The Podcast

THE PODCAST

TRANSCRIPT: OUT THERE, SEASON 2, EPISODE 1 — TALKING TO THE DEAD

[THEME MUSIC AND INTRO]

JEREMY HOWELL (JH): Hello there! I’m your host, Jeremy Howell, and welcome to the second season of my podcast Out There, where we explore the weirder side of life.  

We’re starting this season off with a look into the Contacter Program. For those of you who don’t know what the Contracter Program is, it’s what we casually refer to as the Afterlife Hotline — the government sanctioned link between the living world, and those who have died and have left us. This contact is made through a group of government employees, called Contacters who, through extraordinary powers, allow us access to the afterlife and our dearly departed loved ones. Today’s guest is Ramona Esposito, one of the people who contacts the dead for us. Welcome Ramona, and thank you for coming on Out There today.

RAMONA ESPOSITO (RE): Thank you for having me, Jeremy.

JH: So, Ramona’s not your real name, is it?

RE: No, it’s not.

JH: Why did you request that we don’t use your real name?

RE: Because, Jeremy, people would contact me outside of my work hours, and ask me to do a contact for them.

JH: I don’t understand, Ramona, it’s your job, right? That’s what you do. Why wouldn’t you want to help people?

RE: It is my job, and I do help people. But, it’s not what I do on my off-hours. There’s an official procedure to make contact. People need to use that, and not expect Contacters to jump the queue for them.

JH: But what could it hurt to, you know, just do a quick contact for someone?

RE: As a Contacter, I use enormous amounts of energy to make contact with the dead. It’s extremely mentally and physically exhausting. There’s also the possibility of overusing my abilities and suffering a stroke or an aneurysm. I need to protect myself.

JH: But, in your job, you work, what, eight hour shifts?

RE: Correct.

JH: How can you do your job if it’s so dangerous?

RE: Well, the way it works it that however long the contact, I have an equal amount of down time to recuperate.”

JH: Interesting. So, if you had, say, a four hour contact with someone then, you’d have four a four hour break?

RE: Technically, yes. But our contacts are limited to a maximum of forty minutes.

JH: Why only forty minutes?

RE: Doctors have determined that anything longer than forty minutes is dangerous to the Contacter’s health. There are a finite number of us in the world, so we adhere to a strict medical regimen. Plus, there are a lot of people who want to talk to the dead, so a super-long contact would be untenable. Wait times would double or triple.  Right now, the wait is almost a year before anyone can contact their loved ones.

JH: That’s a long time. Does the time a person is dead effect the quality of the contact?

RE: Potentially. Anything after about fourteen or fifteen months seems to be the point when the … I don’t know how to describe it … when the link between the living and dead worlds weakens. It’s almost like the dead have lost interest in the living world.

JH: Really? What do you mean by “lost interest”?

RE: Okay, here’s an example. When it’s been over a year and a half, the dead have a hard time remembering. The stronger the living relationship, the stronger the connection between the two parties. So, let’s say you were contacting a co-worker who you knew pretty well, but you weren’t besties; at the fourteen month mark, they might not remember who you were. But, if it was a parent or sibling or spouse, they would remember you. But they would sound a little … a little preoccupied. Like they were busy on their phone, and only paying half attention to what you were saying.  

JH: That would be disappointing. Waiting all that time, and your loved one doesn’t remember you.

RE: Exactly! That’s one of the reasons why it’s important to keep contacts short, and make sure that they occur within the window of the first year.

JH: Can you tell us about the process of contacting the dead?

RE: Sure. As you probably know, the process is done over the phone. The reason for this is two-fold. First, it protects the Contacter’s privacy; and secondly, it allows people who are unable to make the journey access to the service. All anyone needs is a telephone.

JH: And about a hundred dollars.

RE: True. The fees are what underwrite the program. Different countries charge different amounts. Some countries work on the free-market basis, where contacts can be in the hundreds, even thousands, of dollars, and are not regulated by the government. Other countries, like ours, use a government-run system, that opens contacts to most people.

JH: You know, Ramona, you could make a killing in the free-market system. There are not that many Contacters, and there are hundreds of thousands of people wanting to contact the dead.

RE: I don’t do this to get rich. I do it to help.

JH: So, how does it work?

RE: When you want to contact a recently deceased friend or family member, you register with the program, and are given an approximate date for the call. When that date arrives, a booker sets up the call between me and the client.

JH: So, who can use the service?

RE: There are rules around contact. First, you are eligible to contact any person that you knew before they died. Anyone. But, the living only get one contact per dead person. For example: Say your best friend died. You would only be able to contact them once.

JH: Once? What if I wanted to talk to them again?

