The Paranormal Podcast

We are joined by Graham Nicholls, a leading researcher and experiencer of out-of-body experiences, to explore what really happens when consciousness seems to separate from the physical body. Graham shares his own early, spontaneous OBEs and how they led him down a path that blends firsthand experience with serious scientific inquiry. We discuss what defines an out-of-body experience, how common they may be, and how they relate to near-death experiences, illness, and altered states of consciousness. The conversation goes deeper into the science, touching on parapsychology, controlled experiments, and how concepts from quantum physics might help explain non-local consciousness. Graham also addresses skepticism head-on, discusses fear and safety concerns surrounding OBEs, and explains why intentional experiences can be transformative rather than dangerous. Along the way, we explore precognitive experiences, time perception, and practical first steps for those curious about exploring consciousness beyond the body. A thoughtful, grounded discussion that challenges assumptions while staying rooted in careful research and lived experience. You can find Graham's book, Navigating the Out-of-Body Experience, at Amazon: https://amzn.to/450s9hQ Thanks Graham! -- This post contains Amazon affiliate links that benefit Jim Harold Media when you make a qualifying purchase. Thank you for your support! ---SPOOKY STUDIO PLUS CLUBGet access to the entire backcatalog of Jim Harold’s Campfire, The Paranormal Podcast & exclusive Plus ONLY shows. That’s over 2,700 episodes.Your membership helps keep our shows going! Thanks to all of our current members!Join today here: ⁠⁠https://jimharold.com/plus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The Paranormal Podcast, Jim is joined by journalist and author Ben Machell. His book Chasing the Dark explores more than a century of investigations by the Society for Psychical Research. Ben brings listeners inside a largely forgotten world of serious inquiry into the paranormal, long before ghost hunting became entertainment. We talk about why the subject attracted some of the sharpest scientific and literary minds of the last 140 years, and how careful documentation, patience, and intellectual humility shaped an approach that still feels surprisingly modern today. At the heart of the conversation is the remarkable life and work of SPR investigator Tony Cornell, a man who spent decades quietly examining real-world paranormal cases without chasing fame, certainty, or easy answers. Ben shares how Cornell balanced skepticism with open-mindedness, why some cases stubbornly resisted explanation, and what these investigations reveal about human psychology, belief, and the limits of materialist thinking. This is a thoughtful, wide-ranging discussion about mystery, method, and what it really means to confront the unknown. You can find Ben's book at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3MY2rEE Thanks Ben! --- This post contains Amazon affiliate links that benefit Jim Harold Media when you make a qualifying purchase. Thank you for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author and researcher J.M. DeBord returns to discuss his book The Science of the Paranormal and the question at the heart of it all: can paranormal experiences be studied in a serious, scientific way? The conversation spans telepathy, psychokinesis, reincarnation, remote viewing, and precognitive dreams, drawing on real experiments, documented cases, and decades of research that suggest these phenomena may be far more than imagination or coincidence. Highlights include discussion of government-funded remote viewing programs, well-known reincarnation cases investigated by medical professionals, and lab studies showing measurable effects tied to psychic functioning. J.M. also explains why dreams often act as the doorway into these experiences and why modern paranormal entertainment has blurred the line between spectacle and legitimate research. It’s a grounded, curiosity-driven conversation that challenges assumptions and invites listeners to think differently about how the mind and reality may actually work. You can find his book, The Science of the Paranormal: The Truth Behind Telepathy, ESP, Reincarnation, and More Mysterious Phenomena, at Amazon: https://amzn.to/490Ys1i Thanks J.M. -- This post contains Amazon affiliate links that benefit Jim Harold Media when you make a qualifying purchase. Thank you for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jim welcomes author, diviner, and medium Tina Hardt to explore the art of charm casting, a hands-on divination practice that uses trinkets, baubles, and everyday objects to uncover insight and meaning. Tina discusses her book Charm Casting: Divining with Trinkets, Trifles, Baubles, and Bits and explains how charms differ from more structured systems like tarot or runes. Drawing on personal symbolism, intuition, and context, charm casting becomes a deeply personal and creative practice. Tina shares how readers build relationships with their charms, interpret how they land, and even animate them through storytelling and imaginative exercises that bring surprising clarity and depth to readings. You can find Charm Casting