On November 18, 1978, an entire community of United States Citizens died deep in the jungle of Guyana. At the command of their charismatic leader Reverend Jim Jones, over 900 members of the Peoples Temple agricultural project lost their lives. Some believed they were sacrificing their lives for revolutionary suicide, others were forced or coerced by the group. A colorful toxic mix of Flavor Aid, Kool-Aid, and cyanide was passed around in Dixie cups. For those unable or unwilling the mixture was administered using syringes. Most of us have heard the story: an egomaniacal madman and his brainwashed cult of zombie followers commit mass suicide in the heart of darkness. Nothing more than a cautionary tale reminding us all to think for ourselves and never ever drink the Kool-Aid. Join us as we investigate what happened in Jonestown and the history of Jim Jones and Peoples Temple.

After the New West article, Jim Jones fled to his jungle compound bringing several hundred Peoples Temple members with him. The population of Jonestown exploded from about 50 to over 900 residents. Resources and food were scarce and Jim Jones rambled over the loudspeakers warning the community of a coming siege. The atmosphere in Jonestown was tense and chaotic, the people toiled 10 hours a day in the fields as Jim Jones slipped into a drug induced waking nightmare. For the members of Peoples Temple who’d sold all of their worldly possessions to live in the promised land, the realization that the pied piper of lies was in total control came the moment they entered Jonestown and handed in their passports. Join us as we investigate life in Jonestown.

Jonestown prepared for its final reckoning. Unable to postpone Congressman Leo Ryan’s inquiry any longer, Jim Jones orchestrated an elaborate facade. Dinner was served, the pavilion was staged for visiting eyes, and the music of the Jonestown Express filled the air. To the congressional delegation and reporters, the people of Jonestown appeared vibrant, well-fed, and content. The atmosphere relaxed when Leo Ryan praised the community saying that the people he observed seemed happy. For a fleeting moment, it seemed that Jim Jones and his followers had weathered yet another storm of criticism, another assault from a hostile world.

But behind the painted smile of Jonestown’s polished presentation, signs of fear and paranoia were slipping through the cracks. As applause echoed through the compound, a desperate note was thrust into the hand of NBC newsman Don Harris: "HELP US GET OUT OF JONESTOWN."

This episode delves into the final day of Jonestown’s descent into tragedy. Join us as we retrace the chilling events that led to the murder of Congressman Leo Ryan and the deaths of over 900 men, women, and children. Jonestown’s last day on earth.

Of all the evidence recovered in the aftermath of the Jonestown massacre, one artifact confirmed the unthinkable: an audio tape found in the pavilion, surrounded by the bodies of over 900 Peoples Temple members. This 7-inch reel-to-reel recording captured the final moments as Jonestown residents debated what they called “revolutionary suicide.” At the command of Reverend Jim Jones, men, women, and children drank a cyanide-laced concoction in a mass ritual now etched into true crime history.

For decades, this tape has served as the definitive record of what happened on November 18, 1978. But what if it wasn’t the whole story?

What if the tape was edited-spliced together from earlier suicide drills, known as White Nights or manipulated to craft a final illusion? What if some voices were never meant to be heard, and others were carefully removed? Could this recording, long regarded as irrefutable evidence, have been one final act of control?

In this episode, we analyze the infamous Death Tape searching for cuts, anomalies, and buried truths. Was it tampered with? Who had the motive and the means to alter it and why?

Join Transmissions from Jonestown as we examine this tragic piece of Temple history through archival documents, survivor testimony, and audio forensics. After our investigation, you’ll hear the full tape, uninterrupted and in its entirety.

What happened to the survivors of Jonestown? In the wake of the mass suicide, the killing did not stop. This episode investigates the devastating aftermath of the Peoples Temple tragedy as we investigate the suicides, murders, and mysterious deaths that followed the survivors home. Long after the cries in the jungle faded to silence, a dark reckoning began stateside that echoed the final warnings of Jim Jones. On this episode we trace the fate of those who escaped the Temple only to be haunted by what they left behind. A family gunned down in their home, suicide by cop, a sniper on a freeway, and the public execution of two high-ranking government officials in broad daylight. How far does the shadow of Jonestown fall?

Join us as we examine the disturbing fate of Tyrone Mitchell, Chris O'Neal, Paula Adams, Elmer, Deanna, and Daphene Mertle (Jeannie and Al Mills), George Moscone, Harvey Milk, Mike Prokes, Joe Mazor, and the Chad Rhodes highway sniper incident.

Beneath Guyana’s lush canopy lies a complicated history. A land where historically, dreams of paradise spiral into madness and ruin. In this episode, we unravel the tangled roots connecting colonial violence, CIA intrigue, Cold War paranoia, with the Jonestown massacre. From the racial and political upheavals that birthed modern Guyana to the dark alliances that paved the way for Jonestown, we trace how an ancient landscape steeped in myth, blood, and betrayal became the final stage for one of the greatest tragedies in American history.

Was Jim Jones a pawn in a greater geopolitical game? Did Jonestown serve a hidden purpose beyond revolutionary dreams? Why does Guyana, long romanticized as the lost world of El Dorado, harbor such a devastating history of mass suicide?

Follow us into the heart of a land where secret wars, broken revolutions, and restless spirits collide.

Truth often demands we accept coincidence as a force of nature. But what if the connections aren’t coincidences at all? On this episode we follow the trail from Jonestown to MKUltra, exploring the tangled web that links Jim Jones, Patty Hearst, Jack Ruby, and Sirhan Sirhan. Was Jonestown a failed utopia or a covert CIA mind control experiment? From the brainwashing of cult members to the psychological manipulation of political assassins, we dive deep into government-sponsored behavior modification, the Layton family's dark history, and the secret experiments.