Weird Studies https://www.weirdstudies.com en-us © 2025 Phil Ford and J.F. Martel Professor Phil Ford and writer J. F. Martel host a series of conversations on art and philosophy, dwelling on ideas that are hard to think and art that opens up rifts in what we are pleased to call "reality." SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring the anomalous, the luminous, and the numinous. We’re a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. ⁠spectrevisionradio.com⁠ ⁠linktr.ee/spectrevision⁠ https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/f1faf01e-13d1-11f0-90f7-9bb41aee8f76/image/598aab7d140ffa4d4e9a0415efe62ffc.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress Weird Studies https://www.weirdstudies.com yes episodic Art and philosophy at the limits of the thinkable SpectreVision Radio Professor Phil Ford and writer J. F. Martel host a series of conversations on art and philosophy, dwelling on ideas that are hard to think and art that opens up rifts in what we are pleased to call "reality." SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring the anomalous, the luminous, and the numinous. We’re a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. ⁠spectrevisionradio.com⁠ ⁠linktr.ee/spectrevision⁠ Professor Phil Ford and writer J. F. Martel host a series of conversations on art and philosophy, dwelling on ideas that are hard to think and art that opens up rifts in what we are pleased to call "reality."


SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring the anomalous, the luminous, and the numinous. We’re a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions.

⁠spectrevisionradio.com⁠

⁠linktr.ee/spectrevision⁠

]]> Phil Ford and J. F. Martel admin@weirdstudies.com Special Episode: M.C. Richards's "Wrestling with the Daimonic," read by Phil Ford We regret that we were unable to release a new episode this week. Episode 211 will drop on Wednesday, April 29, and will be devoted to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, a film we have long wanted to revisit in depth. In the meantime, we are pleased to offer Phil’s spirited reading of M. C. Richards’ essay “Wrestling with the Daimonic,” discussed in our previous episode and available only to Patreon members until now. This recording is shared with kind permission from Wesleyan University Press. Visit their website for details on The Crossing Point and other works by M.C. Richards. To support Weird Studies and get access to exclusive essays and bonus episodes, visit our Patreon page. And go to Weirdosphere to learn more about JF's upcoming course on Deleuzian philosophy, which starts on May 7th, 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 22 Apr 2026 08:30:00 -0000 M.C. Richards's "Wrestling with the Daimonic," read by Phil Ford bonus SpectreVision Radio We regret that we were unable to release a new episode this week. Episode 211 will drop on Wednesday, April 29, and will be devoted to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, a film we have long wanted to revisit in depth. In the meantime, we are pleased to offer Phil’s spirited reading of M. C. Richards’ essay “Wrestling with the Daimonic,” discussed in our previous episode and available only to Patreon members until now. This recording is shared with kind permission from Wesleyan University Press. Visit their website for details on The Crossing Point and other works by M.C. Richards. To support Weird Studies and get access to exclusive essays and bonus episodes, visit our Patreon page. And go to Weirdosphere to learn more about JF's upcoming course on Deleuzian philosophy, which starts on May 7th, 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices We regret that we were unable to release a new episode this week. Episode 211 will drop on Wednesday, April 29, and will be devoted to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, a film we have long wanted to revisit in depth. In the meantime, we are pleased to offer Phil’s spirited reading of M. C. Richards’ essay “Wrestling with the Daimonic,” discussed in our previous episode and available only to Patreon members until now.

This recording is shared with kind permission from Wesleyan University Press. Visit their website for details on The Crossing Point and other works by M.C. Richards.

To support Weird Studies and get access to exclusive essays and bonus episodes, visit our Patreon page.

And go to Weirdosphere to learn more about JF's upcoming course on Deleuzian philosophy, which starts on May 7th, 2026.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 3476 no Episode 210 – Angels & Daimons, with Cristina Campo and M.C. Richards In this episode, JF and Phil bring together two visionary essays on the daimonic and the imaginal: Cristina Campo’s “On Fairy Tales” and M.C. Richards’s “Wrestling with the Daimonic.” What emerges is a conversation about imagination, personhood, and a world shot through with meaning. Notably, this episode opens with a discussion of what your hosts mean by "imaginal." Phil’s reading of Richards’s essay can be found on our Patreon page. Thanks to Wesleyan University Press for permission to share this with our listeners. Go to Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page to preorder his marvellous new album, Weird Studies Volume 3. Click here to sign up for JF's seminar on Henri Bergson, happening on the Mutations learning platform on Saturday, April 11, 2026. Click here for details on JF's upcoming Weirdosphere course, "What is Philosophy?". Music in this Episode "Scavenger," from ⁠Weird Studies Vol. 3⁠ "Domes and Spires," from ⁠Weird Studies Vol. 2⁠ References M. C. Richards, American artist and philosopher Cristina Campo, Italian poet and essayist M. C. Richards, “Wrestling with the Daimonic”  Cristina Campo, “On Fairy Tales” Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory William Blake, “Auguries of Innocence” Weird Studies, Episode 8 on Graham Harmon Susan Chang, The Tarot Podcast Ramsey Dukes, The Little Book of Demons “The Boy Who Knew No Fear,” fairy tale  Una Voce, Catholic movement  Franz Liszt, Hungarian Pianist Walter Benjamin, The Storyteller William Shakespeare, Othello  M. C. Richards, Centering Robert Duncan, American poet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 08 Apr 2026 14:30:00 -0000 Angels & Daimons, with M.C. Richards and Cristina Campo full SpectreVision Radio In this episode, JF and Phil bring together two visionary essays on the daimonic and the imaginal: Cristina Campo’s “On Fairy Tales” and M.C. Richards’s “Wrestling with the Daimonic.” What emerges is a conversation about imagination, personhood, and a world shot through with meaning. Notably, this episode opens with a discussion of what your hosts mean by "imaginal." Phil’s reading of Richards’s essay can be found on our Patreon page. Thanks to Wesleyan University Press for permission to share this with our listeners. Go to Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page to preorder his marvellous new album, Weird Studies Volume 3. Click here to sign up for JF's seminar on Henri Bergson, happening on the Mutations learning platform on Saturday, April 11, 2026. Click here for details on JF's upcoming Weirdosphere course, "What is Philosophy?". Music in this Episode "Scavenger," from ⁠Weird Studies Vol. 3⁠ "Domes and Spires," from ⁠Weird Studies Vol. 2⁠ References M. C. Richards, American artist and philosopher Cristina Campo, Italian poet and essayist M. C. Richards, “Wrestling with the Daimonic”  Cristina Campo, “On Fairy Tales” Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory William Blake, “Auguries of Innocence” Weird Studies, Episode 8 on Graham Harmon Susan Chang, The Tarot Podcast Ramsey Dukes, The Little Book of Demons “The Boy Who Knew No Fear,” fairy tale  Una Voce, Catholic movement  Franz Liszt, Hungarian Pianist Walter Benjamin, The Storyteller William Shakespeare, Othello  M. C. Richards, Centering Robert Duncan, American poet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this episode, JF and Phil bring together two visionary essays on the daimonic and the imaginal: Cristina Campo’s “On Fairy Tales” and M.C. Richards’s “Wrestling with the Daimonic.” What emerges is a conversation about imagination, personhood, and a world shot through with meaning. Notably, this episode opens with a discussion of what your hosts mean by "imaginal."

Phil’s reading of Richards’s essay can be found on our Patreon page. Thanks to Wesleyan University Press for permission to share this with our listeners.

Go to Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page to preorder his marvellous new album, Weird Studies Volume 3.

Click here to sign up for JF's seminar on Henri Bergson, happening on the Mutations learning platform on Saturday, April 11, 2026.

Click here for details on JF's upcoming Weirdosphere course, "What is Philosophy?".


Music in this Episode

"Scavenger," from ⁠Weird Studies Vol. 3⁠

"Domes and Spires," from ⁠Weird Studies Vol. 2⁠


References

M. C. Richards, American artist and philosopher

Cristina Campo, Italian poet and essayist

M. C. Richards, “Wrestling with the Daimonic” 

Cristina Campo, “On Fairy Tales”

Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory

William Blake, “Auguries of Innocence”

Weird Studies, Episode 8 on Graham Harmon

Susan Chang, The Tarot Podcast

Ramsey Dukes, The Little Book of Demons

“The Boy Who Knew No Fear,” fairy tale 

Una Voce, Catholic movement 

Franz Liszt, Hungarian Pianist

Walter Benjamin, The Storyteller

William Shakespeare, Othello 

M. C. Richards, Centering

Robert Duncan, American poet




Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5605 yes Episode 209 – At Home in the Labyrinth, with Murakami and Borges In this episode, Phil and JF discuss Haruki Murakami’s “Cream,” from First Person Singular, alongside Jorge Luis Borges’s classic tale, “The Garden of Forking Paths.” Together, these two stories occasion a meditation on time, perplexity, and the strange possibility that meaning isn't found at the end of the maze, but discovered only in the course of wandering it. Photo by DMzlC via Wikimedia Commons. Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page, home of Weird Studies Vol. 3 (to be released May 22, 2026). Joel Plaskett's website and Substack References Geoffrey Cornelius, “Chicane: Double-Thinking and Divination among the Witch-Doctors,” in Divination: Perspectives for a New Millennium, ed. Patrick Curry (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2010), 119– 42.  Joe Leduc's Blood Oath  Jorge Luis Borges, “The Garden of Forking Paths”   Haruki Murakami, “Cream”  Marc Augé, Non-Places  Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic  Phil Ford, “The View from the Cheap Seats at the UFO Show”  Nicholas of Cusa, “On the Quadrature of the Circle”   Ethan Weed, “A Labyrinth of Symbols” Kids in the Hall, “Premise Beach”  David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return   David Lynch, Lost Highway  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Don Giovanni  Weird Studies, Episode 66 on “Diviner’s Time”   Gottfried Leibniz, Theodicy  Quentin Meillasoux, After Finitude  Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of Tarot  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 25 Mar 2026 14:30:00 -0000 At Home in the Labyrinth, with Murakami and Borges full SpectreVision Radio In this episode, Phil and JF discuss Haruki Murakami’s “Cream,” from First Person Singular, alongside Jorge Luis Borges’s classic tale, “The Garden of Forking Paths.” Together, these two stories occasion a meditation on time, perplexity, and the strange possibility that meaning isn't found at the end of the maze, but discovered only in the course of wandering it. Photo by DMzlC via Wikimedia Commons. Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page, home of Weird Studies Vol. 3 (to be released May 22, 2026). Joel Plaskett's website and Substack References Geoffrey Cornelius, “Chicane: Double-Thinking and Divination among the Witch-Doctors,” in Divination: Perspectives for a New Millennium, ed. Patrick Curry (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2010), 119– 42.  Joe Leduc's Blood Oath  Jorge Luis Borges, “The Garden of Forking Paths”   Haruki Murakami, “Cream”  Marc Augé, Non-Places  Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic  Phil Ford, “The View from the Cheap Seats at the UFO Show”  Nicholas of Cusa, “On the Quadrature of the Circle”   Ethan Weed, “A Labyrinth of Symbols” Kids in the Hall, “Premise Beach”  David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return   David Lynch, Lost Highway  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Don Giovanni  Weird Studies, Episode 66 on “Diviner’s Time”   Gottfried Leibniz, Theodicy  Quentin Meillasoux, After Finitude  Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of Tarot  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this episode, Phil and JF discuss Haruki Murakami’s “Cream,” from First Person Singular, alongside Jorge Luis Borges’s classic tale, “The Garden of Forking Paths.” Together, these two stories occasion a meditation on time, perplexity, and the strange possibility that meaning isn't found at the end of the maze, but discovered only in the course of wandering it.

Photo by DMzlC via Wikimedia Commons.

Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page, home of Weird Studies Vol. 3 (to be released May 22, 2026).

Joel Plaskett's website and Substack


References

Geoffrey Cornelius, “Chicane: Double-Thinking and Divination among the Witch-Doctors,” in Divination: Perspectives for a New Millennium, ed. Patrick Curry (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2010), 119– 42. 

Joe Leduc's Blood Oath 

Jorge Luis Borges, “The Garden of Forking Paths”  

Haruki Murakami, “Cream” 

Marc Augé, Non-Places 

Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic 

Phil Ford, “The View from the Cheap Seats at the UFO Show” 

Nicholas of Cusa, “On the Quadrature of the Circle”  

Ethan Weed, “A Labyrinth of Symbols”

Kids in the Hall, “Premise Beach” 

David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return  

David Lynch, Lost Highway 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Don Giovanni 

Weird Studies, Episode 66 on “Diviner’s Time”  

Gottfried Leibniz, Theodicy 

Quentin Meillasoux, After Finitude 

Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of Tarot 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5605 yes Episode 208 – Unbridled Creation: On Kenneth Batcheldor's Theory of the Paranormal Kenneth Batcheldor was a British clinical psychologist who, during the final two decades of his life, investigated the paranormal through direct experiments in table-turning. The final fruit of that work was an essay, compiled from Batcheldor’s notebooks by Patric Giesler, entitled “Notes on the Elusiveness Problem in Relation to a Radical View of Paranormality.” Published in the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research in 1994, it remained unknown to JF and Phil until Shannon Taggart called their attention to it quite recently. Since the theory Batcheldor presents here with admirable lucidity is deeply attuned to ideas they have been discussing on Weird Studies for nearly a decade, they decided to devote an episode to it. The core idea is by far the weirdest of all—in a sense, it is the weird itself. Read Batcheldor's essay on the Weird Studies Patreon. Visit Weirdosphere to enroll in Phil's upcoming 5-week course, "A Musical Tarot." Pierre-Yves Martel's Weird Studies: Volume 3 will be available for preorder on March 13. Visit his Bandcamp page for details. REFERENCES K. M. Wehrstein, “Kenneth Batcheldor” in Psi Encyclopedia   Kenneth Batcheldor, “Notes on the Elusiveness Problem in Relation to a Radical View of Paranormality,” ed. Patric Giesler, The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 88, no. 2 (1994): 90-116.  Kenneth Batcheldor, “Contributions to the Theory of PK Induction from Sitter-Group Work,” Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 78 (1984): 105-122.  George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal  Quintin Meillassoux, After Finitude  Joshua Ramey, “Contingency Without Reason: Speculation after Meillassoux”  Kenneth Batcheldor, Videos of Table Tipping  Weird Studies, Episode 24 with Lionel Snell  David Lynch, Wild at Heart  William James, The Principles of Psychology Tom Cheetham, Imaginal Love  A. Irving Hallowell, Ojibwa Ontology, Behavior, and World View  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 11 Mar 2026 15:18:00 -0000 full SpectreVision Radio Kenneth Batcheldor was a British clinical psychologist who, during the final two decades of his life, investigated the paranormal through direct experiments in table-turning. The final fruit of that work was an essay, compiled from Batcheldor’s notebooks by Patric Giesler, entitled “Notes on the Elusiveness Problem in Relation to a Radical View of Paranormality.” Published in the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research in 1994, it remained unknown to JF and Phil until Shannon Taggart called their attention to it quite recently. Since the theory Batcheldor presents here with admirable lucidity is deeply attuned to ideas they have been discussing on Weird Studies for nearly a decade, they decided to devote an episode to it. The core idea is by far the weirdest of all—in a sense, it is the weird itself. Read Batcheldor's essay on the Weird Studies Patreon. Visit Weirdosphere to enroll in Phil's upcoming 5-week course, "A Musical Tarot." Pierre-Yves Martel's Weird Studies: Volume 3 will be available for preorder on March 13. Visit his Bandcamp page for details. REFERENCES K. M. Wehrstein, “Kenneth Batcheldor” in Psi Encyclopedia   Kenneth Batcheldor, “Notes on the Elusiveness Problem in Relation to a Radical View of Paranormality,” ed. Patric Giesler, The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 88, no. 2 (1994): 90-116.  Kenneth Batcheldor, “Contributions to the Theory of PK Induction from Sitter-Group Work,” Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 78 (1984): 105-122.  George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal  Quintin Meillassoux, After Finitude  Joshua Ramey, “Contingency Without Reason: Speculation after Meillassoux”  Kenneth Batcheldor, Videos of Table Tipping  Weird Studies, Episode 24 with Lionel Snell  David Lynch, Wild at Heart  William James, The Principles of Psychology Tom Cheetham, Imaginal Love  A. Irving Hallowell, Ojibwa Ontology, Behavior, and World View  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Kenneth Batcheldor was a British clinical psychologist who, during the final two decades of his life, investigated the paranormal through direct experiments in table-turning. The final fruit of that work was an essay, compiled from Batcheldor’s notebooks by Patric Giesler, entitled “Notes on the Elusiveness Problem in Relation to a Radical View of Paranormality.” Published in the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research in 1994, it remained unknown to JF and Phil until Shannon Taggart called their attention to it quite recently. Since the theory Batcheldor presents here with admirable lucidity is deeply attuned to ideas they have been discussing on Weird Studies for nearly a decade, they decided to devote an episode to it. The core idea is by far the weirdest of all—in a sense, it is the weird itself.

Read Batcheldor's essay on the Weird Studies Patreon.

Visit Weirdosphere to enroll in Phil's upcoming 5-week course, "A Musical Tarot."

Pierre-Yves Martel's Weird Studies: Volume 3 will be available for preorder on March 13. Visit his Bandcamp page for details.


REFERENCES

K. M. Wehrstein, “Kenneth Batcheldor” in Psi Encyclopedia  

Kenneth Batcheldor, “Notes on the Elusiveness Problem in Relation to a Radical View of Paranormality,” ed. Patric Giesler, The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 88, no. 2 (1994): 90-116. 

Kenneth Batcheldor, “Contributions to the Theory of PK Induction from Sitter-Group Work,” Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 78 (1984): 105-122. 

George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal 

Quintin Meillassoux, After Finitude 

Joshua Ramey, “Contingency Without Reason: Speculation after Meillassoux” 

Kenneth Batcheldor, Videos of Table Tipping 

Weird Studies, Episode 24 with Lionel Snell 

David Lynch, Wild at Heart 

William James, The Principles of Psychology

Tom Cheetham, Imaginal Love 

A. Irving Hallowell, Ojibwa Ontology, Behavior, and World View 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4791 yes Episode 207 – Magic Mirror: On J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Fellowship of the Ring' This is the first of three episodes on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings to be released in the course of the next several months. Focusing here on The Fellowship of the Ring, our hosts discuss the first leg of Frodo's journey into darkness, paying special attention to Tolkien's prose style, his modernism, his commitment to a truly magical realism, and his penchant for the weird and the tragic. Image: "Lothlorien" by Tessa Bronsky, via Wikimedia Commons. References J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring   Algernon Blackwood, English writer   Weird Studies, Episode 204 on “On Fairy Stories”  Peter Jackson (dir.), The Lord of the Rings  Ursula K. LeGuin, A Wizard of Earthsea  Friedrich Nietzsche, History in the Service and Disservice of Life   Milan Kundera, The Art of the Novel Kenneth Burke, A Grammar of Motives  Carl Jung, The Red Book   Lord Dunsaney, The King of Elfland’s Daughter   Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto   David Foster Wallace, “E Unibus Pluram”   Steven Chow (dir.), Kung Fu Hustle  Donna Tartt, The Secret History   Lost Lakes, YouTube Channel  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 25 Feb 2026 15:30:00 -0000 Magic Mirror: On J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Fellowship of the Ring' full SpectreVision Radio This is the first of three episodes on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings to be released in the course of the next several months. Focusing here on The Fellowship of the Ring, our hosts discuss the first leg of Frodo's journey into darkness, paying special attention to Tolkien's prose style, his modernism, his commitment to a truly magical realism, and his penchant for the weird and the tragic. Image: "Lothlorien" by Tessa Bronsky, via Wikimedia Commons. References J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring   Algernon Blackwood, English writer   Weird Studies, Episode 204 on “On Fairy Stories”  Peter Jackson (dir.), The Lord of the Rings  Ursula K. LeGuin, A Wizard of Earthsea  Friedrich Nietzsche, History in the Service and Disservice of Life   Milan Kundera, The Art of the Novel Kenneth Burke, A Grammar of Motives  Carl Jung, The Red Book   Lord Dunsaney, The King of Elfland’s Daughter   Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto   David Foster Wallace, “E Unibus Pluram”   Steven Chow (dir.), Kung Fu Hustle  Donna Tartt, The Secret History   Lost Lakes, YouTube Channel  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is the first of three episodes on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings to be released in the course of the next several months. Focusing here on The Fellowship of the Ring, our hosts discuss the first leg of Frodo's journey into darkness, paying special attention to Tolkien's prose style, his modernism, his commitment to a truly magical realism, and his penchant for the weird and the tragic.

Image: "Lothlorien" by Tessa Bronsky, via Wikimedia Commons.


References

J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring  

Algernon Blackwood, English writer  

Weird Studies, Episode 204 on “On Fairy Stories” 

Peter Jackson (dir.), The Lord of the Rings 

Ursula K. LeGuin, A Wizard of Earthsea 

Friedrich Nietzsche, History in the Service and Disservice of Life  

Milan Kundera, The Art of the Novel

Kenneth Burke, A Grammar of Motives 

Carl Jung, The Red Book  

Lord Dunsaney, The King of Elfland’s Daughter  

Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto  

David Foster Wallace, “E Unibus Pluram”  

Steven Chow (dir.), Kung Fu Hustle 

Donna Tartt, The Secret History  

Lost Lakes, YouTube Channel 


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5525 yes Episode 206 – On Ken Russell's 'Altered States': Live at Indiana University Bloomington This episode was recorded before a live audience at Indiana University Cinema as part of Weird Academia, a series of events that brought much high strangeness to Bloomington, Indiana, in January 2026. The discussion followed a screening of Ken Russell’s 1980 cinematic fever dream, Altered States. In it, JF and Phil explore the weird intersection of mysticism, psychedelics, and institutional science, and they close with a brief Q&A with members of the audience. Visit Weirdosphere to enroll in Phil Ford's upcoming course, A Musical Tarot. References Weird Academia and the Center for Possible Minds Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Roger Penrose, physicist and mathematician Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy Samuel Delaney, Dhalgren Henri Bergson, Introduction to Metaphysics and Matter & Memory H. P. Lovecraft, American writer Herman Melville, Moby-Dick Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception Clement Greenberg, American essayist G. K. Chesterton, English writer David Cronenberg (dir.), The Fly Michael Garfield, podcaster, writer, musician Weird Studies episode 205 on the Hierophant Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets Neil Gaiman, American Gods J. R. R. Tolkien, "On Fairy Stories" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 11 Feb 2026 15:30:00 -0000 full SpectreVision Radio This episode was recorded before a live audience at Indiana University Cinema as part of Weird Academia, a series of events that brought much high strangeness to Bloomington, Indiana, in January 2026. The discussion followed a screening of Ken Russell’s 1980 cinematic fever dream, Altered States. In it, JF and Phil explore the weird intersection of mysticism, psychedelics, and institutional science, and they close with a brief Q&A with members of the audience. Visit Weirdosphere to enroll in Phil Ford's upcoming course, A Musical Tarot. References Weird Academia and the Center for Possible Minds Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Roger Penrose, physicist and mathematician Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy Samuel Delaney, Dhalgren Henri Bergson, Introduction to Metaphysics and Matter & Memory H. P. Lovecraft, American writer Herman Melville, Moby-Dick Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception Clement Greenberg, American essayist G. K. Chesterton, English writer David Cronenberg (dir.), The Fly Michael Garfield, podcaster, writer, musician Weird Studies episode 205 on the Hierophant Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets Neil Gaiman, American Gods J. R. R. Tolkien, "On Fairy Stories" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This episode was recorded before a live audience at Indiana University Cinema as part of Weird Academia, a series of events that brought much high strangeness to Bloomington, Indiana, in January 2026. The discussion followed a screening of Ken Russell’s 1980 cinematic fever dream, Altered States. In it, JF and Phil explore the weird intersection of mysticism, psychedelics, and institutional science, and they close with a brief Q&A with members of the audience.


Visit Weirdosphere to enroll in Phil Ford's upcoming course, A Musical Tarot.


References

Weird Academia and the Center for Possible Minds

Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Roger Penrose, physicist and mathematician

Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy

Samuel Delaney, Dhalgren

Henri Bergson, Introduction to Metaphysics and Matter & Memory

H. P. Lovecraft, American writer

Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception

Clement Greenberg, American essayist

G. K. Chesterton, English writer

David Cronenberg (dir.), The Fly

Michael Garfield, podcaster, writer, musician

Weird Studies episode 205 on the Hierophant

Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets

Neil Gaiman, American Gods

J. R. R. Tolkien, "On Fairy Stories"


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4882 yes Episode 205 – Discipline and Delight: On the Hierophant Card in the Tarot In this episode of Weird Studies, we turn to the fifth Major Arcanum, the Hierophant, symbolizing tradition, instruction, and the exoteric aspect of spiritual practice. Drawing on Meditations on the Tarot and other sources, we question the easy opposition between tradition and revolution, exploring instead how inherited forms can foster genuine inner growth, and how an interior revolutions may renew traditions from within. To reserve seats for Weird Academia events, visit the website of the Center for Possible Minds. References Johann Sebastian Bach, F# minor Fugue from The Well Tempered Clavier Book 1 (played by Rosalyn Tureck)  Richard Wilhelm (trans.), The I Ching J. R. R. Tolkein, The Lord of the Rings P. D. Ouspensky, The Symbolism of the Tarot  The Catechism of the Catholic Church Our Known Friend, Meditations of the Tarot Plato, "The Seventh Letter" Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of Tarot Dogen, Instructions for the Cook Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition Weird Studies, Live at Illuminated Brew Works  Franz Liszt, Hungarian pianist  G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy  Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Biographia Literaria vol. 1  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 28 Jan 2026 15:30:00 -0000 Discipline and Delight: On the Hierophant Card in the Tarot full SpectreVision Radio In this episode of Weird Studies, we turn to the fifth Major Arcanum, the Hierophant, symbolizing tradition, instruction, and the exoteric aspect of spiritual practice. Drawing on Meditations on the Tarot and other sources, we question the easy opposition between tradition and revolution, exploring instead how inherited forms can foster genuine inner growth, and how an interior revolutions may renew traditions from within. To reserve seats for Weird Academia events, visit the website of the Center for Possible Minds. References Johann Sebastian Bach, F# minor Fugue from The Well Tempered Clavier Book 1 (played by Rosalyn Tureck)  Richard Wilhelm (trans.), The I Ching J. R. R. Tolkein, The Lord of the Rings P. D. Ouspensky, The Symbolism of the Tarot  The Catechism of the Catholic Church Our Known Friend, Meditations of the Tarot Plato, "The Seventh Letter" Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of Tarot Dogen, Instructions for the Cook Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition Weird Studies, Live at Illuminated Brew Works  Franz Liszt, Hungarian pianist  G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy  Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Biographia Literaria vol. 1  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this episode of Weird Studies, we turn to the fifth Major Arcanum, the Hierophant, symbolizing tradition, instruction, and the exoteric aspect of spiritual practice. Drawing on Meditations on the Tarot and other sources, we question the easy opposition between tradition and revolution, exploring instead how inherited forms can foster genuine inner growth, and how an interior revolutions may renew traditions from within.

To reserve seats for Weird Academia events, visit the website of the Center for Possible Minds.


References

Johann Sebastian Bach, F# minor Fugue from The Well Tempered Clavier Book 1 (played by Rosalyn Tureck) 

Richard Wilhelm (trans.), The I Ching

J. R. R. Tolkein, The Lord of the Rings

P. D. Ouspensky, The Symbolism of the Tarot 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

Our Known Friend, Meditations of the Tarot

Plato, "The Seventh Letter"

Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of Tarot

Dogen, Instructions for the Cook

Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition

Weird Studies, Live at Illuminated Brew Works 

Franz Liszt, Hungarian pianist 

G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy 

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Biographia Literaria vol. 1 

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]]> 5582 yes Episode 204 – The Perilous Realm: J.R.R. Tolkien's 'On Fairy Stories' For Tolkien, fairy stories are not stories about fairies, but stories that take place in Faerie. And in doing so, they make Faerie present. They are not escapist fantasies but disclosures of a real mode of being and invitations to live in that mode. In this episode, Phil and JF explore the great writer’s radical claims about the nature of story, life, and reality. Upcoming Events Erik Davis and JF's six-week course on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick begins on January 20th. For details and to enroll, visit the Weirdosphere. For information on the upcoming Weird Academia events in Bloomington (Jan 27-29), visit the symposium web page at the Center for Possible Minds. Music in this Episode "What a Load of Gnosis," from Weird Studies: Music from the Podcast, Volume I "Springtime on Ganymede," from Weird Studies: Music from the Podcast, Volume II References J. R. R. Tolkein, “On Fairy Stories”  Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason  Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Idea  Franz Liszt, Transcendental Etude No. 4: Mazeppa (played by Lazar Berman)  Dogen, "Instructions for the Cook" Jeff Kripal, Mutants and Mystics  Eric Wargo, From Nowhere J.F. Martel, Review of “From Nowhere” for Journal of Scientific Exploration Richard Wagner, Parsifal  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 14 Jan 2026 15:30:00 -0000 The Perilous Realm: J.R.R. Tolkien's 'On Fairy Stories' full SpectreVision Radio For Tolkien, fairy stories are not stories about fairies, but stories that take place in Faerie. And in doing so, they make Faerie present. They are not escapist fantasies but disclosures of a real mode of being and invitations to live in that mode. In this episode, Phil and JF explore the great writer’s radical claims about the nature of story, life, and reality. Upcoming Events Erik Davis and JF's six-week course on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick begins on January 20th. For details and to enroll, visit the Weirdosphere. For information on the upcoming Weird Academia events in Bloomington (Jan 27-29), visit the symposium web page at the Center for Possible Minds. Music in this Episode "What a Load of Gnosis," from Weird Studies: Music from the Podcast, Volume I "Springtime on Ganymede," from Weird Studies: Music from the Podcast, Volume II References J. R. R. Tolkein, “On Fairy Stories”  Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason  Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Idea  Franz Liszt, Transcendental Etude No. 4: Mazeppa (played by Lazar Berman)  Dogen, "Instructions for the Cook" Jeff Kripal, Mutants and Mystics  Eric Wargo, From Nowhere J.F. Martel, Review of “From Nowhere” for Journal of Scientific Exploration Richard Wagner, Parsifal  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices For Tolkien, fairy stories are not stories about fairies, but stories that take place in Faerie. And in doing so, they make Faerie present. They are not escapist fantasies but disclosures of a real mode of being and invitations to live in that mode. In this episode, Phil and JF explore the great writer’s radical claims about the nature of story, life, and reality.


Upcoming Events

Erik Davis and JF's six-week course on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick begins on January 20th. For details and to enroll, visit the Weirdosphere.

For information on the upcoming Weird Academia events in Bloomington (Jan 27-29), visit the symposium web page at the Center for Possible Minds.


Music in this Episode

"What a Load of Gnosis," from Weird Studies: Music from the Podcast, Volume I

"Springtime on Ganymede," from Weird Studies: Music from the Podcast, Volume II


References


J. R. R. Tolkein, “On Fairy Stories” 

Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason 

Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Idea 

Franz Liszt, Transcendental Etude No. 4: Mazeppa (played by Lazar Berman) 

Dogen, "Instructions for the Cook"

Jeff Kripal, Mutants and Mystics 

Eric Wargo, From Nowhere

J.F. Martel, Review of “From Nowhere” for Journal of Scientific Exploration

Richard Wagner, Parsifal 


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]]> 4574 yes Holiday Bonus: Scavengers in the Ruins of Heaven To tide us over as we prepare for a new season of Weird Studies, here is an "audio extra," originally recorded for our Patreon supporters, wherein we discuss imposter syndrome, the eternal inadequacy of the intellect, the perils of playing with swords, and the role of trust in creation. A new episode will drop on Wednesday, January 14th, 2026. Happy New Year to all. To join our Patreon, go to www.patreon.com/weirdstudies To enroll in the upcoming Moby Dick course starting on January 20th, visit www.weirdosphere.org. For information on the Weird Academia conference in Bloomington, Indiana, visit www.possibleminds.org/weird-academia Episode image: Caspar David Friedrich, Abtei im Eichwald (1808-1810). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 31 Dec 2025 15:30:00 -0000 bonus SpectreVision Radio To tide us over as we prepare for a new season of Weird Studies, here is an "audio extra," originally recorded for our Patreon supporters, wherein we discuss imposter syndrome, the eternal inadequacy of the intellect, the perils of playing with swords, and the role of trust in creation. A new episode will drop on Wednesday, January 14th, 2026. Happy New Year to all. To join our Patreon, go to www.patreon.com/weirdstudies To enroll in the upcoming Moby Dick course starting on January 20th, visit www.weirdosphere.org. For information on the Weird Academia conference in Bloomington, Indiana, visit www.possibleminds.org/weird-academia Episode image: Caspar David Friedrich, Abtei im Eichwald (1808-1810). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices To tide us over as we prepare for a new season of Weird Studies, here is an "audio extra," originally recorded for our Patreon supporters, wherein we discuss imposter syndrome, the eternal inadequacy of the intellect, the perils of playing with swords, and the role of trust in creation.

A new episode will drop on Wednesday, January 14th, 2026. Happy New Year to all.


To join our Patreon, go to www.patreon.com/weirdstudies

To enroll in the upcoming Moby Dick course starting on January 20th, visit www.weirdosphere.org.

For information on the Weird Academia conference in Bloomington, Indiana, visit www.possibleminds.org/weird-academia


Episode image: Caspar David Friedrich, Abtei im Eichwald (1808-1810).



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]]> 1967 yes Episode 203 – Distant Early Warnings: A Return to Marshall McLuhan's 'Book of Probes' Back in episode 112, Phil and JF devised a gimmick for a show: randomly select one of the many aphorisms in The Book of Probes, a compendium of Marshall McLuhan’s prophetic quips designed by David Carson, and see what happens. It proved lively enough that they’re trying it again nearly a hundred episodes later. The resulting conversation touches the weird across a range of themes: tourism, the two kinds of truth, advertising, Kubrick’s marketing savvy, technology, orality versus literacy, and much more. A fitting feast for the mind as the year draws to a close. From all of us at Weird Studies, happy holidays. • Sign up for JF Martel and Erik Davis's upcoming course on Moby-Dick. • Join Phil, JF, and composer Pierre-Yves Martel for Weirdosphere's Solstice Story Hour on December 21. • For dates, venues, and the full slate of Weird Academia events in Bloomington this January, visit the Centre for Possible Minds website. • To participate in the Weird Academia Colloquium, email organizers Emma Stamm and Michael Garfield at elfthoughts@gmail.com Header Image: NASA. REFERENCES Marshall McLuhan, Distant Early Warning Deck Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain Plato, The Seventh Letter Marshall McLuhan, The Book of Probes Toronto School of Communication Theory Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy Paul Kingsnorth, Against the Machine Charles Taylor, A Secular Age Plato, The Republic  Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media Jonathan Crary, 24/7 H. P. Lovecraft, The Color out of Space Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 10 Dec 2025 15:34:00 -0000 Distant Early Warnings: A Return to Marshall McLuhan's 'Book of Probes' full SpectreVision Radio Back in episode 112, Phil and JF devised a gimmick for a show: randomly select one of the many aphorisms in The Book of Probes, a compendium of Marshall McLuhan’s prophetic quips designed by David Carson, and see what happens. It proved lively enough that they’re trying it again nearly a hundred episodes later. The resulting conversation touches the weird across a range of themes: tourism, the two kinds of truth, advertising, Kubrick’s marketing savvy, technology, orality versus literacy, and much more. A fitting feast for the mind as the year draws to a close. From all of us at Weird Studies, happy holidays. • Sign up for JF Martel and Erik Davis's upcoming course on Moby-Dick. • Join Phil, JF, and composer Pierre-Yves Martel for Weirdosphere's Solstice Story Hour on December 21. • For dates, venues, and the full slate of Weird Academia events in Bloomington this January, visit the Centre for Possible Minds website. • To participate in the Weird Academia Colloquium, email organizers Emma Stamm and Michael Garfield at elfthoughts@gmail.com Header Image: NASA. REFERENCES Marshall McLuhan, Distant Early Warning Deck Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain Plato, The Seventh Letter Marshall McLuhan, The Book of Probes Toronto School of Communication Theory Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy Paul Kingsnorth, Against the Machine Charles Taylor, A Secular Age Plato, The Republic  Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media Jonathan Crary, 24/7 H. P. Lovecraft, The Color out of Space Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Back in episode 112, Phil and JF devised a gimmick for a show: randomly select one of the many aphorisms in The Book of Probes, a compendium of Marshall McLuhan’s prophetic quips designed by David Carson, and see what happens. It proved lively enough that they’re trying it again nearly a hundred episodes later. The resulting conversation touches the weird across a range of themes: tourism, the two kinds of truth, advertising, Kubrick’s marketing savvy, technology, orality versus literacy, and much more. A fitting feast for the mind as the year draws to a close.

From all of us at Weird Studies, happy holidays.

• Sign up for JF Martel and Erik Davis's upcoming course on Moby-Dick.

• Join Phil, JF, and composer Pierre-Yves Martel for Weirdosphere's Solstice Story Hour on December 21.

• For dates, venues, and the full slate of Weird Academia events in Bloomington this January, visit the Centre for Possible Minds website.

• To participate in the Weird Academia Colloquium, email organizers Emma Stamm and Michael Garfield at elfthoughts@gmail.com

Header Image: NASA.


REFERENCES


Marshall McLuhan, Distant Early Warning Deck

Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain

Plato, The Seventh Letter

Marshall McLuhan, The Book of Probes

Toronto School of Communication Theory

Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy

Paul Kingsnorth, Against the Machine

Charles Taylor, A Secular Age

Plato, The Republic 

Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media

Jonathan Crary, 24/7

H. P. Lovecraft, The Color out of Space


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]]> 5190 yes Episode 202 – The Human is Two: On 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' In this episode, JF and Phil discuss Robert Louis Stevenson’s Gothic classic, the tale that conjured the fog-shrouded London hellscape that has haunted the modern imagination ever since. Though written as a quick “Christmas crawler” to earn a bit of money, the novella has exerted an incalculable influence on art and literature. It also proved strangely prophetic, anticipating Freud and others who would soon make the fragmentation of the human psyche a defining concern of the new century. "The human is two" is a recurring refrain in the work of the scholar of religious thought, Jeffrey J. Kripal. References Dan Ericson, Severance Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde David Lynch (dir.), Mullholland Drive John Frankenheimer (dir.), The Manchurian Candidate Galen Strawson, British philosopher Juan Eduardo Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols Jeff Kripal, How to Think Philosophically Rouben Mamoullian (dir.), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Weird Studies, Episode 161 on “From Hell” Sigmund Freud, “The Ego and the Id” Arthur Machen, Hieroglyphics Arthur Machen, “The White People” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 26 Nov 2025 15:30:00 -0000 full SpectreVision Radio In this episode, JF and Phil discuss Robert Louis Stevenson’s Gothic classic, the tale that conjured the fog-shrouded London hellscape that has haunted the modern imagination ever since. Though written as a quick “Christmas crawler” to earn a bit of money, the novella has exerted an incalculable influence on art and literature. It also proved strangely prophetic, anticipating Freud and others who would soon make the fragmentation of the human psyche a defining concern of the new century. "The human is two" is a recurring refrain in the work of the scholar of religious thought, Jeffrey J. Kripal. References Dan Ericson, Severance Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde David Lynch (dir.), Mullholland Drive John Frankenheimer (dir.), The Manchurian Candidate Galen Strawson, British philosopher Juan Eduardo Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols Jeff Kripal, How to Think Philosophically Rouben Mamoullian (dir.), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Weird Studies, Episode 161 on “From Hell” Sigmund Freud, “The Ego and the Id” Arthur Machen, Hieroglyphics Arthur Machen, “The White People” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this episode, JF and Phil discuss Robert Louis Stevenson’s Gothic classic, the tale that conjured the fog-shrouded London hellscape that has haunted the modern imagination ever since. Though written as a quick “Christmas crawler” to earn a bit of money, the novella has exerted an incalculable influence on art and literature. It also proved strangely prophetic, anticipating Freud and others who would soon make the fragmentation of the human psyche a defining concern of the new century.

"The human is two" is a recurring refrain in the work of the scholar of religious thought, Jeffrey J. Kripal.


References

Dan Ericson, Severance

Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

David Lynch (dir.), Mullholland Drive

John Frankenheimer (dir.), The Manchurian Candidate

Galen Strawson, British philosopher

Juan Eduardo Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols

Jeff Kripal, How to Think Philosophically

Rouben Mamoullian (dir.), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Weird Studies, Episode 161 on “From Hell”

Sigmund Freud, “The Ego and the Id”

Arthur Machen, Hieroglyphics

Arthur Machen, “The White People”


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]]> 4906 yes Episode 201 – On James Whale's 'Frankenstein' and 'Bride of Frankenstein,' with Peter Bebergal In this episode, Phil and JF are joined by independent scholar Peter Bebergal, author of Strange Frequencies, Season of the Witch, and other books on the intersections of culture, religion, and the occult. The topic is Frankenstein—not Guillermo del Toro's latest but James Whale's 1931 talkie along with its 1935 sequel, The Bride of Frankenstein, both starring Boris Karloff. The conversation touches on Gnosticism, alchemy, modern techno-hubris, the Gothic, and much more. Peter's new online course, Hacking the Invisible: At the Intersection of Technology and Magic, begins on November 20th, 2025, and runs for three weeks on Weirdosphere. Visit the Weirdosphere website for details and to enroll. References James Whale (dir.), Frankenstein Tobe Hooper (dir.), Texas Chainsaw Massacre James Whale (dir.), The Bride of Frankenstein Justin Sledge, Esoterica Henry Bergson, Introduction to Metaphysics David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order Mary Shelley, Frankenstein John the Apostle, The Apocryphon of John Stuart Gordon (dir.), Stuck Jennifer Kent (dir.), The Babadook Stephen T. Asma, On Monsters Thomas Paine, “The Age of Reason” Jean Gimpel, Medieval Machine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 12 Nov 2025 15:30:00 -0000 On James Whale's 'Frankenstein' and 'The Bride of Frankenstein,' with Peter Bebergal full SpectreVision Radio In this episode, Phil and JF are joined by independent scholar Peter Bebergal, author of Strange Frequencies, Season of the Witch, and other books on the intersections of culture, religion, and the occult. The topic is Frankenstein—not Guillermo del Toro's latest but James Whale's 1931 talkie along with its 1935 sequel, The Bride of Frankenstein, both starring Boris Karloff. The conversation touches on Gnosticism, alchemy, modern techno-hubris, the Gothic, and much more. Peter's new online course, Hacking the Invisible: At the Intersection of Technology and Magic, begins on November 20th, 2025, and runs for three weeks on Weirdosphere. Visit the Weirdosphere website for details and to enroll. References James Whale (dir.), Frankenstein Tobe Hooper (dir.), Texas Chainsaw Massacre James Whale (dir.), The Bride of Frankenstein Justin Sledge, Esoterica Henry Bergson, Introduction to Metaphysics David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order Mary Shelley, Frankenstein John the Apostle, The Apocryphon of John Stuart Gordon (dir.), Stuck Jennifer Kent (dir.), The Babadook Stephen T. Asma, On Monsters Thomas Paine, “The Age of Reason” Jean Gimpel, Medieval Machine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this episode, Phil and JF are joined by independent scholar Peter Bebergal, author of Strange Frequencies, Season of the Witch, and other books on the intersections of culture, religion, and the occult. The topic is Frankenstein—not Guillermo del Toro's latest but James Whale's 1931 talkie along with its 1935 sequel, The Bride of Frankenstein, both starring Boris Karloff. The conversation touches on Gnosticism, alchemy, modern techno-hubris, the Gothic, and much more.

Peter's new online course, Hacking the Invisible: At the Intersection of Technology and Magic, begins on November 20th, 2025, and runs for three weeks on Weirdosphere. Visit the Weirdosphere website for details and to enroll.


References

James Whale (dir.), Frankenstein

Tobe Hooper (dir.), Texas Chainsaw Massacre

James Whale (dir.), The Bride of Frankenstein

Justin Sledge, Esoterica

Henry Bergson, Introduction to Metaphysics

David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

John the Apostle, The Apocryphon of John

Stuart Gordon (dir.), Stuck

Jennifer Kent (dir.), The Babadook

Stephen T. Asma, On Monsters

Thomas Paine, “The Age of Reason”

Jean Gimpel, Medieval Machine

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4252 yes Halloween Special: A Reading of Arthur Machen's "The White People" Originally released in 2018 but remixed for your listening pleasure, here's Phil reading Arthur Machen's classic weird tale, "The White People." Happy Halloween! Machen's "The White People" was discussed all the way back in ⁠Weird Studies episode 3⁠. Earlier this week, JF and Phil joined Conner Habib on his podcast to talk all about horror. It was a great conversation and we hope you'll give it a listen. Image: Photo of doll from Auckland War Memorial Museum, via Wikimedia Commons. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Fri, 31 Oct 2025 13:00:00 -0000 bonus SpectreVision Radio Originally released in 2018 but remixed for your listening pleasure, here's Phil reading Arthur Machen's classic weird tale, "The White People." Happy Halloween! Machen's "The White People" was discussed all the way back in ⁠Weird Studies episode 3⁠. Earlier this week, JF and Phil joined Conner Habib on his podcast to talk all about horror. It was a great conversation and we hope you'll give it a listen. Image: Photo of doll from Auckland War Memorial Museum, via Wikimedia Commons. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Originally released in 2018 but remixed for your listening pleasure, here's Phil reading Arthur Machen's classic weird tale, "The White People." Happy Halloween!

Machen's "The White People" was discussed all the way back in ⁠Weird Studies episode 3⁠.

Earlier this week, JF and Phil joined Conner Habib on his podcast to talk all about horror. It was a great conversation and we hope you'll give it a listen.

Image: Photo of doll from Auckland War Memorial Museum, via Wikimedia Commons.


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5995 no Episode 200 – On 'The Call of Cthulhu' For their 200th episode, JF and Phil turn their attention to H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu,” a story foundational not only to modern horror fiction but to the very idea of the Weird. In revisiting this tale of forbidden knowledge and cosmic ambiguity, the hosts reflect on Weird Studies itself as a “slow piecing together of dissociated knowledge” that mirrors the work of Lovecraft’s own bewildered protagonists. Image by Antoni Espinosa via Wikimedia Commons. Upcoming Events: Peter Bebergal teaches on Weirdosphere starting November 20, 2025 JF Martel speaks at Back to Haunt Us in East London on November 8, 2025 Phil Ford speaks at the Durations Festival in NYC on November 7, 2025 Phil Ford hangs out at Archestratus Books and Food on November 8, 2025 References H. P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu  Weird Studies, Episode 2 on Garmonbozia  Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy  Phil Ford, “The Wanderer” H. P. Lovecraft, "Nyarlathotep" Weird Studies, Episode 74 on Jung Phil Ford, Jacob Foster, and J. F. Martel, “Care of the Dead”  Weird Studies, Episode 110 on The Glass Bead Game  Weird Studies, Episode 101 on Tanizaki  Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy  Weird Studies, Episode 156 on Donna Tartt  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 29 Oct 2025 14:30:00 -0000 On 'The Call of Cthulhu' full SpectreVision Radio For their 200th episode, JF and Phil turn their attention to H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu,” a story foundational not only to modern horror fiction but to the very idea of the Weird. In revisiting this tale of forbidden knowledge and cosmic ambiguity, the hosts reflect on Weird Studies itself as a “slow piecing together of dissociated knowledge” that mirrors the work of Lovecraft’s own bewildered protagonists. Image by Antoni Espinosa via Wikimedia Commons. Upcoming Events: Peter Bebergal teaches on Weirdosphere starting November 20, 2025 JF Martel speaks at Back to Haunt Us in East London on November 8, 2025 Phil Ford speaks at the Durations Festival in NYC on November 7, 2025 Phil Ford hangs out at Archestratus Books and Food on November 8, 2025 References H. P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu  Weird Studies, Episode 2 on Garmonbozia  Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy  Phil Ford, “The Wanderer” H. P. Lovecraft, "Nyarlathotep" Weird Studies, Episode 74 on Jung Phil Ford, Jacob Foster, and J. F. Martel, “Care of the Dead”  Weird Studies, Episode 110 on The Glass Bead Game  Weird Studies, Episode 101 on Tanizaki  Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy  Weird Studies, Episode 156 on Donna Tartt  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices For their 200th episode, JF and Phil turn their attention to H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu,” a story foundational not only to modern horror fiction but to the very idea of the Weird. In revisiting this tale of forbidden knowledge and cosmic ambiguity, the hosts reflect on Weird Studies itself as a “slow piecing together of dissociated knowledge” that mirrors the work of Lovecraft’s own bewildered protagonists.


Image by Antoni Espinosa via Wikimedia Commons.


Upcoming Events:

Peter Bebergal teaches on Weirdosphere starting November 20, 2025

JF Martel speaks at Back to Haunt Us in East London on November 8, 2025

Phil Ford speaks at the Durations Festival in NYC on November 7, 2025

Phil Ford hangs out at Archestratus Books and Food on November 8, 2025


References

H. P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu 

Weird Studies, Episode 2 on Garmonbozia 

Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy 

Phil Ford, “The Wanderer”

H. P. Lovecraft, "Nyarlathotep"

Weird Studies, Episode 74 on Jung

Phil Ford, Jacob Foster, and J. F. Martel, “Care of the Dead” 

Weird Studies, Episode 110 on The Glass Bead Game 

Weird Studies, Episode 101 on Tanizaki 

Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy 

Weird Studies, Episode 156 on Donna Tartt 

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]]> 5254 yes Episode 199 – On Michael Jackson, with Shannon Taggart Photographer and paranormal researcher Shannon Taggart joins JF and Phil to explore the phenomenon that was Michael Jackson. One of the most brilliant and successful musicians of the modern era, Jackson was also a liminal figure sans pareil, a shapeshifter who defied the binary categories through which we order the human world. His art and persona together enacted a transformation that can only be called shamanic. About Our Guest: Shannon Taggart is a photographer and author based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her photographs have appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal, and have been recognized by Magnum, Nikon, and the Alexia Foundation. Her monograph Séance was first published by Fulgur Press (2019) and reissued in a second edition by Atelier Éditions. Shannon is currently developing an illustrated history of SORRAT (the Society for Research on Rapport and Telekinesis) and hosts an annual symposium on the weird and the paranormal in Lily Dale, New York. Image by Daniele Dalledonne, via Wikimedia Commons. References George Hanson, The Trickster and the Paranormal Robert Chambers, The King in Yellow Rogan Taylor, The Death and Resurrection Show Pier Paolo Pasolini (dir.), Teorema   Phil Ford, “The View from the Cheap Seats at the UFO Show”  Michael Jackson, Moonwalker: A Memoir J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea Miguel Connor, The Occult Elvis Tim Powers, Last Call Weird Studies, Episode 186 on The Wedge Raymond Moody, Elvis After Life Sub Rosa, Spectra Ex Machina: A Sound Anthology of Occult Phenomena 1920-2017 Vol.2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 15 Oct 2025 15:00:00 -0000 On Michael Jackson, with Shannon Taggart full SpectreVision Radio Photographer and paranormal researcher Shannon Taggart joins JF and Phil to explore the phenomenon that was Michael Jackson. One of the most brilliant and successful musicians of the modern era, Jackson was also a liminal figure sans pareil, a shapeshifter who defied the binary categories through which we order the human world. His art and persona together enacted a transformation that can only be called shamanic. About Our Guest: Shannon Taggart is a photographer and author based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her photographs have appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal, and have been recognized by Magnum, Nikon, and the Alexia Foundation. Her monograph Séance was first published by Fulgur Press (2019) and reissued in a second edition by Atelier Éditions. Shannon is currently developing an illustrated history of SORRAT (the Society for Research on Rapport and Telekinesis) and hosts an annual symposium on the weird and the paranormal in Lily Dale, New York. Image by Daniele Dalledonne, via Wikimedia Commons. References George Hanson, The Trickster and the Paranormal Robert Chambers, The King in Yellow Rogan Taylor, The Death and Resurrection Show Pier Paolo Pasolini (dir.), Teorema   Phil Ford, “The View from the Cheap Seats at the UFO Show”  Michael Jackson, Moonwalker: A Memoir J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea Miguel Connor, The Occult Elvis Tim Powers, Last Call Weird Studies, Episode 186 on The Wedge Raymond Moody, Elvis After Life Sub Rosa, Spectra Ex Machina: A Sound Anthology of Occult Phenomena 1920-2017 Vol.2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Photographer and paranormal researcher Shannon Taggart joins JF and Phil to explore the phenomenon that was Michael Jackson. One of the most brilliant and successful musicians of the modern era, Jackson was also a liminal figure sans pareil, a shapeshifter who defied the binary categories through which we order the human world. His art and persona together enacted a transformation that can only be called shamanic.


About Our Guest:

Shannon Taggart is a photographer and author based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her photographs have appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal, and have been recognized by Magnum, Nikon, and the Alexia Foundation. Her monograph Séance was first published by Fulgur Press (2019) and reissued in a second edition by Atelier Éditions. Shannon is currently developing an illustrated history of SORRAT (the Society for Research on Rapport and Telekinesis) and hosts an annual symposium on the weird and the paranormal in Lily Dale, New York.


Image by Daniele Dalledonne, via Wikimedia Commons.


References

George Hanson, The Trickster and the Paranormal

Robert Chambers, The King in Yellow

Rogan Taylor, The Death and Resurrection Show

Pier Paolo Pasolini (dir.), Teorema  

Phil Ford, “The View from the Cheap Seats at the UFO Show” 

Michael Jackson, Moonwalker: A Memoir

J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea

Miguel Connor, The Occult Elvis

Tim Powers, Last Call

Weird Studies, Episode 186 on The Wedge

Raymond Moody, Elvis After Life

Sub Rosa, Spectra Ex Machina: A Sound Anthology of Occult Phenomena 1920-2017 Vol.2

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]]> 4525 yes Episode 198 – Breaking the Frame: On the High Priestess in the Tarot Since 2020, Phil and JF have been creating an on-again, off-again series on the major trumps, or "arcana," of the tarot. In this episode, they continue the series with a discussion of the second arcanum: the High Priestess, also known as la Papesse, the female pope. One of the most enigmatic and powerful cards in the deck, the High Priestess symbolizes duality, contemplation, and manifestation. Support Weird Studies on ⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes ⁠⁠1⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠2⁠⁠, on Pierre-Yves Martel's ⁠⁠Bandcamp⁠⁠ page. Visit the Weird Studies ⁠⁠⁠Bookshop⁠⁠⁠ Find us on ⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠ Get the T-shirt design from ⁠⁠⁠Cotton Bureau⁠⁠⁠. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, ⁠⁠Cosmophonia⁠⁠. REFERENCES Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Plancia Magna, Roman priestess Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Leigh McCloskey, The Tarot Revisioned Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory Moina Mathers, French occultist Sallie Nichols, Tarot and the Archetypal Journey Rachel Pollack, Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom Yoav Ben-Dov, The Marseille Tarot Revealed Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 01 Oct 2025 14:30:00 -0000 Breaking the Frame: On the High Priestess in the Tarot full SpectreVision Radio Since 2020, Phil and JF have been creating an on-again, off-again series on the major trumps, or "arcana," of the tarot. In this episode, they continue the series with a discussion of the second arcanum: the High Priestess, also known as la Papesse, the female pope. One of the most enigmatic and powerful cards in the deck, the High Priestess symbolizes duality, contemplation, and manifestation. Support Weird Studies on ⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes ⁠⁠1⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠2⁠⁠, on Pierre-Yves Martel's ⁠⁠Bandcamp⁠⁠ page. Visit the Weird Studies ⁠⁠⁠Bookshop⁠⁠⁠ Find us on ⁠⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠⁠ Get the T-shirt design from ⁠⁠⁠Cotton Bureau⁠⁠⁠. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, ⁠⁠Cosmophonia⁠⁠. REFERENCES Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Plancia Magna, Roman priestess Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Leigh McCloskey, The Tarot Revisioned Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory Moina Mathers, French occultist Sallie Nichols, Tarot and the Archetypal Journey Rachel Pollack, Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom Yoav Ben-Dov, The Marseille Tarot Revealed Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Since 2020, Phil and JF have been creating an on-again, off-again series on the major trumps, or "arcana," of the tarot. In this episode, they continue the series with a discussion of the second arcanum: the High Priestess, also known as la Papesse, the female pope. One of the most enigmatic and powerful cards in the deck, the High Priestess symbolizes duality, contemplation, and manifestation.

REFERENCES


Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot

Plancia Magna, Roman priestess

Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth

Leigh McCloskey, The Tarot Revisioned

Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory

Moina Mathers, French occultist

Sallie Nichols, Tarot and the Archetypal Journey

Rachel Pollack, Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom

Yoav Ben-Dov, The Marseille Tarot Revealed

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]]> 4785 yes Episode 197 - Sounding the Otherworld: On Bryn Chainey's 'Rabbit Trap' In a rare surfacing in the contemporary world, JF and Phil discuss a film that has just been released. Bryn Chainey’s Rabbit Trap is psychological horror in the tradition of Repulsion, Jacob’s Ladder, and Angel Heart. But it is more: a metaphysical film exploring the mystery of sound and the Otherworld of Faerie—an excursion into that weird country, so deftly explored by Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood, where wonder and terror perform their eldritch duets. Sign up for JF's new Henri Bergson course, starting September 18, 2025. Support Weird Studies on ⁠Patreon⁠. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes ⁠1⁠ and ⁠2⁠, on Pierre-Yves Martel's ⁠Bandcamp⁠ page. Visit the Weird Studies ⁠⁠Bookshop⁠⁠ Find us on ⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠ Get the T-shirt design from ⁠⁠Cotton Bureau⁠⁠. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, ⁠Cosmophonia⁠. REFERENCES Bryn Chainey, Rabbit Trap Weird Studies, Episode 190 on “The Willows” Alan Crosland (dir.), The Jazz Singer Weird Studies, Episode 150 on “A Fragment of Life” Henri Bergson, Time and Free Will Vladimir Jankelevitch, Music and the Ineffable Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Mysticism of Sound and Music Herman Hesse, Siddhartha J. R. R. Tolkein, The Silmarillion Giles Deleuze, Cinema II   Robert Kirk, The Secret Commonwealth Weird Studies, Episode 120 on Radical Mystery (story of the anti-sound starts at 52 minute mark)   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 17 Sep 2025 14:30:00 -0000 full SpectreVision Radio In a rare surfacing in the contemporary world, JF and Phil discuss a film that has just been released. Bryn Chainey’s Rabbit Trap is psychological horror in the tradition of Repulsion, Jacob’s Ladder, and Angel Heart. But it is more: a metaphysical film exploring the mystery of sound and the Otherworld of Faerie—an excursion into that weird country, so deftly explored by Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood, where wonder and terror perform their eldritch duets. Sign up for JF's new Henri Bergson course, starting September 18, 2025. Support Weird Studies on ⁠Patreon⁠. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes ⁠1⁠ and ⁠2⁠, on Pierre-Yves Martel's ⁠Bandcamp⁠ page. Visit the Weird Studies ⁠⁠Bookshop⁠⁠ Find us on ⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠ Get the T-shirt design from ⁠⁠Cotton Bureau⁠⁠. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, ⁠Cosmophonia⁠. REFERENCES Bryn Chainey, Rabbit Trap Weird Studies, Episode 190 on “The Willows” Alan Crosland (dir.), The Jazz Singer Weird Studies, Episode 150 on “A Fragment of Life” Henri Bergson, Time and Free Will Vladimir Jankelevitch, Music and the Ineffable Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Mysticism of Sound and Music Herman Hesse, Siddhartha J. R. R. Tolkein, The Silmarillion Giles Deleuze, Cinema II   Robert Kirk, The Secret Commonwealth Weird Studies, Episode 120 on Radical Mystery (story of the anti-sound starts at 52 minute mark)   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In a rare surfacing in the contemporary world, JF and Phil discuss a film that has just been released. Bryn Chainey’s Rabbit Trap is psychological horror in the tradition of Repulsion, Jacob’s Ladder, and Angel Heart. But it is more: a metaphysical film exploring the mystery of sound and the Otherworld of Faerie—an excursion into that weird country, so deftly explored by Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood, where wonder and terror perform their eldritch duets.


Sign up for JF's new Henri Bergson course, starting September 18, 2025.

Support Weird Studies on ⁠Patreon⁠.

Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes ⁠1⁠ and ⁠2⁠, on Pierre-Yves Martel's ⁠Bandcamp⁠ page.

Visit the Weird Studies ⁠⁠Bookshop⁠⁠

Find us on ⁠⁠Discord⁠⁠

Get the T-shirt design from ⁠⁠Cotton Bureau⁠⁠.

Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, ⁠Cosmophonia⁠.


REFERENCES

Bryn Chainey, Rabbit Trap

Weird Studies, Episode 190 on “The Willows”

Alan Crosland (dir.), The Jazz Singer

Weird Studies, Episode 150 on “A Fragment of Life”

Henri Bergson, Time and Free Will

Vladimir Jankelevitch, Music and the Ineffable

Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Mysticism of Sound and Music

Herman Hesse, Siddhartha

J. R. R. Tolkein, The Silmarillion

Giles Deleuze, Cinema II  

Robert Kirk, The Secret Commonwealth

Weird Studies, Episode 120 on Radical Mystery (story of the anti-sound starts at 52 minute mark)

 



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]]> 4231 yes Weird Studies Trailer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Sun, 07 Sep 2025 14:29:00 -0000 full SpectreVision Radio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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]]> 120 Mid-Break Bonus: On Trust We're breaking up our late-summer pause with an audio extra originally recorded for our Patreon supporters. This episode also includes an essay JF wrote on the philosophy of Henri Bergson. A whole course on Bergson's philosophy begins on Weirdosphere later this month. Weird Studies will be back with a brand-new episode on September 17th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 03 Sep 2025 14:45:00 -0000 On Trust bonus SpectreVision Radio We're breaking up our late-summer pause with an audio extra originally recorded for our Patreon supporters. This episode also includes an essay JF wrote on the philosophy of Henri Bergson. A whole course on Bergson's philosophy begins on Weirdosphere later this month. Weird Studies will be back with a brand-new episode on September 17th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices We're breaking up our late-summer pause with an audio extra originally recorded for our Patreon supporters. This episode also includes an essay JF wrote on the philosophy of Henri Bergson. A whole course on Bergson's philosophy begins on Weirdosphere later this month.

Weird Studies will be back with a brand-new episode on September 17th.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 3426 yes Episode 196 – Lost and Never Found: On 'The Blair Witch Project' Of all the flavors of horror, few are as dreadful as that of being lost in the wilderness. In this episode, JF and Phil revisit The Blair Witch Project, the classic 1999 found-footage film that inspired a thousand imitators. What makes this film so gripping, they argue, is the way it lingers over the subtle stages of disorientation in a hostile place, from blithe denial to devastating gnosis. The Blair Witch Project isn't a ghost story so much as a work of cosmic horror. Ultimately, the woods themselves—vast, indifferent, inescapable—are the monster. Support Weird Studies on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Visit the Weird Studies ⁠Bookshop⁠ Find us on ⁠Discord⁠ Get the T-shirt design from ⁠Cotton Bureau⁠. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. References Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez (dirs.), The Blair Witch Project Gus Van Sant (dir.), Gerry Martin Heidegger, Being and Time Weird Studies, Episode 195 on John Keel Gilbert Simondon, Imagination and Invention Georgio De Chirico, Italian artist Arthur Machen, The White People Jack Zipes, literary scholar Weird Studies, Episode 150 on Arthur Machen's “A Fragment of Life” “Schizophonia” Stanislav Lem, Solaris Andrei Tarkovsky (dir.), Solaris Beyond Yacht Rock Podcast  Shirley Clarke (dir.), The Connection Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1: The Movement-Image   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 13 Aug 2025 13:00:00 -0000 Lost and Never Found: On 'The Blair Witch Project' full SpectreVision Radio Of all the flavors of horror, few are as dreadful as that of being lost in the wilderness. In this episode, JF and Phil revisit The Blair Witch Project, the classic 1999 found-footage film that inspired a thousand imitators. What makes this film so gripping, they argue, is the way it lingers over the subtle stages of disorientation in a hostile place, from blithe denial to devastating gnosis. The Blair Witch Project isn't a ghost story so much as a work of cosmic horror. Ultimately, the woods themselves—vast, indifferent, inescapable—are the monster. Support Weird Studies on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Visit the Weird Studies ⁠Bookshop⁠ Find us on ⁠Discord⁠ Get the T-shirt design from ⁠Cotton Bureau⁠. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. References Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez (dirs.), The Blair Witch Project Gus Van Sant (dir.), Gerry Martin Heidegger, Being and Time Weird Studies, Episode 195 on John Keel Gilbert Simondon, Imagination and Invention Georgio De Chirico, Italian artist Arthur Machen, The White People Jack Zipes, literary scholar Weird Studies, Episode 150 on Arthur Machen's “A Fragment of Life” “Schizophonia” Stanislav Lem, Solaris Andrei Tarkovsky (dir.), Solaris Beyond Yacht Rock Podcast  Shirley Clarke (dir.), The Connection Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1: The Movement-Image   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Of all the flavors of horror, few are as dreadful as that of being lost in the wilderness. In this episode, JF and Phil revisit The Blair Witch Project, the classic 1999 found-footage film that inspired a thousand imitators. What makes this film so gripping, they argue, is the way it lingers over the subtle stages of disorientation in a hostile place, from blithe denial to devastating gnosis. The Blair Witch Project isn't a ghost story so much as a work of cosmic horror. Ultimately, the woods themselves—vast, indifferent, inescapable—are the monster.

Support Weird Studies on Patreon.

Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.

Visit the Weird Studies ⁠Bookshop⁠

Find us on ⁠Discord⁠

Get the T-shirt design from ⁠Cotton Bureau⁠.

Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.


References

Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez (dirs.), The Blair Witch Project

Gus Van Sant (dir.), Gerry

Martin Heidegger, Being and Time

Weird Studies, Episode 195 on John Keel

Gilbert Simondon, Imagination and Invention

Georgio De Chirico, Italian artist

Arthur Machen, The White People

Jack Zipes, literary scholar

Weird Studies, Episode 150 on Arthur Machen's “A Fragment of Life”

“Schizophonia”

Stanislav Lem, Solaris

Andrei Tarkovsky (dir.), Solaris

Beyond Yacht Rock Podcast 

Shirley Clarke (dir.), The Connection

Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1: The Movement-Image

 

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]]> 5533 yes Episode 195 – On John Keel: Live at the Lily Dale Symposium, with Erik Davis This marks the third year that Weird Studies is honoured to open the Lily Dale Symposium, organized each summer by photographer Shannon Taggart in the upstate New York community famed for its roots in Spiritualism. While J.F. wasn’t able to attend this year, Erik Davis joined Phil on stage for a conversation about the life and work of John Keel, the iconoclastic writer and investigator best known for The Mothman Prophecies. They were later joined by Keel’s friend, the writer and musician Doug Skinner, for a candid discussion of Keel’s legacy and style. If you enjoy Weird Studies, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Upper-tier goodies include exclusive writings, regular bonus episodes, and monthly hangouts with JF and Phil. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 06 Aug 2025 14:30:00 -0000 On John Keel: Live at the Lily Dale Symposium, with Erik Davis full SpectreVision Radio This marks the third year that Weird Studies is honoured to open the Lily Dale Symposium, organized each summer by photographer Shannon Taggart in the upstate New York community famed for its roots in Spiritualism. While J.F. wasn’t able to attend this year, Erik Davis joined Phil on stage for a conversation about the life and work of John Keel, the iconoclastic writer and investigator best known for The Mothman Prophecies. They were later joined by Keel’s friend, the writer and musician Doug Skinner, for a candid discussion of Keel’s legacy and style. If you enjoy Weird Studies, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Upper-tier goodies include exclusive writings, regular bonus episodes, and monthly hangouts with JF and Phil. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This marks the third year that Weird Studies is honoured to open the Lily Dale Symposium, organized each summer by photographer Shannon Taggart in the upstate New York community famed for its roots in Spiritualism. While J.F. wasn’t able to attend this year, Erik Davis joined Phil on stage for a conversation about the life and work of John Keel, the iconoclastic writer and investigator best known for The Mothman Prophecies. They were later joined by Keel’s friend, the writer and musician Doug Skinner, for a candid discussion of Keel’s legacy and style.


If you enjoy Weird Studies, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Upper-tier goodies include exclusive writings, regular bonus episodes, and monthly hangouts with JF and Phil.



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]]> 6681 yes Episode 194: Animal Songs, with Meredith Michael In this episode, Phil and JF are joined by Meredith Michael—musicologist, podcaster, and Weird Studies production assistant—for a conversation about animal songs. The phrase is intentionally slippery. Are we talking about songs about animals, or songs by animals? Both, as it turns out. Beginning with three very different human compositions—The Beatles’ “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey,” Hovhaness’s And God Created the Great Whales, and Björk’s “Human Behavior”—the hosts discuss the roles animals play in human music, mythology, and mind. Along the way, they touch on Pink Floyd, the Beatles' trip to India, heroin addiction, the indeterminacy of singing and screaming, the messiness of inter-species communication, the discovery of whale song, the problem of (not) projecting humanness onto animals, the Book of Genesis, and the porous boundary between the human and non-human worlds. All that (and more) for two of the songs! Phil’s pick will be explored in a forthcoming episode. Meredith Michael is a PhD candidate in Musicology at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She is working on a dissertation about musical mythologies of outer space in the twentieth century. In her spare time she loves making art of all kinds, going for long walks, making friends with cats, and watching cartoons. Meredith hosts the Cosmophonia podcast with Gabriel Lubell. References Victor Shklovsky, “Art as Technique” Pink Floyd, Animals Neko Case, "People Got a Lotta Nerve" The Beatles, "Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and my Monkey" Gavin Steingo, Interspecies Communication: Sound and Music beyond Humanity Little Richard, "Long Tall Sally"   Alan Hovhaness, And God Created Great Whales Roger Payne, Songs of the Humpback Whale Deleuze and Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus Olivier Messiaen, Quartet for the End of Time Weird Studies, Episode 181 on “The X Files” Kate Altizer, Piano Dogs and Whale Theaters: Paranoid Relations and Affect with Nowhere to Go in the Study of Nonhuman Animals and Music  David Rothenberg, Thousand Mile Songs Frans de Waal, Mama’s Last Hug King James Bible  Herman Melville, Moby Dick Leonard Nimoy (dir.), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home RILM Abstracts of Music Literature George Crumb, Vox Balaenae   Terrence Malick (dir.), The Tree of Life Image by Navin75, via Wikimedia Commons Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 23 Jul 2025 14:30:00 -0000 Animal Songs, with Meredith Michael full SpectreVision Radio In this episode, Phil and JF are joined by Meredith Michael—musicologist, podcaster, and Weird Studies production assistant—for a conversation about animal songs. The phrase is intentionally slippery. Are we talking about songs about animals, or songs by animals? Both, as it turns out. Beginning with three very different human compositions—The Beatles’ “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey,” Hovhaness’s And God Created the Great Whales, and Björk’s “Human Behavior”—the hosts discuss the roles animals play in human music, mythology, and mind. Along the way, they touch on Pink Floyd, the Beatles' trip to India, heroin addiction, the indeterminacy of singing and screaming, the messiness of inter-species communication, the discovery of whale song, the problem of (not) projecting humanness onto animals, the Book of Genesis, and the porous boundary between the human and non-human worlds. All that (and more) for two of the songs! Phil’s pick will be explored in a forthcoming episode. Meredith Michael is a PhD candidate in Musicology at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She is working on a dissertation about musical mythologies of outer space in the twentieth century. In her spare time she loves making art of all kinds, going for long walks, making friends with cats, and watching cartoons. Meredith hosts the Cosmophonia podcast with Gabriel Lubell. References Victor Shklovsky, “Art as Technique” Pink Floyd, Animals Neko Case, "People Got a Lotta Nerve" The Beatles, "Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and my Monkey" Gavin Steingo, Interspecies Communication: Sound and Music beyond Humanity Little Richard, "Long Tall Sally"   Alan Hovhaness, And God Created Great Whales Roger Payne, Songs of the Humpback Whale Deleuze and Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus Olivier Messiaen, Quartet for the End of Time Weird Studies, Episode 181 on “The X Files” Kate Altizer, Piano Dogs and Whale Theaters: Paranoid Relations and Affect with Nowhere to Go in the Study of Nonhuman Animals and Music  David Rothenberg, Thousand Mile Songs Frans de Waal, Mama’s Last Hug King James Bible  Herman Melville, Moby Dick Leonard Nimoy (dir.), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home RILM Abstracts of Music Literature George Crumb, Vox Balaenae   Terrence Malick (dir.), The Tree of Life Image by Navin75, via Wikimedia Commons Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this episode, Phil and JF are joined by Meredith Michael—musicologist, podcaster, and Weird Studies production assistant—for a conversation about animal songs. The phrase is intentionally slippery. Are we talking about songs about animals, or songs by animals? Both, as it turns out. Beginning with three very different human compositions—The Beatles’ “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey,” Hovhaness’s And God Created the Great Whales, and Björk’s “Human Behavior”—the hosts discuss the roles animals play in human music, mythology, and mind. Along the way, they touch on Pink Floyd, the Beatles' trip to India, heroin addiction, the indeterminacy of singing and screaming, the messiness of inter-species communication, the discovery of whale song, the problem of (not) projecting humanness onto animals, the Book of Genesis, and the porous boundary between the human and non-human worlds. All that (and more) for two of the songs! Phil’s pick will be explored in a forthcoming episode.


Meredith Michael is a PhD candidate in Musicology at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She is working on a dissertation about musical mythologies of outer space in the twentieth century. In her spare time she loves making art of all kinds, going for long walks, making friends with cats, and watching cartoons. Meredith hosts the Cosmophonia podcast with Gabriel Lubell.


References

Victor Shklovsky, “Art as Technique”

Pink Floyd, Animals

Neko Case, "People Got a Lotta Nerve"

The Beatles, "Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and my Monkey"

Gavin Steingo, Interspecies Communication: Sound and Music beyond Humanity

Little Richard, "Long Tall Sally"  

Alan Hovhaness, And God Created Great Whales

Roger Payne, Songs of the Humpback Whale

Deleuze and Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus

Olivier Messiaen, Quartet for the End of Time

Weird Studies, Episode 181 on “The X Files”

Kate Altizer, Piano Dogs and Whale Theaters: Paranoid Relations and Affect with Nowhere to Go in the Study of Nonhuman Animals and Music 

David Rothenberg, Thousand Mile Songs

Frans de Waal, Mama’s Last Hug

King James Bible 

Herman Melville, Moby Dick

Leonard Nimoy (dir.), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

RILM Abstracts of Music Literature

George Crumb, Vox Balaenae  

Terrence Malick (dir.), The Tree of Life


Image by Navin75, via Wikimedia Commons

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]]> 4982 Episode 193: On Conversion, or Arousing the Bodhi-Mind How do you become religious? What is a conversion experience? Does it happen all at once or gradually? What's the point of religion, anyway? These are questions that JF (a Catholic) and Phil (a Zennist) have often been asked since starting Weird Studies, and in this episode they attempt some answers. Image: "Small Candle Flame" by Le Priyavrat, via Wikimedia Commons Sign up to attend Shannon Taggart's Lily Dale symposium, July 24-26 REFERENCES Ross Douthat, Believe   Dogen, Shobogenzo   New Atheism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Atheism  Weird Studies, Episode 99 on “Wild, Wild Country” William James, Varieties of Religious Experience   George Steiner, Real Presences Patrick Curry, Art and Enchantment Max Picard, The Flight from God Charles Taylor, A Secular Age James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games Richard Wagner, Ring Cycle Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense Weird Studies, Episode 183 on “Siddhartha” Charles Sanders Peirce, American philosopher Leonard Cohen, “Hallelujah”   Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 09 Jul 2025 14:35:00 -0000 On Conversion, or Arousing the Bodhi-Mind full SpectreVision Radio How do you become religious? What is a conversion experience? Does it happen all at once or gradually? What's the point of religion, anyway? These are questions that JF (a Catholic) and Phil (a Zennist) have often been asked since starting Weird Studies, and in this episode they attempt some answers. Image: "Small Candle Flame" by Le Priyavrat, via Wikimedia Commons Sign up to attend Shannon Taggart's Lily Dale symposium, July 24-26 REFERENCES Ross Douthat, Believe   Dogen, Shobogenzo   New Atheism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Atheism  Weird Studies, Episode 99 on “Wild, Wild Country” William James, Varieties of Religious Experience   George Steiner, Real Presences Patrick Curry, Art and Enchantment Max Picard, The Flight from God Charles Taylor, A Secular Age James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games Richard Wagner, Ring Cycle Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense Weird Studies, Episode 183 on “Siddhartha” Charles Sanders Peirce, American philosopher Leonard Cohen, “Hallelujah”   Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices How do you become religious? What is a conversion experience? Does it happen all at once or gradually? What's the point of religion, anyway? These are questions that JF (a Catholic) and Phil (a Zennist) have often been asked since starting Weird Studies, and in this episode they attempt some answers.

Image: "Small Candle Flame" by Le Priyavrat, via Wikimedia Commons

Sign up to attend Shannon Taggart's Lily Dale symposium, July 24-26


REFERENCES


Ross Douthat, Believe  

Dogen, Shobogenzo  

New Atheism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Atheism 

Weird Studies, Episode 99 on “Wild, Wild Country”

William James, Varieties of Religious Experience  

George Steiner, Real Presences

Patrick Curry, Art and Enchantment

Max Picard, The Flight from God

Charles Taylor, A Secular Age

James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games

Richard Wagner, Ring Cycle

Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense

Weird Studies, Episode 183 on “Siddhartha”

Charles Sanders Peirce, American philosopher

Leonard Cohen, “Hallelujah”  

Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5334 yes Episode 192 - A Dream of Landscape: On Walking Phil and JF first explored the mysteries of walking back in episode 59. That episode felt like a mere introduction—a tentative first step on a long and winding path. Now, 133 episodes later, they return to the theme as they prepare to lead a six-week course on the art of walking and its affinity with the Weird. This conversation touches on meditative walking, walking as dventure, psychogeography, wilderness mysticism, and more. References Weird Studies, Episode 59 on Walking Frédéric Gros, A Philosophy of Walking Kinhin, walking meditation Henry David Thoreau, “Walking” Randonautica, walking app Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 25 Jun 2025 14:30:00 -0000 A Dream of Landscape: On Walking full SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF first explored the mysteries of walking back in episode 59. That episode felt like a mere introduction—a tentative first step on a long and winding path. Now, 133 episodes later, they return to the theme as they prepare to lead a six-week course on the art of walking and its affinity with the Weird. This conversation touches on meditative walking, walking as dventure, psychogeography, wilderness mysticism, and more. References Weird Studies, Episode 59 on Walking Frédéric Gros, A Philosophy of Walking Kinhin, walking meditation Henry David Thoreau, “Walking” Randonautica, walking app Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Phil and JF first explored the mysteries of walking back in episode 59. That episode felt like a mere introduction—a tentative first step on a long and winding path. Now, 133 episodes later, they return to the theme as they prepare to lead a six-week course on the art of walking and its affinity with the Weird. This conversation touches on meditative walking, walking as dventure, psychogeography, wilderness mysticism, and more.


References


Weird Studies, Episode 59 on Walking

Frédéric Gros, A Philosophy of Walking

Kinhin, walking meditation

Henry David Thoreau, “Walking”

Randonautica, walking app

Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4423 yes Special Episode: Theory, Philosophy, and Uranus This conversation was originally recorded in August 2024 and released for our Patreon supporters. Weird Studies will be back with a new episode on June 25, 2025. What is cultural theory? How is philosophy "a preparation for death?" What sort of planet is Phil Ford from? These burning questions and more find answers in this free-wheeling conversation, originally exclusive to members of the Weird Studies Patreon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 18 Jun 2025 14:30:00 -0000 Theory, Philosophy, and Uranus bonus SpectreVision Radio This conversation was originally recorded in August 2024 and released for our Patreon supporters. Weird Studies will be back with a new episode on June 25, 2025. What is cultural theory? How is philosophy "a preparation for death?" What sort of planet is Phil Ford from? These burning questions and more find answers in this free-wheeling conversation, originally exclusive to members of the Weird Studies Patreon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This conversation was originally recorded in August 2024 and released for our Patreon supporters. Weird Studies will be back with a new episode on June 25, 2025.

What is cultural theory? How is philosophy "a preparation for death?" What sort of planet is Phil Ford from? These burning questions and more find answers in this free-wheeling conversation, originally exclusive to members of the Weird Studies Patreon.


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 3749 yes Special Episode: Myth, History, and Form This special release is a Patreon extra we’re making available to all listeners, in lieu of the official episode originally scheduled for today. As explained in the introduction, we will be back with a full episode later in the month. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this conversation about how art transforms experience, making the mundane mythic, calling images out of the flux of life, and shaping what is in us to think, feel, and live. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 04 Jun 2025 09:30:00 -0000 Myth, History, and Form bonus SpectreVision Radio This special release is a Patreon extra we’re making available to all listeners, in lieu of the official episode originally scheduled for today. As explained in the introduction, we will be back with a full episode later in the month. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this conversation about how art transforms experience, making the mundane mythic, calling images out of the flux of life, and shaping what is in us to think, feel, and live. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This special release is a Patreon extra we’re making available to all listeners, in lieu of the official episode originally scheduled for today. As explained in the introduction, we will be back with a full episode later in the month. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this conversation about how art transforms experience, making the mundane mythic, calling images out of the flux of life, and shaping what is in us to think, feel, and live.


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 2815 yes Episode 191 — The Acid Queen, with Susannah Cahalan Best known as the wife and partner of Timothy Leary, Rosemary Woodruff was in fact a central figure in the psychedelic movement in her own right—a political radical, underground fugitive, and neglected architect of the counterculture. In this episode, Phil and JF speak with journalist and author Susannah Cahalan about Woodruff Leary’s life and legacy. Cahalan’s new book, The Acid Queen: The Psychedelic Life and Counterculture Rebellion of Rosemary Woodruff Leary, brings its subject into focus as a complex and courageous individual whose story has been overshadowed for too long. The conversation follows the threads of the biography while branching into the weirdness of biographical writing, the ongoing relevance of the 1960s counterculture, the troubling figure of Timothy Leary, and the enduring promise—and peril—of psychedelics. Susannah Cahalan is the New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire, a memoir about her experience with autoimmune encephalitis. Her second book, The Great Pretender, which investigated a seminal study in the history of mental health care and diagnosis, was shortlisted for the the Royal Society's 2020 Science Book Prize. She lives in New Jersey with her family. Photo from the Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection at UCLA, via Wikimedia Commons. REFERENCES Susannah Cahalan, The Acid Queen Weird Studies, Episode 189 with Jacob Foster Marion Woodman, Canadian feminist author Peter Braunstein and Michael William Doyle, Imagine Nation: The American Counterculture of the 1960s & '70s Fred Turner, From Counterculture to Cyberculture Eric Davis, TechGnosis Lutz Dammbeck, The Net: The Unabomber, LSD, and the Internet Robert Greenfield, Timothy Leary: A Biography Anthony Storr, Feet of Clay Blanche Hoschedé Monet, French painter Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 21 May 2025 14:30:00 -0000 The Acid Queen, with Susannah Cahalan full SpectreVision Radio Susannah Cahalan joins JF and Phil to talk about the life of psychedelic pioneer Rosemary Woodruff Leary. Best known as the wife and partner of Timothy Leary, Rosemary Woodruff was in fact a central figure in the psychedelic movement in her own right—a political radical, underground fugitive, and neglected architect of the counterculture. In this episode, Phil and JF speak with journalist and author Susannah Cahalan about Woodruff Leary’s life and legacy. Cahalan’s new book, The Acid Queen: The Psychedelic Life and Counterculture Rebellion of Rosemary Woodruff Leary, brings its subject into focus as a complex and courageous individual whose story has been overshadowed for too long. The conversation follows the threads of the biography while branching into the weirdness of biographical writing, the ongoing relevance of the 1960s counterculture, the troubling figure of Timothy Leary, and the enduring promise—and peril—of psychedelics. Susannah Cahalan is the New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire, a memoir about her experience with autoimmune encephalitis. Her second book, The Great Pretender, which investigated a seminal study in the history of mental health care and diagnosis, was shortlisted for the the Royal Society's 2020 Science Book Prize. She lives in New Jersey with her family. Photo from the Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection at UCLA, via Wikimedia Commons. REFERENCES Susannah Cahalan, The Acid Queen Weird Studies, Episode 189 with Jacob Foster Marion Woodman, Canadian feminist author Peter Braunstein and Michael William Doyle, Imagine Nation: The American Counterculture of the 1960s & '70s Fred Turner, From Counterculture to Cyberculture Eric Davis, TechGnosis Lutz Dammbeck, The Net: The Unabomber, LSD, and the Internet Robert Greenfield, Timothy Leary: A Biography Anthony Storr, Feet of Clay Blanche Hoschedé Monet, French painter Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Best known as the wife and partner of Timothy Leary, Rosemary Woodruff was in fact a central figure in the psychedelic movement in her own right—a political radical, underground fugitive, and neglected architect of the counterculture. In this episode, Phil and JF speak with journalist and author Susannah Cahalan about Woodruff Leary’s life and legacy. Cahalan’s new book, The Acid Queen: The Psychedelic Life and Counterculture Rebellion of Rosemary Woodruff Leary, brings its subject into focus as a complex and courageous individual whose story has been overshadowed for too long. The conversation follows the threads of the biography while branching into the weirdness of biographical writing, the ongoing relevance of the 1960s counterculture, the troubling figure of Timothy Leary, and the enduring promise—and peril—of psychedelics.

Susannah Cahalan is the New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire, a memoir about her experience with autoimmune encephalitis. Her second book, The Great Pretender, which investigated a seminal study in the history of mental health care and diagnosis, was shortlisted for the the Royal Society's 2020 Science Book Prize. She lives in New Jersey with her family.

Photo from the Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection at UCLA, via Wikimedia Commons.


REFERENCES

Susannah Cahalan, The Acid Queen

Weird Studies, Episode 189 with Jacob Foster

Marion Woodman, Canadian feminist author

Peter Braunstein and Michael William Doyle, Imagine Nation: The American Counterculture of the 1960s & '70s

Fred Turner, From Counterculture to Cyberculture

Eric Davis, TechGnosis

Lutz Dammbeck, The Net: The Unabomber, LSD, and the Internet

Robert Greenfield, Timothy Leary: A Biography

Anthony Storr, Feet of Clay

Blanche Hoschedé Monet, French painter

Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5281 Episode 190 – Here Be Shrubs: On Algernon Blackwood's 'The Willows' In this episode, JF and Phil paddle into the marshlands of Algernon Blackwood’s 1907 masterpiece The Willows, a tale Lovecraft once called the finest weird story of all time. They explore how a narrative in which almost nothing happens can conjure a cosmic dread more potent than a legion of monsters, and how Blackwood’s genius lies in revealing the spiritual horror latent in landscape itself. Topics include zones, the limits of human reason, and the terror of brushing up against an otherworld that lies just beyond the riverbank—near at hand, yet somehow separated from us by an unbridgeable gulf. Photo by Derek Dye, via Wikimedia Commons. REFERENCES Algernon Blackwood, “The Willows”   Weird Studies, Episode 55 on “The Wendigo”   SCTV Algernon Blackwood, “The Psychology of Places” in The Lure of the Unknown Weird Studies, Episodes 14 and 15 on Stalker Carl Jung, Man and His Symbols Sue Clifford and Angela King, England in Particular Michael Dames, Pagans Progress J. G. Ballard, English fiction author Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 07 May 2025 14:30:00 -0000 Here Be Shrubs: On Algernon Blackwood's 'The Willows' full SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Algernon Blackwood's 1907 weird fiction masterwork. In this episode, JF and Phil paddle into the marshlands of Algernon Blackwood’s 1907 masterpiece The Willows, a tale Lovecraft once called the finest weird story of all time. They explore how a narrative in which almost nothing happens can conjure a cosmic dread more potent than a legion of monsters, and how Blackwood’s genius lies in revealing the spiritual horror latent in landscape itself. Topics include zones, the limits of human reason, and the terror of brushing up against an otherworld that lies just beyond the riverbank—near at hand, yet somehow separated from us by an unbridgeable gulf. Photo by Derek Dye, via Wikimedia Commons. REFERENCES Algernon Blackwood, “The Willows”   Weird Studies, Episode 55 on “The Wendigo”   SCTV Algernon Blackwood, “The Psychology of Places” in The Lure of the Unknown Weird Studies, Episodes 14 and 15 on Stalker Carl Jung, Man and His Symbols Sue Clifford and Angela King, England in Particular Michael Dames, Pagans Progress J. G. Ballard, English fiction author Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this episode, JF and Phil paddle into the marshlands of Algernon Blackwood’s 1907 masterpiece The Willows, a tale Lovecraft once called the finest weird story of all time. They explore how a narrative in which almost nothing happens can conjure a cosmic dread more potent than a legion of monsters, and how Blackwood’s genius lies in revealing the spiritual horror latent in landscape itself. Topics include zones, the limits of human reason, and the terror of brushing up against an otherworld that lies just beyond the riverbank—near at hand, yet somehow separated from us by an unbridgeable gulf.

Photo by Derek Dye, via Wikimedia Commons.


