Past Lives: Everyone Was Cleopatra, Nobody Was a Peasant

Why does everyone think they were Cleopatra in a past life — and never a turnip farmer? This week: what reincarnation actually means across Hinduism and Buddhism, the University of Virginia psychiatrist who documented 2,500 kids who remembered dying, the very boring brain-science reasons we "remember" past lives (hello, cryptomnesia), the Korean concept In-Yun from the movie Past Lives, and what your South Node supposedly says about who you used to be. Skeptical, funny, and refusing to flatten anybody's religion. Sources in the show notes.

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MASTER SOURCE LIST

• Pew Research Center, "Beliefs about the afterlife," May 2025 — https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/05/06/beliefs-about-the-afterlife/
• Wikipedia, "Reincarnation" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reincarnation
• Wikipedia, "Ian Stevenson" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Stevenson
• UVA Division of Perceptual Studies / Jim Tucker, "Ian Stevenson and Cases of the Reincarnation Type" (PDF) — https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/wp-content/uploads/sites/360/2016/12/REI36Tucker-1.pdf
• WHRO, "Since 1967, this small division at UVA has investigated the possibility of reincarnation," Dec 2024 — https://www.whro.org/education-news/2024-12-30/since-1967-this-small-division-at-the-university-of-virginia-has-investigated-the-possibility-of-reincarnation
• The Skeptic's Dictionary, "past life regression" — https://skepdic.com/pastlife.html
• Wikipedia, "Past life regression" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Past_life_regression
• Science-Based Medicine, "Past Life Regression Therapy: Encouraging Fantasy" — https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/past-life-regression-therapy-encouraging-fantasy/
• Wikipedia, "Bridey Murphy" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridey_Murphy
• Psi Encyclopedia, "Criticisms of Reincarnation Case Studies" — https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/criticisms-reincarnation-case-studies/
• Psi Encyclopedia, "Reincarnation: An Introduction" — https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/reincarnation-overview/
• Pacific Ties, "Past Lives: Understanding In-Yun" — https://pacificties.org/past-lives-understanding-in-yun/
• The Conversation, "Past Lives: a luxurious and lingering portrayal..." — https://theconversation.com/past-lives-a-luxurious-and-lingering-portrayal-of-lost-love-and-identity-in-the-korean-diaspora-213162
• Nylon, "Past Lives & Astrology, Explained" — https://www.nylon.com/life/past-life-astrology-explained
• Jessica Adams, "Your Past Life in Astrology — North Node" — https://www.jessicaadams.com/2026/03/21/blog/your-past-life-in-astrology-north-node/
• Feedspot, "20 Best Past Lives Podcasts 2026" — https://podcast.feedspot.com/past_lives_podcasts/