I interviewed the memory researcher Dr. Elizabeth Loftus in December of 2020 and corresponded with her via email. In the interview she promised to send me the transcript of her expert testimony related to memory in the Harvey Weinstein trial. You can also read the transcript of my interview with Loftus here. If you’re interested in learning more about Dr. Loftus and the legacy of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, check out False Memories: The Deception That Silenced Millions by Lynn Crook.
William Ramsey had me back on his show. He was one of the first to interview me for Pedogate Primer: The Politics of Pedophilia and a few other guest spots to talk about MK-Ultra, Professor Ross Cheit’s The Witch-Hunt Narrative with Roberta Glass True Crime Podcast and an episode where we talked about the Jimmy Savile documentary from Netflix. Speaking of Netflix documentaries that left a lot of interesting material out, this episode was primarily about Smash, Smash, Smash: The True Story of Kai the Hitchhiker
You can listen to the episode on various podcast sites or watch the video at Rokfin
In just over a calendar year, I went from hearing the news from RAW TV in London that they would be making a Kai the Hitchhiker documentary. I swiftly got to work, compiling my previous interviews, research, notes and documents, conducting new interviews, chasing new leads until this week when the ebook just showed up online. Meanwhile, did an interview with Savannah from Guilt by Corruption today that will hopefully be online soon. Next week I will be recording an episode for William Ramsey Investigates and have a handful of other shows that are interested in getting me on in the next few weeks as well. Hardcover print version of the book should be available any day now and in a few months we will release paperback which will hopefully offer another opportunity for a round of promotion.
Will keep everybody updated here, but we are also updating truestoryofkai.com. An FAQ is coming soon and I’ve got an outline for an article and video (think CinemaSins style “Everything Wrong with Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker in X Minutes”) that should be coming very soon as well. You can still donate to support the book for now. This will help cover cost of ads and promotional services that could help us get more eyes on this case.
I returned to Ricky Varandas’ The Ripple Effect podcast where, this time to talk about my latest book Smash, Smash, Smash: the true story of Kai the Hitchhiker. Tomorrow morning I should be recording an interview with Fiona Dodwell who did the first published review of the book and I just returned responses for an email interview at Edgar Award Winning mystery and thriller author Mindy McGinnis’ blog.
Wednesday I’ll be recording with Savannah at Guilt by Corruption podcast and hopefully by Wednesday or Thursday copies will begin to be printed. We had an epub validation error that held things up but hopefully no more QC errors and will have the book available for sale with major retailers. You can buy the digital book (epub, mobi or pdf) and pre-order audiobook or signed copies of the print book at http://truestoryofkai.com as well.
It was my pleasure to be a guest on That’s So F****d Up podcast yesterday. You can see it on Instagram right now at https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cnp2n4LhiqS/ Michelle and Ashley were kind enough to have me on the show to talk about Smash, Smash, Smash: the true story of Kai the Hitchhiker and the disparity between what the record shows that I’ve reported versus the prosecutors’ claims in Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker from RAW TV Ltd and Netflix. You can also watch the interview here on YouTube.
Remember to check out http://truestoryofkai.com as well for links to the materials I cite in the book and end notes, links to Kai’s petitions, fundraiser and social media, all my articles from here at philfairbanks.com, sample chapters from the book and a link to the Indiegogo where you can pre-order the print book and get the digital delivered same day!
Fiona Dodwell wrote an article about how Netflix’s Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker documentary seemed potentially exploitative. I reached out to her shortly after seeing it to offer her a digital advance review copy of Smash, Smash, Smash: the true story of Kai the Hitchhiker my new book. She has just published the first review online for the book! In other book-related news, I also appeared on That’s So F****d Up podcast today live from 330pm to nearly 5pm. As soon as the podcast link arrives will share it here.
Meantime, we are getting our first backers, pre-orders and digital sales of the book coming in slowly but surely. You can check out truestoryofkai.com for info on Kai’s petitions and fundraiser, the Indiegogo where you can get the book and my previous articles and interviews related to Kai. While you’re waiting for TSFU Podcast and some other to-be-announced guest spots, you can see me talk about what the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker got wrong about the case in this livestream I did with BZ Douglas (contributor of the afterword to the book).