REFERENCES

Algernon Blackwood, “The Willows”  

Weird Studies, Episode 55 on “The Wendigo”  

SCTV

Algernon Blackwood, “The Psychology of Places” in The Lure of the Unknown

Weird Studies, Episodes 14 and 15 on Stalker

Carl Jung, Man and His Symbols

Sue Clifford and Angela King, England in Particular

Michael Dames, Pagans Progress

J. G. Ballard, English fiction author


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4504 yes Episode 189: Care of the Dead, with Jacob G. Foster In this episode, JF and Phil are joined by Jacob G. Foster—sociologist, physicist, and researcher at Indiana University Bloomington and the Santa Fe Institute—for a conversation about their recent collaboration in Daedalus, the journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Their co-authored essay, “Care of the Dead,” explores how the dead continue to shape our cultures, languages, and ways of being. Together, they discuss the process of writing the piece and what it means to say that the dead are not gone—that they persist, and that they make claims on the living. The article is available here: https://direct.mit.edu/daed/article/154/1/166/127931/Care-of-the-Dead-Ancestors-Traditions-amp-the-Life **References** [Peter Kingsley,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kingsley) English writer  Weird Studies, [Episode 98 on “Taboo”]) https://www.weirdstudies.com/98)  John Berger, “12 Theses on the Economy of the Dead” in _[Hold Everything Dear](12 Theses on the Economy of the Dead)_  Bernard Koch, Daniele Silvestro, and Jacob Foster, ["The Evolutionary Dynamics of Cultural Change”](https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/659bt_v1)  Gilbert Simondon, _[Imagination and Invention](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781517914455)_  William Gibson, _[Neuromancer](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780441007462)_  [Phlogiston theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlogiston_theory)  George Orwell, _[1984](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780451524935)_  HP Lovecraft, [“The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”](https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/cdw.aspx)  Weird Studies, [Episode 187 on “Little, Big”](https://www.weirdstudies.com/187)  [John Dee,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dee) English occultist  Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, _[The Western Esoteric Traditions: A Historical Introduction](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780195320992)_  Robert Harrison, _[The Dominion of the Dead](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780226317939)_  Gilles Deleuze, _[Bergsonism](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780942299076)_  Elizabeth LeGuin, _[Boccherini’s Body](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780520240179)_  Elizabeth LeGuin, [“Cello and Bow thinking”](http://www.echo.ucla.edu/cello-and-bow-thinking-baccherinis-cello-sonata-in-eb-minor-faouri-catalogo/)  Johannes Brahms, _Handel Variations_  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 23 Apr 2025 14:30:00 -0000 Care of the Dead, with Jacob G. Foster full 189 SpectreVision Radio Jacob Foster joins Phil and JF to discuss our relationship with the dead. In this episode, JF and Phil are joined by Jacob G. Foster—sociologist, physicist, and researcher at Indiana University Bloomington and the Santa Fe Institute—for a conversation about their recent collaboration in Daedalus, the journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Their co-authored essay, “Care of the Dead,” explores how the dead continue to shape our cultures, languages, and ways of being. Together, they discuss the process of writing the piece and what it means to say that the dead are not gone—that they persist, and that they make claims on the living. The article is available here: https://direct.mit.edu/daed/article/154/1/166/127931/Care-of-the-Dead-Ancestors-Traditions-amp-the-Life **References** [Peter Kingsley,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kingsley) English writer  Weird Studies, [Episode 98 on “Taboo”]) https://www.weirdstudies.com/98)  John Berger, “12 Theses on the Economy of the Dead” in _[Hold Everything Dear](12 Theses on the Economy of the Dead)_  Bernard Koch, Daniele Silvestro, and Jacob Foster, ["The Evolutionary Dynamics of Cultural Change”](https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/659bt_v1)  Gilbert Simondon, _[Imagination and Invention](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781517914455)_  William Gibson, _[Neuromancer](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780441007462)_  [Phlogiston theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlogiston_theory)  George Orwell, _[1984](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780451524935)_  HP Lovecraft, [“The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”](https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/cdw.aspx)  Weird Studies, [Episode 187 on “Little, Big”](https://www.weirdstudies.com/187)  [John Dee,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dee) English occultist  Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, _[The Western Esoteric Traditions: A Historical Introduction](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780195320992)_  Robert Harrison, _[The Dominion of the Dead](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780226317939)_  Gilles Deleuze, _[Bergsonism](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780942299076)_  Elizabeth LeGuin, _[Boccherini’s Body](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780520240179)_  Elizabeth LeGuin, [“Cello and Bow thinking”](http://www.echo.ucla.edu/cello-and-bow-thinking-baccherinis-cello-sonata-in-eb-minor-faouri-catalogo/)  Johannes Brahms, _Handel Variations_  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this episode, JF and Phil are joined by Jacob G. Foster—sociologist, physicist, and researcher at Indiana University Bloomington and the Santa Fe Institute—for a conversation about their recent collaboration in Daedalus, the journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Their co-authored essay, “Care of the Dead,” explores how the dead continue to shape our cultures, languages, and ways of being. Together, they discuss the process of writing the piece and what it means to say that the dead are not gone—that they persist, and that they make claims on the living.


The article is available here: https://direct.mit.edu/daed/article/154/1/166/127931/Care-of-the-Dead-Ancestors-Traditions-amp-the-Life


**References**

[Peter Kingsley,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kingsley) English writer 

Weird Studies, [Episode 98 on “Taboo”]) https://www.weirdstudies.com/98) 

John Berger, “12 Theses on the Economy of the Dead” in _[Hold Everything Dear](12 Theses on the Economy of the Dead)_ 

Bernard Koch, Daniele Silvestro, and Jacob Foster, ["The Evolutionary Dynamics of Cultural Change”](https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/659bt_v1) 

Gilbert Simondon, _[Imagination and Invention](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781517914455)_ 

William Gibson, _[Neuromancer](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780441007462)_ 

[Phlogiston theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlogiston_theory) 

George Orwell, _[1984](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780451524935)_ 

HP Lovecraft, [“The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”](https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/cdw.aspx) 

Weird Studies, [Episode 187 on “Little, Big”](https://www.weirdstudies.com/187) 

[John Dee,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dee) English occultist 

Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, _[The Western Esoteric Traditions: A Historical Introduction](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780195320992)_ 

Robert Harrison, _[The Dominion of the Dead](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780226317939)_ 

Gilles Deleuze, _[Bergsonism](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780942299076)_ 

Elizabeth LeGuin, _[Boccherini’s Body](https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780520240179)_ 

Elizabeth LeGuin, [“Cello and Bow thinking”](http://www.echo.ucla.edu/cello-and-bow-thinking-baccherinis-cello-sonata-in-eb-minor-faouri-catalogo/) 

Johannes Brahms, _Handel Variations_ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5747 Episode 188: Pioneers of the Untimely: On the Hermit Card in the Tarot In this continuation of their non-linear journey through the tarot, Phil and JF discuss the ninth Arcanum: the Hermit. Walking through darkness with his lantern and staff, the Hermit invites us to break from the collective and seek a direct relationship with the Real. This is the card of the seeker, the misfit, the sage, and the wanderer. As tends to happen in these tarot episodes, the hosts take the opportunity to range across many topics, connecting the Hermit to Jung’s Red Book, the Desert Fathers, angels and demons, the I Ching, contemporary politics, and more. Support us on Patreon Order Christian Bunyan's Weird Studies poster here. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast,Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau REFERENCES Carl Jung, The Red Book Stanley Kubrick, American filmmaker Samuel Beckett, Irish writer Emily Dickinson, American poet Temptation of Saint Anthony Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Weird Studies, Episode 103 on the Tower card The Gnostic Tarot Nigel Richmond, Language of the Lines Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back John Minford, The I Ching: The Essential Translation of the Ancient Chinese Oracle and Book of Wisdom William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming" Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of the Tarot Wolfgang Petersen (dir.), The Neverending Story Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 09 Apr 2025 14:45:00 -0000 Pioneers of the Untimely: On the Hermit Card in the Tarot full 188 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the mysteries of the ninth major trump. In this continuation of their non-linear journey through the tarot, Phil and JF discuss the ninth Arcanum: the Hermit. Walking through darkness with his lantern and staff, the Hermit invites us to break from the collective and seek a direct relationship with the Real. This is the card of the seeker, the misfit, the sage, and the wanderer. As tends to happen in these tarot episodes, the hosts take the opportunity to range across many topics, connecting the Hermit to Jung’s Red Book, the Desert Fathers, angels and demons, the I Ching, contemporary politics, and more. Support us on Patreon Order Christian Bunyan's Weird Studies poster here. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast,Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau REFERENCES Carl Jung, The Red Book Stanley Kubrick, American filmmaker Samuel Beckett, Irish writer Emily Dickinson, American poet Temptation of Saint Anthony Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Weird Studies, Episode 103 on the Tower card The Gnostic Tarot Nigel Richmond, Language of the Lines Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back John Minford, The I Ching: The Essential Translation of the Ancient Chinese Oracle and Book of Wisdom William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming" Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of the Tarot Wolfgang Petersen (dir.), The Neverending Story Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this continuation of their non-linear journey through the tarot, Phil and JF discuss the ninth Arcanum: the Hermit. Walking through darkness with his lantern and staff, the Hermit invites us to break from the collective and seek a direct relationship with the Real. This is the card of the seeker, the misfit, the sage, and the wanderer. As tends to happen in these tarot episodes, the hosts take the opportunity to range across many topics, connecting the Hermit to Jung’s Red Book, the Desert Fathers, angels and demons, the I Ching, contemporary politics, and more.


Support us on Patreon

Order Christian Bunyan's Weird Studies poster here.

Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.

Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast,Cosmophonia.

Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

Find us on Discord

Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau


REFERENCES


Carl Jung, The Red Book

Stanley Kubrick, American filmmaker

Samuel Beckett, Irish writer

Emily Dickinson, American poet

Temptation of Saint Anthony

Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot

Weird Studies, Episode 103 on the Tower card

The Gnostic Tarot

Nigel Richmond, Language of the Lines

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

John Minford, The I Ching: The Essential Translation of the Ancient Chinese Oracle and Book of Wisdom

William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming"

Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of the Tarot

Wolfgang Petersen (dir.), The Neverending Story

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4979 yes Episode 187: The Affirmation of Imagination: On John Crowley's 'Little, Big,' with Erik Davis https://www.weirdstudies.com/187 John Crowley’s Little, Big is, at once, a family saga, a fairy tale, an occult thriller, an idyll, a dystopia, as well as a meditation on myth and history, the real and the fantasy, memory and imagination. Little, Big is also a book that JF and Phil have been planning to discuss for as long as Weird Studies has existed. In this episode, they are joined by writer and scholar Erik Davis to explore the enduring charms and mysteries of one of the greatest—and most underrated—American novels of the late twentieth century. Order Christian Bunyan's Weird Studies poster here. Visit Weirdosphere for more details on Erik Davis's ongoing course, The Three Stigmata of Philip K. Dick. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES John Crowley, Little, Big Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain Eric Davis, interview with Neil Gaiman and Rachel Pollack David Lynch (dir.), Lost Highway America, “The Last Unicorn” John Cooper Powys, A Glastonbury Romance J. R. R. Tolkein, The Lord of the Rings Patrick Harpur, Daimonic Reality Lord Dunsany, Irish novelist Special Guest: Erik Davis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 26 Mar 2025 14:30:00 -0000 The Affirmation of Imagination: On John Crowley's 'Little, Big,' with Erik Davis full 187 SpectreVision Radio Erik Davis joins Phil and JF to discuss John Crowley’s visionary novel, wherein fantasy, memory, and the everyday blend into a single enchanted world. John Crowley’s Little, Big is, at once, a family saga, a fairy tale, an occult thriller, an idyll, a dystopia, as well as a meditation on myth and history, the real and the fantasy, memory and imagination. Little, Big is also a book that JF and Phil have been planning to discuss for as long as Weird Studies has existed. In this episode, they are joined by writer and scholar Erik Davis to explore the enduring charms and mysteries of one of the greatest—and most underrated—American novels of the late twentieth century. Order Christian Bunyan's Weird Studies poster here. Visit Weirdosphere for more details on Erik Davis's ongoing course, The Three Stigmata of Philip K. Dick. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES John Crowley, Little, Big Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain Eric Davis, interview with Neil Gaiman and Rachel Pollack David Lynch (dir.), Lost Highway America, “The Last Unicorn” John Cooper Powys, A Glastonbury Romance J. R. R. Tolkein, The Lord of the Rings Patrick Harpur, Daimonic Reality Lord Dunsany, Irish novelist Special Guest: Erik Davis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices John Crowley’s Little, Big is, at once, a family saga, a fairy tale, an occult thriller, an idyll, a dystopia, as well as a meditation on myth and history, the real and the fantasy, memory and imagination. Little, Big is also a book that JF and Phil have been planning to discuss for as long as Weird Studies has existed. In this episode, they are joined by writer and scholar Erik Davis to explore the enduring charms and mysteries of one of the greatest—and most underrated—American novels of the late twentieth century.

Order Christian Bunyan's Weird Studies poster here.
Visit Weirdosphere for more details on Erik Davis's ongoing course, The Three Stigmata of Philip K. Dick.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

John Crowley, Little, Big
Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain
Eric Davis, interview with Neil Gaiman and Rachel Pollack
David Lynch (dir.), Lost Highway
America, “The Last Unicorn”
John Cooper Powys, A Glastonbury Romance
J. R. R. Tolkein, The Lord of the Rings
Patrick Harpur, Daimonic Reality
Lord Dunsany, Irish novelist

Special Guest: Erik Davis.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5653 yes Episode 186: Meeting at the Center: The Wedge, Part Two https://www.weirdstudies.com/186 In this episode, JF and Phil continue their conversation on the wedge, their figure for the epistemological divide between approaching reality from the heart and exploring it with the mind. As the discussion unfolds, the wedge begins to reveal itself not as a rigid binary but as a spectrum—one that stretches from ultimate thickness to ultimate thinness. Could thinking, then, may be the art of navigating this epistemic gradient, seeking the sweet spot where the self meets the world, each on the other's terms? Visit Weirdosphere for more details on Erik Davis's upcoming course, The Three Stigmata of Philip K. Dick. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Weird Studies, Episode 155 on ‘The Unbinding’ Alan Chapman, Advanced Magick for Beginners Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude The Principle of Sufficient Reason Baruch Spinoza, Ethics Weird Studies, Episode 139 on the power of art Phil Ford, “The View from the Cheap Seats” Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian composer Jaques Vallee, Passport to Magonia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 12 Mar 2025 14:30:00 -0000 Meeting at the Center: The Wedge, Part Two full 186 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF conclude their discussion of the "wedge." In this episode, JF and Phil continue their conversation on the wedge, their figure for the epistemological divide between approaching reality from the heart and exploring it with the mind. As the discussion unfolds, the wedge begins to reveal itself not as a rigid binary but as a spectrum—one that stretches from ultimate thickness to ultimate thinness. Could thinking, then, may be the art of navigating this epistemic gradient, seeking the sweet spot where the self meets the world, each on the other's terms? Visit Weirdosphere for more details on Erik Davis's upcoming course, The Three Stigmata of Philip K. Dick. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Weird Studies, Episode 155 on ‘The Unbinding’ Alan Chapman, Advanced Magick for Beginners Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude The Principle of Sufficient Reason Baruch Spinoza, Ethics Weird Studies, Episode 139 on the power of art Phil Ford, “The View from the Cheap Seats” Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian composer Jaques Vallee, Passport to Magonia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this episode, JF and Phil continue their conversation on the wedge, their figure for the epistemological divide between approaching reality from the heart and exploring it with the mind. As the discussion unfolds, the wedge begins to reveal itself not as a rigid binary but as a spectrum—one that stretches from ultimate thickness to ultimate thinness. Could thinking, then, may be the art of navigating this epistemic gradient, seeking the sweet spot where the self meets the world, each on the other's terms?

Visit Weirdosphere for more details on Erik Davis's upcoming course, The Three Stigmata of Philip K. Dick.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Weird Studies, Episode 155 on ‘The Unbinding’
Alan Chapman, Advanced Magick for Beginners
Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude
The Principle of Sufficient Reason
Baruch Spinoza, Ethics
Weird Studies, Episode 139 on the power of art
Phil Ford, “The View from the Cheap Seats”
Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian composer
Jaques Vallee, Passport to Magonia

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5359 yes Episode 185: Intuition and Reality: The Wedge, Part One https://www.weirdstudies.com/185 "The Wedge" is a key concept for Phil and JF. When exploring weird phenomena—from artworks to ghosts, and everything in between—one tends to emphasize one or the other "end" of the event. At the thin end of the Wedge, the focus is on subjective experience: how it felt, what it was like, and its personal significance. At the thick end, the emphasis shifts to what actually happened, independent of how it was experienced. Though their roles sometimes switch, Phil generally thinks from the thin end, while JF approaches things from the thick. In this episode, they begin unpacking the implications of the Wedge for making sense of reality’s stranger aspects. Header image by SavidgeMichael via Wikimedia Commons. _ Join the Weirdosphere, our online learning platform Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, _Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Weird Studies, Episode 184 on David Lynch Phil Ford, “The View from the Cheap Seats at the UFO Show” Scene by Scene, 1999 Interview with David Lynch Weird Studies, Episodes 76 on Henri Bergson’s Metaphysics Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution Phil Ford, Dig Johan Huizinga, The Waning of the Middle Ages Lewis Lockwood, Beethoven: The Music and the Life Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 26 Feb 2025 15:30:00 -0000 Intuition and Reality: The Wedge, Part One full 185 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the role of intuition in knowing the world in this first of two shows on the metaphysics of the Weird. "The Wedge" is a key concept for Phil and JF. When exploring weird phenomena—from artworks to ghosts, and everything in between—one tends to emphasize one or the other "end" of the event. At the thin end of the Wedge, the focus is on subjective experience: how it felt, what it was like, and its personal significance. At the thick end, the emphasis shifts to what actually happened, independent of how it was experienced. Though their roles sometimes switch, Phil generally thinks from the thin end, while JF approaches things from the thick. In this episode, they begin unpacking the implications of the Wedge for making sense of reality’s stranger aspects. Header image by SavidgeMichael via Wikimedia Commons. _ Join the Weirdosphere, our online learning platform Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, _Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Weird Studies, Episode 184 on David Lynch Phil Ford, “The View from the Cheap Seats at the UFO Show” Scene by Scene, 1999 Interview with David Lynch Weird Studies, Episodes 76 on Henri Bergson’s Metaphysics Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution Phil Ford, Dig Johan Huizinga, The Waning of the Middle Ages Lewis Lockwood, Beethoven: The Music and the Life Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices "The Wedge" is a key concept for Phil and JF. When exploring weird phenomena—from artworks to ghosts, and everything in between—one tends to emphasize one or the other "end" of the event. At the thin end of the Wedge, the focus is on subjective experience: how it felt, what it was like, and its personal significance. At the thick end, the emphasis shifts to what actually happened, independent of how it was experienced. Though their roles sometimes switch, Phil generally thinks from the thin end, while JF approaches things from the thick. In this episode, they begin unpacking the implications of the Wedge for making sense of reality’s stranger aspects.

Header image by SavidgeMichael via Wikimedia Commons.
_
Join the Weirdosphere, our online learning platform
Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, _Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Weird Studies, Episode 184 on David Lynch
Phil Ford, “The View from the Cheap Seats at the UFO Show”
Scene by Scene, 1999 Interview with David Lynch
Weird Studies, Episodes 76 on Henri Bergson’s Metaphysics
Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution
Phil Ford, Dig
Johan Huizinga, The Waning of the Middle Ages
Lewis Lockwood, Beethoven: The Music and the Life

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4628 yes Special Release: Poltergeists, Fairies, Skeptics, and the Managerial Class https://www.weirdstudies.com/184b Due to scheduling conflicts and a series of unforeseen events, JF and Phil have had to push the release of the next official episode of Weird Studies back by one week. To tide you over, we're unlocking a bonus episode previously available only to our Patreon supporters. It serves as the perfect preface to Episode 184, which will be released on February 26, 2025. Apologies for the delay, and thanks for your patience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 19 Feb 2025 15:30:00 -0000 full SpectreVision Radio Unscheduled hiatus this week—enjoy this unlocked bonus episode, a perfect lead-in to next week’s release. Due to scheduling conflicts and a series of unforeseen events, JF and Phil have had to push the release of the next official episode of Weird Studies back by one week. To tide you over, we're unlocking a bonus episode previously available only to our Patreon supporters. It serves as the perfect preface to Episode 184, which will be released on February 26, 2025. Apologies for the delay, and thanks for your patience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Due to scheduling conflicts and a series of unforeseen events, JF and Phil have had to push the release of the next official episode of Weird Studies back by one week. To tide you over, we're unlocking a bonus episode previously available only to our Patreon supporters. It serves as the perfect preface to Episode 184, which will be released on February 26, 2025. Apologies for the delay, and thanks for your patience.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 2021 yes Episode 184: On David Lynch https://www.weirdstudies.com/184 David Lynch passed away on January 15th, 2025, leaving behind a body of work that reshaped the landscape of cinema and television. Few artists have delved as deeply into the strange, the beautiful, and the terrifying as Lynch, and few have had as profound an influence on Weird Studies. His films have long been a touchstone for JF and Phil's discussions on art, philosophy, and the nature of the weird. To honor his memory, they decided to devote an episode to Lynch's work as a whole, with special attention paid to Eraserhead—the nightmarish debut that announced his singular vision to the world. A study in dread, desire, and the uncanny, Eraserhead remains one of the most disturbing and mysterious works of American cinema. In this episode, we explore what makes it so powerful and how it connects to Lynch’s larger artistic project. To enroll in JF's new Weirdosphere course, It's All Real: An Inquiry Into the Reality of the Supernatural, please visit www.weirdosphere.org. The course starts on Thursday, Feb 6, at 8 pm Eastern. A video for the piece For David Lynch is available on Pierre-Yves Martel's YouTube channel. REFERENCES David Lynch, Eraserhead David Lynch: The Art Life Victorian Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets Norman Mailer, An American Dream Laura Adams, "Existential Aesthetics: An Interview with Norman Mailer” George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal Carl Jung, The Red Book Jack Arnold (dir.), The Creature from the Black Lagoon Noel Caroll, The Philosophy of Horror Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense Jack Smith, “The Perfect Filmic Appositeness of Maria Montez” David Foster Wallace, “David Lynch Keeps his Head” in A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never do Again Arthur Machen, The White People William Shakespeare, Macbeth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 05 Feb 2025 15:30:00 -0000 On David Lynch full 184 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the work of David Lynch, focusing especially on his first film, "Eraserhead.' David Lynch passed away on January 15th, 2025, leaving behind a body of work that reshaped the landscape of cinema and television. Few artists have delved as deeply into the strange, the beautiful, and the terrifying as Lynch, and few have had as profound an influence on Weird Studies. His films have long been a touchstone for JF and Phil's discussions on art, philosophy, and the nature of the weird. To honor his memory, they decided to devote an episode to Lynch's work as a whole, with special attention paid to Eraserhead—the nightmarish debut that announced his singular vision to the world. A study in dread, desire, and the uncanny, Eraserhead remains one of the most disturbing and mysterious works of American cinema. In this episode, we explore what makes it so powerful and how it connects to Lynch’s larger artistic project. To enroll in JF's new Weirdosphere course, It's All Real: An Inquiry Into the Reality of the Supernatural, please visit www.weirdosphere.org. The course starts on Thursday, Feb 6, at 8 pm Eastern. A video for the piece For David Lynch is available on Pierre-Yves Martel's YouTube channel. REFERENCES David Lynch, Eraserhead David Lynch: The Art Life Victorian Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets Norman Mailer, An American Dream Laura Adams, "Existential Aesthetics: An Interview with Norman Mailer” George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal Carl Jung, The Red Book Jack Arnold (dir.), The Creature from the Black Lagoon Noel Caroll, The Philosophy of Horror Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense Jack Smith, “The Perfect Filmic Appositeness of Maria Montez” David Foster Wallace, “David Lynch Keeps his Head” in A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never do Again Arthur Machen, The White People William Shakespeare, Macbeth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices David Lynch passed away on January 15th, 2025, leaving behind a body of work that reshaped the landscape of cinema and television. Few artists have delved as deeply into the strange, the beautiful, and the terrifying as Lynch, and few have had as profound an influence on Weird Studies. His films have long been a touchstone for JF and Phil's discussions on art, philosophy, and the nature of the weird. To honor his memory, they decided to devote an episode to Lynch's work as a whole, with special attention paid to Eraserhead—the nightmarish debut that announced his singular vision to the world. A study in dread, desire, and the uncanny, Eraserhead remains one of the most disturbing and mysterious works of American cinema. In this episode, we explore what makes it so powerful and how it connects to Lynch’s larger artistic project.

To enroll in JF's new Weirdosphere course, It's All Real: An Inquiry Into the Reality of the Supernatural, please visit www.weirdosphere.org. The course starts on Thursday, Feb 6, at 8 pm Eastern.

A video for the piece For David Lynch is available on Pierre-Yves Martel's YouTube channel.

REFERENCES

David Lynch, Eraserhead
David Lynch: The Art Life
Victorian Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets
Norman Mailer, An American Dream
Laura Adams, "Existential Aesthetics: An Interview with Norman Mailer”
George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal
Carl Jung, The Red Book
Jack Arnold (dir.), The Creature from the Black Lagoon
Noel Caroll, The Philosophy of Horror
Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense
Jack Smith, “The Perfect Filmic Appositeness of Maria Montez”
David Foster Wallace, “David Lynch Keeps his Head” in A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never do Again
Arthur Machen, The White People
William Shakespeare, Macbeth

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]]> 6141 yes Episode 183: On Hermann Hesse's 'Siddhartha' https://www.weirdstudies.com/183 Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha is one of the great novels of the twentieth century and a prime example of literature that transforms the deeply personal into something universal. For Phil and JF in this episode, the novel serves as the foundation for a discussion on spiritual journeying, the ideal of enlightenment, and the challenge of living in an ensouled universe. Sign up for JF's new Weirdosphere course on the supernatural, starting on February 6th, 2025. Purchase tickets to the Weirdosphere screening of Aaron Poole's Dada on February 1st, 2025. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Herman Hesse, Siddhartha Christopher Theofanidis and Melissa Studdard, Siddhartha Gustav Holst, The Planets Richard Wagner, Parsifal G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy Colin Wilson, The Outsider Adam Kirsch, “Herman Hesse’s Arrested Development” Dogen, Genjakoan Chögyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 22 Jan 2025 15:30:00 -0000 On Hermann Hesse's 'Siddhartha' full 183 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Hesse's literary exploration of the spiritual journey. Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha is one of the great novels of the twentieth century and a prime example of literature that transforms the deeply personal into something universal. For Phil and JF in this episode, the novel serves as the foundation for a discussion on spiritual journeying, the ideal of enlightenment, and the challenge of living in an ensouled universe. Sign up for JF's new Weirdosphere course on the supernatural, starting on February 6th, 2025. Purchase tickets to the Weirdosphere screening of Aaron Poole's Dada on February 1st, 2025. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Herman Hesse, Siddhartha Christopher Theofanidis and Melissa Studdard, Siddhartha Gustav Holst, The Planets Richard Wagner, Parsifal G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy Colin Wilson, The Outsider Adam Kirsch, “Herman Hesse’s Arrested Development” Dogen, Genjakoan Chögyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha is one of the great novels of the twentieth century and a prime example of literature that transforms the deeply personal into something universal. For Phil and JF in this episode, the novel serves as the foundation for a discussion on spiritual journeying, the ideal of enlightenment, and the challenge of living in an ensouled universe.

Sign up for JF's new Weirdosphere course on the supernatural, starting on February 6th, 2025.

Purchase tickets to the Weirdosphere screening of Aaron Poole's Dada on February 1st, 2025.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Herman Hesse, Siddhartha
Christopher Theofanidis and Melissa Studdard, Siddhartha
Gustav Holst, The Planets
Richard Wagner, Parsifal
G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Colin Wilson, The Outsider
Adam Kirsch, “Herman Hesse’s Arrested Development”
Dogen, Genjakoan
Chögyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4907 yes Episode 182: Providence of Evil: On Robert Eggers' 'Nosferatu' https://www.weirdstudies.com/182 In this episode, JF and Phil examine the myth of the vampire through the lens of Robert Eggers' latest film, Nosferatu, a reimagining of F. W. Murnau's German Expressionist masterpiece. Topics covered include the nature of vampires, the symbolism of evil, the implicit theology of Eggers' film (compared with that of Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula), the need for shadow work, as well as the power of real introspection and self-sacrifice. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Robert Eggers (dir.), Nosferatu F. W. Murnau (dir.), Nosferatu Mel Brooks (dir.), Dracula: Dead and Loving It Francis Ford Coppola (dir.), Bram Stoker’s Dracula Bram Stoker, Dracula Richard Wagner, Tristan und Isolde David James Smith, “The Archaeologist Couple who Unearthed a Field Full of Vampires” Robert Eggers, The Witch Richard Strauss, Salome Weird Studies, Episode 156 on “The Secret History” Rudolf Steiner, “Lucifer and Ahriman” Richard Wagner, Ring Cycle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 08 Jan 2025 15:30:00 -0000 Providence of Evil: On Robert Eggers' 'Nosferatu' full 182 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Rogert Eggers' reimagining of F. W. Murnau's classic vampire film. In this episode, JF and Phil examine the myth of the vampire through the lens of Robert Eggers' latest film, Nosferatu, a reimagining of F. W. Murnau's German Expressionist masterpiece. Topics covered include the nature of vampires, the symbolism of evil, the implicit theology of Eggers' film (compared with that of Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula), the need for shadow work, as well as the power of real introspection and self-sacrifice. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Robert Eggers (dir.), Nosferatu F. W. Murnau (dir.), Nosferatu Mel Brooks (dir.), Dracula: Dead and Loving It Francis Ford Coppola (dir.), Bram Stoker’s Dracula Bram Stoker, Dracula Richard Wagner, Tristan und Isolde David James Smith, “The Archaeologist Couple who Unearthed a Field Full of Vampires” Robert Eggers, The Witch Richard Strauss, Salome Weird Studies, Episode 156 on “The Secret History” Rudolf Steiner, “Lucifer and Ahriman” Richard Wagner, Ring Cycle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this episode, JF and Phil examine the myth of the vampire through the lens of Robert Eggers' latest film, Nosferatu, a reimagining of F. W. Murnau's German Expressionist masterpiece. Topics covered include the nature of vampires, the symbolism of evil, the implicit theology of Eggers' film (compared with that of Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula), the need for shadow work, as well as the power of real introspection and self-sacrifice.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Robert Eggers (dir.), Nosferatu
F. W. Murnau (dir.), Nosferatu
Mel Brooks (dir.), Dracula: Dead and Loving It
Francis Ford Coppola (dir.), Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Bram Stoker, Dracula
Richard Wagner, Tristan und Isolde
David James Smith, “The Archaeologist Couple who Unearthed a Field Full of Vampires”
Robert Eggers, The Witch
Richard Strauss, Salome
Weird Studies, Episode 156 on “The Secret History”
Rudolf Steiner, “Lucifer and Ahriman”
Richard Wagner, Ring Cycle

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4850 yes Holiday Bonus: Waiting for the Next Sentence https://www.weirdstudies.com/181b With the next flagship show set to drop on January 8, 2025, we thought we'd tide you over with this conversation on the art and craft and writing, originally recorded for Listener's Tier patrons on the Weird Studies Patreon. To join our Patreon community, please visit www.patreon.com/weirdstudies. To purchase tickets to Phil and JF's winter solstice celebration, happening on Weirdosphere on Thursday, December 19, at 8 pm Eastern, please visit www.weirdosphere.org. We wish you a happy and safe holiday season! The journey continues in 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 18 Dec 2024 15:30:00 -0000 full SpectreVision Radio In this conversation originally recorded for members of the Weird Studies Patreon, JF and Phil discuss certain challenges of the writer's craft. With the next flagship show set to drop on January 8, 2025, we thought we'd tide you over with this conversation on the art and craft and writing, originally recorded for Listener's Tier patrons on the Weird Studies Patreon. To join our Patreon community, please visit www.patreon.com/weirdstudies. To purchase tickets to Phil and JF's winter solstice celebration, happening on Weirdosphere on Thursday, December 19, at 8 pm Eastern, please visit www.weirdosphere.org. We wish you a happy and safe holiday season! The journey continues in 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices With the next flagship show set to drop on January 8, 2025, we thought we'd tide you over with this conversation on the art and craft and writing, originally recorded for Listener's Tier patrons on the Weird Studies Patreon.

To join our Patreon community, please visit www.patreon.com/weirdstudies.

To purchase tickets to Phil and JF's winter solstice celebration, happening on Weirdosphere on Thursday, December 19, at 8 pm Eastern, please visit www.weirdosphere.org.

We wish you a happy and safe holiday season! The journey continues in 2025.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 2713 yes Episode 181: On 'The X Files,' with Meredith Michael https://www.weirdstudies.com/181 Chris Carter's The X-Files is weird on its face: a dramatic series that, from the start, presented itself as more than drama, an exploration of the reality of the paranormal using the tools of fiction, a fantasy posing as reality (or is it the other way around?). Strangely prescient, undeniably zany, and truly "hyperstitious," the series is likely to strike contemporary viewers as equal parts naive and prophetic. In this episode, music scholar and Weird Studies assistant Meredith Michael joins Phil and JF for a deep dive into the archival sublime of the filing cabinet marked "X." To purchase tickets to JF and Phil's December 19th solstice event on Weirdosphere, with live music by Pierre-Yves Martel, to to weirdosphere.org. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Cut-up technique Phil Ford, “The View from the Cheap Seats at the UFO Show” Richard Dawkins, Unweaving the Rainbow Special Guest: Meredith Michael. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 04 Dec 2024 16:30:00 -0000 On 'The X Files,' with Meredith Michael full 181 SpectreVision Radio Meredith Michael joins JF and Phil to discuss the classic television series. Chris Carter's The X-Files is weird on its face: a dramatic series that, from the start, presented itself as more than drama, an exploration of the reality of the paranormal using the tools of fiction, a fantasy posing as reality (or is it the other way around?). Strangely prescient, undeniably zany, and truly "hyperstitious," the series is likely to strike contemporary viewers as equal parts naive and prophetic. In this episode, music scholar and Weird Studies assistant Meredith Michael joins Phil and JF for a deep dive into the archival sublime of the filing cabinet marked "X." To purchase tickets to JF and Phil's December 19th solstice event on Weirdosphere, with live music by Pierre-Yves Martel, to to weirdosphere.org. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Cut-up technique Phil Ford, “The View from the Cheap Seats at the UFO Show” Richard Dawkins, Unweaving the Rainbow Special Guest: Meredith Michael. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Chris Carter's The X-Files is weird on its face: a dramatic series that, from the start, presented itself as more than drama, an exploration of the reality of the paranormal using the tools of fiction, a fantasy posing as reality (or is it the other way around?). Strangely prescient, undeniably zany, and truly "hyperstitious," the series is likely to strike contemporary viewers as equal parts naive and prophetic. In this episode, music scholar and Weird Studies assistant Meredith Michael joins Phil and JF for a deep dive into the archival sublime of the filing cabinet marked "X."

To purchase tickets to JF and Phil's December 19th solstice event on Weirdosphere, with live music by Pierre-Yves Martel, to to weirdosphere.org.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Cut-up technique
Phil Ford, “The View from the Cheap Seats at the UFO Show”
Richard Dawkins, Unweaving the Rainbow

Special Guest: Meredith Michael.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4683 yes Episode 180: The Player: On the Magician Card in the Tarot https://www.weirdstudies.com/180 The Magician card likely graces more front covers of books on the tarot than any of the other major arcana. In many ways, it symbolizes the tarot itself, or the individual who has mastered the art of manipulating the cards to divine their meanings. Yet, the Magician is a profoundly ambiguous figure. From one perspective, he is the Magus, piercing through the illusions of ceaseless becoming to glimpse the hidden depths of reality. From another, he is all surface without depth, a carnival huckster ready to empty your coin purse while you’re transfixed by his crystal ball. In this episode, JF and Phil continue their on-again, off-again journey through the major trumps with a discussion of the card that—deservedly or not—proudly calls itself Number One. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Weird Studies, Episode 24 on “The Charlatan and the Magus” Weird Studies, Episode 109 and Episode 110 on The Glass Bead Game Weird Studies, Episode 179 with Lionel Snell Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Geneology of Morals Louis Sass, Modernism and Madness Gilles Deleuze, Pure Immanence Richard Wagner, Parsifal William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light Participation mystique Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Leigh Mccloskey, Tarot Re-visioned Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 20 Nov 2024 16:15:00 -0000 The Player: On the Magician Card in the Tarot full 180 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF resume their journey through the major trumps of the tarot with a discussion of the Magician card. The Magician card likely graces more front covers of books on the tarot than any of the other major arcana. In many ways, it symbolizes the tarot itself, or the individual who has mastered the art of manipulating the cards to divine their meanings. Yet, the Magician is a profoundly ambiguous figure. From one perspective, he is the Magus, piercing through the illusions of ceaseless becoming to glimpse the hidden depths of reality. From another, he is all surface without depth, a carnival huckster ready to empty your coin purse while you’re transfixed by his crystal ball. In this episode, JF and Phil continue their on-again, off-again journey through the major trumps with a discussion of the card that—deservedly or not—proudly calls itself Number One. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Weird Studies, Episode 24 on “The Charlatan and the Magus” Weird Studies, Episode 109 and Episode 110 on The Glass Bead Game Weird Studies, Episode 179 with Lionel Snell Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Geneology of Morals Louis Sass, Modernism and Madness Gilles Deleuze, Pure Immanence Richard Wagner, Parsifal William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light Participation mystique Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Leigh Mccloskey, Tarot Re-visioned Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The Magician card likely graces more front covers of books on the tarot than any of the other major arcana. In many ways, it symbolizes the tarot itself, or the individual who has mastered the art of manipulating the cards to divine their meanings. Yet, the Magician is a profoundly ambiguous figure. From one perspective, he is the Magus, piercing through the illusions of ceaseless becoming to glimpse the hidden depths of reality. From another, he is all surface without depth, a carnival huckster ready to empty your coin purse while you’re transfixed by his crystal ball. In this episode, JF and Phil continue their on-again, off-again journey through the major trumps with a discussion of the card that—deservedly or not—proudly calls itself Number One.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES
Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot
Weird Studies, Episode 24 on “The Charlatan and the Magus”
Weird Studies, Episode 109 and Episode 110 on The Glass Bead Game
Weird Studies, Episode 179 with Lionel Snell
Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Geneology of Morals
Louis Sass, Modernism and Madness
Gilles Deleuze, Pure Immanence
Richard Wagner, Parsifal
William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light
Participation mystique
Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth
Leigh Mccloskey, Tarot Re-visioned

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4947 yes Episode 179: The Final Frontier, with Lionel Snell https://www.weirdstudies.com/179 One of the great rewards of "weirding" the world is learning that boredom may be a kind of ethical transgression—the world is simply too strange to allow for it, and if you're bored, you're at least partly to blame. Few have put this notion to the test as rigorously as Lionel Snell, whose work as a magician celebrates the wonders of everyday events, from a walk in the park to a moment of car trouble. Unlike the pursuit of the extraordinary that often defines occult practice, Snell's approach reminds us of the magic in the mundane. In this episode, Snell, also known as Ramsey Dukes, shares the insights he's gained over his decades-long career as one of the leading figures in contemporary magical theory and practice. For an exclusive Vimeo link to Aaron Poole's film Dada mentioned in the intro, go to Instagram and send @aaronsghost the direct message "movie link please". REFERENCES Ramsey Dukes, Thundersqueak Weird Studies, Episode 141 on “SSOTBME Weird Studies, Episode 24 with Lionel Snell John Crowley, Little, Big Arthur Machen, “A Fragment of Life” David Foster Wallace, The Pale King Max Picard, The Flight from God Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking Robert Anton Wilson, Prometheus Rising Henry Bergson, Matter and Memory Russell’s Paradox Special Guest: Lionel Snell [Ramsey Dukes]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 06 Nov 2024 16:45:00 -0000 The Final Frontier, with Lionel Snell full 179 SpectreVision Radio Lionel Snell joins Phil and JF to discuss magic, metaphysics, and the enchantments of boredom. One of the great rewards of "weirding" the world is learning that boredom may be a kind of ethical transgression—the world is simply too strange to allow for it, and if you're bored, you're at least partly to blame. Few have put this notion to the test as rigorously as Lionel Snell, whose work as a magician celebrates the wonders of everyday events, from a walk in the park to a moment of car trouble. Unlike the pursuit of the extraordinary that often defines occult practice, Snell's approach reminds us of the magic in the mundane. In this episode, Snell, also known as Ramsey Dukes, shares the insights he's gained over his decades-long career as one of the leading figures in contemporary magical theory and practice. For an exclusive Vimeo link to Aaron Poole's film Dada mentioned in the intro, go to Instagram and send @aaronsghost the direct message "movie link please". REFERENCES Ramsey Dukes, Thundersqueak Weird Studies, Episode 141 on “SSOTBME Weird Studies, Episode 24 with Lionel Snell John Crowley, Little, Big Arthur Machen, “A Fragment of Life” David Foster Wallace, The Pale King Max Picard, The Flight from God Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking Robert Anton Wilson, Prometheus Rising Henry Bergson, Matter and Memory Russell’s Paradox Special Guest: Lionel Snell [Ramsey Dukes]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices One of the great rewards of "weirding" the world is learning that boredom may be a kind of ethical transgression—the world is simply too strange to allow for it, and if you're bored, you're at least partly to blame. Few have put this notion to the test as rigorously as Lionel Snell, whose work as a magician celebrates the wonders of everyday events, from a walk in the park to a moment of car trouble. Unlike the pursuit of the extraordinary that often defines occult practice, Snell's approach reminds us of the magic in the mundane. In this episode, Snell, also known as Ramsey Dukes, shares the insights he's gained over his decades-long career as one of the leading figures in contemporary magical theory and practice.

For an exclusive Vimeo link to Aaron Poole's film Dada mentioned in the intro, go to Instagram and send @aaronsghost the direct message "movie link please".

REFERENCES
Ramsey Dukes, Thundersqueak
Weird Studies, Episode 141 on “SSOTBME
Weird Studies, Episode 24 with Lionel Snell
John Crowley, Little, Big
Arthur Machen, “A Fragment of Life”
David Foster Wallace, The Pale King
Max Picard, The Flight from God
Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking
Robert Anton Wilson, Prometheus Rising
Henry Bergson, Matter and Memory
Russell’s Paradox

Special Guest: Lionel Snell [Ramsey Dukes].

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4694 yes Episode 178: Edge of Reality: On John Carpenter's 'In the Mouth of Madness' https://www.weirdstudies.com/178 Earlier this month, Phil and JF recorded a live episode at Indiana University Cinema in Bloomington following a screening of John Carpenter's film In the Mouth of Madness. Carpenter’s cult classic obliterates the boundary between reality and fiction, madness and revelation—an ideal subject for a Weird Studies conversation. In this episode, recorded before a live audience, the hosts explore the film’s Lovecraftian themes, the porous nature of storytelling, and how art can function as a conduit to unsettling truths. Special thanks to Dr. Alicia Kozma and the IU Cinema team for hosting and recording the event. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES John Carpenter, In the Mouth of Madness John Carpenter, Prince of Darkness* John Carpenter, The Thing Joshua Clover, BFI Film Classics: The Matrix Philip K. Dick, Time Out of Joint David Cronenberg, Videodrome Louis Althusser, "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (Notes towards an Investigation)" Giorgio Agamben, Homo Sacer Nick Land, English philosopher H. P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu" Jonathan Carroll, The Land of Laughs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 23 Oct 2024 14:30:00 -0000 Edge of Reality: On John Carpenter's 'In the Mouth of Madness' full 178 SpectreVision Radio A live recording of JF and Phil's conversation following a screening of John Carpenter's cult classic. Earlier this month, Phil and JF recorded a live episode at Indiana University Cinema in Bloomington following a screening of John Carpenter's film In the Mouth of Madness. Carpenter’s cult classic obliterates the boundary between reality and fiction, madness and revelation—an ideal subject for a Weird Studies conversation. In this episode, recorded before a live audience, the hosts explore the film’s Lovecraftian themes, the porous nature of storytelling, and how art can function as a conduit to unsettling truths. Special thanks to Dr. Alicia Kozma and the IU Cinema team for hosting and recording the event. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES John Carpenter, In the Mouth of Madness John Carpenter, Prince of Darkness* John Carpenter, The Thing Joshua Clover, BFI Film Classics: The Matrix Philip K. Dick, Time Out of Joint David Cronenberg, Videodrome Louis Althusser, "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (Notes towards an Investigation)" Giorgio Agamben, Homo Sacer Nick Land, English philosopher H. P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu" Jonathan Carroll, The Land of Laughs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Earlier this month, Phil and JF recorded a live episode at Indiana University Cinema in Bloomington following a screening of John Carpenter's film In the Mouth of Madness. Carpenter’s cult classic obliterates the boundary between reality and fiction, madness and revelation—an ideal subject for a Weird Studies conversation. In this episode, recorded before a live audience, the hosts explore the film’s Lovecraftian themes, the porous nature of storytelling, and how art can function as a conduit to unsettling truths.

Special thanks to Dr. Alicia Kozma and the IU Cinema team for hosting and recording the event.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES
John Carpenter, In the Mouth of Madness
John Carpenter, Prince of Darkness*
John Carpenter, The Thing
Joshua Clover, BFI Film Classics: The Matrix
Philip K. Dick, Time Out of Joint
David Cronenberg, Videodrome
Louis Althusser, "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (Notes towards an Investigation)"
Giorgio Agamben, Homo Sacer
Nick Land, English philosopher
H. P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"
Jonathan Carroll, The Land of Laughs

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4379 yes Episode 177: Riddles in the Dark: On Fairy Tales, Interpretation, and 'Rapunzel' https://www.weirdstudies.com/177 Fairy tales are among the most familiar cultural objects, so familiar that we let our kids play with them unsupervised. At the same time, they are also the most mysterious of artifacts, their heimlich giving way to unheimlich as soon as we give them a closer look and ask ourselves what they are really about. Indeed, these imaginal nomads, which seem to evade all cultural and historical capture, existing in various forms in every time and place, can become so strange as to make us wonder if they are cultural at all, and not some unexplained force of nature — the dreaming of the world. In this episode, JF and Phil use "Rapunzel" as a case study to explore the weirdness of fairy tales, illustrating how they demand interpretation without ever allowing themselves to be explained. Sign up for the upcoming course "Writing at the Wellspring" October 22-December 1 with Dr. Matt Cardin on Weirdosphere.org Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! SHOW NOTES Walter Benjamin, "The Storyteller" in Illuminations (Hannah Arendt, ed.; Harryn Zohn, trans.). Novalis, Philosophical Writings. (Margaret Mahony Stoljar, trans.). Cristina Campo, The Unforgivable and Other Writings (Alex Andriesse, trans.) William Irwin Thompson, Imaginary Landscape Bruno Bettelheim, The Uses of Enchantment Marie-Louise von Franz,, Swiss Jungian psychologist Sesame Street, “Rapunzel Rescue” Disney’s Tangled The Annotated Brothers Grimm Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index Marina Warner, Once Upon a Time W. A. Mozart, The Magic Flute Dante Alighieri, Il Convito Panspermia hypothesis Gregory Bateson, Mind and Nature John Mitchell, Confessions of a Radical Traditionalist Clint Eastwood (dir.) The Unforgiven Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 09 Oct 2024 14:30:00 -0000 Riddles in the Dark: On Fairy Tales, Interpretation, and 'Rapunzel' full 177 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the weirdness of fairy tales as objects infinitely interpretable, yet resolutely unexplainable. Fairy tales are among the most familiar cultural objects, so familiar that we let our kids play with them unsupervised. At the same time, they are also the most mysterious of artifacts, their heimlich giving way to unheimlich as soon as we give them a closer look and ask ourselves what they are really about. Indeed, these imaginal nomads, which seem to evade all cultural and historical capture, existing in various forms in every time and place, can become so strange as to make us wonder if they are cultural at all, and not some unexplained force of nature — the dreaming of the world. In this episode, JF and Phil use "Rapunzel" as a case study to explore the weirdness of fairy tales, illustrating how they demand interpretation without ever allowing themselves to be explained. Sign up for the upcoming course "Writing at the Wellspring" October 22-December 1 with Dr. Matt Cardin on Weirdosphere.org Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! SHOW NOTES Walter Benjamin, "The Storyteller" in Illuminations (Hannah Arendt, ed.; Harryn Zohn, trans.). Novalis, Philosophical Writings. (Margaret Mahony Stoljar, trans.). Cristina Campo, The Unforgivable and Other Writings (Alex Andriesse, trans.) William Irwin Thompson, Imaginary Landscape Bruno Bettelheim, The Uses of Enchantment Marie-Louise von Franz,, Swiss Jungian psychologist Sesame Street, “Rapunzel Rescue” Disney’s Tangled The Annotated Brothers Grimm Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index Marina Warner, Once Upon a Time W. A. Mozart, The Magic Flute Dante Alighieri, Il Convito Panspermia hypothesis Gregory Bateson, Mind and Nature John Mitchell, Confessions of a Radical Traditionalist Clint Eastwood (dir.) The Unforgiven Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Fairy tales are among the most familiar cultural objects, so familiar that we let our kids play with them unsupervised. At the same time, they are also the most mysterious of artifacts, their heimlich giving way to unheimlich as soon as we give them a closer look and ask ourselves what they are really about. Indeed, these imaginal nomads, which seem to evade all cultural and historical capture, existing in various forms in every time and place, can become so strange as to make us wonder if they are cultural at all, and not some unexplained force of nature — the dreaming of the world. In this episode, JF and Phil use "Rapunzel" as a case study to explore the weirdness of fairy tales, illustrating how they demand interpretation without ever allowing themselves to be explained.

Sign up for the upcoming course "Writing at the Wellspring" October 22-December 1 with Dr. Matt Cardin on Weirdosphere.org

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

SHOW NOTES

Walter Benjamin, "The Storyteller" in Illuminations (Hannah Arendt, ed.; Harryn Zohn, trans.).
Novalis, Philosophical Writings. (Margaret Mahony Stoljar, trans.).
Cristina Campo, The Unforgivable and Other Writings (Alex Andriesse, trans.)
William Irwin Thompson, Imaginary Landscape
Bruno Bettelheim, The Uses of Enchantment
Marie-Louise von Franz,, Swiss Jungian psychologist
Sesame Street, “Rapunzel Rescue”
Disney’s Tangled
The Annotated Brothers Grimm
Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index
Marina Warner, Once Upon a Time
W. A. Mozart, The Magic Flute
Dante Alighieri, Il Convito
Panspermia hypothesis
Gregory Bateson, Mind and Nature
John Mitchell, Confessions of a Radical Traditionalist
Clint Eastwood (dir.) The Unforgiven

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5263 yes Episode 176: On Charles Burns' 'Black Hole' and the Medium of Comics https://www.weirdstudies.com/176 Comics, like cinema, is an eminently modern medium. And as with cinema, looking closely at it can swiftly acquaint us with the profound weirdness of modernity. Do that in the context of a discussion on Charles Burns' comic masterpiece Black Hole, and you're guaranteed a memorable Weird Studies episode. Black Hole was serialized over ten years beginning in 1995, and first released as a single volume by Pantheon Books in 2005. Like all masterpieces, it shines both inside and out: it tells a captivating story, a "weirding" of the teenage romance genre, while also revealing something of the inner workings of comics as such. In this episode, Phil and JF explore the singular wonders of a medium that, thanks to artists like Burns, has rightfully ascended from the trash stratum to the coveted empyrean of artistic respectability—without losing its edge. BIG NEWS: • If you're planning to be in Bloomington, Indiana on October 9th, 2024, click here to purchase tickets to IU Cinema's screening of John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness, featuring a live Weird Studies recording with JF and Phil. • Go to Weirdosphere to sign up for Matt Cardin's upcoming course, MC101: Writing at the Wellspring, starting on 22 October 2024. • Visit https://www.shannontaggart.com/events and follow the links to learn more about Shannon's (online) Fall Symposium at the Last Tuesday Society. Featured speakers include Steven Intermill & Toni Rotonda, Shannon Taggart, JF Martel, Charles and Penelope Emmons, Doug Skinner, Michael W. Homer, Maria Molteni, and Emily Hauver. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Charles Burns, Black Hole Clement Greenberg’s concept of “medium specificity” Terry Gilliam (dir.), The Fisher King Seth, comic artist Chris Ware, Building Stories “Graphic Novel Forms Today” in Critical Inquiry Raymond Knapp, The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity Vilhelm Hammershoi, Danish painter Ramsey Dukes, Words Made Flesh G. Spencer-Brown, Laws of Form Dave Hickey, “Formalism” Nelson Goodman, Languages of Art Chrysippus, Stoic philosopher Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 25 Sep 2024 14:30:00 -0000 On Charles Burns' 'Black Hole' and the Medium of Comics full 176 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Charles Burns' masterful graphic novel "Black Hole." Comics, like cinema, is an eminently modern medium. And as with cinema, looking closely at it can swiftly acquaint us with the profound weirdness of modernity. Do that in the context of a discussion on Charles Burns' comic masterpiece Black Hole, and you're guaranteed a memorable Weird Studies episode. Black Hole was serialized over ten years beginning in 1995, and first released as a single volume by Pantheon Books in 2005. Like all masterpieces, it shines both inside and out: it tells a captivating story, a "weirding" of the teenage romance genre, while also revealing something of the inner workings of comics as such. In this episode, Phil and JF explore the singular wonders of a medium that, thanks to artists like Burns, has rightfully ascended from the trash stratum to the coveted empyrean of artistic respectability—without losing its edge. BIG NEWS: • If you're planning to be in Bloomington, Indiana on October 9th, 2024, click here to purchase tickets to IU Cinema's screening of John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness, featuring a live Weird Studies recording with JF and Phil. • Go to Weirdosphere to sign up for Matt Cardin's upcoming course, MC101: Writing at the Wellspring, starting on 22 October 2024. • Visit https://www.shannontaggart.com/events and follow the links to learn more about Shannon's (online) Fall Symposium at the Last Tuesday Society. Featured speakers include Steven Intermill & Toni Rotonda, Shannon Taggart, JF Martel, Charles and Penelope Emmons, Doug Skinner, Michael W. Homer, Maria Molteni, and Emily Hauver. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Charles Burns, Black Hole Clement Greenberg’s concept of “medium specificity” Terry Gilliam (dir.), The Fisher King Seth, comic artist Chris Ware, Building Stories “Graphic Novel Forms Today” in Critical Inquiry Raymond Knapp, The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity Vilhelm Hammershoi, Danish painter Ramsey Dukes, Words Made Flesh G. Spencer-Brown, Laws of Form Dave Hickey, “Formalism” Nelson Goodman, Languages of Art Chrysippus, Stoic philosopher Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Comics, like cinema, is an eminently modern medium. And as with cinema, looking closely at it can swiftly acquaint us with the profound weirdness of modernity. Do that in the context of a discussion on Charles Burns' comic masterpiece Black Hole, and you're guaranteed a memorable Weird Studies episode. Black Hole was serialized over ten years beginning in 1995, and first released as a single volume by Pantheon Books in 2005. Like all masterpieces, it shines both inside and out: it tells a captivating story, a "weirding" of the teenage romance genre, while also revealing something of the inner workings of comics as such. In this episode, Phil and JF explore the singular wonders of a medium that, thanks to artists like Burns, has rightfully ascended from the trash stratum to the coveted empyrean of artistic respectability—without losing its edge.

BIG NEWS:

• If you're planning to be in Bloomington, Indiana on October 9th, 2024, click here to purchase tickets to IU Cinema's screening of John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness, featuring a live Weird Studies recording with JF and Phil.

• Go to Weirdosphere to sign up for Matt Cardin's upcoming course, MC101: Writing at the Wellspring, starting on 22 October 2024.

• Visit https://www.shannontaggart.com/events and follow the links to learn more about Shannon's (online) Fall Symposium at the Last Tuesday Society. Featured speakers include Steven Intermill & Toni Rotonda, Shannon Taggart, JF Martel, Charles and Penelope Emmons, Doug Skinner, Michael W. Homer, Maria Molteni, and Emily Hauver.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Charles Burns, Black Hole
Clement Greenberg’s concept of “medium specificity”
Terry Gilliam (dir.), The Fisher King
Seth, comic artist
Chris Ware, Building Stories
“Graphic Novel Forms Today” in Critical Inquiry
Raymond Knapp, The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity
Vilhelm Hammershoi, Danish painter
Ramsey Dukes, Words Made Flesh
G. Spencer-Brown, Laws of Form
Dave Hickey, “Formalism”
Nelson Goodman, Languages of Art
Chrysippus, Stoic philosopher
Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4903 yes Mid-Break Bonus: The Quiet Earth https://www.weirdstudies.com/175b Every off-week, listeners who have chosen to support Weird Studies by joining our Patreon at the Listener's Tier get to enjoy a bonus episode. These episodes are different from the flagship show. Less formal and entirely improvised, they offer Phil and JF a different way of exploring the weird in art, philosophy and culture. To tide our listenership over until the next new episode drops on September 25th, 2024, here is a recent example of a Weird Studies audio extra, recorded as your hosts were finishing up their first Weirdosphere course, "The Beauty and the Horror." The conversation ended up centering on cultural works we experienced in childhood, and that are all the more magical for being only vaguely remembered. To enroll in JF's upcoming Weirdosphere course, "Whirl Without End: Fairy Tales and the Weird," please visit www.weirdosphere.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 21 Aug 2024 14:30:00 -0000 full SpectreVision Radio A rollicking ride of a bonus episode, previously exclusive to our Patreon supporters. Every off-week, listeners who have chosen to support Weird Studies by joining our Patreon at the Listener's Tier get to enjoy a bonus episode. These episodes are different from the flagship show. Less formal and entirely improvised, they offer Phil and JF a different way of exploring the weird in art, philosophy and culture. To tide our listenership over until the next new episode drops on September 25th, 2024, here is a recent example of a Weird Studies audio extra, recorded as your hosts were finishing up their first Weirdosphere course, "The Beauty and the Horror." The conversation ended up centering on cultural works we experienced in childhood, and that are all the more magical for being only vaguely remembered. To enroll in JF's upcoming Weirdosphere course, "Whirl Without End: Fairy Tales and the Weird," please visit www.weirdosphere.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Every off-week, listeners who have chosen to support Weird Studies by joining our Patreon at the Listener's Tier get to enjoy a bonus episode. These episodes are different from the flagship show. Less formal and entirely improvised, they offer Phil and JF a different way of exploring the weird in art, philosophy and culture. To tide our listenership over until the next new episode drops on September 25th, 2024, here is a recent example of a Weird Studies audio extra, recorded as your hosts were finishing up their first Weirdosphere course, "The Beauty and the Horror." The conversation ended up centering on cultural works we experienced in childhood, and that are all the more magical for being only vaguely remembered.

To enroll in JF's upcoming Weirdosphere course, "Whirl Without End: Fairy Tales and the Weird," please visit www.weirdosphere.org.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 3748 yes Episode 175: Don't Look Now: Live at Lily Dale https://www.weirdstudies.com/175 Daphne du Maurier was a prolific English writer of novels, plays, and short stories resonant with what she termed "a sense of unreality." In this episode, JF and Phil discuss her great short story "Don't Look Now," which Nicholas Roeg famously adapted to the screen in 1973 in a film starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. Recorded live at Shannon Taggart's Lily Dale Symposium on July 25th, 2024, the discussion takes a number of turns, exploring the ghost as an "image of itself," the phenomenon of "deathishness," the experience of derealization, the human capacity to break time, and grief as a rift in time. Visit the Weirdosphere and sign up for JF's upcoming course of lectures and discussions, "Whirl Without End: Fairy Tales and the Weird," starting on September 5th, 2024. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Daphne du Maurier, "Don't Look Now" Nicholas Roeg (dir.), Don't Look Now Weird Studies, Episode 66 on “Diviner’s Time” Chuck Klosterman, "Tomorrow Rarely Knows” Thomas Mann, Death in Venice Peter Medak (dir.), The Changeling Philip K. Dick, “Schizophrenia and the Book of Changes” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 07 Aug 2024 14:30:00 -0000 Don't Look Now: Live at Lily Dale full 175 SpectreVision Radio At Shannon Taggart's annual Symposium on the Science of Things Spiritual in Lily Dale, New York, Phil and JF record a live episode on Daphne du Maurier's experiment in unreality, "Don't Look Now." Daphne du Maurier was a prolific English writer of novels, plays, and short stories resonant with what she termed "a sense of unreality." In this episode, JF and Phil discuss her great short story "Don't Look Now," which Nicholas Roeg famously adapted to the screen in 1973 in a film starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. Recorded live at Shannon Taggart's Lily Dale Symposium on July 25th, 2024, the discussion takes a number of turns, exploring the ghost as an "image of itself," the phenomenon of "deathishness," the experience of derealization, the human capacity to break time, and grief as a rift in time. Visit the Weirdosphere and sign up for JF's upcoming course of lectures and discussions, "Whirl Without End: Fairy Tales and the Weird," starting on September 5th, 2024. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Daphne du Maurier, "Don't Look Now" Nicholas Roeg (dir.), Don't Look Now Weird Studies, Episode 66 on “Diviner’s Time” Chuck Klosterman, "Tomorrow Rarely Knows” Thomas Mann, Death in Venice Peter Medak (dir.), The Changeling Philip K. Dick, “Schizophrenia and the Book of Changes” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Daphne du Maurier was a prolific English writer of novels, plays, and short stories resonant with what she termed "a sense of unreality." In this episode, JF and Phil discuss her great short story "Don't Look Now," which Nicholas Roeg famously adapted to the screen in 1973 in a film starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. Recorded live at Shannon Taggart's Lily Dale Symposium on July 25th, 2024, the discussion takes a number of turns, exploring the ghost as an "image of itself," the phenomenon of "deathishness," the experience of derealization, the human capacity to break time, and grief as a rift in time.

Visit the Weirdosphere and sign up for JF's upcoming course of lectures and discussions, "Whirl Without End: Fairy Tales and the Weird," starting on September 5th, 2024.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Daphne du Maurier, "Don't Look Now"
Nicholas Roeg (dir.), Don't Look Now
Weird Studies, Episode 66 on “Diviner’s Time”
Chuck Klosterman, "Tomorrow Rarely Knows”
Thomas Mann, Death in Venice
Peter Medak (dir.), The Changeling
Philip K. Dick, “Schizophrenia and the Book of Changes”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 7120 yes Episode 174: Magick and Enlightenment, with Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford https://www.weirdstudies.com/174 Phil and JF are joined by Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford – practicing magicians, podcasters, and co-authors of the newly released Baptist's Head Compendium: Magick as a Path to Enlightenment, a collection of essays and reports from their famous occult blog, The Baptist's Head. Duncan and Alan are accomplished practitioners with deep insights into the nature of magic(k). The conversation touches on a number of subjects, including the parallels between magic, mysticism, and religion; form and formlessness; the nature of truth; the primacy of devotion; and the quest to converse with one's Holy Guardian Angel. To purchase The Baptist's Head Compendium at a 20% discount, go to http://www.spirit.aeonbooks.co.uk and enter the code given in the introduction to this episode. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Occult Experiments in the Home, Duncan Baford's blog and podcasts. Barbarous Words, Alan Chapman's Substack. WORP FM, a ten-part podcast series with Alan and Duncan. The Abremelin working Illuminates of Thanatos (IOT) Aleister Crowley, The Book of the Law Buddhist Geeks, “The Great Work of Western Magic with Alan Chapman” Aleister Crowly, John St. John Special Guests: Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 24 Jul 2024 14:30:00 -0000 Magick and Enlightenment, with Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford full 174 SpectreVision Radio Magical practitioners Duncan Barford and Alan Chapman join JF and Phil to talk about magic, truth, and the Holy Guardian Angel. Phil and JF are joined by Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford – practicing magicians, podcasters, and co-authors of the newly released Baptist's Head Compendium: Magick as a Path to Enlightenment, a collection of essays and reports from their famous occult blog, The Baptist's Head. Duncan and Alan are accomplished practitioners with deep insights into the nature of magic(k). The conversation touches on a number of subjects, including the parallels between magic, mysticism, and religion; form and formlessness; the nature of truth; the primacy of devotion; and the quest to converse with one's Holy Guardian Angel. To purchase The Baptist's Head Compendium at a 20% discount, go to http://www.spirit.aeonbooks.co.uk and enter the code given in the introduction to this episode. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Occult Experiments in the Home, Duncan Baford's blog and podcasts. Barbarous Words, Alan Chapman's Substack. WORP FM, a ten-part podcast series with Alan and Duncan. The Abremelin working Illuminates of Thanatos (IOT) Aleister Crowley, The Book of the Law Buddhist Geeks, “The Great Work of Western Magic with Alan Chapman” Aleister Crowly, John St. John Special Guests: Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Phil and JF are joined by Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford – practicing magicians, podcasters, and co-authors of the newly released Baptist's Head Compendium: Magick as a Path to Enlightenment, a collection of essays and reports from their famous occult blog, The Baptist's Head. Duncan and Alan are accomplished practitioners with deep insights into the nature of magic(k). The conversation touches on a number of subjects, including the parallels between magic, mysticism, and religion; form and formlessness; the nature of truth; the primacy of devotion; and the quest to converse with one's Holy Guardian Angel.

To purchase The Baptist's Head Compendium at a 20% discount, go to http://www.spirit.aeonbooks.co.uk and enter the code given in the introduction to this episode.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Occult Experiments in the Home, Duncan Baford's blog and podcasts.
Barbarous Words, Alan Chapman's Substack.
WORP FM, a ten-part podcast series with Alan and Duncan.
The Abremelin working
Illuminates of Thanatos (IOT)
Aleister Crowley, The Book of the Law
Buddhist Geeks, “The Great Work of Western Magic with Alan Chapman”
Aleister Crowly, John St. John

Special Guests: Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5422 yes Episode 173: By Heart: On Memory, Poetry, and Form https://www.weirdstudies.com/173 In this computerized age, we tend to see memory as a purely cerebral faculty. To memorize is to store information away in the brain in such a way as to make it retrievable at a later time. But the old expression "knowing by heart" calls us to a stranger, more embodied and mysterious take on memory. In this episode, Phil and JF endeavour to recite two poems they've learned by heart, as a preamble to a discussion on poetry, form, and the magic of memory. Details on Shannon Taggart's Symposium @ Lily Dale (July 25-28). Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Kubla Khan” Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “A Musical Instrument” Dave Hickey, “Formalism” from Pirates and Farmers Weird Studies, Episode 109-110 on “The Glass Bead Game” Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Biographia Literaria Weird Studies, Episode 42 with Kerry O Brien Francis Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 10 Jul 2024 14:30:00 -0000 By Heart: On Memory, Poetry, and Form full 173 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil try to recite classic poems by heart in this discussion on the magic of memory. In this computerized age, we tend to see memory as a purely cerebral faculty. To memorize is to store information away in the brain in such a way as to make it retrievable at a later time. But the old expression "knowing by heart" calls us to a stranger, more embodied and mysterious take on memory. In this episode, Phil and JF endeavour to recite two poems they've learned by heart, as a preamble to a discussion on poetry, form, and the magic of memory. Details on Shannon Taggart's Symposium @ Lily Dale (July 25-28). Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Kubla Khan” Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “A Musical Instrument” Dave Hickey, “Formalism” from Pirates and Farmers Weird Studies, Episode 109-110 on “The Glass Bead Game” Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Biographia Literaria Weird Studies, Episode 42 with Kerry O Brien Francis Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this computerized age, we tend to see memory as a purely cerebral faculty. To memorize is to store information away in the brain in such a way as to make it retrievable at a later time. But the old expression "knowing by heart" calls us to a stranger, more embodied and mysterious take on memory. In this episode, Phil and JF endeavour to recite two poems they've learned by heart, as a preamble to a discussion on poetry, form, and the magic of memory.

Details on Shannon Taggart's Symposium @ Lily Dale (July 25-28).

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Kubla Khan”
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “A Musical Instrument”
Dave Hickey, “Formalism” from Pirates and Farmers
Weird Studies, Episode 109-110 on “The Glass Bead Game”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Biographia Literaria
Weird Studies, Episode 42 with Kerry O Brien
Francis Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4730 yes Episode 172: Head Over Heels: On the Hanged Man of the Tarot https://www.weirdstudies.com/172 The Hanged Man is arguably the most enigmatic card in the traditional tarot deck. Divested of any archetypal apparel – he is neither emperor nor fool, but just a man, who happens to be hanging – he gazes back at us with the look of one who harbors a secret. But what sort of secret? In this episode, JF and Phil discuss the card that no less august a personage than A.E. Waite, co-creator of the classic Rider-Waite deck, claimed was beyond all understanding. The musical interludes in this episode are from Pierre-Yves Martel's recent album, "Bach." Visit his website for more. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REREFENCES Welkin/Gnostic Tarot Sally Nichols, Tarot and the Archetypal Journey Rachel Pollack, Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom Yoav Ben-Dov Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Richard Wagner, ”Sigmund” from Die Walkure Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Star Wars John Frankenheimer (dir.), The Manchurian Candidate Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of Tarot MC Richards, “Preface” to Centering Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace Alan Chapman, Magia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 26 Jun 2024 14:30:00 -0000 Head Over Heels: On the Hanged Man of the Tarot full 172 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF continue their series on the tarot with a discussion of the twelfth major arcanum. The Hanged Man is arguably the most enigmatic card in the traditional tarot deck. Divested of any archetypal apparel – he is neither emperor nor fool, but just a man, who happens to be hanging – he gazes back at us with the look of one who harbors a secret. But what sort of secret? In this episode, JF and Phil discuss the card that no less august a personage than A.E. Waite, co-creator of the classic Rider-Waite deck, claimed was beyond all understanding. The musical interludes in this episode are from Pierre-Yves Martel's recent album, "Bach." Visit his website for more. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REREFENCES Welkin/Gnostic Tarot Sally Nichols, Tarot and the Archetypal Journey Rachel Pollack, Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom Yoav Ben-Dov Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Richard Wagner, ”Sigmund” from Die Walkure Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Star Wars John Frankenheimer (dir.), The Manchurian Candidate Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of Tarot MC Richards, “Preface” to Centering Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace Alan Chapman, Magia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The Hanged Man is arguably the most enigmatic card in the traditional tarot deck. Divested of any archetypal apparel – he is neither emperor nor fool, but just a man, who happens to be hanging – he gazes back at us with the look of one who harbors a secret. But what sort of secret? In this episode, JF and Phil discuss the card that no less august a personage than A.E. Waite, co-creator of the classic Rider-Waite deck, claimed was beyond all understanding.

The musical interludes in this episode are from Pierre-Yves Martel's recent album, "Bach." Visit his website for more.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REREFENCES

Welkin/Gnostic Tarot
Sally Nichols, Tarot and the Archetypal Journey
Rachel Pollack, Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom
Yoav Ben-Dov
Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot
Richard Wagner, ”Sigmund” from Die Walkure
Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth
Star Wars
John Frankenheimer (dir.), The Manchurian Candidate
Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of Tarot
MC Richards, “Preface” to Centering
Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace
Alan Chapman, Magia

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4827 yes Episode 171: The Beauty and the Horror https://www.weirdstudies.com/171 This week on Weird Studies, Phil and JF explore the intersections of the beautiful and the terrible in art and literature. There is a conventional beauty that calms and placates, and there is a radical beauty which, taking horror’s pale-gloved hand, gives up all pretense to permanence and fixity and joins the danse macabre of our endless becoming. This episode is a preamble to a five-week course of lectures and discussions starting June 20th on Weirdosphere, JF and Phil’s new online learning platform. For more information and to enroll in The Beauty and the Horror, visit www.weirdosphere.org. REFERENCES JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice, the audiobook, with a new introduction written and read by Donna Tartt. Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Two William Blake, “The Tyger” Junichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows Steven Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark Walter Pater, The Renaissance David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return Anna Aikin, “On the Pleasure Derived from Objects of Terror Donna Tartt, The Secret History Keiji Nishitani, Religion and Nothingness Charles Baudelaire, “Le Voyage” Franz Schubert, “Death and the Maiden” Quartet Franz Schubert, Piano Sonata in C major, D. 840 J.R.R. Tolkein, The Hobbit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Fri, 14 Jun 2024 01:00:00 -0000 The Beauty and the Horror full 171 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the interplay between beauty and horror in art, examining how each enhances the other. This week on Weird Studies, Phil and JF explore the intersections of the beautiful and the terrible in art and literature. There is a conventional beauty that calms and placates, and there is a radical beauty which, taking horror’s pale-gloved hand, gives up all pretense to permanence and fixity and joins the danse macabre of our endless becoming. This episode is a preamble to a five-week course of lectures and discussions starting June 20th on Weirdosphere, JF and Phil’s new online learning platform. For more information and to enroll in The Beauty and the Horror, visit www.weirdosphere.org. REFERENCES JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice, the audiobook, with a new introduction written and read by Donna Tartt. Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Two William Blake, “The Tyger” Junichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows Steven Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark Walter Pater, The Renaissance David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return Anna Aikin, “On the Pleasure Derived from Objects of Terror Donna Tartt, The Secret History Keiji Nishitani, Religion and Nothingness Charles Baudelaire, “Le Voyage” Franz Schubert, “Death and the Maiden” Quartet Franz Schubert, Piano Sonata in C major, D. 840 J.R.R. Tolkein, The Hobbit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This week on Weird Studies, Phil and JF explore the intersections of the beautiful and the terrible in art and literature. There is a conventional beauty that calms and placates, and there is a radical beauty which, taking horror’s pale-gloved hand, gives up all pretense to permanence and fixity and joins the danse macabre of our endless becoming. This episode is a preamble to a five-week course of lectures and discussions starting June 20th on Weirdosphere, JF and Phil’s new online learning platform. For more information and to enroll in The Beauty and the Horror, visit www.weirdosphere.org.

REFERENCES

JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice, the audiobook, with a new introduction written and read by Donna Tartt.
Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Two
William Blake, “The Tyger”
Junichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows
Steven Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark
Walter Pater, The Renaissance
David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return
Anna Aikin, “On the Pleasure Derived from Objects of Terror
Donna Tartt, The Secret History
Keiji Nishitani, Religion and Nothingness
Charles Baudelaire, “Le Voyage”
Franz Schubert, “Death and the Maiden” Quartet
Franz Schubert, Piano Sonata in C major, D. 840
J.R.R. Tolkein, The Hobbit

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4168 yes Episode 170: Art is Another Word for Truth: On Orson Welles's 'F for Fake' https://www.weirdstudies.com/170 Orson Welles made F for Fake in the early seventies, while still bobbing in the wake of a Pauline Kael essay accusing him of being cinema's greatest fraud. Ostensibly a documentary on the famous art forger Elmyr de Hory and his biographer Clifford Irving (a talented faker in his own right), the film blurs the line between fact and fiction in an effort to explore art's weird entanglement with illusion, magic, and ultimately, the search for truth. This is a film unlike any other, and it is arguably Welles's most important contribution to the evolution and theory of film aesthetics. Join the Weirdosphere online learning community by enrolling in Phil and J.F.'s inaugural course, [THE BEAUTY AND THE HORROR](www.weirdosphere.org), starting June 20th. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! RERERENCES Orson Welles, F for Fake Gilles Deleuze Cinema 2 Elmyr de Hory, art forger Clifford Irving, American writer Howard Hughes, American aerospace engineer David Thomson, Biographical Dictionary of Film David Thomson, Rosebud: The Story of Orson Welles Pauline Kael, Raising Kane “War of the Worlds” radio drama The Farm Podcast, “Horror Hosts, Films & Other Strange Realities w/ David Metcalfe, Conspirinormal & Recluse” Orson Welles - Interview with Michael Parkinson (BBC 1974) Geoffrey Cornelius, Cornelius Victoria Nelson, Secret Life of Puppets Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking Sokal affair, hoax Werner Herzog, “Minnesota Declaration” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 29 May 2024 14:30:00 -0000 Art is Another Word for Truth: On Orson Welles's 'F for Fake' full 170 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Orson Welles's 1973 film essay on the strange overlap of fraud, art, and truth. Orson Welles made F for Fake in the early seventies, while still bobbing in the wake of a Pauline Kael essay accusing him of being cinema's greatest fraud. Ostensibly a documentary on the famous art forger Elmyr de Hory and his biographer Clifford Irving (a talented faker in his own right), the film blurs the line between fact and fiction in an effort to explore art's weird entanglement with illusion, magic, and ultimately, the search for truth. This is a film unlike any other, and it is arguably Welles's most important contribution to the evolution and theory of film aesthetics. Join the Weirdosphere online learning community by enrolling in Phil and J.F.'s inaugural course, [THE BEAUTY AND THE HORROR](www.weirdosphere.org), starting June 20th. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! RERERENCES Orson Welles, F for Fake Gilles Deleuze Cinema 2 Elmyr de Hory, art forger Clifford Irving, American writer Howard Hughes, American aerospace engineer David Thomson, Biographical Dictionary of Film David Thomson, Rosebud: The Story of Orson Welles Pauline Kael, Raising Kane “War of the Worlds” radio drama The Farm Podcast, “Horror Hosts, Films & Other Strange Realities w/ David Metcalfe, Conspirinormal & Recluse” Orson Welles - Interview with Michael Parkinson (BBC 1974) Geoffrey Cornelius, Cornelius Victoria Nelson, Secret Life of Puppets Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking Sokal affair, hoax Werner Herzog, “Minnesota Declaration” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Orson Welles made F for Fake in the early seventies, while still bobbing in the wake of a Pauline Kael essay accusing him of being cinema's greatest fraud. Ostensibly a documentary on the famous art forger Elmyr de Hory and his biographer Clifford Irving (a talented faker in his own right), the film blurs the line between fact and fiction in an effort to explore art's weird entanglement with illusion, magic, and ultimately, the search for truth. This is a film unlike any other, and it is arguably Welles's most important contribution to the evolution and theory of film aesthetics.

Join the Weirdosphere online learning community by enrolling in Phil and J.F.'s inaugural course, [THE BEAUTY AND THE HORROR](www.weirdosphere.org), starting June 20th.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

RERERENCES

Orson Welles, F for Fake
Gilles Deleuze Cinema 2
Elmyr de Hory, art forger
Clifford Irving, American writer
Howard Hughes, American aerospace engineer
David Thomson, Biographical Dictionary of Film
David Thomson, Rosebud: The Story of Orson Welles
Pauline Kael, Raising Kane
“War of the Worlds” radio drama
The Farm Podcast, “Horror Hosts, Films & Other Strange Realities w/ David Metcalfe, Conspirinormal & Recluse”
Orson Welles - Interview with Michael Parkinson (BBC 1974)
Geoffrey Cornelius, Cornelius
Victoria Nelson, Secret Life of Puppets
Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking
Sokal affair, hoax
Werner Herzog, “Minnesota Declaration”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5176 yes Episode 169: On Free Expression https://www.weirdstudies.com/169 The ongoing crackdown on protests at many American universities prompts a discussion on the politics, ethics, and metaphysics of free expression. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic George Orwell, The Prevention of Literature George Orwell, Inside the Whale New York Times, “At Indiana University, Protests Only Add to a Full Year of Conflicts John Stuart Mill, On Liberty Indiana Daily Student, “Provost Addresses Controversy” Official government page for the Proposed Bill to address Online Harms in Canada. Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy Daryl Davis, American musician and activist DavidFoster Wallace, Just Asking Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 15 May 2024 14:30:00 -0000 On Free Expression full 169 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF tackle the thorny issue of freedom of expression in politics, academia, and the arts. The ongoing crackdown on protests at many American universities prompts a discussion on the politics, ethics, and metaphysics of free expression. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic George Orwell, The Prevention of Literature George Orwell, Inside the Whale New York Times, “At Indiana University, Protests Only Add to a Full Year of Conflicts John Stuart Mill, On Liberty Indiana Daily Student, “Provost Addresses Controversy” Official government page for the Proposed Bill to address Online Harms in Canada. Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy Daryl Davis, American musician and activist DavidFoster Wallace, Just Asking Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The ongoing crackdown on protests at many American universities prompts a discussion on the politics, ethics, and metaphysics of free expression.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own
Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic
George Orwell, The Prevention of Literature
George Orwell, Inside the Whale
New York Times, “At Indiana University, Protests Only Add to a Full Year of Conflicts
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
Indiana Daily Student, “Provost Addresses Controversy”
Official government page for the Proposed Bill to address Online Harms in Canada.
Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Daryl Davis, American musician and activist
DavidFoster Wallace, Just Asking

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5875 yes Episode 168: Visions of the Wasteland: On George Miller's 'Mad Max' Films https://www.weirdstudies.com/168 There are artists who express the vision of a place, person, or thing so vividly and originally that it sets the bar for all future imaginings. With his four Mad Max films, this is what George Miller did with the image of the Wasteland. No one has been able to capture the stark, raw energy and chaotic beauty of a post-apocalyptic desert quite like Miller. His portrayal not only defines the aesthetic of a cinematic world but also prompts us to think about the meaning of civilization, technology, humanity, and how they intertwine. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss how Mad Max challenges our perception of civilization, and our conception of the human. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES George Miller (dir.), Mad Max George Miller (dir.), Mad Max: The Road Warrior George Miller (dir.), Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdrome George Miller (dir.), Mad Max: Fury Road Jaroslav Hašek, The Good Soldier Švejk Stanley Kubrick (dir.), A Clockwork Orange Sam Raimi (dir), The Quick and the Dead Joe Bob Briggs, movie critic Phil Ford, “The Wanderer” Felix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze, Nomadology Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 01 May 2024 14:30:00 -0000 Visions of the Wasteland: On George Miller's 'Mad Max' Films full 168 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil find glimmers of the Weird in George Miller's post-apocalyptic outback. There are artists who express the vision of a place, person, or thing so vividly and originally that it sets the bar for all future imaginings. With his four Mad Max films, this is what George Miller did with the image of the Wasteland. No one has been able to capture the stark, raw energy and chaotic beauty of a post-apocalyptic desert quite like Miller. His portrayal not only defines the aesthetic of a cinematic world but also prompts us to think about the meaning of civilization, technology, humanity, and how they intertwine. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss how Mad Max challenges our perception of civilization, and our conception of the human. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES George Miller (dir.), Mad Max George Miller (dir.), Mad Max: The Road Warrior George Miller (dir.), Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdrome George Miller (dir.), Mad Max: Fury Road Jaroslav Hašek, The Good Soldier Švejk Stanley Kubrick (dir.), A Clockwork Orange Sam Raimi (dir), The Quick and the Dead Joe Bob Briggs, movie critic Phil Ford, “The Wanderer” Felix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze, Nomadology Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices There are artists who express the vision of a place, person, or thing so vividly and originally that it sets the bar for all future imaginings. With his four Mad Max films, this is what George Miller did with the image of the Wasteland. No one has been able to capture the stark, raw energy and chaotic beauty of a post-apocalyptic desert quite like Miller. His portrayal not only defines the aesthetic of a cinematic world but also prompts us to think about the meaning of civilization, technology, humanity, and how they intertwine. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss how Mad Max challenges our perception of civilization, and our conception of the human.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

George Miller (dir.), Mad Max
George Miller (dir.), Mad Max: The Road Warrior
George Miller (dir.), Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdrome
George Miller (dir.), Mad Max: Fury Road
Jaroslav Hašek, The Good Soldier Švejk
Stanley Kubrick (dir.), A Clockwork Orange
Sam Raimi (dir), The Quick and the Dead
Joe Bob Briggs, movie critic
Phil Ford, “The Wanderer”
Felix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze, Nomadology
Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4876 yes Episode 167: The Hand of Ithell, with Amy Hale https://www.weirdstudies.com/167 Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988) was a British painter, poet, and occultist, long identified as a pioneer of the Surrealist movement in the UK. While her work is increasingly recognized for its mystical themes and innovative use of automatic techniques, deeply influenced by her esoteric studies, it also inspired extensive research on its broader cultural and spiritual contexts. Amy Hale, an anthropologist, folklorist, and author, has dedicated much of her career to exploring Cornwall, the fabled region of southwest England that became Colquhoun’s spiritual home. Hale’s book, Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern-Loved Gully, published by Strange Attractor Press, offers a profound biographical study of Colquhoun, examining the historical and spiritual forces that influenced her work. In this episode, she joins JF and Phil to discuss Colquhoun, Cornwall, and the transformative power of research and writing. REFERENCES Amy Hale, Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern-Loved Gully Agnes Callard, I Teach the Humanities, and I Still Don’t Know What Their Value Is Steven Feld, Jazz Cosmopolitanism in Accra Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking Special Guest: Amy Hale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 17 Apr 2024 14:30:00 -0000 The Hand of Ithell, with Amy Hale full 167 SpectreVision Radio Independent scholar Amy Hale joins Phil and JF to discuss the life and work of esoteric artist Ithell Colquhoun. Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988) was a British painter, poet, and occultist, long identified as a pioneer of the Surrealist movement in the UK. While her work is increasingly recognized for its mystical themes and innovative use of automatic techniques, deeply influenced by her esoteric studies, it also inspired extensive research on its broader cultural and spiritual contexts. Amy Hale, an anthropologist, folklorist, and author, has dedicated much of her career to exploring Cornwall, the fabled region of southwest England that became Colquhoun’s spiritual home. Hale’s book, Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern-Loved Gully, published by Strange Attractor Press, offers a profound biographical study of Colquhoun, examining the historical and spiritual forces that influenced her work. In this episode, she joins JF and Phil to discuss Colquhoun, Cornwall, and the transformative power of research and writing. REFERENCES Amy Hale, Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern-Loved Gully Agnes Callard, I Teach the Humanities, and I Still Don’t Know What Their Value Is Steven Feld, Jazz Cosmopolitanism in Accra Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking Special Guest: Amy Hale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988) was a British painter, poet, and occultist, long identified as a pioneer of the Surrealist movement in the UK. While her work is increasingly recognized for its mystical themes and innovative use of automatic techniques, deeply influenced by her esoteric studies, it also inspired extensive research on its broader cultural and spiritual contexts. Amy Hale, an anthropologist, folklorist, and author, has dedicated much of her career to exploring Cornwall, the fabled region of southwest England that became Colquhoun’s spiritual home. Hale’s book, Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern-Loved Gully, published by Strange Attractor Press, offers a profound biographical study of Colquhoun, examining the historical and spiritual forces that influenced her work. In this episode, she joins JF and Phil to discuss Colquhoun, Cornwall, and the transformative power of research and writing.

REFERENCES

Amy Hale, Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern-Loved Gully
Agnes Callard, I Teach the Humanities, and I Still Don’t Know What Their Value Is
Steven Feld, Jazz Cosmopolitanism in Accra
Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus
Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking

Special Guest: Amy Hale.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5369 yes Episode 166: Make Believe: On the Power of Pretentiousness https://www.weirdstudies.com/166 In culture and the arts, labeling something you don't like (or don't understand) "pretentious" is the easy way out. It's a conversation killer, implying that any dialogue is pointless, and those who disagree are merely duped by what you've cleverly discerned as a charade. It's akin to cynically revealing that a magic show is all smoke and mirrors—as if creative vision doesn't necessitate a leap of faith. In this episode, Phil and JF explore the nuances of pretentiousness, distinguishing between its fruitful and hollow forms. They argue that the real gamble, and inherent value, of daring to pretend lies in recognizing that imagination is an active contributor to, rather than a detractor from, reality. Pierre-Yves Martel's EPHEMERA project It isn't too late to join JF's upcoming course on the films of Stanley Kubrick, which goes until the end of April, 2024. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Brian Eno, A Year with Swollen Appendices Dan Fox, Pretentiousness: Why it Matters Ramsay Dukes, How to See Fairies Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition Weird Studies, Episode 49 on Nietzsche’s idea of “untimely” Sokal Affair, scholarly hoax Weird Studies, Episode 75 on ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ Stanley Kubrick, “Notes on Film” Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Uses and Abuses of History Vladimir Nabokov, Think, Write, Speak Mary Shelley, “Introduction to Frankenstein” Matt Cardin, A Course in Demonic Creativity Playboy interview with Stanley Kubrick Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 03 Apr 2024 14:00:00 -0000 Make Believe: On the Power of Pretentiousness full 166 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss pretentiousness as both an occupational hazard and a virtue of creative work. In culture and the arts, labeling something you don't like (or don't understand) "pretentious" is the easy way out. It's a conversation killer, implying that any dialogue is pointless, and those who disagree are merely duped by what you've cleverly discerned as a charade. It's akin to cynically revealing that a magic show is all smoke and mirrors—as if creative vision doesn't necessitate a leap of faith. In this episode, Phil and JF explore the nuances of pretentiousness, distinguishing between its fruitful and hollow forms. They argue that the real gamble, and inherent value, of daring to pretend lies in recognizing that imagination is an active contributor to, rather than a detractor from, reality. Pierre-Yves Martel's EPHEMERA project It isn't too late to join JF's upcoming course on the films of Stanley Kubrick, which goes until the end of April, 2024. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Brian Eno, A Year with Swollen Appendices Dan Fox, Pretentiousness: Why it Matters Ramsay Dukes, How to See Fairies Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition Weird Studies, Episode 49 on Nietzsche’s idea of “untimely” Sokal Affair, scholarly hoax Weird Studies, Episode 75 on ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ Stanley Kubrick, “Notes on Film” Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Uses and Abuses of History Vladimir Nabokov, Think, Write, Speak Mary Shelley, “Introduction to Frankenstein” Matt Cardin, A Course in Demonic Creativity Playboy interview with Stanley Kubrick Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In culture and the arts, labeling something you don't like (or don't understand) "pretentious" is the easy way out. It's a conversation killer, implying that any dialogue is pointless, and those who disagree are merely duped by what you've cleverly discerned as a charade. It's akin to cynically revealing that a magic show is all smoke and mirrors—as if creative vision doesn't necessitate a leap of faith. In this episode, Phil and JF explore the nuances of pretentiousness, distinguishing between its fruitful and hollow forms. They argue that the real gamble, and inherent value, of daring to pretend lies in recognizing that imagination is an active contributor to, rather than a detractor from, reality.

