New Thinking Allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove Aug 26, 2026 New Thinking Allowed Audio Podcast Stafford Betty, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at California State University, Bakersfield. He is author of Heaven and Hell Unveiled, The Afterlife Unveiled, and When Did You Ever Become Less by Dying? He has also written two novels, based on his studies of spiritualism, whose protagonists are deceased figures in the afterlife, The Imprisoned Splendor and The Afterlife Therapist. Here he describes various aspects of his understanding of the afterlife, as portrayed in his novel, The Afterlife Therapist. Some of the recently deceased do not realize that they have died. Many conflicts exist on the astral planes. These are seen as opportunities for soul growth. Reincarnation is also an option. Guides and teachers encourage souls to progress to higher planes of existence. New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in “parapsychology” ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is also the Grand Prize winner of the 2021 Bigelow Institute essay competition regarding the best evidence for survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death. He is Co-Director of Parapsychology Education at the California Institute for Human Science. (Recorded on April 20, 2021)