What Lies Beyond Podcast

Show NotesSeason 3 Episode 4 ‘Pursuing the Inconceivable’Today my guest is Peter Guy Jones. Peter has had a career as a musician, studio engineer and CEO of a music and media company. He has devoted two decades to the research that informs his new book, In Pursuit of the Inconceivable. Over time he’s developed the view that most philosophers approach their chosen subject in an ineffective way, failing to address global and foundational issues before moving on to a study of the endless details, becoming trapped in a maze of problems without resolution.He believes this to be the consequence of not engaging with the world-theory endorsed by the writers of the Indian Upanishads, the Buddha, Lao Tzu, Meister Eckhart and, many would say, Jesus and Muhammad. His mission is to persuade readers that when philosophy is approached in a naïve, open-minded and rigorous manner it may be rendered problem-free and comprehensible, and the world and human nature along with it. Join us for a provocative and hopefully enlightening dialogue!ResourcesWebsite of Peter Guy Jones.His Substack.Jones, P.G. (2025). In Pursuit of the Inconceivable: An Investigation of Metaphysics and Mysticism. Essentia Books.My review of In Pursuit of the Inconceivable.Thanks for reading WHAT LIES BEYOND! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.People/Topics MentionedStrange Loops! A classic strange loop in logic is Epimenides’ paradox. See also Escher’s waterfall, above.There’s one in Doctor Who, from ‘Castrovalva’ (1982).More Strange Loops in:Hofstader, D.R. (1979). Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. Penguin.Nagarjuna. (Peter’s pronunciation of his name in the interview is more accurate than mine!)‘Middle Way’ Buddhist philosophy.Catuṣkoṭi (4-way logic).Gospel of Thomas.Meister Eckhart.350+ theories of consciousness.Dan Dennett’s book:Dennett, D. (1991). Consciousness Explained. Allen Lane.Bertrand Russell on mysticism: Russell, B. (1917). Mysticism and Logic and other Essays. Taylor Garnett Evans & Co.Media“Forty-Two” as the answer the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is from Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. (Radio show, TV series and books). Here is Deep Thought announcing the answer after seven and a half million years!Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Dir: Steven Spielberg, 1989). The leap of faith!Title Music: ‘Stranger things’ by Music Unlimited on Pixabey.Thanks for reading WHAT LIES BEYOND! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatliesbeyond.substack.com

Show NotesSeason 3 Episode 3 ‘A Life of Philip K Dick’Today I have a dialogue with returning guest Anthony Peake. Anthony is a writer who deals with borderline areas of human consciousness. His first book, ‘Is There Life After Death?’, was published by Arcturus books in 2006. It detailed Anthony’s ‘Cheating the ferryman’ hypothesis, which argues that we experience our lives over and over again, like the movie Groundhog Day. This book has now sold over 60,000 copies world-wide and has been translated into various foreign language editions.In 2013, Anthony Peake published a book on the Science Fiction writer Philip K. Dick, also known as PKD. Anthony sees many intriguing parallels between Philip K Dick’s ideas and his own. So in today’s feature-length dialogue, we take a deep dive into the life and literary career of PKD. We discuss the weird experiences that inspired much of that fiction. And we attempt to draw out the significance of PKD’s work for our understanding of consciousness, reality and time.Thanks for reading WHAT LIES BEYOND! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.ResourcesAnthony Peake’s website.His Book on Philip K. Dick:Peake, A. (2013). A Life of Philip K. Dick: The Man Who Remembered the Future. Arcturus Editions.PKD is also mentioned in: Peake, A. (2010). Daemon: A Guide to Your Extraordinary Secret Self. Arcturus.Anthony’s J.B. Priestley talk on YouTube from July 2025.Philip K Dick: Works MentionedThe Exegesis:Dick, P.K. (2012). The Exegesis of Philip K Dick. Gollancz.Sibyl illustration:Novels Mentioned:Dick, P.K. (1956). The World Jones Made. Ace Books.Dick, P.K. (1959). Time Out of Joint. J. B. Lippincott Company.Dick, P.K. (1962). The Man in the High Castle. Putnam.Dick, P.K. (1967). Counter Clock World. Berkley Books.Dick, P.K. (1968). Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Doubleday.Dick, P.K. (1969). Ubik. Doubleday.Dick,P.K. (1977). A Scanner Darkly. Doubleday.Dick, P.K. (1981). Valis. Bantam Books.A full list of PKD’s writing is available on Fantastic Fiction.Other Resources1974 Rolling Stone article and interview with PKD.Andrew M. Butler’s guide to PKD. Contains descriptions of major themes in his work:Butler, A.M. (2000). Philip K Dick. Pocket Essentials.PKD Otaku (Fanzine).Philip K Dick’s Religious or Mystical Experience, 2:3:74, was depicted in a comic by Robert Crumb in Weirdo #17. This is a good overview of the experience. However, it is the ‘authorised’ or ‘official’ version promoted by PKD. In the podcast we discuss some problems with PKD’s telling of 2:3:74.Hypnogogia & migraine: Mavromatis, A. (1981). Hypnagogia : the unique state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleep. Routledge & Kegan Paul.Alice in Wonderland syndrome on Wikipedia.Bicameral Mind:Jaynes, J. (2000). The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Mariner Books.Cosmic Consciousness:Bucke, M. (1905). Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind. Innes & Sons.Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (language shapes reality).Other authors mentioned:Works of Robert Anton Wilson on Fantastic Fiction. I’d especially recommend the Schrodinger’s Cat trilogy!Ray Bradbury on Fantastic Fiction.Works of SF author Philip Jose Farmer on Fantastic Fiction. (Especially Riverworld series).Ursula Le Guin on Fantastic Fiction.Jorge Luis Borges on Fantastic Fiction.Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot on YouTube. Whitley Strieber on Fantastic Fiction. (Includes his nonfiction books detailing his alien abduction experiences).Betty & Barney Hill’s 1961 abduction experience:Fuller, J. (1966). The Interrupted Journey: Two Lost Hours”Aboard a Flying Saucer”. Dial Press.Movies:We discuss director Christopher Nolan’s 2014 movie Interstellar.And Vanilla Sky from 2001 (dir: Cameron Crowe).And the Truman Show (1998, dir: Peter Weir).Waking Life, (dir: Richard Linklater, 2001).Arrival (dir: Denis Villeneuve, 2016).Documentaries & AdaptationsThere are many good documentaries on PKD. Here are a couple of good ones.Philip K. Dick - A Day In The Afterlife. 1994 BBC2 Documentary.The Worlds of Philip K Dick. 2018 documentary featuring Anthony Peake.Wikipedia list of adaptations of works by Philip K. Dick (Movies & TV adaptations).Title Music: ‘Stranger things’ by Music Unlimited on Pixabey.Thanks for reading WHAT LIES BEYOND! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatliesbeyond.substack.com

Show NotesSeason 3 Episode 2 ‘Science of Magic’Today my guest is Dean Radin. Dean is Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), Associated Distinguished Professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and cofounder and vice chairman of the neuroengineering company, Cognigenics. He earned an MS (electrical engineering) and a PhD (psychology) from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. In 2022 he was awarded an Honorary DSc (doctor of science) from the Swami Vivekananda University in Bangalore, India.Before joining the IONS research staff in 2001, Radin worked at AT&T Bell Labs, Princeton University, University of Edinburgh, and SRI International. He has given over 780 talks and interviews worldwide, and he is inventor of 12 patents and author or coauthor of 340+ scientific and popular articles, book chapters, and books, four of which have been translated into 15 foreign languages. These are The Conscious Universe (1997), Entangled Minds (2006), Supernormal (2013), Real Magic (2018), and most recently The Science of Magic, published in October 2025. In today’s show we discuss the current status of the evidence in parapsychology. Dean describes some of his experiences working at the STARGATE Remote viewing program for US Intelligence. We talk about the challenges of designing experiments in parapsychology. And we discuss the relationship between psi phenomena and magic.ResourcesDean Radin’s website.His page at IONS.His books:Radin, D. (2025). The Science of Magic: How the Mind Weaves the Fabric of Reality. Harmony Books.Radin, D. (2018). Real Magic: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Science, and a Guide to the Secret Power of the Universe: Unlocking Your Natural Psychic Abilities to Create Everyday Miracles. Harmony/Rodale/Convergent.Radin, D. (2013). Supernormal: Science, Yoga, and the Evidence for Extraordinary Psychic Abilities. Harmony/Rodale/Convergent.Radin, D. (2006). Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality. Gallery Books.Radin, D. (1997). The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena. HarperOne.Dean’s entry in the Psi Encyclopedia.Other ResourcesEtzel Cardena’s 2018 paper outlining the evidence for psi phenomena:Cardeña, E. (2018). The experimental evidence for parapsychological phenomena: A review. American Psychologist, 73(5), 663–677. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000236Skeptical response article:Reber, A. S., & Alcock, J. E. (2020). Searching for the impossible: parapsychology’s elusive quest, American Psychologist 75(3), 391–399.Issue of Journal of Scientific Exploration that has articles responding to Reber & Alcock (2020). Landscape of Consciousness online map (Maps the 300+ theories of consciousness).Psi Encyclopedia article on Remote Viewing (Discusses Stargate).Pat Price’s remote viewing of secret passwords discussed in the following book:Targ, R. (2012). The reality of ESP: A physicist’s proof of psychic abilities. Quest books.Chris French’s comments on replication are in this interview here. See also the episode resources for links to written material.Transparent Psi project (failed large-scale replication of a precognition effect).Title Music: ‘Stranger things’ by Music Unlimited on Pixabey.Thanks for reading WHAT LIES BEYOND! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatliesbeyond.substack.com

Show NotesSeason 3 Episode 1 ‘Signs of Reincarnation’Today my guest is Dr. James Matlock. Jim received a B.A. in English from Emory University in 1977 and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale in 2002. He has worked at the American Society for Psychical Research in New York City and at the Rhine Research Center in Durham, North Carolina. He is presently a Research Fellow at the Parapsychology Foundation. His chief research interests are the history of parapsychology, anthropology of religion, and reincarnation. Jim also teaches a 15-week online seminar course on reincarnation research and theory.In today’s interview, we discuss the fascinating and puzzling phenomenon of children who seem accurately to recall past lives. We discuss the pioneering work of the Canadian-born psychiatrist Ian Stevenson, who founded the field. We examine some of the arguments of the skeptics. And we take a deep dive into startling cases where children exhibit not only memories but also behaviours and birthmarks associated with their past lives. We finish by discussing the shattering implications for these cases for understanding the human condition.ResourcesJim Matlock’s website, including links to his ‘Signs of Reincarnation’ online course and Facebook page.His book:Matlock, J. (2019). Signs of Reincarnation: Exploring Beliefs, Cases, and Theory. Rowman & Littlefield.Rylann O’Bannion reincarnation case. discussed in the episode. Entry in the Psi Encyclopedia.A good general introduction to this work is episode 3 of the BBC documentary, In Search of the Dead. Includes discussion of the discussed case where a birth deformity seemed to reflect an accident with a thresher in a previous life.Thanks for reading WHAT LIES BEYOND! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Ian StevensonPsi Encyclopaedia entry on Ian Stevenson.Stevenson’s key books:Stevenson, I. (1966). Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation. Proceedings of the American Society for Psychical Research 26.Stevenson, I. (1997a). Reincarnation and Biology: A Contribution to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects (2 vols). Vol. 1, Vol. 2. Praeger.Stevenson, I. (1997b). Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect. Praeger. (This is a shorter summary of Stevenson, 1997a).Stevenson, I. (2001). Children who Remember Previous Lives: A Question of Reincarnation (rev. ed.). McFarland. (A good, shorter introduction to his work).The following book is by a journalist who accompanied Stevenson on some of his research. It’s useful as a noncommittal ‘outsider's’ perspective:Schroder, T. (2001). Old Souls: Scientific Evidence for Reincarnation from Children who Recall Past Lives. Simon & Schuster.The Division of Perceptual Studies, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA.Page on research into Children Who Report Memories of Past Lives.Thanks for reading WHAT LIES BEYOND! This post is public so feel free to share it.Other ResearchersJim Tucker on the Psi Encyclopedia.Stephen Braude on the Psi Encyclopedia.Other Cases/IssuesPsi Encyclopaedia entry on Bridey Murphy.Article on Super-Psi by Braude.Skeptical ResponsesSkeptic Chris French describes his experience investigating reincarnation amongst the Druse people in Lebanon about 37 minutes into my interview with him and Cal Cooper from February 2025.He writes about this experience in chapter 6 of his book:French, C. (2024). The science of weird S**t: Why our mind conjures the paranormal. MIT Press.Jim Matlock has also written an overview of criticisms of reincarnation case studies for the Psi Encyclopedia. This has references to extensive skeptical responses to reincarnation work.Title Music: ‘Stranger things’ by Music Unlimited on Pixabey.Thanks for reading WHAT LIES BEYOND! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatliesbeyond.substack.com

Show NotesSeason 2 Episode 11 ‘Free Will in Nature’Today my guest is Jem Bendell. Before the summer of 2023, Jem was a full Professor of Sustainability Leadership and Founder of the Initiative for Leadership and Sustainability (IFLAS) at the University of Cumbria. He was also the founder of the Deep Adaptation Forum and the co-founder of the International Scholars’ Warning on Societal Disruption and Collapse. A major transformation in his career began in 2017 as he took a year out to study the latest climate science and released the Deep Adaptation paper which went viral.After the release of his book Breaking Together in May 2023, Jem decided to leave employment as a full Professor in the UK. Jem then entered a new phase of his life, where the development of the Bekandze regenerative farm school in Bali and playing devotional music for groups become his main focus. He still writes and lectures on collapse readiness and response.Jem begins today’s discussion with an outline of the main thesis of Breaking Together: that societies globally have already begun to experience climate breakdown driven collapse. This gives a context for our main discussion of free will in nature. We look at the claims by some biologists and neuroscientists that free will is an illusion. Jem suggests reasons to doubt this verdict, and why free will might in fact exist throughout the natural world. We discuss Buddhist and Vedantic ideas about consciousness. And Jem explains why it’s crucial to admit the limitations of our knowledge in the face of the ultimate questions about life and death.ResourcesJem Bendell’s websiteHis book, which includes chapters detailing the evidence for ongoing global systemic collapse. Chapter 11 discusses free will:Bendell, J. (2023). Breaking together: A freedom-loving response to collapse. Schumacher InstituteFree audio reading of the introduction to Breaking Together.His first essay in a series about Free Will. (Includes a discussion of the Libet etc. experiments which purport to disprove free will)Jem Bendell’s Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview from 2024ResourcesCollapseIs Collapse Plausible by Matt Colborn. See also the Collapsology Portal, which exists to ‘Better understand the current risks of social and environmental collapse’. Includes an up to date listing of scientific papers on the topic.Free will deniers:Sapolsky, R. (2023). Determined: The Science of Life Without Free Will. Penguin.Wegner, D. (2017). The Illusion of Conscious Will. MIT Press. Silicon Valley:Rushkoff, D. (4 Sept 2022 ). The super-rich ‘preppers’ planning to save themselves from the apocalypse. The GuardianYanis Varoufakis on technofeudalismBurnout:Wright, S. (2021). Burnout: a spiritual crisis: from stress to transformation. Sacred Space Publications.Thanks for reading WHAT LIES BEYOND! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Title Music: ‘Stranger things’ by Music Unlimited on Pixabey. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatliesbeyond.substack.com