Pierre-Yves Martel's EPHEMERA project

It isn't too late to join JF's upcoming course on the films of Stanley Kubrick, which goes until the end of April, 2024.
Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Brian Eno, A Year with Swollen Appendices
Dan Fox, Pretentiousness: Why it Matters
Ramsay Dukes, How to See Fairies
Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens
Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition
Weird Studies, Episode 49 on Nietzsche’s idea of “untimely”
Sokal Affair, scholarly hoax
Weird Studies, Episode 75 on ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’
Stanley Kubrick, “Notes on Film”
Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Uses and Abuses of History
Vladimir Nabokov, Think, Write, Speak
Mary Shelley, “Introduction to Frankenstein”
Matt Cardin, A Course in Demonic Creativity
Playboy interview with Stanley Kubrick

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4429 yes Episode 165: Tatters of the King: On Robert Chambers' 'The King in Yellow' https://www.weirdstudies.com/165 "Let the red dawn surmise / What we shall do, / When the blue starlight dies / And all is through." This short poem, an epigraph to "The Yellow Sign," arguably the most memorable tale in Robert W. Chambers' 1895 collection The King in Yellow, encapsulates in four brief lines the affect that drives cosmic horror: the fearful sense of imminent annihilation. In the four stories JF and Phil discuss in this episode, this affect, which would inspire a thousand works of fiction in the twentieth century, emerges fully formed, dripping with the xanthous milk of Decadence. What’s more, it is here given a symbol, a face, and a home in the Yellow Sign, the Pallid Mask of the Yellow King, and the lost land of Carcosa. Come one, come all. Join JF's upcoming course on the films of Stanley Kubrick, starting March 28, 2024. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Robert W. Chambers, The King in Yellow Weird Studies, Episode 100 on John Carpenter films Algernon Blackwood, “The Man Who Found Out” Susannah Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater, Thought Forms Weird Studies, Episode 140 on “Spirited Away” Vladimir Nabokov, Think, Write, Speak Charles Taylor, A Secular Age David Bentley Hart, “Angelic Monster” M. R. James, Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to you my Lad” William Carlos Williams, The Red Wheelbarrow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 20 Mar 2024 14:30:00 -0000 Tatters of the King: On Robert Chambers' 'The King in Yellow' full 165 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss four stories from Robert W. Chambers' pioneering work of weird fiction. "Let the red dawn surmise / What we shall do, / When the blue starlight dies / And all is through." This short poem, an epigraph to "The Yellow Sign," arguably the most memorable tale in Robert W. Chambers' 1895 collection The King in Yellow, encapsulates in four brief lines the affect that drives cosmic horror: the fearful sense of imminent annihilation. In the four stories JF and Phil discuss in this episode, this affect, which would inspire a thousand works of fiction in the twentieth century, emerges fully formed, dripping with the xanthous milk of Decadence. What’s more, it is here given a symbol, a face, and a home in the Yellow Sign, the Pallid Mask of the Yellow King, and the lost land of Carcosa. Come one, come all. Join JF's upcoming course on the films of Stanley Kubrick, starting March 28, 2024. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Robert W. Chambers, The King in Yellow Weird Studies, Episode 100 on John Carpenter films Algernon Blackwood, “The Man Who Found Out” Susannah Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater, Thought Forms Weird Studies, Episode 140 on “Spirited Away” Vladimir Nabokov, Think, Write, Speak Charles Taylor, A Secular Age David Bentley Hart, “Angelic Monster” M. R. James, Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to you my Lad” William Carlos Williams, The Red Wheelbarrow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices "Let the red dawn surmise / What we shall do, / When the blue starlight dies / And all is through." This short poem, an epigraph to "The Yellow Sign," arguably the most memorable tale in Robert W. Chambers' 1895 collection The King in Yellow, encapsulates in four brief lines the affect that drives cosmic horror: the fearful sense of imminent annihilation. In the four stories JF and Phil discuss in this episode, this affect, which would inspire a thousand works of fiction in the twentieth century, emerges fully formed, dripping with the xanthous milk of Decadence. What’s more, it is here given a symbol, a face, and a home in the Yellow Sign, the Pallid Mask of the Yellow King, and the lost land of Carcosa. Come one, come all.

Join JF's upcoming course on the films of Stanley Kubrick, starting March 28, 2024.
Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Robert W. Chambers, The King in Yellow
Weird Studies, Episode 100 on John Carpenter films
Algernon Blackwood, “The Man Who Found Out”
Susannah Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”
Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater, Thought Forms
Weird Studies, Episode 140 on “Spirited Away”
Vladimir Nabokov, Think, Write, Speak
Charles Taylor, A Secular Age
David Bentley Hart, “Angelic Monster”
M. R. James, Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to you my Lad”
William Carlos Williams, The Red Wheelbarrow

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5244 yes Episode 164: Towards a Weird Materialism: On Expressionism in Cinema https://www.weirdstudies.com/164 What is expressionism? A school? A movement? A philosophy? At the end of this episode, Phil and JF agree that it is, above all, a sensibility, one that surfaces periodically in history, punctuating it with occasional bursts of frenetic colour and eruptions of light and shadow. Whenever it appears, expressionism challenges our tendency to divide the world up into neat quadrants: mind and matter, subject and object lose their legitimacy as they start to bleed into one another. Prior to recording, your hosts agreed to focus on two pieces of writing: Victoria Nelson's The Secret Life of Puppets and a recent Internet post on eighties and nineties American films entitled "Neo-Expressionism: The Forgotten Studio Style." Though focused on a number of films, the conversation includes forays into the world of the visual arts, literature, and music. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES comrade_yui, “neo-expressionism: the forgotten studio style” Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets Francis Ford Coppola, Bram Stoker’s Dracula Weird Studies, Episode 161 on ‘From Hell’ Bram Stoker, Dracula E. H. Gombrich, The Story of Art Jean-Francois Millet, “Gleaners” Kathe Kollwitz, “Need” Robert Weine, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Arnold Schoneberg, Pierrot Lunaire Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1 Peter Yates (dir.), Krull Wilhelm Worringer, German art historian Weird Studies, Episode 136 on ‘The Evil Dead’ In Camera The Naive Visual Effects of Dracula Kenneth Gross, Puppet: An Essay on Uncanny Life Weird Studies, Episode 121 ‘Mandwagon’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 06 Mar 2024 15:30:00 -0000 Towards a Weird Materialism: On Expressionism in Cinema full 164 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the expressionist sensibility in the history of film. What is expressionism? A school? A movement? A philosophy? At the end of this episode, Phil and JF agree that it is, above all, a sensibility, one that surfaces periodically in history, punctuating it with occasional bursts of frenetic colour and eruptions of light and shadow. Whenever it appears, expressionism challenges our tendency to divide the world up into neat quadrants: mind and matter, subject and object lose their legitimacy as they start to bleed into one another. Prior to recording, your hosts agreed to focus on two pieces of writing: Victoria Nelson's The Secret Life of Puppets and a recent Internet post on eighties and nineties American films entitled "Neo-Expressionism: The Forgotten Studio Style." Though focused on a number of films, the conversation includes forays into the world of the visual arts, literature, and music. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES comrade_yui, “neo-expressionism: the forgotten studio style” Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets Francis Ford Coppola, Bram Stoker’s Dracula Weird Studies, Episode 161 on ‘From Hell’ Bram Stoker, Dracula E. H. Gombrich, The Story of Art Jean-Francois Millet, “Gleaners” Kathe Kollwitz, “Need” Robert Weine, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Arnold Schoneberg, Pierrot Lunaire Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1 Peter Yates (dir.), Krull Wilhelm Worringer, German art historian Weird Studies, Episode 136 on ‘The Evil Dead’ In Camera The Naive Visual Effects of Dracula Kenneth Gross, Puppet: An Essay on Uncanny Life Weird Studies, Episode 121 ‘Mandwagon’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices What is expressionism? A school? A movement? A philosophy? At the end of this episode, Phil and JF agree that it is, above all, a sensibility, one that surfaces periodically in history, punctuating it with occasional bursts of frenetic colour and eruptions of light and shadow. Whenever it appears, expressionism challenges our tendency to divide the world up into neat quadrants: mind and matter, subject and object lose their legitimacy as they start to bleed into one another. Prior to recording, your hosts agreed to focus on two pieces of writing: Victoria Nelson's The Secret Life of Puppets and a recent Internet post on eighties and nineties American films entitled "Neo-Expressionism: The Forgotten Studio Style." Though focused on a number of films, the conversation includes forays into the world of the visual arts, literature, and music.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

comrade_yui, “neo-expressionism: the forgotten studio style”
Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets
Francis Ford Coppola, Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Weird Studies, Episode 161 on ‘From Hell’
Bram Stoker, Dracula
E. H. Gombrich, The Story of Art
Jean-Francois Millet, “Gleaners”
Kathe Kollwitz, “Need”
Robert Weine, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Arnold Schoneberg, Pierrot Lunaire
Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1
Peter Yates (dir.), Krull
Wilhelm Worringer, German art historian
Weird Studies, Episode 136 on ‘The Evil Dead’
In Camera The Naive Visual Effects of Dracula
Kenneth Gross, Puppet: An Essay on Uncanny Life
Weird Studies, Episode 121 ‘Mandwagon’

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]]> 5385 yes Episode 163: The Source of All Abysses: On the Devil Card in the Tarot https://www.weirdstudies.com/163 "The Devil's finest ruse," Baudelaire wrote, "is to persuade you that he doesn't exist." In this episode, JF and Phil peer through a buzzing haze of lies, illusions, and mirages, in hopes of catching a glimpse, however brief, of the figure standing at its center. With a focus on the fifteenth major arcanum of the tarot, they try to make sense of this archetype which feels, at once, remotely distant and uncomfortably close to us, all while heeding the warning from the anonymous author of Meditations on the Tarot that one ought not look too deeply into the nature of evil, which is "unknowable in its essence." Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot The Gnostic Tarot Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Faust, Part 1 Ramsey Dukes, SSOTBME Edgar Allan Poe, The Imp of the Perverse Aleister Crowley, Magic, Book 4 Leigh McCloskey, Tarot Re-Visioned Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth The Library of Esoterica, Tarot Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 21 Feb 2024 15:30:00 -0000 The Source of All Abysses: On the Devil Card in the Tarot full 163 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF continue their occasional series on the major trumps of the tarot with a discussion on the fifteenth Arcanum, the Devil. "The Devil's finest ruse," Baudelaire wrote, "is to persuade you that he doesn't exist." In this episode, JF and Phil peer through a buzzing haze of lies, illusions, and mirages, in hopes of catching a glimpse, however brief, of the figure standing at its center. With a focus on the fifteenth major arcanum of the tarot, they try to make sense of this archetype which feels, at once, remotely distant and uncomfortably close to us, all while heeding the warning from the anonymous author of Meditations on the Tarot that one ought not look too deeply into the nature of evil, which is "unknowable in its essence." Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot The Gnostic Tarot Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Faust, Part 1 Ramsey Dukes, SSOTBME Edgar Allan Poe, The Imp of the Perverse Aleister Crowley, Magic, Book 4 Leigh McCloskey, Tarot Re-Visioned Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth The Library of Esoterica, Tarot Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices "The Devil's finest ruse," Baudelaire wrote, "is to persuade you that he doesn't exist." In this episode, JF and Phil peer through a buzzing haze of lies, illusions, and mirages, in hopes of catching a glimpse, however brief, of the figure standing at its center. With a focus on the fifteenth major arcanum of the tarot, they try to make sense of this archetype which feels, at once, remotely distant and uncomfortably close to us, all while heeding the warning from the anonymous author of Meditations on the Tarot that one ought not look too deeply into the nature of evil, which is "unknowable in its essence."

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES
Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot
The Gnostic Tarot
Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Faust, Part 1
Ramsey Dukes, SSOTBME
Edgar Allan Poe, The Imp of the Perverse
Aleister Crowley, Magic, Book 4
Leigh McCloskey, Tarot Re-Visioned
Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth
The Library of Esoterica, Tarot
Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic

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]]> 4283 yes Episode 162: The Incarnation of Meaning: Greenwich Village After the War https://www.weirdstudies.com/162 In this second of two episodes on "scenes," Phil and JF set their sights on Greenwich Village in the wake of the Second World War. Focusing on two works on the era – Anatole Broyard's Kafka Was the Rage and John Cassavetes' Shadows – the conversation further develops the mystique of urban scenes and explores the weirdness of cities. The city, long considered the human artifact par excellence, comes to seem like something that comes from outside the ambit of humanity. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Anatole Broyard, Kafka Was the Rage John Cassavetes, Shadows Kazuo Ishiguro, An Artist of the Floating World Phil Ford, Dig Weird Studies, Episode 90 on “Owl in Daylight” Kult, role-playing game Tom Delong and Peter Lavenda, Secret Machines: Gods, Men, and War Chandler Brossard, Who Walk in Darkness Yukio Mishima, Japanese artist Anatole Broyard, “Portrait of the Hipster” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 07 Feb 2024 15:30:00 -0000 The Incarnation of Meaning: Greenwich Village After the War full 162 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss post-war Greenwich Village, by way of Anatole Broyard's "Kafka Was the Rage" and John Cassavetes' "Shadows." In this second of two episodes on "scenes," Phil and JF set their sights on Greenwich Village in the wake of the Second World War. Focusing on two works on the era – Anatole Broyard's Kafka Was the Rage and John Cassavetes' Shadows – the conversation further develops the mystique of urban scenes and explores the weirdness of cities. The city, long considered the human artifact par excellence, comes to seem like something that comes from outside the ambit of humanity. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Anatole Broyard, Kafka Was the Rage John Cassavetes, Shadows Kazuo Ishiguro, An Artist of the Floating World Phil Ford, Dig Weird Studies, Episode 90 on “Owl in Daylight” Kult, role-playing game Tom Delong and Peter Lavenda, Secret Machines: Gods, Men, and War Chandler Brossard, Who Walk in Darkness Yukio Mishima, Japanese artist Anatole Broyard, “Portrait of the Hipster” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this second of two episodes on "scenes," Phil and JF set their sights on Greenwich Village in the wake of the Second World War. Focusing on two works on the era – Anatole Broyard's Kafka Was the Rage and John Cassavetes' Shadows – the conversation further develops the mystique of urban scenes and explores the weirdness of cities. The city, long considered the human artifact par excellence, comes to seem like something that comes from outside the ambit of humanity.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES
Anatole Broyard, Kafka Was the Rage
John Cassavetes, Shadows
Kazuo Ishiguro, An Artist of the Floating World
Phil Ford, Dig
Weird Studies, Episode 90 on “Owl in Daylight”
Kult, role-playing game
Tom Delong and Peter Lavenda, Secret Machines: Gods, Men, and War
Chandler Brossard, Who Walk in Darkness
Yukio Mishima, Japanese artist
Anatole Broyard, “Portrait of the Hipster”

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]]> 4765 yes Episode 161: Scene of the Crime: On Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's 'From Hell' https://www.weirdstudies.com/161 Listener discretion advised: This episode delves into the disturbing details of the Whitechapel murders of 1888, and may not be suitable for all audiences. Serialized from 1989 to 1996, Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's graphic novel From Hell was first released in a single volume in 1999, just as the world was groaning into the present century. This is an important detail, because according to the creators of this astounding work, the age then passing away could not be understood without reference to the gruesome murders, never solved, of five women in London's Whitechapel district, in the fall of 1888. In Alan Moore's occult imagination, the Ripper murders were more than another instance of human depravity: they constituted a magical operation intended to alter the course of history. The nature of this operation, and whether or not it was successful, is the focus of this episode, in which JF and Phil also explore the imaginal actuality of Victorian London and the strange nature of history and time. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Daniel Silver, Terry Nichols Clark, and Clemente Jesus Navarro Yanez, “Scenes: Social Context in an Age of Contingency” Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, From Hell Floating World, Edo Japanese concept Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture John Clellon Holmes recordings Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes Collection Yacht Rock, web series Stephen Knight, Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution Colin Wilson, Jack the Ripper: Summing Up and Verdict Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor Weird Studies, Episode 89 on “Mumbo Jumbo” Charles Howard Hinton, mathematician J. G. Ballard, Preface to Crash William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, The Difference Engine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 24 Jan 2024 15:30:00 -0000 Scene of the Crime: On Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's 'From Hell' full 161 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Victorian London through the lens of Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's occult reimagining of Jack the Ripper. Listener discretion advised: This episode delves into the disturbing details of the Whitechapel murders of 1888, and may not be suitable for all audiences. Serialized from 1989 to 1996, Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's graphic novel From Hell was first released in a single volume in 1999, just as the world was groaning into the present century. This is an important detail, because according to the creators of this astounding work, the age then passing away could not be understood without reference to the gruesome murders, never solved, of five women in London's Whitechapel district, in the fall of 1888. In Alan Moore's occult imagination, the Ripper murders were more than another instance of human depravity: they constituted a magical operation intended to alter the course of history. The nature of this operation, and whether or not it was successful, is the focus of this episode, in which JF and Phil also explore the imaginal actuality of Victorian London and the strange nature of history and time. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Daniel Silver, Terry Nichols Clark, and Clemente Jesus Navarro Yanez, “Scenes: Social Context in an Age of Contingency” Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, From Hell Floating World, Edo Japanese concept Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture John Clellon Holmes recordings Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes Collection Yacht Rock, web series Stephen Knight, Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution Colin Wilson, Jack the Ripper: Summing Up and Verdict Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor Weird Studies, Episode 89 on “Mumbo Jumbo” Charles Howard Hinton, mathematician J. G. Ballard, Preface to Crash William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, The Difference Engine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Listener discretion advised: This episode delves into the disturbing details of the Whitechapel murders of 1888, and may not be suitable for all audiences.

Serialized from 1989 to 1996, Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's graphic novel From Hell was first released in a single volume in 1999, just as the world was groaning into the present century. This is an important detail, because according to the creators of this astounding work, the age then passing away could not be understood without reference to the gruesome murders, never solved, of five women in London's Whitechapel district, in the fall of 1888. In Alan Moore's occult imagination, the Ripper murders were more than another instance of human depravity: they constituted a magical operation intended to alter the course of history. The nature of this operation, and whether or not it was successful, is the focus of this episode, in which JF and Phil also explore the imaginal actuality of Victorian London and the strange nature of history and time.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Daniel Silver, Terry Nichols Clark, and Clemente Jesus Navarro Yanez, “Scenes: Social Context in an Age of Contingency”
Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, From Hell
Floating World, Edo Japanese concept
Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture
John Clellon Holmes recordings
Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes Collection
Yacht Rock, web series
Stephen Knight, Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution
Colin Wilson, Jack the Ripper: Summing Up and Verdict
Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages
Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor
Weird Studies, Episode 89 on “Mumbo Jumbo”
Charles Howard Hinton, mathematician
J. G. Ballard, Preface to Crash
William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, The Difference Engine

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]]> 5434 yes Mid-Hiatus Bonus: On Horror and the Retail Experience https://www.weirdstudies.com/160b Every off-week, listeners who have chosen to support Weird Studies by joining our Patreon at the Listener's Tier get to enjoy a bonus episode. These episodes are different from the flagship show. Less formal and entirely improvised, they offer Phil and JF a different way of exploring the weird in art, philosophy and culture. To tide our listenership over until the next new episode drops on January 24th, here is a recent example of a Weird Studies audio extra, recorded as the holiday season was getting under way. Happy New Year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 10 Jan 2024 15:30:00 -0000 full SpectreVision Radio A bonus episode, previously exclusive to our Patreon supporters. Every off-week, listeners who have chosen to support Weird Studies by joining our Patreon at the Listener's Tier get to enjoy a bonus episode. These episodes are different from the flagship show. Less formal and entirely improvised, they offer Phil and JF a different way of exploring the weird in art, philosophy and culture. To tide our listenership over until the next new episode drops on January 24th, here is a recent example of a Weird Studies audio extra, recorded as the holiday season was getting under way. Happy New Year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Every off-week, listeners who have chosen to support Weird Studies by joining our Patreon at the Listener's Tier get to enjoy a bonus episode. These episodes are different from the flagship show. Less formal and entirely improvised, they offer Phil and JF a different way of exploring the weird in art, philosophy and culture. To tide our listenership over until the next new episode drops on January 24th, here is a recent example of a Weird Studies audio extra, recorded as the holiday season was getting under way. Happy New Year.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 3290 yes Episode 160: The Way of All Flesh: On John Carpenter's 'The Thing' https://www.weirdstudies.com/160 As a horror movie, John Carpenter's The Thing seems to have it all: amazing practical effects, body horror, psychological drama, Kurt Russell ... Indeed, there is only one element this movie lacks, and that is anything at all corresponding to the titular villain. There is no thing in The Thing! What we have instead is a process, a pattern, a way for which the term "thing" is as good as any other. (What is a thing anyway?) In this episode, Phil and JF, having decided that Carpenter's film qualifies as a Christmas movie because there is snow (and a dog) in it, explore the metaphysical implications of a cult classic. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES John Carpenter, The Thing Weird Studies, Episode 100 on Carpenter Films Weird Studies, Episode 157 on Videodrome Ridley Scott, Blade Runner Ridley Scott Alien Thomas Aquinas, On Being and Essence Haecceity Ernest Fenollosa, The Chinese Written Characters as a Medium for Poetry Weird Studies, Episode 89 on ‘Mumbo Jumbo’ Weird Studies, Episode 127 on ‘The Impossibility of Automating Ambiguity’ Wikipedia, “Quiddity” Vilhelm Hammershøi, Danish painter Jez Conolly, The Thing Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation Dylan Trigg, The Thing a Phenomenology of Horror Plato, The Timaeus Lucretius, “On the Nature of Things” Clive Barker, The Great and Secret Show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 20 Dec 2023 15:30:00 -0000 The Way of All Flesh: On John Carpenter's 'The Thing' full 160 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the great 1982 horror film starring Kurt Russell. As a horror movie, John Carpenter's The Thing seems to have it all: amazing practical effects, body horror, psychological drama, Kurt Russell ... Indeed, there is only one element this movie lacks, and that is anything at all corresponding to the titular villain. There is no thing in The Thing! What we have instead is a process, a pattern, a way for which the term "thing" is as good as any other. (What is a thing anyway?) In this episode, Phil and JF, having decided that Carpenter's film qualifies as a Christmas movie because there is snow (and a dog) in it, explore the metaphysical implications of a cult classic. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES John Carpenter, The Thing Weird Studies, Episode 100 on Carpenter Films Weird Studies, Episode 157 on Videodrome Ridley Scott, Blade Runner Ridley Scott Alien Thomas Aquinas, On Being and Essence Haecceity Ernest Fenollosa, The Chinese Written Characters as a Medium for Poetry Weird Studies, Episode 89 on ‘Mumbo Jumbo’ Weird Studies, Episode 127 on ‘The Impossibility of Automating Ambiguity’ Wikipedia, “Quiddity” Vilhelm Hammershøi, Danish painter Jez Conolly, The Thing Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation Dylan Trigg, The Thing a Phenomenology of Horror Plato, The Timaeus Lucretius, “On the Nature of Things” Clive Barker, The Great and Secret Show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices As a horror movie, John Carpenter's The Thing seems to have it all: amazing practical effects, body horror, psychological drama, Kurt Russell ... Indeed, there is only one element this movie lacks, and that is anything at all corresponding to the titular villain. There is no thing in The Thing! What we have instead is a process, a pattern, a way for which the term "thing" is as good as any other. (What is a thing anyway?) In this episode, Phil and JF, having decided that Carpenter's film qualifies as a Christmas movie because there is snow (and a dog) in it, explore the metaphysical implications of a cult classic.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

John Carpenter, The Thing
Weird Studies, Episode 100 on Carpenter Films
Weird Studies, Episode 157 on Videodrome
Ridley Scott, Blade Runner
Ridley Scott Alien
Thomas Aquinas, On Being and Essence
Haecceity
Ernest Fenollosa, The Chinese Written Characters as a Medium for Poetry
Weird Studies, Episode 89 on ‘Mumbo Jumbo’
Weird Studies, Episode 127 on ‘The Impossibility of Automating Ambiguity’
Wikipedia, “Quiddity”
Vilhelm Hammershøi, Danish painter
Jez Conolly, The Thing
Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation
Dylan Trigg, The Thing a Phenomenology of Horror
Plato, The Timaeus
Lucretius, “On the Nature of Things”
Clive Barker, The Great and Secret Show

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4572 yes Episode 159: Three Songs, with Meredith Michael https://www.weirdstudies.com/159 Every once in a while, JF and Phil like to do a “song swap.” Each picks a song, and the ensuing conversation locates linkages and correspondences where none was previously thought to exist. In this episode, they are joined by the music scholar Meredith Michael – Weird Studies assistant, and co-host of Cosmophonia, a podcast about music and outer space – to discuss songs by Lili Boulanger, Vienna Teng, and Iron & Wine. Before long, this disparate assortment personal favourites occasions a weirdly focused dialogue on time, impermanence, control, (mis)recognition, and the affinity of art and synchronicity. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Iron and Wine, “Passing Afternoon” Vienna Teng, “The Hymn of Acxiom”, (and here is the live version) Lili Boulanger, Vieille Priére Bouddhique Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Karol Berger, Bach’s Cycle Mozart’s Arrow William Shakespeare, Hamlet Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason Vladimir Jankelevitch, Music and the Ineffable Hector Berlioz, Fugue on “amen” from La Damnation du Faust Slavoj Zizek, A Pervert’s Guide to Idiology Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic Shepard Tone Rudolf Steiner, The Influces of Lucifer and Ahriman Special Guest: Meredith Michael. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 06 Dec 2023 16:15:00 -0000 Three Songs, with Meredith Michael full 159 SpectreVision Radio Music scholar Meredith Michael joins Phil and JF to discuss songs by Vienna Teng, Lili Boulanger, and Iron & Wine. Every once in a while, JF and Phil like to do a “song swap.” Each picks a song, and the ensuing conversation locates linkages and correspondences where none was previously thought to exist. In this episode, they are joined by the music scholar Meredith Michael – Weird Studies assistant, and co-host of Cosmophonia, a podcast about music and outer space – to discuss songs by Lili Boulanger, Vienna Teng, and Iron & Wine. Before long, this disparate assortment personal favourites occasions a weirdly focused dialogue on time, impermanence, control, (mis)recognition, and the affinity of art and synchronicity. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Iron and Wine, “Passing Afternoon” Vienna Teng, “The Hymn of Acxiom”, (and here is the live version) Lili Boulanger, Vieille Priére Bouddhique Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Karol Berger, Bach’s Cycle Mozart’s Arrow William Shakespeare, Hamlet Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason Vladimir Jankelevitch, Music and the Ineffable Hector Berlioz, Fugue on “amen” from La Damnation du Faust Slavoj Zizek, A Pervert’s Guide to Idiology Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic Shepard Tone Rudolf Steiner, The Influces of Lucifer and Ahriman Special Guest: Meredith Michael. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Every once in a while, JF and Phil like to do a “song swap.” Each picks a song, and the ensuing conversation locates linkages and correspondences where none was previously thought to exist. In this episode, they are joined by the music scholar Meredith Michael – Weird Studies assistant, and co-host of Cosmophonia, a podcast about music and outer space – to discuss songs by Lili Boulanger, Vienna Teng, and Iron & Wine. Before long, this disparate assortment personal favourites occasions a weirdly focused dialogue on time, impermanence, control, (mis)recognition, and the affinity of art and synchronicity.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES
Iron and Wine, “Passing Afternoon”
Vienna Teng, “The Hymn of Acxiom”, (and here is the live version)
Lili Boulanger, Vieille Priére Bouddhique
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Karol Berger, Bach’s Cycle Mozart’s Arrow
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species
Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason
Vladimir Jankelevitch, Music and the Ineffable
Hector Berlioz, Fugue on “amen” from La Damnation du Faust
Slavoj Zizek, A Pervert’s Guide to Idiology
Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic
Shepard Tone
Rudolf Steiner, The Influces of Lucifer and Ahriman

Special Guest: Meredith Michael.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5464 yes Episode 158: As Above, So Below: On Plato's 'Timaeus' https://www.weirdstudies.com/158 In this episode of Weird Studies, we delve into the mysterious depths of Plato's Timaeus, one of the foundational texts of our civilization. In his characteristic brilliance, Plato blends cosmology and metaphysics, anatomy and politics to tell a creation story that rivals the most fantastical mythologies, yet he does it while remaining grounded in a philosophical rigor that announces a radically new way of thinking the world. Here, Phil and JF try unravel the layers of the dialogue, revealing how Plato's vision of a divinely ordered cosmos echoes through the corridors of esoteric thought from antiquity to modern times. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Plato, [Timaeus](https://hackettpublishing.com/history/history-of-science/timaeus](Donald Zeyl Edition) Earl Fontenelle, The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast The Book of Thoth Graham Hancock, British journalist Hesiod, Theogony Hermes Trismegistus, {Emerald Tablet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Tablet) Pierre Hadot,, scholar of classical philosophy Eugene Wigner, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences” Jean-Pierre Vernant, The Origins of Greek Thought Lionel Snell, SSOTBME Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 22 Nov 2023 15:30:00 -0000 As Above, So Below: On Plato's 'Timaeus' full 158 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Plato's speculative retelling of the creation of the universe. In this episode of Weird Studies, we delve into the mysterious depths of Plato's Timaeus, one of the foundational texts of our civilization. In his characteristic brilliance, Plato blends cosmology and metaphysics, anatomy and politics to tell a creation story that rivals the most fantastical mythologies, yet he does it while remaining grounded in a philosophical rigor that announces a radically new way of thinking the world. Here, Phil and JF try unravel the layers of the dialogue, revealing how Plato's vision of a divinely ordered cosmos echoes through the corridors of esoteric thought from antiquity to modern times. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Plato, [Timaeus](https://hackettpublishing.com/history/history-of-science/timaeus](Donald Zeyl Edition) Earl Fontenelle, The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast The Book of Thoth Graham Hancock, British journalist Hesiod, Theogony Hermes Trismegistus, {Emerald Tablet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Tablet) Pierre Hadot,, scholar of classical philosophy Eugene Wigner, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences” Jean-Pierre Vernant, The Origins of Greek Thought Lionel Snell, SSOTBME Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this episode of Weird Studies, we delve into the mysterious depths of Plato's Timaeus, one of the foundational texts of our civilization. In his characteristic brilliance, Plato blends cosmology and metaphysics, anatomy and politics to tell a creation story that rivals the most fantastical mythologies, yet he does it while remaining grounded in a philosophical rigor that announces a radically new way of thinking the world. Here, Phil and JF try unravel the layers of the dialogue, revealing how Plato's vision of a divinely ordered cosmos echoes through the corridors of esoteric thought from antiquity to modern times.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Plato, [Timaeus](https://hackettpublishing.com/history/history-of-science/timaeus](Donald Zeyl Edition)
Earl Fontenelle, The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast
The Book of Thoth
Graham Hancock, British journalist
Hesiod, Theogony
Hermes Trismegistus, {Emerald Tablet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Tablet)
Pierre Hadot,, scholar of classical philosophy
Eugene Wigner, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences”
Jean-Pierre Vernant, The Origins of Greek Thought
Lionel Snell, SSOTBME

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]]> 5812 yes Episode 157: Long Live the New Flesh: On David Cronenberg's 'Videodrome' https://www.weirdstudies.com/157 "Death to Videodrome! Long live the New Flesh!" It was perhaps inevitable that the modern Weird, driven as it is to swallow all things, would sooner or later veer into the realm of political sloganeering without losing any of its unknowable essence. David Cronenberg's 1983 film Videodrome is more than a masterwork of body horror: it is a study in technopolitics, a meditation on the complex weave of imagination and perception, and a prophecy of the now on-going coalescence of flesh and technology into a strange new alloy. In this episode, recorded live after a screening of the film at Indiana University Cinema in Bloomington, JF and Phil set out to interpret Cronenberg's vision... and come to dig the New Flesh. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES David Cronenberg, Videodrome Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Visible and the Invisible Paul Virilio, The Information Bomb Weird Studies, Episode 75 on “2001: A Space Odyssey” Richard Porton and David Cronenberg, "The Film Director as Philosopher: An Interview with David Cronenberg" George Hickenlooper and David Cronenberg, "The Primal Energies of the Horror Film: An Interview with David Cronenberg" Weird Studies, Episode 144 with Connor Habib William Friedkin (dir.), The Exorcist Plato, Timaeus William Gibson, Idoru CBC, Yorkville: Hippie Haven Linda Williams, “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 08 Nov 2023 16:00:00 -0000 Long Live the New Flesh: On David Cronenberg's 'Videodrome' full 157 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss David Cronenberg's 1983 masterpiece of body horror. "Death to Videodrome! Long live the New Flesh!" It was perhaps inevitable that the modern Weird, driven as it is to swallow all things, would sooner or later veer into the realm of political sloganeering without losing any of its unknowable essence. David Cronenberg's 1983 film Videodrome is more than a masterwork of body horror: it is a study in technopolitics, a meditation on the complex weave of imagination and perception, and a prophecy of the now on-going coalescence of flesh and technology into a strange new alloy. In this episode, recorded live after a screening of the film at Indiana University Cinema in Bloomington, JF and Phil set out to interpret Cronenberg's vision... and come to dig the New Flesh. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES David Cronenberg, Videodrome Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Visible and the Invisible Paul Virilio, The Information Bomb Weird Studies, Episode 75 on “2001: A Space Odyssey” Richard Porton and David Cronenberg, "The Film Director as Philosopher: An Interview with David Cronenberg" George Hickenlooper and David Cronenberg, "The Primal Energies of the Horror Film: An Interview with David Cronenberg" Weird Studies, Episode 144 with Connor Habib William Friedkin (dir.), The Exorcist Plato, Timaeus William Gibson, Idoru CBC, Yorkville: Hippie Haven Linda Williams, “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices "Death to Videodrome! Long live the New Flesh!"

It was perhaps inevitable that the modern Weird, driven as it is to swallow all things, would sooner or later veer into the realm of political sloganeering without losing any of its unknowable essence. David Cronenberg's 1983 film Videodrome is more than a masterwork of body horror: it is a study in technopolitics, a meditation on the complex weave of imagination and perception, and a prophecy of the now on-going coalescence of flesh and technology into a strange new alloy. In this episode, recorded live after a screening of the film at Indiana University Cinema in Bloomington, JF and Phil set out to interpret Cronenberg's vision... and come to dig the New Flesh.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES
David Cronenberg, Videodrome
Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Visible and the Invisible
Paul Virilio, The Information Bomb
Weird Studies, Episode 75 on “2001: A Space Odyssey”
Richard Porton and David Cronenberg, "The Film Director as Philosopher: An Interview with David Cronenberg"
George Hickenlooper and David Cronenberg, "The Primal Energies of the Horror Film: An Interview with David Cronenberg"
Weird Studies, Episode 144 with Connor Habib
William Friedkin (dir.), The Exorcist
Plato, Timaeus
William Gibson, Idoru
CBC, Yorkville: Hippie Haven
Linda Williams, “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess”

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]]> 4474 yes Episode 156: The Only Possible End: On Donna Tartt's 'The Secret History' https://www.weirdstudies.com/156 There are works of weird fiction that dispense their strangeness so subtly that many readers never pick up on it, books that allow themselves to be pass for mundane, the better to haunt us after we put them down. Donna Tartt's debut novel The Secret History, published in 1992, is such a work. On the surface, it is a brilliant, yet completely naturalistic, telling of the lead-up and aftermath of a murder. But The Secret History is also a work of the depths, and readers who go in seeking the Weird will find it lurking on every page. More than a masterpiece of psychological exploration, it is a story about the resurgence of the old god Dionysus, and a chronicle of fate; fate conceived, in the manner of the Ancient Greeks, as a cosmic force. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Donna Tartt, The Secret History Robertson Davies, Canadian novelist Weird Studies, Episode 98 on Exotica M. R. James, English author Weird Studies, Episode 3 on “The White People” E. R. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational Jean Cocteau, La Machine Infernale John Crowley, Little, Big Star Trek: The Next Generation, “The Outrageous Okana” Weird Studies, Episode 110 on “The Glass Bead Game” Gabriel Faure, Nocturne No. 11 Pierre-André Boutang, L'Abécédaire de Gilles Deleuze Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 25 Oct 2023 14:00:00 -0000 The Only Possible End: On Donna Tartt's 'The Secret History' full 156 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Donna Tartt's classic debut novel. There are works of weird fiction that dispense their strangeness so subtly that many readers never pick up on it, books that allow themselves to be pass for mundane, the better to haunt us after we put them down. Donna Tartt's debut novel The Secret History, published in 1992, is such a work. On the surface, it is a brilliant, yet completely naturalistic, telling of the lead-up and aftermath of a murder. But The Secret History is also a work of the depths, and readers who go in seeking the Weird will find it lurking on every page. More than a masterpiece of psychological exploration, it is a story about the resurgence of the old god Dionysus, and a chronicle of fate; fate conceived, in the manner of the Ancient Greeks, as a cosmic force. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Donna Tartt, The Secret History Robertson Davies, Canadian novelist Weird Studies, Episode 98 on Exotica M. R. James, English author Weird Studies, Episode 3 on “The White People” E. R. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational Jean Cocteau, La Machine Infernale John Crowley, Little, Big Star Trek: The Next Generation, “The Outrageous Okana” Weird Studies, Episode 110 on “The Glass Bead Game” Gabriel Faure, Nocturne No. 11 Pierre-André Boutang, L'Abécédaire de Gilles Deleuze Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices There are works of weird fiction that dispense their strangeness so subtly that many readers never pick up on it, books that allow themselves to be pass for mundane, the better to haunt us after we put them down. Donna Tartt's debut novel The Secret History, published in 1992, is such a work. On the surface, it is a brilliant, yet completely naturalistic, telling of the lead-up and aftermath of a murder. But The Secret History is also a work of the depths, and readers who go in seeking the Weird will find it lurking on every page. More than a masterpiece of psychological exploration, it is a story about the resurgence of the old god Dionysus, and a chronicle of fate; fate conceived, in the manner of the Ancient Greeks, as a cosmic force.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Donna Tartt, The Secret History
Robertson Davies, Canadian novelist
Weird Studies, Episode 98 on Exotica
M. R. James, English author
Weird Studies, Episode 3 on “The White People”
E. R. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational
Jean Cocteau, La Machine Infernale
John Crowley, Little, Big
Star Trek: The Next Generation, “The Outrageous Okana”
Weird Studies, Episode 110 on “The Glass Bead Game”
Gabriel Faure, Nocturne No. 11
Pierre-André Boutang, L'Abécédaire de Gilles Deleuze
Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch

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]]> 5590 yes Episode 155: Dispatches From the Inside: On Planet Weird's 'The Unbinding' https://www.weirdstudies.com/155 One of the most surprising aspects of paranormal experience is how often it takes on a storylike form, unfolding exactly as you would expect it to in, say, a Hollywood horror film. Viewers of Karl Pfeiffer's film The Unbinding will get a sense of this in the early sequences of Greg and Dana Newkirk's latest occult adventure. The haunting comes on strong and takes rather familiar forms. But the almost too-good-to-be-true frights -- effective as they are in an almost fairy-tale way -- soon give way to a procedural that invites us to ponder the ethics and methodologies of paranormal investigation in the age of Global Weirding. What do we owe the Others we encounter? What do they owe us? In this episode, JF and Phil discuss some of the questions haunting this brilliant documentary from the creators of Hellier. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Planet Weird, The Unbinding Weird Studies, Episode 67 on “Hellier” Alexander Wendt and Raymond Duvall, “Sovereignty and the UFO” Duncan Barford, “Magick Versus Content” Gilles Deleuze, Masochism: Coldness and Cruelty Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 11 Oct 2023 15:00:00 -0000 Dispatches From the Inside: On Planet Weird's 'The Unbinding' full 155 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Planet Weird's latest paranormal documentary, "The Unbinding." One of the most surprising aspects of paranormal experience is how often it takes on a storylike form, unfolding exactly as you would expect it to in, say, a Hollywood horror film. Viewers of Karl Pfeiffer's film The Unbinding will get a sense of this in the early sequences of Greg and Dana Newkirk's latest occult adventure. The haunting comes on strong and takes rather familiar forms. But the almost too-good-to-be-true frights -- effective as they are in an almost fairy-tale way -- soon give way to a procedural that invites us to ponder the ethics and methodologies of paranormal investigation in the age of Global Weirding. What do we owe the Others we encounter? What do they owe us? In this episode, JF and Phil discuss some of the questions haunting this brilliant documentary from the creators of Hellier. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Planet Weird, The Unbinding Weird Studies, Episode 67 on “Hellier” Alexander Wendt and Raymond Duvall, “Sovereignty and the UFO” Duncan Barford, “Magick Versus Content” Gilles Deleuze, Masochism: Coldness and Cruelty Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices One of the most surprising aspects of paranormal experience is how often it takes on a storylike form, unfolding exactly as you would expect it to in, say, a Hollywood horror film. Viewers of Karl Pfeiffer's film The Unbinding will get a sense of this in the early sequences of Greg and Dana Newkirk's latest occult adventure. The haunting comes on strong and takes rather familiar forms. But the almost too-good-to-be-true frights -- effective as they are in an almost fairy-tale way -- soon give way to a procedural that invites us to ponder the ethics and methodologies of paranormal investigation in the age of Global Weirding. What do we owe the Others we encounter? What do they owe us? In this episode, JF and Phil discuss some of the questions haunting this brilliant documentary from the creators of Hellier.

Support us on Patreon.
Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Planet Weird, The Unbinding
Weird Studies, Episode 67 on “Hellier”
Alexander Wendt and Raymond Duvall, “Sovereignty and the UFO”
Duncan Barford, “Magick Versus Content”
Gilles Deleuze, Masochism: Coldness and Cruelty

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5447 yes Episode 154: Into the Night Land, with Erik Davis https://www.weirdstudies.com/154 William Hope Hodgson's The Night Land is without a doubt one of the weirdest entries in the annals of weird fiction. Set in the earth's distant future, after the sun has gone out and the planet has been cleaved in two by an unspecified disaster, a telepathic scientist dons his armour and weapons to brave the monster-haunted yet strangely monotonous wastes that engirdle the massive pyramid in which the last humans took refuge, hundreds of thousands of years earlier. If Samuel Beckett tripped hard on ayahuasca, he might have come up with something like Hodgson's genre-defying novel, which reads more like a report to committee of 17th-century heretics than a piece of speculative fiction from the early twentieth century. MIT Press recently released a (blessedly) abridged edition of The Night Land as part of their Radium Series. Journalist, scholar, and lecturer Erik Davis, who penned a brilliant foreword for the new edition, was kind enough to join Phil and JF to discuss this underrated masterpiece. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! SHOW NOTES William Hope Hodgeson, The Night Land Weird Studies, Episode 37 with Stuart Davis Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy Charles Taylor, A Secular Age William Hope Hodgeson, House on the Borderland Samuel Beckett, Molloy Sumptuary Laws Arcosanti, arcology Olaf Stapledon, Last and First Men Pierre Schaeffer, “Traité des objets musicaux” Schitzophonia H.G. Wells, The Time Machine Special Guest: Erik Davis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 27 Sep 2023 03:00:00 -0000 Into the Night Land, with Erik Davis full 154 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil are joined by Erik Davis to discuss William Hope Hodgson's masterfully weird 1912 novel. William Hope Hodgson's The Night Land is without a doubt one of the weirdest entries in the annals of weird fiction. Set in the earth's distant future, after the sun has gone out and the planet has been cleaved in two by an unspecified disaster, a telepathic scientist dons his armour and weapons to brave the monster-haunted yet strangely monotonous wastes that engirdle the massive pyramid in which the last humans took refuge, hundreds of thousands of years earlier. If Samuel Beckett tripped hard on ayahuasca, he might have come up with something like Hodgson's genre-defying novel, which reads more like a report to committee of 17th-century heretics than a piece of speculative fiction from the early twentieth century. MIT Press recently released a (blessedly) abridged edition of The Night Land as part of their Radium Series. Journalist, scholar, and lecturer Erik Davis, who penned a brilliant foreword for the new edition, was kind enough to join Phil and JF to discuss this underrated masterpiece. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! SHOW NOTES William Hope Hodgeson, The Night Land Weird Studies, Episode 37 with Stuart Davis Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy Charles Taylor, A Secular Age William Hope Hodgeson, House on the Borderland Samuel Beckett, Molloy Sumptuary Laws Arcosanti, arcology Olaf Stapledon, Last and First Men Pierre Schaeffer, “Traité des objets musicaux” Schitzophonia H.G. Wells, The Time Machine Special Guest: Erik Davis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices William Hope Hodgson's The Night Land is without a doubt one of the weirdest entries in the annals of weird fiction. Set in the earth's distant future, after the sun has gone out and the planet has been cleaved in two by an unspecified disaster, a telepathic scientist dons his armour and weapons to brave the monster-haunted yet strangely monotonous wastes that engirdle the massive pyramid in which the last humans took refuge, hundreds of thousands of years earlier. If Samuel Beckett tripped hard on ayahuasca, he might have come up with something like Hodgson's genre-defying novel, which reads more like a report to committee of 17th-century heretics than a piece of speculative fiction from the early twentieth century.

MIT Press recently released a (blessedly) abridged edition of The Night Land as part of their Radium Series. Journalist, scholar, and lecturer Erik Davis, who penned a brilliant foreword for the new edition, was kind enough to join Phil and JF to discuss this underrated masterpiece.

Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

SHOW NOTES

William Hope Hodgeson, The Night Land
Weird Studies, Episode 37 with Stuart Davis
Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy
Charles Taylor, A Secular Age
William Hope Hodgeson, House on the Borderland
Samuel Beckett, Molloy
Sumptuary Laws
Arcosanti, arcology
Olaf Stapledon, Last and First Men
Pierre Schaeffer, “Traité des objets musicaux”
Schitzophonia
H.G. Wells, The Time Machine

Special Guest: Erik Davis.

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]]> 5042 yes Episode 153: Celestial Machine: On the Temperance Card in the Tarot https://www.weirdstudies.com/153 Even learned commentators on the tarot are likely to point out at the fourteenth major arcana, Temperance, is a bit of a boring card. At least, it comes off as dull until you look at it closely, as JF and Phil do in this episode. What they find is that the Temperance card is actually a diagram, a kind of blueprint for a celestial machine that underlies human technology, beckoning us to restore even the most mechanical contraption to the raw weirdness at the source of everything. Header image by Rolf Dietrich Brecher via Wikimedia Commons It's not too late to join JF's Nura Learning course, ["Art in the Age of Artificial Intelligence."](www.nuralearning.com) Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! SHOW NOTES Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Adrien Lyne, Jacob’s Ladder Weeping Angels, Dr. Who creatures Joel Schumacher, Flatliners Lawrence Halprin, The RSVP Cycles Gregory Bateson, Steps To an Ecology of Mind Hesychasm, monastic practice Yoav Ben-Dov, Tarot: the Open Reading The Gnostic Tarot Jeffrey Kripal, Authors of the Impossible Nagarjuna, Verses of the Middle Way Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 13 Sep 2023 14:30:00 -0000 Celestial Machine: On the Temperance Card in the Tarot full 153 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the fourteenth arcanum, traditionally known as Temperance. Even learned commentators on the tarot are likely to point out at the fourteenth major arcana, Temperance, is a bit of a boring card. At least, it comes off as dull until you look at it closely, as JF and Phil do in this episode. What they find is that the Temperance card is actually a diagram, a kind of blueprint for a celestial machine that underlies human technology, beckoning us to restore even the most mechanical contraption to the raw weirdness at the source of everything. Header image by Rolf Dietrich Brecher via Wikimedia Commons It's not too late to join JF's Nura Learning course, ["Art in the Age of Artificial Intelligence."](www.nuralearning.com) Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! SHOW NOTES Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Adrien Lyne, Jacob’s Ladder Weeping Angels, Dr. Who creatures Joel Schumacher, Flatliners Lawrence Halprin, The RSVP Cycles Gregory Bateson, Steps To an Ecology of Mind Hesychasm, monastic practice Yoav Ben-Dov, Tarot: the Open Reading The Gnostic Tarot Jeffrey Kripal, Authors of the Impossible Nagarjuna, Verses of the Middle Way Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Even learned commentators on the tarot are likely to point out at the fourteenth major arcana, Temperance, is a bit of a boring card. At least, it comes off as dull until you look at it closely, as JF and Phil do in this episode. What they find is that the Temperance card is actually a diagram, a kind of blueprint for a celestial machine that underlies human technology, beckoning us to restore even the most mechanical contraption to the raw weirdness at the source of everything.

Header image by Rolf Dietrich Brecher via Wikimedia Commons

It's not too late to join JF's Nura Learning course, ["Art in the Age of Artificial Intelligence."](www.nuralearning.com)

Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

SHOW NOTES

Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot
Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth
Adrien Lyne, Jacob’s Ladder
Weeping Angels, Dr. Who creatures
Joel Schumacher, Flatliners
Lawrence Halprin, The RSVP Cycles
Gregory Bateson, Steps To an Ecology of Mind
Hesychasm, monastic practice
Yoav Ben-Dov, Tarot: the Open Reading
The Gnostic Tarot
Jeffrey Kripal, Authors of the Impossible
Nagarjuna, Verses of the Middle Way

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4774 yes Summer Bonus #2: Art and AI https://www.weirdstudies.com/152c In this bonus episode, originally released on July 26th on the Weird Studies Patreon, Phil and JF explore a few ways in which artificial intelligence will impact the arts. The podcast returns with a new official episode on September 13th. Enjoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Fri, 08 Sep 2023 14:15:00 -0000 full SpectreVision Radio Another Patreon bonus, released for your listening pleasure as we prepare the first episode of the new season, which begins on September 13th. In this bonus episode, originally released on July 26th on the Weird Studies Patreon, Phil and JF explore a few ways in which artificial intelligence will impact the arts. The podcast returns with a new official episode on September 13th. Enjoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this bonus episode, originally released on July 26th on the Weird Studies Patreon, Phil and JF explore a few ways in which artificial intelligence will impact the arts. The podcast returns with a new official episode on September 13th. Enjoy.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 3096 yes Summer Bonus: On Affectation, with a Special Announcement https://www.weirdstudies.com/152b A bonus offering to break up the summer hiatus, this episode contains a conversation on the virtues of affectation originally available only to third- and fourth-tier members of the Weird Studies Patreon ("Putting on the Bow-Tie," Apr 5, 2023). The episode opens with a short piece on JF's upcoming Nura Learning course, Art in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, starting on September 12th. Enjoy. [Art in the Age of Artificial Intelligence](www.nuralearning.com), a seven-week online course with JF Martel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Tue, 15 Aug 2023 14:00:00 -0000 full SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the virtues of affectation in this bonus episode, previously available only to Patreon members. A bonus offering to break up the summer hiatus, this episode contains a conversation on the virtues of affectation originally available only to third- and fourth-tier members of the Weird Studies Patreon ("Putting on the Bow-Tie," Apr 5, 2023). The episode opens with a short piece on JF's upcoming Nura Learning course, Art in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, starting on September 12th. Enjoy. [Art in the Age of Artificial Intelligence](www.nuralearning.com), a seven-week online course with JF Martel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices A bonus offering to break up the summer hiatus, this episode contains a conversation on the virtues of affectation originally available only to third- and fourth-tier members of the Weird Studies Patreon ("Putting on the Bow-Tie," Apr 5, 2023). The episode opens with a short piece on JF's upcoming Nura Learning course, Art in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, starting on September 12th. Enjoy.

[Art in the Age of Artificial Intelligence](www.nuralearning.com), a seven-week online course with JF Martel.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 3023 yes Episode 152: The Science of Things Spiritual: Live in Lily Dale https://www.weirdstudies.com/152 On the last week of July, 2023, Phil and JF were delighted to speak at Shannon Taggart's Science of Things Spiritual Symposium in Lily Dale, the nerve centre of the Spiritualist movement. As speakers, your hosts were part of an inspiring lineup of scholars, artists, and researchers committed to exploring the borderlands of art, science, religion, and the paranormal. They also had the honour of launching the symposium with a live recording held on the evening of the July 27th. The topic was Frederic W. H. Myers' autobiographical essay, "Fragments of Inner Life," first published in full in 1961, some sixty years after the author's death. Myers was one of the original members of the Society for Psychical Research in England. A poet and classicist, he remained committed to the scientific promise of paranormal investigation until the end of his life. His book Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death, also published posthumously, argues that psychical studies have confirmed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that death is just the beginning. In this talk, JF and Phil discuss Myers' relevance to 21st-century thinking on the Weird. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES The Science of Things Spiritual Symposium: July 27-29, 2023 Frederic Myers, Fragments of Inner Life Alan Bennett, History Boys Arthur Machen, A Fragment of Life Alan Gauld, The Founders of Psychical Research Donna Tartt, The Secret History Arthur Machen, The Great God Pan Frans de Waal, Mama’s Last Hug Daniel Dennett, American cognitive scientist Frederic Myers, Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death Gabriel Marcel, The Mystery of Being Phil Ford, Dig William James, Principles of Psychology Akashic Record, Theosophical idea Jeff Kripal, Authors of the Impossible Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Tue, 01 Aug 2023 15:15:00 -0000 The Science of Things Spiritual: Live in Lily Dale full 152 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Frederic Myers, founding member of the Society for Psychical Research, at the 2023 Science of Things Spiritual Symposium in Lily Dale, New York. On the last week of July, 2023, Phil and JF were delighted to speak at Shannon Taggart's Science of Things Spiritual Symposium in Lily Dale, the nerve centre of the Spiritualist movement. As speakers, your hosts were part of an inspiring lineup of scholars, artists, and researchers committed to exploring the borderlands of art, science, religion, and the paranormal. They also had the honour of launching the symposium with a live recording held on the evening of the July 27th. The topic was Frederic W. H. Myers' autobiographical essay, "Fragments of Inner Life," first published in full in 1961, some sixty years after the author's death. Myers was one of the original members of the Society for Psychical Research in England. A poet and classicist, he remained committed to the scientific promise of paranormal investigation until the end of his life. His book Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death, also published posthumously, argues that psychical studies have confirmed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that death is just the beginning. In this talk, JF and Phil discuss Myers' relevance to 21st-century thinking on the Weird. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES The Science of Things Spiritual Symposium: July 27-29, 2023 Frederic Myers, Fragments of Inner Life Alan Bennett, History Boys Arthur Machen, A Fragment of Life Alan Gauld, The Founders of Psychical Research Donna Tartt, The Secret History Arthur Machen, The Great God Pan Frans de Waal, Mama’s Last Hug Daniel Dennett, American cognitive scientist Frederic Myers, Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death Gabriel Marcel, The Mystery of Being Phil Ford, Dig William James, Principles of Psychology Akashic Record, Theosophical idea Jeff Kripal, Authors of the Impossible Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices On the last week of July, 2023, Phil and JF were delighted to speak at Shannon Taggart's Science of Things Spiritual Symposium in Lily Dale, the nerve centre of the Spiritualist movement. As speakers, your hosts were part of an inspiring lineup of scholars, artists, and researchers committed to exploring the borderlands of art, science, religion, and the paranormal. They also had the honour of launching the symposium with a live recording held on the evening of the July 27th. The topic was Frederic W. H. Myers' autobiographical essay, "Fragments of Inner Life," first published in full in 1961, some sixty years after the author's death. Myers was one of the original members of the Society for Psychical Research in England. A poet and classicist, he remained committed to the scientific promise of paranormal investigation until the end of his life. His book Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death, also published posthumously, argues that psychical studies have confirmed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that death is just the beginning. In this talk, JF and Phil discuss Myers' relevance to 21st-century thinking on the Weird.

Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

The Science of Things Spiritual Symposium: July 27-29, 2023
Frederic Myers, Fragments of Inner Life
Alan Bennett, History Boys
Arthur Machen, A Fragment of Life
Alan Gauld, The Founders of Psychical Research
Donna Tartt, The Secret History
Arthur Machen, The Great God Pan
Frans de Waal, Mama’s Last Hug
Daniel Dennett, American cognitive scientist

Frederic Myers, Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death
Gabriel Marcel, The Mystery of Being
Phil Ford, Dig
William James, Principles of Psychology
Akashic Record, Theosophical idea
Jeff Kripal, Authors of the Impossible

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 6531 yes Episode 151: The Real and the Possible: Live at the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, with Jacob G. Foster https://www.weirdstudies.com/151 In The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light, the cultural historian William Irwin Thompson predicted the rise of a new form of knowledge building, a direly needed alternative to the Wissenshaft of standard science and scholarship. He called it Wissenskunst, "the play of knowledge in a world of serious data processors." Wissenskunst is pretty much what JF and Phil have been aspiring to do on Weird Studies since 2018, but in this episode they are joined by a master of the craft, the computational sociologist and physicist Jacob G. Foster of UCLA. Jacob is the co-founder of the Diverse Intelligence Summer Institute (DISI), a gathering of scholars, scientists, and students that takes place each year at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. It was there that this conversation was recorded. The topic was the Possible, that dream-blurred vanishing point where art, philosophy, and science converge as imaginative and creative practices. Click here or here for more information on Shannon Taggart's Science of Things Spiritual Symposium at Lily Dale NY, July 27-29 2023. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute "Deconstructing the Barrier of Meaning," a talk by Jacob G. Foster at the Santa Fe Institute William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture Frederic Rzewski, “Little Bangs: A Nihilist Theory of Improvisation” Brian Eno, Oblique Strategies The accident of Bob in Twin Peaks Carl Jung, “On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry August Kekule,, German chemist Robert Dijkgraaf, “Contemplating the End of Physics” Richard Baker, American zen teacher Gian-Carlo Rota, Indiscrete Thoughts William Shakespeare, Macbeth Shoggoth, Lovecraftian entity Special Guest: Jacob G. Foster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 19 Jul 2023 13:00:00 -0000 The Real and the Possible: Live at the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, with Jacob G. Foster full 151 SpectreVision Radio Jacob G. Foster joins Phil and JF to discuss art, science, and the reality of the possible. In The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light, the cultural historian William Irwin Thompson predicted the rise of a new form of knowledge building, a direly needed alternative to the Wissenshaft of standard science and scholarship. He called it Wissenskunst, "the play of knowledge in a world of serious data processors." Wissenskunst is pretty much what JF and Phil have been aspiring to do on Weird Studies since 2018, but in this episode they are joined by a master of the craft, the computational sociologist and physicist Jacob G. Foster of UCLA. Jacob is the co-founder of the Diverse Intelligence Summer Institute (DISI), a gathering of scholars, scientists, and students that takes place each year at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. It was there that this conversation was recorded. The topic was the Possible, that dream-blurred vanishing point where art, philosophy, and science converge as imaginative and creative practices. Click here or here for more information on Shannon Taggart's Science of Things Spiritual Symposium at Lily Dale NY, July 27-29 2023. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute "Deconstructing the Barrier of Meaning," a talk by Jacob G. Foster at the Santa Fe Institute William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture Frederic Rzewski, “Little Bangs: A Nihilist Theory of Improvisation” Brian Eno, Oblique Strategies The accident of Bob in Twin Peaks Carl Jung, “On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry August Kekule,, German chemist Robert Dijkgraaf, “Contemplating the End of Physics” Richard Baker, American zen teacher Gian-Carlo Rota, Indiscrete Thoughts William Shakespeare, Macbeth Shoggoth, Lovecraftian entity Special Guest: Jacob G. Foster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light, the cultural historian William Irwin Thompson predicted the rise of a new form of knowledge building, a direly needed alternative to the Wissenshaft of standard science and scholarship. He called it Wissenskunst, "the play of knowledge in a world of serious data processors." Wissenskunst is pretty much what JF and Phil have been aspiring to do on Weird Studies since 2018, but in this episode they are joined by a master of the craft, the computational sociologist and physicist Jacob G. Foster of UCLA. Jacob is the co-founder of the Diverse Intelligence Summer Institute (DISI), a gathering of scholars, scientists, and students that takes place each year at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. It was there that this conversation was recorded. The topic was the Possible, that dream-blurred vanishing point where art, philosophy, and science converge as imaginative and creative practices.

Click here or here for more information on Shannon Taggart's Science of Things Spiritual Symposium at Lily Dale NY, July 27-29 2023.

Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute
"Deconstructing the Barrier of Meaning," a talk by Jacob G. Foster at the Santa Fe Institute
William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture
Frederic Rzewski, “Little Bangs: A Nihilist Theory of Improvisation”
Brian Eno, Oblique Strategies
The accident of Bob in Twin Peaks
Carl Jung, “On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry
August Kekule,, German chemist
Robert Dijkgraaf, “Contemplating the End of Physics”
Richard Baker, American zen teacher
Gian-Carlo Rota, Indiscrete Thoughts
William Shakespeare, Macbeth
Shoggoth, Lovecraftian entity

Special Guest: Jacob G. Foster.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4578 yes Episode 150: Sacramental Reality: On Arthur Machen's "A Fragment of Life" https://www.weirdstudies.com/150 "A Fragement of Life" opens with Mr. Darnell waking up from a dream and going down to breakfast, where it is described that "before he sat down to his fried bacon he kissed his wife seriously and dutifully." He then proceeds to take the tram to visit a friend, with whom he has a long and tedious conversation about plants, clothes, kids, and how best to spend ten pounds. The story continues on in this mundane manner for quite some time, which is probably not what we would expect from Arthur Machen, virtuoso of the weird. But, as Phil and JF discuss, this writing style intentionally draws attention to the absurdity of modern, materialist life, creating a striking contrast with the mysterious other world that Mr. and Mrs. Darnell eventually begin to pursue. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Arthur Machen, A Fragment of Life Weird Studies, Episode 3 on “The White People and Episode 87 on “Heiroglyphics” Karl Marx, Capital James Machin, Weird Fiction in Britain Thomas Ligotti, “The Order of Illusion” in Noctuary Weird Studies, Episode 20 on the Trash Stratum Artur Schnitzler, Traumnovelle Weird Studies, Episode 59 on Walking Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 05 Jul 2023 17:00:00 -0000 Sacramental Reality: On Arthur Machen's "A Fragment of Life" full 150 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Machen's masterful writing craft in his novella "A Fragment of Life." "A Fragement of Life" opens with Mr. Darnell waking up from a dream and going down to breakfast, where it is described that "before he sat down to his fried bacon he kissed his wife seriously and dutifully." He then proceeds to take the tram to visit a friend, with whom he has a long and tedious conversation about plants, clothes, kids, and how best to spend ten pounds. The story continues on in this mundane manner for quite some time, which is probably not what we would expect from Arthur Machen, virtuoso of the weird. But, as Phil and JF discuss, this writing style intentionally draws attention to the absurdity of modern, materialist life, creating a striking contrast with the mysterious other world that Mr. and Mrs. Darnell eventually begin to pursue. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Arthur Machen, A Fragment of Life Weird Studies, Episode 3 on “The White People and Episode 87 on “Heiroglyphics” Karl Marx, Capital James Machin, Weird Fiction in Britain Thomas Ligotti, “The Order of Illusion” in Noctuary Weird Studies, Episode 20 on the Trash Stratum Artur Schnitzler, Traumnovelle Weird Studies, Episode 59 on Walking Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices "A Fragement of Life" opens with Mr. Darnell waking up from a dream and going down to breakfast, where it is described that "before he sat down to his fried bacon he kissed his wife seriously and dutifully." He then proceeds to take the tram to visit a friend, with whom he has a long and tedious conversation about plants, clothes, kids, and how best to spend ten pounds. The story continues on in this mundane manner for quite some time, which is probably not what we would expect from Arthur Machen, virtuoso of the weird. But, as Phil and JF discuss, this writing style intentionally draws attention to the absurdity of modern, materialist life, creating a striking contrast with the mysterious other world that Mr. and Mrs. Darnell eventually begin to pursue.

Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES
Arthur Machen, A Fragment of Life
Weird Studies, Episode 3 on “The White People and Episode 87 on “Heiroglyphics”
Karl Marx, Capital
James Machin, Weird Fiction in Britain
Thomas Ligotti, “The Order of Illusion” in Noctuary
Weird Studies, Episode 20 on the Trash Stratum
Artur Schnitzler, Traumnovelle
Weird Studies, Episode 59 on Walking
Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5153 yes Episode 149: Song Swap: On Judee Sill's 'The Kiss' and Wilco's 'Jesus, Etc.' https://www.weirdstudies.com/149 Occasionally, JF and Phil do a song swap. Each host chooses a song he loves and shares it with the other, and then they record an episode on it. This time, JF chose to discuss "Jesus, Etc." from Wilco's 2001 album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and Phil picked Judee Sill's ethereal "The Kiss," from Heart Food (1973). It was in the zone of Time, in all its strangeness, that the two songs began to resonate with one another. Sill's song is a fated grasping at the eternal that is present even when it eludes us, and "Jesus, Etc." is a leap across time that captures, in jagged shards and signal bursts, the events of the day on which Wilco's album was scheduled to drop: September 11, 2001. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Judee Sill, “The Kiss” James Elkins, Pictures and Tears Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, “Surf’s Up” Weird Studies, Episode 148 on “Twin Peaks” Wilco, “Jesus Etc.” Jeff Buckley, singer-songwriter William Gibson, Forward to Dhalgren L. E. J. Brouwer, Concept of “two-ity” Dogen, Genjokoan David Bowie, “Heroes” Philip K. Dick, Valis Weird Studies, Episode 147 “You Must Change Your Life” Theodore Adorno, Aesthetic Theory James Longley, Iraq in Fragments Sam Jones, I am Trying to Break your Heart Number Stations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 21 Jun 2023 16:00:00 -0000 Song Swap: On Judee Sill's 'The Kiss' and Wilco's 'Jesus, Etc.' full 149 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF explore the musicological, philosophical, and prophetic dimensions of two good tunes. Occasionally, JF and Phil do a song swap. Each host chooses a song he loves and shares it with the other, and then they record an episode on it. This time, JF chose to discuss "Jesus, Etc." from Wilco's 2001 album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and Phil picked Judee Sill's ethereal "The Kiss," from Heart Food (1973). It was in the zone of Time, in all its strangeness, that the two songs began to resonate with one another. Sill's song is a fated grasping at the eternal that is present even when it eludes us, and "Jesus, Etc." is a leap across time that captures, in jagged shards and signal bursts, the events of the day on which Wilco's album was scheduled to drop: September 11, 2001. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Judee Sill, “The Kiss” James Elkins, Pictures and Tears Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, “Surf’s Up” Weird Studies, Episode 148 on “Twin Peaks” Wilco, “Jesus Etc.” Jeff Buckley, singer-songwriter William Gibson, Forward to Dhalgren L. E. J. Brouwer, Concept of “two-ity” Dogen, Genjokoan David Bowie, “Heroes” Philip K. Dick, Valis Weird Studies, Episode 147 “You Must Change Your Life” Theodore Adorno, Aesthetic Theory James Longley, Iraq in Fragments Sam Jones, I am Trying to Break your Heart Number Stations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Occasionally, JF and Phil do a song swap. Each host chooses a song he loves and shares it with the other, and then they record an episode on it. This time, JF chose to discuss "Jesus, Etc." from Wilco's 2001 album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and Phil picked Judee Sill's ethereal "The Kiss," from Heart Food (1973). It was in the zone of Time, in all its strangeness, that the two songs began to resonate with one another. Sill's song is a fated grasping at the eternal that is present even when it eludes us, and "Jesus, Etc." is a leap across time that captures, in jagged shards and signal bursts, the events of the day on which Wilco's album was scheduled to drop: September 11, 2001.

Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Judee Sill, “The Kiss”
James Elkins, Pictures and Tears
Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, “Surf’s Up”
Weird Studies, Episode 148 on “Twin Peaks”
Wilco, “Jesus Etc.”
Jeff Buckley, singer-songwriter
William Gibson, Forward to Dhalgren
L. E. J. Brouwer, Concept of “two-ity”
Dogen, Genjokoan
David Bowie, “Heroes”
Philip K. Dick, Valis
Weird Studies, Episode 147 “You Must Change Your Life”
Theodore Adorno, Aesthetic Theory
James Longley, Iraq in Fragments
Sam Jones, I am Trying to Break your Heart
Number Stations

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]]> 4809 yes Episode 148: Mythos of the Moment: On 'Twin Peaks,' Season 3 https://www.weirdstudies.com/148 David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks has been a touchstone of Weird Studies since the podcast's inception. Back in 2018, Phil and JF recorded Episode 1: Garmonbozia while still reeling from the series' third season, which aired on Showtime the year before. Now, in preparation for their upcoming course on Twin Peaks, they watched the third season again and recorded this episode. Their conversation touched on the virtues of late style in the arts, the divergence of knowing and understanding, the fate of Agent Dale Cooper, and the dream logic of the _Twin Peaks _universe. Last change to sign up for The Twin Peaks Mythos, a 4-week Weird Studies view-along starting June 8th, 2023. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Symposium at Lily Dale, July 27-29, 2023 David Lynch and Mark Frost (creators), Twin Peaks David Lynch (dir.), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, What is Philosophy? Chris Carter (creator), The X-Files Erik Davis, American scholar, lecturer, and journalist Thomas Ligotti, American writer Stephen King, American writer Joshua Brand and John Falsey (creators), Northern Exposure James Elkins, Pictures and Tears: A History of People Who Have Cried in Front of Paintings David Lynch (dir.), Mulholland Drive Robert Aickman, English writer of "strange stories" Manuel DeLanda on signification vs significance Weird Studies, episode 105: Fire Walk With Tamler Sommers Kyle McLachlan interview in Vanity Fair Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 07 Jun 2023 14:30:00 -0000 Mythos of the Moment: On 'Twin Peaks,' Season 3 full 148 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the aesthetics and metaphysics of David Lynch's landmark series. David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks has been a touchstone of Weird Studies since the podcast's inception. Back in 2018, Phil and JF recorded Episode 1: Garmonbozia while still reeling from the series' third season, which aired on Showtime the year before. Now, in preparation for their upcoming course on Twin Peaks, they watched the third season again and recorded this episode. Their conversation touched on the virtues of late style in the arts, the divergence of knowing and understanding, the fate of Agent Dale Cooper, and the dream logic of the _Twin Peaks _universe. Last change to sign up for The Twin Peaks Mythos, a 4-week Weird Studies view-along starting June 8th, 2023. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Symposium at Lily Dale, July 27-29, 2023 David Lynch and Mark Frost (creators), Twin Peaks David Lynch (dir.), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, What is Philosophy? Chris Carter (creator), The X-Files Erik Davis, American scholar, lecturer, and journalist Thomas Ligotti, American writer Stephen King, American writer Joshua Brand and John Falsey (creators), Northern Exposure James Elkins, Pictures and Tears: A History of People Who Have Cried in Front of Paintings David Lynch (dir.), Mulholland Drive Robert Aickman, English writer of "strange stories" Manuel DeLanda on signification vs significance Weird Studies, episode 105: Fire Walk With Tamler Sommers Kyle McLachlan interview in Vanity Fair Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks has been a touchstone of Weird Studies since the podcast's inception. Back in 2018, Phil and JF recorded Episode 1: Garmonbozia while still reeling from the series' third season, which aired on Showtime the year before. Now, in preparation for their upcoming course on Twin Peaks, they watched the third season again and recorded this episode. Their conversation touched on the virtues of late style in the arts, the divergence of knowing and understanding, the fate of Agent Dale Cooper, and the dream logic of the _Twin Peaks _universe.

Last change to sign up for The Twin Peaks Mythos, a 4-week Weird Studies view-along starting June 8th, 2023.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle.
Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Symposium at Lily Dale, July 27-29, 2023
David Lynch and Mark Frost (creators), Twin Peaks
David Lynch (dir.), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, What is Philosophy?
Chris Carter (creator), The X-Files
Erik Davis, American scholar, lecturer, and journalist
Thomas Ligotti, American writer
Stephen King, American writer
Joshua Brand and John Falsey (creators), Northern Exposure
James Elkins, Pictures and Tears: A History of People Who Have Cried in Front of Paintings
David Lynch (dir.), Mulholland Drive
Robert Aickman, English writer of "strange stories"
Manuel DeLanda on signification vs significance
Weird Studies, episode 105: Fire Walk With Tamler Sommers
Kyle McLachlan interview in Vanity Fair

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4694 yes Episode 147: You Must Change Your Life https://www.weirdstudies.com/147 Rainer Maria Rilke's poem "Archaic Torso of Apollo" ends on a note that has puzzled and inspired readers for more than a century: "For there is no place that does not see you. You must change your life." In this episode, JF and Phil search for the meaning of this ethico-aesthetic imperative that Rilke heard resounding from a fragment of Greek statuary. This episode is special because the hosts were able to record it in person while on a writing retreat in Western Quebec. Enroll in THE TWIN PEAKS MYTHOS, a 4-week Weird Studies view-along starting June 8th. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Rainer Maria Rilke, “Archaic Torso of Apollo” Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life Michel Foucault, The Order of Things He Man, superhero Munich Terrorist Photo Albert Camus, The Rebel Franz Kafka, "The Trial" and “In the Penal Colony" Auguste Rodin, French sculptor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 24 May 2023 14:30:00 -0000 You Must Change Your Life full 147 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the famous poem "Archaic Torso of Apollo" by Rainer Maria Rilke. Rainer Maria Rilke's poem "Archaic Torso of Apollo" ends on a note that has puzzled and inspired readers for more than a century: "For there is no place that does not see you. You must change your life." In this episode, JF and Phil search for the meaning of this ethico-aesthetic imperative that Rilke heard resounding from a fragment of Greek statuary. This episode is special because the hosts were able to record it in person while on a writing retreat in Western Quebec. Enroll in THE TWIN PEAKS MYTHOS, a 4-week Weird Studies view-along starting June 8th. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Rainer Maria Rilke, “Archaic Torso of Apollo” Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life Michel Foucault, The Order of Things He Man, superhero Munich Terrorist Photo Albert Camus, The Rebel Franz Kafka, "The Trial" and “In the Penal Colony" Auguste Rodin, French sculptor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Rainer Maria Rilke's poem "Archaic Torso of Apollo" ends on a note that has puzzled and inspired readers for more than a century: "For there is no place that does not see you. You must change your life." In this episode, JF and Phil search for the meaning of this ethico-aesthetic imperative that Rilke heard resounding from a fragment of Greek statuary. This episode is special because the hosts were able to record it in person while on a writing retreat in Western Quebec.

Enroll in THE TWIN PEAKS MYTHOS, a 4-week Weird Studies view-along starting June 8th.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle.
Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Rainer Maria Rilke, “Archaic Torso of Apollo”
Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life
Michel Foucault, The Order of Things
He Man, superhero
Munich Terrorist Photo
Albert Camus, The Rebel
Franz Kafka, "The Trial" and “In the Penal Colony"
Auguste Rodin, French sculptor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5637 yes Episode 146: An Air of Great Power: On the Chariot in the Tarot https://www.weirdstudies.com/146 Of the twenty-two figures that make up the major arcana of the tarot, the Chariot is probably the most commonplace. While the tenth arcanum is a wheel, it's The Wheel of Fortune, not just any old wagon wheel. But arcanum VII is neither the Chariot of Fire or the Chariot of the Gods – just the plain old chariot. Usually, it is interpreted as a symbol of the will in its lower and higher aspects. In this episode, Phil notes that the Chariot can also symbolize something as ordinary as new car. Of course, here on Weird Studies, no car is just a car, and we like to think that Youngblood Priest, the protagonist of the 1972 film Super Fly, would agree. A car also a tool, a medium, a token of mastery, an atmospheric disturbance, a means of manifestation, a spaceship... Enroll in THE TWIN PEAKS MYTHOS, a 4-week Weird Studies view-along starting June 8th. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Rachel Pollack, Tarot Wisdom Jordan Parks Jr., Super Fly Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Weird Studies, Episode 144 on “Hellraiser” Plato, Phaedrus Vanessa Onwuemezi, Dark Neighborhood J. G. Ballard, Crash Paul Virilio, War and Cinema Karl Marx, Grundrisse Weird Studies, Episode 26 with Michael Garfield Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 10 May 2023 14:30:00 -0000 An Air of Great Power: On the Chariot in the Tarot full 146 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the seventh major trump of the tarot, the Chariot. Of the twenty-two figures that make up the major arcana of the tarot, the Chariot is probably the most commonplace. While the tenth arcanum is a wheel, it's The Wheel of Fortune, not just any old wagon wheel. But arcanum VII is neither the Chariot of Fire or the Chariot of the Gods – just the plain old chariot. Usually, it is interpreted as a symbol of the will in its lower and higher aspects. In this episode, Phil notes that the Chariot can also symbolize something as ordinary as new car. Of course, here on Weird Studies, no car is just a car, and we like to think that Youngblood Priest, the protagonist of the 1972 film Super Fly, would agree. A car also a tool, a medium, a token of mastery, an atmospheric disturbance, a means of manifestation, a spaceship... Enroll in THE TWIN PEAKS MYTHOS, a 4-week Weird Studies view-along starting June 8th. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Rachel Pollack, Tarot Wisdom Jordan Parks Jr., Super Fly Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Weird Studies, Episode 144 on “Hellraiser” Plato, Phaedrus Vanessa Onwuemezi, Dark Neighborhood J. G. Ballard, Crash Paul Virilio, War and Cinema Karl Marx, Grundrisse Weird Studies, Episode 26 with Michael Garfield Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Of the twenty-two figures that make up the major arcana of the tarot, the Chariot is probably the most commonplace. While the tenth arcanum is a wheel, it's The Wheel of Fortune, not just any old wagon wheel. But arcanum VII is neither the Chariot of Fire or the Chariot of the Gods – just the plain old chariot. Usually, it is interpreted as a symbol of the will in its lower and higher aspects. In this episode, Phil notes that the Chariot can also symbolize something as ordinary as new car. Of course, here on Weird Studies, no car is just a car, and we like to think that Youngblood Priest, the protagonist of the 1972 film Super Fly, would agree. A car also a tool, a medium, a token of mastery, an atmospheric disturbance, a means of manifestation, a spaceship...

Enroll in THE TWIN PEAKS MYTHOS, a 4-week Weird Studies view-along starting June 8th.
Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia.
Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's podcast on Wagner's Ring Cycle.
Download Pierre-Yves Martel's new album, Mer Bleue.
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!

REFERENCES

Rachel Pollack, Tarot Wisdom
Jordan Parks Jr., Super Fly
Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot
Weird Studies, Episode 144 on “Hellraiser”
Plato, Phaedrus
Vanessa Onwuemezi, Dark Neighborhood
J. G. Ballard, Crash
Paul Virilio, War and Cinema
Karl Marx, Grundrisse
Weird Studies, Episode 26 with Michael Garfield

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4669 yes Episode 145: Waiting for the Miracle: On Vanessa Onwuemezi's "Dark Neighbourhood" https://www.weirdstudies.com/145 In this episode, Phil and JF discuss Vanessa Onwuemezi's, "Dark Neighbourhood," a tale of scintillant darkness from her debut collection of the same name. This strangest of strange stories is set in a vast encampment of destitute yet hopeful people whose lives consist entirely of waiting for their turn to step through the iron gates of the Beyond. Living off the dregs of civilization, they seem the last of our kind. They are the ones who, having made it to the front of the line, have the dubious honour of contemplating directly the mystery that awaits us all. Unlike anything we've covered on the show, "Dark Neighbourhood" is a chilling and moving story that elicits interpretation as elegantly as it resists it. Pierre-Yves Martel's album Mer bleue drops on May 1st, 2023! Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's ongoing podcast on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Show Notes.docx Vanessa Omwuemezi, Dark Neighbourhood Peter Breugel, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus Weird Studies, Episode 140 on “Spirited Away” Karl Marx, Capital Phil Ford, Dig Murray Bookchin, Post-Scarcity Anarchism Weird Studies, Episode 98 on “Taboo” Michael Wadleigh (dir.), Woodstock Samuel R. Delaney, Dahlgren Leonard Cohen, “Waiting for the Miracle Martin Esslin, The Theatre of the Absurd One red paperclip, story of guy who traded a paper clip for a house Weird Studies, Episode 101 on Tanizaki James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld George Steiner, Real Presences H. P. Lovecraft, “Nyarlothotep” Alexander Wendt and Raymond Duvall, “Sovereignty and the UFO” Weird Studies, Episode 144 on Hellraiser Weird Studies, Episode 29 on Lovecraft Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 26 Apr 2023 15:30:00 -0000 Waiting for the Miracle: On Vanessa Onwuemezi's "Dark Neighbourhood" full 145 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the title story from Vanessa Onwuemezi's debut collection of short fiction from Fitzcarraldo Press. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss Vanessa Onwuemezi's, "Dark Neighbourhood," a tale of scintillant darkness from her debut collection of the same name. This strangest of strange stories is set in a vast encampment of destitute yet hopeful people whose lives consist entirely of waiting for their turn to step through the iron gates of the Beyond. Living off the dregs of civilization, they seem the last of our kind. They are the ones who, having made it to the front of the line, have the dubious honour of contemplating directly the mystery that awaits us all. Unlike anything we've covered on the show, "Dark Neighbourhood" is a chilling and moving story that elicits interpretation as elegantly as it resists it. Pierre-Yves Martel's album Mer bleue drops on May 1st, 2023! Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's ongoing podcast on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Show Notes.docx Vanessa Omwuemezi, Dark Neighbourhood Peter Breugel, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus Weird Studies, Episode 140 on “Spirited Away” Karl Marx, Capital Phil Ford, Dig Murray Bookchin, Post-Scarcity Anarchism Weird Studies, Episode 98 on “Taboo” Michael Wadleigh (dir.), Woodstock Samuel R. Delaney, Dahlgren Leonard Cohen, “Waiting for the Miracle Martin Esslin, The Theatre of the Absurd One red paperclip, story of guy who traded a paper clip for a house Weird Studies, Episode 101 on Tanizaki James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld George Steiner, Real Presences H. P. Lovecraft, “Nyarlothotep” Alexander Wendt and Raymond Duvall, “Sovereignty and the UFO” Weird Studies, Episode 144 on Hellraiser Weird Studies, Episode 29 on Lovecraft Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this episode, Phil and JF discuss Vanessa Onwuemezi's, "Dark Neighbourhood," a tale of scintillant darkness from her debut collection of the same name. This strangest of strange stories is set in a vast encampment of destitute yet hopeful people whose lives consist entirely of waiting for their turn to step through the iron gates of the Beyond. Living off the dregs of civilization, they seem the last of our kind. They are the ones who, having made it to the front of the line, have the dubious honour of contemplating directly the mystery that awaits us all. Unlike anything we've covered on the show, "Dark Neighbourhood" is a chilling and moving story that elicits interpretation as elegantly as it resists it.

Pierre-Yves Martel's album Mer bleue drops on May 1st, 2023!

Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's ongoing podcast on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle.

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

REFERENCES

Show Notes.docx

Vanessa Omwuemezi, Dark Neighbourhood
Peter Breugel, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus
Weird Studies, Episode 140 on “Spirited Away”
Karl Marx, Capital
Phil Ford, Dig
Murray Bookchin, Post-Scarcity Anarchism
Weird Studies, Episode 98 on “Taboo”
Michael Wadleigh (dir.), Woodstock
Samuel R. Delaney, Dahlgren
Leonard Cohen, “Waiting for the Miracle
Martin Esslin, The Theatre of the Absurd
One red paperclip, story of guy who traded a paper clip for a house
Weird Studies, Episode 101 on Tanizaki
James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld
George Steiner, Real Presences
H. P. Lovecraft, “Nyarlothotep”
Alexander Wendt and Raymond Duvall, “Sovereignty and the UFO”
Weird Studies, Episode 144 on Hellraiser
Weird Studies, Episode 29 on Lovecraft

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]]> 5438 yes Episode 144: On Clive Barker's 'Hellraiser' and 'The Hellbound Heart,' with Conner Habib https://www.weirdstudies.com/144 In the 1980s, Clive Barker burst onto the cultural scene with The Books of Blood, collections of unforgettable tales of horror, depravity, and decadence the likes of which had been seldom seen since the days of Lautréamont's Les Chants de Maldoror and Huysmans' Là-Bas. In the decades that followed, he went on to create an astounding body of work in fantasy and horror as a writer, artist, and film director. In this episode, author, lecturer, and podcaster Conner Habib joins JF and Phil to discuss what is arguably Barker's best-known work, the 1987 horror classic Hellraiser, as well as the novella that inspired it, "The Hellbound Heart." Preorder Pierre-Yves Martel's album Mer bleue. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's ongoing podcast on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop References Clive Barker, The Hellbound Heart Clive Barker (dir.), Hellraiser Tod Browning (dir.), Freaks Clive Barker, “In the Hills, The Cities” in Books of Blood Wes Craven, A Nightmare on Elm Street Angela Carter, English writer Susan Sontag, “Happenings: An Art of Radical Juxtaposition” Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, What is Philosophy? Sturm und Drang, 18th-century artistic movement Gayle Rubin, American cultural anthropologist Stephen King, It Robert Wise (dir.), The Sound of Music Slavoj Zizek, The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema Robert Wise (dir.), The Haunting David Mamet, On Directing Film Mark Hedsel and David Ovason, The Zealotor David Lynch (dir.), Mulholland Drive Stanley Kubrick, The Shining Coil, Hellraiser Themes Bela Bartok, Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta Golden Section, mathematical ratio Kevin Williamson,, American screenwriter Susan Sontag, Against Interpretation Special Guest: Conner Habib. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 12 Apr 2023 14:30:00 -0000 On Clive Barker's 'Hellraiser' and 'The Hellbound Heart,' with Conner Habib full 144 SpectreVision Radio Conner Habib joins Phil and JF to discuss Clive Barker's classic horror film, and the novella it was based on. In the 1980s, Clive Barker burst onto the cultural scene with The Books of Blood, collections of unforgettable tales of horror, depravity, and decadence the likes of which had been seldom seen since the days of Lautréamont's Les Chants de Maldoror and Huysmans' Là-Bas. In the decades that followed, he went on to create an astounding body of work in fantasy and horror as a writer, artist, and film director. In this episode, author, lecturer, and podcaster Conner Habib joins JF and Phil to discuss what is arguably Barker's best-known work, the 1987 horror classic Hellraiser, as well as the novella that inspired it, "The Hellbound Heart." Preorder Pierre-Yves Martel's album Mer bleue. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's ongoing podcast on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop References Clive Barker, The Hellbound Heart Clive Barker (dir.), Hellraiser Tod Browning (dir.), Freaks Clive Barker, “In the Hills, The Cities” in Books of Blood Wes Craven, A Nightmare on Elm Street Angela Carter, English writer Susan Sontag, “Happenings: An Art of Radical Juxtaposition” Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, What is Philosophy? Sturm und Drang, 18th-century artistic movement Gayle Rubin, American cultural anthropologist Stephen King, It Robert Wise (dir.), The Sound of Music Slavoj Zizek, The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema Robert Wise (dir.), The Haunting David Mamet, On Directing Film Mark Hedsel and David Ovason, The Zealotor David Lynch (dir.), Mulholland Drive Stanley Kubrick, The Shining Coil, Hellraiser Themes Bela Bartok, Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta Golden Section, mathematical ratio Kevin Williamson,, American screenwriter Susan Sontag, Against Interpretation Special Guest: Conner Habib. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In the 1980s, Clive Barker burst onto the cultural scene with The Books of Blood, collections of unforgettable tales of horror, depravity, and decadence the likes of which had been seldom seen since the days of Lautréamont's Les Chants de Maldoror and Huysmans' Là-Bas. In the decades that followed, he went on to create an astounding body of work in fantasy and horror as a writer, artist, and film director. In this episode, author, lecturer, and podcaster Conner Habib joins JF and Phil to discuss what is arguably Barker's best-known work, the 1987 horror classic Hellraiser, as well as the novella that inspired it, "The Hellbound Heart."

Preorder Pierre-Yves Martel's album Mer bleue.

Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's ongoing podcast on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle.

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

References

Clive Barker, The Hellbound Heart
Clive Barker (dir.), Hellraiser
Tod Browning (dir.), Freaks
Clive Barker, “In the Hills, The Cities” in Books of Blood
Wes Craven, A Nightmare on Elm Street
Angela Carter, English writer
Susan Sontag, “Happenings: An Art of Radical Juxtaposition”
Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, What is Philosophy?
Sturm und Drang, 18th-century artistic movement
Gayle Rubin, American cultural anthropologist
Stephen King, It
Robert Wise (dir.), The Sound of Music
Slavoj Zizek, The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema
Robert Wise (dir.), The Haunting
David Mamet, On Directing Film
Mark Hedsel and David Ovason, The Zealotor
David Lynch (dir.), Mulholland Drive
Stanley Kubrick, The Shining
Coil, Hellraiser Themes
Bela Bartok, Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta
Golden Section, mathematical ratio
Kevin Williamson,, American screenwriter
Susan Sontag, Against Interpretation

Special Guest: Conner Habib.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 6185 yes Episode 143: On UFOs https://www.weirdstudies.com/143 In the 1950s, Carl Jung expressed frustration at the impenetrability of the UFO mystery, the "strange, unknown, and indeed contradictory nature" of this "ostensibly physical phenomenon" with "an extremely important psychic component." Throughout his writings on the topic, he marvels at the impossibility of coming to even preliminary conclusions. Fastforward to 2023, after a series of astounding disclosures on the part of qualified government people, and we have as much reason to be baffled as we ever had. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the mercurial, tricksterish fact of ortherwordly things seen in the sky. Learn more about the Ohio UFO Heritage Conference on May 5-6, 2023. Preorder Pierre-Yves Martel's album Mer bleue. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's ongoing podcast on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Patrik Harpur, Daimonic Reality John Keel The Mothman Prophecies Jaques Vallee Passport to Magonia William Shakespeare, Macbeth UFO Rabbit Hole Podcast Carl Jung, Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Sky Weird Studies, Episode 141 on SSOTBME Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory Weird Studies, Episodes 73 and 74 on Jung Weird Studies, Episode 44 on William James’s Psychical Research Jacques Vallée and Paola Leopizzi, Harris, Trinity: The Best-Kept Secret Jacques Vallée, "Physical Analyses in Ten Cases of Unexplained Aerial Objects with Material Samples" Shepard tone Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism Twin Peaks Mark Pilkington, Mirage Men Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy Weird Studies, Episode 59 on Walking Weird Studies, Episode 142 on “Last and First Men” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 29 Mar 2023 14:30:00 -0000 On UFOs full 143 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the UFO phenomenon in light of ongoing government disclosures. In the 1950s, Carl Jung expressed frustration at the impenetrability of the UFO mystery, the "strange, unknown, and indeed contradictory nature" of this "ostensibly physical phenomenon" with "an extremely important psychic component." Throughout his writings on the topic, he marvels at the impossibility of coming to even preliminary conclusions. Fastforward to 2023, after a series of astounding disclosures on the part of qualified government people, and we have as much reason to be baffled as we ever had. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the mercurial, tricksterish fact of ortherwordly things seen in the sky. Learn more about the Ohio UFO Heritage Conference on May 5-6, 2023. Preorder Pierre-Yves Martel's album Mer bleue. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's ongoing podcast on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Patrik Harpur, Daimonic Reality John Keel The Mothman Prophecies Jaques Vallee Passport to Magonia William Shakespeare, Macbeth UFO Rabbit Hole Podcast Carl Jung, Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Sky Weird Studies, Episode 141 on SSOTBME Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory Weird Studies, Episodes 73 and 74 on Jung Weird Studies, Episode 44 on William James’s Psychical Research Jacques Vallée and Paola Leopizzi, Harris, Trinity: The Best-Kept Secret Jacques Vallée, "Physical Analyses in Ten Cases of Unexplained Aerial Objects with Material Samples" Shepard tone Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism Twin Peaks Mark Pilkington, Mirage Men Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy Weird Studies, Episode 59 on Walking Weird Studies, Episode 142 on “Last and First Men” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In the 1950s, Carl Jung expressed frustration at the impenetrability of the UFO mystery, the "strange, unknown, and indeed contradictory nature" of this "ostensibly physical phenomenon" with "an extremely important psychic component." Throughout his writings on the topic, he marvels at the impossibility of coming to even preliminary conclusions. Fastforward to 2023, after a series of astounding disclosures on the part of qualified government people, and we have as much reason to be baffled as we ever had. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the mercurial, tricksterish fact of ortherwordly things seen in the sky.

