, you know, I'm lining up some, some excellent guests, journalists and again. But this show is not the news. We'll talk about the news, we'll present some news, we'll have opinions on news and I want you to decide for yourself. Basically, I will not say this is the actual news of the day. I am not a journalist, you know, I've been a radio talk show host. That's what I'm striving to be again on the internet. So my intent is to have fun with it, and I want you to have fun. Of course, I want you to follow the podcast. I'm learning as I'm going along and I want to have a lot of fun. If you have an idea about a hoax, if you have information about a hoax, whatever that case may be, then I want you to get a hold of me. I want you to send me an email with even suggestions about the show.
Speaker 2:Like I said, I'm just starting out and I'm learning as I'm going along. I'm being live here and trying to kind of switch some things around and give you some pictures and stuff and we're going to talk about even more. But I think we're going to have fun. That's my intent. So take what I give you, take what my guests give you. Be discerning, think about it, think rationally. I want you to have an open mind, but not so open that you're just going to buy everything you see, because the first person you heard about said it Kind of like. You know, if you see a politician get up there and say something like hydroxychloroquine and bleach is a good way to fight a virus. I think you got to look a little further into where you're getting your information. So there, I said that I think you got to look a little further into where you're getting your information. So there I said that, okay, maybe you have a little idea about my political leanings, but we'll talk a little politics too. We'll talk about, you know, some social stories. I'll give you maybe a social observation story or joke of the day, and before I get to John Russell, I want to give you one right now.
Speaker 2:The other day I'm driving around and I have a weakness. It's fast food. I can't help it. I weigh more than I should. So I pull into McDonald's and go through the drive-thru and of course you know as they're doing. Now you make your order and I ordered a quarter pounder fries and a big Dr Pepper, and so the kid at the drive through and it goes, gets on the microphone and says OK, that'll be nine, thirty nine, would you like to round up and donate the difference to to charity? I talked to our manager earlier and I said well, no, would you like to round down to nine and donate the difference to me? And there's a long pause and he said go ahead please. He was not having it. When I went up and gave him my money, I gave him the $10.38, $10.39, or $9.39, but apparently McDonald's doesn't like it when you do that. So maybe a lesson learned for me or him, I'm not sure. But as I said, we're going to get to my guest here, my first guest. I'm glad to have him on.
Speaker 2:I've been interviewing this guy since 2003. Like I said, he's always been one of the most realistic. He's a psychic, he's an author, he's a researcher. He has written the book Writing with Ghost Angels and the Spirits of the Dead Interesting book, fun read. And you get into it and you think, well, that's. And you'll think I buy that, or well, I'm not so sure. And we'll talk to him about exactly that. He's got other books. We'll talk about his other books A Knock in the Attic and we'll also talk about the writing with ghosts. We'll talk about his book 20 Ways to Increase your Psychic Abilities. That's another one that's recently come out and he's working on one right now and he's getting into some paranormal fiction. I guess we'll talk about that. So very glad to welcome John Russell to the premiere episode of Discerning the Unknown, and John. This is the first time we've talked face-to-face. I think we're going to have fun.
Speaker 3:I think we're going to have a blast. Ryan, I really am honored and really appreciate you having me as your inaugural guest and really appreciate you having me as your inaugural guest and, as you mentioned, God we have been doing interviews since 2003, when radio was real radio.
Speaker 3:And for those that are just tuning in, when Ryan said he's just starting out here and learning and getting all this straight, he's talking about doing the YouTube podcast. Ryan has been in radio for a bajillion years. Ryan knows what he's doing, okay, and we go so far back, like you said, 2003, and I was on with you for three years monthly during that timeframe and you were the first radio station. I've done radio collectively for 18 years now. You and podcasts. You were the first radio station that invited me on as a regular guest to be on monthly.
Speaker 3:I never did into a three year run that first time, and then we've done a few year runs here and there since then and here we are again, so it's a tremendous delight to be back. It's always wonderful.
Speaker 2:Well, there you have it. Think of the old Muhammad Ali quote about Howard Cosell. I made you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, there you go.
Speaker 2:I made you John Russell. That's right, you did.
Speaker 3:You made John Russell. So, yeah, we had and we did have a lot of really good phone calls. We got a lot of good feedback from the people that we talk to on the air there. And then, of course, you know, there's always people that, due to whatever religious bent, don't like any mention of the paranormal or the psychic or anything else. And of course there are people that will say immediately oh, this guy's a psychic, well, he's a fraud, he's a total phony. He's, you know, he's a fraud, he's a total phony. He's he's, you know, he's a liar. There's no such thing as a psychic.
Speaker 3:So that those are the few things that we'll get into and uh and try and get people to understand that, yes, you have to be discerning, but you also have to have an open mind and you have to be willing to say what if and um, I think the think the majority of people that have decided that psychics are fake and the paranormal is fake and there's nothing to any of these things, I think they've decided up front that one day they asked for a sign or they asked for something or they asked for some evidence and they didn't get it, and so they decided, okay, well, there's nothing to it, then. And the the thing that we have to understand if nobody takes away anything else from this podcast the thing that we have to understand the spiritual realm does not react favorably to being measured, it doesn't like to be tested and it doesn't like to be measured. And that's what we want to do. We want to sit down and go okay, ghost, okay, ufos, okay spirits, you show up at two o'clock on Tuesday and I'm going to film you, or we're going to get a demonstration, or we're going to get that. And it don't work. You just can't make an appointment with a UFO.
Speaker 3:And I think that people get very frustrated because the paranormal realm does seem to be so peekaboo and it does seem to be so resistant to being measured. Now, there are exceptions to that. Stanford Research Institute measured the paranormal, measured the psychic realm and established some concrete, fascinating results and did some fascinating things. And after a while that began to fluctuate and waver and play out and it seems like the other side will kind of go okay, we'll cooperate with you up to this point, but now enough of that, let's move on to something else, or let's move on to something more meaningful. So people should't people should understand that measuring this, quantifying this, is difficult.
Speaker 3:You may decide to take ghost photographs we talked about that before we came on the air and we'll talk about that a little bit and you may decide to take ghost photographs and you may take a hundred pictures and not see anything unusual. Then, that 101st picture, you may go oh, my god, what the heck is this? There's no rational explanation for this, and it may be another 100 pictures before you get something else. So it's uh, it's frustrating, it's um, it's something that we all want. Those immediate answers, those lasting answers, those repetitive answers, those lasting answers, those repetitive answers.
Speaker 3:And that just is not the paranormal realm, sure, you know, and I wish that it were, I wish that it were, god, I wish that it were, I wish it was. Like where you take your car to a mechanic and he goes oh, you just need this spark plug to change. I took one out. They're all fouled and boom, and that's repetitive, you know, repeatable, and from mechanic to mechanic. The paranormal realm isn't like that. I wish it was. I don't know why it isn't, I have some suspicions, but if anybody can understand anything, just take away that. That look, it's not always that measurable and you have to be open and receptive. In the process of being open and receptive, you also have to be very patient, sure open and receptive.
Speaker 2:In the process of being open and receptive, you also have to be very patient, sure I? I think of that old joke, um, maybe you even told me this joke, uh, years ago. Um, and we're talking with john russell. Take a look at his website there, johnrussellnet.
Speaker 2:Um and uh, but I think of that old joke, um, the the, the man who has abandoned that sea in a little dinghy or mini boat, and he's out there for days and days and days, nearly dying, and nobody finds him. And he says to himself well, god will help me, and this is God's will, he will make it right, he will save me. And a large boat comes by and the captain looks down and sees him and says do you need help? And the man said no, thank you, god will help me. A couple of days later, another boat comes by. Do you need help? No, thank you, I have God on my side. God will help me. A couple of days later, another boat comes by no, thank you, god will help me. The man dies of exposure, he dies at sea, he goes up to heaven and he says God, I thought you were on my side, why didn't you save me? And God said I sent you three bullets.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2:So yeah, sometimes you do get the sign, you just don't know it's the sign Sometimes you do get the sign.
Speaker 3:Yeah, one example of that, one example of that that you know, with me being psychic, I've had way over a thousand physical paranormal manifestations in my life. I mean, we've filmed them, we've recorded them, we've audio recorded them. Other people have witnessed them. So these are real, concrete occurrences. And with all my communication with the other side, with being a professional psychic for over 50 years communicating with the dead, communicating with the other side, there are still things I get that I don't understand the reasons for. And one of these and I write about this in one of my latest books was I had had a lung collapse on me when I was a very young man and it collapsed on me twice, one completely, one partially had two surgeries, minor and a major. And when I got out my doctor told me he said do every possible thing you can, because we can't guarantee this won't happen again. So he said run, bicycle, race, lift weights whatever you can do, do it.