RE: That is one of the few benefits to the long waiting time. It gives people time to consider what they need to say to the dead.

JH: I’ve heard that there are ways of getting around the one contact rule.

RE: There may be, but they’re not sanctioned.

JH: Okay, I understand that. But say my best friend dies, and I have my contact, but I realize there’s more I want to say to them. I understand that I could find someone who knew my best friend, but doesn’t want to talk to them. I could get them to make the call for me.

RE: [PAUSE] I guess that would work. But, if you get caught, there is a pretty steep fine, and you can be barred from using the service for five years. Hopefully no one important to you dies during that time.

JH: Who’s gonna know? From what I’ve been told, you get the other person to make the call and you pretend to be them.

RE: Have you ever spoken to the dead, Jeremy?

JH: No, thankfully. My circle of friends and family is still intact.  

RE: Then you don’t know how they behave. They’re not like they were when they were alive. It’s almost like any social filters have been removed. I’ve had spouses contact their dead mate, only to be told that their dead spouse that they never loved them. I’ve had the dead ask why the person doing the contact is wasting their time because the dead didn’t consider their relationship worthy of the conversation. I’m pretty sure that the dead would realize that the person calling isn’t the person who is supposed to be making the call.

JH: But it happens. I’m told that people desperate for another contact with their loved one, will pay the third party a lot of money for that contact.

RE: That’s illegal. Paying for a non-sanctioned contact is a criminal offence, punishable with a fine and jail time.

JH: I’m not saying I condone such an act. I’m just saying that it happens.

RE: Hopefully, not often. The ability to talk to the dead is a privilege, and shouldn’t be abused.

JH: Let’s talk about how you became a Contacter. When did you realize that you had the power.

RE: It wasn’t me, it was my Gran who first realized I had "the sight," as she called it. She noticed when I was around two years old, and had just started talking. I would be having a conversation when there was no one around. She figured I had the power. I was tested, and she was right.

JH: Why would you be talking to the dead? You were only a little kid.

RE: When I was little, right up until the time that I learned how to control it, the dead would talk to me. They wanted me to tell their family things, or find things for them.  

JH: I didn’t realize that contact with the dead was a two-way street. I thought that only the living contacted the dead.

RE: Not so. In fact, dead-to-living contact is much more robust than living-to-dead. Many, many, many dead people have unfinished business. They want me, or those like me, to help them get closure on their lives.  

JH: Did you help them?

RE: At first, but eventually it started to overwhelm me. My Gran recognized this overwork in me, and took me to a Teacher.

JH: A Teacher?

RE: Yes. A psychic Teacher who taught me to control my power.

JH: Isn’t the term “psychic” frowned upon because it is viewed as, for lack of a different term, “flakey”?  

RE: Yes. But what would you call a person who communicates with the dead? Psychic is an old term, not in wide use, but it is still the definition of what I do.

JH: So, you wouldn’t be offended if I called you a psychic?

RE: Not at all. Contacter and Receiver are government terms, used to give credence to the program. I’m not fussy — Contacter, psychic, medium — they’re all the same. It’s what I do.

JH: Okay, Ramona, talk to me about Receivers. Who are they, and what do they do?

RE: You said that you didn’t know about the Recievers. But you do. Police use them all the time. They are sworn officers who are able to talk to the dead. Instead of learning to shut off the incoming communications with the dead, they learn how to control it, and based on the “tips” that they get from the departed, they investigate their deaths, or in some cases, other crimes. You’d be surprised how many dead people want to clear their consciences — embezzlement, fraud, theft, robbery, assault, sex crimes — every crime you can think of.

JH: Tell me how that works.

RE: Okay. So, let’s say you died, and your death seems questionable. You know who killed you.  As a dead person, you would contact the police Receiver. The officer investigates, and hopefully finds the person who is responsible. This is perhaps the most important role those with the sixth sense perform. Murder-rates have plummeted and solve rates have skyrocketed.  

JH: But there are still unsolved murders — ones that were planned so that the victim never knew who killed them.

RE: Sure. But after the officer is trained to “interview” the dead person, and find out about their life just before they were murdered. Sometimes that leads to the perpetrator.

JH: You seem to have a lot of respect for psychics working for the police. Why didn’t you pursue a career in law enforcement?

RE: I do have a world of respect for them, Jeremy. But, man, there is so much pain and depravity in the world. I’m not sure that I could stand the pressure of working in that environment day-in and day-out. That’s why so many psychic officers never make it to retirement age — they burn out. Some of them join the government, and continue to use their skills, like I do, as Contacters.

JH: So, tell me the most unusual contacts that you’ve had or heard about.