Learn more about the Ohio UFO Heritage Conference on May 5-6, 2023.

Preorder Pierre-Yves Martel's album Mer bleue.

Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's ongoing podcast on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle.

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

REFERENCES

Patrik Harpur, Daimonic Reality
John Keel The Mothman Prophecies
Jaques Vallee Passport to Magonia
William Shakespeare, Macbeth
UFO Rabbit Hole Podcast
Carl Jung, Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Sky
Weird Studies, Episode 141 on SSOTBME
Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory
Weird Studies, Episodes 73 and 74 on Jung
Weird Studies, Episode 44 on William James’s Psychical Research
Jacques Vallée and Paola Leopizzi, Harris, Trinity: The Best-Kept Secret
Jacques Vallée, "Physical Analyses in Ten Cases of Unexplained Aerial Objects with Material Samples"
Shepard tone
Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism
Twin Peaks
Mark Pilkington, Mirage Men
Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy
Weird Studies, Episode 59 on Walking
Weird Studies, Episode 142 on “Last and First Men”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5434 yes Episode 142: The Music of the Spheres: On Jóhann Jóhannsson's "Last and First Men" https://www.weirdstudies.com/142 Jóhann Jóhannsson was one of contemporary cinema's greatest score composers when he passed away in 2018 at the young age of 48. Last and First Men, his enigmatic directorial debut, was released shortly after in 2020. Based on a novel by the same name by the British science fiction writer Olaf Stapleton, the film offers a sustained meditation on the prospect of extinction, the eventuality of humanity's disappearance from the comos. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss the images and sounds of the film as they flicker and swell against the backdrop of nonbeing that envelops us all. The conversation touches on the idea of beauty, Brutalist architecture, modernism, and futurity. Preorder Pierre-Yves Martel's album Mer bleue. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's ongoing podcast on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Jóhann Jóhannsson, Last and First Men Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, SNL character Spomeniks, Yugoslavian monuments Olaf Stapleton, The Last and First Men Woody Allen, Hannah and Her Sisters The Last of Us, television show Ray Brassier, Nihil Unbound: Enlightenment and Extinction Weird Studies, Episode 2 on Garmonbozia Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Nobel Prize Speech Weird Studies Episode 139 on Art Power Numenius, Platonist philosopher Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, What is Philosophy? Jia Tolentino, “The Overwhelming Emotion of Hearing Toto’s “Africa” Weird Studies, Episode 110 on “The Glass Bead Game” D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 15 Mar 2023 14:30:00 -0000 The Music of the Spheres: On Jóhann Jóhannsson's "Last and First Men" full 142 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the Icelandic's composer posthumous science fiction film. Jóhann Jóhannsson was one of contemporary cinema's greatest score composers when he passed away in 2018 at the young age of 48. Last and First Men, his enigmatic directorial debut, was released shortly after in 2020. Based on a novel by the same name by the British science fiction writer Olaf Stapleton, the film offers a sustained meditation on the prospect of extinction, the eventuality of humanity's disappearance from the comos. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss the images and sounds of the film as they flicker and swell against the backdrop of nonbeing that envelops us all. The conversation touches on the idea of beauty, Brutalist architecture, modernism, and futurity. Preorder Pierre-Yves Martel's album Mer bleue. Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's ongoing podcast on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Jóhann Jóhannsson, Last and First Men Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, SNL character Spomeniks, Yugoslavian monuments Olaf Stapleton, The Last and First Men Woody Allen, Hannah and Her Sisters The Last of Us, television show Ray Brassier, Nihil Unbound: Enlightenment and Extinction Weird Studies, Episode 2 on Garmonbozia Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Nobel Prize Speech Weird Studies Episode 139 on Art Power Numenius, Platonist philosopher Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, What is Philosophy? Jia Tolentino, “The Overwhelming Emotion of Hearing Toto’s “Africa” Weird Studies, Episode 110 on “The Glass Bead Game” D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Jóhann Jóhannsson was one of contemporary cinema's greatest score composers when he passed away in 2018 at the young age of 48. Last and First Men, his enigmatic directorial debut, was released shortly after in 2020. Based on a novel by the same name by the British science fiction writer Olaf Stapleton, the film offers a sustained meditation on the prospect of extinction, the eventuality of humanity's disappearance from the comos. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss the images and sounds of the film as they flicker and swell against the backdrop of nonbeing that envelops us all. The conversation touches on the idea of beauty, Brutalist architecture, modernism, and futurity.

Preorder Pierre-Yves Martel's album Mer bleue.

Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's ongoing podcast on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle.

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

REFERENCES

Jóhann Jóhannsson, Last and First Men
Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, SNL character
Spomeniks, Yugoslavian monuments
Olaf Stapleton, The Last and First Men
Woody Allen, Hannah and Her Sisters
The Last of Us, television show
Ray Brassier, Nihil Unbound: Enlightenment and Extinction
Weird Studies, Episode 2 on Garmonbozia
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Nobel Prize Speech
Weird Studies Episode 139 on Art Power
Numenius, Platonist philosopher
Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, What is Philosophy?
Jia Tolentino, “The Overwhelming Emotion of Hearing Toto’s “Africa”
Weird Studies, Episode 110 on “The Glass Bead Game”
D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover

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]]> 4924 yes Episode 141: Actual Magic: On Ramsey Dukes' SSOTBME https://www.weirdstudies.com/141 Ramsey Dukes, also known by his real name of Lionel Snell, may be one of the most important thinkers on magic since Aleister Crowley. In the impishly-titled Sex Secrets of the Black Magicians Exposed (or SSOTBME for short), Dukes accomplishes something few writers on the topic have been able to do: he gives us magic without asking us to sacrifice anything that makes us sensible modern people. He makes magic seem like the most obvious thing in the world, and he does it without taking away any of its, well, magic. How he does it and what it means are questions that would take several episodes to unpack. In this one, Phil and JF begin the work by discussing how Dukes situates magic in an epistemic compass that also includes science, art, and religion. This set of tools is as essential to a holistic view of reality as the four suits in a deck of cards are essential to a proper poker game. In other words, when we lose magic, we lose a way of dealing with reality. Sign up for JF's upcoming course on Macbeth Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's ongoing podcast on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES David Lynch (dir.), Mulholland Drive Ramsey Dukes, SSOTBME Slavoj Žižek, The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema C. P. Snow, The Two Cultures Weird Studies, Episode 139 on Art Power Marshall McLuhan, Gutenberg Galaxy “Virtual” and “Actual”, as developed by Bergson and Deleuze Pragmatism, philosophical school Jack Parsons, American rocket scientist Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return William Shakespeare, Macbeth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Tue, 28 Feb 2023 15:30:00 -0000 Actual Magic: On Ramsey Dukes' SSOTBME full 141 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Dukes' seminal essay on modern magic. Ramsey Dukes, also known by his real name of Lionel Snell, may be one of the most important thinkers on magic since Aleister Crowley. In the impishly-titled Sex Secrets of the Black Magicians Exposed (or SSOTBME for short), Dukes accomplishes something few writers on the topic have been able to do: he gives us magic without asking us to sacrifice anything that makes us sensible modern people. He makes magic seem like the most obvious thing in the world, and he does it without taking away any of its, well, magic. How he does it and what it means are questions that would take several episodes to unpack. In this one, Phil and JF begin the work by discussing how Dukes situates magic in an epistemic compass that also includes science, art, and religion. This set of tools is as essential to a holistic view of reality as the four suits in a deck of cards are essential to a proper poker game. In other words, when we lose magic, we lose a way of dealing with reality. Sign up for JF's upcoming course on Macbeth Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's ongoing podcast on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES David Lynch (dir.), Mulholland Drive Ramsey Dukes, SSOTBME Slavoj Žižek, The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema C. P. Snow, The Two Cultures Weird Studies, Episode 139 on Art Power Marshall McLuhan, Gutenberg Galaxy “Virtual” and “Actual”, as developed by Bergson and Deleuze Pragmatism, philosophical school Jack Parsons, American rocket scientist Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return William Shakespeare, Macbeth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Dukes, also known by his real name of Lionel Snell, may be one of the most important thinkers on magic since Aleister Crowley. In the impishly-titled Sex Secrets of the Black Magicians Exposed (or SSOTBME for short), Dukes accomplishes something few writers on the topic have been able to do: he gives us magic without asking us to sacrifice anything that makes us sensible modern people. He makes magic seem like the most obvious thing in the world, and he does it without taking away any of its, well, magic. How he does it and what it means are questions that would take several episodes to unpack. In this one, Phil and JF begin the work by discussing how Dukes situates magic in an epistemic compass that also includes science, art, and religion. This set of tools is as essential to a holistic view of reality as the four suits in a deck of cards are essential to a proper poker game. In other words, when we lose magic, we lose a way of dealing with reality.

Sign up for JF's upcoming course on Macbeth

Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's ongoing podcast on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle.

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

REFERENCES

David Lynch (dir.), Mulholland Drive
Ramsey Dukes, SSOTBME
Slavoj Žižek, The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema
C. P. Snow, The Two Cultures
Weird Studies, Episode 139 on Art Power
Marshall McLuhan, Gutenberg Galaxy
“Virtual” and “Actual”, as developed by Bergson and Deleuze
Pragmatism, philosophical school
Jack Parsons, American rocket scientist
Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return
William Shakespeare, Macbeth

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]]> 5086 yes Episode 140: That Ain't Plot: On Hayao Miyazaki's 'Spirited Away,' with Meredith Michael https://www.weirdstudies.com/140 Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away is one of those rare films that is both super popular and super weird. Rife with cinematic non sequiturs, unforgettable imagery, and moments of horror, it is an outstanding example of a story form that goes all the way back to the myth of Psyche and Eros from Apuleius's Golden Ass, if not earlier. In this type of story, a girl on the cusp of maturity steps into a magical realm where people and things from waking life reappear, draped in the gossamer of dream and nightmare. Musicologist and WS assistant Meredith Michael joins JF and Phil to discuss a strange jewel of Japanese animated cinema. Support us on Patreon and get early access to Phil Ford's new podcast series on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Sign up for JF's upcoming online course on Shakespeare's Macbeth on Nura Learning. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away Kyle Gann, Robert Ashley Robert Ashely, Perfect Lives Apuleius, “Psyche and Eros” from The Golden Ass Henri Bergson, Time and Free Will Kentucky Route Zero, video game Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, video game Jean Sibelius, 5th Symphony Quentin Tarantino, film maker Mark Rothko, American painter Giles Deleuze, “What is the Creative Act?” GK Chesterton, Orthdoxy Herman Hesse, Siddhartha Andrew Osmond, BFI Guide to Spirited Away Special Guest: Meredith Michael. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 15 Feb 2023 16:30:00 -0000 That Ain't Plot: On Hayao Miyazaki's 'Spirited Away,' with Meredith Michael full 140 SpectreVision Radio Meredith joins Phil and JF to discuss the 2001 Studio Ghibli masterpiece. Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away is one of those rare films that is both super popular and super weird. Rife with cinematic non sequiturs, unforgettable imagery, and moments of horror, it is an outstanding example of a story form that goes all the way back to the myth of Psyche and Eros from Apuleius's Golden Ass, if not earlier. In this type of story, a girl on the cusp of maturity steps into a magical realm where people and things from waking life reappear, draped in the gossamer of dream and nightmare. Musicologist and WS assistant Meredith Michael joins JF and Phil to discuss a strange jewel of Japanese animated cinema. Support us on Patreon and get early access to Phil Ford's new podcast series on Wagner's Ring Cycle. Sign up for JF's upcoming online course on Shakespeare's Macbeth on Nura Learning. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away Kyle Gann, Robert Ashley Robert Ashely, Perfect Lives Apuleius, “Psyche and Eros” from The Golden Ass Henri Bergson, Time and Free Will Kentucky Route Zero, video game Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, video game Jean Sibelius, 5th Symphony Quentin Tarantino, film maker Mark Rothko, American painter Giles Deleuze, “What is the Creative Act?” GK Chesterton, Orthdoxy Herman Hesse, Siddhartha Andrew Osmond, BFI Guide to Spirited Away Special Guest: Meredith Michael. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away is one of those rare films that is both super popular and super weird. Rife with cinematic non sequiturs, unforgettable imagery, and moments of horror, it is an outstanding example of a story form that goes all the way back to the myth of Psyche and Eros from Apuleius's Golden Ass, if not earlier. In this type of story, a girl on the cusp of maturity steps into a magical realm where people and things from waking life reappear, draped in the gossamer of dream and nightmare. Musicologist and WS assistant Meredith Michael joins JF and Phil to discuss a strange jewel of Japanese animated cinema.

Support us on Patreon and get early access to Phil Ford's new podcast series on Wagner's Ring Cycle.

Sign up for JF's upcoming online course on Shakespeare's Macbeth on Nura Learning.

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

REFERENCES

Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away
Kyle Gann, Robert Ashley
Robert Ashely, Perfect Lives
Apuleius, “Psyche and Eros” from The Golden Ass
Henri Bergson, Time and Free Will
Kentucky Route Zero, video game
Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, video game
Jean Sibelius, 5th Symphony
Quentin Tarantino, film maker
Mark Rothko, American painter
Giles Deleuze, “What is the Creative Act?”
GK Chesterton, Orthdoxy
Herman Hesse, Siddhartha
Andrew Osmond, BFI Guide to Spirited Away

Special Guest: Meredith Michael.

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]]> 4894 yes Episode 139: Sex, Money, and Power are YOURS with our SECRET Art-Power Formula! https://www.weirdstudies.com/139 "YOU MUST CHANGE YOUR LIFE!" Tired of failure and self-loathing? Want to be rich and famous while having a good time all the time? Wondering how to turn your banal opinions into Transcendent Truths? Look no further than this special, exclusive episode of Weird Studies, where we reveal, once and for all, the secrets of ART-POWER! Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop SHOW NOTES Ramsey Dukes, BLAST Your Way to Megabuck$ with My SECRET Sex-Power Formula James Raggi's statements on artistic freedom in tabletop roleplaying games: Proud to Commit Commercial Suicide 2023 and On Potential Inclusivity/Morality Clauses in RPG Licenses David Cronenberg, "I Would Like to Make a Case for the Crime of Art" Oscar Wilde, Preface to The Picture of Dorian Grey Alfred Gell, The Art of Anthropology Susanne Langer, “On the Cultural Importance of the Arts” Weird Studies, Episodes 73 and 74 on Carl Jung’s Theory of Art Kodo Sawaki, Japanese zen teacher Eric Voegelin, The New Science of Politics Gilles Deleuze, Pure Immanence Werner Herzog, Cave of Forgotten Dreams John Dewey, Art as Experience Susanne Langer, Philosophy in a New Key Neil Gaiman, “Make Good Art” Leon Wieseltier, “Perhaps Culture is Now the Counterculture” Eugene Vodolazkin, Laurus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 01 Feb 2023 16:30:00 -0000 Sex, Money, and Power are YOURS with our SECRET Art-Power Formula! full 139 SpectreVision Radio You must change your life. "YOU MUST CHANGE YOUR LIFE!" Tired of failure and self-loathing? Want to be rich and famous while having a good time all the time? Wondering how to turn your banal opinions into Transcendent Truths? Look no further than this special, exclusive episode of Weird Studies, where we reveal, once and for all, the secrets of ART-POWER! Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop SHOW NOTES Ramsey Dukes, BLAST Your Way to Megabuck$ with My SECRET Sex-Power Formula James Raggi's statements on artistic freedom in tabletop roleplaying games: Proud to Commit Commercial Suicide 2023 and On Potential Inclusivity/Morality Clauses in RPG Licenses David Cronenberg, "I Would Like to Make a Case for the Crime of Art" Oscar Wilde, Preface to The Picture of Dorian Grey Alfred Gell, The Art of Anthropology Susanne Langer, “On the Cultural Importance of the Arts” Weird Studies, Episodes 73 and 74 on Carl Jung’s Theory of Art Kodo Sawaki, Japanese zen teacher Eric Voegelin, The New Science of Politics Gilles Deleuze, Pure Immanence Werner Herzog, Cave of Forgotten Dreams John Dewey, Art as Experience Susanne Langer, Philosophy in a New Key Neil Gaiman, “Make Good Art” Leon Wieseltier, “Perhaps Culture is Now the Counterculture” Eugene Vodolazkin, Laurus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices "YOU MUST CHANGE YOUR LIFE!"

Tired of failure and self-loathing? Want to be rich and famous while having a good time all the time? Wondering how to turn your banal opinions into Transcendent Truths? Look no further than this special, exclusive episode of Weird Studies, where we reveal, once and for all, the secrets of ART-POWER!

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

SHOW NOTES

Ramsey Dukes, BLAST Your Way to Megabuck$ with My SECRET Sex-Power Formula
James Raggi's statements on artistic freedom in tabletop roleplaying games: Proud to Commit Commercial Suicide 2023 and On Potential Inclusivity/Morality Clauses in RPG Licenses
David Cronenberg, "I Would Like to Make a Case for the Crime of Art"
Oscar Wilde, Preface to The Picture of Dorian Grey
Alfred Gell, The Art of Anthropology
Susanne Langer, “On the Cultural Importance of the Arts”
Weird Studies, Episodes 73 and 74 on Carl Jung’s Theory of Art
Kodo Sawaki, Japanese zen teacher
Eric Voegelin, The New Science of Politics
Gilles Deleuze, Pure Immanence
Werner Herzog, Cave of Forgotten Dreams
John Dewey, Art as Experience
Susanne Langer, Philosophy in a New Key
Neil Gaiman, “Make Good Art”
Leon Wieseltier, “Perhaps Culture is Now the Counterculture”
Eugene Vodolazkin, Laurus

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]]> 5654 yes Episode 138: Yours and Yours Alone: On the Death Card in the Tarot https://www.weirdstudies.com/138 What better way to ring in the New Year than with a freeranging discussion of the dreaded thirteenth arcanum of the tarot? Of all topics, surely death needs the least introduction. Or does it? To those of us who inhabit the castellated compounds of post-industrial privilege, it is perhaps too easy to forget the uninvited guest who skulks in the shadows, touching each of us in turn as he sidles past. "Nothing is certain except death and taxes," Benjamin Franklin once wrote. He was joking, of course. The truth is that death is the only certainty. Click here for information about JF's upcoming talk at the Last Tuesday Society. Header image: Detail from Harry Clarke's illustration for "The Masque of the Red Death," from the 1919 edition of Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination. SHOW NOTES Brian George, Masks of Origin Chris Leech, The Gnostic Tarot Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Rachel Pollack, Tarot Wisdom Rachel Pollack, 78 Degrees of Wisdom Edgar Allen Poe, “The Masque of the Red Death” Weird Studies, Episode 2 on Garmonbozia Steven Spielberg (dir.), Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Weird Studies, Episode 137 on Sunn O)))’s “Life Metal” Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Thomas Browne, “Urn Burial” Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of Tarot Sallie Nichols, Tarot and the Archetypal Journey Clive Barker, Hellraiser Weird Studies, Episode 116 on “Blade Runner” George Gurdjieff, Armenian mystic Body without organs, philosophical concept Elizabeth Le Guin, Boccherini’s Body G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy Weird Studies, Episode 126 with Matt Cardin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 18 Jan 2023 15:30:00 -0000 Yours and Yours Alone: On the Death Card in the Tarot full 138 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF continue their occasional series of episodes on the major arcana of the tarot with a discussion on arcanum XIII, Death. What better way to ring in the New Year than with a freeranging discussion of the dreaded thirteenth arcanum of the tarot? Of all topics, surely death needs the least introduction. Or does it? To those of us who inhabit the castellated compounds of post-industrial privilege, it is perhaps too easy to forget the uninvited guest who skulks in the shadows, touching each of us in turn as he sidles past. "Nothing is certain except death and taxes," Benjamin Franklin once wrote. He was joking, of course. The truth is that death is the only certainty. Click here for information about JF's upcoming talk at the Last Tuesday Society. Header image: Detail from Harry Clarke's illustration for "The Masque of the Red Death," from the 1919 edition of Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination. SHOW NOTES Brian George, Masks of Origin Chris Leech, The Gnostic Tarot Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Rachel Pollack, Tarot Wisdom Rachel Pollack, 78 Degrees of Wisdom Edgar Allen Poe, “The Masque of the Red Death” Weird Studies, Episode 2 on Garmonbozia Steven Spielberg (dir.), Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Weird Studies, Episode 137 on Sunn O)))’s “Life Metal” Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Thomas Browne, “Urn Burial” Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of Tarot Sallie Nichols, Tarot and the Archetypal Journey Clive Barker, Hellraiser Weird Studies, Episode 116 on “Blade Runner” George Gurdjieff, Armenian mystic Body without organs, philosophical concept Elizabeth Le Guin, Boccherini’s Body G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy Weird Studies, Episode 126 with Matt Cardin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices What better way to ring in the New Year than with a freeranging discussion of the dreaded thirteenth arcanum of the tarot? Of all topics, surely death needs the least introduction. Or does it? To those of us who inhabit the castellated compounds of post-industrial privilege, it is perhaps too easy to forget the uninvited guest who skulks in the shadows, touching each of us in turn as he sidles past. "Nothing is certain except death and taxes," Benjamin Franklin once wrote. He was joking, of course. The truth is that death is the only certainty.

Click here for information about JF's upcoming talk at the Last Tuesday Society.

Header image: Detail from Harry Clarke's illustration for "The Masque of the Red Death," from the 1919 edition of Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination.

SHOW NOTES

Brian George, Masks of Origin
Chris Leech, The Gnostic Tarot
Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot
Rachel Pollack, Tarot Wisdom
Rachel Pollack, 78 Degrees of Wisdom
Edgar Allen Poe, “The Masque of the Red Death”
Weird Studies, Episode 2 on Garmonbozia
Steven Spielberg (dir.), Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
Weird Studies, Episode 137 on Sunn O)))’s “Life Metal”
Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth
Thomas Browne, “Urn Burial”
Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic
Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of Tarot
Sallie Nichols, Tarot and the Archetypal Journey
Clive Barker, Hellraiser
Weird Studies, Episode 116 on “Blade Runner”
George Gurdjieff, Armenian mystic
Body without organs, philosophical concept
Elizabeth Le Guin, Boccherini’s Body
G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Weird Studies, Episode 126 with Matt Cardin

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]]> 4547 yes The Weird Studies Christmas Special https://www.weirdstudies.com/137b We recorded this episode in early December for our Patreon subscribers, but as it's the closest thing to a Christmas special we're ever likely to make, we thought we'd slip it into everyone's stocking this year. In it, we discuss the Ford family's most recently acquired Christmas ornament (which Phil mistakenly calls a luminaria), gazing into the Christmas tree, the loneliness of little worlds, the mystery of incarnation, Colin Wilson's "Faculty X," and the utter weirdness of British Christmas specials. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Erik Davis, A Brief History of the Phantasm Colin Wilson, The Occult The Dog House UK, TV series The Christmas Lantern Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Sun, 25 Dec 2022 05:00:00 -0000 full SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss why seeing twinkling lights in the dark is so Christmassy We recorded this episode in early December for our Patreon subscribers, but as it's the closest thing to a Christmas special we're ever likely to make, we thought we'd slip it into everyone's stocking this year. In it, we discuss the Ford family's most recently acquired Christmas ornament (which Phil mistakenly calls a luminaria), gazing into the Christmas tree, the loneliness of little worlds, the mystery of incarnation, Colin Wilson's "Faculty X," and the utter weirdness of British Christmas specials. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Erik Davis, A Brief History of the Phantasm Colin Wilson, The Occult The Dog House UK, TV series The Christmas Lantern Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices We recorded this episode in early December for our Patreon subscribers, but as it's the closest thing to a Christmas special we're ever likely to make, we thought we'd slip it into everyone's stocking this year. In it, we discuss the Ford family's most recently acquired Christmas ornament (which Phil mistakenly calls a luminaria), gazing into the Christmas tree, the loneliness of little worlds, the mystery of incarnation, Colin Wilson's "Faculty X," and the utter weirdness of British Christmas specials.

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

REFERENCES

Erik Davis, A Brief History of the Phantasm
Colin Wilson, The Occult
The Dog House UK, TV series
The Christmas Lantern

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 2304 yes Episode 137: Brute Force: on Sunn O)))'s 'Life Metal' https://www.weirdstudies.com/137 What Evil Dead 2 is to the Baroque, Sunn O))) is to Brutalism. Or more like: if the likening of Evil Dead 2 to the Baroque felt like a stretch in episode 136, the brutalist bona fides of Sunn O)))'s drone metal are incontestable. In this episode, their 2019 masterpiece Life Metal frames a conversation touching on 20th-century avant garde music, the tactility of sound, the metaphysics of the Kickass Riff, Aztec aesthetics, the virtues of impermanence, and of course, the sublime beauty of brutalist buildings. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Sunn O))), Life Metal Theatre of Eternal Music, musical group Daniel Albright, Panaesthetics Brian Eno, Imaginary Landscapes John Wray, “Heady Metal” Nyarlathotep, Lovecraft character Byung-Hul Chan, The Philosophy of Zen Buddhism Fred Wilcox (dir.), Forbidden Planet H. P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness Godfrey Reggio (dir.), [Koyaanisquatsi](imdb.com/title/tt0085809/) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 14 Dec 2022 16:00:00 -0000 Brute Force: on Sunn O)))'s 'Life Metal' full 137 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Sunn O)))'s eighth album, released in 2019 What Evil Dead 2 is to the Baroque, Sunn O))) is to Brutalism. Or more like: if the likening of Evil Dead 2 to the Baroque felt like a stretch in episode 136, the brutalist bona fides of Sunn O)))'s drone metal are incontestable. In this episode, their 2019 masterpiece Life Metal frames a conversation touching on 20th-century avant garde music, the tactility of sound, the metaphysics of the Kickass Riff, Aztec aesthetics, the virtues of impermanence, and of course, the sublime beauty of brutalist buildings. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Sunn O))), Life Metal Theatre of Eternal Music, musical group Daniel Albright, Panaesthetics Brian Eno, Imaginary Landscapes John Wray, “Heady Metal” Nyarlathotep, Lovecraft character Byung-Hul Chan, The Philosophy of Zen Buddhism Fred Wilcox (dir.), Forbidden Planet H. P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness Godfrey Reggio (dir.), [Koyaanisquatsi](imdb.com/title/tt0085809/) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices What Evil Dead 2 is to the Baroque, Sunn O))) is to Brutalism. Or more like: if the likening of Evil Dead 2 to the Baroque felt like a stretch in episode 136, the brutalist bona fides of Sunn O)))'s drone metal are incontestable. In this episode, their 2019 masterpiece Life Metal frames a conversation touching on 20th-century avant garde music, the tactility of sound, the metaphysics of the Kickass Riff, Aztec aesthetics, the virtues of impermanence, and of course, the sublime beauty of brutalist buildings.

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

REFERENCES

Sunn O))), Life Metal
Theatre of Eternal Music, musical group
Daniel Albright, Panaesthetics
Brian Eno, Imaginary Landscapes
John Wray, “Heady Metal”
Nyarlathotep, Lovecraft character
Byung-Hul Chan, The Philosophy of Zen Buddhism
Fred Wilcox (dir.), Forbidden Planet
H. P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness
Godfrey Reggio (dir.), [Koyaanisquatsi](imdb.com/title/tt0085809/)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4530 yes Episode 136: The Things That Were And Shall Be Again: On 'Evil Dead II' https://www.weirdstudies.com/136 "We are the things that were and shall be again." So a demonic flesh puppet tells Ash and his allies in a memorable scene from the classic splatstick flick Evil Dead II. In addition to being a rollicking piece of entertainment, Evil Dead II is an expertly crafted film whose director used every tool and technique to generate a cinematic experience that is – as the tagline went – "2 terrifying, 2 frightening ... 2 much!" In this episode, JF and Phil court the absurd by turning a fun 80s horror movie into a statement on the dread aspirations of matter and a shining example of the modern baroque. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop SHOW NOTES Sam Raimi (dir.), The Evil Dead II Weird Studies, Episode 121 on Mandy and the Bandwagon Joe Bob Briggs, American movie critic Chalres Ludlam, American actor Weird Studies, Episode 88 on Mr Punch Kenneth Gross, Puppet: An Essay on Uncanny Life Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Cannibal Metaphysics Bruno Schulz, The Street of Crocodiles Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets Joseph Cermatori, Baroque Modernity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 30 Nov 2022 15:30:00 -0000 The Things That Were And Shall Be Again: On 'Evil Dead II' full 136 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Sam Raimi's "splatstick" classic, Evil Dead II. "We are the things that were and shall be again." So a demonic flesh puppet tells Ash and his allies in a memorable scene from the classic splatstick flick Evil Dead II. In addition to being a rollicking piece of entertainment, Evil Dead II is an expertly crafted film whose director used every tool and technique to generate a cinematic experience that is – as the tagline went – "2 terrifying, 2 frightening ... 2 much!" In this episode, JF and Phil court the absurd by turning a fun 80s horror movie into a statement on the dread aspirations of matter and a shining example of the modern baroque. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop SHOW NOTES Sam Raimi (dir.), The Evil Dead II Weird Studies, Episode 121 on Mandy and the Bandwagon Joe Bob Briggs, American movie critic Chalres Ludlam, American actor Weird Studies, Episode 88 on Mr Punch Kenneth Gross, Puppet: An Essay on Uncanny Life Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Cannibal Metaphysics Bruno Schulz, The Street of Crocodiles Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets Joseph Cermatori, Baroque Modernity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices "We are the things that were and shall be again." So a demonic flesh puppet tells Ash and his allies in a memorable scene from the classic splatstick flick Evil Dead II. In addition to being a rollicking piece of entertainment, Evil Dead II is an expertly crafted film whose director used every tool and technique to generate a cinematic experience that is – as the tagline went – "2 terrifying, 2 frightening ... 2 much!" In this episode, JF and Phil court the absurd by turning a fun 80s horror movie into a statement on the dread aspirations of matter and a shining example of the modern baroque.

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

SHOW NOTES

Sam Raimi (dir.), The Evil Dead II
Weird Studies, Episode 121 on Mandy and the Bandwagon
Joe Bob Briggs, American movie critic
Chalres Ludlam, American actor
Weird Studies, Episode 88 on Mr Punch
Kenneth Gross, Puppet: An Essay on Uncanny Life
Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Cannibal Metaphysics
Bruno Schulz, The Street of Crocodiles
Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets
Joseph Cermatori, Baroque Modernity

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]]> 4118 yes Episode 135: On 'The Secret Life of Puppets,' with Victoria Nelson https://www.weirdstudies.com/135 Victoria Nelson saw it first: Popular culture teems with occult ideas, vestiges of bygone belief, fragments of ancient magic disguised as common entertainment. Her 2001 work The Secret Life of Puppets is in many ways the ur-text of weird studies, so prescient and probing it is even more relevant now than it was when it first appeared. In episode 128, Phil and JF discussed Nelson's wonderful first novel Neighbor George (2021). In this episode, Nelson joins the hosts of Weird Studies to talk about the vision that drove her to write Secret Life along with its equally insightful follow-up, Gothicka. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop SHOW NOTES Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets, Gothicka, Neighbor George M. R. James, Collected Ghost Stories Tzvetan Todorov, The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre Sigmund Freud, Civilization and its Discontents Carol Clover, Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film Bruno Schulz, The Street of Crocodiles Stephenie Meyer, Twilight series William P. Young, The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity _ Against Everyone with Conner Habib, episodes 202 & 203 James R. Lewis, _The Gods Have Landed Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire Honoré de Balzac, "Séraphîta" L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology Special Guest: Victoria Nelson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 16 Nov 2022 15:00:00 -0000 On 'The Secret Life of Puppets,' with Victoria Nelson full 135 SpectreVision Radio Independent scholar and novelist Victoria Nelson joins JF and Phil to discuss her masterpiece of weird studies, The Secret Life of Puppets. Victoria Nelson saw it first: Popular culture teems with occult ideas, vestiges of bygone belief, fragments of ancient magic disguised as common entertainment. Her 2001 work The Secret Life of Puppets is in many ways the ur-text of weird studies, so prescient and probing it is even more relevant now than it was when it first appeared. In episode 128, Phil and JF discussed Nelson's wonderful first novel Neighbor George (2021). In this episode, Nelson joins the hosts of Weird Studies to talk about the vision that drove her to write Secret Life along with its equally insightful follow-up, Gothicka. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop SHOW NOTES Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets, Gothicka, Neighbor George M. R. James, Collected Ghost Stories Tzvetan Todorov, The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre Sigmund Freud, Civilization and its Discontents Carol Clover, Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film Bruno Schulz, The Street of Crocodiles Stephenie Meyer, Twilight series William P. Young, The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity _ Against Everyone with Conner Habib, episodes 202 & 203 James R. Lewis, _The Gods Have Landed Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire Honoré de Balzac, "Séraphîta" L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology Special Guest: Victoria Nelson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Victoria Nelson saw it first: Popular culture teems with occult ideas, vestiges of bygone belief, fragments of ancient magic disguised as common entertainment. Her 2001 work The Secret Life of Puppets is in many ways the ur-text of weird studies, so prescient and probing it is even more relevant now than it was when it first appeared. In episode 128, Phil and JF discussed Nelson's wonderful first novel Neighbor George (2021). In this episode, Nelson joins the hosts of Weird Studies to talk about the vision that drove her to write Secret Life along with its equally insightful follow-up, Gothicka.

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

SHOW NOTES

Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets, Gothicka, Neighbor George

M. R. James, Collected Ghost Stories
Tzvetan Todorov, The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre
Sigmund Freud, Civilization and its Discontents
Carol Clover, Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film
Bruno Schulz, The Street of Crocodiles
Stephenie Meyer, Twilight series
William P. Young, The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity _
Against Everyone with Conner Habib, episodes 202 & 203
James R. Lewis, _The Gods Have Landed
Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire
Honoré de Balzac, "Séraphîta"
L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology

Special Guest: Victoria Nelson.

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]]> 3845 yes Episode 134: On Federico Campagna's 'Technic and Magic' https://www.weirdstudies.com/134 In Technic and Magic: The Reconstruction of Reality, the philosopher Federico Campagna argues that we moderns have exhausted the reality system we devised at the dawn of our age, a system he calls Technic. Technic has one goal: to reduce all things to language by naming, tagging, measuring, and quantifying them, by turning every parcel of the physical and psychic universe into a "unit" defined by its position in the system. The result has been an erasure of the mere "suchness" of things, the singularity of things simply existing as they are. To replace a worldview that is now revealing its endemic nihilism, Campagna proposes Magic, a way of seeing that reestablishes a balance between the measurable and the ineffable. JF and Phil discuss Campagna's magisterial performance in this episode. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop SHOW NOTES Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic Bill Hicks, “Bit on Marketing” Fredric Jameson, The Seeds of Time Plotinus, Neoplatonist philosopher Francis Bacon, Irish artist Samuel Beckett, Irish author William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch Weird Stuides, Episode 87 on Arthur Machen Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 02 Nov 2022 02:00:00 -0000 On Federico Campagna's 'Technic and Magic' full 134 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Campagna's proposal of a new reality system rooted in the idea of "magic." In Technic and Magic: The Reconstruction of Reality, the philosopher Federico Campagna argues that we moderns have exhausted the reality system we devised at the dawn of our age, a system he calls Technic. Technic has one goal: to reduce all things to language by naming, tagging, measuring, and quantifying them, by turning every parcel of the physical and psychic universe into a "unit" defined by its position in the system. The result has been an erasure of the mere "suchness" of things, the singularity of things simply existing as they are. To replace a worldview that is now revealing its endemic nihilism, Campagna proposes Magic, a way of seeing that reestablishes a balance between the measurable and the ineffable. JF and Phil discuss Campagna's magisterial performance in this episode. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop SHOW NOTES Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic Bill Hicks, “Bit on Marketing” Fredric Jameson, The Seeds of Time Plotinus, Neoplatonist philosopher Francis Bacon, Irish artist Samuel Beckett, Irish author William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch Weird Stuides, Episode 87 on Arthur Machen Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In Technic and Magic: The Reconstruction of Reality, the philosopher Federico Campagna argues that we moderns have exhausted the reality system we devised at the dawn of our age, a system he calls Technic. Technic has one goal: to reduce all things to language by naming, tagging, measuring, and quantifying them, by turning every parcel of the physical and psychic universe into a "unit" defined by its position in the system. The result has been an erasure of the mere "suchness" of things, the singularity of things simply existing as they are. To replace a worldview that is now revealing its endemic nihilism, Campagna proposes Magic, a way of seeing that reestablishes a balance between the measurable and the ineffable. JF and Phil discuss Campagna's magisterial performance in this episode.

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

SHOW NOTES

Federico Campagna, Technic and Magic
Bill Hicks, “Bit on Marketing”
Fredric Jameson, The Seeds of Time
Plotinus, Neoplatonist philosopher
Francis Bacon, Irish artist
Samuel Beckett, Irish author
William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch
Weird Stuides, Episode 87 on Arthur Machen
Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism

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]]> 5591 yes Episode 133: On Weirding, and the Virtues of Unknowing Everything https://www.weirdstudies.com/133 With the term "weird studies" gaining currency inside and outside academia, Phil and JF thought it was time to discuss the philosophical method they've been developing on the podcast since 2018. Borrowing a term from Erik Davis, they call it weirding, and here set about trying to understand what it is, and what it means. David Lynch's fondness for crying, the practice of queering in cultural theory, the all-too-real phenomenon of "global weirding,"the spooky agency of artworks, and the tragic death of E.T. at the hands of Damien Hirst are just a few of the subjects touched on in the conversation. "Weirding" also happens to be the working title of the book your hosts are writing for Strange Attractor Press, as well as an eight-week series of lectures and discussions starting October 25th, 2022, on the Nura Learning platform. Header image: David Lynch, Mulholland Drive Link to the upcoming course: Weirding: An 8-Week Course With the Hosts of the Weird Studies Podcast SHOW NOTES Ludwig van Beethoven, 9th Symphony James Elkins, Pictures and Tears Eugenie Brinkema, The Form of the Affects David Lynch (dir.), Mulholland Drive Gilkes Deleuze and Felix Guattari, What is Philosophy? Weird Studies, Episode 121 on “Mandy” Erik Davis and Timothy Morton, “Uncanny Objects” episode of Expanding Minds Coen brothers (dir.), Hail Caesar Esther Williams, American swimmer Weird Studies, Episode 120 on Radical Mystery Douglas Rushkoff, Survival of the Richest William Shakespeare, Macbeth Erik Davis, “Weird Shit” Pete Docter and Bob Peterson (dir.), Up Steven Spielberg (dir.), E.T. Alejandro Jodorowsky, Psychomagic Martin Buber, I and Thou Gilbert Simondon, Imagination and Invention Weird Studies, Episode 106 the Wanderer Charles Ludlam, “On Camp” in Ridiculous Theater Weird Studies, Episodes 14 and 15 on “Stalker Weird Studies, Episode 35 on M. C. Richards’ “Centering” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 19 Oct 2022 14:30:00 -0000 On Weirding, and the Virtues of Unknowing Everything full 133 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss making things weird as a survival strategy for the Weird Age. With the term "weird studies" gaining currency inside and outside academia, Phil and JF thought it was time to discuss the philosophical method they've been developing on the podcast since 2018. Borrowing a term from Erik Davis, they call it weirding, and here set about trying to understand what it is, and what it means. David Lynch's fondness for crying, the practice of queering in cultural theory, the all-too-real phenomenon of "global weirding,"the spooky agency of artworks, and the tragic death of E.T. at the hands of Damien Hirst are just a few of the subjects touched on in the conversation. "Weirding" also happens to be the working title of the book your hosts are writing for Strange Attractor Press, as well as an eight-week series of lectures and discussions starting October 25th, 2022, on the Nura Learning platform. Header image: David Lynch, Mulholland Drive Link to the upcoming course: Weirding: An 8-Week Course With the Hosts of the Weird Studies Podcast SHOW NOTES Ludwig van Beethoven, 9th Symphony James Elkins, Pictures and Tears Eugenie Brinkema, The Form of the Affects David Lynch (dir.), Mulholland Drive Gilkes Deleuze and Felix Guattari, What is Philosophy? Weird Studies, Episode 121 on “Mandy” Erik Davis and Timothy Morton, “Uncanny Objects” episode of Expanding Minds Coen brothers (dir.), Hail Caesar Esther Williams, American swimmer Weird Studies, Episode 120 on Radical Mystery Douglas Rushkoff, Survival of the Richest William Shakespeare, Macbeth Erik Davis, “Weird Shit” Pete Docter and Bob Peterson (dir.), Up Steven Spielberg (dir.), E.T. Alejandro Jodorowsky, Psychomagic Martin Buber, I and Thou Gilbert Simondon, Imagination and Invention Weird Studies, Episode 106 the Wanderer Charles Ludlam, “On Camp” in Ridiculous Theater Weird Studies, Episodes 14 and 15 on “Stalker Weird Studies, Episode 35 on M. C. Richards’ “Centering” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices With the term "weird studies" gaining currency inside and outside academia, Phil and JF thought it was time to discuss the philosophical method they've been developing on the podcast since 2018. Borrowing a term from Erik Davis, they call it weirding, and here set about trying to understand what it is, and what it means. David Lynch's fondness for crying, the practice of queering in cultural theory, the all-too-real phenomenon of "global weirding,"the spooky agency of artworks, and the tragic death of E.T. at the hands of Damien Hirst are just a few of the subjects touched on in the conversation. "Weirding" also happens to be the working title of the book your hosts are writing for Strange Attractor Press, as well as an eight-week series of lectures and discussions starting October 25th, 2022, on the Nura Learning platform.

Header image: David Lynch, Mulholland Drive

Link to the upcoming course: Weirding: An 8-Week Course With the Hosts of the Weird Studies Podcast

SHOW NOTES

Ludwig van Beethoven, 9th Symphony
James Elkins, Pictures and Tears
Eugenie Brinkema, The Form of the Affects
David Lynch (dir.), Mulholland Drive
Gilkes Deleuze and Felix Guattari, What is Philosophy?
Weird Studies, Episode 121 on “Mandy”
Erik Davis and Timothy Morton, “Uncanny Objects” episode of Expanding Minds
Coen brothers (dir.), Hail Caesar
Esther Williams, American swimmer
Weird Studies, Episode 120 on Radical Mystery
Douglas Rushkoff, Survival of the Richest
William Shakespeare, Macbeth
Erik Davis, “Weird Shit”
Pete Docter and Bob Peterson (dir.), Up
Steven Spielberg (dir.), E.T.
Alejandro Jodorowsky, Psychomagic
Martin Buber, I and Thou
Gilbert Simondon, Imagination and Invention
Weird Studies, Episode 106 the Wanderer
Charles Ludlam, “On Camp” in Ridiculous Theater
Weird Studies, Episodes 14 and 15 on “Stalker
Weird Studies, Episode 35 on M. C. Richards’ “Centering”

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]]> 4324 yes Episode 132: Art Is an Alien Technology: Live at the Supernormal Festival https://www.weirdstudies.com/132 With his 2010 film Cave of Forgotten Dreams, the German filmmaker Werner Herzog peeled away the veneer of familiarity on the Chauvet cave paintings, restoring them to their original eldritch sparkle. In this conversation, Phil and JF discuss a cinematic jewel that was wrought under tremendous pressure – and is all the more dazzling for it. The episode was recorded live at the Supernormal Festival in Oxfordshire, England, where your hosts were also subjected to unexpected pressure as the band Plastics started their set at the same time as the talk! Though we feel the musical accompaniment adds depth to the dialogue, listeners who find it distracting can skip to the end of the Plastics' set around 41:30. All listeners are urged to visit the band's Bandcamp page to sample some choice hardcore. Weird Studies thanks Strange Attractor Press, the Supernormal Festival , and Plastics. JF Martel gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts in making this live recording possible. Header image via Wikimedia Commons. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop SHOW NOTES Werner Herzog, “The Minnesota Declaration” Tom Waits, “Step Right Up” Herman Melville, Moby Dick Weird Studies, Episode 76 on “Hellier” Stanley Kubrick (dir.), 2001: A Space Odyssey Paul Bahn, Images of the Ice Age Weird Studies, Episode 101 on “In Praise of Shadows Weird Studies, Episode 129 on “The Fall of the House of Usher” Matthew Barney, The Cremaster Films Stanley Kubrick, The Shining Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 05 Oct 2022 14:30:00 -0000 Art Is an Alien Technology: Live at the Supernormal Festival full 132 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Werner Herzog's "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" at the 2022 Supernormal Festival in England. With his 2010 film Cave of Forgotten Dreams, the German filmmaker Werner Herzog peeled away the veneer of familiarity on the Chauvet cave paintings, restoring them to their original eldritch sparkle. In this conversation, Phil and JF discuss a cinematic jewel that was wrought under tremendous pressure – and is all the more dazzling for it. The episode was recorded live at the Supernormal Festival in Oxfordshire, England, where your hosts were also subjected to unexpected pressure as the band Plastics started their set at the same time as the talk! Though we feel the musical accompaniment adds depth to the dialogue, listeners who find it distracting can skip to the end of the Plastics' set around 41:30. All listeners are urged to visit the band's Bandcamp page to sample some choice hardcore. Weird Studies thanks Strange Attractor Press, the Supernormal Festival , and Plastics. JF Martel gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts in making this live recording possible. Header image via Wikimedia Commons. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop SHOW NOTES Werner Herzog, “The Minnesota Declaration” Tom Waits, “Step Right Up” Herman Melville, Moby Dick Weird Studies, Episode 76 on “Hellier” Stanley Kubrick (dir.), 2001: A Space Odyssey Paul Bahn, Images of the Ice Age Weird Studies, Episode 101 on “In Praise of Shadows Weird Studies, Episode 129 on “The Fall of the House of Usher” Matthew Barney, The Cremaster Films Stanley Kubrick, The Shining Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices With his 2010 film Cave of Forgotten Dreams, the German filmmaker Werner Herzog peeled away the veneer of familiarity on the Chauvet cave paintings, restoring them to their original eldritch sparkle. In this conversation, Phil and JF discuss a cinematic jewel that was wrought under tremendous pressure – and is all the more dazzling for it. The episode was recorded live at the Supernormal Festival in Oxfordshire, England, where your hosts were also subjected to unexpected pressure as the band Plastics started their set at the same time as the talk! Though we feel the musical accompaniment adds depth to the dialogue, listeners who find it distracting can skip to the end of the Plastics' set around 41:30. All listeners are urged to visit the band's Bandcamp page to sample some choice hardcore.

Weird Studies thanks Strange Attractor Press, the Supernormal Festival , and Plastics. JF Martel gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts in making this live recording possible.

Header image via Wikimedia Commons.

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

SHOW NOTES

Werner Herzog, “The Minnesota Declaration”
Tom Waits, “Step Right Up”
Herman Melville, Moby Dick
Weird Studies, Episode 76 on “Hellier”
Stanley Kubrick (dir.), 2001: A Space Odyssey
Paul Bahn, Images of the Ice Age
Weird Studies, Episode 101 on “In Praise of Shadows
Weird Studies, Episode 129 on “The Fall of the House of Usher”
Matthew Barney, The Cremaster Films
Stanley Kubrick, The Shining

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]]> 4937 yes Off-Week Bonus: On Worlds and Stories, with a Special Announcement https://www.weirdstudies.com/131b In this bonus episode, originally released for Listener's Tier Patreon supporters, a discussion of the books Phil and JF are reading leads to a debate about the place of plot, story, and worldbuilding in narrative art. The episode contains information on "Weirding," a new course that the hosts of Weird Studies will be teaching together at Nura Learning, starting in late October. Visit nuralearning.com for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Tue, 27 Sep 2022 19:00:00 -0000 full SpectreVision Radio After announcing a new online course they will be teaching together, JF and Phil talk storytelling and worldbuilding. In this bonus episode, originally released for Listener's Tier Patreon supporters, a discussion of the books Phil and JF are reading leads to a debate about the place of plot, story, and worldbuilding in narrative art. The episode contains information on "Weirding," a new course that the hosts of Weird Studies will be teaching together at Nura Learning, starting in late October. Visit nuralearning.com for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this bonus episode, originally released for Listener's Tier Patreon supporters, a discussion of the books Phil and JF are reading leads to a debate about the place of plot, story, and worldbuilding in narrative art. The episode contains information on "Weirding," a new course that the hosts of Weird Studies will be teaching together at Nura Learning, starting in late October. Visit nuralearning.com for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 3474 yes Episode 131: Knocking on the Abyssal Door: Live at the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute https://www.weirdstudies.com/131 The historian of religion Jeffrey J. Kripal writes, "The world is one, and the human is two." The line captures the riddle of reality. What is it with our species? Equipped with an intellect able to grok the basic laws that govern the physical universe, we seem unable to wrap our heads around as simple a question as "What is real?". Recorded live before a learned audience at the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) in August of 2022, this episode approaches the enigma by teasing the Weird out of the very idea of intellection. If the architects of DISI are right to say that mind, far from being confined to human skulls, enjoys wide distribution across nature, what might such ideas as magic, synchronicity, and prophecy tell us about intelligence and meaning? DISI is a three-week interdisciplinary event held each year at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. The hosts are grateful to Jacob Foster and Erica Cartmill of UCLA for inviting them to speak at the institute. **Header image: **Detail of The Ancient of Days by William Blake. SHOW NOTES Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) Earlier iteration of Jacob Foster's talk, "Toward a Social Science of the Possible" Pauline Oliveros's Tuning Meditation Norbert Wiener, American mathematician Joshua Ramey, "Contingency Without Unreason: Speculation After Meillassoux" E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande Aristotle, Physics and Metaphysics Jeffrey J. Kripal, "The World is One, and the Human is Two: Tentative Conclusions of a Working Historian of Religion" Jeffrey Kripal on Weird Studies: episodes ## and ## Aleister Crowley, See The Vision and the Voice and Magick in Theory and Practice The "Unwritten Doctrines" of Plato Plato, Republic, "Seventh Letter" & Phaedrus Phil's prophetic dream report (Patreon supporters only) H. P. Lovecraft, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (for description of Azathoth) C. G. Jung, Synchroncity: An Acausal Connecting Principle, Alchemical Studies & Mysterium Coniunctionis Charles Taylor, A Secular Age New York Times article on 2022 UFO hearings Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 21 Sep 2022 15:00:00 -0000 Knocking on the Abyssal Door: Live at the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute full 131 SpectreVision Radio Phil and J.F. talk about magic, synchronicity, and prophecy to an audience composed of scientists, scholars, and artists at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. The historian of religion Jeffrey J. Kripal writes, "The world is one, and the human is two." The line captures the riddle of reality. What is it with our species? Equipped with an intellect able to grok the basic laws that govern the physical universe, we seem unable to wrap our heads around as simple a question as "What is real?". Recorded live before a learned audience at the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) in August of 2022, this episode approaches the enigma by teasing the Weird out of the very idea of intellection. If the architects of DISI are right to say that mind, far from being confined to human skulls, enjoys wide distribution across nature, what might such ideas as magic, synchronicity, and prophecy tell us about intelligence and meaning? DISI is a three-week interdisciplinary event held each year at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. The hosts are grateful to Jacob Foster and Erica Cartmill of UCLA for inviting them to speak at the institute. **Header image: **Detail of The Ancient of Days by William Blake. SHOW NOTES Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) Earlier iteration of Jacob Foster's talk, "Toward a Social Science of the Possible" Pauline Oliveros's Tuning Meditation Norbert Wiener, American mathematician Joshua Ramey, "Contingency Without Unreason: Speculation After Meillassoux" E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande Aristotle, Physics and Metaphysics Jeffrey J. Kripal, "The World is One, and the Human is Two: Tentative Conclusions of a Working Historian of Religion" Jeffrey Kripal on Weird Studies: episodes ## and ## Aleister Crowley, See The Vision and the Voice and Magick in Theory and Practice The "Unwritten Doctrines" of Plato Plato, Republic, "Seventh Letter" & Phaedrus Phil's prophetic dream report (Patreon supporters only) H. P. Lovecraft, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (for description of Azathoth) C. G. Jung, Synchroncity: An Acausal Connecting Principle, Alchemical Studies & Mysterium Coniunctionis Charles Taylor, A Secular Age New York Times article on 2022 UFO hearings Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The historian of religion Jeffrey J. Kripal writes, "The world is one, and the human is two." The line captures the riddle of reality. What is it with our species? Equipped with an intellect able to grok the basic laws that govern the physical universe, we seem unable to wrap our heads around as simple a question as "What is real?". Recorded live before a learned audience at the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) in August of 2022, this episode approaches the enigma by teasing the Weird out of the very idea of intellection. If the architects of DISI are right to say that mind, far from being confined to human skulls, enjoys wide distribution across nature, what might such ideas as magic, synchronicity, and prophecy tell us about intelligence and meaning?

DISI is a three-week interdisciplinary event held each year at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. The hosts are grateful to Jacob Foster and Erica Cartmill of UCLA for inviting them to speak at the institute.

**Header image: **Detail of The Ancient of Days by William Blake.

SHOW NOTES

Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI)
Earlier iteration of Jacob Foster's talk, "Toward a Social Science of the Possible"

Pauline Oliveros's Tuning Meditation
Norbert Wiener, American mathematician
Joshua Ramey, "Contingency Without Unreason: Speculation After Meillassoux"
E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande
Aristotle, Physics and Metaphysics
Jeffrey J. Kripal, "The World is One, and the Human is Two: Tentative Conclusions of a Working Historian of Religion"
Jeffrey Kripal on Weird Studies: episodes ## and ##
Aleister Crowley, See The Vision and the Voice and Magick in Theory and Practice
The "Unwritten Doctrines" of Plato
Plato, Republic, "Seventh Letter" & Phaedrus
Phil's prophetic dream report (Patreon supporters only)
H. P. Lovecraft, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (for description of Azathoth)
C. G. Jung, Synchroncity: An Acausal Connecting Principle, Alchemical Studies & Mysterium Coniunctionis
Charles Taylor, A Secular Age
New York Times article on 2022 UFO hearings

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]]> 4349 yes Episode 130: Holiday Memories https://www.weirdstudies.com/130 In August, 2022, JF and Phil flew to the UK to attend the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) at the University of St. Andrews and the Supernormal Festival in Oxfordshire. In addition to recording two live shows (to be released in the coming weeks), they encountered billiant minds, novel ideas, and arresting works of art that opened new avenues for thought. It's these encounters that anchor this conversation, which branches off to touch ideas such as the elusive ideal of intersciplinarity, Hakim Bey's temporary autonomous zone, the legacy of the 20th-century counterculture, the fate of revolutionary movements, non--human intelligences, and the weirdness of human thought. Header Image by RomitaGirl67 via Wikimedia Commons. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop References Dial M for Musicology, Interdisciplinarity Hakim Bey, The Temporary Autonomous Zone Entitled Opinions Podcast William Gibson, Foreword to Samuel Delaney’s Dhalgren DISI Podcast, Many Minds John Krakauer, professor of nuerology and neuroscience Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist The Great Ape Dictionary, specific database used by Cat Hobaiter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 07 Sep 2022 14:00:00 -0000 Holiday Memories full 130 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss their recent adventures in the United Kingdom. In August, 2022, JF and Phil flew to the UK to attend the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) at the University of St. Andrews and the Supernormal Festival in Oxfordshire. In addition to recording two live shows (to be released in the coming weeks), they encountered billiant minds, novel ideas, and arresting works of art that opened new avenues for thought. It's these encounters that anchor this conversation, which branches off to touch ideas such as the elusive ideal of intersciplinarity, Hakim Bey's temporary autonomous zone, the legacy of the 20th-century counterculture, the fate of revolutionary movements, non--human intelligences, and the weirdness of human thought. Header Image by RomitaGirl67 via Wikimedia Commons. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop References Dial M for Musicology, Interdisciplinarity Hakim Bey, The Temporary Autonomous Zone Entitled Opinions Podcast William Gibson, Foreword to Samuel Delaney’s Dhalgren DISI Podcast, Many Minds John Krakauer, professor of nuerology and neuroscience Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist The Great Ape Dictionary, specific database used by Cat Hobaiter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In August, 2022, JF and Phil flew to the UK to attend the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) at the University of St. Andrews and the Supernormal Festival in Oxfordshire. In addition to recording two live shows (to be released in the coming weeks), they encountered billiant minds, novel ideas, and arresting works of art that opened new avenues for thought. It's these encounters that anchor this conversation, which branches off to touch ideas such as the elusive ideal of intersciplinarity, Hakim Bey's temporary autonomous zone, the legacy of the 20th-century counterculture, the fate of revolutionary movements, non--human intelligences, and the weirdness of human thought.

Header Image by RomitaGirl67 via Wikimedia Commons.

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

References

Dial M for Musicology, Interdisciplinarity
Hakim Bey, The Temporary Autonomous Zone
Entitled Opinions Podcast
William Gibson, Foreword to Samuel Delaney’s Dhalgren
DISI Podcast, Many Minds
John Krakauer, professor of nuerology and neuroscience
Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist
The Great Ape Dictionary, specific database used by Cat Hobaiter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4631 yes Episode 129: Luminous Miasma: On Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" https://www.weirdstudies.com/129 Edgar Allan Poe can be lauded as a major inspiration for many innovative artists, genres, and movements, from horror fiction to the music of Maurice Ravel. He has also been a major inspiration for Weird Studies, particularly his short story "The Fall of the House of Usher." In this episode, JF and Phil try to pinpoint just what it is about this tale that is so compelling, discovering in the process that whatever it is cannot be pinpointed. Instead, the haunting mood of the story emerges from the peculiar arrangement of all its parts, becoming something entirely new. Click here for more information on the Supernormal Festival, Aug 12-14, in Oxfordshire, England. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop References Edgar Allan Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher” Edgar Allan Poe, “The Masque of the Red Death Klangfarbenmelodie, musical technique Edgar Allan Poe, "The Poetic Principle" Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy Lovecraft without adjectives Weird Studies, Development of Circle vs. Spiral: Wheel of fortune, Blade Runner, The Star, Birhane Matei Calinescu, The Five Faces of Modernity Weird Studies, Episode 101 on ‘In Praise of Shadows’ Phanes, deity James Herbert, The Dark Joseph Adamson, “Frye and Poe” Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, French anthropologist James Machin, Weird Fiction in Britain Edgar Allan Poe, “Eureka” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 03 Aug 2022 17:00:00 -0000 Luminous Miasma: On Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" full 129 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil visit the House of Usher. Edgar Allan Poe can be lauded as a major inspiration for many innovative artists, genres, and movements, from horror fiction to the music of Maurice Ravel. He has also been a major inspiration for Weird Studies, particularly his short story "The Fall of the House of Usher." In this episode, JF and Phil try to pinpoint just what it is about this tale that is so compelling, discovering in the process that whatever it is cannot be pinpointed. Instead, the haunting mood of the story emerges from the peculiar arrangement of all its parts, becoming something entirely new. Click here for more information on the Supernormal Festival, Aug 12-14, in Oxfordshire, England. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop References Edgar Allan Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher” Edgar Allan Poe, “The Masque of the Red Death Klangfarbenmelodie, musical technique Edgar Allan Poe, "The Poetic Principle" Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy Lovecraft without adjectives Weird Studies, Development of Circle vs. Spiral: Wheel of fortune, Blade Runner, The Star, Birhane Matei Calinescu, The Five Faces of Modernity Weird Studies, Episode 101 on ‘In Praise of Shadows’ Phanes, deity James Herbert, The Dark Joseph Adamson, “Frye and Poe” Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, French anthropologist James Machin, Weird Fiction in Britain Edgar Allan Poe, “Eureka” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Edgar Allan Poe can be lauded as a major inspiration for many innovative artists, genres, and movements, from horror fiction to the music of Maurice Ravel. He has also been a major inspiration for Weird Studies, particularly his short story "The Fall of the House of Usher." In this episode, JF and Phil try to pinpoint just what it is about this tale that is so compelling, discovering in the process that whatever it is cannot be pinpointed. Instead, the haunting mood of the story emerges from the peculiar arrangement of all its parts, becoming something entirely new.

Click here for more information on the Supernormal Festival, Aug 12-14, in Oxfordshire, England.

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

References

Edgar Allan Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher”
Edgar Allan Poe, “The Masque of the Red Death
Klangfarbenmelodie, musical technique
Edgar Allan Poe, "The Poetic Principle"
Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy
Lovecraft without adjectives
Weird Studies, Development of Circle vs. Spiral: Wheel of fortune, Blade Runner, The Star, Birhane
Matei Calinescu, The Five Faces of Modernity
Weird Studies, Episode 101 on ‘In Praise of Shadows’
Phanes, deity
James Herbert, The Dark
Joseph Adamson, “Frye and Poe”
Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, French anthropologist
James Machin, Weird Fiction in Britain
Edgar Allan Poe, “Eureka”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5634 yes Episode 128: Demon Workshop: On Victoria Nelson's 'Neighbor George' https://www.weirdstudies.com/128 The American writer and thinker Victoria Nelson is justly revered by afficionados of the Weird for The Secret Life of Puppets and its follow-up Gothicka. Both are masterful explorations the supernatural as it subsists in the "sub-Zeitgeist" of the modern secular West. In 2021, Strange Attractor Press released Neighbor George, Nelson's first novel. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss this gothic anti-romance with a mind to seeing how it contributes to Nelson's overall project of acquainting us with the eldritch undercurrents of contemporary life. Click here for more information on the Supernormal Festival, Aug 12-14, in Oxfordshire, England. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop References Victoria Nelson, Neighbor George Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets Victoria Nelson, Gothicka Wendy Lesser, American critic Ward Sutton Onion cartoons Extension, metaphysical concept Terry Castle, The Female Thermometer Cessation of Miracles, theological belief E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic among the Azande Greg Anderson, “Retrieving the Lost Worlds of the Past: A Case for the Ontological Turn” Orcus Grotto, sculpture Margaret Atwood, The Edible Woman Nathalie Cooke, Margaret Atwood: A Biography Weird Studies, Episode 96 on Beauty and the Beast M. C. Richards, “Wrestling with the Daemonic” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Tue, 19 Jul 2022 21:00:00 -0000 Demon Workshop: On Victoria Nelson's 'Neighbor George' full 128 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Victoria Nelson's novel of psychological horror. The American writer and thinker Victoria Nelson is justly revered by afficionados of the Weird for The Secret Life of Puppets and its follow-up Gothicka. Both are masterful explorations the supernatural as it subsists in the "sub-Zeitgeist" of the modern secular West. In 2021, Strange Attractor Press released Neighbor George, Nelson's first novel. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss this gothic anti-romance with a mind to seeing how it contributes to Nelson's overall project of acquainting us with the eldritch undercurrents of contemporary life. Click here for more information on the Supernormal Festival, Aug 12-14, in Oxfordshire, England. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop References Victoria Nelson, Neighbor George Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets Victoria Nelson, Gothicka Wendy Lesser, American critic Ward Sutton Onion cartoons Extension, metaphysical concept Terry Castle, The Female Thermometer Cessation of Miracles, theological belief E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic among the Azande Greg Anderson, “Retrieving the Lost Worlds of the Past: A Case for the Ontological Turn” Orcus Grotto, sculpture Margaret Atwood, The Edible Woman Nathalie Cooke, Margaret Atwood: A Biography Weird Studies, Episode 96 on Beauty and the Beast M. C. Richards, “Wrestling with the Daemonic” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The American writer and thinker Victoria Nelson is justly revered by afficionados of the Weird for The Secret Life of Puppets and its follow-up Gothicka. Both are masterful explorations the supernatural as it subsists in the "sub-Zeitgeist" of the modern secular West. In 2021, Strange Attractor Press released Neighbor George, Nelson's first novel. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss this gothic anti-romance with a mind to seeing how it contributes to Nelson's overall project of acquainting us with the eldritch undercurrents of contemporary life.

Click here for more information on the Supernormal Festival, Aug 12-14, in Oxfordshire, England.

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

References

Victoria Nelson, Neighbor George
Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets
Victoria Nelson, Gothicka
Wendy Lesser, American critic
Ward Sutton Onion cartoons
Extension, metaphysical concept
Terry Castle, The Female Thermometer
Cessation of Miracles, theological belief
E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic among the Azande
Greg Anderson, “Retrieving the Lost Worlds of the Past: A Case for the Ontological Turn”
Orcus Grotto, sculpture
Margaret Atwood, The Edible Woman
Nathalie Cooke, Margaret Atwood: A Biography
Weird Studies, Episode 96 on Beauty and the Beast
M. C. Richards, “Wrestling with the Daemonic”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5309 yes Episode 127: Leaving the Mechanical Dollhouse: On Abeba Birhane's "The Impossibility of Automating Ambiguity" https://www.weirdstudies.com/127 Like Caligula declaring war on Neptune and ordering his troops to charge into the Mediterranean Sea, our technological masters are designing neural networks meant to capture the human soul in all its oceanic complexity. According to the cognitive scientist Abeba Birhane, this is a fool's errand that we undertake at our peril. In her paper "The Impossibility of Automating Ambiguity," she makes the case for the irremediable fluidity, spontaneity, and relationality of people and societies. She argues that ongoing efforts to subsume the human (and the rest of reality) in predictive algorithms is actually narrowing the human experience, as so many of us are excluded from the system while others are compelled to artificially conform to its idea of the human. Far from paving the way to a better world, the tyranny of automation threatens to cut us off from the Real, ensuring an endless perpetuation of the past with all its errors and injustices. Phil and JF discuss Birhane's essay in this episode. Header image from via www.vpnsrus.com (cropped). Downloaded from Wikimedia Commons. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Abebe Birhane, "The Impossibility of Automating Ambiguity” J. F. Martel, “Reality is Analog: Philosophizing with Stranger Things” Melissa Adler, Cruising the Library: Perversities in the Organization of Knowledge Weird Studies, Episode 75 on 2001: A Space Odyssey Weird Studies, Episode 114 on the Wheel of Fortune William James, American philosopher Midjourney, AI art generator Rhine Research Center, parapsychology lab George Lewis, “Improvised Music after 1950: Afrological and Eurological Perspectives” Abebe Birhane, “Descartes was Wrong: A Person is a Person Through Other Persons” Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, German philosopher J. R. R. Tolkein, “On Fairy-Stories” Martin Buber, I and Thou Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 06 Jul 2022 14:30:00 -0000 Leaving the Mechanical Dollhouse: On Abeba Birhane's "The Impossibility of Automating Ambiguity" full 127 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Abeba Birhane's essay on the ethical, psychological, and political cost of universal automation. Like Caligula declaring war on Neptune and ordering his troops to charge into the Mediterranean Sea, our technological masters are designing neural networks meant to capture the human soul in all its oceanic complexity. According to the cognitive scientist Abeba Birhane, this is a fool's errand that we undertake at our peril. In her paper "The Impossibility of Automating Ambiguity," she makes the case for the irremediable fluidity, spontaneity, and relationality of people and societies. She argues that ongoing efforts to subsume the human (and the rest of reality) in predictive algorithms is actually narrowing the human experience, as so many of us are excluded from the system while others are compelled to artificially conform to its idea of the human. Far from paving the way to a better world, the tyranny of automation threatens to cut us off from the Real, ensuring an endless perpetuation of the past with all its errors and injustices. Phil and JF discuss Birhane's essay in this episode. Header image from via www.vpnsrus.com (cropped). Downloaded from Wikimedia Commons. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Abebe Birhane, "The Impossibility of Automating Ambiguity” J. F. Martel, “Reality is Analog: Philosophizing with Stranger Things” Melissa Adler, Cruising the Library: Perversities in the Organization of Knowledge Weird Studies, Episode 75 on 2001: A Space Odyssey Weird Studies, Episode 114 on the Wheel of Fortune William James, American philosopher Midjourney, AI art generator Rhine Research Center, parapsychology lab George Lewis, “Improvised Music after 1950: Afrological and Eurological Perspectives” Abebe Birhane, “Descartes was Wrong: A Person is a Person Through Other Persons” Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, German philosopher J. R. R. Tolkein, “On Fairy-Stories” Martin Buber, I and Thou Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Like Caligula declaring war on Neptune and ordering his troops to charge into the Mediterranean Sea, our technological masters are designing neural networks meant to capture the human soul in all its oceanic complexity. According to the cognitive scientist Abeba Birhane, this is a fool's errand that we undertake at our peril. In her paper "The Impossibility of Automating Ambiguity," she makes the case for the irremediable fluidity, spontaneity, and relationality of people and societies. She argues that ongoing efforts to subsume the human (and the rest of reality) in predictive algorithms is actually narrowing the human experience, as so many of us are excluded from the system while others are compelled to artificially conform to its idea of the human. Far from paving the way to a better world, the tyranny of automation threatens to cut us off from the Real, ensuring an endless perpetuation of the past with all its errors and injustices. Phil and JF discuss Birhane's essay in this episode.

Header image from via www.vpnsrus.com (cropped). Downloaded from Wikimedia Commons.

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

REFERENCES

Abebe Birhane, "The Impossibility of Automating Ambiguity”
J. F. Martel, “Reality is Analog: Philosophizing with Stranger Things”
Melissa Adler, Cruising the Library: Perversities in the Organization of Knowledge
Weird Studies, Episode 75 on 2001: A Space Odyssey
Weird Studies, Episode 114 on the Wheel of Fortune
William James, American philosopher
Midjourney, AI art generator
Rhine Research Center, parapsychology lab
George Lewis, “Improvised Music after 1950: Afrological and Eurological Perspectives”
Abebe Birhane, “Descartes was Wrong: A Person is a Person Through Other Persons”
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, German philosopher
J. R. R. Tolkein, “On Fairy-Stories”
Martin Buber, I and Thou

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4609 yes Episode 126: The Daemon Speaks, with Matt Cardin https://www.weirdstudies.com/126 Returning guest Matt Cardin is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose focus on numinous horror places him in the literary lineage as Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood. His new book, What the Daemon Said, collects two decades' worth of meditations on literature, cinema, mysticism, philosophy, and the weird. He joins Phil and JF to talk about a range of topics including dark enlightenment, the idea that fear and trembling are the only sensible reactions to direct exposure to cosmic truth. Header image: detail of cover design for What the Daemon Said, by Dan Sauer Design. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Matt Cardin's website Matt Cardin, What the Daemon Said: Essays on Horror, Fiction, Film and Philosophy Matt Cardin, Dark Awakenings Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way Morning Pages Journal Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones The Gospel of Thomas Matt Cardin, Dark Awakenings Robert Frost, “The Figure a Poem Makes” John Horgen, Rational Mysticism Weird Studies, Episode 41 with Matt Cardin Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for his Highest Weird Studies ep. 124: Dark Night Radio of the Soul, with Duncan Barford Theodore Roszak, American scholar M. C. Richards, Centering Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols Huston Smith, American religious scholar Martin Buber, I and Thou John Lee Hancock (dir.), The Rookie (2002) Eckart Tolle, German spiritual teacher Richard Wagner, Parsifal Peter Berger, The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion Alan Watts, English writer and teacher Richard Rose, After the Absolute: The Inner Teachings of Richard Rose Special Guest: Matt Cardin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 22 Jun 2022 15:00:00 -0000 The Daemon Speaks, with Matt Cardin full 126 SpectreVision Radio Matt Cardin joins JF and Phil to discuss daimonic reality and the idea of dark enlightenment. Returning guest Matt Cardin is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose focus on numinous horror places him in the literary lineage as Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood. His new book, What the Daemon Said, collects two decades' worth of meditations on literature, cinema, mysticism, philosophy, and the weird. He joins Phil and JF to talk about a range of topics including dark enlightenment, the idea that fear and trembling are the only sensible reactions to direct exposure to cosmic truth. Header image: detail of cover design for What the Daemon Said, by Dan Sauer Design. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Matt Cardin's website Matt Cardin, What the Daemon Said: Essays on Horror, Fiction, Film and Philosophy Matt Cardin, Dark Awakenings Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way Morning Pages Journal Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones The Gospel of Thomas Matt Cardin, Dark Awakenings Robert Frost, “The Figure a Poem Makes” John Horgen, Rational Mysticism Weird Studies, Episode 41 with Matt Cardin Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for his Highest Weird Studies ep. 124: Dark Night Radio of the Soul, with Duncan Barford Theodore Roszak, American scholar M. C. Richards, Centering Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols Huston Smith, American religious scholar Martin Buber, I and Thou John Lee Hancock (dir.), The Rookie (2002) Eckart Tolle, German spiritual teacher Richard Wagner, Parsifal Peter Berger, The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion Alan Watts, English writer and teacher Richard Rose, After the Absolute: The Inner Teachings of Richard Rose Special Guest: Matt Cardin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Returning guest Matt Cardin is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose focus on numinous horror places him in the literary lineage as Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood. His new book, What the Daemon Said, collects two decades' worth of meditations on literature, cinema, mysticism, philosophy, and the weird. He joins Phil and JF to talk about a range of topics including dark enlightenment, the idea that fear and trembling are the only sensible reactions to direct exposure to cosmic truth.

Header image: detail of cover design for What the Daemon Said, by Dan Sauer Design.

Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

REFERENCES

Matt Cardin's website
Matt Cardin, What the Daemon Said: Essays on Horror, Fiction, Film and Philosophy
Matt Cardin, Dark Awakenings
Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way Morning Pages Journal
Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones
The Gospel of Thomas
Matt Cardin, Dark Awakenings
Robert Frost, “The Figure a Poem Makes”
John Horgen, Rational Mysticism
Weird Studies, Episode 41 with Matt Cardin
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for his Highest
Weird Studies ep. 124: Dark Night Radio of the Soul, with Duncan Barford
Theodore Roszak, American scholar
M. C. Richards, Centering
Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols
Huston Smith, American religious scholar
Martin Buber, I and Thou
John Lee Hancock (dir.), The Rookie (2002)
Eckart Tolle, German spiritual teacher
Richard Wagner, Parsifal
Peter Berger, The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion
Alan Watts, English writer and teacher
Richard Rose, After the Absolute: The Inner Teachings of Richard Rose

Special Guest: Matt Cardin.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4957 yes Episode 125: Strange Brews: Weird Studies Live at Illuminated Brew Works https://www.weirdstudies.com/125 On May 23, 2022, Meredith Michael joined JF and Phil for a live recording at Illuminated Brew Works, a craft brewery in Chicago, Illinois.The occasion was the launch of Weird Studies Black IPA, the fruit of a collaboration with IBW brewmaster Brian Buckman and his team of beer alchemists. The game plan was to talk about potions, but the final conversation ranges over a number of topics including singularity and repetition, time and eternity, alchemy and ritual, Okakura Kakuzō's The Book of Tea, cooking and pickling, and the cultural phenomenon Phil calls "weedhead sh*t." Purchase the Weird Studies Black IPA from Beer on the Wall or visit the Illuminated Brew Works website. Buy volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop SHOW NOTES Okakura Kakuzō, The Book of Tea Oscar Wilde on absinthe Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return: Cosmos and History Toni Morrison. Song of Solomon The Suzuki Method Robert Fink, Repeating Ourselves: American Minimal Music as Cultural Practice David Cronenberg (dir.), Scanners (1981) Lars von Trier (dir.), Dancer in the Dark (2000) Alan Watts, Beat Zen, Square Zen and Zen William Shakespeare, Macbeth Special Guest: Meredith Michael. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 08 Jun 2022 14:00:00 -0000 Strange Brews: Weird Studies Live at Illuminated Brew Works full 125 SpectreVision Radio Phil, Meredith, and JF discuss ritual and potion-making in a live recording hosted by Illuminated Brew Works in Chicago. On May 23, 2022, Meredith Michael joined JF and Phil for a live recording at Illuminated Brew Works, a craft brewery in Chicago, Illinois.The occasion was the launch of Weird Studies Black IPA, the fruit of a collaboration with IBW brewmaster Brian Buckman and his team of beer alchemists. The game plan was to talk about potions, but the final conversation ranges over a number of topics including singularity and repetition, time and eternity, alchemy and ritual, Okakura Kakuzō's The Book of Tea, cooking and pickling, and the cultural phenomenon Phil calls "weedhead sh*t." Purchase the Weird Studies Black IPA from Beer on the Wall or visit the Illuminated Brew Works website. Buy volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop SHOW NOTES Okakura Kakuzō, The Book of Tea Oscar Wilde on absinthe Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return: Cosmos and History Toni Morrison. Song of Solomon The Suzuki Method Robert Fink, Repeating Ourselves: American Minimal Music as Cultural Practice David Cronenberg (dir.), Scanners (1981) Lars von Trier (dir.), Dancer in the Dark (2000) Alan Watts, Beat Zen, Square Zen and Zen William Shakespeare, Macbeth Special Guest: Meredith Michael. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices On May 23, 2022, Meredith Michael joined JF and Phil for a live recording at Illuminated Brew Works, a craft brewery in Chicago, Illinois.The occasion was the launch of Weird Studies Black IPA, the fruit of a collaboration with IBW brewmaster Brian Buckman and his team of beer alchemists. The game plan was to talk about potions, but the final conversation ranges over a number of topics including singularity and repetition, time and eternity, alchemy and ritual, Okakura Kakuzō's The Book of Tea, cooking and pickling, and the cultural phenomenon Phil calls "weedhead sh*t."

Purchase the Weird Studies Black IPA from Beer on the Wall or visit the Illuminated Brew Works website.

Buy volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel
Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

SHOW NOTES

Okakura Kakuzō, The Book of Tea
Oscar Wilde on absinthe
Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return: Cosmos and History
Toni Morrison. Song of Solomon
The Suzuki Method
Robert Fink, Repeating Ourselves: American Minimal Music as Cultural Practice
David Cronenberg (dir.), Scanners (1981)
Lars von Trier (dir.), Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Alan Watts, Beat Zen, Square Zen and Zen
William Shakespeare, Macbeth

Special Guest: Meredith Michael.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5855 yes Episode 124: Dark Night Radio of the Soul, with Duncan Barford https://www.weirdstudies.com/124 For several episodes now, Phil and JF have been circling what St. John of the Cross called the Dark Night of the Soul, that moment in the spiritual journey where all falls a way and an abyss seems to crack open beneath our feet. When it came time to go there in earnest, they could think of no better guide than Duncan Barford, host of the excellent Occult Experiments in the Home podcast. As a master magician, long-time meditator, psychotherapeutic counsellor and writer on spirituality and the occult, Barford is uniquely endowed with the tools, experience, and language to discuss even the most difficult spiritual topics with wisdom and warmth. A Virgil for any Inferno. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack: Volume 1 and Volume 2 Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop SHOW NOTES Occult Experiments in the Home, Duncan Barford's excellent solo podcast Duncan's other website, focusing on his work as a psychotherapeutic counselor Duncan's books on Amazon US Weird Studies, Episode 67 on Hellier Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Judgement Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” Dogen’s Bendowa Tibetan Book of the Dead Daniel Ingram, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel Spinoza, Ethics Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking Special Guest: Duncan Barford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 25 May 2022 14:15:00 -0000 Dark Night Radio of the Soul, with Duncan Barford full 124 SpectreVision Radio Spiritual practitioner Duncan Barford joins JF and Phil to talk about the Dark Night of the Soul. For several episodes now, Phil and JF have been circling what St. John of the Cross called the Dark Night of the Soul, that moment in the spiritual journey where all falls a way and an abyss seems to crack open beneath our feet. When it came time to go there in earnest, they could think of no better guide than Duncan Barford, host of the excellent Occult Experiments in the Home podcast. As a master magician, long-time meditator, psychotherapeutic counsellor and writer on spirituality and the occult, Barford is uniquely endowed with the tools, experience, and language to discuss even the most difficult spiritual topics with wisdom and warmth. A Virgil for any Inferno. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack: Volume 1 and Volume 2 Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop SHOW NOTES Occult Experiments in the Home, Duncan Barford's excellent solo podcast Duncan's other website, focusing on his work as a psychotherapeutic counselor Duncan's books on Amazon US Weird Studies, Episode 67 on Hellier Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Judgement Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” Dogen’s Bendowa Tibetan Book of the Dead Daniel Ingram, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel Spinoza, Ethics Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking Special Guest: Duncan Barford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices For several episodes now, Phil and JF have been circling what St. John of the Cross called the Dark Night of the Soul, that moment in the spiritual journey where all falls a way and an abyss seems to crack open beneath our feet. When it came time to go there in earnest, they could think of no better guide than Duncan Barford, host of the excellent Occult Experiments in the Home podcast. As a master magician, long-time meditator, psychotherapeutic counsellor and writer on spirituality and the occult, Barford is uniquely endowed with the tools, experience, and language to discuss even the most difficult spiritual topics with wisdom and warmth. A Virgil for any Inferno.

Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack: Volume 1 and Volume 2
Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

SHOW NOTES

Occult Experiments in the Home, Duncan Barford's excellent solo podcast
Duncan's other website, focusing on his work as a psychotherapeutic counselor
Duncan's books on Amazon US

Weird Studies, Episode 67 on Hellier
Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Judgement
Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn”
Dogen’s Bendowa
Tibetan Book of the Dead
Daniel Ingram, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha
St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel
Spinoza, Ethics
Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking

Special Guest: Duncan Barford.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5310 yes Episode 123: Off-Week Patreon Bonus: On Modern Miracles https://www.weirdstudies.com/123 Every off-week, JF and Phil record a bonus episode for Patreon supporters. The conversations on that stream are shorter, less formal, and more improvisitory than those of the flagship show. To give the wider public a glimpse of this hidden dimension of the WS universe, we decided to make this week's "audio extra" available to everyone. As it happens, this episode also contains an important announcement concerning next week's event at Illuminated Brew Works in Chicago: tickets must be purchased via Eventbrite using the link below. No tickets can be sold at the door. Click here to purchase tickets to the Weird Studies beer launch at Illuminated Brew Works in Chicago on May 23. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 18 May 2022 13:00:00 -0000 Off-Week Patreon Bonus: On Modern Miracles full 123 SpectreVision Radio A free Patreon episode exploring more of the affordances of a spiral universe. Every off-week, JF and Phil record a bonus episode for Patreon supporters. The conversations on that stream are shorter, less formal, and more improvisitory than those of the flagship show. To give the wider public a glimpse of this hidden dimension of the WS universe, we decided to make this week's "audio extra" available to everyone. As it happens, this episode also contains an important announcement concerning next week's event at Illuminated Brew Works in Chicago: tickets must be purchased via Eventbrite using the link below. No tickets can be sold at the door. Click here to purchase tickets to the Weird Studies beer launch at Illuminated Brew Works in Chicago on May 23. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Every off-week, JF and Phil record a bonus episode for Patreon supporters. The conversations on that stream are shorter, less formal, and more improvisitory than those of the flagship show. To give the wider public a glimpse of this hidden dimension of the WS universe, we decided to make this week's "audio extra" available to everyone. As it happens, this episode also contains an important announcement concerning next week's event at Illuminated Brew Works in Chicago: tickets must be purchased via Eventbrite using the link below. No tickets can be sold at the door.

Click here to purchase tickets to the Weird Studies beer launch at Illuminated Brew Works in Chicago on May 23.

Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack
Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 2428 yes Episode 122: Spirals and Crooked Lines: On the Star Card in the Tarot https://www.weirdstudies.com/122 The Star is one of the most iconic of the major trumps of the traditional tarot deck. It is also one of the most ambiguous. A woman is shown emptying two urns of water onto the parched ground. She is flanked by nascent plant life. Shining above her are those nocturnal luminaries whose "eternal silence" so frightened the philosopher Blaise Pascal at the dawn of modernity. Are the stars pointing the way to a brighter future, or are they stars of ill omen, warning us of what lies ahead? And what does that little bird in the background signify? In this episode, Phil and JF try to get to the bottom of the starry heavens, only to find out that starry heavens have no bottom. Click here to purchase tickets to the Weird Studies beer launch at Illuminated Brew Works in Chicago on May 23. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Our Known Friend (Valentin Tomberg), Meditations on the Tarot Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of the Tarot Pink Floyd, “Astronomy Domine” Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Aleister Crowley, The Book of the Law Heimarmene, Greek goddess of fate Weird Studies, Episode 121 on Mandy Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea Samuel Delaney, Dahlgren J R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings Juan Eduardo Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols Weird Studies, Episode 103 on the Tower Weird Studies, [Episode 114 on the Wheel of Fortune] Joni Mitchell, “Ladies of the Canyon” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 11 May 2022 15:15:00 -0000 Spirals and Crooked Lines: On the Star Card in the Tarot full 122 SpectreVision Radio The Star is one of the most iconic of the major trumps of the traditional tarot deck. It is also one of the most ambiguous. A woman is shown emptying two urns of water onto the parched ground. She is flanked by nascent plant life. Shining above her are those nocturnal luminaries whose "eternal silence" so frightened the philosopher Blaise Pascal at the dawn of modernity. Are the stars pointing the way to a brighter future, or are they stars of ill omen, warning us of what lies ahead? And what does that little bird in the background signify? In this episode, Phil and JF try to get to the bottom of the starry heavens, only to find out that starry heavens have no bottom. Click here to purchase tickets to the Weird Studies beer launch at Illuminated Brew Works in Chicago on May 23. Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Our Known Friend (Valentin Tomberg), Meditations on the Tarot Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of the Tarot Pink Floyd, “Astronomy Domine” Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Aleister Crowley, The Book of the Law Heimarmene, Greek goddess of fate Weird Studies, Episode 121 on Mandy Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea Samuel Delaney, Dahlgren J R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings Juan Eduardo Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols Weird Studies, Episode 103 on the Tower Weird Studies, [Episode 114 on the Wheel of Fortune] Joni Mitchell, “Ladies of the Canyon” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The Star is one of the most iconic of the major trumps of the traditional tarot deck. It is also one of the most ambiguous. A woman is shown emptying two urns of water onto the parched ground. She is flanked by nascent plant life. Shining above her are those nocturnal luminaries whose "eternal silence" so frightened the philosopher Blaise Pascal at the dawn of modernity. Are the stars pointing the way to a brighter future, or are they stars of ill omen, warning us of what lies ahead? And what does that little bird in the background signify? In this episode, Phil and JF try to get to the bottom of the starry heavens, only to find out that starry heavens have no bottom.

Click here to purchase tickets to the Weird Studies beer launch at Illuminated Brew Works in Chicago on May 23.

Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack
Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

REFERENCES

Our Known Friend (Valentin Tomberg), Meditations on the Tarot

Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of the Tarot

Pink Floyd, “Astronomy Domine”
Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth
Aleister Crowley, The Book of the Law
Heimarmene, Greek goddess of fate
Weird Studies, Episode 121 on Mandy
Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea
Samuel Delaney, Dahlgren
J R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
Juan Eduardo Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols
Weird Studies, Episode 103 on the Tower
Weird Studies, [Episode 114 on the Wheel of Fortune]
Joni Mitchell, “Ladies of the Canyon”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4894 yes Episode 121: Dream Theater: On 'Mandy' and 'The Band Wagon' https://www.weirdstudies.com/121 In this episode, each of your hosts bullies the other into watching a movie he would normally not touch with a bargepole. Phil has been (unsuccessfully) trying to get JF to watch Vincente Minnelli's 1953 musical comedy The Band Wagon and JF has been (also unsuccessfully) trying to get Phil to watch Panos Cosmatos's 2018 psychedelic horror film Mandy. For this episode, they decided they would compromise and watch both. What started as a goof ended up a fascinating Glass Bead Game from which emerge occulted correspondences between films that, on the surface, could not be more dissimilar. One film is a dream of song and dance, the other a dream of blood and violence. Either way, though, watch out: as Deleuze says, "beware of the dreams of others, because if you are caught in their dream, you are done for." Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack SHOW NOTES Iluminated Brew Works, Chicago JF's new course, [Groundwork for a Philosophy of Magic](www.nuralearning.com) Vincente Minnelli (dir.), The Bandwagon Panos Cosmatos (dir.), Mandy Weird Studies, Episode 73 on Carl Jung Norman Jewison (dir.), Moonstruck David Thompson, The New Biographical Dictionary of Film Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1: The Movement Image) and Cinema 2: The Time Image Henri Bergson, “The Cinematographical Mechanism of Thought and the Mechanistic Illusion”, from Creative Evolution Terry Gilliam (dir.), The Fisher King Claudia Gorbman, Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music Raymond Knapp, The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity Richard Dyer, “Entertainment and Utopia” in Only Entertainment Gilles Deleuze, “What is the Creative Act” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 27 Apr 2022 14:00:00 -0000 Dream Theater: On 'Mandy' and 'The Band Wagon' full 121 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the film musical comedy "The Band Wagon" and the psychedelic horror film "Mandy" and discover that these films actually have a lot in common. In this episode, each of your hosts bullies the other into watching a movie he would normally not touch with a bargepole. Phil has been (unsuccessfully) trying to get JF to watch Vincente Minnelli's 1953 musical comedy The Band Wagon and JF has been (also unsuccessfully) trying to get Phil to watch Panos Cosmatos's 2018 psychedelic horror film Mandy. For this episode, they decided they would compromise and watch both. What started as a goof ended up a fascinating Glass Bead Game from which emerge occulted correspondences between films that, on the surface, could not be more dissimilar. One film is a dream of song and dance, the other a dream of blood and violence. Either way, though, watch out: as Deleuze says, "beware of the dreams of others, because if you are caught in their dream, you are done for." Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack SHOW NOTES Iluminated Brew Works, Chicago JF's new course, [Groundwork for a Philosophy of Magic](www.nuralearning.com) Vincente Minnelli (dir.), The Bandwagon Panos Cosmatos (dir.), Mandy Weird Studies, Episode 73 on Carl Jung Norman Jewison (dir.), Moonstruck David Thompson, The New Biographical Dictionary of Film Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1: The Movement Image) and Cinema 2: The Time Image Henri Bergson, “The Cinematographical Mechanism of Thought and the Mechanistic Illusion”, from Creative Evolution Terry Gilliam (dir.), The Fisher King Claudia Gorbman, Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music Raymond Knapp, The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity Richard Dyer, “Entertainment and Utopia” in Only Entertainment Gilles Deleuze, “What is the Creative Act” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this episode, each of your hosts bullies the other into watching a movie he would normally not touch with a bargepole. Phil has been (unsuccessfully) trying to get JF to watch Vincente Minnelli's 1953 musical comedy The Band Wagon and JF has been (also unsuccessfully) trying to get Phil to watch Panos Cosmatos's 2018 psychedelic horror film Mandy. For this episode, they decided they would compromise and watch both. What started as a goof ended up a fascinating Glass Bead Game from which emerge occulted correspondences between films that, on the surface, could not be more dissimilar. One film is a dream of song and dance, the other a dream of blood and violence. Either way, though, watch out: as Deleuze says, "beware of the dreams of others, because if you are caught in their dream, you are done for."

Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack

SHOW NOTES

Iluminated Brew Works, Chicago
JF's new course, [Groundwork for a Philosophy of Magic](www.nuralearning.com)

Vincente Minnelli (dir.), The Bandwagon
Panos Cosmatos (dir.), Mandy
Weird Studies, Episode 73 on Carl Jung
Norman Jewison (dir.), Moonstruck
David Thompson, The New Biographical Dictionary of Film
Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1: The Movement Image) and Cinema 2: The Time Image
Henri Bergson, “The Cinematographical Mechanism of Thought and the Mechanistic Illusion”, from Creative Evolution
Terry Gilliam (dir.), The Fisher King
Claudia Gorbman, Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music
Raymond Knapp, The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity
Richard Dyer, “Entertainment and Utopia” in Only Entertainment
Gilles Deleuze, “What is the Creative Act”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 3860 yes Episode 120: On Radical Mystery https://www.weirdstudies.com/120 Though it is seldom acknowledged in the weirdosphere, there is a difference between weirdness and mystery. Most of the time, the Weird confronts us with a problem, an impersonal epistemic obstacle which we can always believe would go away if we just closed our eyes and whistled past it with our hands in our pockets. Mystery, however, is always personal. It envelops us; it addresses us as persons. Mystery is as present within us as it is out there. It is there when you open your eyes, and even more so when you shut them tight. Maybe it had us in its grip before we were even born. In this episode, JF and Phil make radical mystery the focus of a discussion ranging over everything from unique kinds of tea and spelunking mishaps to antisonic demon pipes and malevolent radiators. Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack REFERENCES For information on JF's new course, Groundwork for a Philosophy of Magic, go to [Nura Learning](www.nuralearning.com). Phil Ford, “Radical Mystery: A Preliminary Account” J.F. Martel, “Reality is analog” John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies Gabriel Marcel, Being and Having Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason Eugene Paul Wigner, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics” Louis Sass, Madness and Modernism Peter Kingsley, Catafalque Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy Steven Spielberg (dir.), Raiders of the Lost Ark Dogen, “Instructions for the Cook” Alan Watts, The Way of Zen Weird Studies, Episode 56 with Jeremy Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 13 Apr 2022 14:30:00 -0000 On Radical Mystery full 120 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil cope with the unexpungable fact of mystery. Though it is seldom acknowledged in the weirdosphere, there is a difference between weirdness and mystery. Most of the time, the Weird confronts us with a problem, an impersonal epistemic obstacle which we can always believe would go away if we just closed our eyes and whistled past it with our hands in our pockets. Mystery, however, is always personal. It envelops us; it addresses us as persons. Mystery is as present within us as it is out there. It is there when you open your eyes, and even more so when you shut them tight. Maybe it had us in its grip before we were even born. In this episode, JF and Phil make radical mystery the focus of a discussion ranging over everything from unique kinds of tea and spelunking mishaps to antisonic demon pipes and malevolent radiators. Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack REFERENCES For information on JF's new course, Groundwork for a Philosophy of Magic, go to [Nura Learning](www.nuralearning.com). Phil Ford, “Radical Mystery: A Preliminary Account” J.F. Martel, “Reality is analog” John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies Gabriel Marcel, Being and Having Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason Eugene Paul Wigner, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics” Louis Sass, Madness and Modernism Peter Kingsley, Catafalque Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy Steven Spielberg (dir.), Raiders of the Lost Ark Dogen, “Instructions for the Cook” Alan Watts, The Way of Zen Weird Studies, Episode 56 with Jeremy Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Though it is seldom acknowledged in the weirdosphere, there is a difference between weirdness and mystery. Most of the time, the Weird confronts us with a problem, an impersonal epistemic obstacle which we can always believe would go away if we just closed our eyes and whistled past it with our hands in our pockets. Mystery, however, is always personal. It envelops us; it addresses us as persons. Mystery is as present within us as it is out there. It is there when you open your eyes, and even more so when you shut them tight. Maybe it had us in its grip before we were even born. In this episode, JF and Phil make radical mystery the focus of a discussion ranging over everything from unique kinds of tea and spelunking mishaps to antisonic demon pipes and malevolent radiators.

Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack

REFERENCES

For information on JF's new course, Groundwork for a Philosophy of Magic, go to [Nura Learning](www.nuralearning.com).

Phil Ford, “Radical Mystery: A Preliminary Account”
J.F. Martel, “Reality is analog”
John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies
Gabriel Marcel, Being and Having
Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason
Eugene Paul Wigner, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics”
Louis Sass, Madness and Modernism
Peter Kingsley, Catafalque
Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy
Steven Spielberg (dir.), Raiders of the Lost Ark
Dogen, “Instructions for the Cook”
Alan Watts, The Way of Zen
Weird Studies, Episode 56 with Jeremy Johnson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4675 yes Episode 119: Behind the Cosmic Curtain: On Stanislaw Lem's 'The New Cosmogony,' with Meredith Michael https://www.weirdstudies.com/119 Over the last several centuries, there has been one thing on which science and religion have generally agreed, and that is the fixity of the laws under which the universe came to be. At the moment of the Big Bang or the dawn of the First Day, the underlying principles that govern reality were already set, and they have never changed. But what if the laws of nature were not as chiseled in stone as Western intellectuals on both sides of the magisterial divide have assumed them to be? What if creation was an ongoing process, such that our universe in its beginning might have behaved very differently from how it does at present? This is the central conceit of Stanislaw Lem's story "The New Cosmogony," the capstone of his metafictional collection A Perfect Vacuum, originally published in 1971. In this episode, Meredith Michael joins JF and Phil to discuss the metaphysical implications of the idea that nature is an eternal work-in-progress. Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack REFERENCES For more information JF's new course, Groundwork for a Philosophy of Magic, visit Nura Learning. Stanislaw Lem, “A New Cosmogony” in A Perfect Vacuum Weird Studies, Episode 118 The Unseen and Unnamed Ramsey Dukes, SSOTBME Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude M. John Harrison, The Course of the Heart Michael Harner, The Way of the Shaman Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene Stanislaw Lem, Solaris Stanislaw Lem, His Master’s Voice David Pruett, Reason and Wonder Andrei Tarkovsky (dir.), Solaris Philip K. Dick, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” Andrew W.K., “No One to Know” Special Guest: Meredith Michael. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 30 Mar 2022 14:30:00 -0000 Behind the Cosmic Curtain: On Stanislaw Lem's 'The New Cosmogony,' with Meredith Michael full 119 SpectreVision Radio Meredith, Phil, and JF dig into Stanislaw Lem's short story, "The New Cosmogony." Over the last several centuries, there has been one thing on which science and religion have generally agreed, and that is the fixity of the laws under which the universe came to be. At the moment of the Big Bang or the dawn of the First Day, the underlying principles that govern reality were already set, and they have never changed. But what if the laws of nature were not as chiseled in stone as Western intellectuals on both sides of the magisterial divide have assumed them to be? What if creation was an ongoing process, such that our universe in its beginning might have behaved very differently from how it does at present? This is the central conceit of Stanislaw Lem's story "The New Cosmogony," the capstone of his metafictional collection A Perfect Vacuum, originally published in 1971. In this episode, Meredith Michael joins JF and Phil to discuss the metaphysical implications of the idea that nature is an eternal work-in-progress. Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack REFERENCES For more information JF's new course, Groundwork for a Philosophy of Magic, visit Nura Learning. Stanislaw Lem, “A New Cosmogony” in A Perfect Vacuum Weird Studies, Episode 118 The Unseen and Unnamed Ramsey Dukes, SSOTBME Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude M. John Harrison, The Course of the Heart Michael Harner, The Way of the Shaman Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene Stanislaw Lem, Solaris Stanislaw Lem, His Master’s Voice David Pruett, Reason and Wonder Andrei Tarkovsky (dir.), Solaris Philip K. Dick, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” Andrew W.K., “No One to Know” Special Guest: Meredith Michael. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Over the last several centuries, there has been one thing on which science and religion have generally agreed, and that is the fixity of the laws under which the universe came to be. At the moment of the Big Bang or the dawn of the First Day, the underlying principles that govern reality were already set, and they have never changed. But what if the laws of nature were not as chiseled in stone as Western intellectuals on both sides of the magisterial divide have assumed them to be? What if creation was an ongoing process, such that our universe in its beginning might have behaved very differently from how it does at present? This is the central conceit of Stanislaw Lem's story "The New Cosmogony," the capstone of his metafictional collection A Perfect Vacuum, originally published in 1971. In this episode, Meredith Michael joins JF and Phil to discuss the metaphysical implications of the idea that nature is an eternal work-in-progress.

Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack

REFERENCES

For more information JF's new course, Groundwork for a Philosophy of Magic, visit Nura Learning.

Stanislaw Lem, “A New Cosmogony” in A Perfect Vacuum
Weird Studies, Episode 118 The Unseen and Unnamed
Ramsey Dukes, SSOTBME
Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude
M. John Harrison, The Course of the Heart
Michael Harner, The Way of the Shaman
Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene
Stanislaw Lem, Solaris
Stanislaw Lem, His Master’s Voice
David Pruett, Reason and Wonder
Andrei Tarkovsky (dir.), Solaris
Philip K. Dick, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”
Andrew W.K., “No One to Know”

Special Guest: Meredith Michael.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4084 yes Episode 118: The Unseen and the Unnamed, with Meredith Michael https://www.weirdstudies.com/118 In this episode, Phil and JF are joined by music scholar and Weird Studies assistant Meredith Michael to discuss two strange and unsettling short stories: J.G. Ballard's "The Gioconda of the Twilight Noon" (1964) and Ursula K. Le Guin's "She Unnames Them" (1985). Their plan was to talk about three stories, but they never got to Phil's pick, which will be the focus of episode 119. The reason is that Le Guin and Ballard's stories share surprising resonances that merited close discussion. From opposite perspectives, both tales put words to a region of reality that resists discursive description, a borderland where that which is named reveals its unnamed facet, and that which must remain unseen reveals itself to the inner eye. Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack REFERENCES J. G. Ballard, “The Giaconda of the Twilight Noon,” from The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard Ursula K. Le Guin, "She Unnames Them," from The Real and the Uneal Alfred Hitchcock (dir.), The Birds Jung's concept of the collective unconscious Walter Pater, The Renaissance Ursula K. Le Guin, “She Unnames Them” in The Real and the Unreal Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution M. C .Richards, Centering Weird Studies, Episode 35 on Centering Weird Studies, Episode 81 on The Course of the Heart Weird Studies, Episode 84 on the Empress Linguistically deprived children Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy Samuel Taylor Coleridge's thoughts on on imagination and fancy can be found in Biographia Literaria Special Guest: Meredith Michael. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 16 Mar 2022 15:30:00 -0000 The Unseen and the Unnamed, with Meredith Michael full 118 SpectreVision Radio Meredith Michael joins JF and Phil to discuss short fiction by Ursula K. Le Guin and J.G. Ballard. In this episode, Phil and JF are joined by music scholar and Weird Studies assistant Meredith Michael to discuss two strange and unsettling short stories: J.G. Ballard's "The Gioconda of the Twilight Noon" (1964) and Ursula K. Le Guin's "She Unnames Them" (1985). Their plan was to talk about three stories, but they never got to Phil's pick, which will be the focus of episode 119. The reason is that Le Guin and Ballard's stories share surprising resonances that merited close discussion. From opposite perspectives, both tales put words to a region of reality that resists discursive description, a borderland where that which is named reveals its unnamed facet, and that which must remain unseen reveals itself to the inner eye. Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack REFERENCES J. G. Ballard, “The Giaconda of the Twilight Noon,” from The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard Ursula K. Le Guin, "She Unnames Them," from The Real and the Uneal Alfred Hitchcock (dir.), The Birds Jung's concept of the collective unconscious Walter Pater, The Renaissance Ursula K. Le Guin, “She Unnames Them” in The Real and the Unreal Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution M. C .Richards, Centering Weird Studies, Episode 35 on Centering Weird Studies, Episode 81 on The Course of the Heart Weird Studies, Episode 84 on the Empress Linguistically deprived children Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy Samuel Taylor Coleridge's thoughts on on imagination and fancy can be found in Biographia Literaria Special Guest: Meredith Michael. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this episode, Phil and JF are joined by music scholar and Weird Studies assistant Meredith Michael to discuss two strange and unsettling short stories: J.G. Ballard's "The Gioconda of the Twilight Noon" (1964) and Ursula K. Le Guin's "She Unnames Them" (1985). Their plan was to talk about three stories, but they never got to Phil's pick, which will be the focus of episode 119. The reason is that Le Guin and Ballard's stories share surprising resonances that merited close discussion. From opposite perspectives, both tales put words to a region of reality that resists discursive description, a borderland where that which is named reveals its unnamed facet, and that which must remain unseen reveals itself to the inner eye.

Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack

REFERENCES

J. G. Ballard, “The Giaconda of the Twilight Noon,” from The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard
Ursula K. Le Guin, "She Unnames Them," from The Real and the Uneal
Alfred Hitchcock (dir.), The Birds
Jung's concept of the collective unconscious
Walter Pater, The Renaissance
Ursula K. Le Guin, “She Unnames Them” in The Real and the Unreal
Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution
M. C .Richards, Centering
Weird Studies, Episode 35 on Centering
Weird Studies, Episode 81 on The Course of the Heart
Weird Studies, Episode 84 on the Empress
Linguistically deprived children
Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy
Samuel Taylor Coleridge's thoughts on on imagination and fancy can be found in Biographia Literaria

Special Guest: Meredith Michael.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4604 yes Episode 117: Time is a Child at Play: On the Mystery of Games https://www.weirdstudies.com/117 The topic of games and play has fascinated JF and Phil since the launch of Weird Studies. Way back in 2018, they recorded back-to-back episodes on tabletop roleplaying games and fighting sports, and more recently, they did a two-parter on Hermann Hesse's The Glass Bead Game, a philosophical novel suggesting that all human culture tends toward play. In this episode, your hosts draw on a wealth of texts, memories, and nascent ideas to explore the game concept as such. What is a game? What do games tell us about life? What is the function of play in the formation of reality? Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack REFERENCES Roger Caillois, Man, Play, and Games Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations Bernard Suits, The Grasshopper: Games, Life, and Utopia Jobe Bittman, The Book of Antitheses US version, EU version Weird Studies, Episode 6, Dungeons and Dragons Weird Studies, Episode 7, Boxing C. Thi Nguyen, Games: Agency as Art Eduardo Vivieros de Castro, Cannibal Metaphysics BF Skinner, American psychologist Heraclitus, Fragments Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 02 Mar 2022 15:30:00 -0000 Time is a Child at Play: On the Mystery of Games full 117 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the mystery of games and the play function in culture and cosmos. The topic of games and play has fascinated JF and Phil since the launch of Weird Studies. Way back in 2018, they recorded back-to-back episodes on tabletop roleplaying games and fighting sports, and more recently, they did a two-parter on Hermann Hesse's The Glass Bead Game, a philosophical novel suggesting that all human culture tends toward play. In this episode, your hosts draw on a wealth of texts, memories, and nascent ideas to explore the game concept as such. What is a game? What do games tell us about life? What is the function of play in the formation of reality? Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack REFERENCES Roger Caillois, Man, Play, and Games Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations Bernard Suits, The Grasshopper: Games, Life, and Utopia Jobe Bittman, The Book of Antitheses US version, EU version Weird Studies, Episode 6, Dungeons and Dragons Weird Studies, Episode 7, Boxing C. Thi Nguyen, Games: Agency as Art Eduardo Vivieros de Castro, Cannibal Metaphysics BF Skinner, American psychologist Heraclitus, Fragments Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The topic of games and play has fascinated JF and Phil since the launch of Weird Studies. Way back in 2018, they recorded back-to-back episodes on tabletop roleplaying games and fighting sports, and more recently, they did a two-parter on Hermann Hesse's The Glass Bead Game, a philosophical novel suggesting that all human culture tends toward play. In this episode, your hosts draw on a wealth of texts, memories, and nascent ideas to explore the game concept as such. What is a game? What do games tell us about life? What is the function of play in the formation of reality?

Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack

REFERENCES

Roger Caillois, Man, Play, and Games
Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations
Bernard Suits, The Grasshopper: Games, Life, and Utopia
Jobe Bittman, The Book of Antitheses US version, EU version
Weird Studies, Episode 6, Dungeons and Dragons
Weird Studies, Episode 7, Boxing
C. Thi Nguyen, Games: Agency as Art
Eduardo Vivieros de Castro, Cannibal Metaphysics
BF Skinner, American psychologist
Heraclitus, Fragments

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4141 yes Episode 116: On 'Blade Runner' https://www.weirdstudies.com/116 In his 1978 bestseller The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins described humans as "survival machines" whose sole purpose is the replication of genes. All of culture needed to be understood as a side-effect, if not an epiphenomenon, of that defining function. Four years after Dawkins' book was published, Warner Brothers released Blade Runner, an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's dystopian novel Do Androis Dream of Electric Sheep?. Ridley Scott's film presents us with a different kind of survival machine: the replicant, a technology whose sole function is the replication of human beings. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the ethical, metaphysical, and aesthetic dimensions of one of the greatest and most prophetic science fiction films of all time. Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack REFERENCES Ridley Scott (dir.), Blade Runner Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick, “The Android and the Human” Philip K. Dick, “Man, Android, and Machine” Dennis Villeneuve (dir.), Blade Runner 2049 Weird Studies, Episode 114 on the Wheel of Fortune Scott Bukatman, Blade Runner: BFI Film Classics Alan Nourse, The Bladerunner Weird Studies, Episode 115 on Brian Eno Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene Todd Gitlin, The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism Weird Studies, Episode 5 on “When Nothing is Cool” JF Martel, “Reality is Analog: Philosophizing with Stranger Things” John Carpenter (dir,), The Thing Beyond Yacht Rock podcast Sigmund Freud, “The Uncanny” Weird Studies, Episode 86 on “The Sandman” Orson Welles (dir.), Touch of Evil George Orwell, 1984 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 16 Feb 2022 15:00:00 -0000 On 'Blade Runner' full 116 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss philosophical ideas in Ridley Scott's 1982 film. In his 1978 bestseller The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins described humans as "survival machines" whose sole purpose is the replication of genes. All of culture needed to be understood as a side-effect, if not an epiphenomenon, of that defining function. Four years after Dawkins' book was published, Warner Brothers released Blade Runner, an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's dystopian novel Do Androis Dream of Electric Sheep?. Ridley Scott's film presents us with a different kind of survival machine: the replicant, a technology whose sole function is the replication of human beings. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the ethical, metaphysical, and aesthetic dimensions of one of the greatest and most prophetic science fiction films of all time. Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack REFERENCES Ridley Scott (dir.), Blade Runner Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick, “The Android and the Human” Philip K. Dick, “Man, Android, and Machine” Dennis Villeneuve (dir.), Blade Runner 2049 Weird Studies, Episode 114 on the Wheel of Fortune Scott Bukatman, Blade Runner: BFI Film Classics Alan Nourse, The Bladerunner Weird Studies, Episode 115 on Brian Eno Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene Todd Gitlin, The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism Weird Studies, Episode 5 on “When Nothing is Cool” JF Martel, “Reality is Analog: Philosophizing with Stranger Things” John Carpenter (dir,), The Thing Beyond Yacht Rock podcast Sigmund Freud, “The Uncanny” Weird Studies, Episode 86 on “The Sandman” Orson Welles (dir.), Touch of Evil George Orwell, 1984 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In his 1978 bestseller The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins described humans as "survival machines" whose sole purpose is the replication of genes. All of culture needed to be understood as a side-effect, if not an epiphenomenon, of that defining function. Four years after Dawkins' book was published, Warner Brothers released Blade Runner, an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's dystopian novel Do Androis Dream of Electric Sheep?. Ridley Scott's film presents us with a different kind of survival machine: the replicant, a technology whose sole function is the replication of human beings. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the ethical, metaphysical, and aesthetic dimensions of one of the greatest and most prophetic science fiction films of all time.

Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack

REFERENCES

Ridley Scott (dir.), Blade Runner

Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Philip K. Dick, “The Android and the Human”
Philip K. Dick, “Man, Android, and Machine”
Dennis Villeneuve (dir.), Blade Runner 2049
Weird Studies, Episode 114 on the Wheel of Fortune
Scott Bukatman, Blade Runner: BFI Film Classics
Alan Nourse, The Bladerunner
Weird Studies, Episode 115 on Brian Eno
Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene
Todd Gitlin, The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage
Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism
Weird Studies, Episode 5 on “When Nothing is Cool”
JF Martel, “Reality is Analog: Philosophizing with Stranger Things”
John Carpenter (dir,), The Thing
Beyond Yacht Rock podcast
Sigmund Freud, “The Uncanny”
Weird Studies, Episode 86 on “The Sandman”
Orson Welles (dir.), Touch of Evil
George Orwell, 1984

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5369 yes Episode 115: Transience & Immersion: On Brian Eno's 'Music for Airports' https://www.weirdstudies.com/115 Soft, soothing, and understated as a rule, ambient music may seem the least weird of all musical genres. Not so, say JF and Phil, who devote this episode to Brian Eno's Ambient 1: Music for Airports, the 1978 album in whose liner notes the term "ambient music" first appeared. In this conversation, your hosts explore the aesthetic, metaphysical, and political implications of a kind of music designed to interact with the listener -- and the listener's environment -- below the threshold of ordinary, directed awareness. Eno and Peter Schmidt's famous Oblique Strategies, a deck of cards designed to heighten and deepen creativity, lends divinatory support to the endeavor. Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack REFERENCES Brian Eno, Ambient 1: Music for Airports Gabriella Cardazzo, Duncan Ward, and Brian Eno, Imaginary Landscapes Oblique Strategies Deck Theodore Adorno, Introduction to the Sociology of Music Marc Auge, Non-Places Anahid Kassabian, “Ubiquitous Music” Sigmund Freud, “On Transience” Weird Studies, Episode 104 on Sgt. Pepper Joris Karl Huysmans, A Rebours Roger Moseley, Keys to Play Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 02 Feb 2022 14:00:00 -0000 Transience & Immersion: On Brian Eno's 'Music for Airports' full 115 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the 1978 album that established the ambient music genre. Soft, soothing, and understated as a rule, ambient music may seem the least weird of all musical genres. Not so, say JF and Phil, who devote this episode to Brian Eno's Ambient 1: Music for Airports, the 1978 album in whose liner notes the term "ambient music" first appeared. In this conversation, your hosts explore the aesthetic, metaphysical, and political implications of a kind of music designed to interact with the listener -- and the listener's environment -- below the threshold of ordinary, directed awareness. Eno and Peter Schmidt's famous Oblique Strategies, a deck of cards designed to heighten and deepen creativity, lends divinatory support to the endeavor. Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack REFERENCES Brian Eno, Ambient 1: Music for Airports Gabriella Cardazzo, Duncan Ward, and Brian Eno, Imaginary Landscapes Oblique Strategies Deck Theodore Adorno, Introduction to the Sociology of Music Marc Auge, Non-Places Anahid Kassabian, “Ubiquitous Music” Sigmund Freud, “On Transience” Weird Studies, Episode 104 on Sgt. Pepper Joris Karl Huysmans, A Rebours Roger Moseley, Keys to Play Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Soft, soothing, and understated as a rule, ambient music may seem the least weird of all musical genres. Not so, say JF and Phil, who devote this episode to Brian Eno's Ambient 1: Music for Airports, the 1978 album in whose liner notes the term "ambient music" first appeared. In this conversation, your hosts explore the aesthetic, metaphysical, and political implications of a kind of music designed to interact with the listener -- and the listener's environment -- below the threshold of ordinary, directed awareness. Eno and Peter Schmidt's famous Oblique Strategies, a deck of cards designed to heighten and deepen creativity, lends divinatory support to the endeavor.

Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack

REFERENCES

Brian Eno, Ambient 1: Music for Airports
Gabriella Cardazzo, Duncan Ward, and Brian Eno, Imaginary Landscapes
Oblique Strategies Deck
Theodore Adorno, Introduction to the Sociology of Music
Marc Auge, Non-Places
Anahid Kassabian, “Ubiquitous Music”
Sigmund Freud, “On Transience”
Weird Studies, Episode 104 on Sgt. Pepper
Joris Karl Huysmans, A Rebours
Roger Moseley, Keys to Play

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4548 yes Episode 114: On the Wheel of Fortune, the Tenth Card of the Tarot https://www.weirdstudies.com/114 Season five kicks off with a new installment in the ongoing series on the Tarot's twenty-two major arcana. This time, your hosts overcome the trials that fortune has dealt them -- a hangover in the case of Phil, a sleepless night for JF -- to discuss the Wheel of Fortune. Not surprisingly, the conversation is a mess, albeit a beautiful one that comes full circle in the end, tying up all its loose ends in something like a bow (or a coiled serpent). Topics include the challenges of improvised philosophical discussion, the importance of exposing oneself to difficult ideas, the serpentine nature of immanentist discourse, and the doctrine of the Fall. As usual, the anomymously-authored Meditations on the Tarot gets pride of place, although occult luminaries such as Alejandro Jodorowsky, Aleister Crowley, and Pat Sajak make notable appearances. Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack REFERENCES Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Pints with Aquinas Jaroslav Hašek, Czech author Lon Milo Duquette, Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot True Detective, tv show Thomas Ligotti, Conspiracy Against the Human Race Henri Bergson, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion Alexander Jodorowsky, The Way of Tarot Jessica Hundley et. al., Tarot. Library of Esoterica Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French priest and scientist Herman Hesse, The Glass Bead Game Bruno Latour, French philosopher David Bentley Hart interview Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 19 Jan 2022 15:30:00 -0000 On the Wheel of Fortune, the Tenth Card of the Tarot full 114 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil continue their occasional series on the major trumps of the Tarot with a discussion on the tenth major arcanum, the Wheel of Fortune. Season five kicks off with a new installment in the ongoing series on the Tarot's twenty-two major arcana. This time, your hosts overcome the trials that fortune has dealt them -- a hangover in the case of Phil, a sleepless night for JF -- to discuss the Wheel of Fortune. Not surprisingly, the conversation is a mess, albeit a beautiful one that comes full circle in the end, tying up all its loose ends in something like a bow (or a coiled serpent). Topics include the challenges of improvised philosophical discussion, the importance of exposing oneself to difficult ideas, the serpentine nature of immanentist discourse, and the doctrine of the Fall. As usual, the anomymously-authored Meditations on the Tarot gets pride of place, although occult luminaries such as Alejandro Jodorowsky, Aleister Crowley, and Pat Sajak make notable appearances. Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack REFERENCES Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot Pints with Aquinas Jaroslav Hašek, Czech author Lon Milo Duquette, Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot True Detective, tv show Thomas Ligotti, Conspiracy Against the Human Race Henri Bergson, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion Alexander Jodorowsky, The Way of Tarot Jessica Hundley et. al., Tarot. Library of Esoterica Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French priest and scientist Herman Hesse, The Glass Bead Game Bruno Latour, French philosopher David Bentley Hart interview Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Season five kicks off with a new installment in the ongoing series on the Tarot's twenty-two major arcana. This time, your hosts overcome the trials that fortune has dealt them -- a hangover in the case of Phil, a sleepless night for JF -- to discuss the Wheel of Fortune. Not surprisingly, the conversation is a mess, albeit a beautiful one that comes full circle in the end, tying up all its loose ends in something like a bow (or a coiled serpent). Topics include the challenges of improvised philosophical discussion, the importance of exposing oneself to difficult ideas, the serpentine nature of immanentist discourse, and the doctrine of the Fall. As usual, the anomymously-authored Meditations on the Tarot gets pride of place, although occult luminaries such as Alejandro Jodorowsky, Aleister Crowley, and Pat Sajak make notable appearances.

Support us on Patreon
Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack

REFERENCES

Our Known Friend, Meditations on the Tarot
Pints with Aquinas
Jaroslav Hašek, Czech author
Lon Milo Duquette, Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot
True Detective, tv show
Thomas Ligotti, Conspiracy Against the Human Race
Henri Bergson, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion
Alexander Jodorowsky, The Way of Tarot
Jessica Hundley et. al., Tarot. Library of Esoterica
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French priest and scientist
Herman Hesse, The Glass Bead Game
Bruno Latour, French philosopher
David Bentley Hart interview

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]]> 5742 yes Episode 113: Framing the Invisible, with Shannon Taggart https://www.weirdstudies.com/113 Shannon Taggart's book Seance is a landmark in art photography and the history of psychical research. Taggart spent years photographing practitioners of spiritualism in the U.S. and Europe in an effort to capture the mysteries of mediumship, ectoplasm, and spirit photography. In this episode, she joins JF and Phil for a conversation on the often-misunderstood tradition of spiritualism, the investigation of the paranormal, and the real magic of photography. If the technological medium is the message, then perhaps the spiritual medium is the messenger. Support us on Patreon: Find us on Discord Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack **REFERENCES *Shannon Taggart, Séance * Read the introduction to the book here Visual companion page for this episode Shannon and her work are featured in Peter Bebergal's excellent book, Strange Frequencies: The Extraordinary Story of the Technological Quest for the Supernatural Weird Studies, Episode 24 with Lionel Snell Lionel Snell, “The Charlatan and the Magus” George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal Diane Arbus, American photographer Warner Herzog (dir.), Cave of Forgotten Dreams Jeffrey Mishlove, Interview with James Tunney on Francis Bacon Eva C, French medium Andrew Jackson Davis, American spiritualist Henry Alcott, American Theosophist For further reading on women, spiritualism, and the art of the invisible: Ann Braude, Radical Spirits Guggenheim, Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future Special Guest: Shannon Taggart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 22 Dec 2021 16:00:00 -0000 Framing the Invisible, with Shannon Taggart full 113 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF talk spiritualism and photography to American artist and paranormal researcher Shannon Taggart. Shannon Taggart's book Seance is a landmark in art photography and the history of psychical research. Taggart spent years photographing practitioners of spiritualism in the U.S. and Europe in an effort to capture the mysteries of mediumship, ectoplasm, and spirit photography. In this episode, she joins JF and Phil for a conversation on the often-misunderstood tradition of spiritualism, the investigation of the paranormal, and the real magic of photography. If the technological medium is the message, then perhaps the spiritual medium is the messenger. Support us on Patreon: Find us on Discord Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack **REFERENCES *Shannon Taggart, Séance * Read the introduction to the book here Visual companion page for this episode Shannon and her work are featured in Peter Bebergal's excellent book, Strange Frequencies: The Extraordinary Story of the Technological Quest for the Supernatural Weird Studies, Episode 24 with Lionel Snell Lionel Snell, “The Charlatan and the Magus” George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal Diane Arbus, American photographer Warner Herzog (dir.), Cave of Forgotten Dreams Jeffrey Mishlove, Interview with James Tunney on Francis Bacon Eva C, French medium Andrew Jackson Davis, American spiritualist Henry Alcott, American Theosophist For further reading on women, spiritualism, and the art of the invisible: Ann Braude, Radical Spirits Guggenheim, Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future Special Guest: Shannon Taggart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Shannon Taggart's book Seance is a landmark in art photography and the history of psychical research. Taggart spent years photographing practitioners of spiritualism in the U.S. and Europe in an effort to capture the mysteries of mediumship, ectoplasm, and spirit photography. In this episode, she joins JF and Phil for a conversation on the often-misunderstood tradition of spiritualism, the investigation of the paranormal, and the real magic of photography. If the technological medium is the message, then perhaps the spiritual medium is the messenger.

Support us on Patreon:
Find us on Discord
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack

**REFERENCES

*Shannon Taggart, Séance *
Read the introduction to the book here
Visual companion page for this episode

Shannon and her work are featured in Peter Bebergal's excellent book, Strange Frequencies: The Extraordinary Story of the Technological Quest for the Supernatural

Weird Studies, Episode 24 with Lionel Snell
Lionel Snell, “The Charlatan and the Magus”
George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal
Diane Arbus, American photographer
Warner Herzog (dir.), Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Jeffrey Mishlove, Interview with James Tunney on Francis Bacon
Eva C, French medium
Andrew Jackson Davis, American spiritualist
Henry Alcott, American Theosophist

For further reading on women, spiritualism, and the art of the invisible:
Ann Braude, Radical Spirits
Guggenheim, Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future

Special Guest: Shannon Taggart.

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]]> 4898 yes Episode 112: Readings from the 'Book of Probes': The Mysticism of Marshall McLuhan https://www.weirdstudies.com/112 The Book of Probes contains a assortment of aphorisms and maxims from the work of the Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan, each one set to evocative imagery by American graphic designer David Carson. McLuhan called the utterances collected in this book "probes," that is, pieces of conceptual gadgetry designed not to disclose facts about the world so much as blaze new pathways leading to the invisible background of our time. In this episode, Phil and JF use an online number generator to discuss a random yet uncannily cohesive selection of of McLuhanian probes. REFERENCES Marshall Mcluhan and David Carson, The Book of Probes Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse Marshall Mcluhan, The Mechanical Bride Aristotle, System of causation G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy Eric A. Havelock, Preface to Plato Weird Studies, Episode 71 on Marshall Mcluhan Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy Christiaan Wouter Custers, A Philosophy of Madness Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense Marshall Mcluhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy Harry Partch, American composer Marc Augé, Non-Places Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Denis Villeneuve (dir.), Arrival Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus Harry G. Frankfurt, On Bullshit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 08 Dec 2021 15:45:00 -0000 Readings from the 'Book of Probes': The Mysticism of Marshall McLuhan full 112 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Marshall McLuhan and David Carson's enigmatic 'Book of Probes.' The Book of Probes contains a assortment of aphorisms and maxims from the work of the Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan, each one set to evocative imagery by American graphic designer David Carson. McLuhan called the utterances collected in this book "probes," that is, pieces of conceptual gadgetry designed not to disclose facts about the world so much as blaze new pathways leading to the invisible background of our time. In this episode, Phil and JF use an online number generator to discuss a random yet uncannily cohesive selection of of McLuhanian probes. REFERENCES Marshall Mcluhan and David Carson, The Book of Probes Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse Marshall Mcluhan, The Mechanical Bride Aristotle, System of causation G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy Eric A. Havelock, Preface to Plato Weird Studies, Episode 71 on Marshall Mcluhan Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy Christiaan Wouter Custers, A Philosophy of Madness Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense Marshall Mcluhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy Harry Partch, American composer Marc Augé, Non-Places Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Denis Villeneuve (dir.), Arrival Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus Harry G. Frankfurt, On Bullshit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The Book of Probes contains a assortment of aphorisms and maxims from the work of the Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan, each one set to evocative imagery by American graphic designer David Carson. McLuhan called the utterances collected in this book "probes," that is, pieces of conceptual gadgetry designed not to disclose facts about the world so much as blaze new pathways leading to the invisible background of our time. In this episode, Phil and JF use an online number generator to discuss a random yet uncannily cohesive selection of of McLuhanian probes.

REFERENCES

Marshall Mcluhan and David Carson, The Book of Probes

Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse
Marshall Mcluhan, The Mechanical Bride
Aristotle, System of causation
G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Eric A. Havelock, Preface to Plato
Weird Studies, Episode 71 on Marshall Mcluhan
Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy
Christiaan Wouter Custers, A Philosophy of Madness
Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense
Marshall Mcluhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy
Harry Partch, American composer
Marc Augé, Non-Places
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Denis Villeneuve (dir.), Arrival
Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus
Harry G. Frankfurt, On Bullshit

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]]> 5399 yes Episode 111: What Is Best in Life: On "Conan the Barbarian" https://www.weirdstudies.com/111 A wish-fulfilment fantasy for pubescent boys of all ages, or a subtle disquisition on the ethics of a sorcerous world? John Milius' Conan the Barbarian (1982) manages to be both, although one may be easy to overlook. In this episode, JF and Phil leave the heights of Hesse's The Glass Bead Game with a headlong dive to the trash stratum. Their wager: that Conan the Barbarian, a film without a hint of irony, is a spiritual statement that is equal parts empowering and disquieting, and a prime of example of how fantasy is sometimes the straightest way to the heart of reality. REFERENCES John Milus (dir.), Conan the Barbarian (1982) Richard Fleischer (dir.), Conan the Destroyer (1984) Robert E. Howard, American writer, author of the Conan stories Jack Smith, "On the Perfect Filmic Appositeness of Maria Montez" Weird Studies #3: Ecstasy, Sin, and "The White People" H. P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature" Fritz Leiber, American writer Weird Studies #95: Demon Seed: On Doris Lessing's The Fifth Child Dungeons & Dragons Weird Studies #20: The Trash Stratum (part 1, part 2) Masaki Kobayashi (dir.), Kwaidan Jerry Zucker (dir.), Ghost (1990) Roget's Thesarus of English Words and Phrases Maria Montez, Dominican-American actress Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 24 Nov 2021 16:15:00 -0000 What Is Best in Life: On "Conan the Barbarian" full 111 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF explore the ethics and metaphysics of sword and sorcery through the lends of John Milius' 1982 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Earl Jones. A wish-fulfilment fantasy for pubescent boys of all ages, or a subtle disquisition on the ethics of a sorcerous world? John Milius' Conan the Barbarian (1982) manages to be both, although one may be easy to overlook. In this episode, JF and Phil leave the heights of Hesse's The Glass Bead Game with a headlong dive to the trash stratum. Their wager: that Conan the Barbarian, a film without a hint of irony, is a spiritual statement that is equal parts empowering and disquieting, and a prime of example of how fantasy is sometimes the straightest way to the heart of reality. REFERENCES John Milus (dir.), Conan the Barbarian (1982) Richard Fleischer (dir.), Conan the Destroyer (1984) Robert E. Howard, American writer, author of the Conan stories Jack Smith, "On the Perfect Filmic Appositeness of Maria Montez" Weird Studies #3: Ecstasy, Sin, and "The White People" H. P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature" Fritz Leiber, American writer Weird Studies #95: Demon Seed: On Doris Lessing's The Fifth Child Dungeons & Dragons Weird Studies #20: The Trash Stratum (part 1, part 2) Masaki Kobayashi (dir.), Kwaidan Jerry Zucker (dir.), Ghost (1990) Roget's Thesarus of English Words and Phrases Maria Montez, Dominican-American actress Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices A wish-fulfilment fantasy for pubescent boys of all ages, or a subtle disquisition on the ethics of a sorcerous world? John Milius' Conan the Barbarian (1982) manages to be both, although one may be easy to overlook. In this episode, JF and Phil leave the heights of Hesse's The Glass Bead Game with a headlong dive to the trash stratum. Their wager: that Conan the Barbarian, a film without a hint of irony, is a spiritual statement that is equal parts empowering and disquieting, and a prime of example of how fantasy is sometimes the straightest way to the heart of reality.

REFERENCES

John Milus (dir.), Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Richard Fleischer (dir.), Conan the Destroyer (1984)
Robert E. Howard, American writer, author of the Conan stories
Jack Smith, "On the Perfect Filmic Appositeness of Maria Montez"
Weird Studies #3: Ecstasy, Sin, and "The White People"
H. P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature"
Fritz Leiber, American writer
Weird Studies #95: Demon Seed: On Doris Lessing's The Fifth Child
Dungeons & Dragons
Weird Studies #20: The Trash Stratum (part 1, part 2)
Masaki Kobayashi (dir.), Kwaidan
Jerry Zucker (dir.), Ghost (1990)
Roget's Thesarus of English Words and Phrases
Maria Montez, Dominican-American actress

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]]> 4931 yes Episode 110: Monks of the Cultural Apocalypse: 'The Glass Bead Game,' Part Two https://www.weirdstudies.com/110 In the current "attention economy," which has resulted in plummeting literacy rates and the almost wanton neglect of various cultural practices, what significance does culture even have? Why seek to preserve something our age has decided doesn't have to exist? Perhaps Hermann Hesse's The Glass Bead Game can be read as an answer to those questions. The order of monastic scholars in the novel exists mainly to remember what others were happy to consign to oblivion. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss Hesse's ideas on the order and its sacred game in terms of how they might help us meet the challenge facing anyone who believes the value of culture can't be expressed in dollars and cents. REFERENCES Herman Hesse, The Glass Bead Game Pope Benedict XVI, former head of the Catholic church J.S. Bach, Well Tempered Clavier, Rosalyn Tureck interpretation and Glenn Gould interpretation Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Chauvet Cave Peter Bebergal Strange Frequencies Andy Goldsworthy, British artist Alain de Botton, Religion for Atheists William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 10 Nov 2021 16:00:00 -0000 Monks of the Cultural Apocalypse: 'The Glass Bead Game,' Part Two full 110 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil resume their discussion on Hermann Hesse's "The Glass Bead Game," this time with a focus on what the novel reveals about the value of culture in our times. In the current "attention economy," which has resulted in plummeting literacy rates and the almost wanton neglect of various cultural practices, what significance does culture even have? Why seek to preserve something our age has decided doesn't have to exist? Perhaps Hermann Hesse's The Glass Bead Game can be read as an answer to those questions. The order of monastic scholars in the novel exists mainly to remember what others were happy to consign to oblivion. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss Hesse's ideas on the order and its sacred game in terms of how they might help us meet the challenge facing anyone who believes the value of culture can't be expressed in dollars and cents. REFERENCES Herman Hesse, The Glass Bead Game Pope Benedict XVI, former head of the Catholic church J.S. Bach, Well Tempered Clavier, Rosalyn Tureck interpretation and Glenn Gould interpretation Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Chauvet Cave Peter Bebergal Strange Frequencies Andy Goldsworthy, British artist Alain de Botton, Religion for Atheists William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In the current "attention economy," which has resulted in plummeting literacy rates and the almost wanton neglect of various cultural practices, what significance does culture even have? Why seek to preserve something our age has decided doesn't have to exist? Perhaps Hermann Hesse's The Glass Bead Game can be read as an answer to those questions. The order of monastic scholars in the novel exists mainly to remember what others were happy to consign to oblivion. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss Hesse's ideas on the order and its sacred game in terms of how they might help us meet the challenge facing anyone who believes the value of culture can't be expressed in dollars and cents.

REFERENCES

Herman Hesse, The Glass Bead Game
Pope Benedict XVI, former head of the Catholic church
J.S. Bach, Well Tempered Clavier, Rosalyn Tureck interpretation and Glenn Gould interpretation
Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
Chauvet Cave
Peter Bebergal Strange Frequencies
Andy Goldsworthy, British artist
Alain de Botton, Religion for Atheists
William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light

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]]> 4439 yes Episode 109: Infinite Play: On 'The Glass Bead Game,' by Hermann Hesse https://www.weirdstudies.com/109 JF and Phil have been talking about doing a show on The Glass Bead Game since Weird Studies' earliest beginnings. It is a science-fiction novel that alights on some of the key ideas that run through the podcast: the dichotomy of work and play, the limits and affordances of institutional life, the obscure boundary where certainty gives way to mystery... Throughout his literary career, Hesse wrote about people trying to square their inner and outer selves, their life in the spirit and their life in the world. The Glass Bead Game brings this central concern to a properly ambiguous and heartbreaking conclusion. But the novel is more than a brilliant work of philosophical or psychological literature. It is also an act of prophecy -- one that seems intended for us now. Header image by Liz West, via Wikimedia Commons. REFERENCES Herman Hesse, The Glass Bead Game Paul Hindemith, German composer Morris Berman, The Twilight of American Culture Alfred Korzybski, concept of Time Binding Christopher Nolan, Memento William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain David Tracy, The Analogical Imagination: Christian Theology and the Culture of Pluralism Jeremy Johnson, Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and Integral Consciousness Teilhard de Chardin, French theologian Mathesis Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze Weird Studies, Episode 22 with Joshua Ramey Joseph Needham, British historian of Chinese culture James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 27 Oct 2021 14:30:00 -0000 Infinite Play: On 'The Glass Bead Game,' by Hermann Hesse full 109 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Hesse's final novel, a quiet masterwork of science fiction about a game that encompasses all of reality. JF and Phil have been talking about doing a show on The Glass Bead Game since Weird Studies' earliest beginnings. It is a science-fiction novel that alights on some of the key ideas that run through the podcast: the dichotomy of work and play, the limits and affordances of institutional life, the obscure boundary where certainty gives way to mystery... Throughout his literary career, Hesse wrote about people trying to square their inner and outer selves, their life in the spirit and their life in the world. The Glass Bead Game brings this central concern to a properly ambiguous and heartbreaking conclusion. But the novel is more than a brilliant work of philosophical or psychological literature. It is also an act of prophecy -- one that seems intended for us now. Header image by Liz West, via Wikimedia Commons. REFERENCES Herman Hesse, The Glass Bead Game Paul Hindemith, German composer Morris Berman, The Twilight of American Culture Alfred Korzybski, concept of Time Binding Christopher Nolan, Memento William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain David Tracy, The Analogical Imagination: Christian Theology and the Culture of Pluralism Jeremy Johnson, Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and Integral Consciousness Teilhard de Chardin, French theologian Mathesis Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze Weird Studies, Episode 22 with Joshua Ramey Joseph Needham, British historian of Chinese culture James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices JF and Phil have been talking about doing a show on The Glass Bead Game since Weird Studies' earliest beginnings. It is a science-fiction novel that alights on some of the key ideas that run through the podcast: the dichotomy of work and play, the limits and affordances of institutional life, the obscure boundary where certainty gives way to mystery... Throughout his literary career, Hesse wrote about people trying to square their inner and outer selves, their life in the spirit and their life in the world. The Glass Bead Game brings this central concern to a properly ambiguous and heartbreaking conclusion. But the novel is more than a brilliant work of philosophical or psychological literature. It is also an act of prophecy -- one that seems intended for us now.

Header image by Liz West, via Wikimedia Commons.

REFERENCES

Herman Hesse, The Glass Bead Game

Paul Hindemith, German composer
Morris Berman, The Twilight of American Culture
Alfred Korzybski, concept of Time Binding
Christopher Nolan, Memento
William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light
Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain
David Tracy, The Analogical Imagination: Christian Theology and the Culture of Pluralism
Jeremy Johnson, Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and Integral Consciousness
Teilhard de Chardin, French theologian
Mathesis
Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze
Weird Studies, Episode 22 with Joshua Ramey
Joseph Needham, British historian of Chinese culture
James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games

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]]> 4855 yes Episode 108: On Skepticism and the Paranormal https://www.weirdstudies.com/108 Modern skeptics pride themselves on being immune to unreason. They present themselves as defenders of rationality, civilization, and good sense against what Freud famously called the "black mud-tide of occultism." But what if skepticism was more implicated in the phenomena it aims to banish than it might appear to be? What if no one could debunk anything without getting some of that black mud on their hands? In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the weird complicity of the skeptic and the believer in the light of George P. Hansen's masterpiece of meta-parapsychology, The Trickster and the Paranormal. REFERENCES George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal James Randi, stage magician and paranormal debunker Michael Shermer, American science writer CSICOP, Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, Publisher of the Skeptical Inquirer Rune Soup, Interview with George P. Hansen Weird Studies, Episode 24 with Lionel Snell Weird Studies, Episode 89 on Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo Victor Turner, The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure Wouter Hanegraaff, Dutch professor of esoteric philosophy Shannon Taggart, Seance Society for Psychical Research Weird Studies, Episode 44 on William James’s Psychical Research G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy Robert Anton Wilson, American author Aleister Crowley, Magic Without Tears Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 13 Oct 2021 14:30:00 -0000 On Skepticism and the Paranormal full 108 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss modern skepticism in light of George P. Hansen's "The Trickster and the Paranormal." Modern skeptics pride themselves on being immune to unreason. They present themselves as defenders of rationality, civilization, and good sense against what Freud famously called the "black mud-tide of occultism." But what if skepticism was more implicated in the phenomena it aims to banish than it might appear to be? What if no one could debunk anything without getting some of that black mud on their hands? In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the weird complicity of the skeptic and the believer in the light of George P. Hansen's masterpiece of meta-parapsychology, The Trickster and the Paranormal. REFERENCES George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal James Randi, stage magician and paranormal debunker Michael Shermer, American science writer CSICOP, Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, Publisher of the Skeptical Inquirer Rune Soup, Interview with George P. Hansen Weird Studies, Episode 24 with Lionel Snell Weird Studies, Episode 89 on Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo Victor Turner, The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure Wouter Hanegraaff, Dutch professor of esoteric philosophy Shannon Taggart, Seance Society for Psychical Research Weird Studies, Episode 44 on William James’s Psychical Research G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy Robert Anton Wilson, American author Aleister Crowley, Magic Without Tears Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Modern skeptics pride themselves on being immune to unreason. They present themselves as defenders of rationality, civilization, and good sense against what Freud famously called the "black mud-tide of occultism." But what if skepticism was more implicated in the phenomena it aims to banish than it might appear to be? What if no one could debunk anything without getting some of that black mud on their hands? In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the weird complicity of the skeptic and the believer in the light of George P. Hansen's masterpiece of meta-parapsychology, The Trickster and the Paranormal.

REFERENCES

George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal

James Randi, stage magician and paranormal debunker
Michael Shermer, American science writer
CSICOP, Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, Publisher of the Skeptical Inquirer
Rune Soup, Interview with George P. Hansen
Weird Studies, Episode 24 with Lionel Snell
Weird Studies, Episode 89 on Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo
Victor Turner, The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure
Wouter Hanegraaff, Dutch professor of esoteric philosophy
Shannon Taggart, Seance
Society for Psychical Research
Weird Studies, Episode 44 on William James’s Psychical Research
G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Robert Anton Wilson, American author
Aleister Crowley, Magic Without Tears

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4831 yes Episode 107: On Joy Williams' 'Breaking and Entering,' with Conner Habib https://www.weirdstudies.com/107 Joy Williams' third novel, Breaking and Entering, is the story of lovers who break into strangers' homes and live their lives for a time before moving on. First published in 1988, it is a book impossible to describe, a work of singular vision and sensibilty that is as infectious in its weird effect as it is unforgettable for the quality of its prose. In this episode, the novelist, spiritual thinker, and acclaimed podcaster Conner Habib joins JF and Phil to explore how the novel's enchantments rest on the uniqueness of Williams' style, which is to say, her bold embrace of ways of seeing that are hers alone. Williams is an artist who refuses to work from within some predetermined philosophical or political idiom. As Habib tells your hosts, she goes her own way, and even the gods must follow. Discover Against Everyone with Conner Habib on Patreon Support Weird Studies on Patreon: Buy the soundtrack Find us on Discord Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Photo by Wolfgang Moroder via Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES Conner Habib, "Joy Williams: The Best Fiction Writer Alive" Joy Williams, Breaking and Entering Joy Williams, The Quick and the Dead The Paris Review, Interview with Joy Williams Heraclitus, Fragments Joy Williams, “Breakfast” in Taking Care Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho The Phantom Stranger, DC Comics character James Joyce, Ulysses Eugene Ionesco, Rhinoceros Deleuze and Guatarri, What is Philosophy? Quentin Meillassoux, French philosopher David Mamet, On Directing Film David Mamet, True and False Nicholas Winding Refn (dir.), The Neon Demon Joy Williams, “Congress” Joy Williams, “Hawk” Stephen Sexton, If All the World and Love Were Young Scott Burnham, Mozart’s Grace Special Guest: Conner Habib. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 29 Sep 2021 14:30:00 -0000 On Joy Williams' 'Breaking and Entering,' with Conner Habib full 107 SpectreVision Radio Writer, podcaster, and spiritual thinker Conner Habib joins Phil and JF to discuss Williams' novel and the primacy of style in literature. Joy Williams' third novel, Breaking and Entering, is the story of lovers who break into strangers' homes and live their lives for a time before moving on. First published in 1988, it is a book impossible to describe, a work of singular vision and sensibilty that is as infectious in its weird effect as it is unforgettable for the quality of its prose. In this episode, the novelist, spiritual thinker, and acclaimed podcaster Conner Habib joins JF and Phil to explore how the novel's enchantments rest on the uniqueness of Williams' style, which is to say, her bold embrace of ways of seeing that are hers alone. Williams is an artist who refuses to work from within some predetermined philosophical or political idiom. As Habib tells your hosts, she goes her own way, and even the gods must follow. Discover Against Everyone with Conner Habib on Patreon Support Weird Studies on Patreon: Buy the soundtrack Find us on Discord Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Photo by Wolfgang Moroder via Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES Conner Habib, "Joy Williams: The Best Fiction Writer Alive" Joy Williams, Breaking and Entering Joy Williams, The Quick and the Dead The Paris Review, Interview with Joy Williams Heraclitus, Fragments Joy Williams, “Breakfast” in Taking Care Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho The Phantom Stranger, DC Comics character James Joyce, Ulysses Eugene Ionesco, Rhinoceros Deleuze and Guatarri, What is Philosophy? Quentin Meillassoux, French philosopher David Mamet, On Directing Film David Mamet, True and False Nicholas Winding Refn (dir.), The Neon Demon Joy Williams, “Congress” Joy Williams, “Hawk” Stephen Sexton, If All the World and Love Were Young Scott Burnham, Mozart’s Grace Special Guest: Conner Habib. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Joy Williams' third novel, Breaking and Entering, is the story of lovers who break into strangers' homes and live their lives for a time before moving on. First published in 1988, it is a book impossible to describe, a work of singular vision and sensibilty that is as infectious in its weird effect as it is unforgettable for the quality of its prose.

In this episode, the novelist, spiritual thinker, and acclaimed podcaster Conner Habib joins JF and Phil to explore how the novel's enchantments rest on the uniqueness of Williams' style, which is to say, her bold embrace of ways of seeing that are hers alone. Williams is an artist who refuses to work from within some predetermined philosophical or political idiom. As Habib tells your hosts, she goes her own way, and even the gods must follow.

Discover Against Everyone with Conner Habib on Patreon

Support Weird Studies on Patreon:
Buy the soundtrack
Find us on Discord
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

Photo by Wolfgang Moroder via Wikimedia Commons

REFERENCES

Conner Habib, "Joy Williams: The Best Fiction Writer Alive"

Joy Williams, Breaking and Entering
Joy Williams, The Quick and the Dead
The Paris Review, Interview with Joy Williams
Heraclitus, Fragments
Joy Williams, “Breakfast” in Taking Care
Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho
The Phantom Stranger, DC Comics character
James Joyce, Ulysses
Eugene Ionesco, Rhinoceros
Deleuze and Guatarri, What is Philosophy?
Quentin Meillassoux, French philosopher
David Mamet, On Directing Film
David Mamet, True and False
Nicholas Winding Refn (dir.), The Neon Demon
Joy Williams, “Congress”
Joy Williams, “Hawk”
Stephen Sexton, If All the World and Love Were Young
Scott Burnham, Mozart’s Grace

Special Guest: Conner Habib.

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]]> 5241 yes Episode 106: The Wanderer: On Weird Studies https://www.weirdstudies.com/106 In this episode, Weird Studies turns meta, reflecting on the peculiar medium that is podcasting, and how it has shaped the Weird Studies project itself. JF and Phil provide a glimpse into what it feels like to create the show from the inside, where each recording session is like a journey into an unknown Zone. The conversation also occasions sojourns into the flow state, or experience of pure durée, its implications for our conception of free will, and surprising parallels between modern materialists’ adherence to nihilism and ancient religious ascetic practices. Ultimately, JF and Phil explore the archetypal image of the wanderer as representative of Weird Studies’s existence so far, and of the kind of impact and legacy this project can have. N.B. Weird Studies will be on a haitus for the month of September, and will return on September 29. In the meantime: Support us on Patreon: Find us on Discord Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack References Robert Sapolsky, Interview with Pau Guinart Bruno Latour, French philosopher Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith Nina Simone, “Feeling Good” Robert Anton Wilson, Illuminatus Richard Wagner, Siegfried Lewis Carol, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland John David Ebert, American cultural critic Patrick Harpur Daimonic Reality Marshall McLuhan, The Global Village Phil Ford, “What was Blogging?” Weird Studies, Episode 71 on Marshall McLuhan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 01 Sep 2021 09:30:00 -0000 The Wanderer: On Weird Studies full 106 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss consciousness, free will, and podcasting in context of the artwork that is Weird Studies. In this episode, Weird Studies turns meta, reflecting on the peculiar medium that is podcasting, and how it has shaped the Weird Studies project itself. JF and Phil provide a glimpse into what it feels like to create the show from the inside, where each recording session is like a journey into an unknown Zone. The conversation also occasions sojourns into the flow state, or experience of pure durée, its implications for our conception of free will, and surprising parallels between modern materialists’ adherence to nihilism and ancient religious ascetic practices. Ultimately, JF and Phil explore the archetypal image of the wanderer as representative of Weird Studies’s existence so far, and of the kind of impact and legacy this project can have. N.B. Weird Studies will be on a haitus for the month of September, and will return on September 29. In the meantime: Support us on Patreon: Find us on Discord Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack References Robert Sapolsky, Interview with Pau Guinart Bruno Latour, French philosopher Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith Nina Simone, “Feeling Good” Robert Anton Wilson, Illuminatus Richard Wagner, Siegfried Lewis Carol, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland John David Ebert, American cultural critic Patrick Harpur Daimonic Reality Marshall McLuhan, The Global Village Phil Ford, “What was Blogging?” Weird Studies, Episode 71 on Marshall McLuhan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this episode, Weird Studies turns meta, reflecting on the peculiar medium that is podcasting, and how it has shaped the Weird Studies project itself. JF and Phil provide a glimpse into what it feels like to create the show from the inside, where each recording session is like a journey into an unknown Zone. The conversation also occasions sojourns into the flow state, or experience of pure durée, its implications for our conception of free will, and surprising parallels between modern materialists’ adherence to nihilism and ancient religious ascetic practices. Ultimately, JF and Phil explore the archetypal image of the wanderer as representative of Weird Studies’s existence so far, and of the kind of impact and legacy this project can have.

N.B. Weird Studies will be on a haitus for the month of September, and will return on September 29. In the meantime:

Support us on Patreon:
Find us on Discord
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack

References

Robert Sapolsky, Interview with Pau Guinart
Bruno Latour, French philosopher
Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene
Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow
Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith
Nina Simone, “Feeling Good”
Robert Anton Wilson, Illuminatus
Richard Wagner, Siegfried
Lewis Carol, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
John David Ebert, American cultural critic
Patrick Harpur Daimonic Reality
Marshall McLuhan, The Global Village
Phil Ford, “What was Blogging?”
Weird Studies, Episode 71 on Marshall McLuhan

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5226 yes Episode 105: Fire Walk with Tamler Sommers https://www.weirdstudies.com/105 The Twin Peaks mythos has been with Weird Studies from the very beginning, and it is only fitting that it should have a return. In this episode, Phil and JF are joined by Tamler Sommers, co-host of the podcast Very Bad Wizards to discuss Fire Walk with Me, the prequel film to the original Twin Peaks series. Paradoxically, David Lynch’s work both necessitates and resists interpretation, and the pull of detailed interpretation is unusually strong in this episode. The three discuss how Fire Walk with Me, and the series as a whole, depicts two separate worlds that sometimes begin to intermingle, disrupting the perceived stability of time and space. Often this happens in moments of extreme fear or love. Through their love for Laura Palmer and for the film under consideration, JF, Phil, and Tamler enact their own interpretation, entering a rift where the world of Twin Peaks and the “real” world seem to merge, demonstrating how Twin Peaks just won’t leave this world alone, and can become a way for disenchanted moderns once again to live inside of myth. Support us on Patreon: Find us on Discord Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack References David Lynch, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me The Sons of Sam: A Descent into Darkness, Netflix documentary David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature Antonin Artaud, The Theater and Its Double Mark Frost, The Secret History of Twin Peaks Mark Frost, Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier Jason Louv, occultist Duncan Barford, Occult Experiments in the Home podcast Weird Studies, Episode 67 on “Hellier” Weird Studies, Episode 78 on “The Mothman Prophesies” Sound mass, musical technique Michael Hanake (dir.), Caché Courtenay Stallings, Laura’s Ghost Special Guest: Tamler Sommers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 18 Aug 2021 14:30:00 -0000 Fire Walk with Tamler Sommers full 105 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF are joined by philosophy professor Tamler Sommers to discuss the film "Fire Walk with Me." The Twin Peaks mythos has been with Weird Studies from the very beginning, and it is only fitting that it should have a return. In this episode, Phil and JF are joined by Tamler Sommers, co-host of the podcast Very Bad Wizards to discuss Fire Walk with Me, the prequel film to the original Twin Peaks series. Paradoxically, David Lynch’s work both necessitates and resists interpretation, and the pull of detailed interpretation is unusually strong in this episode. The three discuss how Fire Walk with Me, and the series as a whole, depicts two separate worlds that sometimes begin to intermingle, disrupting the perceived stability of time and space. Often this happens in moments of extreme fear or love. Through their love for Laura Palmer and for the film under consideration, JF, Phil, and Tamler enact their own interpretation, entering a rift where the world of Twin Peaks and the “real” world seem to merge, demonstrating how Twin Peaks just won’t leave this world alone, and can become a way for disenchanted moderns once again to live inside of myth. Support us on Patreon: Find us on Discord Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack References David Lynch, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me The Sons of Sam: A Descent into Darkness, Netflix documentary David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature Antonin Artaud, The Theater and Its Double Mark Frost, The Secret History of Twin Peaks Mark Frost, Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier Jason Louv, occultist Duncan Barford, Occult Experiments in the Home podcast Weird Studies, Episode 67 on “Hellier” Weird Studies, Episode 78 on “The Mothman Prophesies” Sound mass, musical technique Michael Hanake (dir.), Caché Courtenay Stallings, Laura’s Ghost Special Guest: Tamler Sommers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The Twin Peaks mythos has been with Weird Studies from the very beginning, and it is only fitting that it should have a return. In this episode, Phil and JF are joined by Tamler Sommers, co-host of the podcast Very Bad Wizards to discuss Fire Walk with Me, the prequel film to the original Twin Peaks series. Paradoxically, David Lynch’s work both necessitates and resists interpretation, and the pull of detailed interpretation is unusually strong in this episode. The three discuss how Fire Walk with Me, and the series as a whole, depicts two separate worlds that sometimes begin to intermingle, disrupting the perceived stability of time and space. Often this happens in moments of extreme fear or love. Through their love for Laura Palmer and for the film under consideration, JF, Phil, and Tamler enact their own interpretation, entering a rift where the world of Twin Peaks and the “real” world seem to merge, demonstrating how Twin Peaks just won’t leave this world alone, and can become a way for disenchanted moderns once again to live inside of myth.

Support us on Patreon:
Find us on Discord
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack

References

David Lynch, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
The Sons of Sam: A Descent into Darkness, Netflix documentary
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature
Antonin Artaud, The Theater and Its Double
Mark Frost, The Secret History of Twin Peaks
Mark Frost, Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier
Jason Louv, occultist
Duncan Barford, Occult Experiments in the Home podcast
Weird Studies, Episode 67 on “Hellier”
Weird Studies, Episode 78 on “The Mothman Prophesies”
Sound mass, musical technique
Michael Hanake (dir.), Caché
Courtenay Stallings, Laura’s Ghost

Special Guest: Tamler Sommers.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5575 yes Episode 104: We'd Love to Turn You On: 'Sgt. Pepper' and the Beatles https://www.weirdstudies.com/104 It is said that for several days after the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the spring of 1967, you could have driven from one U.S. coast to the other without ever going out of range of a local radio broadcast of the album. Sgt. Pepper was, in a sense, the first global musical event -- comparable to other sixties game-changers such as the Kennedy assassination and the moon landing. What's more, this event is as every bit as strange as the latter two; it is only custom and habit that blind us to the profound weirdness of Sgt. Pepper. In this episode, Phil and JF reimagine the Beatles' masterpiece as an egregore, a magical operation that changes future and past alike, and a spiritual machine for "turning us on" to the invisible background against which we strut and fret our hours on the stage. Support us on Patreon: Find us on Discord Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack REFERENCES Weird Studies, Episode 31 on Glenn Gould’s ‘Prospects of Recording’ Nelson Goodman, Languages of Art Brian Eno, Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) Weird Studies, Episode 33 On Duchamp’s Fountain Emmanuel Carrère, La Moustache Rob Reiner, This is Spinal Tap Richard Lester, A Hard Day's Night Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 2 James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games Felix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze, What is Philosophy? Arthur Machen, “A Fragment of Life” David Lynch, Lost Highway Zhuangzi (Butterfly dream) Ian MacDonald, Revolution in the Head Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 04 Aug 2021 14:30:00 -0000 We'd Love to Turn You On: 'Sgt. Pepper' and the Beatles full 104 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil mine the weird in the Beatles' iconic 1967 album. It is said that for several days after the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the spring of 1967, you could have driven from one U.S. coast to the other without ever going out of range of a local radio broadcast of the album. Sgt. Pepper was, in a sense, the first global musical event -- comparable to other sixties game-changers such as the Kennedy assassination and the moon landing. What's more, this event is as every bit as strange as the latter two; it is only custom and habit that blind us to the profound weirdness of Sgt. Pepper. In this episode, Phil and JF reimagine the Beatles' masterpiece as an egregore, a magical operation that changes future and past alike, and a spiritual machine for "turning us on" to the invisible background against which we strut and fret our hours on the stage. Support us on Patreon: Find us on Discord Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack REFERENCES Weird Studies, Episode 31 on Glenn Gould’s ‘Prospects of Recording’ Nelson Goodman, Languages of Art Brian Eno, Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) Weird Studies, Episode 33 On Duchamp’s Fountain Emmanuel Carrère, La Moustache Rob Reiner, This is Spinal Tap Richard Lester, A Hard Day's Night Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 2 James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games Felix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze, What is Philosophy? Arthur Machen, “A Fragment of Life” David Lynch, Lost Highway Zhuangzi (Butterfly dream) Ian MacDonald, Revolution in the Head Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices It is said that for several days after the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the spring of 1967, you could have driven from one U.S. coast to the other without ever going out of range of a local radio broadcast of the album. Sgt. Pepper was, in a sense, the first global musical event -- comparable to other sixties game-changers such as the Kennedy assassination and the moon landing. What's more, this event is as every bit as strange as the latter two; it is only custom and habit that blind us to the profound weirdness of Sgt. Pepper. In this episode, Phil and JF reimagine the Beatles' masterpiece as an egregore, a magical operation that changes future and past alike, and a spiritual machine for "turning us on" to the invisible background against which we strut and fret our hours on the stage.

Support us on Patreon:
Find us on Discord
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack

REFERENCES

Weird Studies, Episode 31 on Glenn Gould’s ‘Prospects of Recording’
Nelson Goodman, Languages of Art
Brian Eno, Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
Weird Studies, Episode 33 On Duchamp’s Fountain
Emmanuel Carrère, La Moustache
Rob Reiner, This is Spinal Tap
Richard Lester, A Hard Day's Night
Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 2
James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games
Felix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze, What is Philosophy?
Arthur Machen, “A Fragment of Life”
David Lynch, Lost Highway
Zhuangzi (Butterfly dream)
Ian MacDonald, Revolution in the Head

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4993 yes Episode 103: On the Tower, the Sixteenth Card of the Tarot https://www.weirdstudies.com/103 Continuing their series on the tarot, Phil and JF discuss the card nobody wants to see in a reading – The Tower. Featuring lightning bolts, plumes of ominous smoke, and figures plummeting from the windows, the Tower’s meaning at first glance seems clear: “pride comes before a fall,” as the old adage goes. But as JF and Phil delve into the details, they note not only the card’s connection to the Biblical tower of Babel and the fall of man, but also its relevance to the present era’s systems of control and communication breakdown. This discussion leads them to search for an antidote to the Tower's message of destruction. References Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of the Tarot Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian composer Gilles Deleuze, “Postscript on the Societies of Control” Wilco, “Radio Cure” Richard Dyer, Heavenly Bodies George Cukor (dir.), A Star is Born Performativity, sociological concept Guy Debord, Society of the Spectacle Jaques Ellul, The Technological Society Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 21 Jul 2021 14:30:00 -0000 On the Tower, the Sixteenth Card of the Tarot full 103 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF continue their series on the major arcana of the tarot with a discussion on The Tower. Continuing their series on the tarot, Phil and JF discuss the card nobody wants to see in a reading – The Tower. Featuring lightning bolts, plumes of ominous smoke, and figures plummeting from the windows, the Tower’s meaning at first glance seems clear: “pride comes before a fall,” as the old adage goes. But as JF and Phil delve into the details, they note not only the card’s connection to the Biblical tower of Babel and the fall of man, but also its relevance to the present era’s systems of control and communication breakdown. This discussion leads them to search for an antidote to the Tower's message of destruction. References Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of the Tarot Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian composer Gilles Deleuze, “Postscript on the Societies of Control” Wilco, “Radio Cure” Richard Dyer, Heavenly Bodies George Cukor (dir.), A Star is Born Performativity, sociological concept Guy Debord, Society of the Spectacle Jaques Ellul, The Technological Society Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Continuing their series on the tarot, Phil and JF discuss the card nobody wants to see in a reading – The Tower. Featuring lightning bolts, plumes of ominous smoke, and figures plummeting from the windows, the Tower’s meaning at first glance seems clear: “pride comes before a fall,” as the old adage goes. But as JF and Phil delve into the details, they note not only the card’s connection to the Biblical tower of Babel and the fall of man, but also its relevance to the present era’s systems of control and communication breakdown. This discussion leads them to search for an antidote to the Tower's message of destruction.

References

Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot
Alejandro Jodorowsky, The Way of the Tarot
Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian composer
Gilles Deleuze, “Postscript on the Societies of Control”
Wilco, “Radio Cure”
Richard Dyer, Heavenly Bodies
George Cukor (dir.), A Star is Born
Performativity, sociological concept
Guy Debord, Society of the Spectacle
Jaques Ellul, The Technological Society

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4644 yes Episode 102: On Pan, with Gyrus https://www.weirdstudies.com/102 "What was he doing, the great god Pan, down in the reeds by the river?" With this question, the Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning opens her famous poem "A Musical Instrument," which explores nature's troubling embrace of savagery and beauty. It seems that Pan always raises questions: What is he doing? What does he want? Where will he appear next? Linked to instinct, compulsion, and the spontaneous event, Pan is without a doubt the least predictable of the Greek Gods. Small wonder that he alone in the Greek pantheon sports human and animal parts. In this episode, Phil and JF are joined by Gyrus, author of the marvellous North: The Rise and Fall of the Polar Cosmos, to capture a deity who, though he has made more than one appearance on Weird Studies, remains decidedly elusive. Support us on Patreon: Find us on Discord Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Gyrus, "Sketches of the Goat God in Albion" Gyrus, North James Hillman, Pan and the Nightmare Pharmakon, philosophical term Stanley Diamond, In Search of the Primitive Philippe Borgeaud, The Cult of Pan in Ancient Greece Hellier, television docuseries Weird Studies, Episode 98 on exotica Pink Floyd, Piper at the Gates of Dawn Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows Clayton Eshelman, Juniper Fuse Plutarch “On the Silence of the Oracles” Peter Levine, Waking the Tiger D.H. Lawrence, “Pan in America” Jim Brandon, The Rebirth of Pan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 07 Jul 2021 14:30:00 -0000 On Pan, with Gyrus full 102 SpectreVision Radio Writer and independent scholar Gyrus joins JF and Phil to talk about Pan, the Greek god of fear and desire. "What was he doing, the great god Pan, down in the reeds by the river?" With this question, the Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning opens her famous poem "A Musical Instrument," which explores nature's troubling embrace of savagery and beauty. It seems that Pan always raises questions: What is he doing? What does he want? Where will he appear next? Linked to instinct, compulsion, and the spontaneous event, Pan is without a doubt the least predictable of the Greek Gods. Small wonder that he alone in the Greek pantheon sports human and animal parts. In this episode, Phil and JF are joined by Gyrus, author of the marvellous North: The Rise and Fall of the Polar Cosmos, to capture a deity who, though he has made more than one appearance on Weird Studies, remains decidedly elusive. Support us on Patreon: Find us on Discord Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Gyrus, "Sketches of the Goat God in Albion" Gyrus, North James Hillman, Pan and the Nightmare Pharmakon, philosophical term Stanley Diamond, In Search of the Primitive Philippe Borgeaud, The Cult of Pan in Ancient Greece Hellier, television docuseries Weird Studies, Episode 98 on exotica Pink Floyd, Piper at the Gates of Dawn Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows Clayton Eshelman, Juniper Fuse Plutarch “On the Silence of the Oracles” Peter Levine, Waking the Tiger D.H. Lawrence, “Pan in America” Jim Brandon, The Rebirth of Pan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices "What was he doing, the great god Pan, down in the reeds by the river?" With this question, the Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning opens her famous poem "A Musical Instrument," which explores nature's troubling embrace of savagery and beauty. It seems that Pan always raises questions: What is he doing? What does he want? Where will he appear next? Linked to instinct, compulsion, and the spontaneous event, Pan is without a doubt the least predictable of the Greek Gods. Small wonder that he alone in the Greek pantheon sports human and animal parts. In this episode, Phil and JF are joined by Gyrus, author of the marvellous North: The Rise and Fall of the Polar Cosmos, to capture a deity who, though he has made more than one appearance on Weird Studies, remains decidedly elusive.

Support us on Patreon:
Find us on Discord
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop

REFERENCES

Gyrus, "Sketches of the Goat God in Albion"
Gyrus, North
James Hillman, Pan and the Nightmare
Pharmakon, philosophical term
Stanley Diamond, In Search of the Primitive
Philippe Borgeaud, The Cult of Pan in Ancient Greece
Hellier, television docuseries
Weird Studies, Episode 98 on exotica
Pink Floyd, Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
Clayton Eshelman, Juniper Fuse
Plutarch “On the Silence of the Oracles”
Peter Levine, Waking the Tiger
D.H. Lawrence, “Pan in America”
Jim Brandon, The Rebirth of Pan

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4727 yes Episode 101: Our Fear of the Dark: On Tanizaki's 'In Praise of Shadows' https://www.weirdstudies.com/101 In modern physics as in Western theology, darkness and shadows have a purely negative existence. They are merely the absence of light. In mythology and art, however, light and darkness are enjoy a kind of Manichaean equality. Each exists in its own right and lays claim to one half of the Real. In this episode, JF and Phil delve into the luxuriant gloom of the Japanese novelist Jun'ichirō Tanazaki's classic meditation on the half-forgotten virtues of the dark. Get your Weird Studies MERCH! https://www.redbubble.com/people/Weird-Studies/shop?asc=u Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudies Find us on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/Jw22CHfGwp Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/weirdstudies REFERENCES Junichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows Chiaroscuro, Renaissance art style John Carpenter (dir.), Escape from L.A. Weird Studies, Episode 13 on Heraclitus Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in Age of Mechanical Reproduction Yasujiro Ozu (dir.), Late Spring Wabi Sabi, Japanese idea John Carpenter (dir.), Escape from NY Jonathan Crary, 24/7: Late Capitalism and the End of Sleep Eric Voegelin, German-American philosopher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 23 Jun 2021 15:30:00 -0000 Our Fear of the Dark: On Tanizaki's 'In Praise of Shadows' full 101 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's meditation on the aesthetics of darkness. In modern physics as in Western theology, darkness and shadows have a purely negative existence. They are merely the absence of light. In mythology and art, however, light and darkness are enjoy a kind of Manichaean equality. Each exists in its own right and lays claim to one half of the Real. In this episode, JF and Phil delve into the luxuriant gloom of the Japanese novelist Jun'ichirō Tanazaki's classic meditation on the half-forgotten virtues of the dark. Get your Weird Studies MERCH! https://www.redbubble.com/people/Weird-Studies/shop?asc=u Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudies Find us on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/Jw22CHfGwp Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/weirdstudies REFERENCES Junichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows Chiaroscuro, Renaissance art style John Carpenter (dir.), Escape from L.A. Weird Studies, Episode 13 on Heraclitus Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in Age of Mechanical Reproduction Yasujiro Ozu (dir.), Late Spring Wabi Sabi, Japanese idea John Carpenter (dir.), Escape from NY Jonathan Crary, 24/7: Late Capitalism and the End of Sleep Eric Voegelin, German-American philosopher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In modern physics as in Western theology, darkness and shadows have a purely negative existence. They are merely the absence of light. In mythology and art, however, light and darkness are enjoy a kind of Manichaean equality. Each exists in its own right and lays claim to one half of the Real. In this episode, JF and Phil delve into the luxuriant gloom of the Japanese novelist Jun'ichirō Tanazaki's classic meditation on the half-forgotten virtues of the dark.

Get your Weird Studies MERCH! https://www.redbubble.com/people/Weird-Studies/shop?asc=u
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudies
Find us on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/Jw22CHfGwp
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/weirdstudies

REFERENCES

Junichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows
Chiaroscuro, Renaissance art style
John Carpenter (dir.), Escape from L.A.
Weird Studies, Episode 13 on Heraclitus
Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in Age of Mechanical Reproduction
Yasujiro Ozu (dir.), Late Spring
Wabi Sabi, Japanese idea
John Carpenter (dir.), Escape from NY
Jonathan Crary, 24/7: Late Capitalism and the End of Sleep
Eric Voegelin, German-American philosopher

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 3690 yes Episode 100: The Price of Beauty is Horror: On the Films of John Carpenter https://www.weirdstudies.com/100 Central to the tradition of cosmic horror is the suggestion that the ultimate truth about our universe is at once knowable and unthinkable, such that one learns it only at the cost of one's sanity and soul. John Carpenter is one of a handful of horror directors to have successfully ported this idea from literature to cinema. This episode is an attempt to unearth some of the eldritch symbols buried in a selection of Carpenter's apocalyptic works, including Escape from New York, The Thing, They Live,_ In the Mouth of Madness_, and the little known Cigarette Burns. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudies Find us on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/Jw22CHfGwp Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/weirdstudies REFERENCES John Carpenter films discussed: The Thing Cigarette Burns In the Mouth of Madness Prince of Darkness Halloween They Live Escape from New York Escape from L.A. Big Trouble in Little China Other References: Pascal Laugier (dir.), Martyrs Srdjan Spasojevic (dir.), A Serbian Film Weird Studies, Episode 90 on The Owl in Daylight Roger Corman, American director Northrup Frye, Words with Power J. R. R. Tolkien, forward to The Fellowship of the Ring Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guatarri, “Percept, Affect, and Concept” in What is Philosophy Weird Studies, Episode 72 on the Castrati Weird Studies, Episode 46, Thomas Ligotti’s Angel Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” China Mieville, British author Karlheinz Stockhausen, comments on 9/11 H. P. Lovecraft, Nyarlothotep H. P. Lovecraft, “The Haunter of the Dark” Nick Land, Fanged Noumena Zack Snyder, American director Haeccaity and Quiddity, philosophical concepts Samuel Delaney, Dahlgren Weird Studies, Episode 98 on Exotica Quentin Meillasoux, After Finitude Rainer Maria Rilke, Duino Elegies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 09 Jun 2021 14:30:00 -0000 The Price of Beauty is Horror: On the Films of John Carpenter full 100 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the themes and ideas in the films of one of the great American directors. Central to the tradition of cosmic horror is the suggestion that the ultimate truth about our universe is at once knowable and unthinkable, such that one learns it only at the cost of one's sanity and soul. John Carpenter is one of a handful of horror directors to have successfully ported this idea from literature to cinema. This episode is an attempt to unearth some of the eldritch symbols buried in a selection of Carpenter's apocalyptic works, including Escape from New York, The Thing, They Live,_ In the Mouth of Madness_, and the little known Cigarette Burns. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudies Find us on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/Jw22CHfGwp Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/weirdstudies REFERENCES John Carpenter films discussed: The Thing Cigarette Burns In the Mouth of Madness Prince of Darkness Halloween They Live Escape from New York Escape from L.A. Big Trouble in Little China Other References: Pascal Laugier (dir.), Martyrs Srdjan Spasojevic (dir.), A Serbian Film Weird Studies, Episode 90 on The Owl in Daylight Roger Corman, American director Northrup Frye, Words with Power J. R. R. Tolkien, forward to The Fellowship of the Ring Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guatarri, “Percept, Affect, and Concept” in What is Philosophy Weird Studies, Episode 72 on the Castrati Weird Studies, Episode 46, Thomas Ligotti’s Angel Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” China Mieville, British author Karlheinz Stockhausen, comments on 9/11 H. P. Lovecraft, Nyarlothotep H. P. Lovecraft, “The Haunter of the Dark” Nick Land, Fanged Noumena Zack Snyder, American director Haeccaity and Quiddity, philosophical concepts Samuel Delaney, Dahlgren Weird Studies, Episode 98 on Exotica Quentin Meillasoux, After Finitude Rainer Maria Rilke, Duino Elegies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Central to the tradition of cosmic horror is the suggestion that the ultimate truth about our universe is at once knowable and unthinkable, such that one learns it only at the cost of one's sanity and soul. John Carpenter is one of a handful of horror directors to have successfully ported this idea from literature to cinema. This episode is an attempt to unearth some of the eldritch symbols buried in a selection of Carpenter's apocalyptic works, including Escape from New York, The Thing, They Live,_ In the Mouth of Madness_, and the little known Cigarette Burns.

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudies
Find us on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/Jw22CHfGwp
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/weirdstudies

REFERENCES

John Carpenter films discussed:
The Thing
Cigarette Burns
In the Mouth of Madness
Prince of Darkness
Halloween
They Live
Escape from New York
Escape from L.A.
Big Trouble in Little China

Other References:

Pascal Laugier (dir.), Martyrs
Srdjan Spasojevic (dir.), A Serbian Film
Weird Studies, Episode 90 on The Owl in Daylight
Roger Corman, American director
Northrup Frye, Words with Power
J. R. R. Tolkien, forward to The Fellowship of the Ring
Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guatarri, “Percept, Affect, and Concept” in What is Philosophy
Weird Studies, Episode 72 on the Castrati
Weird Studies, Episode 46, Thomas Ligotti’s Angel
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”
China Mieville, British author
Karlheinz Stockhausen, comments on 9/11
H. P. Lovecraft, Nyarlothotep
H. P. Lovecraft, “The Haunter of the Dark”
Nick Land, Fanged Noumena
Zack Snyder, American director
Haeccaity and Quiddity, philosophical concepts
Samuel Delaney, Dahlgren
Weird Studies, Episode 98 on Exotica
Quentin Meillasoux, After Finitude
Rainer Maria Rilke, Duino Elegies

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]]> 5016 yes Episode 99: Curing the Human Condition: On 'Wild Wild Country' https://www.weirdstudies.com/99 In this never-before-released episode recorded in 2019, Phil and JF travel to rural Oregon through the Netflix docu-series, Wild Wild Country. The series, which details the establishment of a spiritual community founded by Bhagwan Rajneesh (later called Osho) and its religious and political conflicts with its Christian neighbors, provides a starting point for a wide-ranging conversation on the nature of spirituality and religion. What emerges are surprising ties between the “spiritual, not religious” attitude and class, cultural commodification, and the culture of control that pervades modern society. But they also uncover the true “wild” card at the heart of existence that spiritual movements like that of Rajneesh can never fully control, no matter how hard they try. REFERENCES Chapman and Maclain Way (dirs), Wild Wild Country Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste Carl Wilson, Celine Dion’s Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste Peter Sloterdijk, German cultural theorist Weird Studies, Episode 47, Machines of Loving Grace Slavoj Žižek, On Western appropriation of Eastern religions William Burroughs, American writer Gilles Deleuze, “Postscript on the Societies of Control” Bhagwan Rajneesh/Osho, Speech on friendship Daniel Ingram, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith James Carse, The Finite and Infinite Games Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 26 May 2021 14:00:00 -0000 Curing the Human Condition: On 'Wild Wild Country' full 99 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF work through the differences between spirituality and religion in the context of the documentary series about Bhagwan Rajneesh. In this never-before-released episode recorded in 2019, Phil and JF travel to rural Oregon through the Netflix docu-series, Wild Wild Country. The series, which details the establishment of a spiritual community founded by Bhagwan Rajneesh (later called Osho) and its religious and political conflicts with its Christian neighbors, provides a starting point for a wide-ranging conversation on the nature of spirituality and religion. What emerges are surprising ties between the “spiritual, not religious” attitude and class, cultural commodification, and the culture of control that pervades modern society. But they also uncover the true “wild” card at the heart of existence that spiritual movements like that of Rajneesh can never fully control, no matter how hard they try. REFERENCES Chapman and Maclain Way (dirs), Wild Wild Country Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste Carl Wilson, Celine Dion’s Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste Peter Sloterdijk, German cultural theorist Weird Studies, Episode 47, Machines of Loving Grace Slavoj Žižek, On Western appropriation of Eastern religions William Burroughs, American writer Gilles Deleuze, “Postscript on the Societies of Control” Bhagwan Rajneesh/Osho, Speech on friendship Daniel Ingram, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith James Carse, The Finite and Infinite Games Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this never-before-released episode recorded in 2019, Phil and JF travel to rural Oregon through the Netflix docu-series, Wild Wild Country. The series, which details the establishment of a spiritual community founded by Bhagwan Rajneesh (later called Osho) and its religious and political conflicts with its Christian neighbors, provides a starting point for a wide-ranging conversation on the nature of spirituality and religion. What emerges are surprising ties between the “spiritual, not religious” attitude and class, cultural commodification, and the culture of control that pervades modern society. But they also uncover the true “wild” card at the heart of existence that spiritual movements like that of Rajneesh can never fully control, no matter how hard they try.

REFERENCES

Chapman and Maclain Way (dirs), Wild Wild Country
Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion
Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste
Carl Wilson, Celine Dion’s Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste
Peter Sloterdijk, German cultural theorist
Weird Studies, Episode 47, Machines of Loving Grace
Slavoj Žižek, On Western appropriation of Eastern religions
William Burroughs, American writer
Gilles Deleuze, “Postscript on the Societies of Control”
Bhagwan Rajneesh/Osho, Speech on friendship
Daniel Ingram, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha
Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith
James Carse, The Finite and Infinite Games

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]]> 5462 yes Episode 98: Taboo: Time and Belief in Exotica https://www.weirdstudies.com/98 Exotica is a kind of music that was popular in the 1950s, when it was simply known as "mood music." Though somewhat obscure today, the sound of exotica remains immediately recognizable to contemporary ears. Its use of "tribal" beats, ethereal voices, flutes and gongs evoke a world that is no more at home in the modern West than it is anywhere else on earth. With its shameless stereotyping of non-Western cultures and its aestheticization of the other, exotica rightly deserves the criticism it has drawn over the years. But as we shall see in this episode, if you stop there, you just might miss the thing that makes exotica so difficult to expunge from Western culture, and also what makes it a prime example of how the "trash stratum" sometimes becomes the site of strange visions that transcend culture altogether. REFERENCES Phil Ford, “Taboo: Time and Belief in Exotica” Future Fossils, Episode 157 Weird Studies, Episode 21: The Trash Stratum Weird Studies, Episode 79: Love, Death and the Dream Life Jack Smith, “The Perfect Filmic Appositeness Maria Montez” Yma Sumac, Peruvian singer Les Baxter, "The Oasis of Dakhla" Steely Dan, "I Heard the News" Stravinsky, Rite of Spring Les Baxter, “Hong Kong Cable Car” Jacques Riviere, review of The Rite of Spring Nenao Sakaki, Japanese poet Lew Welch, American Beat poet JF Martel, “Stay with Mystery: Hiroshima Mon Amour, Melancholia, and the truth of extinction” Jeffrey Kripal, Mutants and Mystics Captain Beefheart, “Orange Claw Hammer” Martin Buber, I and Thou Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 12 May 2021 15:00:00 -0000 Taboo: Time and Belief in Exotica full 98 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the ethics and metaphysics of the obscure musical genre known as exotica. Exotica is a kind of music that was popular in the 1950s, when it was simply known as "mood music." Though somewhat obscure today, the sound of exotica remains immediately recognizable to contemporary ears. Its use of "tribal" beats, ethereal voices, flutes and gongs evoke a world that is no more at home in the modern West than it is anywhere else on earth. With its shameless stereotyping of non-Western cultures and its aestheticization of the other, exotica rightly deserves the criticism it has drawn over the years. But as we shall see in this episode, if you stop there, you just might miss the thing that makes exotica so difficult to expunge from Western culture, and also what makes it a prime example of how the "trash stratum" sometimes becomes the site of strange visions that transcend culture altogether. REFERENCES Phil Ford, “Taboo: Time and Belief in Exotica” Future Fossils, Episode 157 Weird Studies, Episode 21: The Trash Stratum Weird Studies, Episode 79: Love, Death and the Dream Life Jack Smith, “The Perfect Filmic Appositeness Maria Montez” Yma Sumac, Peruvian singer Les Baxter, "The Oasis of Dakhla" Steely Dan, "I Heard the News" Stravinsky, Rite of Spring Les Baxter, “Hong Kong Cable Car” Jacques Riviere, review of The Rite of Spring Nenao Sakaki, Japanese poet Lew Welch, American Beat poet JF Martel, “Stay with Mystery: Hiroshima Mon Amour, Melancholia, and the truth of extinction” Jeffrey Kripal, Mutants and Mystics Captain Beefheart, “Orange Claw Hammer” Martin Buber, I and Thou Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Exotica is a kind of music that was popular in the 1950s, when it was simply known as "mood music." Though somewhat obscure today, the sound of exotica remains immediately recognizable to contemporary ears. Its use of "tribal" beats, ethereal voices, flutes and gongs evoke a world that is no more at home in the modern West than it is anywhere else on earth. With its shameless stereotyping of non-Western cultures and its aestheticization of the other, exotica rightly deserves the criticism it has drawn over the years. But as we shall see in this episode, if you stop there, you just might miss the thing that makes exotica so difficult to expunge from Western culture, and also what makes it a prime example of how the "trash stratum" sometimes becomes the site of strange visions that transcend culture altogether.