Speaker 3:So I began to be super athletic and one of the things I really enjoyed was running. Well, I've got asthma and I've got COPD, so I was never a contender, but I enjoyed running and I got to where I could run five, 10 miles at a stretch. And all of a sudden, this one day, I got this obsessive urge to begin interval training, wind sprint training. And I thought, well, this makes no sense because, try as I might, I'm never going to win a road race because of my asthma, just no matter how much I train. I just never had the capacity and I don't see any point in running fast and running little short sprints, because I couldn't win even a short race. I don't get the point of it. But I had this obsessive urge to begin this interval training. So I would get out on the street in front of my house and we had this real long block that went forever and ever, and I would begin in addition to my regular distance running.
Speaker 3:I started this interval training so I would run as fast as I possibly could until I got my heart rate up to 180. And then I would measure my heart rate and when it got back down I would walk to cool down. When it got back down to 150 or 160, then I would do it again and get my heart rate back up to 180, 190. And that's how you do interval training, how you do wind sprint training. And so I would do that. And I worked up, and worked up, and worked up and I was like, well, okay, but I don't get the point of this. And I just had this compulsion, this obsessive urge to do it.
Speaker 3:And then I got this urge which made no sense at all, because everybody tells you, regardless of what athletic activity you do, to warm up so you don't strain muscles or hurt yourself or maybe drop dead of heart attack all of a sudden, from this sudden exertion, even if you're fit, even if you're trained.
Speaker 3:And so I got this ridiculous, obsessive urge to head out the door and immediately begin wind sprints, no warmup or nothing, just run as fast as I could as soon as I got out the door. Well, it didn't make any sense, but the compulsion was so strong that I started doing that and I was like you know, none of this makes any logical sense, none of this makes any rational sense. And so one clear, pretty day, I was sitting there in the afternoon, about three or four in the afternoon, I was watching TV and I had the front door open and just the screen door there so I could hear outside. And I'm watching TV and I hear this wailing coming from the street and I'm like what in the world? At first I thought I was hallucinating, or maybe it was something on TV and I'm like what?
Speaker 3:is that and I hear this crying and this screaming and this wailing and I was like what in God's name? And I got up and I looked out the front door and, running down the street, was this toddler? Maybe two, three?
Speaker 3:years old, maybe four years old just crying and running down the middle of the street and running toward, and we were only about oh god, not even half a block away from this busy street that we intersected, where traffic I think the speed limit was 40, 45 miles an hour and people usually went faster than that.
Speaker 3:So here's this toddler running down the street, pell-mell as fast as it could go, rapidly approaching the street where the traffic's going 40, 45 miles an hour, and I was like, oh my God, I left out the door, cleared the steps in one bound, raced, caught the toddler in a very short distance, before it was close to that street, scooped it up and I was like, oh my god.
Speaker 3:And the mother comes running down the street then, and she was spanish, hardly spoke any english, and the best I could get out of her was that the dad had left in the car, the kid had wanted to go, the baby wanted to go and he didn't take it and it was running down the street trying to chase the dad and I berated her no end, deservedly, so I don't know if she understood me or not. I said I saved your child's life, for christ's sakes. And so I gave her the baby back. And then, as I was walking back to the house, it dawned on me that's what the interval training was for and that's why I had been compelled to burst out the door and run as fast as I could, with no warmup. That was why I was going to be called upon to save that baby's life. So sometimes these things come to us and we don't even know why.
Speaker 2:Until then you know good, good way to look at it. Yeah, yeah, that, uh, that may have been. It's very interesting. It worked out well. Um, so, uh, you've been a, a psychic basically all your life. Uh, real quick, I, I do want to get into you know how to how to spot a good one or a bad one, or one who who was just scamming. You tell the story when, uh, you know how you realized that you had some, uh, some sort of ability, or uh, that maybe john russell wasn't necessarily normal right, that's the truth.
Speaker 3:Well, this started when I was five years old and, um, it began with the opening of this portal to these manifestations of the other side, and the way came about. I was laying in bed, sound asleep, and it was early in the morning, maybe one, two in the morning, and pitch black outside. And I suddenly woke up, totally completely wide awake no grogginess, no drowsiness, and I thought well, this is really crazy, why am I just all of a sudden wide awake? And I thought, well, maybe there's a noise outside and it won't be. And I laid there and listened, didn't hear anything and, uh, my parents had left a a nightlight on in the bathroom down the hallway. So if I had to get up and not go to the bathroom, I could see it up and my bedroom doors open face the hallway. And I laid there for a little bit and I thought, well, this is just really weird. And I raised up on my elbows in bed and just kind of looked around my bedroom in the darkness and I looked down the hallway and in the nightlights glow around one of the door frames, peeking around one of the door frames into the hallway and looking toward me, looking at me in my bed, in the bedroom, was this elderly black gentleman and he was every bit as solid as you or I, wasn't translucent, wasn't transparent, totally, completely solid. And I screamed bloody murder. And when I because I presumed somebody had been, you know, broken into the house uh, you know, my family's white I don't think we even knew anybody black at the time and so my assumption was there was an intruder. And when I screamed he walked around the doorframe, started walking down the hall into my bedroom and locked eyes with me and never looked away and I knew he was elderly. He had close cropped white hair, he had a white mustache, he had on this red plaid flannel long sleeve shirt with khaki pants, black shoes and a black belt. And every single bit as solid as you or I, not wispy, not translucent, totally, completely real, which again was why I was convinced that somebody had broken into the house, because here's a real person standing there in the flesh. So I screamed bloody murder again, and when I did, my parents had woken up and began to come running and he to vanish. And then he became translucent, became transparent. Then he just went away, just vanished, and my parents came in and turned on the light.
Speaker 3:I said there's somebody in this house, even though I've just seen him vanish. I said there's somebody here and my pride was so real that my mother held me and tried to console me. My father went through the house, checked all the doors and windows which were closed and locked up. He even looked into the and in the closets. That's how convincing I was in my pride that there was somebody in this house. And of course, I didn't find anybody.
Speaker 3:And so it dawns on me I've just seen my first ghost, and trying to get back to sleep is impossible. I leave the light on. They tell me everything's going to be okay and I'm like, no, it's's not. How can this guy appear in a solid body out of nowhere? The doors are closed and locked, the windows are closed and locked, but this guy can appear in a solid body. How is that possible? And then he vanishes. Is he going to come back? Is he going to want to talk to me? Is he going to want me to do something scary? You know, don't tell me it's okay. And so for the next few weeks I'm looking over my shoulder all the time and you know where's this guy at. When's he coming again? I'm trying to get back to sleep.
Speaker 3:So all these paranormal experiences then begin to happen to me in the house and my parents witnessed them and other people witnessed them. On the physical plane, all these manifestations start and I couldn't articulate it, being that young, but it dawned on me. It's like oh, that's why this guy came. He didn't come to scare me to death, he came to open up the portal to these experiences I'm having and at some point in my life these experiences are going to be important and meaningful to me and to other people. And so I grasped that intuitively and after that I was never scared again, ever, and I've had way, way, way over a thousand of these paranormal manifestations in my life. So after that occurred, these manifestations continued to increase.
Speaker 3:I was out in the backyard I guess I was close to six by that time, five and a half to six and I was out in the backyard playing I guess I was close to six by that time five and a half to six and I was out in the backyard playing with a toy in the afternoon and this car pulled into the driveway and I didn't know the people, and so I ran inside and I told my mom and dad. I said somebody just pulled in the driveway and I don't know who it is. And I said, okay, we'll come look. They came out and said, oh, these are friends of ours. Well, I never met them, I didn't know them.
Speaker 3:So they got out of the car and they were standing there on the sidewalk talking to my mom and dad before they went into the house and I was playing with my toy and I walked up and just stood there for a minute looking at everybody and they kind of looked down at me and smiled and I said you folks have just been on vacation.
Speaker 3:And I said you drove that car that's in the driveway and you have two kids and they're not with you today, but you have two kids and they're not with you today, but you have two kids and you took them with you on vacation in that car and you stayed at this hotel that had this many floors and it was painted this color and it looked like this in front there were these trees that were evenly spaced in front and they looked like this.
Speaker 3:They were trimmed like this and in the back was the pool area and it was painted this color and it was arranged this way and the guy was kind of looking, you know, at his wife and at my mom and dad, like, and the lady it was priceless, ryan, she was literally bug-eyed and her jaw was agape. And she looked at my parents and she said how the hell could he possibly know this? And my mom was like like, oh, you know kids and their imaginations. And she goes, no, how the hell could he possibly know this? And my parents didn't know what to say and she said that's what we came to tell you today was about the vacation we just took and we drove that car and we took our two kids and the hotel we stayed at was exactly like John described.
Speaker 3:How the hell could he possibly know this? And my parents were like John, go play. And I was like, okay, nice to meet you folks. And it scared them so bad they never came and visited my parents again. So that was when it all started and that's when I discovered that this gift had begun to develop, where I could see the people's lives accurately, predict their future, see their past, know their thoughts, know their emotions and so on and so forth. And that's when that begins. So that's when it all started.
Speaker 2:The story you told about the first experience with the elderly guy and the khaki pants and being in your bedroom. That is the same story you told me 20 years ago and with my experience in investigations as a police officer, you know I always felt if somebody tells me the same story you know over and over again, then either you know they have made up a lie or it's true, right, right.
Speaker 2:Or you're remembering this, or they've just told it so many times and believe the lie. They can tell it word for word, right, or you're remembering this, you know so. So, yeah, I tend to think that you're remembering this. When you're telling me, you explain it the same and very descriptive every time from the pants to the hair, to the shirt, to the you know, to everything, what, what are some things that that some psychics be a paranormal experts I want to mention a little bit about, about the amazing Randy James Randy. What are some of those things that they may come up with? That is a telltale sign that they're making it up or they're going to be a scammer, or they're faking their abilities. What do we look for to make sure we're not being scammed by a psychic?
Speaker 3:To make sure you're not being scammed. The first thing you look for is if someone promises or guarantees results. There is nobody on this planet myself included, god I wish I were there is nobody on this planet that's 100% accurate. There's nobody on this planet that can guarantee you or promise you results. There's nobody on this planet that can guarantee you or promise you results. There's nobody that can promise you that, for a set sum of money, I'm going to guarantee you're going to get this job. I'm going to guarantee you're going to get this girl or this guy. I'm going to guarantee you're going to get this car or whatever, or win the lottery, whatever it is. There's nobody that can guarantee that, can promise, that it cannot be done. Period, end of discussion. Talk to me all you want to. Period, end of discussion. Cannot be done, cannot be, done.
Speaker 3:So that's the first thing you look for. The second thing you look for Geez, have you been feeling bad lately? Have you been sick? Have you had an unusual cold, maybe lasted a little longer than normal? Unusual circumstances, accidents, flat tires, water heater going out? You've described the state of the earth on any given day for everybody. Everybody has a bad luck, everybody gets, everybody has, but you don't pay attention to it. Why? Because it's a normal part of life. And then, when they suggest that it's abnormal, you go oh well, yeah, I kind of have been feeling run down and yeah, I came out to go to work the other day and had a flat tire. Ah see, there's negative energy around you, there's bad energy around you. Maybe there's a curse on you. That's another thing to look out for. So you look out for that. If, when you go to a psychic, they are able to produce what seems to be paranormal phenomena every time that you go to them, they're a fraud and a fake and a charlatan and a phony, because the paranormal doesn't show up on a timetable and nobody on this planet can manifest something consistently. So that's another thing to look for. When they begin to tell you the special $10 reading. That's what you'll see. Special $10 reading, that's what you'll see. Special $10 reading, special $20 reading.
Speaker 3:And, as an aside here, when I met my wife moved to New York to be with her. She's a New York native and we would do business in the city for her store, which was in the Bronx, and we would go into Manhattan and do business. We were walking down the streets one day and there was this elegant brownstone with a sign in the window $10 special reading. And she said now, wait a minute. She said I got to ask you something. She said I know what you charge for your readings, I know what you pay in taxes and expenses, I know how much you make nil. And she said how can anybody living in manhattan afford to give ten dollar readings? And I said well, that's to draw you in. The ten dollar reading is to hook you, and once you're in there, then it's gonna be. Oh, I see some negativity around you really. But, yeah, have you had a cold that's lasted a little longer than usual? Have you been feeling a little run now? Well, yeah, well there, there may be a curse on your. There may be negative entities or negative energies around you. You may have an attachment, uh, blah, blah, blah, we'll, we'll do another reading, we'll schedule another session that one costs a little more, and we'll see what the problem is. So then when you come back, uh, and you pay more, then here's the deal and it can go any one of a number of ways. It can go from simple suggestion to, let's say, you're now.
Speaker 3:These people are con artists for a reason. They know how to size you up and down and which buttons to push. So they're going to examine every square inch of your body, the way you're dressed, the way you look. They may notice your fingernails are ragged. You've been chewing on them, so maybe you're nervous, stressed out, whatever your clothes look pretty nice, but your shoes are a little run down Okay, there's a good sign. Your complexion's a little sally, you look overworked, you look tired, you've got stress, so they're going to play on those things. Like I said, well, you know, change you. You look like that, uh, that life's really weighing on you right now and that you, you feel very low of energy and you feel very stressed and you seem to manifest this, the stress and this energy and these nervous habits and things, and, uh, and you're not taking care of your appearance the way you should. Uh, you know totally income.
Speaker 3:Well, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, well, hell, that's all of us. So from there it's going to be well. Let's do this reading and let's see what's happening and one of the ways that they'll get you. This is not all of the ways, but this will just give you an idea of the way they work.
Speaker 3:The old bowl of eggs, a bowl of eggs sitting on the table, and you pick an egg out of that bowl, you choose any egg you want to have that bowl, and what we're going to do, we're going to break that egg open. If the yolk is normal, everything looks clear then then everything's okay and we'll we'll see what's going on from there. But if anything weird or mysterious or ugly or strange appears when we break this egg open, then we know you've got negative energies or maybe somebody's cursed you or whatever. So it's a sleight of hand, magic trick that anybody in the magic industry would know. It's super, super, super easy to do.
Speaker 3:So what you do is you pick an egg out of that bowl and you've got a free choice of any egg. It doesn't matter, because what they've got sitting in their hand you don't know it. So so you give them the egg. They crack it open in the bowl. When they do, they release the thing they've got in their hand. Here comes this black, spidery substance out in this egg yolk and the bowl they've broken this into and they're oh my god, oh my god, look, and you're like.
Speaker 3:Well, what the god's name is that? Well, that's evidence that you're cursed. There's evidence that there's evil spirits around you. Blah, blah, blah. Well, how do we get rid of that? Well, here you go. You know, first we do this extra reading, and that costs a little bit more, and that didn't work. And so now we're going to do this, and that costs a little bit more.
Speaker 3:Oh boy, now we've got really sad news for you. Well, what is it? Well, I got with my spirit guides and I held this all night session on your behalf, because I care for you and I want you to be free, I want you to be delivered and I'm concerned about you. I spent all night on this, a great danger and a great risk to myself, delving into the spiritual realm to do this for you. And my spirits came to me and they told me that you're under a curse from a very powerful and evil person, and these are very powerful and evil person and these are very powerful needle spirits around you. So we have to do a lot extra to get rid of them.
Speaker 3:Well, what do we do? Well, they showed me three piles of money 2000, 2000, 2000. So that's $6,000. So what we have to do now? This money is not for me. This money is an offering to the spirits, and they've showed me that they want me to take this money and they want to buy a feast. They've got to have food for energy. They've got to have alcohol for energy which plays on a partial truth, by the way. We'll get to that down the road, and so they have to have these things. And then the rest we're going to donate and they'll help you if you're willing to do this, and so okay, so you give the $6,000 and, of course, it goes in the funny psychic's pocket and then, depending upon if they think, they can continue to string you along or not if they don't think they can, if they think they've just about tapped you out, that did the trick, isn't everything better?
Speaker 3:Well, yeah, it seems to be okay If they think they can string you along for more money and you're good for it, you're gullible, wow, we did this and I didn't realize what we're up against. Man, this is deeper than what I thought, but this is going to take more time, more effort, more energy. So that's how it goes. So that's one of the things you have to look for now think, well, if anybody's that damn stupid, they deserve what they get. Well, listen, I have rescued people from these phony psychics that were business owners uh, multiple degree holders, mbas, phd, so on and so forth. Doctors, uh, on and on and on that sometimes, the smarter you are, the easier you are to fool, because the con artist knows which buttons to push, and so it's a matter of these.
Speaker 3:People prey on people, take their money, destroy their lives, cause them concern, cause them grief, cause them fear, and they have absolutely no conscience, and it's something I hate. These people are something that I detest, and it's something that I've fought against my entire life and exposed my entire life, and it's uh, it's an ongoing problem. I had somebody the other day that that I had to rescue from this and say hey, look, you know, look, you're being screwed here, you're being conned here, and I've had people call me and tell me they were taking anywhere from a few thousand dollars to fifty thousand, to one hundred one hundred fifty thousand dollars, you know, before all was said and done. So these are some of the things you have to look out for. Again, nobody can promise you or guarantee you anything for any amount of money just is not possible I remember.
Speaker 3:I'm sorry yeah, god help me. If it were, I'd be at saint jude's curing all those kids right now was just gonna, yep, was just gonna bring up the faith healing benny hinn.
Speaker 2:yeah, you know, if you can cure the blind by beating them in the forehead, why aren't you at every hospital on earth and you'd still make a million dollars. Why aren't you there and you really say you want to help people?