at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3MDJNBI Thanks Tina! --- This post contains Amazon affiliate links that benefit Jim Harold Media when you make a qualifying purchase. Thank you for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joshua Cutchin joins us for a conversation that heads straight into one of the most uncomfortable questions in the paranormal. Is this stuff simply happening around us, or does it sometimes feel like it’s reacting to us? From UFOs that change with the times to fairies, trickster figures, and high strangeness that refuses to fit in a neat box, we dig into the idea that the phenomenon may adapt to our beliefs, culture, and expectations. We talk about fictional characters appearing in real life, the Philip Experiment, thought forms, retrocausality, and why so many experiences seem oddly playful, absurd, or unsettling. There are no easy answers here, but plenty to think about, as we explore whether the paranormal is just being observed… or if it might actually be messing with us. You can find Joshua's recent book, Fourth Wall Phantoms: Reflections on the Paranormal, Narrative, and Fictions Becoming Fact, at Amazon: https://amzn.to/4pqTOR4 Thanks Joshua! --- This post contains Amazon affiliate links that benefit Jim Harold Media when you make a qualifying purchase. Thank you for your support! --- JIM’S SPOOKY STUDIO PLUS CLUB Get access to the entire back catalog of Jim Harold’s Campfire, The Paranormal Podcast & exclusive Plus ONLY shows. That’s over 2,700 episodes. Join today here: https://jimharold.com/plus --- HOLIDAY ORNAMENT CONTEST Get in on the holiday fun and maybe win a great prize with your own creation. Get all the details at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://jimharold.com/holiday2025⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — JIM HAROLD MERCH Buy Jim Harold Merch on ETSY in the US and on AMAZON in the UK! ⁠⁠https://jimharold.com/merch/⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Historian and author Tim Rayborn joins us for a deep look into the strange, frightening and often forgotten legends that live beneath the surface of the holiday season. From the rise of Krampus to centuries-old tales of winter demons, ghostly intruders and night-stalking creatures, Tim walks us through the darker side of Christmas tradition and what these stories reveal about survival, morality and the human imagination. We discuss how frightening folklore once served as teaching tools, why these tales flourished in cold, pre-industrial winters, and the surprising ritual of leaving food or clothing to avoid becoming a monster’s next target. We also explore how Victorian ghost stories became a firmly rooted seasonal tradition, why The Nutcracker was once much more unsettling than the ballet we know today, and how cultures outside Europe developed their own chilling winter rituals. Tim shares his favorite creatures, the most shocking tales he uncovered, and how modern culture has reshaped these old fears into festivals, parades and pop-culture icons. If you thought Christmas was all candles and comfort, this conversation may change the way you see December forever. You can find Tim's book, The Scary Book of Christmas Lore: 50 Terrifying Yuletide Tales from Around the World, at Amazon: https://amzn.to/4rNjt8r --- HOLIDAY ORNAMENT CONTEST Get in on the holiday fun and maybe win a great prize with your own creation. Get all the details at ⁠⁠https://jimharold.com/holiday2025 This post contains Amazon affiliate links that benefit Jim Harold Media when you make a qualifying purchase. Thank you for your support!⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Theresa Cheung returns to explore the powerful world of dreams. She talks about why she delved into world of fiction, how the story in her debut novel, NightBorn, weaves real dream-work principles into a fast-paced plot, and why readers are reporting unusually vivid dream recall just from seeing the cover. Theresa also breaks down how dreams function as symbolic messages, why nightmares can be useful, and how precognitive dreams show up in everyday life more often than people realize. Theresa explains how creative minds have long used the liminal dream state for problem-solving and imagination, then offers insight into Jim’s recurring “old boss” nightmare and what it might mean. It's a grounded, insightful conversation about the inner world we visit every night. You can find NightBorn at Amazon: https://amzn.to/49VQIzV Thanks Theresa! -- – This post contains Amazon affiliate links that benefit Jim Harold Media when you make a qualifying purchase. Thank you for your support! – HOLIDAY ORNAMENT CONTEST Get in on the holiday fun and maybe win a great prize with your own creation. Get all the details at ⁠https://jimharold.com/holiday2025⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why are we so fixated on ETs? Journalist Becky Ferriera has looked into it and reports back her findings on this week's edition of The Paranormal Podcast. Becky has a new book out on the subject, First Contact: The Story of Our Obsession with Aliens. You can find it at Amazon.com: https://amzn.to/4oKbwi2 Thanks Becky! - This post contains Amazon affiliate links that benefit Jim Harold Media when you make a