REFERENCES

Phil Ford, “Taboo: Time and Belief in Exotica”
Future Fossils, Episode 157
Weird Studies, Episode 21: The Trash Stratum
Weird Studies, Episode 79: Love, Death and the Dream Life
Jack Smith, “The Perfect Filmic Appositeness Maria Montez”
Yma Sumac, Peruvian singer
Les Baxter, "The Oasis of Dakhla"
Steely Dan, "I Heard the News"
Stravinsky, Rite of Spring
Les Baxter, “Hong Kong Cable Car”
Jacques Riviere, review of The Rite of Spring
Nenao Sakaki, Japanese poet
Lew Welch, American Beat poet
JF Martel, “Stay with Mystery: Hiroshima Mon Amour, Melancholia, and the truth of extinction”
Jeffrey Kripal, Mutants and Mystics
Captain Beefheart, “Orange Claw Hammer”
Martin Buber, I and Thou

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]]> 4868 yes Episode 97: Art in the Age of Artifice https://www.weirdstudies.com/97 The question of art has been of central concern for JF and Phil since Weird Studies began in 2018. What is art? What can it do that other things can't do? How is it connected to religion, psyche, and our current historical moment? Is the endless torrent of advertisements, entertainment, memes, and porn in which seem hopelessly immersed a manifestation of art or of something else entirely? In this exploration of the main ideas in JF's book Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice, your hosts focus on these burning questions in hopes that the answers might shed light on our collective predicament and the paths that lead out of it. Photo by Petar Milošević via Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES JF's upcoming course on the nature and power of art, starting May 10th, 2021 JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Weird Studies, Episode 84 on the Empress card Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Werner Herzog, Cave of Forgotten Dreams Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey Adam Savage, Special effects designer Deleuze and Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus Kabbalistic emanationist cosmology Henry Corbin’s concept of the “imaginal” William Shakespeare, The Tempest Tibetan book of the Dead James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man James Hillman, The Thought of the Heart and The Soul of the World Phil Ford, “Battlefield medicine” Jaques Ellul, idea of “technique” Alain de Botton, Religion for Atheists Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 28 Apr 2021 14:00:00 -0000 Art in the Age of Artifice full 97 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the ideas in JF's 2015 book, 'Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice.' The question of art has been of central concern for JF and Phil since Weird Studies began in 2018. What is art? What can it do that other things can't do? How is it connected to religion, psyche, and our current historical moment? Is the endless torrent of advertisements, entertainment, memes, and porn in which seem hopelessly immersed a manifestation of art or of something else entirely? In this exploration of the main ideas in JF's book Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice, your hosts focus on these burning questions in hopes that the answers might shed light on our collective predicament and the paths that lead out of it. Photo by Petar Milošević via Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES JF's upcoming course on the nature and power of art, starting May 10th, 2021 JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Weird Studies, Episode 84 on the Empress card Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Werner Herzog, Cave of Forgotten Dreams Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey Adam Savage, Special effects designer Deleuze and Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus Kabbalistic emanationist cosmology Henry Corbin’s concept of the “imaginal” William Shakespeare, The Tempest Tibetan book of the Dead James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man James Hillman, The Thought of the Heart and The Soul of the World Phil Ford, “Battlefield medicine” Jaques Ellul, idea of “technique” Alain de Botton, Religion for Atheists Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The question of art has been of central concern for JF and Phil since Weird Studies began in 2018. What is art? What can it do that other things can't do? How is it connected to religion, psyche, and our current historical moment? Is the endless torrent of advertisements, entertainment, memes, and porn in which seem hopelessly immersed a manifestation of art or of something else entirely? In this exploration of the main ideas in JF's book Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice, your hosts focus on these burning questions in hopes that the answers might shed light on our collective predicament and the paths that lead out of it.

Photo by Petar Milošević via Wikimedia Commons

REFERENCES

JF's upcoming course on the nature and power of art, starting May 10th, 2021

JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice

Weird Studies, Episode 84 on the Empress card
Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
Werner Herzog, Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey
Adam Savage, Special effects designer
Deleuze and Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus
Kabbalistic emanationist cosmology
Henry Corbin’s concept of the “imaginal”
William Shakespeare, The Tempest
Tibetan book of the Dead
James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
James Hillman, The Thought of the Heart and The Soul of the World
Phil Ford, “Battlefield medicine”
Jaques Ellul, idea of “technique”
Alain de Botton, Religion for Atheists
Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith

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]]> 5169 yes Episode 96: Beautiful Beast: On Jean Cocteau's 'La Belle et la Bête' https://www.weirdstudies.com/96 Jean Cocteau's visionary rendition of Madame de Beaumont's fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast," itself the retelling of a story that may be several millennia old, is the topic of this Weird Studies episode, which proposes a journey down lunar paths to the crossroads where love and death intersect. Drawing on Surrealism, myth, and the occult, Cocteau's 1946 film transcends the limitations of media to become a living poem, a thing that is also a place, a place that is also a mind. This conversation touches on the genius of the child, the mysteries of Eros, the monstrosity of consciousness, and the sorcery of cinema. Photo by Ivan Jevtic on Unsplash Click here to register for JF's upcoming course on art. REFERENCES Jean Cocteau (dir.), La Belle et la Bête Jaques Maritain, Creative Intuition in Art and Poetry Sergei Diaghilev, Russian impresario Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise (dir.), Beauty and the Beast David Thomson, Have You Seen? Bram Stoker, Dracula Johannes Vermeer, Dutch painter Philip Glass, La Belle et la Bête (opera) Game of Thrones, Television series Weird Studies, Episode 84 on the Empress Card Weird Studies, Episode 94 on the Moon Card Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 14 Apr 2021 14:00:00 -0000 Beautiful Beast: On Jean Cocteau's 'La Belle et la Bête' full 96 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Jean Cocteau's masterful film, "Beauty and the Beast." Jean Cocteau's visionary rendition of Madame de Beaumont's fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast," itself the retelling of a story that may be several millennia old, is the topic of this Weird Studies episode, which proposes a journey down lunar paths to the crossroads where love and death intersect. Drawing on Surrealism, myth, and the occult, Cocteau's 1946 film transcends the limitations of media to become a living poem, a thing that is also a place, a place that is also a mind. This conversation touches on the genius of the child, the mysteries of Eros, the monstrosity of consciousness, and the sorcery of cinema. Photo by Ivan Jevtic on Unsplash Click here to register for JF's upcoming course on art. REFERENCES Jean Cocteau (dir.), La Belle et la Bête Jaques Maritain, Creative Intuition in Art and Poetry Sergei Diaghilev, Russian impresario Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise (dir.), Beauty and the Beast David Thomson, Have You Seen? Bram Stoker, Dracula Johannes Vermeer, Dutch painter Philip Glass, La Belle et la Bête (opera) Game of Thrones, Television series Weird Studies, Episode 84 on the Empress Card Weird Studies, Episode 94 on the Moon Card Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Jean Cocteau's visionary rendition of Madame de Beaumont's fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast," itself the retelling of a story that may be several millennia old, is the topic of this Weird Studies episode, which proposes a journey down lunar paths to the crossroads where love and death intersect. Drawing on Surrealism, myth, and the occult, Cocteau's 1946 film transcends the limitations of media to become a living poem, a thing that is also a place, a place that is also a mind. This conversation touches on the genius of the child, the mysteries of Eros, the monstrosity of consciousness, and the sorcery of cinema.

Photo by Ivan Jevtic on Unsplash

Click here to register for JF's upcoming course on art.

REFERENCES

Jean Cocteau (dir.), La Belle et la Bête

Jaques Maritain, Creative Intuition in Art and Poetry
Sergei Diaghilev, Russian impresario
Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise (dir.), Beauty and the Beast
David Thomson, Have You Seen?
Bram Stoker, Dracula
Johannes Vermeer, Dutch painter
Philip Glass, La Belle et la Bête (opera)
Game of Thrones, Television series
Weird Studies, Episode 84 on the Empress Card
Weird Studies, Episode 94 on the Moon Card

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]]> 4863 yes Episode 95: Demon Seed: On Doris Lessing's 'The Fifth Child' https://www.weirdstudies.com/95 Doris Lessing's uncategorizable oeuvre reached strange new heights in 1988 with the publication of her short novel The Fifth Child. The story couldn't be simpler. In the England of the 1970s, a couple determined to live out a dream that many of their generation have rejected -- the big family in the old house with the pretty garden -- conceive a child that may or may not be human. From that moment on, the boy, their fifth, becomes the alien force that will tear their dream to pieces. Profoundly ambiguous and unsettling, The Fifth Child is a weird novel that raises questions about parenthood, family, and the impenetrable depths of nature. Header Image: The Changeling by Henry Fuseli (1780) Additional music: "Fast Bossa Nova: Falling Stars" by Dee Yan-Key REFERENCES Doris Lessing, The Fifth Child Doris Lessing, Shikasta M. R. James, weird fiction author Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire Weird Studies, Episode 67 on “Hellier” Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets David Icke, conspiracy theorist Deros, underground beings from the fiction of Richard Sharpe Shaver Hieronymus Bosch, Dutch Renaissance painter Weird Studies, Episode 86 on “The Sandman” Slavoj Žižek, The Puppet and the Dwarf Louis Sass, “The Land of Unreality: On the Phenomenology of the Schizophrenic Break” Louis Sass, Madness and Modernism Giorgio Agamben, Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life Richard Thorpe (dir.), The Wizard of Oz Frank L. Baum, The Wizard of Oz Weird Studies, bonus episode on Adventure Time James Hillman, The Soul’s Code Doris Lessing, Ben in the World Roman Polanski (dir.), Rosemary’s Baby Richard Donner (dir.), The Omen Donald Cammell (dir.), Demon Seed Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 31 Mar 2021 14:30:00 -0000 Demon Seed: On Doris Lessing's 'The Fifth Child' full 95 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Nobel Prize-winning novelist Doris Lessing's unsettling story of a woman who gives birth to a monster. Doris Lessing's uncategorizable oeuvre reached strange new heights in 1988 with the publication of her short novel The Fifth Child. The story couldn't be simpler. In the England of the 1970s, a couple determined to live out a dream that many of their generation have rejected -- the big family in the old house with the pretty garden -- conceive a child that may or may not be human. From that moment on, the boy, their fifth, becomes the alien force that will tear their dream to pieces. Profoundly ambiguous and unsettling, The Fifth Child is a weird novel that raises questions about parenthood, family, and the impenetrable depths of nature. Header Image: The Changeling by Henry Fuseli (1780) Additional music: "Fast Bossa Nova: Falling Stars" by Dee Yan-Key REFERENCES Doris Lessing, The Fifth Child Doris Lessing, Shikasta M. R. James, weird fiction author Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire Weird Studies, Episode 67 on “Hellier” Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets David Icke, conspiracy theorist Deros, underground beings from the fiction of Richard Sharpe Shaver Hieronymus Bosch, Dutch Renaissance painter Weird Studies, Episode 86 on “The Sandman” Slavoj Žižek, The Puppet and the Dwarf Louis Sass, “The Land of Unreality: On the Phenomenology of the Schizophrenic Break” Louis Sass, Madness and Modernism Giorgio Agamben, Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life Richard Thorpe (dir.), The Wizard of Oz Frank L. Baum, The Wizard of Oz Weird Studies, bonus episode on Adventure Time James Hillman, The Soul’s Code Doris Lessing, Ben in the World Roman Polanski (dir.), Rosemary’s Baby Richard Donner (dir.), The Omen Donald Cammell (dir.), Demon Seed Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Doris Lessing's uncategorizable oeuvre reached strange new heights in 1988 with the publication of her short novel The Fifth Child. The story couldn't be simpler. In the England of the 1970s, a couple determined to live out a dream that many of their generation have rejected -- the big family in the old house with the pretty garden -- conceive a child that may or may not be human. From that moment on, the boy, their fifth, becomes the alien force that will tear their dream to pieces. Profoundly ambiguous and unsettling, The Fifth Child is a weird novel that raises questions about parenthood, family, and the impenetrable depths of nature.

Header Image: The Changeling by Henry Fuseli (1780)

Additional music: "Fast Bossa Nova: Falling Stars" by Dee Yan-Key

REFERENCES

Doris Lessing, The Fifth Child
Doris Lessing, Shikasta
M. R. James, weird fiction author
Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire
Weird Studies, Episode 67 on “Hellier”
Victoria Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets
David Icke, conspiracy theorist
Deros, underground beings from the fiction of Richard Sharpe Shaver
Hieronymus Bosch, Dutch Renaissance painter
Weird Studies, Episode 86 on “The Sandman”
Slavoj Žižek, The Puppet and the Dwarf
Louis Sass, “The Land of Unreality: On the Phenomenology of the Schizophrenic Break”
Louis Sass, Madness and Modernism
Giorgio Agamben, Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life
Richard Thorpe (dir.), The Wizard of Oz
Frank L. Baum, The Wizard of Oz
Weird Studies, bonus episode on Adventure Time
James Hillman, The Soul’s Code
Doris Lessing, Ben in the World
Roman Polanski (dir.), Rosemary’s Baby
Richard Donner (dir.), The Omen
Donald Cammell (dir.), Demon Seed

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]]> 5178 yes Episode 94: All is Mysterious: On the Moon Card in the Tarot https://www.weirdstudies.com/94 "Here is a weird, deceptive life." Thus does Aleister Crowley describe the meaning of one of the most sinister and spectral cards in the tarot. In this episode, Phil and JF continue their ongoing series on the twenty-two major trumps with a deep dive into the hopelessly enigmatic world of Arcanum XVIII: The Moon. After a brief chat about Voltron and professional wrestling, your hosts start on the lunar path beset by traps and illusions, in hopes that their half-blind perambulation will lead to startling insights. Image by Damien Deltenre via Wikimedia Commons. References Roland Barthes, Mythologies Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot Colin Wilson, The Occult Eliphas Levi,_ French esotericist Ishmael Reed, Mumbo Jumbo Weird Studies, [Episode 86 on The Sandman](weirdstudies.com/86) Plato, Republic Antoine Faivre, scholar of esoteric studies Wouter Hanegraaff, historian of philosophy Alastair Crowley, Book of Thoth Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution Carl Jung, Mysterium Coniunctionis Peter Kingsley, historian of philosophy St. John of the Cross, The Dark Night of the Soul J.R.R Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings Weird Studies, Episode 93 on Charles Taylor Algis Uždavinys, Philosophy as a Rite of Rebirth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 17 Mar 2021 14:00:00 -0000 All is Mysterious: On the Moon Card in the Tarot full 94 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil continue their series on the tarot with a discussion of the eighteenth major arcanum. "Here is a weird, deceptive life." Thus does Aleister Crowley describe the meaning of one of the most sinister and spectral cards in the tarot. In this episode, Phil and JF continue their ongoing series on the twenty-two major trumps with a deep dive into the hopelessly enigmatic world of Arcanum XVIII: The Moon. After a brief chat about Voltron and professional wrestling, your hosts start on the lunar path beset by traps and illusions, in hopes that their half-blind perambulation will lead to startling insights. Image by Damien Deltenre via Wikimedia Commons. References Roland Barthes, Mythologies Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot Colin Wilson, The Occult Eliphas Levi,_ French esotericist Ishmael Reed, Mumbo Jumbo Weird Studies, [Episode 86 on The Sandman](weirdstudies.com/86) Plato, Republic Antoine Faivre, scholar of esoteric studies Wouter Hanegraaff, historian of philosophy Alastair Crowley, Book of Thoth Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution Carl Jung, Mysterium Coniunctionis Peter Kingsley, historian of philosophy St. John of the Cross, The Dark Night of the Soul J.R.R Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings Weird Studies, Episode 93 on Charles Taylor Algis Uždavinys, Philosophy as a Rite of Rebirth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices "Here is a weird, deceptive life." Thus does Aleister Crowley describe the meaning of one of the most sinister and spectral cards in the tarot. In this episode, Phil and JF continue their ongoing series on the twenty-two major trumps with a deep dive into the hopelessly enigmatic world of Arcanum XVIII: The Moon. After a brief chat about Voltron and professional wrestling, your hosts start on the lunar path beset by traps and illusions, in hopes that their half-blind perambulation will lead to startling insights.

Image by Damien Deltenre via Wikimedia Commons.

References

Roland Barthes, Mythologies
Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot
Colin Wilson, The Occult
Eliphas Levi,_ French esotericist
Ishmael Reed, Mumbo Jumbo
Weird Studies, [Episode 86 on The Sandman](weirdstudies.com/86)
Plato, Republic
Antoine Faivre, scholar of esoteric studies
Wouter Hanegraaff, historian of philosophy
Alastair Crowley, Book of Thoth
Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution
Carl Jung, Mysterium Coniunctionis
Peter Kingsley, historian of philosophy
St. John of the Cross, The Dark Night of the Soul
J.R.R Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
Weird Studies, Episode 93 on Charles Taylor
Algis Uždavinys, Philosophy as a Rite of Rebirth

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]]> 4519 yes Episode 93: Living and Dying in a Secular Age: On Charles Taylor and Disenchantment https://www.weirdstudies.com/93 In A Secular Age, the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor tries to come to grips with the seismic development that transformed the world after the Renaissance, namely the secularization of the society and soul of Western humanity. What does it mean to live in an age where religion, once the very matrix of social existence, is relegated to the realm of private and personal choice? What defines secularity? Are modern people really as "irrelegious" as we make them out to be? In this episode, JF and Phil squarely train their sights on a question that continues to haunt them, with Taylor as their Virgil in what amounts to a descent into the ordinary inferno of modern unknowing. Header Image by Pahudson, via Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page Charles Taylor, A Secular Age Charles Taylor, The Malaise of Modernity Weird Studies, ep 71: The Medium is the Message Penn & Teller, Bullshit René Descartes, Meditations Theodore Roszak, The Making of a Counter-Culture Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Jacques Ellul, The New Demons David Foster Wallace's essay on David Letterman Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene Eric Voegelin, The New Science of Politics Karl Jaspers, The Origin and Goal of History Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 03 Mar 2021 15:30:00 -0000 Living and Dying in a Secular Age: On Charles Taylor and Disenchantment full 93 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Charles Taylor's monumental work of philosophy, "A Secular Age." In A Secular Age, the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor tries to come to grips with the seismic development that transformed the world after the Renaissance, namely the secularization of the society and soul of Western humanity. What does it mean to live in an age where religion, once the very matrix of social existence, is relegated to the realm of private and personal choice? What defines secularity? Are modern people really as "irrelegious" as we make them out to be? In this episode, JF and Phil squarely train their sights on a question that continues to haunt them, with Taylor as their Virgil in what amounts to a descent into the ordinary inferno of modern unknowing. Header Image by Pahudson, via Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page Charles Taylor, A Secular Age Charles Taylor, The Malaise of Modernity Weird Studies, ep 71: The Medium is the Message Penn & Teller, Bullshit René Descartes, Meditations Theodore Roszak, The Making of a Counter-Culture Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Jacques Ellul, The New Demons David Foster Wallace's essay on David Letterman Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene Eric Voegelin, The New Science of Politics Karl Jaspers, The Origin and Goal of History Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In A Secular Age, the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor tries to come to grips with the seismic development that transformed the world after the Renaissance, namely the secularization of the society and soul of Western humanity. What does it mean to live in an age where religion, once the very matrix of social existence, is relegated to the realm of private and personal choice? What defines secularity? Are modern people really as "irrelegious" as we make them out to be? In this episode, JF and Phil squarely train their sights on a question that continues to haunt them, with Taylor as their Virgil in what amounts to a descent into the ordinary inferno of modern unknowing.

Header Image by Pahudson, via Wikimedia Commons

REFERENCES

Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page

Charles Taylor, A Secular Age
Charles Taylor, The Malaise of Modernity
Weird Studies, ep 71: The Medium is the Message
Penn & Teller, Bullshit
René Descartes, Meditations
Theodore Roszak, The Making of a Counter-Culture
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
Jacques Ellul, The New Demons
David Foster Wallace's essay on David Letterman
Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene
Eric Voegelin, The New Science of Politics
Karl Jaspers, The Origin and Goal of History

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]]> 5285 yes Episode 92: Glitch in the Matrix: A Conversation with Rodney Ascher https://www.weirdstudies.com/92 With his latest film, a meditation on what it means to believe we live in a computer simulation, Rodney Ascher has once again placed himself among the most innovative and visionary filmmakers working in the documentary form today. While the "Simulation Hypothesis" has been a hot topic ever since The Matrix came out in 1997, it is Ascher's ability to suspend judgement, training his camera on the experience of believers rather than the value of their beliefs, that makes A Glitch in the Matrix such a unique and significant exploration, a strange work of "phantom phenomenology." Weird Studies listeners will recall that Phil and JF devoted an episode to Ascher's films -- most notably Room 237 and The Nightmare -- back in the early days of the podcast. In this episode, Rodney Ascher joins them to discuss his cinematic vision, his take on the weird, and his thoughts on what is real and why it matters. REFERENCES [Rodney Ascher](www.rodneyascher.com), American filmmaker -- [A Glitch in the Matrix](www.aglitchinthematrixfilm.com) Jay Weidner's theories on Kubrick Buddhist idea of the the Arising and Passing Away [Dungeons & Dragons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons%26_Dragons), tabletop roleplaying game James Machin, _Weird Fiction in Britain 1880-1939 Magic Eye pictures Parmenides, Greek philosopher Wachowskis, The Matrix Alan Moore, "Superman: For the Man Who Has Everything" Conway's Game of Life Joshua Clover, The Matrix (BFI Film Classics) Jonathan Snipes, American composer Clipping, experimental hip hop band "Shining" romantic comedy recut Michael Curtiz (dir.), Casblanca John Boorman (dir.), [Point Blank](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062138/?ref=fn_al_tt_2)_ Louis Sass, Madness and Modernism: Insanity in the Light of Modern Art, Literature, and Thought Special Guest: Rodney Ascher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 17 Feb 2021 15:45:00 -0000 Glitch in the Matrix: A Conversation with Rodney Ascher full 92 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil are joined by American filmmaker Rodney Ascher to discuss film, music, mood, and his new documentary about people who believe we are in living in a computer simulation. With his latest film, a meditation on what it means to believe we live in a computer simulation, Rodney Ascher has once again placed himself among the most innovative and visionary filmmakers working in the documentary form today. While the "Simulation Hypothesis" has been a hot topic ever since The Matrix came out in 1997, it is Ascher's ability to suspend judgement, training his camera on the experience of believers rather than the value of their beliefs, that makes A Glitch in the Matrix such a unique and significant exploration, a strange work of "phantom phenomenology." Weird Studies listeners will recall that Phil and JF devoted an episode to Ascher's films -- most notably Room 237 and The Nightmare -- back in the early days of the podcast. In this episode, Rodney Ascher joins them to discuss his cinematic vision, his take on the weird, and his thoughts on what is real and why it matters. REFERENCES [Rodney Ascher](www.rodneyascher.com), American filmmaker -- [A Glitch in the Matrix](www.aglitchinthematrixfilm.com) Jay Weidner's theories on Kubrick Buddhist idea of the the Arising and Passing Away [Dungeons & Dragons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons%26_Dragons), tabletop roleplaying game James Machin, _Weird Fiction in Britain 1880-1939 Magic Eye pictures Parmenides, Greek philosopher Wachowskis, The Matrix Alan Moore, "Superman: For the Man Who Has Everything" Conway's Game of Life Joshua Clover, The Matrix (BFI Film Classics) Jonathan Snipes, American composer Clipping, experimental hip hop band "Shining" romantic comedy recut Michael Curtiz (dir.), Casblanca John Boorman (dir.), [Point Blank](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062138/?ref=fn_al_tt_2)_ Louis Sass, Madness and Modernism: Insanity in the Light of Modern Art, Literature, and Thought Special Guest: Rodney Ascher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices With his latest film, a meditation on what it means to believe we live in a computer simulation, Rodney Ascher has once again placed himself among the most innovative and visionary filmmakers working in the documentary form today. While the "Simulation Hypothesis" has been a hot topic ever since The Matrix came out in 1997, it is Ascher's ability to suspend judgement, training his camera on the experience of believers rather than the value of their beliefs, that makes A Glitch in the Matrix such a unique and significant exploration, a strange work of "phantom phenomenology."

Weird Studies listeners will recall that Phil and JF devoted an episode to Ascher's films -- most notably Room 237 and The Nightmare -- back in the early days of the podcast. In this episode, Rodney Ascher joins them to discuss his cinematic vision, his take on the weird, and his thoughts on what is real and why it matters.

REFERENCES

[Rodney Ascher](www.rodneyascher.com), American filmmaker
-- [A Glitch in the Matrix](www.aglitchinthematrixfilm.com)

Jay Weidner's theories on Kubrick
Buddhist idea of the the Arising and Passing Away
[Dungeons & Dragons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons%26_Dragons), tabletop roleplaying game
James Machin, _Weird Fiction in Britain 1880-1939
Magic Eye pictures
Parmenides, Greek philosopher
Wachowskis, The Matrix
Alan Moore, "Superman: For the Man Who Has Everything"
Conway's Game of Life
Joshua Clover, The Matrix (BFI Film Classics)
Jonathan Snipes, American composer
Clipping, experimental hip hop band
"Shining" romantic comedy recut
Michael Curtiz (dir.), Casblanca
John Boorman (dir.), [Point Blank](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062138/?ref=fn_al_tt_2)_
Louis Sass, Madness and Modernism: Insanity in the Light of Modern Art, Literature, and Thought

Special Guest: Rodney Ascher.

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]]> 5276 yes Episode 91: On Susanna Clarke's 'Piranesi' https://www.weirdstudies.com/91 In this episode, Phil and JF explore the vast palatial halls of Susanna Clarke's novel Piranesi. Set in an otherworld consisting of endless galleries filled with enigmatic statues, Piranesi is the story of a man who lives alone -- or nearly alone -- in a dream labyrinth. As usual, our discussion leads to unexpected places every bit as strange as Clarke's setting, from Borge's infinite library and Lovecraft's alien cities to Renaissance Europe, where the art of memory was synonymous with wisdom and magic. SHOW NOTES Susanna Clarke, Piranesi Joshua Clover, 1989: Dylan Didn't Have This to Sing About , The Matrix (BFI Modern Classics John Crowley, Little, Big Christopher Priest, The Prestige (+Christopher Nolan's screen adaptation) Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell JF Martel, "The Real as Sacrament" (forthcoming?) Frances Yates, The Art of Memory Mary Carruthers, The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture Plato, Phaedrus Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory Jorge Luis Borges, "The Library of Babel" Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carceri d'invenzione Maurits Cornelis Escher, Duch artist H. P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space Gyrus, North: The Rise and Fall of the Polar Cosmos Emerald Tablet, foundational Hermetic text Joshua Foer, Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything Weird Studies ep. 42 - On Pauline Oliveros, with Kerry O'Brien Giovanni colleague? Allen Ginsberg, "America" Rodney Ascher, A Glitch in the Matrix Walter J. Ong, American philosopher Weird Studies ep. 71: The Medium is the Message Thomas Ligotti, "The Night School" Thomas Aquinas, Christian philosopher and theologian Erasmus, Christian philosopher Marsilio Ficino, Christian philosopher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 03 Feb 2021 15:45:00 -0000 On Susanna Clarke's 'Piranesi' full 91 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil explore the mysterious world of Susanna Clarke's incredible new novel. In this episode, Phil and JF explore the vast palatial halls of Susanna Clarke's novel Piranesi. Set in an otherworld consisting of endless galleries filled with enigmatic statues, Piranesi is the story of a man who lives alone -- or nearly alone -- in a dream labyrinth. As usual, our discussion leads to unexpected places every bit as strange as Clarke's setting, from Borge's infinite library and Lovecraft's alien cities to Renaissance Europe, where the art of memory was synonymous with wisdom and magic. SHOW NOTES Susanna Clarke, Piranesi Joshua Clover, 1989: Dylan Didn't Have This to Sing About , The Matrix (BFI Modern Classics John Crowley, Little, Big Christopher Priest, The Prestige (+Christopher Nolan's screen adaptation) Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell JF Martel, "The Real as Sacrament" (forthcoming?) Frances Yates, The Art of Memory Mary Carruthers, The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture Plato, Phaedrus Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory Jorge Luis Borges, "The Library of Babel" Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carceri d'invenzione Maurits Cornelis Escher, Duch artist H. P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space Gyrus, North: The Rise and Fall of the Polar Cosmos Emerald Tablet, foundational Hermetic text Joshua Foer, Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything Weird Studies ep. 42 - On Pauline Oliveros, with Kerry O'Brien Giovanni colleague? Allen Ginsberg, "America" Rodney Ascher, A Glitch in the Matrix Walter J. Ong, American philosopher Weird Studies ep. 71: The Medium is the Message Thomas Ligotti, "The Night School" Thomas Aquinas, Christian philosopher and theologian Erasmus, Christian philosopher Marsilio Ficino, Christian philosopher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this episode, Phil and JF explore the vast palatial halls of Susanna Clarke's novel Piranesi. Set in an otherworld consisting of endless galleries filled with enigmatic statues, Piranesi is the story of a man who lives alone -- or nearly alone -- in a dream labyrinth. As usual, our discussion leads to unexpected places every bit as strange as Clarke's setting, from Borge's infinite library and Lovecraft's alien cities to Renaissance Europe, where the art of memory was synonymous with wisdom and magic.

SHOW NOTES

Susanna Clarke, Piranesi
Joshua Clover, 1989: Dylan Didn't Have This to Sing About , The Matrix (BFI Modern Classics
John Crowley, Little, Big
Christopher Priest, The Prestige (+Christopher Nolan's screen adaptation)
Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
JF Martel, "The Real as Sacrament" (forthcoming?)
Frances Yates, The Art of Memory
Mary Carruthers, The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture
Plato, Phaedrus
Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory
Jorge Luis Borges, "The Library of Babel"
Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carceri d'invenzione
Maurits Cornelis Escher, Duch artist
H. P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness
Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space
Gyrus, North: The Rise and Fall of the Polar Cosmos
Emerald Tablet, foundational Hermetic text
Joshua Foer, Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
Weird Studies ep. 42 - On Pauline Oliveros, with Kerry O'Brien
Giovanni colleague?
Allen Ginsberg, "America"
Rodney Ascher, A Glitch in the Matrix
Walter J. Ong, American philosopher
Weird Studies ep. 71: The Medium is the Message
Thomas Ligotti, "The Night School"
Thomas Aquinas, Christian philosopher and theologian
Erasmus, Christian philosopher
Marsilio Ficino, Christian philosopher

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]]> 5072 yes Episode 90: 'The Owl in Daylight': On Philip K. Dick's Unwritten Masterpiece https://www.weirdstudies.com/90 Weird Studies has so far devoted just one show to Philip K. Dick, and that was way back in April 2018, with episode 10, "Adrift in the Multiverse." Last fall, as another foray into Dickland began to feel urgent, Phil and JF talked about which of his books they should tackle. The answer that seemed obvious was VALIS, the semi/pseudo-autobiographical masterpiece that constitutes PKD's most explicit attempt to make sense of the theophanic experiences that altererd his life in 1974. But then Phil suggested The Owl in Daylight, a novel on which PKD worked feverishly in the last years of his life but left unwritten. And sure enough, reviewing and analyzing a book that doesn't exist proved to be the best way of getting to the heart of Dick's incomparable oeuvre. SHOW NOTES Gwen Lee, What if Our World is Their Heaven? The Final Conversations of Philip K. Dick The Selected Letters of Philip K. Dick, volume 6 Philip K. Dick, The Exegesis Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot Secondary qualities, philosophical concept Samuel Barber, Adagio for Strings Burt Bacharach, American musician Philip K. Dick, "The Preserving Machine" Jorge Borges, "The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim" The Good Place, American television series Philip K. Dick, Valis Weird Studies, Episode 78 on John Keel's 'Mothman Prophesies' Richard Wagner, Parsifal Weird Studies, Episode 73 on Carl Jung Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 20 Jan 2021 16:15:00 -0000 'The Owl in Daylight': On Philip K. Dick's Unwritten Masterpiece full 90 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the novel that would have been Philip K. Dick's magnum opus ... if he had written it. Weird Studies has so far devoted just one show to Philip K. Dick, and that was way back in April 2018, with episode 10, "Adrift in the Multiverse." Last fall, as another foray into Dickland began to feel urgent, Phil and JF talked about which of his books they should tackle. The answer that seemed obvious was VALIS, the semi/pseudo-autobiographical masterpiece that constitutes PKD's most explicit attempt to make sense of the theophanic experiences that altererd his life in 1974. But then Phil suggested The Owl in Daylight, a novel on which PKD worked feverishly in the last years of his life but left unwritten. And sure enough, reviewing and analyzing a book that doesn't exist proved to be the best way of getting to the heart of Dick's incomparable oeuvre. SHOW NOTES Gwen Lee, What if Our World is Their Heaven? The Final Conversations of Philip K. Dick The Selected Letters of Philip K. Dick, volume 6 Philip K. Dick, The Exegesis Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot Secondary qualities, philosophical concept Samuel Barber, Adagio for Strings Burt Bacharach, American musician Philip K. Dick, "The Preserving Machine" Jorge Borges, "The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim" The Good Place, American television series Philip K. Dick, Valis Weird Studies, Episode 78 on John Keel's 'Mothman Prophesies' Richard Wagner, Parsifal Weird Studies, Episode 73 on Carl Jung Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Weird Studies has so far devoted just one show to Philip K. Dick, and that was way back in April 2018, with episode 10, "Adrift in the Multiverse." Last fall, as another foray into Dickland began to feel urgent, Phil and JF talked about which of his books they should tackle. The answer that seemed obvious was VALIS, the semi/pseudo-autobiographical masterpiece that constitutes PKD's most explicit attempt to make sense of the theophanic experiences that altererd his life in 1974. But then Phil suggested The Owl in Daylight, a novel on which PKD worked feverishly in the last years of his life but left unwritten. And sure enough, reviewing and analyzing a book that doesn't exist proved to be the best way of getting to the heart of Dick's incomparable oeuvre.

SHOW NOTES

Gwen Lee, What if Our World is Their Heaven? The Final Conversations of Philip K. Dick
The Selected Letters of Philip K. Dick, volume 6
Philip K. Dick, The Exegesis

Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot
Secondary qualities, philosophical concept
Samuel Barber, Adagio for Strings
Burt Bacharach, American musician
Philip K. Dick, "The Preserving Machine"
Jorge Borges, "The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim"
The Good Place, American television series
Philip K. Dick, Valis
Weird Studies, Episode 78 on John Keel's 'Mothman Prophesies'
Richard Wagner, Parsifal
Weird Studies, Episode 73 on Carl Jung

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]]> 4236 yes Episode 89: On Ishmael Reed's 'Mumbo Jumbo,' or, Why We Need More Magical Thinking https://www.weirdstudies.com/89 Ishmael Reed's 1972 novel Mumbo Jumbo is a conspiracy thriller, a postmodern experiment, a revolutionary tract, a celebration, and a magical working. It is a novel that, over and above prophetically describing the world we live in, creates a whole new world and invites us to move in. For Phil and JF, Mumbo Jumbo exemplifies art's creative power to generate new possibilities for life. It is also the perfect occasion for pinpointing the difference between the kind of magical thinking that fuels virulent conspiricism, and the more profound magical thinking which alone can save us from it. **Image: **Albrecht Dürer, Two Pairs of Hands with Book REFERENCES Ishmael Reed, Mumbo Jumbo Harold Bloom, The Western Canon For more on Colin Wilson's concept of lunar religion, see The Occult Weird Studies, episode 36: "On Hyperstition" William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch Carl Van Vechten, American writer Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea, Illuminatus! MC5, "Kick Out the Jams" Karl Pfeiffer (dir.), Hellier, webseries Jasun Horsley, 16 Maps of Hell Ramsey Dukes (Lionel Snell), SSOTBME Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot Fats Waller, American jazz musician Owen Barfield, Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry Weird Studies, episode 57 - "Box of Gods: On Raiders of the Lost Ark" Hans Jonas, The Gnostic Religion: The Message of the Alien God and the Beginnings of Christianity Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 06 Jan 2021 15:00:00 -0000 On Ishmael Reed's 'Mumbo Jumbo,' or, Why We Need More Magical Thinking full 89 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Ishmael Reed's masterpiece of conspiracy fiction. Ishmael Reed's 1972 novel Mumbo Jumbo is a conspiracy thriller, a postmodern experiment, a revolutionary tract, a celebration, and a magical working. It is a novel that, over and above prophetically describing the world we live in, creates a whole new world and invites us to move in. For Phil and JF, Mumbo Jumbo exemplifies art's creative power to generate new possibilities for life. It is also the perfect occasion for pinpointing the difference between the kind of magical thinking that fuels virulent conspiricism, and the more profound magical thinking which alone can save us from it. **Image: **Albrecht Dürer, Two Pairs of Hands with Book REFERENCES Ishmael Reed, Mumbo Jumbo Harold Bloom, The Western Canon For more on Colin Wilson's concept of lunar religion, see The Occult Weird Studies, episode 36: "On Hyperstition" William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch Carl Van Vechten, American writer Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea, Illuminatus! MC5, "Kick Out the Jams" Karl Pfeiffer (dir.), Hellier, webseries Jasun Horsley, 16 Maps of Hell Ramsey Dukes (Lionel Snell), SSOTBME Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot Fats Waller, American jazz musician Owen Barfield, Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry Weird Studies, episode 57 - "Box of Gods: On Raiders of the Lost Ark" Hans Jonas, The Gnostic Religion: The Message of the Alien God and the Beginnings of Christianity Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Ishmael Reed's 1972 novel Mumbo Jumbo is a conspiracy thriller, a postmodern experiment, a revolutionary tract, a celebration, and a magical working. It is a novel that, over and above prophetically describing the world we live in, creates a whole new world and invites us to move in. For Phil and JF, Mumbo Jumbo exemplifies art's creative power to generate new possibilities for life. It is also the perfect occasion for pinpointing the difference between the kind of magical thinking that fuels virulent conspiricism, and the more profound magical thinking which alone can save us from it.

**Image: **Albrecht Dürer, Two Pairs of Hands with Book

REFERENCES

Ishmael Reed, Mumbo Jumbo

Harold Bloom, The Western Canon
For more on Colin Wilson's concept of lunar religion, see The Occult
Weird Studies, episode 36: "On Hyperstition"
William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch
Carl Van Vechten, American writer
Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea, Illuminatus!
MC5, "Kick Out the Jams"
Karl Pfeiffer (dir.), Hellier, webseries
Jasun Horsley, 16 Maps of Hell
Ramsey Dukes (Lionel Snell), SSOTBME
Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot
Fats Waller, American jazz musician
Owen Barfield, Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry
Weird Studies, episode 57 - "Box of Gods: On Raiders of the Lost Ark"
Hans Jonas, The Gnostic Religion: The Message of the Alien God and the Beginnings of Christianity
Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature

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]]> 4809 yes Holiday Bonus: Magic, Madness, and Sadness https://www.weirdstudies.com/88b Weird Studies will launch its fourth season on January 6th, 2021. But to celebtrate the end of very strange year, we thought we'd release a conversation which until now was available only to our top-tier Patreon backers. Therein we discuss the philosophical underpinnings of "Puhoy," memorable episode of the brilliant animated series Adventure Time. This was JF's introduction to a show that Phil has often recommended for its novel treatment of complex ideas and downright weirdness. Watch "Puhoy" on YouTube: Part 1 Part 2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Mon, 21 Dec 2020 15:00:00 -0000 full SpectreVision Radio In this special winter solstice release, Phil and JF discuss a memorable episode of the bizarro animated series Adventure Time. Weird Studies will launch its fourth season on January 6th, 2021. But to celebtrate the end of very strange year, we thought we'd release a conversation which until now was available only to our top-tier Patreon backers. Therein we discuss the philosophical underpinnings of "Puhoy," memorable episode of the brilliant animated series Adventure Time. This was JF's introduction to a show that Phil has often recommended for its novel treatment of complex ideas and downright weirdness. Watch "Puhoy" on YouTube: Part 1 Part 2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Weird Studies will launch its fourth season on January 6th, 2021. But to celebtrate the end of very strange year, we thought we'd release a conversation which until now was available only to our top-tier Patreon backers. Therein we discuss the philosophical underpinnings of "Puhoy," memorable episode of the brilliant animated series Adventure Time. This was JF's introduction to a show that Phil has often recommended for its novel treatment of complex ideas and downright weirdness.

Watch "Puhoy" on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2

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]]> 3052 yes Episode 88: On Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean's 'Mr Punch' https://www.weirdstudies.com/88 Before Coraline, before American Gods, in the early days of the Sandman series, Neil Gaiman collaborated with Dave McKean on some truly groundbreaking graphic novels: Violent Cases (1987), Signal to Noise (1989), and the work discussed in this Weird Studies episode. The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr Punch (1994) is the story of a boy whose initiation into the dark realities of life, death, and family plays out in the shadow of the (in)famous Punch & Judy puppet show. Unlike some of Gaiman's more overtly marvellous offerings, Mr Punch is a subtle fantasy whose weirdness hides in the gaps and folds of lost time. It is in Dave McKean's brilliant art that the magic shines through, letting us know that the narrative is only part of a vaster, hidden thing. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the themes, ideas, and mysteries of an unparalleled piece of comics art. REFERENCES Watch Aaron Poole's 9-minute short film "Oracle" Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, _The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch "That's the Way to Do It! A History of Punch and Judy", Victoria Albert Museum _ Ronald Briggs, Father Christmas Clement Greenberg, American art critic Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics J. F. Martel, Patreon Post on The Untimely Weird Studies, Episodes 20 and 21 on the Trash Stratum Weird Studies, Episode 72 on the Castrati Samuel Pepys, English administrator and diarist Nick Lowe, The Beast in Me Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 09 Dec 2020 14:45:00 -0000 On Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean's 'Mr Punch' full 88 SpectreVision Radio A discussion of Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean's 1994 graphic novel, "The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch" Before Coraline, before American Gods, in the early days of the Sandman series, Neil Gaiman collaborated with Dave McKean on some truly groundbreaking graphic novels: Violent Cases (1987), Signal to Noise (1989), and the work discussed in this Weird Studies episode. The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr Punch (1994) is the story of a boy whose initiation into the dark realities of life, death, and family plays out in the shadow of the (in)famous Punch & Judy puppet show. Unlike some of Gaiman's more overtly marvellous offerings, Mr Punch is a subtle fantasy whose weirdness hides in the gaps and folds of lost time. It is in Dave McKean's brilliant art that the magic shines through, letting us know that the narrative is only part of a vaster, hidden thing. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the themes, ideas, and mysteries of an unparalleled piece of comics art. REFERENCES Watch Aaron Poole's 9-minute short film "Oracle" Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, _The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch "That's the Way to Do It! A History of Punch and Judy", Victoria Albert Museum _ Ronald Briggs, Father Christmas Clement Greenberg, American art critic Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics J. F. Martel, Patreon Post on The Untimely Weird Studies, Episodes 20 and 21 on the Trash Stratum Weird Studies, Episode 72 on the Castrati Samuel Pepys, English administrator and diarist Nick Lowe, The Beast in Me Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Before Coraline, before American Gods, in the early days of the Sandman series, Neil Gaiman collaborated with Dave McKean on some truly groundbreaking graphic novels: Violent Cases (1987), Signal to Noise (1989), and the work discussed in this Weird Studies episode. The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr Punch (1994) is the story of a boy whose initiation into the dark realities of life, death, and family plays out in the shadow of the (in)famous Punch & Judy puppet show. Unlike some of Gaiman's more overtly marvellous offerings, Mr Punch is a subtle fantasy whose weirdness hides in the gaps and folds of lost time. It is in Dave McKean's brilliant art that the magic shines through, letting us know that the narrative is only part of a vaster, hidden thing. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the themes, ideas, and mysteries of an unparalleled piece of comics art.

REFERENCES

Watch Aaron Poole's 9-minute short film "Oracle"

Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, _The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch

"That's the Way to Do It! A History of Punch and Judy", Victoria Albert Museum
_

Ronald Briggs, Father Christmas
Clement Greenberg, American art critic
Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time
Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics
J. F. Martel, Patreon Post on The Untimely
Weird Studies, Episodes 20 and 21 on the Trash Stratum
Weird Studies, Episode 72 on the Castrati
Samuel Pepys, English administrator and diarist
Nick Lowe, The Beast in Me

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]]> 4831 yes Episode 87: Glyphs, Rifts, and Ecstasy: On Arthur Machen's Vision of Art https://www.weirdstudies.com/87 It would be wrong to describe Arthur Machen's Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy in Literature (1902) as a work of nonfiction, since the book features a narrative frame that is as moody and irreal as the best tales penned by this luminary of weird fiction. But if the eccentric recluse at the centre Hieroglyphics is a fictional philosopher, he is one who, in Phil and JF's opinion, rivals most aesthetic thinkers in the history of philosophy. The significance of this text lies in its willingness to disclose a function of art that few before Machen had dared to touch, namely its capacity to generate ecstasy by confronting us with the mystery that beats the heart of existence. In this episode, your hosts discuss a work which, in their opinion, comes as close to scripture as the nonexistent field of Weird Studies is likely to get. REFERENCES Arthur Machen, Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy in Literature Thomas Ligotti, Songs of a Dead Dreamer Weird Studies, Episode 3 on the White People J.F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Weird Studies, Episode 63 on Colin Wilson’s 'The Occult' William Shakespeare, Hamlet Indra’s Net, philosophical concept James Machin, Weird Fiction in Britain, 1880 – 1939 Weird Studies, Episode 5 on Lisa Ruddick's 'When Nothing is Cool' Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism Rudolph Otto, German theologian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 25 Nov 2020 15:30:00 -0000 Glyphs, Rifts, and Ecstasy: On Arthur Machen's Vision of Art full 87 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil talk art and ecstasy in this episode on Arthur Machen's aesthetic treatise, "Hieroglyphics". It would be wrong to describe Arthur Machen's Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy in Literature (1902) as a work of nonfiction, since the book features a narrative frame that is as moody and irreal as the best tales penned by this luminary of weird fiction. But if the eccentric recluse at the centre Hieroglyphics is a fictional philosopher, he is one who, in Phil and JF's opinion, rivals most aesthetic thinkers in the history of philosophy. The significance of this text lies in its willingness to disclose a function of art that few before Machen had dared to touch, namely its capacity to generate ecstasy by confronting us with the mystery that beats the heart of existence. In this episode, your hosts discuss a work which, in their opinion, comes as close to scripture as the nonexistent field of Weird Studies is likely to get. REFERENCES Arthur Machen, Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy in Literature Thomas Ligotti, Songs of a Dead Dreamer Weird Studies, Episode 3 on the White People J.F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Weird Studies, Episode 63 on Colin Wilson’s 'The Occult' William Shakespeare, Hamlet Indra’s Net, philosophical concept James Machin, Weird Fiction in Britain, 1880 – 1939 Weird Studies, Episode 5 on Lisa Ruddick's 'When Nothing is Cool' Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism Rudolph Otto, German theologian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices It would be wrong to describe Arthur Machen's Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy in Literature (1902) as a work of nonfiction, since the book features a narrative frame that is as moody and irreal as the best tales penned by this luminary of weird fiction. But if the eccentric recluse at the centre Hieroglyphics is a fictional philosopher, he is one who, in Phil and JF's opinion, rivals most aesthetic thinkers in the history of philosophy. The significance of this text lies in its willingness to disclose a function of art that few before Machen had dared to touch, namely its capacity to generate ecstasy by confronting us with the mystery that beats the heart of existence. In this episode, your hosts discuss a work which, in their opinion, comes as close to scripture as the nonexistent field of Weird Studies is likely to get.

REFERENCES

Arthur Machen, Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy in Literature

Thomas Ligotti, Songs of a Dead Dreamer
Weird Studies, Episode 3 on the White People
J.F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice
Weird Studies, Episode 63 on Colin Wilson’s 'The Occult'
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Indra’s Net, philosophical concept
James Machin, Weird Fiction in Britain, 1880 – 1939
Weird Studies, Episode 5 on Lisa Ruddick's 'When Nothing is Cool'
Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism
Rudolph Otto, German theologian

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]]> 4064 yes Episode 86: On E. T. A. Hoffmann's "The Sandman," and Freud's Sequel to It https://www.weirdstudies.com/86 The German polymath E. T. A. Hoffmann is one of the founding figures of what we now call weird literature. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss one of his most memorable tales, "Der Sandmann." Originally published in 1816, it is the story of a young German student whose fate is sealed by a terrifying encounter with the eponymous figure during his youth. The story packs several tropes that would later become staples of the weird: the protean monster, the double, the automaton... Your hosts discuss how Hoffmann uses these tropes without letting any of them coalesce into a stable thing in the reader's mind, thereby effecting a slowbuild of ambiguity upon ambiguity that culminates in a true paroxysm of dread. The argument is made that Freud does essentially the same thing in his famous essay "The Uncanny," wherein Hoffmann's story plays an important role. REFERENCES E. T. A. Hoffmann, The Sandman Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto Edgar Allan Poe, American writer Sunn o))), American metal band La Monte Young,, American composer Stuart Davis, Aliens and Artists Sigmund Freud, The Uncanny Neil Gaiman, Mr. Punch Jaques Offenbach, Tales of Hoffmann Frank Zappa, American musician Ernst Jentsch,, German psychiatrist E. T. A. Hoffmann, The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr Weird Studies, episodes 73 and 74 on Carl Jung Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 11 Nov 2020 15:30:00 -0000 On E. T. A. Hoffmann's "The Sandman," and Freud's Sequel to It full 86 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss E.T.A. Hoffmann's classic tale of weird horror and Sigmund Freud's treatment of it in a famous essay. The German polymath E. T. A. Hoffmann is one of the founding figures of what we now call weird literature. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss one of his most memorable tales, "Der Sandmann." Originally published in 1816, it is the story of a young German student whose fate is sealed by a terrifying encounter with the eponymous figure during his youth. The story packs several tropes that would later become staples of the weird: the protean monster, the double, the automaton... Your hosts discuss how Hoffmann uses these tropes without letting any of them coalesce into a stable thing in the reader's mind, thereby effecting a slowbuild of ambiguity upon ambiguity that culminates in a true paroxysm of dread. The argument is made that Freud does essentially the same thing in his famous essay "The Uncanny," wherein Hoffmann's story plays an important role. REFERENCES E. T. A. Hoffmann, The Sandman Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto Edgar Allan Poe, American writer Sunn o))), American metal band La Monte Young,, American composer Stuart Davis, Aliens and Artists Sigmund Freud, The Uncanny Neil Gaiman, Mr. Punch Jaques Offenbach, Tales of Hoffmann Frank Zappa, American musician Ernst Jentsch,, German psychiatrist E. T. A. Hoffmann, The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr Weird Studies, episodes 73 and 74 on Carl Jung Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The German polymath E. T. A. Hoffmann is one of the founding figures of what we now call weird literature. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss one of his most memorable tales, "Der Sandmann." Originally published in 1816, it is the story of a young German student whose fate is sealed by a terrifying encounter with the eponymous figure during his youth. The story packs several tropes that would later become staples of the weird: the protean monster, the double, the automaton... Your hosts discuss how Hoffmann uses these tropes without letting any of them coalesce into a stable thing in the reader's mind, thereby effecting a slowbuild of ambiguity upon ambiguity that culminates in a true paroxysm of dread. The argument is made that Freud does essentially the same thing in his famous essay "The Uncanny," wherein Hoffmann's story plays an important role.

REFERENCES

E. T. A. Hoffmann, The Sandman
Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto
Edgar Allan Poe, American writer
Sunn o))), American metal band
La Monte Young,, American composer
Stuart Davis, Aliens and Artists
Sigmund Freud, The Uncanny
Neil Gaiman, Mr. Punch
Jaques Offenbach, Tales of Hoffmann
Frank Zappa, American musician
Ernst Jentsch,, German psychiatrist
E. T. A. Hoffmann, The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr
Weird Studies, episodes 73 and 74 on Carl Jung

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]]> 5052 yes Episode 85: On 'The Wicker Man' https://www.weirdstudies.com/85 Since its release in 1973, Robin Hardy's The Wicker Man has exerted a profound influence on the development of horror cinema, a rich vein of folk music, and the modern pagan revival more generally. Anthony Shaffer's ingenious screenplay gives us a thrilling yarn that is also a meditation on the nature of religious belief and practice. Just in time for Halloween, Phil and JF discuss the philosophical ideas that undergird this folk horror classic, focusing on the perennial role of sacrifice in religious thought. REFERENCES Robin Hardy (director), The Wicker Man Stanley Kubrick (director), The Shining Terence Fisher (director), The Devil Rides Out Piers Haggard (director), Blood on Satan’s Claw John Boorman (director), Deliverance Rob Young, Electric Eden Gerald Gardner, English wiccan Margaret Murray, English anthropologist Cecil Sharp, English ethnomusicologist Phil Ford, "Taboo: Time and Belief in Exotica" Friedrich Nietzsche, Untimely Meditations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 28 Oct 2020 14:30:00 -0000 On 'The Wicker Man' full 85 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the 1973 masterpiece of folk horror cinema. Since its release in 1973, Robin Hardy's The Wicker Man has exerted a profound influence on the development of horror cinema, a rich vein of folk music, and the modern pagan revival more generally. Anthony Shaffer's ingenious screenplay gives us a thrilling yarn that is also a meditation on the nature of religious belief and practice. Just in time for Halloween, Phil and JF discuss the philosophical ideas that undergird this folk horror classic, focusing on the perennial role of sacrifice in religious thought. REFERENCES Robin Hardy (director), The Wicker Man Stanley Kubrick (director), The Shining Terence Fisher (director), The Devil Rides Out Piers Haggard (director), Blood on Satan’s Claw John Boorman (director), Deliverance Rob Young, Electric Eden Gerald Gardner, English wiccan Margaret Murray, English anthropologist Cecil Sharp, English ethnomusicologist Phil Ford, "Taboo: Time and Belief in Exotica" Friedrich Nietzsche, Untimely Meditations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Since its release in 1973, Robin Hardy's The Wicker Man has exerted a profound influence on the development of horror cinema, a rich vein of folk music, and the modern pagan revival more generally. Anthony Shaffer's ingenious screenplay gives us a thrilling yarn that is also a meditation on the nature of religious belief and practice. Just in time for Halloween, Phil and JF discuss the philosophical ideas that undergird this folk horror classic, focusing on the perennial role of sacrifice in religious thought.

REFERENCES

Robin Hardy (director), The Wicker Man

Stanley Kubrick (director), The Shining
Terence Fisher (director), The Devil Rides Out
Piers Haggard (director), Blood on Satan’s Claw
John Boorman (director), Deliverance
Rob Young, Electric Eden
Gerald Gardner, English wiccan
Margaret Murray, English anthropologist
Cecil Sharp, English ethnomusicologist
Phil Ford, "Taboo: Time and Belief in Exotica"
Friedrich Nietzsche, Untimely Meditations

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]]> 4660 yes Episode 84: Mona Lisa Smile: On the Empress, the Third Card in the Tarot https://www.weirdstudies.com/84 This second instalment in our series on the major trumps of the traditional tarot deck features the Empress. As Aleister Crowley writes in The Book of Thoth, this card is probably the most difficult to decipher, since it is inherently "omniform," changing shapes continuously. In a sense, the Empress is variation itself. Her card becomes the occasion for a conversation about the less knowable side of reality, the one that tradition associates with the Yin, nature, potential, and -- controversially -- the feminine. This in turn leads to a discussion of white versus black magic, and how the two may not always be as diametrically opposed as we might believe. REFERENCES P.D. Ouspensky, The Symbolism of the Tarot Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism Weird Studies episode 82 on the I Ching Patrick Harper, The Secret Tradition of the Soul Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Simon Magus, religious figure Henri Gamache, The Mystery of the Long Lost 8th, 9th, and 10th Books of Moses Solomon grimoires Lionel Snell/Ramsay Dukes, English magician Weird Studies episode 3 on Arthur Machen's "The White People" Joséphin Péladan, French magician Susanna Clarke Piranesi Shawshank Redemption, film Franz Liszt, musician Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 14 Oct 2020 14:30:00 -0000 Mona Lisa Smile: On the Empress, the Third Card in the Tarot full 84 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the third major arcana of the traditional tarot deck. This second instalment in our series on the major trumps of the traditional tarot deck features the Empress. As Aleister Crowley writes in The Book of Thoth, this card is probably the most difficult to decipher, since it is inherently "omniform," changing shapes continuously. In a sense, the Empress is variation itself. Her card becomes the occasion for a conversation about the less knowable side of reality, the one that tradition associates with the Yin, nature, potential, and -- controversially -- the feminine. This in turn leads to a discussion of white versus black magic, and how the two may not always be as diametrically opposed as we might believe. REFERENCES P.D. Ouspensky, The Symbolism of the Tarot Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism Weird Studies episode 82 on the I Ching Patrick Harper, The Secret Tradition of the Soul Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Simon Magus, religious figure Henri Gamache, The Mystery of the Long Lost 8th, 9th, and 10th Books of Moses Solomon grimoires Lionel Snell/Ramsay Dukes, English magician Weird Studies episode 3 on Arthur Machen's "The White People" Joséphin Péladan, French magician Susanna Clarke Piranesi Shawshank Redemption, film Franz Liszt, musician Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This second instalment in our series on the major trumps of the traditional tarot deck features the Empress. As Aleister Crowley writes in The Book of Thoth, this card is probably the most difficult to decipher, since it is inherently "omniform," changing shapes continuously. In a sense, the Empress is variation itself. Her card becomes the occasion for a conversation about the less knowable side of reality, the one that tradition associates with the Yin, nature, potential, and -- controversially -- the feminine. This in turn leads to a discussion of white versus black magic, and how the two may not always be as diametrically opposed as we might believe.

REFERENCES

P.D. Ouspensky, The Symbolism of the Tarot
Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism
Weird Studies episode 82 on the I Ching
Patrick Harper, The Secret Tradition of the Soul
Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth
Simon Magus, religious figure
Henri Gamache, The Mystery of the Long Lost 8th, 9th, and 10th Books of Moses
Solomon grimoires
Lionel Snell/Ramsay Dukes, English magician
Weird Studies episode 3 on Arthur Machen's "The White People"
Joséphin Péladan, French magician
Susanna Clarke Piranesi
Shawshank Redemption, film
Franz Liszt, musician
Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces

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]]> 4788 yes Episode 83: On David Lynch's 'Lost Highway' https://www.weirdstudies.com/83 David Lynch's Lost Highway was released in 1997, five years after Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me elicited a fusillade of boos and hisses at Cannes. The Twin Peaks prequel's poor reception allegedly sent its American auteur spiralling into something of an existential crisis, and Lost Highway has often been interpreted as a response to -- or result of -- that crisis. Certainly, the film is among Lynch's darkest, boldest, and most enigmatic. But of course, we do the film an injustice by reducing it to the psychological state of its director. Indeed, one of the contentions of this episode is that all artistic interpretation constitutes a kind of injustice. But as you will hear, that doesn't stop Phil and JF from interpreting the hell out of the film. Just or unjust, fair or unfair, interpretation may well be necessary in aesthetic matters. It may be the means by which we grow through the experience of art, the way by which art makes us something new, strange, and other. Perhaps the trick is to remember that no mode of interpretation is, to borrow Freud's phrase, the one and only via regia, but that every one is just another highway at night... REFERENCES David Lynch (dir.), Lost Highway Alfred Hitchcock (dir.), Vertigo Arnold Schoenberg, Three Keyboard Pieces, op. 11 James Joyce, Finnegan’s Wake Weird Studies, Episode 81 on The Course of the Heart Jacques Lacan, French psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek, Slovenian philosopher Arnold Schoenberg, Pierrot Lunaire Cabinet of Dr. Caligari David Foster Wallace, "David Lynch Keeps his Head" in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never do Again Leonard Bernstein, West Side Story Patreon audio extra on Penderecki's "Threnody" Trent Reznor, American musician David Bowie, "Deranged" Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt, "Oblique Strategies" Tim Powers, Last Call Manuel DeLanda, Mexican-American philosopher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 30 Sep 2020 14:15:00 -0000 On David Lynch's 'Lost Highway' full 83 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil take a joy ride into the dark heart David Lynch's surreal 1997 film. David Lynch's Lost Highway was released in 1997, five years after Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me elicited a fusillade of boos and hisses at Cannes. The Twin Peaks prequel's poor reception allegedly sent its American auteur spiralling into something of an existential crisis, and Lost Highway has often been interpreted as a response to -- or result of -- that crisis. Certainly, the film is among Lynch's darkest, boldest, and most enigmatic. But of course, we do the film an injustice by reducing it to the psychological state of its director. Indeed, one of the contentions of this episode is that all artistic interpretation constitutes a kind of injustice. But as you will hear, that doesn't stop Phil and JF from interpreting the hell out of the film. Just or unjust, fair or unfair, interpretation may well be necessary in aesthetic matters. It may be the means by which we grow through the experience of art, the way by which art makes us something new, strange, and other. Perhaps the trick is to remember that no mode of interpretation is, to borrow Freud's phrase, the one and only via regia, but that every one is just another highway at night... REFERENCES David Lynch (dir.), Lost Highway Alfred Hitchcock (dir.), Vertigo Arnold Schoenberg, Three Keyboard Pieces, op. 11 James Joyce, Finnegan’s Wake Weird Studies, Episode 81 on The Course of the Heart Jacques Lacan, French psychoanalyst Slavoj Žižek, Slovenian philosopher Arnold Schoenberg, Pierrot Lunaire Cabinet of Dr. Caligari David Foster Wallace, "David Lynch Keeps his Head" in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never do Again Leonard Bernstein, West Side Story Patreon audio extra on Penderecki's "Threnody" Trent Reznor, American musician David Bowie, "Deranged" Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt, "Oblique Strategies" Tim Powers, Last Call Manuel DeLanda, Mexican-American philosopher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices David Lynch's Lost Highway was released in 1997, five years after Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me elicited a fusillade of boos and hisses at Cannes. The Twin Peaks prequel's poor reception allegedly sent its American auteur spiralling into something of an existential crisis, and Lost Highway has often been interpreted as a response to -- or result of -- that crisis. Certainly, the film is among Lynch's darkest, boldest, and most enigmatic. But of course, we do the film an injustice by reducing it to the psychological state of its director. Indeed, one of the contentions of this episode is that all artistic interpretation constitutes a kind of injustice. But as you will hear, that doesn't stop Phil and JF from interpreting the hell out of the film. Just or unjust, fair or unfair, interpretation may well be necessary in aesthetic matters. It may be the means by which we grow through the experience of art, the way by which art makes us something new, strange, and other. Perhaps the trick is to remember that no mode of interpretation is, to borrow Freud's phrase, the one and only via regia, but that every one is just another highway at night...

REFERENCES

David Lynch (dir.), Lost Highway

Alfred Hitchcock (dir.), Vertigo
Arnold Schoenberg, Three Keyboard Pieces, op. 11
James Joyce, Finnegan’s Wake
Weird Studies, Episode 81 on The Course of the Heart
Jacques Lacan, French psychoanalyst
Slavoj Žižek, Slovenian philosopher
Arnold Schoenberg, Pierrot Lunaire
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
David Foster Wallace, "David Lynch Keeps his Head" in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never do Again
Leonard Bernstein, West Side Story
Patreon audio extra on Penderecki's "Threnody"
Trent Reznor, American musician
David Bowie, "Deranged"
Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt, "Oblique Strategies"
Tim Powers, Last Call
Manuel DeLanda, Mexican-American philosopher

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]]> 4748 yes Episode 82: On The I Ching https://www.weirdstudies.com/82 The Book of Changes, or I Ching, is more than an ancient text. It's a metaphysical guide, a fun game, and -- to your hosts at least -- a lifelong, steadfast friend. The I Ching has come up more than once on the show, and now is the time for JF and Phil to face it head on, discussing the role it has played in their lives while delving into some of its mysteries. REFERENCES I Ching, Wilhelm-Baynes translation I Ching, Stephen Karcher translation Game of Thrones, HBO series George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire George R. R. Martin, “Sandkings” in: Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories H. P. Lovecraft, American writer Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy Aleister Crowley, “777” Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Cannibal Metaphysics Joel Biroco, Calling Crane in the Shade (website) Philip K. Dick, American novelist Lionel Snell, a.k.a. Ramsey Dukes, British occultist Richard Rutt, _Zhouyi: A New Translation with Commentary _ Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast Redmond and Hon, Teaching the I Ching Weird Studies, episode 72, On the castrati Weird Studies, episode 77, On the fool tarot card Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot The Usual Suspects (movie) Colin Wilson, The Occult Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 16 Sep 2020 14:00:00 -0000 On The I Ching full 82 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the great Chinese oracle. The Book of Changes, or I Ching, is more than an ancient text. It's a metaphysical guide, a fun game, and -- to your hosts at least -- a lifelong, steadfast friend. The I Ching has come up more than once on the show, and now is the time for JF and Phil to face it head on, discussing the role it has played in their lives while delving into some of its mysteries. REFERENCES I Ching, Wilhelm-Baynes translation I Ching, Stephen Karcher translation Game of Thrones, HBO series George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire George R. R. Martin, “Sandkings” in: Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories H. P. Lovecraft, American writer Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy Aleister Crowley, “777” Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Cannibal Metaphysics Joel Biroco, Calling Crane in the Shade (website) Philip K. Dick, American novelist Lionel Snell, a.k.a. Ramsey Dukes, British occultist Richard Rutt, _Zhouyi: A New Translation with Commentary _ Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast Redmond and Hon, Teaching the I Ching Weird Studies, episode 72, On the castrati Weird Studies, episode 77, On the fool tarot card Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot The Usual Suspects (movie) Colin Wilson, The Occult Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The Book of Changes, or I Ching, is more than an ancient text. It's a metaphysical guide, a fun game, and -- to your hosts at least -- a lifelong, steadfast friend. The I Ching has come up more than once on the show, and now is the time for JF and Phil to face it head on, discussing the role it has played in their lives while delving into some of its mysteries.

REFERENCES

I Ching, Wilhelm-Baynes translation
I Ching, Stephen Karcher translation
Game of Thrones, HBO series
George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire
George R. R. Martin, “Sandkings” in: Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories
H. P. Lovecraft, American writer
Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy
Aleister Crowley, “777”
Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Cannibal Metaphysics
Joel Biroco, Calling Crane in the Shade (website)
Philip K. Dick, American novelist
Lionel Snell, a.k.a. Ramsey Dukes, British occultist
Richard Rutt, _Zhouyi: A New Translation with Commentary _
Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast
Redmond and Hon, Teaching the I Ching
Weird Studies, episode 72, On the castrati
Weird Studies, episode 77, On the fool tarot card
Anonymous, Meditations on the Tarot
The Usual Suspects (movie)
Colin Wilson, The Occult

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]]> 5416 yes Episode 81: Gnostic Lit: On M. John Harrison's 'The Course of the Heart' https://www.weirdstudies.com/81 The British writer M. John Harrison is responsible for some of the most significant incursions of the Weird into the literary imagination of the last several decades. His 1992 novel The Course of the Heart is a masterful exercise in erasing whatever boundary you care to mention, from the one between reality and mind to the one between love and horror. Recounting the lives of three friends as they play out the fateful aftermath of a magical operation that went horribly wrong, Harrison's novel gives Phil and JF the chance to talk contemporary literature, metaphysics, Gnosticism, zones (see episodes 13 & 14), myth, transcendence, history, and arachnology. Together, they weave a fragile web of ideas centered on that imperceptible something that forever trembles at the edge of our perception, beckoning us to step into its world, and out of ours. REFERENCES M. John Harrison, The Course of the Heart M. John Harrison, "The Great God Pan" Arthur Machen, The Great God Pan Philip K. Dick, Ubik Philip K. Dick, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Weird Studies, Episode 14 on Stalker Jonathan Carrol, American novelist Robert Aickman, British writer Magic Realism, literary genre Phil Ford, “An Essay on Fortuna, parts 1 and 2,” Weird Studies Patreon John Crowley, Ægypt Jorge Borges," The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim" Strange Horizons, Interview with M. John Harrison M. John Harrison on worldbuilding Thomas Ligotti, American horror writer Weird Studies subreddit Albert Camus, French philosopher David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous Spiders’ nervous systems Valentinus, gnostic theologian Simon Magus, religious figure Wiccan goddess and god Bruno Schulz, The Street of Crocodiles Weird Studies, Episode 37 with Stuart Davis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 02 Sep 2020 14:30:00 -0000 Gnostic Lit: On M. John Harrison's 'The Course of the Heart' full 81 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss M. John Harrison's masterpiece of weird fiction. The British writer M. John Harrison is responsible for some of the most significant incursions of the Weird into the literary imagination of the last several decades. His 1992 novel The Course of the Heart is a masterful exercise in erasing whatever boundary you care to mention, from the one between reality and mind to the one between love and horror. Recounting the lives of three friends as they play out the fateful aftermath of a magical operation that went horribly wrong, Harrison's novel gives Phil and JF the chance to talk contemporary literature, metaphysics, Gnosticism, zones (see episodes 13 & 14), myth, transcendence, history, and arachnology. Together, they weave a fragile web of ideas centered on that imperceptible something that forever trembles at the edge of our perception, beckoning us to step into its world, and out of ours. REFERENCES M. John Harrison, The Course of the Heart M. John Harrison, "The Great God Pan" Arthur Machen, The Great God Pan Philip K. Dick, Ubik Philip K. Dick, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Weird Studies, Episode 14 on Stalker Jonathan Carrol, American novelist Robert Aickman, British writer Magic Realism, literary genre Phil Ford, “An Essay on Fortuna, parts 1 and 2,” Weird Studies Patreon John Crowley, Ægypt Jorge Borges," The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim" Strange Horizons, Interview with M. John Harrison M. John Harrison on worldbuilding Thomas Ligotti, American horror writer Weird Studies subreddit Albert Camus, French philosopher David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous Spiders’ nervous systems Valentinus, gnostic theologian Simon Magus, religious figure Wiccan goddess and god Bruno Schulz, The Street of Crocodiles Weird Studies, Episode 37 with Stuart Davis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The British writer M. John Harrison is responsible for some of the most significant incursions of the Weird into the literary imagination of the last several decades. His 1992 novel The Course of the Heart is a masterful exercise in erasing whatever boundary you care to mention, from the one between reality and mind to the one between love and horror. Recounting the lives of three friends as they play out the fateful aftermath of a magical operation that went horribly wrong, Harrison's novel gives Phil and JF the chance to talk contemporary literature, metaphysics, Gnosticism, zones (see episodes 13 & 14), myth, transcendence, history, and arachnology. Together, they weave a fragile web of ideas centered on that imperceptible something that forever trembles at the edge of our perception, beckoning us to step into its world, and out of ours.

REFERENCES

M. John Harrison, The Course of the Heart
M. John Harrison, "The Great God Pan"
Arthur Machen, The Great God Pan
Philip K. Dick, Ubik
Philip K. Dick, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
Weird Studies, Episode 14 on Stalker
Jonathan Carrol, American novelist
Robert Aickman, British writer
Magic Realism, literary genre
Phil Ford, “An Essay on Fortuna, parts 1 and 2,” Weird Studies Patreon
John Crowley, Ægypt
Jorge Borges," The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim"
Strange Horizons, Interview with M. John Harrison
M. John Harrison on worldbuilding
Thomas Ligotti, American horror writer
Weird Studies subreddit
Albert Camus, French philosopher
David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous
Spiders’ nervous systems
Valentinus, gnostic theologian
Simon Magus, religious figure
Wiccan goddess and god
Bruno Schulz, The Street of Crocodiles
Weird Studies, Episode 37 with Stuart Davis

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]]> 4669 yes Episode 80: The Pit and the Pyramid, or, How to Beat the Philosopher's Blues https://www.weirdstudies.com/80 Your hosts' exploration of mysticism and vision in pop music continues with two powerful pieces of popular music: Radiohead's "Pyramid Song" from the 2001 album Amnesiac, and Fran Landesman and Tommy Wolf's "Ballad of the Sad Young Men," from the 1959 Broadway musical The Nervous Set. Synchronicity rears its head as the dialogue reveals how these two gems, selected by JF and Phil with no expectation that they might form a set, begin to glow when placed side by side, amplifying and focussing each other's eldritch light. This episode touches on Neoplatonic myths of spiritual ascent, African-American spirituals, Plato's realm of Forms, Gnosticism, dream visitations by the dearly departed, the travails of the Beat generation, the objectivity of hope, the implosion of America, and that particularly modern condition of the soul which Phil calls the "Philosopher's Blues." REFERENCES Radiohead, "Pyramid Song" Fran Landesman and Tommy Wolf, "The Ballad of the Sad Young Men" Edgar Allan Poe, "The Pit and the Pendulum" Charles Mingus, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Plato, Phaedrus Plato, Republic Plato's Unwritten Doctrines The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast, episode 69: "Plutarch's Myths of Cosmic Ascent" William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience Pierre Hadot, French philosopher Algis Uzdavynis, Philosophy as a Rite of Rebirth: From Ancient Egypt to Neoplatonism Charles Taylor, Canadian philosopher Phil Ford, "The Philosopher’s Blues" (Weird Studies Patreon exclusive) Peter Sloterdijk, German philosopher Ferdinand de Saussure, French linguist JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice JF Martel, "Stay With Mystery: Hiroshima Mon Amour, Melancholia, and the Truth of Extinction" in Canadian Notes & Queries, issue 106: Winter 2020, edited by Sharon English and Patricia Robertson Ray Brassier, Nihil Unbound: Enlightenment and Extinction Jay Landesman and Theodore J. Flicker, The Nervous Set, musical Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Jay Landesman, American publisher and writer Marshall McLuhan, "The Psychopathology of 'Time & Life'" Marshall McLuhan, The Mechanical Bride: Folklore of Industrial Man William Butler Yeats, "Sailing to Byzantium" Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men Mike Duncan (Twitter) Jeff Chang, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation Karl Marx, Capital: Volume I Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 19 Aug 2020 14:30:00 -0000 The Pit and the Pyramid, or, How to Beat the Philosopher's Blues full 80 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the Neoplatonism of Radiohead and the dark side of Beat culture, as revealed on Broadway. Your hosts' exploration of mysticism and vision in pop music continues with two powerful pieces of popular music: Radiohead's "Pyramid Song" from the 2001 album Amnesiac, and Fran Landesman and Tommy Wolf's "Ballad of the Sad Young Men," from the 1959 Broadway musical The Nervous Set. Synchronicity rears its head as the dialogue reveals how these two gems, selected by JF and Phil with no expectation that they might form a set, begin to glow when placed side by side, amplifying and focussing each other's eldritch light. This episode touches on Neoplatonic myths of spiritual ascent, African-American spirituals, Plato's realm of Forms, Gnosticism, dream visitations by the dearly departed, the travails of the Beat generation, the objectivity of hope, the implosion of America, and that particularly modern condition of the soul which Phil calls the "Philosopher's Blues." REFERENCES Radiohead, "Pyramid Song" Fran Landesman and Tommy Wolf, "The Ballad of the Sad Young Men" Edgar Allan Poe, "The Pit and the Pendulum" Charles Mingus, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Plato, Phaedrus Plato, Republic Plato's Unwritten Doctrines The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast, episode 69: "Plutarch's Myths of Cosmic Ascent" William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience Pierre Hadot, French philosopher Algis Uzdavynis, Philosophy as a Rite of Rebirth: From Ancient Egypt to Neoplatonism Charles Taylor, Canadian philosopher Phil Ford, "The Philosopher’s Blues" (Weird Studies Patreon exclusive) Peter Sloterdijk, German philosopher Ferdinand de Saussure, French linguist JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice JF Martel, "Stay With Mystery: Hiroshima Mon Amour, Melancholia, and the Truth of Extinction" in Canadian Notes & Queries, issue 106: Winter 2020, edited by Sharon English and Patricia Robertson Ray Brassier, Nihil Unbound: Enlightenment and Extinction Jay Landesman and Theodore J. Flicker, The Nervous Set, musical Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Jay Landesman, American publisher and writer Marshall McLuhan, "The Psychopathology of 'Time & Life'" Marshall McLuhan, The Mechanical Bride: Folklore of Industrial Man William Butler Yeats, "Sailing to Byzantium" Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men Mike Duncan (Twitter) Jeff Chang, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation Karl Marx, Capital: Volume I Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Your hosts' exploration of mysticism and vision in pop music continues with two powerful pieces of popular music: Radiohead's "Pyramid Song" from the 2001 album Amnesiac, and Fran Landesman and Tommy Wolf's "Ballad of the Sad Young Men," from the 1959 Broadway musical The Nervous Set. Synchronicity rears its head as the dialogue reveals how these two gems, selected by JF and Phil with no expectation that they might form a set, begin to glow when placed side by side, amplifying and focussing each other's eldritch light. This episode touches on Neoplatonic myths of spiritual ascent, African-American spirituals, Plato's realm of Forms, Gnosticism, dream visitations by the dearly departed, the travails of the Beat generation, the objectivity of hope, the implosion of America, and that particularly modern condition of the soul which Phil calls the "Philosopher's Blues."

REFERENCES

Radiohead, "Pyramid Song"
Fran Landesman and Tommy Wolf, "The Ballad of the Sad Young Men"

Edgar Allan Poe, "The Pit and the Pendulum"
Charles Mingus, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus
Plato, Phaedrus
Plato, Republic
Plato's Unwritten Doctrines
The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast, episode 69: "Plutarch's Myths of Cosmic Ascent"
William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience
Pierre Hadot, French philosopher
Algis Uzdavynis, Philosophy as a Rite of Rebirth: From Ancient Egypt to Neoplatonism
Charles Taylor, Canadian philosopher
Phil Ford, "The Philosopher’s Blues" (Weird Studies Patreon exclusive)
Peter Sloterdijk, German philosopher
Ferdinand de Saussure, French linguist
JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice
JF Martel, "Stay With Mystery: Hiroshima Mon Amour, Melancholia, and the Truth of Extinction" in Canadian Notes & Queries, issue 106: Winter 2020, edited by Sharon English and Patricia Robertson
Ray Brassier, Nihil Unbound: Enlightenment and Extinction
Jay Landesman and Theodore J. Flicker, The Nervous Set, musical
Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture
Jay Landesman, American publisher and writer
Marshall McLuhan, "The Psychopathology of 'Time & Life'"
Marshall McLuhan, The Mechanical Bride: Folklore of Industrial Man
William Butler Yeats, "Sailing to Byzantium"
Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men
Mike Duncan (Twitter)
Jeff Chang, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
Karl Marx, Capital: Volume I

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]]> 4682 yes Episode 79: Love, Death, and the Dream Life https://www.weirdstudies.com/79 In this episode of Weird Studies, an improvised analysis of two pop songs -- Nina Simone's version of James Shelton's "Lilac Wine" and Ghostface Killah's visionary "Underwater" -- becomes the occasion for a deep dive to the weird wellspring of artistic creation. In trying to understand these songs and why they love them so much, your hosts touch on themes such as necromancy, decadence, liebestod, visionary experience, the Muslim image of paradise, the necessity of rifts, Norman Mailer's concept of "dream life," and the magical operation that is sampling. Header image: Boris Kasimov, Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES James Shelton, "Lilac Wine" Nina Simone, "Lilac Wine" from the album WIld is the Wind (1966) Ghostface Killah, "Underwater, from the album Fishscale (2006) MF Doom, "Orange Blossoms," from the album Special Herbs, Volume 4, 5 & 6 Richard Strauss, [Salome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salome(opera))_ Weird Studies, episode 25: David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch C. G. Jung's practice of active imagination JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Thomas Mann, Death in Venice Paul Horn, Visions Alexander Mackendrick (dir.), The Sweet Smell of Success Les Baxter, American composer Les Baxter, "Papagayo" Debussy, [Nocturnes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnes(Debussy))_ Rebecca Leydon, music scholar Weird Studies episodes 73 and 74, on C. G. Jung's aesthetic vision Alexander Courage, Theme from Star Trek ("Where No Man Has Gone Before") Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene Norman Mailer, “Superman Comes to the Supermarket" James Joyce, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 05 Aug 2020 14:30:00 -0000 Love, Death, and the Dream Life full 79 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss decadence and vision in Nina Simone's rendition of "Lilac Wine" and Ghostface Killah's "Underwater." In this episode of Weird Studies, an improvised analysis of two pop songs -- Nina Simone's version of James Shelton's "Lilac Wine" and Ghostface Killah's visionary "Underwater" -- becomes the occasion for a deep dive to the weird wellspring of artistic creation. In trying to understand these songs and why they love them so much, your hosts touch on themes such as necromancy, decadence, liebestod, visionary experience, the Muslim image of paradise, the necessity of rifts, Norman Mailer's concept of "dream life," and the magical operation that is sampling. Header image: Boris Kasimov, Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES James Shelton, "Lilac Wine" Nina Simone, "Lilac Wine" from the album WIld is the Wind (1966) Ghostface Killah, "Underwater, from the album Fishscale (2006) MF Doom, "Orange Blossoms," from the album Special Herbs, Volume 4, 5 & 6 Richard Strauss, [Salome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salome(opera))_ Weird Studies, episode 25: David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch C. G. Jung's practice of active imagination JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Thomas Mann, Death in Venice Paul Horn, Visions Alexander Mackendrick (dir.), The Sweet Smell of Success Les Baxter, American composer Les Baxter, "Papagayo" Debussy, [Nocturnes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnes(Debussy))_ Rebecca Leydon, music scholar Weird Studies episodes 73 and 74, on C. G. Jung's aesthetic vision Alexander Courage, Theme from Star Trek ("Where No Man Has Gone Before") Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene Norman Mailer, “Superman Comes to the Supermarket" James Joyce, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this episode of Weird Studies, an improvised analysis of two pop songs -- Nina Simone's version of James Shelton's "Lilac Wine" and Ghostface Killah's visionary "Underwater" -- becomes the occasion for a deep dive to the weird wellspring of artistic creation. In trying to understand these songs and why they love them so much, your hosts touch on themes such as necromancy, decadence, liebestod, visionary experience, the Muslim image of paradise, the necessity of rifts, Norman Mailer's concept of "dream life," and the magical operation that is sampling.

Header image: Boris Kasimov, Wikimedia Commons

REFERENCES

James Shelton, "Lilac Wine"
Nina Simone, "Lilac Wine" from the album WIld is the Wind (1966)
Ghostface Killah, "Underwater, from the album Fishscale (2006)
MF Doom, "Orange Blossoms," from the album Special Herbs, Volume 4, 5 & 6
Richard Strauss, [Salome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salome(opera))_
Weird Studies, episode 25: David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch
C. G. Jung's practice of active imagination
JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice
Thomas Mann, Death in Venice
Paul Horn, Visions
Alexander Mackendrick (dir.), The Sweet Smell of Success
Les Baxter, American composer
Les Baxter, "Papagayo"
Debussy, [Nocturnes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnes(Debussy))_
Rebecca Leydon, music scholar
Weird Studies episodes 73 and 74, on C. G. Jung's aesthetic vision
Alexander Courage, Theme from Star Trek ("Where No Man Has Gone Before")
Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene
Norman Mailer, “Superman Comes to the Supermarket"
James Joyce, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake

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]]> 3908 yes Episode 78: On John Keel's 'The Mothman Prophecies' https://www.weirdstudies.com/78 At the time The Mothman Prophecies' was released in 1975, and again when he penned an afterword for the 2001 edition, John Keel appeared to have made up his mind about the "ultraterrestrials" that he had tracked and hunted for most of his adult life. They were unconcerned about the welfare of the people whose lives they threw into disarray, he said. They were liars, cheats, and frauds who refused to play fair. They saw good and evil as synonymous and they were dangerous. Like many other explorers of reality's uncharted waters, John Keel returned to port knowing less than he did (or thought he did) when he set out. And this led him to ponder the possibility that only thing to know about such matters is that there is nothing to know -- that the universal mind, as Charles Fort had suggested before him, was insane. In this episode of Weird Studies, JF and Phil share their thoughts on The Mothman Prophecies, focusing less on the creatures and events that haunted Point Pleasant in 1966-67 than on how these things affected the brilliant writer who was chosen to be their baffled chronicler. REFERENCES John A. Keel, The Mothman Prophecies: A True Story William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch Stephanie Quick's blog Weird Studies talks to Jeffrey J. Kripal: episode 39 and episode 45 H. P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu" Neil Gaiman, American Gods Jeffrey J. Kripal, Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal David Lynch's Twin Peaks David Lynch, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Bob Lazar, American engineer (?) William James, American philosopher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 22 Jul 2020 14:30:00 -0000 On John Keel's 'The Mothman Prophecies' full 78 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss John Keel's classic work of weird nonfiction. At the time The Mothman Prophecies' was released in 1975, and again when he penned an afterword for the 2001 edition, John Keel appeared to have made up his mind about the "ultraterrestrials" that he had tracked and hunted for most of his adult life. They were unconcerned about the welfare of the people whose lives they threw into disarray, he said. They were liars, cheats, and frauds who refused to play fair. They saw good and evil as synonymous and they were dangerous. Like many other explorers of reality's uncharted waters, John Keel returned to port knowing less than he did (or thought he did) when he set out. And this led him to ponder the possibility that only thing to know about such matters is that there is nothing to know -- that the universal mind, as Charles Fort had suggested before him, was insane. In this episode of Weird Studies, JF and Phil share their thoughts on The Mothman Prophecies, focusing less on the creatures and events that haunted Point Pleasant in 1966-67 than on how these things affected the brilliant writer who was chosen to be their baffled chronicler. REFERENCES John A. Keel, The Mothman Prophecies: A True Story William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch Stephanie Quick's blog Weird Studies talks to Jeffrey J. Kripal: episode 39 and episode 45 H. P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu" Neil Gaiman, American Gods Jeffrey J. Kripal, Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal David Lynch's Twin Peaks David Lynch, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Bob Lazar, American engineer (?) William James, American philosopher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices At the time The Mothman Prophecies' was released in 1975, and again when he penned an afterword for the 2001 edition, John Keel appeared to have made up his mind about the "ultraterrestrials" that he had tracked and hunted for most of his adult life. They were unconcerned about the welfare of the people whose lives they threw into disarray, he said. They were liars, cheats, and frauds who refused to play fair. They saw good and evil as synonymous and they were dangerous. Like many other explorers of reality's uncharted waters, John Keel returned to port knowing less than he did (or thought he did) when he set out. And this led him to ponder the possibility that only thing to know about such matters is that there is nothing to know -- that the universal mind, as Charles Fort had suggested before him, was insane. In this episode of Weird Studies, JF and Phil share their thoughts on The Mothman Prophecies, focusing less on the creatures and events that haunted Point Pleasant in 1966-67 than on how these things affected the brilliant writer who was chosen to be their baffled chronicler.

REFERENCES

John A. Keel, The Mothman Prophecies: A True Story
William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch
Stephanie Quick's blog
Weird Studies talks to Jeffrey J. Kripal: episode 39 and episode 45
H. P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"
Neil Gaiman, American Gods
Jeffrey J. Kripal, Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal
David Lynch's Twin Peaks
David Lynch, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Bob Lazar, American engineer (?)
William James, American philosopher

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]]> 4458 yes Episode 77: What a Fool Believes: On the Unnumbered Card in the Tarot https://www.weirdstudies.com/77 "What a fool believes he sees, no wise man can reason away." This line from a Doobie Brothers song is probably one of the most profound in the history of rock-'n'-roll. It is profound for all the reasons (or unreasons) explored in this discussion, which lasers in on just one of the major trumps of the traditional tarot deck, that of the Fool. The Fool is integral to the world, yet stands outside it. The Fool is an idiot but also a sage. The Fool does not know; s/he intuits, improvises a path through the brambles of existence. We intend this episode on the Fool to be the first in an occasional series covering all twenty-two of the major trumps of the Tarot of Marseilles. REFERENCES The Fool in the tarot St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey Into Christian Hermeticism Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Plato, Phaedrus Weird Studies episode 60 - Space is the Place: On Sun Ra, Gnosticism, and the Tarot Till Eulenspiegel, folk figure Aleister Crowley, Magick Without Tears Weird Studies episode 75 - Our Old Friend the Monolith: On Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey Weird Studies episode 76 - Below the Abyss: On Bergson's Metaphysics Rider-Waite Tarot Deck Richard Wagner, Parsifal G. W. F. Hegel, German philosopher Ramsey Dukes, Words Made Flesh: Information in Formation George Spencer Brown, Laws of Form Alain Badiou, Deleuze: The Clamor of Being Punch and Judy, British puppet show George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living Thomas Mann, Death in Venice Phil Ford's lecture on Death in Venice (Patreon exclusive!) Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Idiot Hal Ashby (dir.), Being There Alejandro Jodorowsky and Marianne Costa, The Way of the Tarot Frank Pavich (dir.), Jodorowsky’s Dune Tarot of Marseilles André Breton, French surrealist artist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 08 Jul 2020 14:30:00 -0000 What a Fool Believes: On the Unnumbered Card in the Tarot full 77 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the figure of the Fool in the tarot, society, and literature. "What a fool believes he sees, no wise man can reason away." This line from a Doobie Brothers song is probably one of the most profound in the history of rock-'n'-roll. It is profound for all the reasons (or unreasons) explored in this discussion, which lasers in on just one of the major trumps of the traditional tarot deck, that of the Fool. The Fool is integral to the world, yet stands outside it. The Fool is an idiot but also a sage. The Fool does not know; s/he intuits, improvises a path through the brambles of existence. We intend this episode on the Fool to be the first in an occasional series covering all twenty-two of the major trumps of the Tarot of Marseilles. REFERENCES The Fool in the tarot St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey Into Christian Hermeticism Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Plato, Phaedrus Weird Studies episode 60 - Space is the Place: On Sun Ra, Gnosticism, and the Tarot Till Eulenspiegel, folk figure Aleister Crowley, Magick Without Tears Weird Studies episode 75 - Our Old Friend the Monolith: On Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey Weird Studies episode 76 - Below the Abyss: On Bergson's Metaphysics Rider-Waite Tarot Deck Richard Wagner, Parsifal G. W. F. Hegel, German philosopher Ramsey Dukes, Words Made Flesh: Information in Formation George Spencer Brown, Laws of Form Alain Badiou, Deleuze: The Clamor of Being Punch and Judy, British puppet show George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living Thomas Mann, Death in Venice Phil Ford's lecture on Death in Venice (Patreon exclusive!) Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Idiot Hal Ashby (dir.), Being There Alejandro Jodorowsky and Marianne Costa, The Way of the Tarot Frank Pavich (dir.), Jodorowsky’s Dune Tarot of Marseilles André Breton, French surrealist artist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices "What a fool believes he sees, no wise man can reason away." This line from a Doobie Brothers song is probably one of the most profound in the history of rock-'n'-roll. It is profound for all the reasons (or unreasons) explored in this discussion, which lasers in on just one of the major trumps of the traditional tarot deck, that of the Fool. The Fool is integral to the world, yet stands outside it. The Fool is an idiot but also a sage. The Fool does not know; s/he intuits, improvises a path through the brambles of existence. We intend this episode on the Fool to be the first in an occasional series covering all twenty-two of the major trumps of the Tarot of Marseilles.

REFERENCES

The Fool in the tarot
St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians
Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey Into Christian Hermeticism
Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth
Plato, Phaedrus
Weird Studies episode 60 - Space is the Place: On Sun Ra, Gnosticism, and the Tarot
Till Eulenspiegel, folk figure
Aleister Crowley, Magick Without Tears
Weird Studies episode 75 - Our Old Friend the Monolith: On Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey
Weird Studies episode 76 - Below the Abyss: On Bergson's Metaphysics
Rider-Waite Tarot Deck
Richard Wagner, Parsifal
G. W. F. Hegel, German philosopher
Ramsey Dukes, Words Made Flesh: Information in Formation
George Spencer Brown, Laws of Form
Alain Badiou, Deleuze: The Clamor of Being
Punch and Judy, British puppet show
George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal
Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living
Thomas Mann, Death in Venice
Phil Ford's lecture on Death in Venice (Patreon exclusive!)
Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Idiot
Hal Ashby (dir.), Being There
Alejandro Jodorowsky and Marianne Costa, The Way of the Tarot
Frank Pavich (dir.), Jodorowsky’s Dune
Tarot of Marseilles
André Breton, French surrealist artist

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]]> 4144 yes Episode 76: Below the Abyss: On Bergson's Metaphysics https://www.weirdstudies.com/76 According to the French philosopher Henri Bergson, there are two ways of knowing the world: through analysis or through intuition. Analysis is our normal mode of apprehension. It involves knowing what's out there through the accumulation and comparison of concepts. Intuition is a direct engagement with the absolute, with the world as it exists before we starting tinkering with it conceptually. Bergson believed that Western metaphysics erred from the get-go when it gave in to the all-too-human urge to take the concepts by which we know things for the things themselves. His entire oeuvre was an attempt to snap us out of that spell and plug us directly into the flow of pure duration, that primordial time that is the real Real. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss the genius -- and possible limitations -- of his metaphysics. REFERENCES Henri Bergson, "Introduction to Metaphysics" Weird Studies episode 13 -- The Obscure: On the Philosophy of Heraclitus Weird Studies episode 16: On Dogen Zenji's 'Genjokoan' Bertrand Russel's critique of Bergson's philosophy Dōgen Zenji, Shōbōgenzō Wiliam James, Principles of Psychology Plato, Theaetetus Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency Aleister Crowley, British occultist Graham Harman, "The Third Table" Weird Studies episode 8 - On Graham Harman's "The Third Table" Bergson, Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 24 Jun 2020 14:00:00 -0000 Below the Abyss: On Bergson's Metaphysics full 76 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Henri Bergson's 1903 essay, "Introduction to Metaphysics." According to the French philosopher Henri Bergson, there are two ways of knowing the world: through analysis or through intuition. Analysis is our normal mode of apprehension. It involves knowing what's out there through the accumulation and comparison of concepts. Intuition is a direct engagement with the absolute, with the world as it exists before we starting tinkering with it conceptually. Bergson believed that Western metaphysics erred from the get-go when it gave in to the all-too-human urge to take the concepts by which we know things for the things themselves. His entire oeuvre was an attempt to snap us out of that spell and plug us directly into the flow of pure duration, that primordial time that is the real Real. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss the genius -- and possible limitations -- of his metaphysics. REFERENCES Henri Bergson, "Introduction to Metaphysics" Weird Studies episode 13 -- The Obscure: On the Philosophy of Heraclitus Weird Studies episode 16: On Dogen Zenji's 'Genjokoan' Bertrand Russel's critique of Bergson's philosophy Dōgen Zenji, Shōbōgenzō Wiliam James, Principles of Psychology Plato, Theaetetus Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency Aleister Crowley, British occultist Graham Harman, "The Third Table" Weird Studies episode 8 - On Graham Harman's "The Third Table" Bergson, Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices According to the French philosopher Henri Bergson, there are two ways of knowing the world: through analysis or through intuition. Analysis is our normal mode of apprehension. It involves knowing what's out there through the accumulation and comparison of concepts. Intuition is a direct engagement with the absolute, with the world as it exists before we starting tinkering with it conceptually. Bergson believed that Western metaphysics erred from the get-go when it gave in to the all-too-human urge to take the concepts by which we know things for the things themselves. His entire oeuvre was an attempt to snap us out of that spell and plug us directly into the flow of pure duration, that primordial time that is the real Real. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss the genius -- and possible limitations -- of his metaphysics.

REFERENCES

Henri Bergson, "Introduction to Metaphysics"
Weird Studies episode 13 -- The Obscure: On the Philosophy of Heraclitus
Weird Studies episode 16: On Dogen Zenji's 'Genjokoan'
Bertrand Russel's critique of Bergson's philosophy
Dōgen Zenji, Shōbōgenzō
Wiliam James, Principles of Psychology
Plato, Theaetetus
Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency
Aleister Crowley, British occultist
Graham Harman, "The Third Table"
Weird Studies episode 8 - On Graham Harman's "The Third Table"
Bergson, Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic
Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

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]]> 4741 yes Bonus: The Duke of Ellington https://www.weirdstudies.com/duke When the quarantine began, professors around the world raced to put their classes online, and for the Jacobs School's big undergraduate music history course (M402 represent!) Phil created a series of solo podcasts, many of which have been appearing on the Weird Studies Patreon site. Our patrons seem to be enjoying them, so we thought we'd publish the first one ("The Duke of Ellington") as an off-week bonus for all our listeners, partly as a teaser for the subscriber-only stuff on Patreon and partly because Duke Ellington is cool. There's a bit of technical music talk in this, but you can ignore it and still get the main point: Ellington's early short film Symphony in Black and his subsequent orchestral suite Black Brown and Beige represent his lifelong project of using his "beyond category" music to articulate a vision of African American past and future. Please note: this was Phil's first attempt at doing a solo podcast in far-from-ideal circumstances, and the sound is pretty unpolished in places. He got his act together for the later ones; go check them out at https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudies. REFERENCES Fred Waller (dir.), Symphony In Black - A Rhapsody of Negro Life Duke Ellington, Black, Brown, and Beige Dudley Murphy (dir.), Black and Tan Fantasy John Howland, Ellington Uptown: Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson, and the Birth of Concert Jazz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Thu, 18 Jun 2020 12:00:00 -0000 full SpectreVision Radio Weird Studies presents the first of Phil's solo music history podcasts as an off-week bonus. When the quarantine began, professors around the world raced to put their classes online, and for the Jacobs School's big undergraduate music history course (M402 represent!) Phil created a series of solo podcasts, many of which have been appearing on the Weird Studies Patreon site. Our patrons seem to be enjoying them, so we thought we'd publish the first one ("The Duke of Ellington") as an off-week bonus for all our listeners, partly as a teaser for the subscriber-only stuff on Patreon and partly because Duke Ellington is cool. There's a bit of technical music talk in this, but you can ignore it and still get the main point: Ellington's early short film Symphony in Black and his subsequent orchestral suite Black Brown and Beige represent his lifelong project of using his "beyond category" music to articulate a vision of African American past and future. Please note: this was Phil's first attempt at doing a solo podcast in far-from-ideal circumstances, and the sound is pretty unpolished in places. He got his act together for the later ones; go check them out at https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudies. REFERENCES Fred Waller (dir.), Symphony In Black - A Rhapsody of Negro Life Duke Ellington, Black, Brown, and Beige Dudley Murphy (dir.), Black and Tan Fantasy John Howland, Ellington Uptown: Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson, and the Birth of Concert Jazz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices When the quarantine began, professors around the world raced to put their classes online, and for the Jacobs School's big undergraduate music history course (M402 represent!) Phil created a series of solo podcasts, many of which have been appearing on the Weird Studies Patreon site. Our patrons seem to be enjoying them, so we thought we'd publish the first one ("The Duke of Ellington") as an off-week bonus for all our listeners, partly as a teaser for the subscriber-only stuff on Patreon and partly because Duke Ellington is cool. There's a bit of technical music talk in this, but you can ignore it and still get the main point: Ellington's early short film Symphony in Black and his subsequent orchestral suite Black Brown and Beige represent his lifelong project of using his "beyond category" music to articulate a vision of African American past and future.

Please note: this was Phil's first attempt at doing a solo podcast in far-from-ideal circumstances, and the sound is pretty unpolished in places. He got his act together for the later ones; go check them out at https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudies.

REFERENCES

Fred Waller (dir.), Symphony In Black - A Rhapsody of Negro Life
Duke Ellington, Black, Brown, and Beige
Dudley Murphy (dir.), Black and Tan Fantasy
John Howland, Ellington Uptown: Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson, and the Birth of Concert Jazz

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]]> 3870 no Episode 75: Our Old Friend the Monolith: On Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' https://www.weirdstudies.com/75 "You don't find reality only in your own backyard, you know," Stanley Kubrick once told an interviewer. "In fact, sometimes that's the last place you'll find it." Oddly, this episode of Weird Studies begins with Phil Ford hatching the idea of putting a replica of the monolith from 2001 in his backyard. As the ensuing discussion suggests, this would amount to putting reality -- or the Real, as we like to call it -- in the place where it may be least apparent. Perhaps that is what Kubrick did when he planted his monolithic film in thousands of movie theatres back in 1968. Moviegoers went in expecting a Kubrickian twist on Buck Rogers; they came out changed by the experience, much like the hominids of great veld in the "Dawn of Man" sequence that opens the film. This is what all great art does, and if you look closely, maybe 2001 can tell you something about how it does it. Because in the end, the film is the monolith, and the monolith is all art. REFERENCES Stanley Kubrick (dir.), 2001: A Space Odyssey Arthur C. Clarke, "The Sentinel" Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey (novel) Clement Greenberg, American art critic Stanley Kubrick (dir.), The Shining Sergei Eisenstein, Film Form: Essays in Film Theory Weird Studies episode 62: It's Like "The Shining," But With Nuns: On "Black Narcissus" Ligeti, Atmosphères Gerard Loughlin, Alien Sex: The Body and Desire in Cinema and Theology Jay Weidner, Kubrick's Odyssey: Secrets Hidden in the Films of Stanley Kubrick Rob Ager's analysis of 2001 (Ager was criticized for not citing Loughlin above) Eric Norton's Playboy interview with Stanley Kubrick J. F. Martel, "The Kubrick Gaze" in Daniel Pinchbeck & Ken Jordan (eds.), Toward 2012: Perspectives on the Next Age J. F. Martel, "The Future is Immanent: Speculations on a Possible World" Henri Bergson, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion Sid Meier's Civilization V Stanley Kubrick (dir.), Dr Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Stanley Kubrick (dir.), A Clockwork Orange Dziga Vertov, Kino-Eye: The Writings of Dziga Vertov Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media Martin Heidegger, "The Question Concerning Technology" Gilbert Ryle, "Improvisation" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 10 Jun 2020 17:30:00 -0000 Our Old Friend the Monolith: On Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' full 75 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss a film they've been bringing up since the beginning of the podcast: Kubrick's masterful 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). "You don't find reality only in your own backyard, you know," Stanley Kubrick once told an interviewer. "In fact, sometimes that's the last place you'll find it." Oddly, this episode of Weird Studies begins with Phil Ford hatching the idea of putting a replica of the monolith from 2001 in his backyard. As the ensuing discussion suggests, this would amount to putting reality -- or the Real, as we like to call it -- in the place where it may be least apparent. Perhaps that is what Kubrick did when he planted his monolithic film in thousands of movie theatres back in 1968. Moviegoers went in expecting a Kubrickian twist on Buck Rogers; they came out changed by the experience, much like the hominids of great veld in the "Dawn of Man" sequence that opens the film. This is what all great art does, and if you look closely, maybe 2001 can tell you something about how it does it. Because in the end, the film is the monolith, and the monolith is all art. REFERENCES Stanley Kubrick (dir.), 2001: A Space Odyssey Arthur C. Clarke, "The Sentinel" Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey (novel) Clement Greenberg, American art critic Stanley Kubrick (dir.), The Shining Sergei Eisenstein, Film Form: Essays in Film Theory Weird Studies episode 62: It's Like "The Shining," But With Nuns: On "Black Narcissus" Ligeti, Atmosphères Gerard Loughlin, Alien Sex: The Body and Desire in Cinema and Theology Jay Weidner, Kubrick's Odyssey: Secrets Hidden in the Films of Stanley Kubrick Rob Ager's analysis of 2001 (Ager was criticized for not citing Loughlin above) Eric Norton's Playboy interview with Stanley Kubrick J. F. Martel, "The Kubrick Gaze" in Daniel Pinchbeck & Ken Jordan (eds.), Toward 2012: Perspectives on the Next Age J. F. Martel, "The Future is Immanent: Speculations on a Possible World" Henri Bergson, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion Sid Meier's Civilization V Stanley Kubrick (dir.), Dr Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Stanley Kubrick (dir.), A Clockwork Orange Dziga Vertov, Kino-Eye: The Writings of Dziga Vertov Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media Martin Heidegger, "The Question Concerning Technology" Gilbert Ryle, "Improvisation" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices "You don't find reality only in your own backyard, you know," Stanley Kubrick once told an interviewer. "In fact, sometimes that's the last place you'll find it." Oddly, this episode of Weird Studies begins with Phil Ford hatching the idea of putting a replica of the monolith from 2001 in his backyard. As the ensuing discussion suggests, this would amount to putting reality -- or the Real, as we like to call it -- in the place where it may be least apparent. Perhaps that is what Kubrick did when he planted his monolithic film in thousands of movie theatres back in 1968. Moviegoers went in expecting a Kubrickian twist on Buck Rogers; they came out changed by the experience, much like the hominids of great veld in the "Dawn of Man" sequence that opens the film. This is what all great art does, and if you look closely, maybe 2001 can tell you something about how it does it. Because in the end, the film is the monolith, and the monolith is all art.

REFERENCES

Stanley Kubrick (dir.), 2001: A Space Odyssey
Arthur C. Clarke, "The Sentinel"
Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey (novel)
Clement Greenberg, American art critic
Stanley Kubrick (dir.), The Shining
Sergei Eisenstein, Film Form: Essays in Film Theory
Weird Studies episode 62: It's Like "The Shining," But With Nuns: On "Black Narcissus"
Ligeti, Atmosphères
Gerard Loughlin, Alien Sex: The Body and Desire in Cinema and Theology
Jay Weidner, Kubrick's Odyssey: Secrets Hidden in the Films of Stanley Kubrick
Rob Ager's analysis of 2001 (Ager was criticized for not citing Loughlin above)
Eric Norton's Playboy interview with Stanley Kubrick
J. F. Martel, "The Kubrick Gaze" in Daniel Pinchbeck & Ken Jordan (eds.), Toward 2012: Perspectives on the Next Age
J. F. Martel, "The Future is Immanent: Speculations on a Possible World"
Henri Bergson, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion
Sid Meier's Civilization V
Stanley Kubrick (dir.), Dr Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Stanley Kubrick (dir.), A Clockwork Orange
Dziga Vertov, Kino-Eye: The Writings of Dziga Vertov
Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media
Martin Heidegger, "The Question Concerning Technology"
Gilbert Ryle, "Improvisation"

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]]> 5220 yes Episode 74: A Luminous Parasite: Jung on Art, Part Two https://www.weirdstudies.com/74 In this second part of their exploration of C. G. Jung's essay "On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry," JF and Phil try to discern the psychological and metaphysical implications of the great Swiss psychologist's theory of art. For one, this involves discussing what Jung meant by archetypes, and how these relate to the artists who bring them forth in artistic works. This in turn leads to a discussion of the emergent artwork as an "autonomous complex," that is, as a self-moving spirit that requires the artist merely as a conduit for its manifestation in human -- and cosmic -- history. REFERENCES Carl Gustav Jung, "On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry" Arthur Machen, "Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy" Rick Riordan, [Percy Jackson & the Olympians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Jackson%26_the_Olympians)_ series of novels Robert Altman (director), Nashville Homer, The Odyssey Jacques Offenbach, The Tales of Hoffmann E. T. A. Hoffmann, "The Sandman" David Lynch, American filmmaker (the Dionysian!) Stanley Kubrick, American filmmaker (the Apollonian!) Richard Wagner's idea of Gesamtkunstwerk William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch Johannes Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance, and JF's analysis thereof Lisa Ruddick, "When Nothing is Cool" Weird Studies episode 5: Reading Lisa Ruddick's "When Nothing is Cool" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 27 May 2020 17:30:00 -0000 A Luminous Parasite: Jung on Art, Part Two full 74 SpectreVision Radio The second part of Phil and JF's discussion C. G. Jung's conception of art. In this second part of their exploration of C. G. Jung's essay "On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry," JF and Phil try to discern the psychological and metaphysical implications of the great Swiss psychologist's theory of art. For one, this involves discussing what Jung meant by archetypes, and how these relate to the artists who bring them forth in artistic works. This in turn leads to a discussion of the emergent artwork as an "autonomous complex," that is, as a self-moving spirit that requires the artist merely as a conduit for its manifestation in human -- and cosmic -- history. REFERENCES Carl Gustav Jung, "On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry" Arthur Machen, "Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy" Rick Riordan, [Percy Jackson & the Olympians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Jackson%26_the_Olympians)_ series of novels Robert Altman (director), Nashville Homer, The Odyssey Jacques Offenbach, The Tales of Hoffmann E. T. A. Hoffmann, "The Sandman" David Lynch, American filmmaker (the Dionysian!) Stanley Kubrick, American filmmaker (the Apollonian!) Richard Wagner's idea of Gesamtkunstwerk William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch Johannes Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance, and JF's analysis thereof Lisa Ruddick, "When Nothing is Cool" Weird Studies episode 5: Reading Lisa Ruddick's "When Nothing is Cool" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this second part of their exploration of C. G. Jung's essay "On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry," JF and Phil try to discern the psychological and metaphysical implications of the great Swiss psychologist's theory of art. For one, this involves discussing what Jung meant by archetypes, and how these relate to the artists who bring them forth in artistic works. This in turn leads to a discussion of the emergent artwork as an "autonomous complex," that is, as a self-moving spirit that requires the artist merely as a conduit for its manifestation in human -- and cosmic -- history.

REFERENCES

Carl Gustav Jung, "On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry"
Arthur Machen, "Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy"
Rick Riordan, [Percy Jackson & the Olympians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Jackson%26_the_Olympians)_ series of novels
Robert Altman (director), Nashville
Homer, The Odyssey
Jacques Offenbach, The Tales of Hoffmann
E. T. A. Hoffmann, "The Sandman"
David Lynch, American filmmaker (the Dionysian!)
Stanley Kubrick, American filmmaker (the Apollonian!)
Richard Wagner's idea of Gesamtkunstwerk
William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch
Johannes Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance, and JF's analysis thereof
Lisa Ruddick, "When Nothing is Cool"
Weird Studies episode 5: Reading Lisa Ruddick's "When Nothing is Cool"

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]]> 4313 yes Episode 73: Carl Jung and the Power of Art, Part One https://www.weirdstudies.com/73 This is the first of two conversations that Phil and JF are devoting to C. G. Jung's seminal essay, "On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry," first delivered in a 1922 lecture. It was in this text that Jung most clearly distilled his thoughts on the power and function of art. In this first part, your hosts focus their energies on Jung's puralistic style, opposing it not just to Freud's monism (which Jung critiques in the paper) but also to the monism of those other two "masters of suspicion," Marx and Nietzsche. For Jung, art is not a branch of psychology, economics, philosophy, or science. It constitutes its own sphere, and non-artists who would investigate the nature of art would do well to respect the line that art has drawn in the sand. Weird Studies listenters will know this line as the boundary between the general and the specific, the common and the singular, the mundane and the mystical... REFERENCES C. G. Jung, "On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry" Joshua Gunn, Modern Occult Rhetoric: Mass Media and the Drama of Secrecy in the Twentieth Century Peter Kingsley, Catafalque: Carl Jung and the End of Humanity Sigmund Freud, Austrian psychologist Kinka Usher (director), Mystery Men Theodor Adorno, “Bach Defended Against his Devotees” Aleister Crowley, English magician C. G. Jung, The Red Book: Liber Novus Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth C. G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections C. G. Jung, The Portable Jung Friedrich Nietzsche, "On the Use and Abuse of History for Life" in: Untimely Meditations Weird Studies, episode 49: Nietzsche on History Weird Studies, episode 70: Masks All the Way Down, with James Curcio Christian Kerslake, Deleuze and the Unconscious Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and Spiritual Ordeal Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher Rudolph Steiner, Austrian esotericist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 13 May 2020 15:30:00 -0000 Carl Jung and the Power of Art, Part One full 73 SpectreVision Radio The first of two conversations in which JF and Phil investigate C. G. Jung's thoughts on the psychology of artistic creation. This is the first of two conversations that Phil and JF are devoting to C. G. Jung's seminal essay, "On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry," first delivered in a 1922 lecture. It was in this text that Jung most clearly distilled his thoughts on the power and function of art. In this first part, your hosts focus their energies on Jung's puralistic style, opposing it not just to Freud's monism (which Jung critiques in the paper) but also to the monism of those other two "masters of suspicion," Marx and Nietzsche. For Jung, art is not a branch of psychology, economics, philosophy, or science. It constitutes its own sphere, and non-artists who would investigate the nature of art would do well to respect the line that art has drawn in the sand. Weird Studies listenters will know this line as the boundary between the general and the specific, the common and the singular, the mundane and the mystical... REFERENCES C. G. Jung, "On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry" Joshua Gunn, Modern Occult Rhetoric: Mass Media and the Drama of Secrecy in the Twentieth Century Peter Kingsley, Catafalque: Carl Jung and the End of Humanity Sigmund Freud, Austrian psychologist Kinka Usher (director), Mystery Men Theodor Adorno, “Bach Defended Against his Devotees” Aleister Crowley, English magician C. G. Jung, The Red Book: Liber Novus Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth C. G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections C. G. Jung, The Portable Jung Friedrich Nietzsche, "On the Use and Abuse of History for Life" in: Untimely Meditations Weird Studies, episode 49: Nietzsche on History Weird Studies, episode 70: Masks All the Way Down, with James Curcio Christian Kerslake, Deleuze and the Unconscious Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and Spiritual Ordeal Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher Rudolph Steiner, Austrian esotericist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices This is the first of two conversations that Phil and JF are devoting to C. G. Jung's seminal essay, "On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry," first delivered in a 1922 lecture. It was in this text that Jung most clearly distilled his thoughts on the power and function of art. In this first part, your hosts focus their energies on Jung's puralistic style, opposing it not just to Freud's monism (which Jung critiques in the paper) but also to the monism of those other two "masters of suspicion," Marx and Nietzsche. For Jung, art is not a branch of psychology, economics, philosophy, or science. It constitutes its own sphere, and non-artists who would investigate the nature of art would do well to respect the line that art has drawn in the sand. Weird Studies listenters will know this line as the boundary between the general and the specific, the common and the singular, the mundane and the mystical...

REFERENCES

C. G. Jung, "On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry"
Joshua Gunn, Modern Occult Rhetoric: Mass Media and the Drama of Secrecy in the Twentieth Century
Peter Kingsley, Catafalque: Carl Jung and the End of Humanity
Sigmund Freud, Austrian psychologist
Kinka Usher (director), Mystery Men
Theodor Adorno, “Bach Defended Against his Devotees”
Aleister Crowley, English magician
C. G. Jung, The Red Book: Liber Novus
Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth
C. G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections
C. G. Jung, The Portable Jung
Friedrich Nietzsche, "On the Use and Abuse of History for Life" in: Untimely Meditations
Weird Studies, episode 49: Nietzsche on History
Weird Studies, episode 70: Masks All the Way Down, with James Curcio
Christian Kerslake, Deleuze and the Unconscious
Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and Spiritual Ordeal
Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher
Rudolph Steiner, Austrian esotericist

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]]> 3882 yes Episode 72: Morning of the Mutants: On the Castrati https://www.weirdstudies.com/72 For over two centuries in early modern Italy, boys were selected for their singing talent castrated before the onset of puberty. The goal was to preserve the qualities of their voice even as they grew into manhood. The procedure resulted in other physiological changes which, combined with an unnaturally high voice, made the castrati the most prodigious singers on the continent. As Martha Feldman shows in her book The Castrato, a masterpiece of cultural history, the castrated singer was such a singular figure that he invited comparisons with angels, animals, and kings, attracting adoration and ridicule in equal measures. The castrato was a true liminal being, and as JF and Phil discover in this episode of Weird Studies, an unlikely herald of the present age. REFERENCES Martha Feldman, The Castrato: Reflections on Natures and Kinds Stanley Kubrick, American filmmaker Alessandro Moreschi, the last castrato, singing "Ave Maria" Baruch Spinoza, Ethics X-Men Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" Thomas Ligotti, "Mrs Ligotti's Angel", read by horror writer Jon Padgett Weird Studies, Episode 48: Thomas Ligotti's Angel Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Genesis P-Orridge, American musician and occultist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 29 Apr 2020 17:00:00 -0000 Morning of the Mutants: On the Castrati full 72 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the curious phenomena of castrati, the famous singing eunuchs of early modern Europe. For over two centuries in early modern Italy, boys were selected for their singing talent castrated before the onset of puberty. The goal was to preserve the qualities of their voice even as they grew into manhood. The procedure resulted in other physiological changes which, combined with an unnaturally high voice, made the castrati the most prodigious singers on the continent. As Martha Feldman shows in her book The Castrato, a masterpiece of cultural history, the castrated singer was such a singular figure that he invited comparisons with angels, animals, and kings, attracting adoration and ridicule in equal measures. The castrato was a true liminal being, and as JF and Phil discover in this episode of Weird Studies, an unlikely herald of the present age. REFERENCES Martha Feldman, The Castrato: Reflections on Natures and Kinds Stanley Kubrick, American filmmaker Alessandro Moreschi, the last castrato, singing "Ave Maria" Baruch Spinoza, Ethics X-Men Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" Thomas Ligotti, "Mrs Ligotti's Angel", read by horror writer Jon Padgett Weird Studies, Episode 48: Thomas Ligotti's Angel Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Genesis P-Orridge, American musician and occultist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices For over two centuries in early modern Italy, boys were selected for their singing talent castrated before the onset of puberty. The goal was to preserve the qualities of their voice even as they grew into manhood. The procedure resulted in other physiological changes which, combined with an unnaturally high voice, made the castrati the most prodigious singers on the continent. As Martha Feldman shows in her book The Castrato, a masterpiece of cultural history, the castrated singer was such a singular figure that he invited comparisons with angels, animals, and kings, attracting adoration and ridicule in equal measures. The castrato was a true liminal being, and as JF and Phil discover in this episode of Weird Studies, an unlikely herald of the present age.

REFERENCES

Martha Feldman, The Castrato: Reflections on Natures and Kinds

Stanley Kubrick, American filmmaker
Alessandro Moreschi, the last castrato, singing "Ave Maria"
Baruch Spinoza, Ethics
X-Men
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"
Thomas Ligotti, "Mrs Ligotti's Angel", read by horror writer Jon Padgett
Weird Studies, Episode 48: Thomas Ligotti's Angel
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
Genesis P-Orridge, American musician and occultist

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]]> 4468 yes Episode 71: The Medium is the Message https://www.weirdstudies.com/71 On the surface, the phrase "the medium is the message," prophetic as it may have been when Marshall McLuhan coined it, points a now-obvious fact of our wired world, namely that the content of any medium is less important than its form. The advent of email, for instance, has brought about changes in society and culture that are more far-reaching than the content of any particular email. On the other hand, this aphorism of McLuhan's has the ring of an utterance of the Delphic Oracle. As Phil proposes in this episode of Weird Studies, it is an example of what Zen practitioners call a koan, a statement that occludes and illumines in equal measures, a jewel whose shining surface is an invitation to descend into dark depths. Join JF and Phil as they discuss the mystical and cosmic implications of McLuhan's oracular vision. REFERENCES McLuhan, Understanding Media The Playboy interview McLuhan and Quentin Fiore, The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects Graham Harman, American philosopher Clement Greenberg, American critic Dale Pendell, Pharmako/Poeia: Plant Powers, Poisons, and Herbcraft Brian Eno, British composer Marshall and Eric McLuhan, The Laws of Media: The New Science _ Jonathan Sterne, _The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction Eric McLuhan and Frank Zingrone (editors), The Essential McLuhan Charles A. Reich, The Greening of America David Fincher (director), The Social Network _ Gilles Deleuze, _Cinema I _and _Cinema II Jean Gebser, The Ever-Present Origin Eric Havelock,_ Preface to Plato_ Walter J. Ong, American theorist Plato, [Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic(Plato))_ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 15 Apr 2020 17:00:00 -0000 The Medium is the Message full 71 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the meanings of Marshall McLuhan's famous utterance. On the surface, the phrase "the medium is the message," prophetic as it may have been when Marshall McLuhan coined it, points a now-obvious fact of our wired world, namely that the content of any medium is less important than its form. The advent of email, for instance, has brought about changes in society and culture that are more far-reaching than the content of any particular email. On the other hand, this aphorism of McLuhan's has the ring of an utterance of the Delphic Oracle. As Phil proposes in this episode of Weird Studies, it is an example of what Zen practitioners call a koan, a statement that occludes and illumines in equal measures, a jewel whose shining surface is an invitation to descend into dark depths. Join JF and Phil as they discuss the mystical and cosmic implications of McLuhan's oracular vision. REFERENCES McLuhan, Understanding Media The Playboy interview McLuhan and Quentin Fiore, The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects Graham Harman, American philosopher Clement Greenberg, American critic Dale Pendell, Pharmako/Poeia: Plant Powers, Poisons, and Herbcraft Brian Eno, British composer Marshall and Eric McLuhan, The Laws of Media: The New Science _ Jonathan Sterne, _The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction Eric McLuhan and Frank Zingrone (editors), The Essential McLuhan Charles A. Reich, The Greening of America David Fincher (director), The Social Network _ Gilles Deleuze, _Cinema I _and _Cinema II Jean Gebser, The Ever-Present Origin Eric Havelock,_ Preface to Plato_ Walter J. Ong, American theorist Plato, [Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic(Plato))_ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices On the surface, the phrase "the medium is the message," prophetic as it may have been when Marshall McLuhan coined it, points a now-obvious fact of our wired world, namely that the content of any medium is less important than its form. The advent of email, for instance, has brought about changes in society and culture that are more far-reaching than the content of any particular email. On the other hand, this aphorism of McLuhan's has the ring of an utterance of the Delphic Oracle. As Phil proposes in this episode of Weird Studies, it is an example of what Zen practitioners call a koan, a statement that occludes and illumines in equal measures, a jewel whose shining surface is an invitation to descend into dark depths. Join JF and Phil as they discuss the mystical and cosmic implications of McLuhan's oracular vision.

REFERENCES

McLuhan, Understanding Media
The Playboy interview
McLuhan and Quentin Fiore, The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects
Graham Harman, American philosopher
Clement Greenberg, American critic
Dale Pendell, Pharmako/Poeia: Plant Powers, Poisons, and Herbcraft
Brian Eno, British composer
Marshall and Eric McLuhan, The Laws of Media: The New Science _
Jonathan Sterne, _The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction
Eric McLuhan and Frank Zingrone (editors), The Essential McLuhan
Charles A. Reich, The Greening of America
David Fincher (director), The Social Network _
Gilles Deleuze, _Cinema I _and _Cinema II
Jean Gebser, The Ever-Present Origin
Eric Havelock,_ Preface to Plato_
Walter J. Ong, American theorist
Plato, [Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic(Plato))_

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]]> 5135 yes Episode 70: Masks All the Way Down, with James Curcio https://www.weirdstudies.com/70 James Curcio is an American multidisciplinary artist and nonfiction writer whose works include the novels Join My Cult, The Party at the World's End, and the upcoming Tales from When I Had a Face. Recently, Curcio edited Masks: Bowie and Artists of Artifice, an anthology of essays by various thinkers and artists on the complex interplay of fact and fiction, self and other, in the life of the modern creator of artistic works. David Bowie's career, from the early experimentations to the great working that was his final album Blackstar, provides the book's gravitational field. In his effort to better plumb the mysteries of the aesthetic universe, Curcio penned the anthology's opening essay, "Masks All the Way Down," and it is on that piece that this conversation focuses. Join James, Phil and JF as they discuss the terrifying and liberating idea of an aesthetic cosmos as seen from the vantage point of the artist who learns that with new each work comes a new face, an amalgam of symbols and forces drawn from a depth of surfaces, a paper-thin dream that goes ever so deep... REFERENCES James Curcio (editor), [Masks: Bowie and Artists of Artifice](www.intellectbooks/masks) James Curcio's website: https://www.jamescurcio.com James Curcio's new novel, [Tales from When I Had a Face](www.TalesFromWhenIHadAFace.com) David Bowie, Blackstar Judith Butler, Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex Poppy, American singer Anatta, the Buddhist concept of no-self Nagarjuna, Indian philosopher Yukio Mishima, Japanese writer Hunter S. Thompson, American writer Lewis A. Sass, Madness and Modernism: Insanity in the Light of Modern Art, Literature, and Thought Friedrich Nietzsche, "On the Use and Abuse of History for Life" in Untimely Meditations Ornette Coleman, Change of the Century Thomas Merton, The Way of Chuang Tzu Vladimir Nabokov, Russian novelist Nicholas Roeg (director), The Man Who Fell to Earth Raphael Bob-Waksberg (creator), BoJack Horseman Richard Dyer, Heavenly Bodies: Film Stars and Society Euripides, The Bacchae Special Guest: James Curcio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 01 Apr 2020 16:00:00 -0000 Masks All the Way Down, with James Curcio full 70 SpectreVision Radio James Curcio joins Phil and JF for a discussion on the concept of the mask as elaborated in his anthology, "Masks: Bowie and Artists of Artifice". James Curcio is an American multidisciplinary artist and nonfiction writer whose works include the novels Join My Cult, The Party at the World's End, and the upcoming Tales from When I Had a Face. Recently, Curcio edited Masks: Bowie and Artists of Artifice, an anthology of essays by various thinkers and artists on the complex interplay of fact and fiction, self and other, in the life of the modern creator of artistic works. David Bowie's career, from the early experimentations to the great working that was his final album Blackstar, provides the book's gravitational field. In his effort to better plumb the mysteries of the aesthetic universe, Curcio penned the anthology's opening essay, "Masks All the Way Down," and it is on that piece that this conversation focuses. Join James, Phil and JF as they discuss the terrifying and liberating idea of an aesthetic cosmos as seen from the vantage point of the artist who learns that with new each work comes a new face, an amalgam of symbols and forces drawn from a depth of surfaces, a paper-thin dream that goes ever so deep... REFERENCES James Curcio (editor), [Masks: Bowie and Artists of Artifice](www.intellectbooks/masks) James Curcio's website: https://www.jamescurcio.com James Curcio's new novel, [Tales from When I Had a Face](www.TalesFromWhenIHadAFace.com) David Bowie, Blackstar Judith Butler, Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex Poppy, American singer Anatta, the Buddhist concept of no-self Nagarjuna, Indian philosopher Yukio Mishima, Japanese writer Hunter S. Thompson, American writer Lewis A. Sass, Madness and Modernism: Insanity in the Light of Modern Art, Literature, and Thought Friedrich Nietzsche, "On the Use and Abuse of History for Life" in Untimely Meditations Ornette Coleman, Change of the Century Thomas Merton, The Way of Chuang Tzu Vladimir Nabokov, Russian novelist Nicholas Roeg (director), The Man Who Fell to Earth Raphael Bob-Waksberg (creator), BoJack Horseman Richard Dyer, Heavenly Bodies: Film Stars and Society Euripides, The Bacchae Special Guest: James Curcio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices James Curcio is an American multidisciplinary artist and nonfiction writer whose works include the novels Join My Cult, The Party at the World's End, and the upcoming Tales from When I Had a Face. Recently, Curcio edited Masks: Bowie and Artists of Artifice, an anthology of essays by various thinkers and artists on the complex interplay of fact and fiction, self and other, in the life of the modern creator of artistic works. David Bowie's career, from the early experimentations to the great working that was his final album Blackstar, provides the book's gravitational field. In his effort to better plumb the mysteries of the aesthetic universe, Curcio penned the anthology's opening essay, "Masks All the Way Down," and it is on that piece that this conversation focuses. Join James, Phil and JF as they discuss the terrifying and liberating idea of an aesthetic cosmos as seen from the vantage point of the artist who learns that with new each work comes a new face, an amalgam of symbols and forces drawn from a depth of surfaces, a paper-thin dream that goes ever so deep...

REFERENCES

James Curcio (editor), [Masks: Bowie and Artists of Artifice](www.intellectbooks/masks)
James Curcio's website: https://www.jamescurcio.com
James Curcio's new novel, [Tales from When I Had a Face](www.TalesFromWhenIHadAFace.com)

David Bowie, Blackstar
Judith Butler, Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex
Poppy, American singer
Anatta, the Buddhist concept of no-self
Nagarjuna, Indian philosopher
Yukio Mishima, Japanese writer
Hunter S. Thompson, American writer
Lewis A. Sass, Madness and Modernism: Insanity in the Light of Modern Art, Literature, and Thought
Friedrich Nietzsche, "On the Use and Abuse of History for Life" in Untimely Meditations
Ornette Coleman, Change of the Century
Thomas Merton, The Way of Chuang Tzu
Vladimir Nabokov, Russian novelist
Nicholas Roeg (director), The Man Who Fell to Earth
Raphael Bob-Waksberg (creator), BoJack Horseman
Richard Dyer, Heavenly Bodies: Film Stars and Society
Euripides, The Bacchae

Special Guest: James Curcio.

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]]> 4639 yes Episode 69: Special Episode: On Some Mental Effects of the Pandemic https://www.weirdstudies.com/69 What is there to say about the COVID-19 virus that hasn't already been said, over and over again, all around the world, in quaratined houses and on TV and social media and countless Zoom chats ... what can we say that you haven't heard? Well, probably nothing. But we are now at the point where we realize that the real importance of the things we say is not their content, but the mere fact of saying them. As Marshall McLuhan said, the medium is the message, and at a time when we have been driven into separate solitudes, we are discovering that the real meaning of our utterances might be something like "hello, are you there?" and "I am here, talking to you." In that spirit, Phil and JF have a conversation about William James's essay "On Some Mental Effects of the Earthquake," partly to discuss the ways that it's relevant to our present circumstances and the ways it's not, but mostly to make human connections, both with each other and with Weird Studies listeners. As JF says, stay close, but keep your distance. REFERENCES William James, "On Some Mental Effects of the Earthquake" William James, Writings 1902-1910 Noel Black (director), "To See the Invisible Man", 2nd segment of episode 16 of The Twilight Zone (1985-86) Weird Studies no. 29, “On Lovecraft” Weird Studies no. 64, “Dreams and Shadows: On Ursula Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea” Weird Studies no. 67, “Goblins, Goat-Gods and Gates: On Hellier” Martin Heidegger, “‘Only a God Can Save Us’: The Spiegel Interview" Bruno Latour, "An Inquiry Into Modes of Existence: An Anthropology of the Moderns" H.P. Lovecraft, “Nyarlathotep” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 25 Mar 2020 17:00:00 -0000 Special Episode: On Some Mental Effects of the Pandemic full 69 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss William James's essay "On Some Mental Effects of the Earthquake." What is there to say about the COVID-19 virus that hasn't already been said, over and over again, all around the world, in quaratined houses and on TV and social media and countless Zoom chats ... what can we say that you haven't heard? Well, probably nothing. But we are now at the point where we realize that the real importance of the things we say is not their content, but the mere fact of saying them. As Marshall McLuhan said, the medium is the message, and at a time when we have been driven into separate solitudes, we are discovering that the real meaning of our utterances might be something like "hello, are you there?" and "I am here, talking to you." In that spirit, Phil and JF have a conversation about William James's essay "On Some Mental Effects of the Earthquake," partly to discuss the ways that it's relevant to our present circumstances and the ways it's not, but mostly to make human connections, both with each other and with Weird Studies listeners. As JF says, stay close, but keep your distance. REFERENCES William James, "On Some Mental Effects of the Earthquake" William James, Writings 1902-1910 Noel Black (director), "To See the Invisible Man", 2nd segment of episode 16 of The Twilight Zone (1985-86) Weird Studies no. 29, “On Lovecraft” Weird Studies no. 64, “Dreams and Shadows: On Ursula Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea” Weird Studies no. 67, “Goblins, Goat-Gods and Gates: On Hellier” Martin Heidegger, “‘Only a God Can Save Us’: The Spiegel Interview" Bruno Latour, "An Inquiry Into Modes of Existence: An Anthropology of the Moderns" H.P. Lovecraft, “Nyarlathotep” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices What is there to say about the COVID-19 virus that hasn't already been said, over and over again, all around the world, in quaratined houses and on TV and social media and countless Zoom chats ... what can we say that you haven't heard? Well, probably nothing. But we are now at the point where we realize that the real importance of the things we say is not their content, but the mere fact of saying them. As Marshall McLuhan said, the medium is the message, and at a time when we have been driven into separate solitudes, we are discovering that the real meaning of our utterances might be something like "hello, are you there?" and "I am here, talking to you." In that spirit, Phil and JF have a conversation about William James's essay "On Some Mental Effects of the Earthquake," partly to discuss the ways that it's relevant to our present circumstances and the ways it's not, but mostly to make human connections, both with each other and with Weird Studies listeners.

As JF says, stay close, but keep your distance.

REFERENCES

William James, "On Some Mental Effects of the Earthquake"
William James, Writings 1902-1910
Noel Black (director), "To See the Invisible Man", 2nd segment of episode 16 of The Twilight Zone (1985-86)
Weird Studies no. 29, “On Lovecraft”
Weird Studies no. 64, “Dreams and Shadows: On Ursula Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea”
Weird Studies no. 67, “Goblins, Goat-Gods and Gates: On Hellier”
Martin Heidegger, “‘Only a God Can Save Us’: The Spiegel Interview"
Bruno Latour, "An Inquiry Into Modes of Existence: An Anthropology of the Moderns"
H.P. Lovecraft, “Nyarlathotep”

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]]> 3578 yes Weird Stories: "On Some Mental Effects of the Earthquake" by William James https://www.weirdstudies.com/69a In preparation for an upcoming special episode on living in the early days of the Covid-19 Pandemic, here's Phil Ford reading an essay William James wrote on his experience of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. REFERENCES William James, "On Some Mental Effects of the Earthquake" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Mon, 23 Mar 2020 15:00:00 -0000 full SpectreVision Radio Phil reads an essay by William James on the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. In preparation for an upcoming special episode on living in the early days of the Covid-19 Pandemic, here's Phil Ford reading an essay William James wrote on his experience of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. REFERENCES William James, "On Some Mental Effects of the Earthquake" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In preparation for an upcoming special episode on living in the early days of the Covid-19 Pandemic, here's Phil Ford reading an essay William James wrote on his experience of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.

REFERENCES

William James, "On Some Mental Effects of the Earthquake"

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]]> 1374 no Episode 68: On James Hillman's 'The Dream and the Underworld' https://www.weirdstudies.com/68 In 1979, the American psychologist James Hillman published The Dream and the Underworld, a polemical meditation on the nature of dreams. Rejecting the orthodoxies of both Freud and Jung, Hillman argued that the the "nightworld" of dream should not play second fiddle to the "dayworld" of waking life, because in the soul as on earth, day and night are equally essential, and equally real. To reduce a dream to a message or interpretation is to fail the dream. In order for dreams to do their work on us, says Hillman, we must cease to regard them as hallucinations, mere metaphors, epiphenomena, or illusions, and instead see them as the imaginal other life we all must live. Every night, for Hillman, each of us descends into the underworld to encounter those forces that shape us and our surroundings. The way down is the way up. REFERENCES James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld T. S. Eliot, "The Hollow Men" Walter Pater, The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry George Steiner, Real Presences Hakim Bey, Orgies of the Hemp Eaters: Cuisine, Slang, Literature and Ritual of Cannabis Culture Erik Davis, High Strangeness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies Brad Warner on drugs and Buddhism Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception Jonathan Crary, 24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep Christopher Nolan (dir.), Inception Jorge Luis Borges, "Nightmares" in Seven Nights Henri Bergson, Dreams Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 18 Mar 2020 20:00:00 -0000 On James Hillman's 'The Dream and the Underworld' full 68 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss James Hillman's archetypal psychology as it pertains to dreams and death. In 1979, the American psychologist James Hillman published The Dream and the Underworld, a polemical meditation on the nature of dreams. Rejecting the orthodoxies of both Freud and Jung, Hillman argued that the the "nightworld" of dream should not play second fiddle to the "dayworld" of waking life, because in the soul as on earth, day and night are equally essential, and equally real. To reduce a dream to a message or interpretation is to fail the dream. In order for dreams to do their work on us, says Hillman, we must cease to regard them as hallucinations, mere metaphors, epiphenomena, or illusions, and instead see them as the imaginal other life we all must live. Every night, for Hillman, each of us descends into the underworld to encounter those forces that shape us and our surroundings. The way down is the way up. REFERENCES James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld T. S. Eliot, "The Hollow Men" Walter Pater, The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry George Steiner, Real Presences Hakim Bey, Orgies of the Hemp Eaters: Cuisine, Slang, Literature and Ritual of Cannabis Culture Erik Davis, High Strangeness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies Brad Warner on drugs and Buddhism Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception Jonathan Crary, 24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep Christopher Nolan (dir.), Inception Jorge Luis Borges, "Nightmares" in Seven Nights Henri Bergson, Dreams Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In 1979, the American psychologist James Hillman published The Dream and the Underworld, a polemical meditation on the nature of dreams. Rejecting the orthodoxies of both Freud and Jung, Hillman argued that the the "nightworld" of dream should not play second fiddle to the "dayworld" of waking life, because in the soul as on earth, day and night are equally essential, and equally real. To reduce a dream to a message or interpretation is to fail the dream. In order for dreams to do their work on us, says Hillman, we must cease to regard them as hallucinations, mere metaphors, epiphenomena, or illusions, and instead see them as the imaginal other life we all must live. Every night, for Hillman, each of us descends into the underworld to encounter those forces that shape us and our surroundings. The way down is the way up.

REFERENCES

James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld
T. S. Eliot, "The Hollow Men"
Walter Pater, The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry
George Steiner, Real Presences
Hakim Bey, Orgies of the Hemp Eaters: Cuisine, Slang, Literature and Ritual of Cannabis Culture
Erik Davis, High Strangeness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies
Brad Warner on drugs and Buddhism
Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception
Jonathan Crary, 24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep
Christopher Nolan (dir.), Inception
Jorge Luis Borges, "Nightmares" in Seven Nights
Henri Bergson, Dreams

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]]> 4544 yes Episode 67: Goblins, Goat-Gods and Gates: On 'Hellier' https://www.weirdstudies.com/67 On the night before this episode of Weird Studies was released, a bunch of folks on the Internet performed a collective magickal working. Prompted by the paranormal investigator Greg Newkirk, they watched the final episode of the documentary series Hellier at the same time -- 10:48 PM EST -- in order to see what would happen. Listeners who are familiar with this series, of which Newkirk is both a protagonist and a producer, will recall that the last episode features an elaborate attempt at gate opening involving no less than Pan, the Ancient Greek god of nature. If we weren't so cautious (and humble) in our imaginings, we at Weird Studies might consider the possibility that this episode is a retrocausal effect of that operation. In it, we discuss the show that took the weirdosphere by storm last year, touching on topics such as subterranean humanoids, the existence of "Ascended Masters," Aleister Crowley's secret cipher, the Great God Pan, and the potential dangers of opening gates to other worlds ... or of leaving them closed. REFERENCES Karl Pfeiffer (director), Hellier Philip K. Dick, Valis Weird Studies episode 12 - The Dark Eye: On the Films of Rodney Ascher John Benson Brooks, American musician Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Thelema Allen H. Greenfield, The Complete Secret Cipher of the Ufonauts Secret cipher online tool Aleister Crowley, The Book of the Law Gematria John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies Eric Wargo, Time Loops: Precognition, Retrocausation, and the Unconscious Grant Morrison, The Invisibles Genesis P. Orridge, American artist Alex Reed, Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music Helena Blavatsky, Russian theosophist Annie Besant, British theosophist Peter J. Carroll, British occultist Kenneth Grant, British occultist C. G. Jung, The Red Book Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford, "Chinese Whispers: The Origin of LAM" in The Blood of the Saints Richard Sharpe Shaver, American writer and contactee James Hillman, Pan and the Nightmare Occultist Paul Weston's blog post on Hellier John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies Peter Kingsley, Catafalque Eric Voegeln, The New Science of Politics: An Introduction and Science, Politics, and Gnosticism Auguste Comte, French philosopher Colin Wilson, The Occult: A History Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 04 Mar 2020 16:30:00 -0000 Goblins, Goat-Gods and Gates: On 'Hellier' full 67 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the hit documentary series "Hellier." On the night before this episode of Weird Studies was released, a bunch of folks on the Internet performed a collective magickal working. Prompted by the paranormal investigator Greg Newkirk, they watched the final episode of the documentary series Hellier at the same time -- 10:48 PM EST -- in order to see what would happen. Listeners who are familiar with this series, of which Newkirk is both a protagonist and a producer, will recall that the last episode features an elaborate attempt at gate opening involving no less than Pan, the Ancient Greek god of nature. If we weren't so cautious (and humble) in our imaginings, we at Weird Studies might consider the possibility that this episode is a retrocausal effect of that operation. In it, we discuss the show that took the weirdosphere by storm last year, touching on topics such as subterranean humanoids, the existence of "Ascended Masters," Aleister Crowley's secret cipher, the Great God Pan, and the potential dangers of opening gates to other worlds ... or of leaving them closed. REFERENCES Karl Pfeiffer (director), Hellier Philip K. Dick, Valis Weird Studies episode 12 - The Dark Eye: On the Films of Rodney Ascher John Benson Brooks, American musician Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Thelema Allen H. Greenfield, The Complete Secret Cipher of the Ufonauts Secret cipher online tool Aleister Crowley, The Book of the Law Gematria John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies Eric Wargo, Time Loops: Precognition, Retrocausation, and the Unconscious Grant Morrison, The Invisibles Genesis P. Orridge, American artist Alex Reed, Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music Helena Blavatsky, Russian theosophist Annie Besant, British theosophist Peter J. Carroll, British occultist Kenneth Grant, British occultist C. G. Jung, The Red Book Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford, "Chinese Whispers: The Origin of LAM" in The Blood of the Saints Richard Sharpe Shaver, American writer and contactee James Hillman, Pan and the Nightmare Occultist Paul Weston's blog post on Hellier John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies Peter Kingsley, Catafalque Eric Voegeln, The New Science of Politics: An Introduction and Science, Politics, and Gnosticism Auguste Comte, French philosopher Colin Wilson, The Occult: A History Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices On the night before this episode of Weird Studies was released, a bunch of folks on the Internet performed a collective magickal working. Prompted by the paranormal investigator Greg Newkirk, they watched the final episode of the documentary series Hellier at the same time -- 10:48 PM EST -- in order to see what would happen. Listeners who are familiar with this series, of which Newkirk is both a protagonist and a producer, will recall that the last episode features an elaborate attempt at gate opening involving no less than Pan, the Ancient Greek god of nature. If we weren't so cautious (and humble) in our imaginings, we at Weird Studies might consider the possibility that this episode is a retrocausal effect of that operation. In it, we discuss the show that took the weirdosphere by storm last year, touching on topics such as subterranean humanoids, the existence of "Ascended Masters," Aleister Crowley's secret cipher, the Great God Pan, and the potential dangers of opening gates to other worlds ... or of leaving them closed.

REFERENCES

Karl Pfeiffer (director), Hellier
Philip K. Dick, Valis
Weird Studies episode 12 - The Dark Eye: On the Films of Rodney Ascher
John Benson Brooks, American musician
Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture
Thelema
Allen H. Greenfield, The Complete Secret Cipher of the Ufonauts
Secret cipher online tool
Aleister Crowley, The Book of the Law
Gematria
John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies
Eric Wargo, Time Loops: Precognition, Retrocausation, and the Unconscious
Grant Morrison, The Invisibles
Genesis P. Orridge, American artist
Alex Reed, Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music
Helena Blavatsky, Russian theosophist
Annie Besant, British theosophist
Peter J. Carroll, British occultist
Kenneth Grant, British occultist
C. G. Jung, The Red Book
Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford, "Chinese Whispers: The Origin of LAM" in The Blood of the Saints
Richard Sharpe Shaver, American writer and contactee
James Hillman, Pan and the Nightmare
Occultist Paul Weston's blog post on Hellier
John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies
Peter Kingsley, Catafalque
Eric Voegeln, The New Science of Politics: An Introduction and Science, Politics, and Gnosticism
Auguste Comte, French philosopher
Colin Wilson, The Occult: A History

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]]> 5014 yes Episode 66: On Diviner's Time https://www.weirdstudies.com/66 In the paper discussed in this episode, Phil Ford coins the term "diviner's time" to denote a particular feeling that will be familiar to anyone who has engaged in divinatory or magical practice, namely the feeling that it all means something, that the universe, with all its chaos and randomness, nevertheless contains -- or is itself -- a kind of music. This episode goes deep down the rabbit hole as Phil and JF try to wrap their heads around conceptions of time, causality, and meaning that are very different from our usual understanding of those terms. REFERENCES Phil Ford, "Diviner’s Time" (Patreon exclusive) Karl Pfeifer (director), Hellier Joshua Ramey, "Contingency Without Unreason: Speculation After Meillassoux" E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande Jung, "On Synchronicity" Jung, Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle Bruno Latour, An Inquiry Into Modes of Existence: An Anthropology of the Moderns Grant Morrison on chaos magic, the occult, and sigil creation Austin Osman Spare's sigil theory Eric Wargo, Time Loops: Precognition, Retrocausation, and the Unconscious Alan Chapman, Advanced Magick for Beginners William James's essays in psychical research: bibliography Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency Toronto World Youth Day 2002 Crowley, Magick Without Tears Leibniz's concept of pre-established harmony Matthew Segall on the Greek concepts of time, "Minding Time: Chronos, Kairos and Aion in an Archetypal Cosmos" Richard Lester (director), Hard Day's Night Freud, "The Uncanny" Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy Eric Voegelin, The New Science of Politics: An Introduction Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return, or, Cosmos and History Charles Taylor, A Secular Age Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 19 Feb 2020 15:30:00 -0000 On Diviner's Time full 66 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Phil's work-in-progress, an essay on synchronicity, divination, and cosmic meaning entitled "Diviner's Time." In the paper discussed in this episode, Phil Ford coins the term "diviner's time" to denote a particular feeling that will be familiar to anyone who has engaged in divinatory or magical practice, namely the feeling that it all means something, that the universe, with all its chaos and randomness, nevertheless contains -- or is itself -- a kind of music. This episode goes deep down the rabbit hole as Phil and JF try to wrap their heads around conceptions of time, causality, and meaning that are very different from our usual understanding of those terms. REFERENCES Phil Ford, "Diviner’s Time" (Patreon exclusive) Karl Pfeifer (director), Hellier Joshua Ramey, "Contingency Without Unreason: Speculation After Meillassoux" E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande Jung, "On Synchronicity" Jung, Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle Bruno Latour, An Inquiry Into Modes of Existence: An Anthropology of the Moderns Grant Morrison on chaos magic, the occult, and sigil creation Austin Osman Spare's sigil theory Eric Wargo, Time Loops: Precognition, Retrocausation, and the Unconscious Alan Chapman, Advanced Magick for Beginners William James's essays in psychical research: bibliography Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency Toronto World Youth Day 2002 Crowley, Magick Without Tears Leibniz's concept of pre-established harmony Matthew Segall on the Greek concepts of time, "Minding Time: Chronos, Kairos and Aion in an Archetypal Cosmos" Richard Lester (director), Hard Day's Night Freud, "The Uncanny" Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy Eric Voegelin, The New Science of Politics: An Introduction Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return, or, Cosmos and History Charles Taylor, A Secular Age Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In the paper discussed in this episode, Phil Ford coins the term "diviner's time" to denote a particular feeling that will be familiar to anyone who has engaged in divinatory or magical practice, namely the feeling that it all means something, that the universe, with all its chaos and randomness, nevertheless contains -- or is itself -- a kind of music. This episode goes deep down the rabbit hole as Phil and JF try to wrap their heads around conceptions of time, causality, and meaning that are very different from our usual understanding of those terms.

REFERENCES

Phil Ford, "Diviner’s Time" (Patreon exclusive)

Karl Pfeifer (director), Hellier
Joshua Ramey, "Contingency Without Unreason: Speculation After Meillassoux"
E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande
Jung, "On Synchronicity"
Jung, Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle
Bruno Latour, An Inquiry Into Modes of Existence: An Anthropology of the Moderns
Grant Morrison on chaos magic, the occult, and sigil creation
Austin Osman Spare's sigil theory
Eric Wargo, Time Loops: Precognition, Retrocausation, and the Unconscious
Alan Chapman, Advanced Magick for Beginners
William James's essays in psychical research: bibliography
Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency
Toronto World Youth Day 2002
Crowley, Magick Without Tears
Leibniz's concept of pre-established harmony
Matthew Segall on the Greek concepts of time, "Minding Time: Chronos, Kairos and Aion in an Archetypal Cosmos"
Richard Lester (director), Hard Day's Night
Freud, "The Uncanny"
Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy
Eric Voegelin, The New Science of Politics: An Introduction
Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return, or, Cosmos and History
Charles Taylor, A Secular Age

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]]> 5539 yes Episode 65: Touched by that Fire: On Visionary Literature, with B. W. Powe https://www.weirdstudies.com/65 B. W. Powe is a Canadian poet, novelist, essayist and professor at York University, in Toronto. His work, though it covers an immense range of topics from politics and poetics to magic and technology, proceeds from a mystical apprehension of the universe as the locus of magical operations, the site of experiments in cosmic becoming. In his various books and essays, Powe continues a uniquely Canadian form of the visionary tradition whose luminaries include his former teachers Marshall McLuhan and Northrop Frye. In this episode, he joins JF and Phil for an exploration of the meaning, potency, and danger of the visionary in art and literature. Header image: Detail of "Green Color" by Gausanchennai (Wikimedia Commons). REFERENCES B. W. Powe's website B. W. Powe, The Charge in the Global Membrane B. W. Powe, Marshall McLuhan and Northrop Frye: Apocalypse and Alchemy Frank Lentricchia, "Last Will and Testament of an Ex-Literary Critic" Lorca's concept of duende Hildegard of Bingen's concept of viriditas Gilles Deleuze, Cinema II Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media Marshall McLuhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy Marshall McLuhan, "Notes on William Burroughs" Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture John Clellon Holmes, beatnik Northrop Frye, Canadian literary critic Hildegard von Bingen, Ordo Virtutum Joni Mitchell, "Woodstock" Genesis 32, Jacob and the Angel R. D. Laing, Scottish psychologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience Sylvia Plath, "Lady Lazarus" Sylvia Plath, "Daddy" Jack Kerouac, American writer Allen Ginsberg, American poet Lionel Snell, British philosopher and magician Special Guest: B. W. Powe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 05 Feb 2020 15:30:00 -0000 Touched by that Fire: On Visionary Literature, with B. W. Powe full 65 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the visionary tradition in art and literature with Canadian poet and scholar, B. W. Powe. B. W. Powe is a Canadian poet, novelist, essayist and professor at York University, in Toronto. His work, though it covers an immense range of topics from politics and poetics to magic and technology, proceeds from a mystical apprehension of the universe as the locus of magical operations, the site of experiments in cosmic becoming. In his various books and essays, Powe continues a uniquely Canadian form of the visionary tradition whose luminaries include his former teachers Marshall McLuhan and Northrop Frye. In this episode, he joins JF and Phil for an exploration of the meaning, potency, and danger of the visionary in art and literature. Header image: Detail of "Green Color" by Gausanchennai (Wikimedia Commons). REFERENCES B. W. Powe's website B. W. Powe, The Charge in the Global Membrane B. W. Powe, Marshall McLuhan and Northrop Frye: Apocalypse and Alchemy Frank Lentricchia, "Last Will and Testament of an Ex-Literary Critic" Lorca's concept of duende Hildegard of Bingen's concept of viriditas Gilles Deleuze, Cinema II Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media Marshall McLuhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy Marshall McLuhan, "Notes on William Burroughs" Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture John Clellon Holmes, beatnik Northrop Frye, Canadian literary critic Hildegard von Bingen, Ordo Virtutum Joni Mitchell, "Woodstock" Genesis 32, Jacob and the Angel R. D. Laing, Scottish psychologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience Sylvia Plath, "Lady Lazarus" Sylvia Plath, "Daddy" Jack Kerouac, American writer Allen Ginsberg, American poet Lionel Snell, British philosopher and magician Special Guest: B. W. Powe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices B. W. Powe is a Canadian poet, novelist, essayist and professor at York University, in Toronto. His work, though it covers an immense range of topics from politics and poetics to magic and technology, proceeds from a mystical apprehension of the universe as the locus of magical operations, the site of experiments in cosmic becoming. In his various books and essays, Powe continues a uniquely Canadian form of the visionary tradition whose luminaries include his former teachers Marshall McLuhan and Northrop Frye. In this episode, he joins JF and Phil for an exploration of the meaning, potency, and danger of the visionary in art and literature.

Header image: Detail of "Green Color" by Gausanchennai (Wikimedia Commons).

REFERENCES

B. W. Powe's website
B. W. Powe, The Charge in the Global Membrane
B. W. Powe, Marshall McLuhan and Northrop Frye: Apocalypse and Alchemy

Frank Lentricchia, "Last Will and Testament of an Ex-Literary Critic"
Lorca's concept of duende
Hildegard of Bingen's concept of viriditas
Gilles Deleuze, Cinema II
Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media
Marshall McLuhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy
Marshall McLuhan, "Notes on William Burroughs"
Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture
John Clellon Holmes, beatnik
Northrop Frye, Canadian literary critic
Hildegard von Bingen, Ordo Virtutum
Joni Mitchell, "Woodstock"
Genesis 32, Jacob and the Angel
R. D. Laing, Scottish psychologist
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man
William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience
Sylvia Plath, "Lady Lazarus"
Sylvia Plath, "Daddy"
Jack Kerouac, American writer
Allen Ginsberg, American poet
Lionel Snell, British philosopher and magician

Special Guest: B. W. Powe.

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]]> 4807 yes Episode 64: Dreams and Shadows: On Ursula Le Guin's 'A Wizard of Earthsea' https://www.weirdstudies.com/64 In her National Book Award acceptance speech in 2014, Ursula K. Le Guin intimated that, far from being superseded by digital technology, fantastic fiction has never been more important than it is about to become. Soon, she prophesied, "we will need writers who can remember freedom -- poets, visionaries, realists of a larger reality." In this episode, Phil and JF plumb the prophetic depths of one of her most famous books, A Wizard of Earthsea. A discussion of the novel's style and lore leads us into the politics and metaphysics of fantasy as developed by Le Guin and her predecessor, J. R. R. Tolkien. In the end, we realize that fantasy is not the literary ghetto it's been made out to be, but the sine qua non of all fiction. SHOW NOTES John Keats, "Ode on a Grecian Urn" Heidegger, "On the Origin of the Work of Art" Beowulf, An Anglo-Saxon epic poem Weird Studies, episode 41 -- On Speculative Fiction, with Matt Cardin Weird Studies, episode 61 -- Evil and Ecstasy: On 'The Silence of the Lambs' Weird Studies, episode 62: Like 'The Shining,' But With Nuns: On 'Black Narcissus' The Complete Romances of Chretien de Troyes (translated by J.F.'s mentor, David Staines) Sir Thomas Malory, La Morte d'Arthur Lewis Carroll, British fantasist Ursula K. Le Guin's acceptance speech at the National Book Awards, 2014 David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and A Treatise of Human Nature Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 22 Jan 2020 15:30:00 -0000 Dreams and Shadows: On Ursula Le Guin's 'A Wizard of Earthsea' full 64 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Ursula Le Guin's great coming-of-age fantasy novel, the first of the Earthsea cycle. In her National Book Award acceptance speech in 2014, Ursula K. Le Guin intimated that, far from being superseded by digital technology, fantastic fiction has never been more important than it is about to become. Soon, she prophesied, "we will need writers who can remember freedom -- poets, visionaries, realists of a larger reality." In this episode, Phil and JF plumb the prophetic depths of one of her most famous books, A Wizard of Earthsea. A discussion of the novel's style and lore leads us into the politics and metaphysics of fantasy as developed by Le Guin and her predecessor, J. R. R. Tolkien. In the end, we realize that fantasy is not the literary ghetto it's been made out to be, but the sine qua non of all fiction. SHOW NOTES John Keats, "Ode on a Grecian Urn" Heidegger, "On the Origin of the Work of Art" Beowulf, An Anglo-Saxon epic poem Weird Studies, episode 41 -- On Speculative Fiction, with Matt Cardin Weird Studies, episode 61 -- Evil and Ecstasy: On 'The Silence of the Lambs' Weird Studies, episode 62: Like 'The Shining,' But With Nuns: On 'Black Narcissus' The Complete Romances of Chretien de Troyes (translated by J.F.'s mentor, David Staines) Sir Thomas Malory, La Morte d'Arthur Lewis Carroll, British fantasist Ursula K. Le Guin's acceptance speech at the National Book Awards, 2014 David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and A Treatise of Human Nature Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In her National Book Award acceptance speech in 2014, Ursula K. Le Guin intimated that, far from being superseded by digital technology, fantastic fiction has never been more important than it is about to become. Soon, she prophesied, "we will need writers who can remember freedom -- poets, visionaries, realists of a larger reality." In this episode, Phil and JF plumb the prophetic depths of one of her most famous books, A Wizard of Earthsea. A discussion of the novel's style and lore leads us into the politics and metaphysics of fantasy as developed by Le Guin and her predecessor, J. R. R. Tolkien. In the end, we realize that fantasy is not the literary ghetto it's been made out to be, but the sine qua non of all fiction.

SHOW NOTES

John Keats, "Ode on a Grecian Urn"
Heidegger, "On the Origin of the Work of Art"
Beowulf, An Anglo-Saxon epic poem
Weird Studies, episode 41 -- On Speculative Fiction, with Matt Cardin
Weird Studies, episode 61 -- Evil and Ecstasy: On 'The Silence of the Lambs'
Weird Studies, episode 62: Like 'The Shining,' But With Nuns: On 'Black Narcissus'
The Complete Romances of Chretien de Troyes (translated by J.F.'s mentor, David Staines)
Sir Thomas Malory, La Morte d'Arthur
Lewis Carroll, British fantasist
Ursula K. Le Guin's acceptance speech at the National Book Awards, 2014
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and A Treatise of Human Nature

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]]> 4710 yes Episode 63: Faculty X: On Colin Wilson's 'The Occult' https://www.weirdstudies.com/63 At its simplest, what Colin Wilson calls Faculty X is "simply that latent power in human beings possess to reach beyond the present." Yet its existence is evinced in all those phenomena that modernity files under "supernatural" or "occult." As difficult to explain as it is impossible to omit from any honest survey of human existence, the occult haunts the modern, not just as a vestige of the past but also, perhaps, as a promise from a time to come. For Wilson, magic isn't the living fossil the arch-rationalists would like it to be, but a "science of the future." Faculty X is an evolutionary power, innately positive, inseparable from the will to live and the unshakeable conviction that, somehow, this world has some real, ineffable meaning. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss Wilson's concept of Faculty X as elaborated in his monumental 1971 work, The Occult. REFERENCES Colin Wilson, The Occult: A History Rick and Morty, American sitcom Colin, Wilson, Dreaming to Some Purpose Colin Wilson, The Outsider Gary Lachman, Beyond the Robot Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus David Benatar, Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence Making Sense, episode 107: Is Life Actually Worth Living? Peter Wessel Zapffe, Norwegian philosopher Thomas Ligotti, The Conspiracy Against the Human Race Francisco Goya, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters Emil Cioran, Franco-Romanian essayist Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher At the Fights: American Writers on Boxing, Library of America collection Joe Frazier, American pugilist Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory Edouard Schuré, [The Great Initiates: A Study of the Secret History of Religions](Edouard Schuré, _The Great Initiates: A Study of the Secret History of Religion Weird Studies, episode 8: On Graham Harman's "The Third Table" Thomas Merton, American monk Gary Snyder, American poet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 08 Jan 2020 19:00:00 -0000 Faculty X: On Colin Wilson's 'The Occult' full 63 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Faculty X, a key notion from Colin Wilson's classic study of the supernatural and Western esotericism, "The Occult." At its simplest, what Colin Wilson calls Faculty X is "simply that latent power in human beings possess to reach beyond the present." Yet its existence is evinced in all those phenomena that modernity files under "supernatural" or "occult." As difficult to explain as it is impossible to omit from any honest survey of human existence, the occult haunts the modern, not just as a vestige of the past but also, perhaps, as a promise from a time to come. For Wilson, magic isn't the living fossil the arch-rationalists would like it to be, but a "science of the future." Faculty X is an evolutionary power, innately positive, inseparable from the will to live and the unshakeable conviction that, somehow, this world has some real, ineffable meaning. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss Wilson's concept of Faculty X as elaborated in his monumental 1971 work, The Occult. REFERENCES Colin Wilson, The Occult: A History Rick and Morty, American sitcom Colin, Wilson, Dreaming to Some Purpose Colin Wilson, The Outsider Gary Lachman, Beyond the Robot Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus David Benatar, Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence Making Sense, episode 107: Is Life Actually Worth Living? Peter Wessel Zapffe, Norwegian philosopher Thomas Ligotti, The Conspiracy Against the Human Race Francisco Goya, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters Emil Cioran, Franco-Romanian essayist Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher At the Fights: American Writers on Boxing, Library of America collection Joe Frazier, American pugilist Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory Edouard Schuré, [The Great Initiates: A Study of the Secret History of Religions](Edouard Schuré, _The Great Initiates: A Study of the Secret History of Religion Weird Studies, episode 8: On Graham Harman's "The Third Table" Thomas Merton, American monk Gary Snyder, American poet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices At its simplest, what Colin Wilson calls Faculty X is "simply that latent power in human beings possess to reach beyond the present." Yet its existence is evinced in all those phenomena that modernity files under "supernatural" or "occult." As difficult to explain as it is impossible to omit from any honest survey of human existence, the occult haunts the modern, not just as a vestige of the past but also, perhaps, as a promise from a time to come. For Wilson, magic isn't the living fossil the arch-rationalists would like it to be, but a "science of the future." Faculty X is an evolutionary power, innately positive, inseparable from the will to live and the unshakeable conviction that, somehow, this world has some real, ineffable meaning. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss Wilson's concept of Faculty X as elaborated in his monumental 1971 work, The Occult.

REFERENCES

Colin Wilson, The Occult: A History
Rick and Morty, American sitcom
Colin, Wilson, Dreaming to Some Purpose
Colin Wilson, The Outsider
Gary Lachman, Beyond the Robot
Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus
David Benatar, Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence
Making Sense, episode 107: Is Life Actually Worth Living?
Peter Wessel Zapffe, Norwegian philosopher
Thomas Ligotti, The Conspiracy Against the Human Race
Francisco Goya, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters
Emil Cioran, Franco-Romanian essayist
Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher
At the Fights: American Writers on Boxing, Library of America collection
Joe Frazier, American pugilist
Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory
Edouard Schuré, [The Great Initiates: A Study of the Secret History of Religions](Edouard Schuré, _The Great Initiates: A Study of the Secret History of Religion
Weird Studies, episode 8: On Graham Harman's "The Third Table"
Thomas Merton, American monk
Gary Snyder, American poet

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]]> 4775 yes Episode 62: It's Like 'The Shining', But With Nuns: On 'Black Narcissus' https://www.weirdstudies.com/62 The 1947 British film Black Narcissus is many things: an allegory of the end of empire, a chilling ghost story with nary a spook in sight, a psychological romance, and a meditation on the nature of the divine. Its weirdness is as undeniable as it is difficult to locate. On the surface, the story is straightforward: five nuns are tasked with opening a convent in the former seraglio of a dead potentate in the Himalayas. But on a deeper level, there is a lot more going on, as Phil and JF discover in this conversation touching on the presence of the past, the monstrosity of God, the mystery of the singular, and the eroticism of prayer, among other strangenesses. REFERENCES Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburged (dirs.), Black Narcissus Rumer Godden, author of the original novel Stanley Kubrick, The Shining Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition Tim Ingold, British anthropologist -- lecture: "One World Anthropology" Jonathan Demme (dir.), The Silence of the Lambs Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist Bruno Latour, On the Modern Cult of the Factish Gods Don Barhelme, American short story writer Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher Weird Studies episode 16: On Dogen Zenji's Genjokoan The King and the Beggar Maid Gillo Pontecorvo, The Battle of Algiers “Painting with Light,” featurette on the Criterion Collection DVD of Black Narcissus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 18 Dec 2019 19:00:00 -0000 It's Like 'The Shining', But With Nuns: On 'Black Narcissus' full 62 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the 1947 British film, "Black Narcissus." The 1947 British film Black Narcissus is many things: an allegory of the end of empire, a chilling ghost story with nary a spook in sight, a psychological romance, and a meditation on the nature of the divine. Its weirdness is as undeniable as it is difficult to locate. On the surface, the story is straightforward: five nuns are tasked with opening a convent in the former seraglio of a dead potentate in the Himalayas. But on a deeper level, there is a lot more going on, as Phil and JF discover in this conversation touching on the presence of the past, the monstrosity of God, the mystery of the singular, and the eroticism of prayer, among other strangenesses. REFERENCES Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburged (dirs.), Black Narcissus Rumer Godden, author of the original novel Stanley Kubrick, The Shining Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition Tim Ingold, British anthropologist -- lecture: "One World Anthropology" Jonathan Demme (dir.), The Silence of the Lambs Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist Bruno Latour, On the Modern Cult of the Factish Gods Don Barhelme, American short story writer Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher Weird Studies episode 16: On Dogen Zenji's Genjokoan The King and the Beggar Maid Gillo Pontecorvo, The Battle of Algiers “Painting with Light,” featurette on the Criterion Collection DVD of Black Narcissus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The 1947 British film Black Narcissus is many things: an allegory of the end of empire, a chilling ghost story with nary a spook in sight, a psychological romance, and a meditation on the nature of the divine. Its weirdness is as undeniable as it is difficult to locate. On the surface, the story is straightforward: five nuns are tasked with opening a convent in the former seraglio of a dead potentate in the Himalayas. But on a deeper level, there is a lot more going on, as Phil and JF discover in this conversation touching on the presence of the past, the monstrosity of God, the mystery of the singular, and the eroticism of prayer, among other strangenesses.

REFERENCES

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburged (dirs.), Black Narcissus
Rumer Godden, author of the original novel

Stanley Kubrick, The Shining
Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition
Tim Ingold, British anthropologist -- lecture: "One World Anthropology"
Jonathan Demme (dir.), The Silence of the Lambs
Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist
Bruno Latour, On the Modern Cult of the Factish Gods
Don Barhelme, American short story writer
Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher
Weird Studies episode 16: On Dogen Zenji's Genjokoan
The King and the Beggar Maid
Gillo Pontecorvo, The Battle of Algiers
“Painting with Light,” featurette on the Criterion Collection DVD of Black Narcissus

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]]> 5649 yes Episode 61: Evil and Ecstasy: On 'The Silence of the Lambs' https://www.weirdstudies.com/61 The Welsh writer Arthur Machen defined good and evil as "ecstasies." Each one is a "withdrawal from the common life." On this view, any artistic investigation into the nature of good and evil can't remain safely ensconced our modern, common-life construal of thinigs. It must become fantastic and incorporate aspects of "nature" that feel "supernatural" from a modern standpoint. Jonathan Demme's screen adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs is a powerful example. The film oscillates undecidably between a straightforward crime story and a work of supernatural horror. In this episode, JF and Phil cast Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling as figures in a myth that pits the individual against the institution, the singular against the type, and the forces of light against the forces of darkness. REFERENCES Jonathan Demme (dir.), The Silence of the Lambs Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs (original novel) Carl Jung on the doctrine of Privatio Boni Johann Sebastian Bach, The Goldberg Variations William Gibson, Pattern Recognition Rolling Stones, "Sympathy for the Devil" Howard Shore, Canadian composer Arthur Machen, The White People Weird Studies, episode 3: Ecstasy, Sin, and "The White People" Machen, The White People Machen, Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy in Literature Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 04 Dec 2019 17:15:00 -0000 Evil and Ecstasy: On 'The Silence of the Lambs' full 61 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Jonathan Demme's 1991 film, "The Silence of the Lambs." The Welsh writer Arthur Machen defined good and evil as "ecstasies." Each one is a "withdrawal from the common life." On this view, any artistic investigation into the nature of good and evil can't remain safely ensconced our modern, common-life construal of thinigs. It must become fantastic and incorporate aspects of "nature" that feel "supernatural" from a modern standpoint. Jonathan Demme's screen adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs is a powerful example. The film oscillates undecidably between a straightforward crime story and a work of supernatural horror. In this episode, JF and Phil cast Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling as figures in a myth that pits the individual against the institution, the singular against the type, and the forces of light against the forces of darkness. REFERENCES Jonathan Demme (dir.), The Silence of the Lambs Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs (original novel) Carl Jung on the doctrine of Privatio Boni Johann Sebastian Bach, The Goldberg Variations William Gibson, Pattern Recognition Rolling Stones, "Sympathy for the Devil" Howard Shore, Canadian composer Arthur Machen, The White People Weird Studies, episode 3: Ecstasy, Sin, and "The White People" Machen, The White People Machen, Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy in Literature Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The Welsh writer Arthur Machen defined good and evil as "ecstasies." Each one is a "withdrawal from the common life." On this view, any artistic investigation into the nature of good and evil can't remain safely ensconced our modern, common-life construal of thinigs. It must become fantastic and incorporate aspects of "nature" that feel "supernatural" from a modern standpoint. Jonathan Demme's screen adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs is a powerful example. The film oscillates undecidably between a straightforward crime story and a work of supernatural horror. In this episode, JF and Phil cast Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling as figures in a myth that pits the individual against the institution, the singular against the type, and the forces of light against the forces of darkness.

REFERENCES

Jonathan Demme (dir.), The Silence of the Lambs
Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs (original novel)
Carl Jung on the doctrine of Privatio Boni
Johann Sebastian Bach, The Goldberg Variations
William Gibson, Pattern Recognition
Rolling Stones, "Sympathy for the Devil"
Howard Shore, Canadian composer
Arthur Machen, The White People
Weird Studies, episode 3: Ecstasy, Sin, and "The White People"
Machen, The White People
Machen, Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy in Literature

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]]> 4036 yes Episode 60: Space is the Place: On Sun Ra, Gnosticism, and the Tarot https://www.weirdstudies.com/60 Somebody once said, "No prophet is welcome in his own country." Whether this was true in the case of jazz musician and composer Sun Ra depends on whom you ask. With most, the dictum probably bears out. But there are those who can make out certain patterns in Ra's life and work, patterns that place him among the true mystics and prophets. Of course, these people already believe in mysticism and prophecy, but Sun Ra's total devotion to his myth does not leave much wiggle room on this front. He is asking us to choose: believe or disbelieve. And if you go with disbelief, you'll need to explain the sustained coherence and lucidity of his message, and the transformative power of his music. In this episode, Phil and JF take a look at Sun Ra's unforgettable film Space is the Place, interpreting it as a document in the history of esotericism, using gnostic thought and the tarotology as instruments to bring some of his secrets to light. REFERENCES Sun Ra, Space is the Place Sun Ra: Brother from Another Planet_ Deleuze and Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus and [Kafka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority(philosophy))_ (for the concept of minority) Antoine Faivre, French historian of esotericism Michel Foucault, The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences Eliphas Lévi, French occultist Edward O. Bland (director) The Cry of Jazz Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return, or, Cosmos and History Ingmar Bergman, The Seventh Seal Stanley Kubrick, Dr Strangelove, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Aleister Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice Jackson Lears, Something for Nothing: Luck in America Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 20 Nov 2019 18:00:00 -0000 Space is the Place: On Sun Ra, Gnosticism, and the Tarot full 60 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Sun Ra's strange and prophetic film, "Space is the Place." Somebody once said, "No prophet is welcome in his own country." Whether this was true in the case of jazz musician and composer Sun Ra depends on whom you ask. With most, the dictum probably bears out. But there are those who can make out certain patterns in Ra's life and work, patterns that place him among the true mystics and prophets. Of course, these people already believe in mysticism and prophecy, but Sun Ra's total devotion to his myth does not leave much wiggle room on this front. He is asking us to choose: believe or disbelieve. And if you go with disbelief, you'll need to explain the sustained coherence and lucidity of his message, and the transformative power of his music. In this episode, Phil and JF take a look at Sun Ra's unforgettable film Space is the Place, interpreting it as a document in the history of esotericism, using gnostic thought and the tarotology as instruments to bring some of his secrets to light. REFERENCES Sun Ra, Space is the Place Sun Ra: Brother from Another Planet_ Deleuze and Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus and [Kafka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority(philosophy))_ (for the concept of minority) Antoine Faivre, French historian of esotericism Michel Foucault, The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences Eliphas Lévi, French occultist Edward O. Bland (director) The Cry of Jazz Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return, or, Cosmos and History Ingmar Bergman, The Seventh Seal Stanley Kubrick, Dr Strangelove, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Aleister Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice Jackson Lears, Something for Nothing: Luck in America Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Somebody once said, "No prophet is welcome in his own country." Whether this was true in the case of jazz musician and composer Sun Ra depends on whom you ask. With most, the dictum probably bears out. But there are those who can make out certain patterns in Ra's life and work, patterns that place him among the true mystics and prophets. Of course, these people already believe in mysticism and prophecy, but Sun Ra's total devotion to his myth does not leave much wiggle room on this front. He is asking us to choose: believe or disbelieve. And if you go with disbelief, you'll need to explain the sustained coherence and lucidity of his message, and the transformative power of his music. In this episode, Phil and JF take a look at Sun Ra's unforgettable film Space is the Place, interpreting it as a document in the history of esotericism, using gnostic thought and the tarotology as instruments to bring some of his secrets to light.

REFERENCES

Sun Ra, Space is the Place
Sun Ra: Brother from Another Planet_
Deleuze and Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus and [Kafka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority(philosophy))_ (for the concept of minority)
Antoine Faivre, French historian of esotericism
Michel Foucault, The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences
Eliphas Lévi, French occultist
Edward O. Bland (director) The Cry of Jazz
Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return, or, Cosmos and History
Ingmar Bergman, The Seventh Seal
Stanley Kubrick, Dr Strangelove, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Aleister Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice
Jackson Lears, Something for Nothing: Luck in America

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]]> 5187 yes Episode 59: Green Mountains Are Always Walking https://www.weirdstudies.com/59 "Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around a lake." This line from Wallace Stevens' "Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction" captures something of the mysteries of walking. It points to the undeniable yet baffling relationship between walking and thinking, between putting one foot in front of the other and uncovering the secret of the soul and world. In this episode, JF and Phil exchange ideas about the weirdness of this thing most humans did on most days for most of world history. The conversation ranges over a vast territory, with zen monks, novelists, Jesuits and more joining your hosts on what turns out to be a journey to wondrous places. Header image by Beatrice, Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES Dogen, The Mountains and Waters Sutra Weird Studies listener Stephanie Quick on the Conspirinormal podcast Weird Studies episode 51, Blind Seers: On Flannery O'Connor's 'Wise Blood' Lionel Snell, SSOTBME Henry David Thoreau, "Walking" Arthur Machen, "The White People" Herman Melville, Moby Dick Vladimir Horowitz, Russian panist Gregory Bateson, cybernetic theorist The myth of the Giant Antaeus Wallce Stevens, "Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction" Deleuze, Difference and Repetition Michel de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life John Cowper Powys, English novelist Will Self, English writer Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle Arcade Fire, “We Used to Wait” Paul Thomas Anderson (director), Punch Drunk Love Viktor Shklovsky, Russian formalist Patreon blog post on Phil’s dream David Lynch (director), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 06 Nov 2019 15:30:00 -0000 Green Mountains Are Always Walking full 59 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the mysteries of our oldest, and strangest, mode of transportation. "Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around a lake." This line from Wallace Stevens' "Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction" captures something of the mysteries of walking. It points to the undeniable yet baffling relationship between walking and thinking, between putting one foot in front of the other and uncovering the secret of the soul and world. In this episode, JF and Phil exchange ideas about the weirdness of this thing most humans did on most days for most of world history. The conversation ranges over a vast territory, with zen monks, novelists, Jesuits and more joining your hosts on what turns out to be a journey to wondrous places. Header image by Beatrice, Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES Dogen, The Mountains and Waters Sutra Weird Studies listener Stephanie Quick on the Conspirinormal podcast Weird Studies episode 51, Blind Seers: On Flannery O'Connor's 'Wise Blood' Lionel Snell, SSOTBME Henry David Thoreau, "Walking" Arthur Machen, "The White People" Herman Melville, Moby Dick Vladimir Horowitz, Russian panist Gregory Bateson, cybernetic theorist The myth of the Giant Antaeus Wallce Stevens, "Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction" Deleuze, Difference and Repetition Michel de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life John Cowper Powys, English novelist Will Self, English writer Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle Arcade Fire, “We Used to Wait” Paul Thomas Anderson (director), Punch Drunk Love Viktor Shklovsky, Russian formalist Patreon blog post on Phil’s dream David Lynch (director), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices "Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around a lake." This line from Wallace Stevens' "Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction" captures something of the mysteries of walking. It points to the undeniable yet baffling relationship between walking and thinking, between putting one foot in front of the other and uncovering the secret of the soul and world. In this episode, JF and Phil exchange ideas about the weirdness of this thing most humans did on most days for most of world history. The conversation ranges over a vast territory, with zen monks, novelists, Jesuits and more joining your hosts on what turns out to be a journey to wondrous places.

