The Hypnotist - Alien Abductions
PRETEND
11/01/25
•39m
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Alien abductions.
Hundreds of people say it’s happened to them.
They’re not looking for fame or attention.
Some keep it a secret...haunted by memories they can’t explain.
In Day 3 of PRETEND’s Halloween Marathon, we meet Dr. John Mack, a Pulitzer Prize–winning Harvard psychiatrist who risked his reputation to study these so-called abductees. Using hypnosis and relaxation techniques, Mack tried to uncover whether these encounters were dreams, delusions, or something far stranger.
Why would a man of science devote his life to stories most people laugh off? And what if the people he studied weren’t crazy at all?
This episode is part of a larger series I produced on hypnosis.
Check out the rest of the series. Season 8 of PRETEND:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/05forE4OuW9zgsI9OZ7XHy?si=71eca84e0f5843ba
Listen ad-free on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/collection/1813212
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Previous Episode
The Haunted Tourist
October 31, 2025
•60m
It’s Day 2 of my Halloween Marathon, and today we’re diving into The Haunted Tourist.
I’m joined by Brandon Schexnayder, host of Southern Gothic and Fear Daily—two shows that live and breathe ghost stories. Together, we pull back the curtain on haunted tourism: the ghost tours, the myths, and the money that fuels them.
From fake cemeteries built for tourists to real tragedies twisted into folklore, Brandon and I explore what’s real, what’s exaggerated, and why we want to believe.
If you love a good ghost story—but also like to know what’s behind it—this one’s for you.
Southern Gothic: https://open.spotify.com/show/6s2eCUQgs76SLGEwiBwYOn?si=b9edd693f49b4e41
Fear Daily: https://open.spotify.com/show/5RrG0f6Yd7WNqSmuebfRMJ?si=d99660cd2e8c4a42
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Next Episode
Bonus: The Psychology Behind Parasocial Relationships (Cracks in the Fandom)
November 10, 2025
•28m
This bonus episode is a chance to step back and make sense of everything that just unfolded in Cracks in the Fandom. If you listened to the series, you saw how an Instagram unfollow spiraled into harassment, infighting, and full-on chaos inside the SVU fandom. This series was petty, confusing , and pretty revealing about how people form attachments online.
I wanted to understand why this happens. Why someone can feel personally betrayed by an actor they don't even know. So I reached out to Bradley J. Bond, a professor at the University of San Diego who studies parasocial relationships for a living. He breaks down what these one-sided bonds actually are, why they feel real, and how they can slide from harmless to unhealthy faster than we think.
Copyright Takedown Update:
My attorney has already filed a counterclaim. Patreon will let me put the episodes back up after the standard 10-business-day window. And Spotify is working on restoring the episodes promptly. I’ll keep you updated.
Thank you for supporting the show. Without you, I couldn't fight these frivolous legal challenges.
Javier
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