qualifying purchase. Thank you for your support! - HOLIDAY ORNAMENT CONTEST Get in on the holiday fun and maybe win a great prize with your own creation. Get all the details at https://jimharold.com/holiday2025 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jim welcomes Josh Golembeske of Cosmic Disclosure on Gaia to discuss the mysterious object known as the Buga Sphere, discovered in Colombia and now at the center of intense debate in UFO research circles. Josh explains how he came to hold the sphere himself and what he observed about its markings, composition, and rumored internal structure. The conversation broadens into theories of reverse-engineered craft, consciousness research, and crash-retrieval programs, along with recent claims by whistleblowers and researchers like Jaime Maussan and Dr. Steven Greer. Thought-provoking and fast-moving, this episode explores the tension between belief, evidence, and speculation in today’s disclosure movement. Cosmic Disclosure at Gaia: https://www.gaia.com/series/cosmic-disclosure Thanks Josh! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jim talks with filmmaker Seth Breedlove of Small Town Monsters about his new documentary Lost Contact. The film explores the 1948 death of Captain Thomas Mantell, a decorated pilot who died while chasing a mysterious object over Kentucky. Seth shares what drew him to the story, why it remains an overlooked case in UFO history, and how it connects to the broader conversation about secrecy, heroism, and unexplained aerial encounters. Jim and Seth also discuss how different areas of the paranormal world often stay in their own lanes and whether they might share more common ground than people think. They touch on government explanations, the media’s treatment of Mantell, and the human side of the story that deserves to be remembered. Watch Lost Contact at Amazon: https://amzn.to/4nEk3BU You can find out more about all of Seth’s films at https://smalltownmonsters.com Thanks Seth! This post contains Amazon affiliate links that benefit Jim Harold Media when you make a qualifying purchase. Thank you for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ouija expert Karen A. Dahlman joins Jim to explore the mysteries of the Ouija board. Karen shares the fascinating origins of the board, from its 19th-century spiritualist roots to its rise as a pop culture icon. She explains why she feels the Ouija itself isn’t dangerous, and discusses how she’s used it for decades as a tool for channeling and self-discovery. Karen also sheds light on the board’s misunderstood reputation, the story of William Fuld, and what she’s learned from years of communication with spirit guides and animals alike. Whether you view the Ouija as a game, a gateway, or something in between, this episode offers an informed and fascinating perspective. OCTOBER SPECIAL: Get a 14 DAY FREE TRIAL OF SPOOKY STUDIO PLUS ON APPLE PODCASTS ONLY! ⁠ https://apple.co/spooky Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Tui Snyder joins Jim to explore some of the world’s most extraordinary burial sites and the stories they tell. From marble sculptures depicting a lover’s final farewell to wooden crosses painted with cheeky epitaphs in Romania, Tui reveals how art, humor, and faith intertwine in graveyards across the globe. Together they discuss the evolution of cemetery art — from the grand monuments of the Victorian era to today’s simpler markers — and what those changes reveal about how we view life and death. Tui also shares highlights from her travels to places like Milan’s Cimitero Monumentale, where thousands of life-size sculptures turn the cemetery into an open-air museum. It’s a moving, fascinating conversation about the beauty and meaning found in the world’s “amazing graves.” You can find Around The World In 80 Graves at Amazon: https://amzn.to/4oBoZsf Thanks Tui! --- OCTOBER SPECIAL: Get a 14 DAY FREE TRIAL OF SPOOKY STUDIO PLUS ON APPLE PODCASTS ONLY! ⁠ https://apple.co/spooky This post contains Amazon affiliate links that benefit Jim Harold Media when you make a qualifying purchase. Thank you for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author, historian, and scholar of the occult Mitch Horowitz joins Jim to discuss his new book The Sixth Sense: Napoleon Hill’s Ultimate Step to Success. In this wide-ranging conversation, Mitch explores the enduring idea that thought can shape reality. They discuss how thinkers like Napoleon Hill linked imagination, emotion, and willpower to real-world outcomes, and how modern neuroscience echo those same principles today. Mitch and Jim also touch on consciousness, perception, and the intersection between spirituality and science. Later in the episode, Mitch reflects on how understanding “green lights” in life can help us recognize when we’re on the right path. Note: This conversation was recorded in August. Mitch Horowitz’s book The Sixth Sense: Napoleon Hill’s Ultimate Step to Success was released on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. You can find Mitch's new book at Amazon: https://amzn.to/46ZJqco Thanks Mitch! --- This post contains Amazon affiliate links that benefit Jim Harold Media when you make a qualifying purchase. Thank you for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices