Author, researcher, and former publicist Howard Bloom has been called "the greatest press agent that rock and roll has ever known." In the first half, he discussed his journey, observing the dark underbelly of science and fame - where new myths and movements are born and alter the course of culture and history. A self-described science nerd, Bloom said he knew next to nothing about popular music, though he went on to found one of the music industry's biggest PR firms. He said he worked closely with many pop and rock legends including Michael Jackson, Prince, Bette Midler, Queen, Bob Marley, and the Village People.
What he feels set him apart from other management services was that over 17 years, he sought out "the gods inside" or the souls of the performers, in order to help them express that essence to their audience. This mirrored Bloom's path as a young man, seeking outside-the-box adventures "that would take me to the lands of the gods and give me an opportunity to experience them," and then explain them scientifically. He spoke of Michael Jackson's particular talent, spark of magic, and sense of awe, but suggested that his management in later years decided that he was more valuable dead than alive.
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In the latter half, authority on energy healing and mind-body medicine, Dr. Shelley Kaehr, discussed past lives with pets, including stories of people who discovered how they knew their animals before in past lives, and pets who passed away and reincarnated as new animals. She asserted that animals enter an afterlife just as humans do upon their deaths, and that they often reincarnate in soul groups (interacting with specific individuals over various lifetimes). Her research into this arena was fostered by past life regressions with clients, who sometimes revealed stories of pets and their unconditional love as part of their recalled narratives.
For instance, a man who had a corporate job but was a volunteer firefighter, regressed into a past life when he was a firefighter in San Francisco during the 1906 earthquake. He recognized one of the dalmatians living at the fire station as the same dog that lived at the station where he was a current volunteer. When animals reincarnate in a new body and return to the same person, it is sometimes because they want to do something differently, she explained, but also in the interest of acting as teachers to us. Kaehr also shared powerful accounts of horses. One involved a man who discovered his deep connection with equines extended back to a previous life in the Old West, and another where a woman learned that her current horse had saved her life during a Civil War battle by covering her body.
News segment guests: Mish Shedlock, Peter Davenport