Jim Jones had a gift for recognizing and cultivating a person’s capacity for magical thinking or the belief that unrelated events are connected by invisible, supernatural threads. Those who followed Jim Jones surrendered their will, believing that, whatever Father was planning, he had the power and knowledge to guide them home. Temple members were systematically conditioned to accept the fake healings and miracles as a part of the tapestry their lives were woven into. With a wink and a smile Jim...
Aug 15, 2021•2 hr•Season 1Ep. 21
The paranormal healing ministry drew new members to Peoples Temple with Jim Jones’ promises of supernatural support for the cause. The divine gifts physically took a toll on Jim Jones as he felt the sickness and pain of others pass through his own body as he healed them. To keep the miracles coming, he began using sleight of hand to “remove” cancers, and strangely, real healings often followed. It was the catalyst to build faith. As more helpers were recruited into the inner circle, secrets were...
Aug 15, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Welcome to the Sunday Service, a 3-part immersive experience exploring Jim Jones’ paranormal ministry and the mystery of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. Your first visit to Peoples Temple will involve a profound, life changing, spiritual experience of the paranormal variety. The blind shall see, the deaf shall hear and the dead shall rise! Lose yourself in the mystique, as Jim Jones’ creates a powerful illusion that leads to the Temple’s eventual demise.
Aug 15, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Denise was three years old when her family joined Peoples Temple. Like so many early childhood memories, obscured by the lenses of time, Denise’s recollections are vivid emotional snapshots that paint a portrait of Jim Jones and Temple life rarely seen, one that complicates the narrative shaped by Jonestown’s tragic end. As she came of age, Denise gave everything to the cause. But in the world of Peoples Temple, no sacrifice was ever enough. On this episode of Transmissions from Jonestown, we ex...
May 21, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Music was often peoples first, and last impression of Peoples Temple. From the moment you walked into a temple service, the music created a certain atmosphere. The voices of the choir lifted the spirits of the congregants, electrifying the audience. In 1973 the temple recorded the gospel funk album “He’s Able”. The altruistic message of equality expressed on the album, the optimism and high energy of the singers juxtaposes what we know will be their eventual fate in Jonestown. Yet in that moment...
Mar 05, 2021•1 hr 46 min•Season 1Ep. 17
In the charged atmosphere of the mid-1960s, Jim Jones moved Peoples Temple westward, seeking a new beginning in California’s radical counter cultural awakening. In Redwood Valley Jim Jones embedded himself within an obscure communal sect called the Church of the Golden Rule, an offshoot of Mankind United. Founded by Arthur Bell, a self-proclaimed messenger of superhuman beings living at the Earth’s core, Mankind United preached utopia in exchange for obedience and control. Jones listened, learne...
Jan 02, 2021•2 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Long before Jonestown, Jim Jones was preaching a prophecy of nuclear annihilation down to the exact minute it would begin. In this episode, we trace how Cold War hysteria, doomsday visions, and a now-infamous article in Esquire magazine led Jones from Indiana to Brazil, chasing fallout-free havens and gathering power through fear. Was he fleeing scandal, unraveling mentally, or being drawn into something more sinister? Fear, especially irrational fear opens the floodgates of our imaginations, un...
Dec 16, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 15
I believe in Jim Jones. Many of you have seen the photograph. An elderly woman dressed in her Sunday best with a resolute, if not revolutionary sparkle in her eye. But what did Jim Jones believe? Jim Jones, the pied piper of lies, will forever be remembered as the self-proclaimed prophet who led his flock to the slaughter. Traditional Churches immediately distanced themselves from the Peoples Temple Christian church after the tragedy in Jonestown claiming that Jim Jones only used religion to int...
Dec 02, 2020•1 hr 38 min•Season 1Ep. 14
True crime history is full of shadows, but none darker than those cast by Jim Jones. In this episode of Transmissions from Jonestown, we revisit California in the years before the massacre, where a troubling question lingers: Was Jim Jones connected to a series of mysterious deaths long before the tragedy in Guyana? Three fatal automobile accidents involving Peoples Temple members form a disturbing pattern and shed some insight into how Jim Jones used death to manipulate his followers. Join me a...
Nov 18, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 13
41 years ago today, the Jonestown massacre claimed the lives of 918 Americans. When the people of Jonestown died, their bodies remained where they fell for four days. Sprayed with pesticides and sealed in military-issued body bags, their remains were flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for processing. Of the dead, 593 were eventually identified. The remaining 320, many of them children, were never identified. As grieving families struggled to reclaim their loved ones, 409 bodies were left ...
Nov 19, 2019•45 min•Season 1Ep. 12
In the chaotic aftermath of the Jonestown massacre, one artifact continues to defy explanation: Tape Q875, the so-called “November 19 mystery tape.” Discovered among hundreds of recordings recovered from the scene, Q875 is unique as it appears to have been recorded after the mass murder-suicide when every resident of Jonestown was presumed dead. Who made this recording—and why? Its static-filled audio and eerie, found-footage quality have fueled decades of speculation. Some believe it was create...