Speaker 3:Do it, yeah, and that brings up a good one good thing that James Randi did. They wrote a book about the faith healers and Peter Popoff, who's still around. He did a commercial there a while back on TV for his mystic holy water, Damn him. And Peter Popoff was a guy and you can look all this up on the net and find it out, and you can read Randy's book. Popoff was a guy that was an evangelist and one of the mega churches and he would come out on stage and go oh, let's see there's, there's a Mary in the front row that lives on, uh, South Abe street and and uh, your, your husband just lost his job. Holy cow.
Speaker 3:Yes, that's me, that's me. Well, how could he get this information Unless the Holy spirit was speaking to him? So he would give names, dates, places, illnesses, prayer requests, all this. So people were like how the hell, how the hell. So the one thing that people overlooked was, before you went into the crusade, you filled out prayer request forms that had your name and your address and your phone number and what you were praying for and what your need was, and those were collected and taken to his wife backstage. And the way they found this out was this crew bought in a portable scanner, a frequency scanner disguised, and brought it into the service and turned it on and they caught Popov's wife backstage going hey, petey, peter Popov, hey, Petey, I love you, I hope you can hear me. This is your wife, and she would read these prayer requests to him, transmitting them to a teeny tiny hearing device in his ear that enabled them to hear her, and she would read off okay, in the front row there's a lady in a red dress, her name is julie and her husband's an alcoholic and she's praying for his salvation. And boom, there you go. So that was how that was done.
Speaker 3:So all of these great mega evangelists, mega churches uh, jim baker. Oral roberts uh, ernest angely all of these people, phonies, fakes, frogs, total, complete scam artists. So it's in the religious world as well as the spiritual world and you've just got to be careful. You've got to watch out, and when somebody claims that they can do something, I don't claim I can do anything for my clients, because it just doesn't work like that. I have a disclaimer on my, my website, that says I'm not going to guarantee your satisfaction with my reading, because I'm going to tell you what the other side gives me for you and the way they give it to me, and you may not like it, and that's all I can do for you.
Speaker 2:I remember asking you that 20 years ago do you guarantee your readings? And I was surprised you were flat out no you've got that disclaimer on the website.
Speaker 3:Anybody that can guarantee a reading to you, yes, just just know. So again, you have to be willing to say if I tell you that I can sit here with my fingers like this, touch them to my nose, meditate and make a pint of ice cream burst on fire, okay, show me, do it, let's do it. And if you can do it, okay, let's look for the trickery in that. How did this guy do that? There's a lot of neat magic out there, magic tricks, and if you can't find the magic trick, then, holy cow, you got something real. But you have to be willing to say, okay, do it. I don't make any outrageous claims because I can't do any outrageous claims on demand. I have done some marvelous things in my life. I've experienced marvelous things in my life. But, like I say, the other side plays peekaboo with you and they don't jump to your command. So you have to understand that, you have to realize that. And for these people that make these marvelous claims, I remember going to an Ernest Angley crusade to investigate it.
Speaker 3:Back in the early days. Ernest Angley was one of the big mega evangelists and there would be all these people in wheelchairs on the front and he had built everybody up to a fever pitch in the crusade. And when he was doing all this, whacking people in the forehead and knocking them down and convinced everybody was being slain in the spirit and everybody was at a fever pitch, he would turn around dramatically and wave his hand at the wheelchair people and go in the name of Jesus, rise up and walk, get up, get up. And the people would start getting up out of the wheelchairs and everybody oh, praise God, thank you, jesus, hallelujah.
Speaker 3:The people were never crippled to begin with. They would get old people at the start of the crusade and go hey, wouldn't you like to sit closer, let me wheel you down there so you don't have to walk, and this chair is more comfortable than these folding chairs. Get in here and just let me wheel you. None of those people were crippled to begin with. So you have to understand these things. You have to understand the modus operandi of this. You have to say oh, my God, will people do this in the name of Jesus, in the name of the church and all this? Surely not. Oh, yeah, surely so, and more.
Speaker 2:There was an old Little House on the Prairie episode about that faith healer that the blind guy wasn't really buying, so everybody should know that now we learned that on Little House on the Prairie in the 80s.
Speaker 3:There you go, there you go.
Speaker 2:Now you're also a photographer, you have an interest in photography, and of course, it's been around 100 years there. Uh, when we get to early photography, um, you know, we didn't know a lot about it, right? Spirituality was becoming, you know, a big thing too at the time, late 18th spiritualism yeah, it's spiritualisms, universalism, 70s, 80s and so forth, right.
Speaker 2:And so there was a guy, william Mumler, m-u-m-l-e-r, yeah, and he kind of started the double exposure kind of thing, right, right With photography. Nobody had ever seen a lot of things like this before, yeah, and so this is one of his pictures.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:From about 1870. And you, that's. That's a, a random man. We don't know exactly know who that is, but uh, that's supposed to be his wife behind. Yeah, right, um, now what? What I find fascinating is how nice that the wife decided to pose at that time for the picture.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah and with her, with her arm around her, yeah and with her arm around her, her arm around her.
Speaker 2:Yeah, very nice. Very sweet, very touching. Yeah, is double exposure an easy thing to do, especially with cameras used back in the day?
Speaker 3:Yeah, even back in the day it was an easy thing to do and there are so many tricks that you can do with a camera Double exposure, multiple exposure. It's very easy to do A lot of cameras now I have a digital camera that the capability is built in and you just dial how many exposures you want to take If you want to do two, three, four, whatever. And. But back then people said, well, it was just film. With film you can do all kinds of marvelous things. I used to do double and multiple exposures with film way back in the day when I started, so that's entirely possible.
Speaker 3:Um, people need to be unwilling to accept and face value what they see without a good, concrete explanation of it and without evidence of more forthcoming, especially with spirit photography and we talked about. I was going to tell you a funny story. Before we came on the air, I told you I'll tell you a funny story about spirit photography. I've successfully done spirit photography and one of the most amazing, astonishing and I've got the print and the negative here somewhere because I was shooting film at the time and we've moved nine jillion times and I've got it packed away, but I've got both of the print and the negative.
Speaker 3:Um, there was a when we lived in new york there was this beautiful crystal clear stream, shallow stream that flowed by our house and it was maybe 20 feet away from our house. It flowed through town there and we actually own part of the property out into the stream. So I would get out there at all hours of the day and night, days and days and weeks and weeks and months and months and photograph the stream and the trees and all the things, the boulders in the stream and the stray logs that would make their way down, this and the other. I spent so much time out there photographing the stream. I knew every inch of that stream like the back of my hand and all these years later I still do. I can still think back to exactly how it was and the water was crystal clear. So if there was anything actually in the stream I would have seen it, not only with my artist and photographer's eye, but just normally. If there was anything in there out of the unusual, you would have seen it. So I was out there photographing a certain area of the stream that I particularly loved one day and I made several shots of it and, of course, always look before you shoot. You always look before you look through the viewfinder and say, okay, what's over there, what's this, how's, how's the light condition, what's going on, any trash, anything, uh, that I need to take care of to make the scene right? And then you look through the viewfinder and you compose again, you look again. So if there was anything odd there, I would have noticed it. Nothing, perfect, clear stream, everything normal as always.
Speaker 3:So I make my shots, I'm developing the film and in this one frame there is this big giant jack-o'-lantern under the water where I had shot this one photograph. And I mean this thing is huge and it's orange, it's got a carved face with a traditional jack-o'-lantern face and a little green stem sticking up. And I'm like, holy God, would you look at this? So I went up to there was a CVS in the shopping center that was like a block or two from our house and I used to walk up there and enlarge some of my prints to sell, excuse me. And uh, I went to the uh, the CVS and they had a Kodak photo machine there and I was enlarging it and it was, it was archival and I was enlarging it and it was, it was archival and I was enlarging this print of this jack-o'-lantern under the water in the stream and I got the print.
Speaker 3:The print came out, excuse me, and the the kiosk was right next to the cash register where this guy was checking out and he looked over and he looked at the photograph and he said what in God's name is that? And I said, well, I was out shooting this and this, this is spirit photography. Awesome, I was out shooting the stream. There was absolutely nothing under there and this is what appeared in the photograph when I developed it. And he looked at it for a good long minute and he looked at me and he looked at it again. He looked at me and he grabbed his stuff and ran out of the store, literally ran out of the store, excuse me, but but uh, that's one example of a spirit photograph I've got.
Speaker 3:I've gotten others, but that was probably the most dramatic. And when you look at the photograph, uh, you don't have to point it out. I mean somebody's gonna look at it and go who threw the jack-o'-lantern in the stream, you know? Or? I mean it's totally completely evident, totally completely obvious. You don't have to point it out, it's huge, it's there, it's under the water in the stream and it's a carved jack-o'-lantern. So that was one of the neat things I got and I always tell people, like we were talking earlier, like you mentioned, just because something can be fake doesn't mean that the real doesn't exist.
Speaker 2:Sure.
Speaker 3:Sure.
Speaker 2:Gotcha fake doesn't mean that the real doesn't exist, sure, sure, gotcha.