Courtesy of the James T. Richardson special collection at San Diego State University, some files related to Aum Shinrikyo, sent from the group’s New York chapter to Richardson in 1995. Also included a paper on the “new neo-religions” of which Aum and Happy Science are only a couple of the politically motivated/activated new religious movements. With Halloween coming up going to try to do at least one video on a “spooky” subject from the rare docs I’ve been collecting over the past year while working on the Kai the Hitchhiker book.
Up next? Expect some MK-Ultra researcher Dr. Louis Jolyon “Jolly” West connection to the rise of the Satanic Panic in the late 80s.
In the meantime, the book about Aum I mentioned was Cult X by Fuminori Nakamura and keep your eyes open for the US release of Aganai (The Cult Leader and Me) by Aum sarin attack survivor Atsushi Sakahara. The documentary A (1998) and A2 (2001) are currently available to view online, including at YouTube.
Speaking of New Religious Movements, I met with Happy Science last month and bought a couple books. The embedded video below is from the Manila International Book Fair directly skip to 17 minutes and 15 seconds to jump to the spot where I get to the Happy Science booth. Keep scrolling for the Aum documentaries A and A2.
A (1998)
A2 (2001)
Major publishers, indie and small press, book signings and books as far as the eye can see. The Manila International Book Fair 2022 had something for everyone.
In between the lockdown of 2020, the spinal injury of 2021, and the financial recovery from surgery the previous year I haven’t been able to get out much the past few years. Despite not having much money to spend while I was there though I made my way to the Manila International Book Fair at the SMX convention center in Pasay. The longest-running book industry trade show in Asia, the last event was held in 2019 and had an attendance of around 160,000. It’s been a staple of the literary world in Manila for over 40 years now.
One exciting new change to the book fair is the Indie Village. I had already gotten in touch with San Anselmo press, who just released issue 2 of their Santelmo magazine featuring poetry, fiction, and essays in both English and Tagalog.
I’d already reached out to the book fair representatives asking about covering the event they advised me to first head to the media area, which conveniently was right near the front. After signing in, the woman at the table walked me along with my friend Kathleen and her friend, who acted as my cinematographer for the day.
First, we headed to see Pol Medina Jr. Sir Pol had a new release, Blood of the Shinobi book #4. It’s a bit bloody in parts but fast-paced action. I also brought my copy of volume 4 of Ink and Politics. They had some copies of volume 1 for sale there. Medina is also a political cartoonist. The volume I have is from 2018, so there’s plenty of material related to Trump, the Singapore NoKo/US summit even Dennis Rodman makes an appearance in a frame. Another highlight for me was getting to hear a woman express her excitement at finally getting a book signed by Pol.
As mentioned earlier, the indie village section was very interesting to me. I love small press always have, indie music, indie movies, and the freedom from the micromanaging of the industries that treat art as a commodity alone is a beautiful thing. While there, I talked with Gay Ace Domingo with San Anselmo. And I had to pick up a copy of a book by Ara Villena, who I’ll be collaborating with on my first children’s book coming in 2023. Her artwork is amazing, she’s also had work published by Adarna and met some of the folks from there at their booth as well.
Read the rest of the article at The Latest.
Project Stargate was centered around SRI International research center and the CIA, NSA, DIA, DOD and multiple US military branches took advantage of the work done there. The work being done was related to “remote viewing” and psychic spying. I was aware that 2 of the 3 main researchers were Scientologists, but until delving into the Ingo Swann special collection was not aware to what extent that Scientology and Dianetics played in the secret spy program.
It’s certainly been a long time coming, but it appears as if the Kai the Hitchhiker book is nearing completion. Last week I finished the first draft and did one last read through and fixed some typos and other issues. Now it’s off to be proofread and while that’s going on I’ll finish the end notes and work on the companion volume (transcripts of interviews, portions of the jury selection, grand jury and trial transcripts and portions of motions filed by Kai or parties he has taken to court that are cited in the main book). Over 5 years in the works and certainly my most intensive investigative work to date. Expect to see it available by early December, but possibly sooner if you pre-order (pre-order sales should begin in October). Drop me a line at kafkaguy[at]gmail.com if you’d like a review copy or to set up an interview, podcast appearance, livestream etc. later this year once it gets closer to release date.
Phil Fairbanks: portfolio 