Episode 17 He's Able

Music was often peoples first, and last impression of Peoples Temple. From the moment you walked into a temple service, the music created a certain atmosphere. The voices of the choir lifted the spirits of the congregants, electrifying the audience. In 1973 the temple recorded the gospel funk album “He’s Able”. The altruistic message of equality expressed on the album, the optimism and high energy of the singers juxtaposes what we know will be their eventual fate in Jonestown. Yet in that moment in 1973 now etched on vinyl, the temples future is not yet set, and the dreamers still believe, and you can hear it.  This is the story behind the making of “He’s Able”.

Om Podcasten

On November 18, 1978, in Jonestown, Guyana, over 900 people died in one of the largest mass murder-suicides in modern history. Locked deep within an FBI vault, the audio tapes documenting the rise and fall of Peoples Temple were sealed away until they were finally made public more than 20 years later. From Jim Jones’ shadowy beginnings as a faith healer to the final, tragic night when his devoted followers drank cyanide laced Flavor Aid, Transmissions from Jonestown pieces together the story of a movement that spiraled into catastrophe. Transmissions from Jonestown is a true crime podcast and investigative audio documentary that exposes the untold story of Peoples Temple and the Jonestown tragedy using rare archival recordings, interviews with survivors, and original research. More than the story of a cult, this is an important chapter of American history that challenges everything we thought we knew about power, belief, and the cost of blind devotion.