Speaker 2:Um back to the, the spiritualism movement, uh, you know, late 1800s, it just it really fascinates me and I think a lot of the same things are going on today. We've got ai. Not everybody knows how it works. Yeah, some things are just out there that I don't know. It makes people say things they didn't really say exactly. But back in the day, you know, when this was new, um, some important people were buying it. Yeah, with that, with that picture of, uh, the guy with his, with his dead wife and posing in the picture, um, mary todd lincoln yes, also went to the same photographer and said can you, can you contact abraham?
Speaker 2:he's, he's been shot. And well, here he is. He got him. There he is and once again, he's posing at the time of the picture. Very nice of him to do that. And there she is with uh, with abraham lincoln, uh. But there were also, um, the people who didn't buy it, um and uh, so uh. Of course, not to be be outdone, harry Houdini took a picture with Abraham Lincoln Houdini. I don't know if he believed in anything. He didn't believe in spirit.
Speaker 3:He was a debunker and I think that he was a hopeful debunker debunker but, uh, you know, he encountered so many frauds during his time that I think it erased any hope of him, of uh, of finding the real and uh, that's, that's what can happen to people.
Speaker 3:you have to maintain the open mind of the possibility and you have to understand that, even with way over a thousand supernatural manifestations that I've experienced, the other side is not at my beck and call and I think that people have to understand that and have to realize that. You know it's like. In my latest book I wrote 20 ways to increase your psychic abilities. I said these techniques will work for you if you consistently apply them and practice them. And it's that way with anything. And if you look at, if you compare the spiritual realm, paranormal psychic realm, supernatural realm, if you compare that to our physical realm, no distance runner wins every race. There's always a back and forth, back and forth. Nobody is the consistent world champion in any event. World-class boxers get beaten. World-class racers get beaten. The same guy that won the Tour de France a few times in a row gets beaten. The same guy that won the Tour de France a few times in a row gets beaten. They don't do it forever in a day. So there's no consistency there in that realm. But we don't get frustrated by that. We don't say, well gosh, my favorite boxer lost this match, so there's nothing to boxing. I'm not going to watch boxing anymore. We don't do that. But if we have a paranormal experience and we're convinced it's a paranormal experience and we seek that again and we don't immediately get it, we give up on it or we start debunking it or we start being a skeptic or criticizing it. You don't do that in any other realm, but we do that here and we have to understand that. Just like there's no permanency of consistency in the physical realm, the same God doesn't win every race every time, so on and so forth. It's the same way in the spiritual, the paranormal, the psychic realm. It doesn't happen every time. We necessarily need it to happen every time we necessarily need it to happen.
Speaker 3:And I recall one time, you know, I had done radio for all these years and I told my guys on the other side my guys is an affectionate umbrella term I use for all the guardian angels, spirit guides and deceased loved ones that surround me that have been with me forever today on the other side. And I told my guys. I said you know, look, I need to get on TV, get a wider audience, tell people how they're being scammed, how so much of this is not real, that the other side is not this scary thing with a demon behind every bush waiting to get you, and so on and so forth. I need to get out there and correct this stuff. So I begin to harangue. My guys on the other side give me a TV show.
Speaker 3:So my wife and I had gone on a cruise. This is when we were still living in New York. My wife and I had gone on a cruise and there was a guy I don't remember his name, maybe you do. I remember his last name, but it was either John Hockenberry or David Hockenberry. He was the guy that was in the wheelchair and he was a reporter for either primetime 48 hours, one of the nighttime news magazine shows. So we had gone on a cruise. We came back from the cruise.
Speaker 3:I was going through my email catching up. Here's an email from Hockenberry. He wants to interview me for prime time 48 hours, whatever it was at the time that he was on, and I yell at my wife, I call her and I'm like holy cow, look at this, look at this. She's like, oh my God. And we're like this is it? This is what I've been praying for, this is what I've been asking for. Here it is and we get down to the end of the email and we made it back three days past the deadline for me to be interviewed and be on the show with him.
Speaker 3:And I'm like, guys, this is what I asked for. What in the world, why would you allow this to happen? And then jerk it out from under me, excuse me. The only answer they would give me was just wait, you're going to be so glad you missed this. That's exactly what they told me. I said that doesn't make any sense. This is what I've been asking you for, this is what I've been wanting. This is a chance to set the record straight to a nationwide audience. And they said just wait, you're going to be so glad you missed this. And I was like, oh my.
Speaker 3:God so weeks went by and I'm laying in bed one Saturday afternoon flipping through channels, watching TV, and here's John Edward, the famous psychic, being interviewed by Hockenberry. I go off on my guys. I'm like, guys, john Edward doesn't need this, he's got New York Times best selling books, he's got a TV, he don't need this. I needed this and they were silent, god almighty, and I turned up the volume. I'm watching the interview and Hockenberry does everything in his power to make Edward look like the biggest phony, fraud, con artist, idiot moron on the planet. And I'm like, oh my God, that would have been me, that would have been my introduction to a nationwide viewing audience and the guys would told you he's gonna be so glad you missed oh my well, how about that?
Speaker 2:in your view was, uh, was John Edward legit? Was he a legitimate psychic? Is he, I should say, he's still around, he is a legitimate psychic.
Speaker 3:Um, we've been to in person, we've been to some of his presentations and I can attest that he is legitimate. I have disagreements with a lot of the things that he does. He sells some little tchotchkes and things that I disagree with and don't think you need to do. Back in the day he made the statement publicly that I would only charge for a reading what I would be willing to pay for it and then, shortly after Sylvia Brown died, he upped his readings to 800, 850, whatever it is, which is just totally ridiculous. So, you know, in my view he went off the rails there with doing those things. But was the gift legitimate? Is it legitimate? Yeah, I 100% believe it is. Yeah, but that just goes to show you you can go off the rails with the temptation of money, marketing all these other things and I just you know I disagree with that.
Speaker 2:Well, you brought up Sylvia Brown. I know your thoughts on her, so you're kind of the other side of the coin isn't she?
Speaker 3:Yep, the very funny thing is I had begun to get a slew of Sylvia Brown's clients just out of the blue, and nearly everybody that called me was somebody that had been to sylvia brown for a reading. I was like, oh my god, this is weird. And so I set up all these these readings and uh, as I talked to these people, to a person, they told me I don't know who the hell she was reading for, but it damn sure wasn't me I was like, wow, okay, so I wouldn't tell these people that are asked, these people, at the end of my reading I've said, now be a hundred percent totally honest with me.
Speaker 3:What's your evaluation of my reading mind side, so on and so forth blew my hair back.
Speaker 3:Great, fantastic, insightful, right on the money, hit the nail right on the head and I believe the predictions will happen. I will get back to you if they do, but everything was just just just amazing. I was like, okay, so this one person and I always told people, male and female, nobody ever took offense. I'll say it here now I always told people Sylvia Brown had a price of 800, went up to 850 for her readings, 850, 850 an hour, and it was on her website and I would tell everybody, male and female. I said if I pay $800 an hour for a reading, I better get the winning lottery numbers and a sexual favor. And they would all laugh, women included. And so this one lady, she called me. She was Sylvia Brown's client. So her husband had bought this package deal for her, for her to see Sylvia at this presentation, stage presentation and then to get a private reading with Sylvia afterward. So she said you know? She said I went and we brought all the stage presentation. This guy comes out and he said now he said Sylvia's backstage, but she might not come out unless we all stand up, give her a standing ovation in advance and cheer and yell and scream we want Sylvia, don't we? Yeah, well, let's, let's. And she was like, well, this is hinky as hell, but what the hell Paid the money. We're here, okay. So Sylvia comes out and she says I was really not impressed. But she thought, well, during the private reading, this might be the real meat of the thing, maybe things will really be outstanding. So she said, and what the hell? My husband already paid for it, paid for me for my birthday gift. And so she said, I went to the reading with Sylvia and she said and she said, john, I don't know who she was reading for, but it damn sure wasn't me.
Speaker 3:And I made the crack to her Well, for 800 an hour I'd expect the lottery numbers in a sexual favor. She laughed. She goes honey, it's not 800 an hour. And I said well, yeah, it is. I've been to Sylvie Brown's website. She said honey, it's 800 a reading. She said your reading may go 15 minutes and she's out of there. I was like you've got to be kidding me. She said oh, no, no, no, no, no, it's, it's 800 a reading. That reading may last 15 minutes. She's gone.
Speaker 2:And maybe she'll schedule four people an hour.
Speaker 3:That's a pretty good business.
Speaker 2:It's a pretty hefty business that I you know, I'd be able to afford french fries with my hamburger right now.
Speaker 3:So you know, round up, round down, yeah, yeah, round down. So all that kind of nonsense occurs and it's just there's. There's so much that you have to watch out for just because somebody's famous doesn't mean they're legit. And just because somebody's famous and maybe even legit doesn't mean that they're exercising good business practices for the good of the people, their clientele. You know, you got to look out for those things, you got to evaluate those things.