RE: Well, the bookers tell us that there are a huge number of people who want to contact their dead pets. When they are told that we can’t contacts dead animals, they don't understand. We tell them that we don’t speak dog, or cat, and they say, that’s fine, they just want to tell their pets that they love them and that they miss them. But I do not know a single Contacter who has a link to the animal world. Unfortunately, there are people out there to claim to be able to contact animals, and they fleece these people out of their hard-earned money.  

JH: Just a reminder to our listeners, then, there are no animal psychics! If someone says they can contact Fido or Fluffy, they are lying to you! Don’t believe them!

RE: Exactly! [CHUCKLES]

JH: I heard an interesting story about a dead crypto currency guy who died without sharing his key.

RE: Ah, yes. Without naming any names, this gentleman, Crypto King, had billions in crypto stored on his computer. The files were protected by the most sophisticated security in the world. But, these billions were not his own, he was the fund manager. Then he died. This was in a free-market country, and almost immediately, people started contacting him. You have to understand, if I’m talking to a dead person, and you contact them during my conversation, you don’t get a busy signal, like on a phone, you butt into the conversation. There were so many people contacting him all at once that the Crypto King stopped answering “the calls.”

JH: They can do that? Not answer the calls?

RE: Yup. Ninety-five percent of the calls are answered, even if it is to say don’t call. But this man refused to be contacted. It was, maybe six months later, when his wife contacted him, and he made contact.

JH: How do the dead know who’s contacting them?

RE: Let’s say I’m contacting you, I send out the message “Jeremy Howell, so-and-so would like to contact you.” You would either answer me, or ignore me.  Most answer.

JH: Ah, I see.  

RE: What happened with the Crypto King, was he accepted the call from his wife. She told him how much she loved him, how much she missed him, how the dogs were moping around because he was gone. From what I understand, the conversation went on like that for twenty, thirty minutes. Then she asked him if he could give her the key to the funds, so, you know, she could give everyone back their money. Apparently the Crypto King said, “My dear, if I didn’t trust you with the key when I was alive, there’s no way I’m trusting you with it now that I’m dead.”

[LAUGHTER]

JH: That’s a good story. But how do you know this? Isn’t there a confidentiality aspect to your job?”

RE: There is. In this case, the widow recorded the conversation, then someone leaked it on social media.  

JH: That brings up another concern. How do we, the public, know that you’re being honest in our interactions? After all, because you are the only one who can speak to the dead, how do we know your'e telling the truth? For example, that the Contacter didn’t keep the key, and tell the widow that her husband said no?

RE: [PAUSE] There are no failsafes. Sometimes supervisors listen into conversations — spot checking. The people we work with have to trust us. And, you’re right, that Contacter who spoke to the Crypto King could be waiting to make his or her move. But what other choice does the public have? Unless you can contact the dead yourself, you are at the mercy of those who can, and you have to trust that they tell you the truth.

JH: Well, that’s all the time we have this week. I just want to thank you Ramona, for a really interesting interview. I’m sure everyone appreciates the job that you do.

RE: Thanks Jeremy.

JH: This has been Out There, Season 2, Episode 1 — Talking to the Dead. Until next week, I’m Jeremy Howell.

SOFIA CANON [SC], PRODUCER: And, CUT! That’s a wrap. Thanks everyone.

JH: So, thank you Ramona. It was a good interview.

RE: It was. I enjoyed sharing what I do.  

JH: Look, I know what you said before, but could you, you know, do a little favour for me?

RE: What kind of favour, Jeremy?

JH: Well, my Grandma died seven months ago, and I’m on the list, but they don’t think that I’ll get through for another four months, at the earliest. I was wondering if you could, you know, do a quick contact for me?

[SILENCE]

JH: Just a quick, “Hi Gram, miss you.” It’ll really make me feel better. I miss her a lot. I’ll pay you.

RE: You’re kidding, right? After everything I just told you, you’d ask me to go against my own moral code? Really?  

[SILENCE]

RE: I don’t know if you really want me to contact your Grandmother, disregarding the ethics of your request, or if you’re trying to trick me into doing something illegal so that you can present it to your listening public. “Unethical Contacter takes bride to contact host’s dead Grandma.” Is your grandmother even dead?

[SILENCE]

RE: I’m really disappointed Jeremy. I’m contacting the police.

*****

JH: So, the outcome of my little sting operation last month didn’t turn out too well. Ramona did call the police, and I did have to go to court and pay a fine. I just want to apologize to Ramona, for the pain that I caused her.  It was wrong of me. Again, I’m sorry. And my community service hours will be spent telling former pet owners that they cannot contact their dead animals.