Nov 18, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 11
40 years ago, 918 Americans died in the largest mass murder/suicide in modern history. Defined by the last day of their lives, the people of Jonestown became a part of true crime lore, overshadowed by their charismatic leader Jim Jones. We all know how the Peoples Temple died, but how did they live? The Attention Span Recovery Project is proud to present this memorial special, honoring the lives of the people of Jonestown, told by the survivors who knew and loved them.
Nov 18, 2018•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 10
In the aftermath of Jonestown, details emerged of the Temple’s deepening relationship with the Soviet Union, a secret petition to emigrate, and the political paranoia that turned the settlement into a Cold War powder keg. Jim Jones promised salvation behind the Iron Curtain inviting Soviet officials to tour his model socialist community and negotiating an escape plan should Jonestown come under attack. Decades later, an artifact buried among hundreds of recovered audio tapes would challenge the ...
Dec 09, 2017•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Truth often demands we accept coincidence as a force of nature. But what if the connections aren’t coincidences at all? On this episode we follow the trail from Jonestown to MKUltra, exploring the tangled web that links Jim Jones, Patty Hearst, Jack Ruby, and Sirhan Sirhan. Was Jonestown a failed utopia or a covert CIA mind control experiment? From the brainwashing of cult members to the psychological manipulation of political assassins, we dive deep into government-sponsored behavior modificati...
Dec 09, 2017•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Out of the ruins of postwar Germany, hundreds of ex-Nazi scientists were quietly recruited by the U.S. government under Operation Paperclip bringing with them the blueprint for psychological warfare. At the heart of that blueprint: MKUltra, a covert CIA program designed to explore mind control, chemical manipulation, and behavioral modification. From LSD-laced brothels in San Francisco to electroshock treatments in mental institutions, MKUltra used unsuspecting American citizens as test subjects...
Dec 02, 2017•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Beneath Guyana’s lush canopy lies a complicated history. A land where historically, dreams of paradise spiral into madness and ruin. In this episode, we unravel the tangled roots connecting colonial violence, CIA intrigue, Cold War paranoia, with the Jonestown massacre. From the racial and political upheavals that birthed modern Guyana to the dark alliances that paved the way for Jonestown, we trace how an ancient landscape steeped in myth, blood, and betrayal became the final stage for one of t...
Dec 01, 2017•55 min•Season 1Ep. 6
What happened to the survivors of Jonestown? In the wake of the mass suicide, the killing did not stop. This episode investigates the devastating aftermath of the Peoples Temple tragedy as we investigate the suicides, murders, and mysterious deaths that followed the survivors home. Long after the cries in the jungle faded to silence, a dark reckoning began stateside that echoed the final warnings of Jim Jones. On this episode we trace the fate of those who escaped the Temple only to be haunted b...
Nov 25, 2017•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Of all the evidence recovered in the aftermath of the Jonestown massacre, one artifact confirmed the unthinkable: an audio tape found in the pavilion, surrounded by the bodies of over 900 Peoples Temple members. This 7-inch reel-to-reel recording captured the final moments as Jonestown residents debated what they called “revolutionary suicide.” At the command of Reverend Jim Jones, men, women, and children drank a cyanide-laced concoction in a mass ritual now etched into true crime history. For ...
Nov 24, 2017•57 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Jonestown prepared for its final reckoning. Unable to postpone Congressman Leo Ryan’s inquiry any longer, Jim Jones orchestrated an elaborate facade. Dinner was served, the pavilion was staged for visiting eyes, and the music of the Jonestown Express filled the air. To the congressional delegation and reporters, the people of Jonestown appeared vibrant, well-fed, and content. The atmosphere relaxed when Leo Ryan praised the community saying that the people he observed seemed happy. For a fleetin...
Nov 18, 2017•48 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Leading up to the release of the New West exposé Jim Jones fled to his jungle compound bringing several hundred Peoples Temple members with him. Jonestown ballooned from a small settlement to a makeshift city of over 900. As food dwindled and supplies vanished, Jones's voice echoed day and night through Jonestown’s public address system as he ranted paranoid warnings of a coming siege. Under the blistering sun, Temple members worked endlessly while their leader spiraled into a drug-fueled psycho...
Nov 17, 2017•47 min•Season 1Ep. 2
On November 18, 1978, an entire community of United States Citizens died deep in the jungle of Guyana. At the command of their charismatic leader Reverend Jim Jones, over 900 members of the Peoples Temple agricultural project lost their lives. Some believed they were sacrificing their lives for revolutionary suicide, others were forced or coerced by the group. A colorful toxic mix of Flavor Aid, Kool-Aid, and cyanide was passed around in Dixie cups. For those unable or unwilling the mixture was ...
Nov 07, 2017•45 min•Season 1Ep. 1