Speaker 2:Sure sure In fact. As I was doing some looking around for the photography stuff, I found there was a back. Back then there was a Nobel Prize winning scientist. He was a French physiologist, charles Rocher, I think. He said he coined the term ectoplasm. Oh right, when he saw these, these photographs, I believe the spirits could take the form through the substance. He called it ectoplasm. And this is another one. We look at that today and think obviously this is cotton, or shaving cream or cloth or whatever.
Speaker 2:She's saying it's ectoplasm. Sometimes, of course, it comes out of your ear, right. Once again, not to be outdone, harry Houdini Right, we got some ectoplasm. He said come on, people, but this, yeah. I was surprised. This Nobel Prize winning scientist said yeah, ectoplasm, it's true, it's real, We'll show you, so buy it. And just as we gather more information, you got to be discerning.
Speaker 3:You do have to be discerning and you have to realize that, for example, I can do this to you or anybody listening to this broadcast I can write a prediction down of a card that you're going to pick months from now and seal that in an envelope and mail it to you and you can hold on to that prediction and then I can come to your house with a brand new sealed deck of cards which you can open, verify that it's legit. I can shuffle those cards up, I can let you tell me where to stop at any point and fanning that deck, cutting that deck, manipulating that deck. You tell me to stop anywhere you want to and you choose. Okay, stop here. You want the one above it, you want the one below it. You want what do you want? No, right, there is good. Okay, that's the card you chose. And then hand you that card and you'll turn over that card and you'll open up that envelope and my prediction will match exactly the car that you picked.
Speaker 3:Simplest, how do you? How do you do that? Simplest, easiest magic trick in the world when you know how it's done?
Speaker 3:yeah when you don't know how to get talent all the time mind-blowing paranormal experience, right?
Speaker 3:So there are all these things out there and people need to be aware that these phonies, con artists, frauds, use these things and you have to understand that just because somebody has the title of reverend or minister or psychic or this or that or whatever doesn't mean that they're not a con artist. People go into these things to defraud people, to take advantage of people, to take your money, to make a living off of you, and you have to understand that there are a lot of people out there that are that way. I mean, and look at, you know, and look at the gullible people willing to support them. When Jim Baker the televangelist went to prison for his fraud, people sent him money in prison after he was already convicted. And after he was already convicted of all this fraud, people sent him money in prison and continued to donate to his ministry. And he's back on the air today. You can still see him here today.
Speaker 3:So you know there are people out there. Look, you got to look at one thing If your minister, rabbi, guru, psychic, whomever, whatever if they're driving a Mercedes, living in a three-story mansion and can fly wherever they want to in the world, and you're eating Wheaties and hope you can have fries with your hamburger while you're supporting their evil ass. Something is wrong with this picture. You got to acknowledge that. You got to acknowledge that and you got to get away from the cult of personality. Most of these people are eminently likable. Most of these people are people. Oh God, I'd love to hang around with this guy, I'd love to be with this guy, I'd love to spend an afternoon with this guy. And most of these people know how, my friend, I care about you, I love you, I want you to succeed. Yeah, bullshit. They want you to send them your money so they can go out and buy another Mercedes and that's all it amounts to.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of that out there and the problem is this muddies the area of serious psychic, spiritual, paranormal research, and a lot of people are aware of that and they'll just throw the baby out with the bathwater. They'll say, well, it's obvious and you can't do that. It's difficult to be discerning, it's difficult to do the investigation, it's problematic, it's tiring. It's difficult to do the investigation. It's problematic, it's tiring, it's time consuming. But you have to be willing to do that because the spiritual realm is real, it does exist and we owe it to ourselves to find out what the truth is in that, not the religion, not the guru, not the psychic to follow, none of that. We owe it to ourselves to find out where that truth is and to follow that truth.
Speaker 3:And I tell all my clients, I tell people, when I write my books, I say go to the other side and say here I am, what's the truth, where do you want me to be today? What am I supposed to learn today? What am I supposed to be doing? What am I supposed to follow? And when you get that leading, when you get that guidance, do that and then go back again, say, okay, here I am again. What's the next step? What's the next thing?
Speaker 3:Don't go to some man or some church or some organization. Go to the source, go to that energy. Or some church or some organization, go to the source, go to that energy. And people say, well, I've done that, I didn't get anything. Yeah, but did you do that consistently? Did you turn off your cell phone, your music, your computer, get away from noise, get away from people? And did you sit for 15 to 30 minutes at a time in the silence every day for 30 days, going, okay, here I am, I'm listening and then get quiet and listen to what you were told. Most people don't do that, they're not willing to do that, but that's what it takes to communicate, connect with us on the side in a meaningful way so one.
Speaker 2:You mentioned the Jim Baker going to prison. People still supported him. Basically, you, a cult leader, went to prison and still had people support him. You have on your website that you successfully predicted several presidential elections. You have a track record and you stopped doing that. Tell me that story. Well, I started with Kennedy when I was a kid.
Speaker 3:A track record, yep. And you stopped doing that. Tell me that story. Well, I started when, with kennedy, when I was a kid and out of the blue. One day my mother turned to me, I think, over in the kitchen and she said who's going to be president? And I said kennedy. And he was. And that kind of started an interesting thing.
Speaker 3:Well, can you do this every presidential election? Well, I did, and it's a matter of public record that I did, because I did it on radio shows and they would ask me who's going to be president. I'd say so-and-so and I had a hundred percent track record up through the predictions of Bush and his reelection, obama, his reelection, so on and so forth. It's a matter of public record. I did it on the air, I did it on radio shows. People heard me, people argued with me. When Bush won over Gore, I had one radio host tell me well, you know the big names, you know the big psychic names are all saying Gore's going to win. I said no, bush can win. I was right. And so I had this 100% track record.
Speaker 3:Now, 100% track records with psychics do not last. They evaporate. You're going to miss at some point. So I went to the other side and I said, guys, I know there's no such thing as 100% accurate psychic anywhere on this planet. I'm not. I've had this little short stretch relatively short in the scheme of things of 100% accurate presidential predictions. Can I keep that and retire with that and have that unbroken and just promise never to come back to it again? If I can just do that and say I did 100% accurate up to this point, then leave it and they said, yeah, so that's the story behind that and I won't do president predictions anymore.
Speaker 3:But, it's a matter of public record that I did. I did it on several radio shows for several years and it was really interesting because people would get mad at me because if I correctly predicted the candidate that was not in line with their political views, they would act like it was my fault. I didn't elect him, I just protected it, and they would get mad at me, so I can respect that.
Speaker 2:So, uh, I do have a question in mind based on that. So, uh, of course, we we had the recent debate, uh, we, we, we, uh, we. We all know what we think about that. Um, possible one, one candidate to, uh you know, as a cult leader, maybe in prison, at the next, uh, the next election. So, given uh, john russell, psychic, uh what you just said, that uh, you're not gonna predict a winner, right, right, um, let me ask you this when we get to November 6th the next presidential election of 2024, will our choices be Joe Biden versus Donald Trump?
Speaker 3:I'm not even going to go there. I'm not even going to go there, but I will tell you from my own personal viewpoint Biden won the debate. I don't think that the people that are saying, oh, he stumbled. He stumbled one time, if you watch the debate closely and listen closely, and that was a thing leading to Medicare, and that was the only time he stumbled.
Speaker 3:The rest of the time he was coherent. We all stumble in our speech. I'm a goose in my speech. There was one podcast I was on where I said I shot a history pilot for the TV channel instead of.
Speaker 3:I shot a TV pilot for the history channel. So we all goof up, we all make mistakes, we all stumble in our speech. Get over it. That's nothing new. I thought he won the debate. I thought he addressed things cogently and honestly. I thought he stuck to the facts, I thought he presented the facts and I thought his opponent, on the other hand, brought out a lot of unverified nonsense and accusations that were just nonsensical. And I know I'll catch a lot of flack for that. But you know that's why I saw it. I'll listen very carefully to both sides and that's that's what it was really I've read that.
Speaker 2:You know if you read the transcript you you get a pretty good idea of you know what the message was. They're both old. We all, like I said, we all stumble, we all stutter a little bit. I have a thing from the years in radio A lot of times when I'm talking to people and I have to be conscious of that now that I've got a camera on me but I'll look around and I don't necessarily when interviewing, I realize I don't necessarily look at the people I'm talking to. And when I got into law enforcement there were some guys that said oh, if you look down and to the left, that means you're lying. Oh, if you look down and to the left, that means you're lying. If you look up and to the right.
Speaker 2:That means you're telling the truth. No, if you say I'm not too much, then you're, you know you're backpedaling it. No, I, I think people, just like I just did. People stutter a little bit people. That's normal human conversation it is you know you get an idea. I mean, they taught us way back in the academy years ago. If it just doesn't seem right, you know it probably isn't. If you just get an idea, you know, if you just have that intuition some of us have developed others of us haven't, but they taught us in the academy.
