Reviews of Tapes Yield Differing Conclusions

The audiotapes recorded by Peoples Temple — which offer primary source documentation of the group’s years in Indiana and California, as well as its time in Jonestown — are available through the “Alternative Considerations” website and by writing the editors of this report. Tapes which have been transcribed and analyzed are here.

In addition, we can duplicate untranscribed tapes which are denoted by an asterisk (“*”) on the FBI Tape Summaries page. For those tapes, the only descriptions we have are the summaries written by FBI agents in 1979 and 1980. We can vouch neither for the accuracy of the summaries nor the quality of the recording of those tapes which we have not transcribed.

For copies of tapes, contact us through our website. Tapes are $2 each, postage included. Contact us about rates for bulk orders.

While most people who order tapes limit their request to Q 042, the so-called “Death Tape,” a number of other people have asked for tapes covering a larger spectrum of Peoples Temple life. We invited several of them to write about what they were looking for when they made their requests, what they heard that either confirmed or contradicted their opinions, and what conclusions they drew. Three of their responses follow.

Lessons of Jonestown Remain Elusive, by Brad Elliott

Tapes Demonstrate Power of Cults, by James Pickup

Jonestown Residents Found A Home, by Christopher Stephens