Speaker 2:you got to believe that, that your intuition. But you also got to trust, but verify. But you also got to trust, but verify. You know, we'll see that news. We'll see those Facebook memes that you just got to say I don't know about that you know.
Speaker 3:Here's an easy example there was a Facebook meme that one of my friends posted and it said this Halloween this October, there's a Friday the 13th, some kind of weird moon and some other thing I forget what all it was and there's no Friday the 13th this coming October. You know, it's just so easy to look things up and verify if it's true or not. And there were people that would post all kinds of ridiculous things on Facebook and I would discredit them, debunk them, whatever you want to call it. And then we go how do you find out these things? And I was like well, there's a thing called Google and you can look things up and you can verify if things are true or not.
Speaker 2:Usually it takes you all of four seconds to figure it out. Yeah, if somebody has already said this meme is fake, yeah, it's not. Somebody has already said this meme is fake?
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it really scares me the number of people that are willing to believe, like you said earlier, anything that's put out there as being the truth, and you know, it doesn't even have to be somebody authoritative to say it, it can be some stupid meme, like you point out, and it's like you know. Folks, we have to be better at this. We have to do better at this. You know we can't believe that the Jews use the baby's blood and eat the babies, for you know, whatever ritual this, that and the other. You know my Jewish wife gets very offended at that, and so do I. We can't believe, you know, this thing, that thing, the other thing, thing. We have to verify these things and we have to look into these things.
Speaker 3:One of the first things we have to realize is that anyone that has something against anyone else and it's usually for a religious or political reason or tribal reason the first thing they're going to do is demonize that person. They kill, kill and eat babies. They use baby's blood and sacrifice. They sacrifice virgins, they beat up old people, they rob from old people. They worship the devil. They do this. There's 9G and all these things going on. Look at the guy that took his gun and went to the pizza place. Where was the pizza place up there, pizzagate remember? And he took his gun and went to the pizza place. Where was the pizza place up there, pizzagate Remember?
Speaker 3:And he took his gun and he burst in and he goes. I'm here to free these children, being Austin, and they're like what are you?
Speaker 3:talking about. He goes there in the secret room. It's locked and it's like that's where our janitorial supplies and stuff are that we keep locked up from the public. They unlock it and open it. That's all it was. And he was like oh, you know, it's like people. You know you can't, people can demonize anybody and unfortunately, somebody is going to believe it. Yeah and uh, you know, it doesn't matter how outrageous it is, somebody's going to glom onto it and they're going to run with it and we have to quit that. We have to stop it. You know, it's like if I went on some of the podcasts and I said I have undeniable proof that Ryan Lindsay Ryan, the old radio name, ryan Peterson I have undeniable proof that Ryan Lindsay, back in the day, was the love child of President Bush and a three-breasted female alien.
Speaker 2:I asked you not to tell anybody that, yeah, damn it to hell. That was in confidence.
Speaker 3:That was in confidence and honest to God, somebody would believe it and run with it.
Speaker 3:And that's one of the problems that we have now in the paranormal community, ufo community, have now in the paranormal community, the UFO community, so on and so forth, is that people will believe anything that's put out there by anybody, and we have to stop that.
Speaker 3:You know, we have this woman, anjali whatever they was, anjali she put out this thing that and this was the most incredulous story from the get-go. According to her, the way this thing started was she was in some state and stopped at this diner and some guys walked up to her and said how would you like to meet an alien Now who, while you're sitting there eating your hamburger and fries, is going to come up to you and go? How would you like to meet an alien? Well, sure, so they take her to this cave and in this cave the aliens have landed and they're there and she meets the aliens and she talks to them and makes repeated visits and the aliens have agreed they're going to manifest themselves to the world. She's going to be the agency for this, so she's going to conduct this is all this came out and all the all the stuff she this, so she's going to conduct.
Speaker 3:This is all. This came out and all the all the stuff she's doing, that she's going to conduct this interview, that she's going to bring the aliens to the foot of one of the monuments in Washington DC with the camera crew. Some famous actor has agreed to come and be there and lend credibility to this. The Indians are going to reveal themselves to the world, announce that they're here, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. People, people, people, people, people. Stop it. It's like no, and of course it never happened. And of course it's never going to happen because there's all this nonsense out there. Back when I was a teenager, there was a full-page ad in our newspaper saying Lord Maitreya was on the earth, he had come, and there was this guy I think his name was Benjamin Krim.
Speaker 3:He had taken out full-page ads in newspapers all over the country New York Times, los Angeles, dallas, our paper we saw it in our paper and full-page ads. Maitreya has arrived, the great Lord Maitreya. He is going going to reveal himself, and it's always two months. Why is it always two months? But try, it was going to reveal himself in two months. Angelie said the aliens were going to reveal themselves. In wait for it two months, it's always two months. So matriah was going to reveal himself in two months or it was going to be an unprecedented time of healing and enlightenment on the earth.
Speaker 3:Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah blah. Of course it was all BS and it's all BS now. It never happens. And but people buy into this stuff and it's like folks, you gotta quit it, seriously, you gotta quit it. I mean it's like somebody comes out of nowhere with this ridiculous story and you buy into it. It's like okay, okay. And then, worse, people support it, give money to it or whatever. We got to stop doing that. We got to stop doing that. It just it harms everything that we're trying to find out the truth about and trying to find out. You know what's really going on and we've got to get away from the people. Well, the ufo brothers, the space brothers, are here to help away from the people. Well, the ufo brothers, the space brothers, are here to help us.
Speaker 3:And the evidence points to the contrary, and I've discussed that on a lot of podcasts and there's a lot of people in the um, the ufo, uh, researchers that have way more evidence and things that I do, that agree with me that you know this is. This is not the case. The evidence points the opposite way. So we've got to get away from these cults of personality, we've got to get away from this popularity, we've got to get away from believing anybody that says anything and we have to be willing to research. You know we seem to be unwilling to call a lie a lie and a liar a liar, and we have to be willing to do that. You know we got to get away from the scripture judge not lest you be judged, guess what you better judge, because your life may depend upon it.
Speaker 2:I think you know you mentioned believing everything you see and religion Basically the meme. That I do agree with that. We've probably all seen it goes. You know, if you have a religion, if your religion encourages you to hate other people or any group of people, you need a new religion. You need a new religion, exactly right. Whether you want to believe in God or not, if he's up there or if he's down here, or if it's energy or whatever your thoughts are, I just can't believe that he's encouraging people to hate the creation.
Speaker 3:Hatred and division and we have to look at this not just from whites hating blacks, and there are blacks that hate whites. There are various races that hate other races. There are countries that hate other countries, and it's always from a political, economic or religious perspective, and we have to get away from that, realize that we are all human beings. None of us are substandard, subhuman species. We're all the same and we have to realize that now this divisiveness has crept over into Democrat versus Republican, quote unquote liberal versus quote unquote conservative, all of these things and people are willing to beat each other up or castigate each other, call each other names or you know it. Just it's, it's unreal and we can't do that because none of us have a handle on the truth. We're all looking for the truth and on the way there we better be nice to each other, because we're all we've got now.
Speaker 2:And that a lot of that is, uh, you know, the reason for this podcast. Like, like I said in the beginning, um, you know, I'm not going to say this is the news, it's not right, but we're going to talk about the news, about some news and some things.
Speaker 3:Um, and if you can, get people to think yeah, you can get people to not accept things at face value and to be inspired to go out and to research and investigate things on their own, and not from a debunker's perspective, but from an open-minded well. Okay, where does this lead? Where's the truth, if you can go to it from that perspective, and that's what I did when I started. I started doing paranormal investigations when I was 11 years old and I had a very good reading aptitude. When I was young, I read William James, the Varieties of Religious Experience, before I was a teenager and understood it, comprehended it, and what my thing was, as young as I was, was OK, where's the truth in all of this? Does this work? If it doesn't work, I'm going to get rid of it. I don't care if the church does it, I don't care if this famous psychic does it, I don't care if three books tell me to do it. If it doesn't work, I'm getting rid of it. If it works, I'll keep it and we'll go on from there and say I can expand it and develop it, and so on and so forth. So that needs to be the attitude we have Does it work or does it not? If it doesn't work, we're going to get rid of it. And that applies to religion, it applies to whatever.
Speaker 3:I had a guy, had an Indian client from India. I've had clients, I've read for clients in over 40 countries around the world A lot of those repeat clients, a lot of those uh, several clients from the same countries, which just boggles my mind. But I had an Indian client from India tell me one time he said during a reading he said John, he said my religion does not work, but I'm scared to let go of it. Why? I said well, I can tell you exactly why.
Speaker 3:The same reason all of us are scared to get rid of our religions is because, from the time we're a child, we're taught that there's some type of deity, energy, intelligence, god, whatever. And this being is to be appeased by doing this, this, this, this and this. And if you don't do this, this, this, this and this, this being is going to be angry and he's going to punish you Not only in this life, but it could last beyond when you die. You could go to hell, you can go to purgatory, you could be reborn as a scorpion, you could be blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever. So we're, we have this hammered into us, since we're a kid and we grow up and we go.
Speaker 3:Well, I tried my religion, I tried the promises, I tried everything and it does not work. I tried it again, again, again and over and over and over, and it doesn't work. It doesn't happen. But I'm scared to let go of it. Well, that's why you're afraid you're going to offend that God and you're going to wind up coming back as a banana slug somewhere in the Amazon or whatever. So that's always there and we have to learn to get past that and we have to not be afraid to say hey, does this work or does it not? If it doesn't work, let's get rid of it and try and find something that does work.
Speaker 2:Sure, whatever works, I think back, you know, the trust, but verify, you know I'm Ronald Reagan was the first one to say that. So you know we can take opinions and stuff from both sides. They're right. When we talk about religion, really, the way I compare it is, uh, you know, in how we choose. If we do choose our religion or whatever is uh I, you know, I right here. Let's see, I'm going to point to it if I'm a minnesota vikings fan because my dad was a Minnesota Vikings fan, right, I grew up that way.
Speaker 2:Yeah exactly Believe me with the Vikings history. If I could change that, I would yeah yep exactly. You know, I grew up with certain religious beliefs because my mom and dad did. Exactly. That I've been able to let go a little easier. Vikings, I can't.
Speaker 3:I hear you, I hear you, I hear you. You have to examine those things, like David Brenner, the comedian David Brenner. He made the truest statement in one of his comedy routines that I have ever heard, and he said I don't understand state pride. Oh, I'm from Texas. Oh, I'm from California. Oh, I'm from. He said I don't understand state pride. Oh, I'm from Texas. Oh, I'm from California. Oh, he said I don't understand state pride.
Speaker 3:He said if your dad had had 10 more dollars in gas money, you'd have been a New Jersey instead of a New Yorker. You know, and that's the truth of the matter, and it's like it's state pride, okay, until it becomes to the point that you aren't blank, unless you're a texan, or you weren't blank, you know. Look, we're all human beings. We were born where we were, by chance, basically, and you know, we, we are all in this together, in this world, and none of us are anyone better than another, especially not just because where we were born and where we grew up. And so those are some of the things that we have to realize and that we have to contend with, and it's, uh, it's, it's a very dicey, very difficult, very tricky thing.
Speaker 3:You have to get people to recognize that, to deal with that and understand that, and when you're willing to let go of those ego precepts and you're willing to let go of tribalism and you're willing to let go of those ego precepts and you're willing to let go of tribalism and you're willing to let go of religious constructs or spiritual constructs or whatever, and say, okay, this person is also a fellow human being, they have exactly as much value as I do. They need and won't desire the same things that I do, and we're all in this planet together. Let's build that construct, let's figure out how we arrive at that truth and let's figure out how we make life better for all of us.
Speaker 3:If we were to spend the amount of time, effort, energy and money on figuring out how to heal and make life better for every man, woman and child on this planet, as we do in figuring out warfare, think what a great world this would be.
Speaker 2:We got to wind down here. I personally think 90 minutes is a perfect time. They say now in movies 90 minutes is the perfect length for a movie. So we're going to go 90 minutes here, a little more. But we touched on so many things I think we could talk about for hours. I mean, of course, all the paranormal, the photography, the stuff that does and doesn't work, politics. I wanted to get on reincarnation. We just barely touched on that. Oh gosh, so much that we can still talk about. I'll be back.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I was gonna say tell people about your website, how they get ahold of you, your books. Of course I've got the writing with the ghost angels and the spirits.
Speaker 3:And I've got my newest one here 20 ways to increase your psychic abilities. Very good, very good. Can't get the camera to focus. There it is, and all the books are available at all major booksellers online Amazon, barnes, noble books, million Apple books. If you want information about me and my psychic readings, go to johnrussellnet. If you want information just about the books, you can go to johnrussellauthorcom johnrussellauthorcom and that'll tell you everything about the books. And got lots more books in the works. Um, doing a lot of writing, a lot of things, getting a lot of great feedback. Uh, so there's, there's a lot yet to come. This little boy is 70 years old, but ain't done so. There's a lot yet to come. This old boy is 70 years old but ain't done.
Speaker 2:You're doing a lot of podcasts, video podcasts, all of them I wanted to mention real quick. I don't up until recently I haven't listened to a whole lot of podcasts. You know everybody and their neighbor is doing one now, yeah, yeah, you know some are good, some are bad. Right, I looked ahead on an appearance that you have upcoming and it's the Relatable Voice podcast actually, and this Lucia Mutanto, I think, and I was intrigued. She has a very nice website, very good information, and I listened to some of it Right off the bat. Her accent, it was intriguing, beautiful voice that she has and she had a great guest, but the only thing with any kind of accent.
Speaker 2:I was born and raised in the Midwest. If your accent is anything different than one you picked up on Burt Street in Northern Eau Claire, wisconsin, I can't understand it. Picked up on Burt Street in Northern Eau Claire, wisconsin, I can't understand it. But I had to listen very, very intently and because of that I listened to understand and because I did, I found it very, very intriguing. You know she's the author of children's books, first thing, and she's got one about the climate change. Um, they're saying that it's not a hoax and encouraging children to do what they can. Just very responsible message and I, you know, I really like that she's, she is making an impact. Yeah and uh. In fact I kept clicking on information, um on her site and to where she was getting information, and then I'd click on links of that and links of that and I went, I went way deep, I kind of got caught up in it and she's got.
Speaker 3:I have a problem, like you have, understanding accents. I grew up in Texas and if it's not a West Texas accent I have difficulty. And I've been on a dozen United Kingdom podcasts and some of those old boys got that British accent and I have to lean forward and listen as hard as I can understand what they're saying.
Speaker 2:So I get where you're coming from, yeah, so so I wanted to actually work you know, recommend her show because I think it's. I think it's gonna be good. I get where you're coming from, yeah, so I wanted to actually recommend her show because I think it's going to be good. I think you're going to be a great guest on her show. I don't know her at all. I don't know her at all. Last night was the first time I ever heard of her and saw her website, but I think it's going to be good. You're on there. It looks like July 20th, right, the Relatable Voice podcast. I think that's going to be good. And your website again, john. What do we find there?
Speaker 3:JohnRussellnet, and that's for the psychic work and the readings JohnRussellAuthorcom, if you want information on the books.
Speaker 2:Okay, Thank you, John Russell. Always fun. This was the first show and we've got so much more to talk about. It's just been terrific.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we do, I'll be back. Thank you so much, ryan. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Thank you, thank you, okay, folks, there it was. That was John Russell and this has been the podcast, the Discerning the Unknown. Take a look at the website. If you have any comments, suggestions, I want you to let me know. The email address is down below there, ryan at discerningtheunknowncom this first show.
Speaker 2:You know I kind of wanted to get into things gradually. You know not a lot of the hard-hitting debunking of conspiracy theories and stuff. I wanted to gradually get my feet wet in the podcast world. So I had a fun conversation with John Russell and we talked about some give and take, some back and forth, both sides of the coin when it comes to the paranormal and spirituality. There's some that we should consider. Other stuff that, uh, no, no, it's. Uh, it's, it's fraud. There's a lot of fraudulent psychics out there and, uh, it was ronald reagan. You know trust but verify. So, uh, be sure you know what you're spending your money on. Uh, look up stuff. I still think, even though it gets kind of a bad reputation, things like Snopescom is good for verifying Factcheckorg, politifact. Take a look at AP. There's a new web browser extension that you know. If you're into looking at news online, it's called NewsGuard and that helps. That'll tell you if and why a news site is verifiable, if they do good work, if they show their work, basically if they're getting who they're owned by. It'll show you if they're getting contributions and investments from certain people that may sway their opinions. So that's a good one. I just discovered that last night as I'm looking for fake news stories to debunk. So give me any suggestion you want to give me. Take a look on Facebook. It's facebook. It's at discerningtheunknownpodcast. That's on Facebook, but you can get there from discerningtheunknowncom. So we'll do it again. I want to be doing this every Wednesday one o'clock central time. So next week we'll do it again. Got to confirm my guest yet for that one, but I'll announce it on the website, on the Facebook and other sites as well. So hope you have a very good week.
Speaker 2:One thing I've been trying to think of what I want to end every show with. You know Ryan Seacrest has got the Seacrest out thing and Dick Clark had so Long and, yeah, I was thinking I should do something. So Bob Barker had a different kind of a different one. You know, spay your animals, spay your dogs. You know spay and neuter and I think what's something I I truly believe in that. I think everybody should get behind. And uh, that is that. Uh, men in society today should never wear flip-flops. Men have ugly feet. I don't want to see them. So that's what I'll end every show with. Men should not wear flip-flops. Goodbye everybody.