Header image by Beatrice, Wikimedia Commons

REFERENCES

Dogen, The Mountains and Waters Sutra
Weird Studies listener Stephanie Quick on the Conspirinormal podcast
Weird Studies episode 51, Blind Seers: On Flannery O'Connor's 'Wise Blood'
Lionel Snell, SSOTBME
Henry David Thoreau, "Walking"
Arthur Machen, "The White People"
Herman Melville, Moby Dick
Vladimir Horowitz, Russian panist
Gregory Bateson, cybernetic theorist
The myth of the Giant Antaeus
Wallce Stevens, "Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction"
Deleuze, Difference and Repetition
Michel de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life
John Cowper Powys, English novelist
Will Self, English writer
Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle
Arcade Fire, “We Used to Wait”
Paul Thomas Anderson (director), Punch Drunk Love
Viktor Shklovsky, Russian formalist
Patreon blog post on Phil’s dream
David Lynch (director), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

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]]> 4828 yes Episode 58: What Do Critics Do? https://www.weirdstudies.com/58 What is the role of the critic in the world of art? For some, including lots of critics, the figure exudes an aura of authority: her task is to tell us what this or that work of art means, why it matters, and what we are supposed to think and feel in its presence. Cast in in this mold, the critic is an arbiter, not just of taste, but also of sense and meaning. The American art critic Dave Hickey categorically rejects this interpretation, which he says gives off a mild stench of fascism. For Hickey, the critic plays a weak role, and it's this weakness that makes it essential. In his essay "Air Guitar," published in 1997, Hickey argues that criticism can never really penetrate the mystery of any artwork. Criticism is rather a way to capture the "enigmatic whoosh" of art as one instance of the more pervasive "whoosh" of ordinary experience. So, no act of criticism can ever exhaust an artwork. The critic interprets a singular experience of art into words so that others might be encouraged to have their own, equally singular experiences. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss what criticism has to do with art, life, politics, and ordinary experience. Header image: Caravaggio, The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599-1600) REFERENCES Dave Hickey, Air Guitar: Essays on Art and Democracy Plato, Republic Oscar Wilde, "The Decay of Lying" Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature Deleuze and Félix Guattari, What is Philosophy? Dave Hickey, "Buying the World" Clinton e-mails exhibition at the Venice Biennale Oscar Wilde, The Portrait of Dorian Gray Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 23 Oct 2019 17:00:00 -0000 What Do Critics Do? full 58 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Dave Hickey's 1997 essay, "Air Guitar". What is the role of the critic in the world of art? For some, including lots of critics, the figure exudes an aura of authority: her task is to tell us what this or that work of art means, why it matters, and what we are supposed to think and feel in its presence. Cast in in this mold, the critic is an arbiter, not just of taste, but also of sense and meaning. The American art critic Dave Hickey categorically rejects this interpretation, which he says gives off a mild stench of fascism. For Hickey, the critic plays a weak role, and it's this weakness that makes it essential. In his essay "Air Guitar," published in 1997, Hickey argues that criticism can never really penetrate the mystery of any artwork. Criticism is rather a way to capture the "enigmatic whoosh" of art as one instance of the more pervasive "whoosh" of ordinary experience. So, no act of criticism can ever exhaust an artwork. The critic interprets a singular experience of art into words so that others might be encouraged to have their own, equally singular experiences. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss what criticism has to do with art, life, politics, and ordinary experience. Header image: Caravaggio, The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599-1600) REFERENCES Dave Hickey, Air Guitar: Essays on Art and Democracy Plato, Republic Oscar Wilde, "The Decay of Lying" Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature Deleuze and Félix Guattari, What is Philosophy? Dave Hickey, "Buying the World" Clinton e-mails exhibition at the Venice Biennale Oscar Wilde, The Portrait of Dorian Gray Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices What is the role of the critic in the world of art? For some, including lots of critics, the figure exudes an aura of authority: her task is to tell us what this or that work of art means, why it matters, and what we are supposed to think and feel in its presence. Cast in in this mold, the critic is an arbiter, not just of taste, but also of sense and meaning. The American art critic Dave Hickey categorically rejects this interpretation, which he says gives off a mild stench of fascism. For Hickey, the critic plays a weak role, and it's this weakness that makes it essential. In his essay "Air Guitar," published in 1997, Hickey argues that criticism can never really penetrate the mystery of any artwork. Criticism is rather a way to capture the "enigmatic whoosh" of art as one instance of the more pervasive "whoosh" of ordinary experience. So, no act of criticism can ever exhaust an artwork. The critic interprets a singular experience of art into words so that others might be encouraged to have their own, equally singular experiences. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss what criticism has to do with art, life, politics, and ordinary experience.

Header image: Caravaggio, The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599-1600)

REFERENCES

Dave Hickey, Air Guitar: Essays on Art and Democracy
Plato, Republic
Oscar Wilde, "The Decay of Lying"
Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture
Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature
Deleuze and Félix Guattari, What is Philosophy?
Dave Hickey, "Buying the World"
Clinton e-mails exhibition at the Venice Biennale
Oscar Wilde, The Portrait of Dorian Gray

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]]> 3634 yes Episode 57: Box of God(s): On 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' https://www.weirdstudies.com/57 Raiders of the Lost Ark is more than a Hollywood movie made in the summer blockbuster mold. As Phil says in his intro to this popping Weird Studies episode, the film is "a Trojan horse of the Weird, easy to let in but once inside, apt to take over." This conversation sees him and JF discuss a movie we dismiss at our own risk, a cinematic masterpiece replete with enigmas that reach back to the foundations of Western civilization. What does the Ark of the Covenant signify? What does it contain? What happens if you open that box of god(s)? And whose god is this, anyway? These are questions that have puzzled theologians and mystics for centuries, and Steven Spielberg's great work asks them anew for an age gone nuclear. Image by arsheffield REFERENCES Steven Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark Steven Soderbergh’s version of Raiders with sound and color removed Weird Studies Patreon extra, “Weird Genius” Weird Studies episode 28, “Weird Music Part 2” Camille Saint-Saëns, Danse Macabre M. Night Shyamalan, Signs Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon Neil Jordan (dir.), The End of the Affair Weird Studies episode 29, “On Lovecraft” Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, The Occult Roots of Nazism Howard Carter, British archaeologist Jorge Luis Borges, “The Library of Babel” Claude Levi Strauss, French anthropologist Clement Greenberg's concept of medium specificity D. W. Griffith, Birth of a Nation David Mamet, On Directing Film Dumbo (1941 film) H. P. Lovecraft, “The Strange High House in the Mist” Jan Fries, Helrunar: A Manual of Rune Magick Neil Gaiman, American Gods GIF of the soldier moving funny at the end of Raiders Weird Studies episode 2, “Garmonbozia” Aaron Leitch, occultist Austin Osman Spare, The Book of Pleasure Gene Wolfe, [Soldier of the Mist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoldieroftheMist)_ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 09 Oct 2019 14:00:00 -0000 Box of God(s): On 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' full 57 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Steven Spielberg's classic film, "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Raiders of the Lost Ark is more than a Hollywood movie made in the summer blockbuster mold. As Phil says in his intro to this popping Weird Studies episode, the film is "a Trojan horse of the Weird, easy to let in but once inside, apt to take over." This conversation sees him and JF discuss a movie we dismiss at our own risk, a cinematic masterpiece replete with enigmas that reach back to the foundations of Western civilization. What does the Ark of the Covenant signify? What does it contain? What happens if you open that box of god(s)? And whose god is this, anyway? These are questions that have puzzled theologians and mystics for centuries, and Steven Spielberg's great work asks them anew for an age gone nuclear. Image by arsheffield REFERENCES Steven Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark Steven Soderbergh’s version of Raiders with sound and color removed Weird Studies Patreon extra, “Weird Genius” Weird Studies episode 28, “Weird Music Part 2” Camille Saint-Saëns, Danse Macabre M. Night Shyamalan, Signs Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon Neil Jordan (dir.), The End of the Affair Weird Studies episode 29, “On Lovecraft” Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, The Occult Roots of Nazism Howard Carter, British archaeologist Jorge Luis Borges, “The Library of Babel” Claude Levi Strauss, French anthropologist Clement Greenberg's concept of medium specificity D. W. Griffith, Birth of a Nation David Mamet, On Directing Film Dumbo (1941 film) H. P. Lovecraft, “The Strange High House in the Mist” Jan Fries, Helrunar: A Manual of Rune Magick Neil Gaiman, American Gods GIF of the soldier moving funny at the end of Raiders Weird Studies episode 2, “Garmonbozia” Aaron Leitch, occultist Austin Osman Spare, The Book of Pleasure Gene Wolfe, [Soldier of the Mist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoldieroftheMist)_ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Raiders of the Lost Ark is more than a Hollywood movie made in the summer blockbuster mold. As Phil says in his intro to this popping Weird Studies episode, the film is "a Trojan horse of the Weird, easy to let in but once inside, apt to take over." This conversation sees him and JF discuss a movie we dismiss at our own risk, a cinematic masterpiece replete with enigmas that reach back to the foundations of Western civilization. What does the Ark of the Covenant signify? What does it contain? What happens if you open that box of god(s)? And whose god is this, anyway? These are questions that have puzzled theologians and mystics for centuries, and Steven Spielberg's great work asks them anew for an age gone nuclear.

Image by arsheffield

REFERENCES

Steven Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark
Steven Soderbergh’s version of Raiders with sound and color removed
Weird Studies Patreon extra, “Weird Genius”
Weird Studies episode 28, “Weird Music Part 2”
Camille Saint-Saëns, Danse Macabre
M. Night Shyamalan, Signs
Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon
Neil Jordan (dir.), The End of the Affair
Weird Studies episode 29, “On Lovecraft”
Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, The Occult Roots of Nazism
Howard Carter, British archaeologist
Jorge Luis Borges, “The Library of Babel”
Claude Levi Strauss, French anthropologist
Clement Greenberg's concept of medium specificity
D. W. Griffith, Birth of a Nation
David Mamet, On Directing Film
Dumbo (1941 film)
H. P. Lovecraft, “The Strange High House in the Mist”
Jan Fries, Helrunar: A Manual of Rune Magick
Neil Gaiman, American Gods
GIF of the soldier moving funny at the end of Raiders
Weird Studies episode 2, “Garmonbozia”
Aaron Leitch, occultist
Austin Osman Spare, The Book of Pleasure
Gene Wolfe, [Soldier of the Mist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoldieroftheMist)_

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]]> 5449 yes Episode 56: On Jean Gebser, with Jeremy D. Johnson https://www.weirdstudies.com/56 The German poet and philosopher Jean Gebser's major work, The Ever-Present Origin, is a monumental study of the evolution of consciousness from prehistory to posthistory. For Gebser, consciousness adopts different "structures" at different times and in different contexts, and each structure reveals certain facets of reality while potentially occluding others. An integral human being is one who can utilize all of the structures according to the moment or situation. As Gebserian scholar Jeremy Johnson explains in this episode, modern humans are currently experiencing the transition from the "perspectival" structure which formed in the late Middle Ages to the "aperspectival," a new way of seeing and being that first revealed itself in the art of the Modernists. Grokking what the aperspectival means, and what it might look like, is just one of the tasks Jeremy, Phil and JF set themselves in this engaging trialogue. Jeremy D. Johnson is the author of the recently released Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and Integral Consciousness. REFERENCES Jeremy Johnson, Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and the Integral Consciousness Jean Gebser, The Ever-Present Origin William Irwin Thompson, Coming Into Being: Artifacts and Texts in the Evolution of Consciousness Ken Wilber, integral theorist Lionel Snell, “Spare Parts” Nagarjuna, “Verses of the Middle Way” (Mulamadhyamakakarika) Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Object-oriented ontology (OOO) Dogen, Uji (“The Time-Being”), from the Shobogenzo (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye) Special Guest: Jeremy D. Johnson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 25 Sep 2019 15:30:00 -0000 On Jean Gebser, with Jeremy D. Johnson full 56 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil talk to Jeremy Johnson about his new book, "Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and Integral Consciousness." The German poet and philosopher Jean Gebser's major work, The Ever-Present Origin, is a monumental study of the evolution of consciousness from prehistory to posthistory. For Gebser, consciousness adopts different "structures" at different times and in different contexts, and each structure reveals certain facets of reality while potentially occluding others. An integral human being is one who can utilize all of the structures according to the moment or situation. As Gebserian scholar Jeremy Johnson explains in this episode, modern humans are currently experiencing the transition from the "perspectival" structure which formed in the late Middle Ages to the "aperspectival," a new way of seeing and being that first revealed itself in the art of the Modernists. Grokking what the aperspectival means, and what it might look like, is just one of the tasks Jeremy, Phil and JF set themselves in this engaging trialogue. Jeremy D. Johnson is the author of the recently released Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and Integral Consciousness. REFERENCES Jeremy Johnson, Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and the Integral Consciousness Jean Gebser, The Ever-Present Origin William Irwin Thompson, Coming Into Being: Artifacts and Texts in the Evolution of Consciousness Ken Wilber, integral theorist Lionel Snell, “Spare Parts” Nagarjuna, “Verses of the Middle Way” (Mulamadhyamakakarika) Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Object-oriented ontology (OOO) Dogen, Uji (“The Time-Being”), from the Shobogenzo (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye) Special Guest: Jeremy D. Johnson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The German poet and philosopher Jean Gebser's major work, The Ever-Present Origin, is a monumental study of the evolution of consciousness from prehistory to posthistory. For Gebser, consciousness adopts different "structures" at different times and in different contexts, and each structure reveals certain facets of reality while potentially occluding others. An integral human being is one who can utilize all of the structures according to the moment or situation. As Gebserian scholar Jeremy Johnson explains in this episode, modern humans are currently experiencing the transition from the "perspectival" structure which formed in the late Middle Ages to the "aperspectival," a new way of seeing and being that first revealed itself in the art of the Modernists. Grokking what the aperspectival means, and what it might look like, is just one of the tasks Jeremy, Phil and JF set themselves in this engaging trialogue.

Jeremy D. Johnson is the author of the recently released Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and Integral Consciousness.

REFERENCES

Jeremy Johnson, Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and the Integral Consciousness
Jean Gebser, The Ever-Present Origin
William Irwin Thompson, Coming Into Being: Artifacts and Texts in the Evolution of Consciousness
Ken Wilber, integral theorist
Lionel Snell, “Spare Parts”
Nagarjuna, “Verses of the Middle Way” (Mulamadhyamakakarika)
Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
Object-oriented ontology (OOO)
Dogen, Uji (“The Time-Being”), from the Shobogenzo (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye)

Special Guest: Jeremy D. Johnson.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4762 yes Episode 55: The Great Weird North: On Algernon Blackwood's 'The Wendigo' https://www.weirdstudies.com/55 No survey of weird literature would be complete without mentioning Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951). As with all masters of the genre, Blackwood's take on the weird is singular: here, it isn't the cold reaches of outer space that elicit in us a nihilistic frisson, but the vast expanses of our own planet's wild places -- especially the northern woods. In his story "The Wendigo," Blackwood combines the beliefs of the Indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands with the folktales of his native Britain to weave an ensorcelling story that perfectly captures the mood of the Canadian wilderness. In this conversation, JF and Phil discuss their own experience of that wilderness growing up in Ontario. The deeper they go, the spookier things get. An episode best enjoyed in solitude, by a campfire. Header Image: "Highway 60 Passing Through the Boreal Forest in Algonquin Park" by Dimana Koralova, Wikimedia Commons SHOW NOTES Glenn Gould, The Idea of North Algernon Blackwood, "The Wendigo" Game of Thrones (HBO series) Weird Studies, Episode 29: On Lovecraft H. P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature" Edgar Allan Poe, "The Philosophy of Composition" Fritz Leiber, The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Richard Wagner, Parsifal David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return Peter Heller, The River: A Novel The Killing of Tim McLean (July 30, 2008) Weird Studies, Episode 3: Ecstasy, Sin, and "The White People" Mysterious Universe: Strange and Terrifying Encounters with Skinwalkers Jacques Vallée, Passport to Magonia: On UFOs, Folklore, and Parallel Worlds Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy Arthur Machen, Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 11 Sep 2019 15:30:00 -0000 The Great Weird North: On Algernon Blackwood's 'The Wendigo' full 55 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Algernon Blackwoods tale of the Canadian forest, "The Wendigo." No survey of weird literature would be complete without mentioning Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951). As with all masters of the genre, Blackwood's take on the weird is singular: here, it isn't the cold reaches of outer space that elicit in us a nihilistic frisson, but the vast expanses of our own planet's wild places -- especially the northern woods. In his story "The Wendigo," Blackwood combines the beliefs of the Indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands with the folktales of his native Britain to weave an ensorcelling story that perfectly captures the mood of the Canadian wilderness. In this conversation, JF and Phil discuss their own experience of that wilderness growing up in Ontario. The deeper they go, the spookier things get. An episode best enjoyed in solitude, by a campfire. Header Image: "Highway 60 Passing Through the Boreal Forest in Algonquin Park" by Dimana Koralova, Wikimedia Commons SHOW NOTES Glenn Gould, The Idea of North Algernon Blackwood, "The Wendigo" Game of Thrones (HBO series) Weird Studies, Episode 29: On Lovecraft H. P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature" Edgar Allan Poe, "The Philosophy of Composition" Fritz Leiber, The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Richard Wagner, Parsifal David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return Peter Heller, The River: A Novel The Killing of Tim McLean (July 30, 2008) Weird Studies, Episode 3: Ecstasy, Sin, and "The White People" Mysterious Universe: Strange and Terrifying Encounters with Skinwalkers Jacques Vallée, Passport to Magonia: On UFOs, Folklore, and Parallel Worlds Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy Arthur Machen, Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices No survey of weird literature would be complete without mentioning Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951). As with all masters of the genre, Blackwood's take on the weird is singular: here, it isn't the cold reaches of outer space that elicit in us a nihilistic frisson, but the vast expanses of our own planet's wild places -- especially the northern woods. In his story "The Wendigo," Blackwood combines the beliefs of the Indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands with the folktales of his native Britain to weave an ensorcelling story that perfectly captures the mood of the Canadian wilderness. In this conversation, JF and Phil discuss their own experience of that wilderness growing up in Ontario. The deeper they go, the spookier things get. An episode best enjoyed in solitude, by a campfire.

Header Image: "Highway 60 Passing Through the Boreal Forest in Algonquin Park" by Dimana Koralova, Wikimedia Commons

SHOW NOTES

Glenn Gould, The Idea of North
Algernon Blackwood, "The Wendigo"
Game of Thrones (HBO series)
Weird Studies, Episode 29: On Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature"
Edgar Allan Poe, "The Philosophy of Composition"
Fritz Leiber, The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
Richard Wagner, Parsifal
David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return
Peter Heller, The River: A Novel
The Killing of Tim McLean (July 30, 2008)
Weird Studies, Episode 3: Ecstasy, Sin, and "The White People"
Mysterious Universe: Strange and Terrifying Encounters with Skinwalkers
Jacques Vallée, Passport to Magonia: On UFOs, Folklore, and Parallel Worlds
Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy
Arthur Machen, Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy

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]]> 4994 yes Episode 54: Lobsters, Pianos, and Hidden Gods https://www.weirdstudies.com/54 "All things feel," Pythagoas said. Panpsychism, the belief that consciousnes is a property of all things and not limited to the human brain, is back in vogue -- with good reason. The problem of how inert matter could give rise to subjectivity and feeling has proved insoluble under the dominant assumptions of a hard materialism. Recently, the American filmmaker Errol Morris presented his own brand of panpsychism in a long-form essay entitled, "The Pianist and the Lobster," published in the New York Times. The essay opens with an episode from the life of Sviatoslav Richter, namely a time where the famous Russian pianist couldn't perform without a plastic lobster waiting for him in the wings. In Morris's piece, the curious anecdote sounds the first note of what turns out to be a polyphony of thoughts and ideas on consciousness, agency, Nerval's image of the the "Hidden God," and the deep weirdness of music. Phil and JF use Morris's essay to create a polyphony of their own. REFERENCES Errol Morris, "The Pianist and the Lobster" Sviatoslav Richter, Russian pianist Nick Cave., Red Hand Files #53 Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Bruno Monsaingeon (dir.), Richter: The Enigma Bon Jovi, "Livin’ on a Prayer" Brad Warner, "The Eyes of Dogen" Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition Edgard Varèse, composer Benjamin Libet, neuroscientist Robin Hardy (dir), The Wicker Man Frans De Waal, Mama’s Last Hug Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus Sartre, The Transcendence of the Ego Tarot de Marseille - XVIII: The Moon Marsilio Ficino, Three Books on Life Carl Jung, "On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry", The Red Book Terence McKenna, Food of the Gods Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 28 Aug 2019 17:00:00 -0000 Lobsters, Pianos, and Hidden Gods full 54 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Errol Morris's fascinating essay, "The Pianist and the Lobster." "All things feel," Pythagoas said. Panpsychism, the belief that consciousnes is a property of all things and not limited to the human brain, is back in vogue -- with good reason. The problem of how inert matter could give rise to subjectivity and feeling has proved insoluble under the dominant assumptions of a hard materialism. Recently, the American filmmaker Errol Morris presented his own brand of panpsychism in a long-form essay entitled, "The Pianist and the Lobster," published in the New York Times. The essay opens with an episode from the life of Sviatoslav Richter, namely a time where the famous Russian pianist couldn't perform without a plastic lobster waiting for him in the wings. In Morris's piece, the curious anecdote sounds the first note of what turns out to be a polyphony of thoughts and ideas on consciousness, agency, Nerval's image of the the "Hidden God," and the deep weirdness of music. Phil and JF use Morris's essay to create a polyphony of their own. REFERENCES Errol Morris, "The Pianist and the Lobster" Sviatoslav Richter, Russian pianist Nick Cave., Red Hand Files #53 Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Bruno Monsaingeon (dir.), Richter: The Enigma Bon Jovi, "Livin’ on a Prayer" Brad Warner, "The Eyes of Dogen" Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition Edgard Varèse, composer Benjamin Libet, neuroscientist Robin Hardy (dir), The Wicker Man Frans De Waal, Mama’s Last Hug Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus Sartre, The Transcendence of the Ego Tarot de Marseille - XVIII: The Moon Marsilio Ficino, Three Books on Life Carl Jung, "On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry", The Red Book Terence McKenna, Food of the Gods Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices "All things feel," Pythagoas said. Panpsychism, the belief that consciousnes is a property of all things and not limited to the human brain, is back in vogue -- with good reason. The problem of how inert matter could give rise to subjectivity and feeling has proved insoluble under the dominant assumptions of a hard materialism. Recently, the American filmmaker Errol Morris presented his own brand of panpsychism in a long-form essay entitled, "The Pianist and the Lobster," published in the New York Times. The essay opens with an episode from the life of Sviatoslav Richter, namely a time where the famous Russian pianist couldn't perform without a plastic lobster waiting for him in the wings. In Morris's piece, the curious anecdote sounds the first note of what turns out to be a polyphony of thoughts and ideas on consciousness, agency, Nerval's image of the the "Hidden God," and the deep weirdness of music. Phil and JF use Morris's essay to create a polyphony of their own.

REFERENCES

Errol Morris, "The Pianist and the Lobster"

Sviatoslav Richter, Russian pianist
Nick Cave., Red Hand Files #53
Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Bruno Monsaingeon (dir.), Richter: The Enigma
Bon Jovi, "Livin’ on a Prayer"
Brad Warner, "The Eyes of Dogen"
Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition
Edgard Varèse, composer
Benjamin Libet, neuroscientist
Robin Hardy (dir), The Wicker Man
Frans De Waal, Mama’s Last Hug
Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus
Sartre, The Transcendence of the Ego
Tarot de Marseille - XVIII: The Moon
Marsilio Ficino, Three Books on Life
Carl Jung, "On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry", The Red Book
Terence McKenna, Food of the Gods

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]]> 4669 yes Episode 53: Astral Jet Lag: On William Gibson's 'Pattern Recognition' https://www.weirdstudies.com/53 William Gibson's Pattern Recognition was published in 2003, in the wake of 9/11. You would think that a novel about the early Internet's effects on the collective psyche would feel dated today. But Gibson's insight into the deeper implications of digital culture and soul-rending consumerism are such that we are still catching up with Cayce Pollard, the novel's protagonist, as she journeys into the hypermodern underworld, searching for the secrets of art, time, and death. In this episode, JF and Phil read Pattern Recognition as an exploration of the attention economy, an ascent of the all-seeing pyramid, a subtle rewilding of postmodern culture, and a handbook for the magicians of the future. REFERENCES William Gibson, Pattern Recognition Malcolm Gladwell, "The Coolhunt" Douglas Rushkoff, Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now Alvin and Heidi Toffler, Future Shock Weird Studies Episode 30 -- On Stanley _Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut_ Weird Studies Episode 50 -- Demogorgon: On _Stranger Things_ Austin Osman Spare, The Focus of Life: The Mutterings of AOS Douglas Rushkoff, Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 14 Aug 2019 13:00:00 -0000 Astral Jet Lag: On William Gibson's 'Pattern Recognition' full 53 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Gibson's masterwork of speculative naturalism. William Gibson's Pattern Recognition was published in 2003, in the wake of 9/11. You would think that a novel about the early Internet's effects on the collective psyche would feel dated today. But Gibson's insight into the deeper implications of digital culture and soul-rending consumerism are such that we are still catching up with Cayce Pollard, the novel's protagonist, as she journeys into the hypermodern underworld, searching for the secrets of art, time, and death. In this episode, JF and Phil read Pattern Recognition as an exploration of the attention economy, an ascent of the all-seeing pyramid, a subtle rewilding of postmodern culture, and a handbook for the magicians of the future. REFERENCES William Gibson, Pattern Recognition Malcolm Gladwell, "The Coolhunt" Douglas Rushkoff, Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now Alvin and Heidi Toffler, Future Shock Weird Studies Episode 30 -- On Stanley _Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut_ Weird Studies Episode 50 -- Demogorgon: On _Stranger Things_ Austin Osman Spare, The Focus of Life: The Mutterings of AOS Douglas Rushkoff, Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices William Gibson's Pattern Recognition was published in 2003, in the wake of 9/11. You would think that a novel about the early Internet's effects on the collective psyche would feel dated today. But Gibson's insight into the deeper implications of digital culture and soul-rending consumerism are such that we are still catching up with Cayce Pollard, the novel's protagonist, as she journeys into the hypermodern underworld, searching for the secrets of art, time, and death. In this episode, JF and Phil read Pattern Recognition as an exploration of the attention economy, an ascent of the all-seeing pyramid, a subtle rewilding of postmodern culture, and a handbook for the magicians of the future.

REFERENCES

William Gibson, Pattern Recognition
Malcolm Gladwell, "The Coolhunt"
Douglas Rushkoff, Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now
Alvin and Heidi Toffler, Future Shock
Weird Studies Episode 30 -- On Stanley _Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut_
Weird Studies Episode 50 -- Demogorgon: On _Stranger Things_
Austin Osman Spare, The Focus of Life: The Mutterings of AOS
Douglas Rushkoff, Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age

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]]> 3769 yes Episode 52: On Beauty https://www.weirdstudies.com/52 The idea that beauty might denote an actual quality of the world, something outside the human frame, is one of the great taboos of modern intellectual thought. Beauty, we are almost universally told, is a cultural contrivance rooted in politics and history, an illusion that exists only in human heads, for human reasons. On this view, a world without us would be a world without beauty. But in this episode Phil and JF explore two texts, by James Hillman and Peter Schjeldahl, that dare to challenge the modern orthodoxy. For Hillman and Schjeldahl, to experience the beautiful is precisely the break out of human bondage and touch the Outside. Beauty may even be one of the few truly objective experiences anyone could hope for. Peter Schjeldahl, “Notes on Beauty,“ in Uncontrollable Beauty: Toward a New Aesthetics James Hillman, “The Practice of Beauty,” in Uncontrollable Beauty: Toward a New Aesthetics C.G. Jung's retreat, Bollingen Tower Ugly public art in Palo Alto Dave Hickey, Air Guitar: Essays on Art and Democracy Deleuze and Guattari, “Of the Refrain,” from A Thousand Plateaus Roger Scruton, Beauty Weird Studies, Episode 36 -- On Hyperstition Weird Studies, Episode 33 -- The Fine Art of Changing the Subject: On Duchamp's "Fountain" Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking George Santayana, The Sense of Beauty Ingri D'Aulaires, D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths Messiaen, Quartet for the End of Time Christian Wiman, He Held Radical Light God, Book of Job Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 31 Jul 2019 14:30:00 -0000 On Beauty full 52 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the nature and power of beauty. The idea that beauty might denote an actual quality of the world, something outside the human frame, is one of the great taboos of modern intellectual thought. Beauty, we are almost universally told, is a cultural contrivance rooted in politics and history, an illusion that exists only in human heads, for human reasons. On this view, a world without us would be a world without beauty. But in this episode Phil and JF explore two texts, by James Hillman and Peter Schjeldahl, that dare to challenge the modern orthodoxy. For Hillman and Schjeldahl, to experience the beautiful is precisely the break out of human bondage and touch the Outside. Beauty may even be one of the few truly objective experiences anyone could hope for. Peter Schjeldahl, “Notes on Beauty,“ in Uncontrollable Beauty: Toward a New Aesthetics James Hillman, “The Practice of Beauty,” in Uncontrollable Beauty: Toward a New Aesthetics C.G. Jung's retreat, Bollingen Tower Ugly public art in Palo Alto Dave Hickey, Air Guitar: Essays on Art and Democracy Deleuze and Guattari, “Of the Refrain,” from A Thousand Plateaus Roger Scruton, Beauty Weird Studies, Episode 36 -- On Hyperstition Weird Studies, Episode 33 -- The Fine Art of Changing the Subject: On Duchamp's "Fountain" Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking George Santayana, The Sense of Beauty Ingri D'Aulaires, D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths Messiaen, Quartet for the End of Time Christian Wiman, He Held Radical Light God, Book of Job Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The idea that beauty might denote an actual quality of the world, something outside the human frame, is one of the great taboos of modern intellectual thought. Beauty, we are almost universally told, is a cultural contrivance rooted in politics and history, an illusion that exists only in human heads, for human reasons. On this view, a world without us would be a world without beauty. But in this episode Phil and JF explore two texts, by James Hillman and Peter Schjeldahl, that dare to challenge the modern orthodoxy. For Hillman and Schjeldahl, to experience the beautiful is precisely the break out of human bondage and touch the Outside. Beauty may even be one of the few truly objective experiences anyone could hope for.

Peter Schjeldahl, “Notes on Beauty,“ in Uncontrollable Beauty: Toward a New Aesthetics
James Hillman, “The Practice of Beauty,” in Uncontrollable Beauty: Toward a New Aesthetics
C.G. Jung's retreat, Bollingen Tower
Ugly public art in Palo Alto
Dave Hickey, Air Guitar: Essays on Art and Democracy
Deleuze and Guattari, “Of the Refrain,” from A Thousand Plateaus
Roger Scruton, Beauty
Weird Studies, Episode 36 -- On Hyperstition
Weird Studies, Episode 33 -- The Fine Art of Changing the Subject: On Duchamp's "Fountain"
Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking
George Santayana, The Sense of Beauty
Ingri D'Aulaires, D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
Messiaen, Quartet for the End of Time
Christian Wiman, He Held Radical Light
God, Book of Job

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]]> 4532 yes Episode 51: Blind Seers: On Flannery O'Connor's 'Wise Blood' https://www.weirdstudies.com/51 Through her fiction, Flannery O'Connor reenvisioned life as a supernatural war wherein each soul becomes the site of a clash of mysterious, almost incomprehensible forces. Her first novel, Wise Blood, tells the story of Hazel Motes, a young preacher with a new religion to sell: the Church Without Christ. In this episode, JF and Phil read Motes's misadventures in the "Jesus-haunted" city of Taulkinham, Tennessee, as a prophetic vision of the modern condition that is at once supremely tragic and funny as hell. As O'Connor herself wrote in her prefac to the book: "(Wise Blood) is a comic novel about a Christian malgré lui, and as such, very serious, for all comic novels that are any good must be about matters of life and death. REFERENCES Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood James Marshall, George and Martha (here's a great NYT piece on the books) Graham Hancock, Fingerprints of the Gods Paul Elie, The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy Daniel Ingram, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha George Santayana, The Sense of Beauty Amy Hungerford's lecture on Wise Blood (Yale University) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 17 Jul 2019 15:30:00 -0000 Blind Seers: On Flannery O'Connor's 'Wise Blood' full 51 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Flannery O'Connor first novel, interpreting it as an investigation into the implications of the modern. Through her fiction, Flannery O'Connor reenvisioned life as a supernatural war wherein each soul becomes the site of a clash of mysterious, almost incomprehensible forces. Her first novel, Wise Blood, tells the story of Hazel Motes, a young preacher with a new religion to sell: the Church Without Christ. In this episode, JF and Phil read Motes's misadventures in the "Jesus-haunted" city of Taulkinham, Tennessee, as a prophetic vision of the modern condition that is at once supremely tragic and funny as hell. As O'Connor herself wrote in her prefac to the book: "(Wise Blood) is a comic novel about a Christian malgré lui, and as such, very serious, for all comic novels that are any good must be about matters of life and death. REFERENCES Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood James Marshall, George and Martha (here's a great NYT piece on the books) Graham Hancock, Fingerprints of the Gods Paul Elie, The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy Daniel Ingram, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha George Santayana, The Sense of Beauty Amy Hungerford's lecture on Wise Blood (Yale University) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Through her fiction, Flannery O'Connor reenvisioned life as a supernatural war wherein each soul becomes the site of a clash of mysterious, almost incomprehensible forces. Her first novel, Wise Blood, tells the story of Hazel Motes, a young preacher with a new religion to sell: the Church Without Christ. In this episode, JF and Phil read Motes's misadventures in the "Jesus-haunted" city of Taulkinham, Tennessee, as a prophetic vision of the modern condition that is at once supremely tragic and funny as hell. As O'Connor herself wrote in her prefac to the book: "(Wise Blood) is a comic novel about a Christian malgré lui, and as such, very serious, for all comic novels that are any good must be about matters of life and death.

REFERENCES

Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood
James Marshall, George and Martha (here's a great NYT piece on the books)
Graham Hancock, Fingerprints of the Gods
Paul Elie, The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage
Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind
G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Daniel Ingram, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha
George Santayana, The Sense of Beauty
Amy Hungerford's lecture on Wise Blood (Yale University)

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]]> 5786 yes Episode 50: Demogorgon: On 'Stranger Things' https://www.weirdstudies.com/50 The Duffer Brothers' hit series Stranger Things is many things: an exemplary piece of entertainment in the summer blockbuster mold, a fresh take on the "kids on bikes" subgenre of science fiction, a loving pastiche of 1980s Hollywood cinema. And as Phil and JF attempt to show in this episode, Stranger Things is also a deep investigation into the metaphysical assumptions of our times, and a bold statement on the ontology of the analog real. This, at least, was the thesis of JF's three-part essay "Reality is Analog: Philosophizing with Stranger Things," which appeared on Metapsychosis after the first season dropped in 2016. Here, Phil and JF revisit that essay in order to expand on its arguments and discuss how it hoilds up in light of the series continued unfolding. The conversation touches on Apple's famous 1984 ad for the first Macintosh, the 2016 election of Donald Trump, the otherworldliness of airports, the ensorcelments of consumerism, and much more. REFERENCES Stranger Things "Reality is Analog: Philosophizing with Stranger Things" available at Metapsychosis or in ebook format Samuel Delaney, Dhalgren 1984 Apple commercial for Macintosh Wild Wild Country, Netflix documentary series Tom Frank, “Why Johnny Can’t Dissent” Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Arcade Fire, “We Used to Wait” William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch Jack Kerouac, Visions of Cody William James, A Pluralistic Universe Marc Augé, Non-Places: An Introduction to Supermodernity Weird Studies, episode 2: Garmonbozia Homer, Odyssey Matt Cardin, Dark Awakenings The Wachowskis, The Matrix Jonathan Haight and Greg Lukianoff, The Coddling of the American Mind Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 03 Jul 2019 14:30:00 -0000 Demogorgon: On 'Stranger Things' full 50 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the eldritch metaphysics of the Netflix series 'Stranger Things.' The Duffer Brothers' hit series Stranger Things is many things: an exemplary piece of entertainment in the summer blockbuster mold, a fresh take on the "kids on bikes" subgenre of science fiction, a loving pastiche of 1980s Hollywood cinema. And as Phil and JF attempt to show in this episode, Stranger Things is also a deep investigation into the metaphysical assumptions of our times, and a bold statement on the ontology of the analog real. This, at least, was the thesis of JF's three-part essay "Reality is Analog: Philosophizing with Stranger Things," which appeared on Metapsychosis after the first season dropped in 2016. Here, Phil and JF revisit that essay in order to expand on its arguments and discuss how it hoilds up in light of the series continued unfolding. The conversation touches on Apple's famous 1984 ad for the first Macintosh, the 2016 election of Donald Trump, the otherworldliness of airports, the ensorcelments of consumerism, and much more. REFERENCES Stranger Things "Reality is Analog: Philosophizing with Stranger Things" available at Metapsychosis or in ebook format Samuel Delaney, Dhalgren 1984 Apple commercial for Macintosh Wild Wild Country, Netflix documentary series Tom Frank, “Why Johnny Can’t Dissent” Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Arcade Fire, “We Used to Wait” William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch Jack Kerouac, Visions of Cody William James, A Pluralistic Universe Marc Augé, Non-Places: An Introduction to Supermodernity Weird Studies, episode 2: Garmonbozia Homer, Odyssey Matt Cardin, Dark Awakenings The Wachowskis, The Matrix Jonathan Haight and Greg Lukianoff, The Coddling of the American Mind Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The Duffer Brothers' hit series Stranger Things is many things: an exemplary piece of entertainment in the summer blockbuster mold, a fresh take on the "kids on bikes" subgenre of science fiction, a loving pastiche of 1980s Hollywood cinema. And as Phil and JF attempt to show in this episode, Stranger Things is also a deep investigation into the metaphysical assumptions of our times, and a bold statement on the ontology of the analog real. This, at least, was the thesis of JF's three-part essay "Reality is Analog: Philosophizing with Stranger Things," which appeared on Metapsychosis after the first season dropped in 2016. Here, Phil and JF revisit that essay in order to expand on its arguments and discuss how it hoilds up in light of the series continued unfolding. The conversation touches on Apple's famous 1984 ad for the first Macintosh, the 2016 election of Donald Trump, the otherworldliness of airports, the ensorcelments of consumerism, and much more.

REFERENCES

Stranger Things
"Reality is Analog: Philosophizing with Stranger Things" available at Metapsychosis or in ebook format
Samuel Delaney, Dhalgren
1984 Apple commercial for Macintosh
Wild Wild Country, Netflix documentary series
Tom Frank, “Why Johnny Can’t Dissent”
Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture
Arcade Fire, “We Used to Wait”
William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch
Jack Kerouac, Visions of Cody
William James, A Pluralistic Universe
Marc Augé, Non-Places: An Introduction to Supermodernity
Weird Studies, episode 2: Garmonbozia
Homer, Odyssey
Matt Cardin, Dark Awakenings
The Wachowskis, The Matrix
Jonathan Haight and Greg Lukianoff, The Coddling of the American Mind

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]]> 5791 yes Episode 49: Out of Time: Nietzsche on History https://www.weirdstudies.com/49 In his essay "On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life," Nietzsche attacks the notion that humans are totally determined by the historical forces that shape their physical and mental environment. Where other philosophers like Plato saw virtue in remembering eternal truths that earthly existence had wiped from our memories, Nietzsche extolled the virtues of forgetting, of becoming "untimely" and creating a zone where something new could arise. For Nietzsche, history was useful only if it served Life. Because we live in an age which constantly reifies history (through movies, news, social media, etc.) while also tricking us into thinking we somehow exist outside of history, the essay remains as relevant today as it was when Nietzsche wrote it a century and a half ago. REFERENCES Nietzsche, "On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life" in Untimely Meditations Epic Rap Battles of History: Eastern Philosophers vs Western Philosophers Ernest Newman, Life of Wagner Alexander Nehamas, Nietzsche: Life as Literature Alfred Korzybski, Manhood of Humanity Michael Foucault, "What is Englightenment?" Antinatalism Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility P. J. O’Rourke, American writer Richard Pryor, American comedian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 19 Jun 2019 15:00:00 -0000 Out of Time: Nietzsche on History full 49 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Nietzsche's seminal essay, "On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life," from Untimely Meditations. In his essay "On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life," Nietzsche attacks the notion that humans are totally determined by the historical forces that shape their physical and mental environment. Where other philosophers like Plato saw virtue in remembering eternal truths that earthly existence had wiped from our memories, Nietzsche extolled the virtues of forgetting, of becoming "untimely" and creating a zone where something new could arise. For Nietzsche, history was useful only if it served Life. Because we live in an age which constantly reifies history (through movies, news, social media, etc.) while also tricking us into thinking we somehow exist outside of history, the essay remains as relevant today as it was when Nietzsche wrote it a century and a half ago. REFERENCES Nietzsche, "On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life" in Untimely Meditations Epic Rap Battles of History: Eastern Philosophers vs Western Philosophers Ernest Newman, Life of Wagner Alexander Nehamas, Nietzsche: Life as Literature Alfred Korzybski, Manhood of Humanity Michael Foucault, "What is Englightenment?" Antinatalism Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility P. J. O’Rourke, American writer Richard Pryor, American comedian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In his essay "On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life," Nietzsche attacks the notion that humans are totally determined by the historical forces that shape their physical and mental environment. Where other philosophers like Plato saw virtue in remembering eternal truths that earthly existence had wiped from our memories, Nietzsche extolled the virtues of forgetting, of becoming "untimely" and creating a zone where something new could arise. For Nietzsche, history was useful only if it served Life. Because we live in an age which constantly reifies history (through movies, news, social media, etc.) while also tricking us into thinking we somehow exist outside of history, the essay remains as relevant today as it was when Nietzsche wrote it a century and a half ago.

REFERENCES

Nietzsche, "On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life" in Untimely Meditations
Epic Rap Battles of History: Eastern Philosophers vs Western Philosophers
Ernest Newman, Life of Wagner
Alexander Nehamas, Nietzsche: Life as Literature
Alfred Korzybski, Manhood of Humanity
Michael Foucault, "What is Englightenment?"
Antinatalism
Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility
P. J. O’Rourke, American writer
Richard Pryor, American comedian

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]]> 4962 yes Episode 48: Walking the Tightrope with Erik Davis https://www.weirdstudies.com/48 Journalist and historian of religion Erik Davis joins Phil and JF to talk about his latest magnum opus, High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies. In this masterwork of weird scholarship, Davis explores the simultaneously luminous and obscure worlds of three giants of Seventies counterculture: Terence McKenna, Robert Anton Wilson, and Philip K. Dick. Their psychonautical legacy serve as fuel for a deep-delving conversation on Davis' own ontological leanings, yearnings, and hesitations. We touch on his philosophical development since the release of Techgnosis in 1998, the meaning of "weird naturalism," the primacy of the aesthetic, the uses and abuses of anthropotechnics, the challenges of tightrope-walking across bottomless chasms, and lots more. REFERENCES Erik Davis, High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Expreience in the Seventies Erik Davis, Techgnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information Philip K. Dick, American science fiction writer Robert Anton Wilson, American writer Terence McKenna, Half-elf bard Graham Harman, American philosopher Timothy Morton, British philosopher Jeffrey J. Kripal, The Serpent’s Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of Religion William James, American philosopher and psychologist Hee-jin Kim, Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist Dogen, "Instructions for the Cook" Steve Reich, "Music as a Gradual Process" Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life Albert Hofman’s famous bicycle ride Erowid LSD vault George Lackoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live By Alexander Bard and Jan Söderqvist, Syntheism: Creating God in the Internet Age Special Guest: Erik Davis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 05 Jun 2019 17:30:00 -0000 Walking the Tightrope with Erik Davis full 48 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil sit down with Erik Davis to discuss his new book, "High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies." Journalist and historian of religion Erik Davis joins Phil and JF to talk about his latest magnum opus, High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies. In this masterwork of weird scholarship, Davis explores the simultaneously luminous and obscure worlds of three giants of Seventies counterculture: Terence McKenna, Robert Anton Wilson, and Philip K. Dick. Their psychonautical legacy serve as fuel for a deep-delving conversation on Davis' own ontological leanings, yearnings, and hesitations. We touch on his philosophical development since the release of Techgnosis in 1998, the meaning of "weird naturalism," the primacy of the aesthetic, the uses and abuses of anthropotechnics, the challenges of tightrope-walking across bottomless chasms, and lots more. REFERENCES Erik Davis, High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Expreience in the Seventies Erik Davis, Techgnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information Philip K. Dick, American science fiction writer Robert Anton Wilson, American writer Terence McKenna, Half-elf bard Graham Harman, American philosopher Timothy Morton, British philosopher Jeffrey J. Kripal, The Serpent’s Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of Religion William James, American philosopher and psychologist Hee-jin Kim, Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist Dogen, "Instructions for the Cook" Steve Reich, "Music as a Gradual Process" Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life Albert Hofman’s famous bicycle ride Erowid LSD vault George Lackoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live By Alexander Bard and Jan Söderqvist, Syntheism: Creating God in the Internet Age Special Guest: Erik Davis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Journalist and historian of religion Erik Davis joins Phil and JF to talk about his latest magnum opus, High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies. In this masterwork of weird scholarship, Davis explores the simultaneously luminous and obscure worlds of three giants of Seventies counterculture: Terence McKenna, Robert Anton Wilson, and Philip K. Dick. Their psychonautical legacy serve as fuel for a deep-delving conversation on Davis' own ontological leanings, yearnings, and hesitations. We touch on his philosophical development since the release of Techgnosis in 1998, the meaning of "weird naturalism," the primacy of the aesthetic, the uses and abuses of anthropotechnics, the challenges of tightrope-walking across bottomless chasms, and lots more.

REFERENCES

Erik Davis, High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Expreience in the Seventies
Erik Davis, Techgnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information

Philip K. Dick, American science fiction writer
Robert Anton Wilson, American writer
Terence McKenna, Half-elf bard
Graham Harman, American philosopher
Timothy Morton, British philosopher
Jeffrey J. Kripal, The Serpent’s Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of Religion
William James, American philosopher and psychologist
Hee-jin Kim, Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist
Dogen, "Instructions for the Cook"
Steve Reich, "Music as a Gradual Process"
Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life
Albert Hofman’s famous bicycle ride
Erowid LSD vault
George Lackoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live By
Alexander Bard and Jan Söderqvist, Syntheism: Creating God in the Internet Age

Special Guest: Erik Davis.

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]]> 5109 yes Episode 47: Machines of Loving Grace: Technology and the Unabomber https://www.weirdstudies.com/47 Made in 2003, Lutz Dammbeck's documentary The Net: The Unabomber, LSD, and the Internet is a film about many things, but the gist of it is something like what William Burroughs called the doctrine of control. We live in a world governed by technologies designed with a particular idea of society in mind, one that has its roots in the trauma of global war and the utopian dreams of modern thinkers. The viability of this ideal is, of course, an important question, and it was made all the more urgent by recent developments at the intersection of technology and politics. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss the doctrine of control as imagined by one of its fiercest -- and most insane -- critics: Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber. Kaczynski's thoughts on technological society form the through-line of Dammbeck's film, which in turn serves as a through-line for this jam on everything from one-world government and cybernetics to the archetype of the magus and the Whole Earth Catalog. REFERENCES Lutz Dammbeck (director), The Net: The Unabomber, LSD and the Internet (2003) Chuck Klosterman, "FAIL" in Eating the Dinosaur Jacques Ellul, French theorist Suzanne Treister, HEXEN Tarot Deck -- Seven of Swords -- Justice -- The Sun Norbert Wiener, Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and Machine and The Human Use of Human Beings Bertrand Russell, The Scientific Outlook Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Kevin Kelly, What Technology Wants Weird Studies Episode 2: Garmonbozia Stewart Brand, writer and editor of the Whole Earth Catalog Ursula Le Guin, Always Coming Home Gary Snyder's idea that "we are primitives of an unknown culture" is explored in Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Richard Brautigan, "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" (poem) San Francisco Oracle Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 22 May 2019 14:30:00 -0000 Machines of Loving Grace: Technology and the Unabomber full 47 SpectreVision Radio A wide-ranging conversation on technology, utopia, and the ethics of cybernetics. Made in 2003, Lutz Dammbeck's documentary The Net: The Unabomber, LSD, and the Internet is a film about many things, but the gist of it is something like what William Burroughs called the doctrine of control. We live in a world governed by technologies designed with a particular idea of society in mind, one that has its roots in the trauma of global war and the utopian dreams of modern thinkers. The viability of this ideal is, of course, an important question, and it was made all the more urgent by recent developments at the intersection of technology and politics. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss the doctrine of control as imagined by one of its fiercest -- and most insane -- critics: Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber. Kaczynski's thoughts on technological society form the through-line of Dammbeck's film, which in turn serves as a through-line for this jam on everything from one-world government and cybernetics to the archetype of the magus and the Whole Earth Catalog. REFERENCES Lutz Dammbeck (director), The Net: The Unabomber, LSD and the Internet (2003) Chuck Klosterman, "FAIL" in Eating the Dinosaur Jacques Ellul, French theorist Suzanne Treister, HEXEN Tarot Deck -- Seven of Swords -- Justice -- The Sun Norbert Wiener, Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and Machine and The Human Use of Human Beings Bertrand Russell, The Scientific Outlook Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Kevin Kelly, What Technology Wants Weird Studies Episode 2: Garmonbozia Stewart Brand, writer and editor of the Whole Earth Catalog Ursula Le Guin, Always Coming Home Gary Snyder's idea that "we are primitives of an unknown culture" is explored in Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Richard Brautigan, "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" (poem) San Francisco Oracle Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Made in 2003, Lutz Dammbeck's documentary The Net: The Unabomber, LSD, and the Internet is a film about many things, but the gist of it is something like what William Burroughs called the doctrine of control. We live in a world governed by technologies designed with a particular idea of society in mind, one that has its roots in the trauma of global war and the utopian dreams of modern thinkers. The viability of this ideal is, of course, an important question, and it was made all the more urgent by recent developments at the intersection of technology and politics. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss the doctrine of control as imagined by one of its fiercest -- and most insane -- critics: Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber. Kaczynski's thoughts on technological society form the through-line of Dammbeck's film, which in turn serves as a through-line for this jam on everything from one-world government and cybernetics to the archetype of the magus and the Whole Earth Catalog.

REFERENCES

Lutz Dammbeck (director), The Net: The Unabomber, LSD and the Internet (2003)
Chuck Klosterman, "FAIL" in Eating the Dinosaur
Jacques Ellul, French theorist
Suzanne Treister, HEXEN Tarot Deck
-- Seven of Swords
-- Justice
-- The Sun
Norbert Wiener, Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and Machine and The Human Use of Human Beings
Bertrand Russell, The Scientific Outlook
Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
Kevin Kelly, What Technology Wants
Weird Studies Episode 2: Garmonbozia
Stewart Brand, writer and editor of the Whole Earth Catalog
Ursula Le Guin, Always Coming Home
Gary Snyder's idea that "we are primitives of an unknown culture" is explored in Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture
Richard Brautigan, "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" (poem)
San Francisco Oracle
Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology

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]]> 4104 yes Episode 46: Thomas Ligotti's Angel https://www.weirdstudies.com/46 In his short story "Mrs. Rinaldi's Angel," contemporary horror author Thomas Ligotti contrasts the chaotic monstrosity of dreams with the cold, indifferent, and no less monstrous purity of angels. It is the story of a boy whose vivid dream life is sapping his vital force, and who resorts to esoteric measures to rectify the situation. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the beauty and horror of dreams, the metaphysical signifiance of angels and demons, and the potential dangers of seeking the peace of absolute "purity" in the wondrous flux of lived experience. REFERENCES Thomas Ligotti, "Mrs. Rinaldi's Angel" (read by Jon Padgett) Roger Scruton, The Face of God Thomas Ligotti, Songs of a Dead Dreamer Thomas Ligotti, "The Last Feast of Harlequin" in Grimscribe: His Lives and Works Robert Aickman, English author H. P. Lovecraft, American author H. R. Giger, Swiss artist Jean Giraud a.k.a. Moebius, French comic book artist Donald Barthelme, American author Pierre Soulages, French artist Bruno Schulz, Polish author Thomas Bernhard, Austrian author Edgar Allan Poe, American author J. F. Martel, "The Beautiful Madness: Primacy of Wonder in the Works of Thomas Ligotti" (Forthcoming in James Curcio (ed.), Masks: Bowie and the Artists of Artifice from Intellect Books) Algernon Blackwood, "The Wendigo" Thomas Ligotti, "The Dark Beauty of Unheard of Horrors" in The Thomas Ligotti Reader: Essays and Explorations Dogen Zenji, Zen master Manichaeism Spencer Brown, The Laws of Form Ramsey Dukes, Words Made Flesh: Information In Formation Deleuze, Essays Critical and Clinical Thomas Ligotti, "Purity," in Teatro Grottesco James Joyce, Ulysses Advaita Vedanta Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and Spiritual Ordeal Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld P. J. O’Rourke, political satirist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 08 May 2019 18:45:00 -0000 Thomas Ligotti's Angel full 46 SpectreVision Radio An in-depth discussion of horror writer Thomas Ligotti's short story, "Mrs. Rinaldi's Angel." In his short story "Mrs. Rinaldi's Angel," contemporary horror author Thomas Ligotti contrasts the chaotic monstrosity of dreams with the cold, indifferent, and no less monstrous purity of angels. It is the story of a boy whose vivid dream life is sapping his vital force, and who resorts to esoteric measures to rectify the situation. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the beauty and horror of dreams, the metaphysical signifiance of angels and demons, and the potential dangers of seeking the peace of absolute "purity" in the wondrous flux of lived experience. REFERENCES Thomas Ligotti, "Mrs. Rinaldi's Angel" (read by Jon Padgett) Roger Scruton, The Face of God Thomas Ligotti, Songs of a Dead Dreamer Thomas Ligotti, "The Last Feast of Harlequin" in Grimscribe: His Lives and Works Robert Aickman, English author H. P. Lovecraft, American author H. R. Giger, Swiss artist Jean Giraud a.k.a. Moebius, French comic book artist Donald Barthelme, American author Pierre Soulages, French artist Bruno Schulz, Polish author Thomas Bernhard, Austrian author Edgar Allan Poe, American author J. F. Martel, "The Beautiful Madness: Primacy of Wonder in the Works of Thomas Ligotti" (Forthcoming in James Curcio (ed.), Masks: Bowie and the Artists of Artifice from Intellect Books) Algernon Blackwood, "The Wendigo" Thomas Ligotti, "The Dark Beauty of Unheard of Horrors" in The Thomas Ligotti Reader: Essays and Explorations Dogen Zenji, Zen master Manichaeism Spencer Brown, The Laws of Form Ramsey Dukes, Words Made Flesh: Information In Formation Deleuze, Essays Critical and Clinical Thomas Ligotti, "Purity," in Teatro Grottesco James Joyce, Ulysses Advaita Vedanta Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and Spiritual Ordeal Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld P. J. O’Rourke, political satirist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In his short story "Mrs. Rinaldi's Angel," contemporary horror author Thomas Ligotti contrasts the chaotic monstrosity of dreams with the cold, indifferent, and no less monstrous purity of angels. It is the story of a boy whose vivid dream life is sapping his vital force, and who resorts to esoteric measures to rectify the situation. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the beauty and horror of dreams, the metaphysical signifiance of angels and demons, and the potential dangers of seeking the peace of absolute "purity" in the wondrous flux of lived experience.

REFERENCES

Thomas Ligotti, "Mrs. Rinaldi's Angel" (read by Jon Padgett)

Roger Scruton, The Face of God
Thomas Ligotti, Songs of a Dead Dreamer
Thomas Ligotti, "The Last Feast of Harlequin" in Grimscribe: His Lives and Works
Robert Aickman, English author
H. P. Lovecraft, American author
H. R. Giger, Swiss artist
Jean Giraud a.k.a. Moebius, French comic book artist
Donald Barthelme, American author
Pierre Soulages, French artist
Bruno Schulz, Polish author
Thomas Bernhard, Austrian author
Edgar Allan Poe, American author
J. F. Martel, "The Beautiful Madness: Primacy of Wonder in the Works of Thomas Ligotti" (Forthcoming in James Curcio (ed.), Masks: Bowie and the Artists of Artifice from Intellect Books)
Algernon Blackwood, "The Wendigo"
Thomas Ligotti, "The Dark Beauty of Unheard of Horrors" in The Thomas Ligotti Reader: Essays and Explorations
Dogen Zenji, Zen master
Manichaeism
Spencer Brown, The Laws of Form
Ramsey Dukes, Words Made Flesh: Information In Formation
Deleuze, Essays Critical and Clinical
Thomas Ligotti, "Purity," in Teatro Grottesco
James Joyce, Ulysses
Advaita Vedanta
Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and Spiritual Ordeal
Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld
P. J. O’Rourke, political satirist

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]]> 5377 yes Episode 45: Jeffrey J. Kripal on 'Flipping' Out of Materialism https://www.weirdstudies.com/45 "May the present 'you' not survive this little book," Jeffrey Kripal writes in the prologue to The Flip. "May you be flipped in dramatic or quiet ways." Indeed, Kripal's latest is a kind of manifesto, a call to embrace the metaphysical expanses that reveal themselves to many who dare dip a toe outside the materialist lifeboat we've been rowing away in for a couple of centuries now. In this conversation, Phil and JF talk to the eminent scholar of religion about the life-changing epiphanies that have convinced many a hardboiled materialist that bouncing billiard balls is probably not the best metaphor for what is actually going on in the universe. In essence, this is a conversation about stories, about the fictions we tell ourselves to make sense -- or nonsense -- of our world. REFERENCES Jeffrey J. Kripal, The Flip: Epiphanies of Mind and the Future of Knowledge Henri Bergson, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion Sigmund Freud, Civilization and its Discontents Weird Studies, Episode 37: Entities, with Stuart Davis Special Guest: Jeffrey J. Kripal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 24 Apr 2019 15:30:00 -0000 Jeffrey J. Kripal on 'Flipping' Out of Materialism full 45 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil talk to Jeffrey Kripal about his new book, "The Flip: Epiphanies of Mind and the Future of Knowledge" "May the present 'you' not survive this little book," Jeffrey Kripal writes in the prologue to The Flip. "May you be flipped in dramatic or quiet ways." Indeed, Kripal's latest is a kind of manifesto, a call to embrace the metaphysical expanses that reveal themselves to many who dare dip a toe outside the materialist lifeboat we've been rowing away in for a couple of centuries now. In this conversation, Phil and JF talk to the eminent scholar of religion about the life-changing epiphanies that have convinced many a hardboiled materialist that bouncing billiard balls is probably not the best metaphor for what is actually going on in the universe. In essence, this is a conversation about stories, about the fictions we tell ourselves to make sense -- or nonsense -- of our world. REFERENCES Jeffrey J. Kripal, The Flip: Epiphanies of Mind and the Future of Knowledge Henri Bergson, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion Sigmund Freud, Civilization and its Discontents Weird Studies, Episode 37: Entities, with Stuart Davis Special Guest: Jeffrey J. Kripal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices "May the present 'you' not survive this little book," Jeffrey Kripal writes in the prologue to The Flip. "May you be flipped in dramatic or quiet ways." Indeed, Kripal's latest is a kind of manifesto, a call to embrace the metaphysical expanses that reveal themselves to many who dare dip a toe outside the materialist lifeboat we've been rowing away in for a couple of centuries now. In this conversation, Phil and JF talk to the eminent scholar of religion about the life-changing epiphanies that have convinced many a hardboiled materialist that bouncing billiard balls is probably not the best metaphor for what is actually going on in the universe. In essence, this is a conversation about stories, about the fictions we tell ourselves to make sense -- or nonsense -- of our world.

REFERENCES

Jeffrey J. Kripal, The Flip: Epiphanies of Mind and the Future of Knowledge
Henri Bergson, The Two Sources of Morality and Religion
Sigmund Freud, Civilization and its Discontents
Weird Studies, Episode 37: Entities, with Stuart Davis

Special Guest: Jeffrey J. Kripal.

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]]> 4227 yes Episode 44: Doomed to Enchantment: The Psychical Research of William James https://www.weirdstudies.com/44 The great American thinker William James knew well that no intellectual pursuit is purely intellectual. His interest in the "supernormal," whether it take the form of spiritual apparition or extrasensory perception, was rooted in a personal desire to uncover the miraculous in the mundane. Indeed, the early members of the British Society for Psychical Research and its American counterpart (which James co-founded in 1884) were united in this conviction that certain phenomena which most scientists of their day considered unworthy of their attention were in fact the frontier of a new world, an avenue for humanity's deepest aspirations. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss two papers that James wrote about the first phase in the history of these research societies. James lays bare his conclusions about the reality of psychical phenomena and its scientific significance. The bizarre fact that psychical research has made little progress since its inception lays the ground for an engaging discussion on the limits of the knowable. REFERENCES Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment Frederic W. H. Myers, theorist of the "subliminal self" Weird Studies, Episode 37: Entities Thomas Henry Huxley, aka "Darwin's Bulldog" Patrick Harpur, Daimonic Reality: A Field Guide to the Otherworld Mervyn Peake, The Gormenghast Trilogy Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions James Randi, professional skeptic Dean Radin, Real Magic Eric Wargo, Time Loops: Precognition, Retrocausation, and the Unconscious Lionel Snell a.k.a. Ramsey Dukes, British magician Changeling: The Lost tabletop roleplaying game Rupert Sheldrake's morphic resonance Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency Joshua Ramey, "[Contingency Without Unreason: Speculation After Meillassoux]("Contingency Without Unreason: Speculation After Meillassoux")" C.G. Jung, Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Tue, 09 Apr 2019 15:30:00 -0000 Doomed to Enchantment: The Psychical Research of William James full 44 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss two articles by William James on the early years of psychical research in Britain and the US. The great American thinker William James knew well that no intellectual pursuit is purely intellectual. His interest in the "supernormal," whether it take the form of spiritual apparition or extrasensory perception, was rooted in a personal desire to uncover the miraculous in the mundane. Indeed, the early members of the British Society for Psychical Research and its American counterpart (which James co-founded in 1884) were united in this conviction that certain phenomena which most scientists of their day considered unworthy of their attention were in fact the frontier of a new world, an avenue for humanity's deepest aspirations. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss two papers that James wrote about the first phase in the history of these research societies. James lays bare his conclusions about the reality of psychical phenomena and its scientific significance. The bizarre fact that psychical research has made little progress since its inception lays the ground for an engaging discussion on the limits of the knowable. REFERENCES Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment Frederic W. H. Myers, theorist of the "subliminal self" Weird Studies, Episode 37: Entities Thomas Henry Huxley, aka "Darwin's Bulldog" Patrick Harpur, Daimonic Reality: A Field Guide to the Otherworld Mervyn Peake, The Gormenghast Trilogy Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions James Randi, professional skeptic Dean Radin, Real Magic Eric Wargo, Time Loops: Precognition, Retrocausation, and the Unconscious Lionel Snell a.k.a. Ramsey Dukes, British magician Changeling: The Lost tabletop roleplaying game Rupert Sheldrake's morphic resonance Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency Joshua Ramey, "[Contingency Without Unreason: Speculation After Meillassoux]("Contingency Without Unreason: Speculation After Meillassoux")" C.G. Jung, Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The great American thinker William James knew well that no intellectual pursuit is purely intellectual. His interest in the "supernormal," whether it take the form of spiritual apparition or extrasensory perception, was rooted in a personal desire to uncover the miraculous in the mundane. Indeed, the early members of the British Society for Psychical Research and its American counterpart (which James co-founded in 1884) were united in this conviction that certain phenomena which most scientists of their day considered unworthy of their attention were in fact the frontier of a new world, an avenue for humanity's deepest aspirations. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss two papers that James wrote about the first phase in the history of these research societies. James lays bare his conclusions about the reality of psychical phenomena and its scientific significance. The bizarre fact that psychical research has made little progress since its inception lays the ground for an engaging discussion on the limits of the knowable.

REFERENCES

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment
Frederic W. H. Myers, theorist of the "subliminal self"
Weird Studies, Episode 37: Entities
Thomas Henry Huxley, aka "Darwin's Bulldog"
Patrick Harpur, Daimonic Reality: A Field Guide to the Otherworld
Mervyn Peake, The Gormenghast Trilogy
Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
James Randi, professional skeptic
Dean Radin, Real Magic
Eric Wargo, Time Loops: Precognition, Retrocausation, and the Unconscious
Lionel Snell a.k.a. Ramsey Dukes, British magician
Changeling: The Lost tabletop roleplaying game
Rupert Sheldrake's morphic resonance
Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency
Joshua Ramey, "[Contingency Without Unreason: Speculation After Meillassoux]("Contingency Without Unreason: Speculation After Meillassoux")"
C.G. Jung, Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 5627 yes Episode 43: On Shirley Jackson https://www.weirdstudies.com/43 Shirley Jackson's stories and novels rank among the greatest weird works produced in America during the 20th century. However, unlike authors such as Philip K. Dick and H.P. Lovecraft, Jackson didn't cut her teeth in the pulps but among the slick pages of such illustrious publications as The New Yorker. On the other hand, whether because her most famous novel uses the traditional ghost story form or because she was a woman, Jackson only rarely appears in the litanies of weird literature, where she most definitely belongs. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss two of Jackson's short works, "The Lottery" and "The Summer People." The conversation touches on such cheerful topics as human sacrifice, the use of tradition to license evil, and the alienness that can infect even the most familiar things ... when the stars are right. Header image by Hussein Twabi, Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES The Weird Studies Patreon Shirley Jackson Zoë Heller, “The Haunted Mind of Shirley Jackson,” review of Ruth Franklin, Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life American writer Mitch Horowitz Rhonda Byrne, The Secret Stuart Wilde, The Trick to Money is Having Some Seymour Ginsburg, Gurdjieff Unveiled Randall Collins, Violence: A Microsociological Theory James Hillman, A Terrible Love of War Homer, The Iliad Phil & JF at Octopus Books in Ottawa, 2015 Marcus Aurelius, Meditations “Whatever happens to you has been waiting to happen since the beginning of time. The twining strands of fate wove both of them together: your own existence and the things that happen to you.” David Lynch, Blue Velvet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 27 Mar 2019 15:00:00 -0000 On Shirley Jackson full 43 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss two weird masterworks, "The Lottery" and "The Summer People" by the American horror luminary, Shirley Jackson. Shirley Jackson's stories and novels rank among the greatest weird works produced in America during the 20th century. However, unlike authors such as Philip K. Dick and H.P. Lovecraft, Jackson didn't cut her teeth in the pulps but among the slick pages of such illustrious publications as The New Yorker. On the other hand, whether because her most famous novel uses the traditional ghost story form or because she was a woman, Jackson only rarely appears in the litanies of weird literature, where she most definitely belongs. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss two of Jackson's short works, "The Lottery" and "The Summer People." The conversation touches on such cheerful topics as human sacrifice, the use of tradition to license evil, and the alienness that can infect even the most familiar things ... when the stars are right. Header image by Hussein Twabi, Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES The Weird Studies Patreon Shirley Jackson Zoë Heller, “The Haunted Mind of Shirley Jackson,” review of Ruth Franklin, Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life American writer Mitch Horowitz Rhonda Byrne, The Secret Stuart Wilde, The Trick to Money is Having Some Seymour Ginsburg, Gurdjieff Unveiled Randall Collins, Violence: A Microsociological Theory James Hillman, A Terrible Love of War Homer, The Iliad Phil & JF at Octopus Books in Ottawa, 2015 Marcus Aurelius, Meditations “Whatever happens to you has been waiting to happen since the beginning of time. The twining strands of fate wove both of them together: your own existence and the things that happen to you.” David Lynch, Blue Velvet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Shirley Jackson's stories and novels rank among the greatest weird works produced in America during the 20th century. However, unlike authors such as Philip K. Dick and H.P. Lovecraft, Jackson didn't cut her teeth in the pulps but among the slick pages of such illustrious publications as The New Yorker. On the other hand, whether because her most famous novel uses the traditional ghost story form or because she was a woman, Jackson only rarely appears in the litanies of weird literature, where she most definitely belongs. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss two of Jackson's short works, "The Lottery" and "The Summer People." The conversation touches on such cheerful topics as human sacrifice, the use of tradition to license evil, and the alienness that can infect even the most familiar things ... when the stars are right.

Header image by Hussein Twabi, Wikimedia Commons

REFERENCES

The Weird Studies Patreon
Shirley Jackson
Zoë Heller, “The Haunted Mind of Shirley Jackson,” review of Ruth Franklin, Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life
American writer Mitch Horowitz
Rhonda Byrne, The Secret
Stuart Wilde, The Trick to Money is Having Some
Seymour Ginsburg, Gurdjieff Unveiled
Randall Collins, Violence: A Microsociological Theory
James Hillman, A Terrible Love of War
Homer, The Iliad
Phil & JF at Octopus Books in Ottawa, 2015
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations “Whatever happens to you has been waiting to happen since the beginning of time. The twining strands of fate wove both of them together: your own existence and the things that happen to you.”
David Lynch, Blue Velvet

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]]> 4592 yes Episode 42: On Pauline Oliveros, with Kerry O'Brien https://www.weirdstudies.com/42 In the mid-1960s, Pauline Oliveros was a composer of experimental electronic music. But at the end of the 1960s, shocked by the political violence around her, she turned away from electronic technology and towards to a different kind of experimentation, which Dr. Kerry O'Brien calls "experimentalisms of the self." The immediate result of this turn was Oliveros's Sonic Meditations, a series of instructions for group bodymind practice. This work became the seed of Deep Listening, a sort of musical yoga Oliveros developed throughout the rest of her long career. Dr. O'Brien joins JF and Phil for a conversation on practice, "gaining mind," the ritual value of art, the wisdom of the body, and whether Deep Listening is really best understood as art at all. REFERENCES Kerry O'Brien, "Listening as Activism: The 'Sonic Meditations' of Pauline Oliveros" Pauline Oliveros, American composer John Cage, 4'33" Dead Territory performing Cage's 4'33" Alvin Lucier, "Music for a Solo Performer" Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" Lawrence Weschler, Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees Special Guest: Kerry O'Brien. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 13 Mar 2019 04:00:00 -0000 On Pauline Oliveros, with Kerry O'Brien full 42 SpectreVision Radio Music scholar Kerry O'Brien join Phil and JF for a conversation on the work of American composer Pauline Oliveros. In the mid-1960s, Pauline Oliveros was a composer of experimental electronic music. But at the end of the 1960s, shocked by the political violence around her, she turned away from electronic technology and towards to a different kind of experimentation, which Dr. Kerry O'Brien calls "experimentalisms of the self." The immediate result of this turn was Oliveros's Sonic Meditations, a series of instructions for group bodymind practice. This work became the seed of Deep Listening, a sort of musical yoga Oliveros developed throughout the rest of her long career. Dr. O'Brien joins JF and Phil for a conversation on practice, "gaining mind," the ritual value of art, the wisdom of the body, and whether Deep Listening is really best understood as art at all. REFERENCES Kerry O'Brien, "Listening as Activism: The 'Sonic Meditations' of Pauline Oliveros" Pauline Oliveros, American composer John Cage, 4'33" Dead Territory performing Cage's 4'33" Alvin Lucier, "Music for a Solo Performer" Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" Lawrence Weschler, Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees Special Guest: Kerry O'Brien. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In the mid-1960s, Pauline Oliveros was a composer of experimental electronic music. But at the end of the 1960s, shocked by the political violence around her, she turned away from electronic technology and towards to a different kind of experimentation, which Dr. Kerry O'Brien calls "experimentalisms of the self." The immediate result of this turn was Oliveros's Sonic Meditations, a series of instructions for group bodymind practice. This work became the seed of Deep Listening, a sort of musical yoga Oliveros developed throughout the rest of her long career. Dr. O'Brien joins JF and Phil for a conversation on practice, "gaining mind," the ritual value of art, the wisdom of the body, and whether Deep Listening is really best understood as art at all.

REFERENCES

Kerry O'Brien, "Listening as Activism: The 'Sonic Meditations' of Pauline Oliveros"
Pauline Oliveros, American composer
John Cage, 4'33"
Dead Territory performing Cage's 4'33"
Alvin Lucier, "Music for a Solo Performer"
Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life
Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"
Lawrence Weschler, Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees

Special Guest: Kerry O'Brien.

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]]> 3852 yes Episode 41: On Speculative Fiction, with Matt Cardin https://www.weirdstudies.com/41 Neil Gaiman wrote, "If literature is the world, then fantasy and horror are twin cities, divided by a river of black water." Flame Tree Publishing underwrites this claim with their recent publication, The Astounding Illustrated History of Fantasy and Horror. The book is a veritable gazetteer of these two cities in the heartland of the imaginal world. Writer and scholar Matt Cardin, founding editor of the marvellous [Teeming Brain](www.teemingbrain.com), wrote a chapter for the book focusing on the books and films of the Sixties and Seventies. In this episode, he joins JF and Phil to discuss the kinship of horror and fantasy, the modern ghettoization of mythopoeic art, the prophetic reach of speculative fiction, and the "cauldron of cultural transformation" that was the Sixties and Seventies. Header Image by Moralist, Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES The Astounding Illustrated History of Fantasy and Horror Matt Cardin's website The Teeming Brain American literary critic S. T. Joshi British writer and scholar Roger Luckhurst Neil Gaiman, introduction to The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft: Dreams of Terror and Death The concept of "folk psychology" H. P. Lovecraft, "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" H. P. Lovecraft, "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" James Curcio, Masks: Bowie and the Artists of Artifice (forthcoming) American author Thomas Ligotti British author Arthur Machen Mary Shelley, Frankenstein Ian McEwen, Enduring Love Weird Studies, Episode 36: On Hyperstition J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion Terry Brooks, The Sword of Shannara Stephen R. Donaldson, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968) The Lord of the Rings animated film (Ralph Bakshi, 1978) Lloyd Alexander, The Chronicles of Prydain Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time The Call of Cthulhu Role-Playing Game (Chaosium) Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Philip Kaufman, 1978) William Irwin Thompson, At the Edge of History Interview with Twilight Zone luminary George Clayton Johnson The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973) The Omen (Richard Donner, 1976) Stephen King, Salem's Lot Special Guest: Matt Cardin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 27 Feb 2019 15:30:00 -0000 On Speculative Fiction, with Matt Cardin full 41 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil talk fantasy and horror with writer and editor Matt Cardin. Neil Gaiman wrote, "If literature is the world, then fantasy and horror are twin cities, divided by a river of black water." Flame Tree Publishing underwrites this claim with their recent publication, The Astounding Illustrated History of Fantasy and Horror. The book is a veritable gazetteer of these two cities in the heartland of the imaginal world. Writer and scholar Matt Cardin, founding editor of the marvellous [Teeming Brain](www.teemingbrain.com), wrote a chapter for the book focusing on the books and films of the Sixties and Seventies. In this episode, he joins JF and Phil to discuss the kinship of horror and fantasy, the modern ghettoization of mythopoeic art, the prophetic reach of speculative fiction, and the "cauldron of cultural transformation" that was the Sixties and Seventies. Header Image by Moralist, Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES The Astounding Illustrated History of Fantasy and Horror Matt Cardin's website The Teeming Brain American literary critic S. T. Joshi British writer and scholar Roger Luckhurst Neil Gaiman, introduction to The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft: Dreams of Terror and Death The concept of "folk psychology" H. P. Lovecraft, "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" H. P. Lovecraft, "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" James Curcio, Masks: Bowie and the Artists of Artifice (forthcoming) American author Thomas Ligotti British author Arthur Machen Mary Shelley, Frankenstein Ian McEwen, Enduring Love Weird Studies, Episode 36: On Hyperstition J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion Terry Brooks, The Sword of Shannara Stephen R. Donaldson, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968) The Lord of the Rings animated film (Ralph Bakshi, 1978) Lloyd Alexander, The Chronicles of Prydain Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time The Call of Cthulhu Role-Playing Game (Chaosium) Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Philip Kaufman, 1978) William Irwin Thompson, At the Edge of History Interview with Twilight Zone luminary George Clayton Johnson The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973) The Omen (Richard Donner, 1976) Stephen King, Salem's Lot Special Guest: Matt Cardin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Neil Gaiman wrote, "If literature is the world, then fantasy and horror are twin cities, divided by a river of black water." Flame Tree Publishing underwrites this claim with their recent publication, The Astounding Illustrated History of Fantasy and Horror. The book is a veritable gazetteer of these two cities in the heartland of the imaginal world. Writer and scholar Matt Cardin, founding editor of the marvellous [Teeming Brain](www.teemingbrain.com), wrote a chapter for the book focusing on the books and films of the Sixties and Seventies. In this episode, he joins JF and Phil to discuss the kinship of horror and fantasy, the modern ghettoization of mythopoeic art, the prophetic reach of speculative fiction, and the "cauldron of cultural transformation" that was the Sixties and Seventies.

Header Image by Moralist, Wikimedia Commons

REFERENCES

The Astounding Illustrated History of Fantasy and Horror
Matt Cardin's website
The Teeming Brain

American literary critic S. T. Joshi
British writer and scholar Roger Luckhurst
Neil Gaiman, introduction to The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft: Dreams of Terror and Death
The concept of "folk psychology"
H. P. Lovecraft, "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath"
H. P. Lovecraft, "Through the Gates of the Silver Key"
James Curcio, Masks: Bowie and the Artists of Artifice (forthcoming)
American author Thomas Ligotti
British author Arthur Machen
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Ian McEwen, Enduring Love
Weird Studies, Episode 36: On Hyperstition
J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion
Terry Brooks, The Sword of Shannara
Stephen R. Donaldson, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever
Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968)
The Lord of the Rings animated film (Ralph Bakshi, 1978)
Lloyd Alexander, The Chronicles of Prydain
Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
The Call of Cthulhu Role-Playing Game (Chaosium)
Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Philip Kaufman, 1978)
William Irwin Thompson, At the Edge of History
Interview with Twilight Zone luminary George Clayton Johnson
The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973)
The Omen (Richard Donner, 1976)
Stephen King, Salem's Lot

Special Guest: Matt Cardin.

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]]> 3622 yes Episode 40: On Jonathan Glazer's 'Under the Skin' https://www.weirdstudies.com/40 In Jonathan Glazer's loose screen adaptation of Michel Faber's novel Under the Skin, a creature of mysterious origin drives around Scotland in a white van, collecting lonely men and spiriting them away to an otherworld where they are turned into food.... or something. Drawing on a deep well of literary, visual, and musical tradition, Glazer (with help from his score composer Mica Levi) create a vivid work of tragedy and horror, masterfully executed for maximal weirdness and unwaveringly true to the auteur's intent to reveal our world from an "alien perspective." In this episode, Phil and JF discuss some themes and ideas they've pried from this exquisite tangle of image and sound. Along the way, they discuss the role that serendipity, coincidence, and fate play in both art-making and scholarship. REFERENCES Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013) Other films by Glazer: Sexy Beast (2000), Birth (2004) Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975) Iannis Xenakis, Greek composer Twin Peaks: The Return (David Lynch, 2017) Ligeti, Atmosphères Stranger Things (The Duffer Brothers, 2016) Screen shot of "Space Invader" Easter egg in Under the Skin Weird Studies Episode 37: Entities, with Stuart Davis John August, American screenwriter Phil Ford, "The Devil's On Your Side: A Meditation on the Perennially Disreputable Business of Hermeneutics" (unpublished) Room 237 (Rodney Ascher, 2013) William Irwin Thompson, Imaginary Landscape: Making Worlds of Myth and Science Interview with Mica Levi, who composed the score for Under the Skin Atar Arad, American violist David Caspar Friedrich, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 13 Feb 2019 18:00:00 -0000 On Jonathan Glazer's 'Under the Skin' full 40 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the recent masterwork of weird cinema starring Scarlett Johansson. In Jonathan Glazer's loose screen adaptation of Michel Faber's novel Under the Skin, a creature of mysterious origin drives around Scotland in a white van, collecting lonely men and spiriting them away to an otherworld where they are turned into food.... or something. Drawing on a deep well of literary, visual, and musical tradition, Glazer (with help from his score composer Mica Levi) create a vivid work of tragedy and horror, masterfully executed for maximal weirdness and unwaveringly true to the auteur's intent to reveal our world from an "alien perspective." In this episode, Phil and JF discuss some themes and ideas they've pried from this exquisite tangle of image and sound. Along the way, they discuss the role that serendipity, coincidence, and fate play in both art-making and scholarship. REFERENCES Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013) Other films by Glazer: Sexy Beast (2000), Birth (2004) Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975) Iannis Xenakis, Greek composer Twin Peaks: The Return (David Lynch, 2017) Ligeti, Atmosphères Stranger Things (The Duffer Brothers, 2016) Screen shot of "Space Invader" Easter egg in Under the Skin Weird Studies Episode 37: Entities, with Stuart Davis John August, American screenwriter Phil Ford, "The Devil's On Your Side: A Meditation on the Perennially Disreputable Business of Hermeneutics" (unpublished) Room 237 (Rodney Ascher, 2013) William Irwin Thompson, Imaginary Landscape: Making Worlds of Myth and Science Interview with Mica Levi, who composed the score for Under the Skin Atar Arad, American violist David Caspar Friedrich, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In Jonathan Glazer's loose screen adaptation of Michel Faber's novel Under the Skin, a creature of mysterious origin drives around Scotland in a white van, collecting lonely men and spiriting them away to an otherworld where they are turned into food.... or something. Drawing on a deep well of literary, visual, and musical tradition, Glazer (with help from his score composer Mica Levi) create a vivid work of tragedy and horror, masterfully executed for maximal weirdness and unwaveringly true to the auteur's intent to reveal our world from an "alien perspective." In this episode, Phil and JF discuss some themes and ideas they've pried from this exquisite tangle of image and sound. Along the way, they discuss the role that serendipity, coincidence, and fate play in both art-making and scholarship.

REFERENCES

Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)
Other films by Glazer: Sexy Beast (2000), Birth (2004)

Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
Iannis Xenakis, Greek composer
Twin Peaks: The Return (David Lynch, 2017)
Ligeti, Atmosphères
Stranger Things (The Duffer Brothers, 2016)
Screen shot of "Space Invader" Easter egg in Under the Skin
Weird Studies Episode 37: Entities, with Stuart Davis
John August, American screenwriter
Phil Ford, "The Devil's On Your Side: A Meditation on the Perennially Disreputable Business of Hermeneutics" (unpublished)
Room 237 (Rodney Ascher, 2013)
William Irwin Thompson, Imaginary Landscape: Making Worlds of Myth and Science
Interview with Mica Levi, who composed the score for Under the Skin
Atar Arad, American violist
David Caspar Friedrich, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog

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]]> 4709 yes Episode 39: The Challenge of the Paranormal, with Jeffrey J. Kripal https://www.weirdstudies.com/39 "The world is not simply composed of physical causes strung together in strictly materialistic and mechanical fashion," writes Prof. Jeffrey J. Kripal in his seminal book, Authors of the Impossible. "The world is also a series of meaningful signs requiring a hermeneutics for their decipherment." This, in a nutshell, is Kripal's position vis à vis the fact of paranormal experience, a fact that he has explored in numerous works of scholarship over the last 25 years. For Kripal, whether we see supernatural entities as beings from other worlds or creatures of the human imagination is secondary to the question of whether they merit serious philosophical thought and consideration. On that point, he says, "it's not an option to be neutral." JF and Phil had the honor of sitting down with Jeffrey Kripal to discuss the super-natural, the sacred, and the reasons why these categories remain as vital now as they ever have been. Header image: "Artist's Impression of the Mothman," by Tim Bertelink, Wikimedia Commons. REFERENCES Jeffrey J. Kripal, Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred, The Serpent's Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of Religion, Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal, The Super Natural: Why the Unexplained is Real (with Whitley Strieber), and Changed in a Flash: One Woman's Near-Death Experience and Why a Scholar Thinks it Empowers Us All (with Elizabeth G. Krohn) Stanley Kubrick's The Shining Wouter Hanegraaff, historian of hermetic philosophy John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies Graham Harman and Eugene Thacker, philosophers J. F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande The X-Men (Marvel Comics) Special Guest: Jeffrey J. Kripal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 30 Jan 2019 18:00:00 -0000 The Challenge of the Paranormal, with Jeffrey J. Kripal full 39 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the paranormal with the esteemed professor and philosophy and religious thought, Jeffrey J. Kripal. "The world is not simply composed of physical causes strung together in strictly materialistic and mechanical fashion," writes Prof. Jeffrey J. Kripal in his seminal book, Authors of the Impossible. "The world is also a series of meaningful signs requiring a hermeneutics for their decipherment." This, in a nutshell, is Kripal's position vis à vis the fact of paranormal experience, a fact that he has explored in numerous works of scholarship over the last 25 years. For Kripal, whether we see supernatural entities as beings from other worlds or creatures of the human imagination is secondary to the question of whether they merit serious philosophical thought and consideration. On that point, he says, "it's not an option to be neutral." JF and Phil had the honor of sitting down with Jeffrey Kripal to discuss the super-natural, the sacred, and the reasons why these categories remain as vital now as they ever have been. Header image: "Artist's Impression of the Mothman," by Tim Bertelink, Wikimedia Commons. REFERENCES Jeffrey J. Kripal, Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred, The Serpent's Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of Religion, Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal, The Super Natural: Why the Unexplained is Real (with Whitley Strieber), and Changed in a Flash: One Woman's Near-Death Experience and Why a Scholar Thinks it Empowers Us All (with Elizabeth G. Krohn) Stanley Kubrick's The Shining Wouter Hanegraaff, historian of hermetic philosophy John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies Graham Harman and Eugene Thacker, philosophers J. F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande The X-Men (Marvel Comics) Special Guest: Jeffrey J. Kripal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices "The world is not simply composed of physical causes strung together in strictly materialistic and mechanical fashion," writes Prof. Jeffrey J. Kripal in his seminal book, Authors of the Impossible. "The world is also a series of meaningful signs requiring a hermeneutics for their decipherment." This, in a nutshell, is Kripal's position vis à vis the fact of paranormal experience, a fact that he has explored in numerous works of scholarship over the last 25 years. For Kripal, whether we see supernatural entities as beings from other worlds or creatures of the human imagination is secondary to the question of whether they merit serious philosophical thought and consideration. On that point, he says, "it's not an option to be neutral." JF and Phil had the honor of sitting down with Jeffrey Kripal to discuss the super-natural, the sacred, and the reasons why these categories remain as vital now as they ever have been.

Header image: "Artist's Impression of the Mothman," by Tim Bertelink, Wikimedia Commons.

REFERENCES

Jeffrey J. Kripal, Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred, The Serpent's Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of Religion, Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal, The Super Natural: Why the Unexplained is Real (with Whitley Strieber), and Changed in a Flash: One Woman's Near-Death Experience and Why a Scholar Thinks it Empowers Us All (with Elizabeth G. Krohn)

Stanley Kubrick's The Shining
Wouter Hanegraaff, historian of hermetic philosophy
John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies
Graham Harman and Eugene Thacker, philosophers
J. F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice
E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande
The X-Men (Marvel Comics)

Special Guest: Jeffrey J. Kripal.

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]]> 3765 yes Episode 38: Style as Analysis https://www.weirdstudies.com/38 Music writing has always been something of an occult practice, trying by some weird alchemy to use concepts to describe stuff that defies the basic categories of intellect. So long as we stick to classical music, we can pretend that nothing too odd is happening, since the classical tradition has been steeped in notation for centuries. But when a musicologist attempts to analyze, say, an ambient track by Brian Eno, things aren't so simple. Suddenly notation won't do, and there comes the need to make use of every tool in the poet's shed. This episode focuses on a recently published article by Phil on this question. In due course, the discussion turns to the power of good writing: its capacity not just to convey an author's subjective impressions, but to disclose new facets of the ineffable, baroque objective world. SHOW NOTES Phil Ford, "Style as Analysis" in The Routledge Companion to Popular Music Analysis: Expanding Approaches, edited by Ciro Scotto, Kenneth M. Smith and John Brackett Christopher Ricks, Dylan's Vision of Sin Ferrucio Busoni, Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music Susan McClary, Feminine Endings: Music, Gender, and Sexuality Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, Production of Presence: What Meaning Cannot Convey Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Jerry Hopkins, No One Here Gets Out Alive Brian Eno, Another Green World Mitchell Morris, The Persistence of Sentiment: Display and Feeling in Popular Music of the 1970s William Youngren, “Balliett’s Bailiwick,” Partisan Review 32, no. 1 (Winter 1965) Whitney Balliett, Collected Works E.M. Forster, Aspects of the Novel Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 16 Jan 2019 15:30:00 -0000 Style as Analysis full 38 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss a recently published article of Phil's authorship on how to write about music. Music writing has always been something of an occult practice, trying by some weird alchemy to use concepts to describe stuff that defies the basic categories of intellect. So long as we stick to classical music, we can pretend that nothing too odd is happening, since the classical tradition has been steeped in notation for centuries. But when a musicologist attempts to analyze, say, an ambient track by Brian Eno, things aren't so simple. Suddenly notation won't do, and there comes the need to make use of every tool in the poet's shed. This episode focuses on a recently published article by Phil on this question. In due course, the discussion turns to the power of good writing: its capacity not just to convey an author's subjective impressions, but to disclose new facets of the ineffable, baroque objective world. SHOW NOTES Phil Ford, "Style as Analysis" in The Routledge Companion to Popular Music Analysis: Expanding Approaches, edited by Ciro Scotto, Kenneth M. Smith and John Brackett Christopher Ricks, Dylan's Vision of Sin Ferrucio Busoni, Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music Susan McClary, Feminine Endings: Music, Gender, and Sexuality Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, Production of Presence: What Meaning Cannot Convey Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Jerry Hopkins, No One Here Gets Out Alive Brian Eno, Another Green World Mitchell Morris, The Persistence of Sentiment: Display and Feeling in Popular Music of the 1970s William Youngren, “Balliett’s Bailiwick,” Partisan Review 32, no. 1 (Winter 1965) Whitney Balliett, Collected Works E.M. Forster, Aspects of the Novel Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Music writing has always been something of an occult practice, trying by some weird alchemy to use concepts to describe stuff that defies the basic categories of intellect. So long as we stick to classical music, we can pretend that nothing too odd is happening, since the classical tradition has been steeped in notation for centuries. But when a musicologist attempts to analyze, say, an ambient track by Brian Eno, things aren't so simple. Suddenly notation won't do, and there comes the need to make use of every tool in the poet's shed. This episode focuses on a recently published article by Phil on this question. In due course, the discussion turns to the power of good writing: its capacity not just to convey an author's subjective impressions, but to disclose new facets of the ineffable, baroque objective world.

SHOW NOTES

Phil Ford, "Style as Analysis" in The Routledge Companion to Popular Music Analysis: Expanding Approaches, edited by Ciro Scotto, Kenneth M. Smith and John Brackett
Christopher Ricks, Dylan's Vision of Sin
Ferrucio Busoni, Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music
Susan McClary, Feminine Endings: Music, Gender, and Sexuality
Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, Production of Presence: What Meaning Cannot Convey
Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture
Jerry Hopkins, No One Here Gets Out Alive
Brian Eno, Another Green World
Mitchell Morris, The Persistence of Sentiment: Display and Feeling in Popular Music of the 1970s
William Youngren, “Balliett’s Bailiwick,” Partisan Review 32, no. 1 (Winter 1965)
Whitney Balliett, Collected Works
E.M. Forster, Aspects of the Novel
Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4245 yes Episode 37: Entities, with Stuart Davis https://www.weirdstudies.com/37 Several years ago, on New Year’s Eve, a tall, purple-robed praying mantis appeared to multidisciplinary artist Stuart Evan Davis as he meditated while running a fever. “Remember who you work for,” the entity said after beaming a zettabyte of information into Stuart’s febrile mind. Though it lasted less than a minute, the encounter sparked a series of life-changing -- and hair-raising -- events worthy of a Philip K. Dick novel. JF and Phil talk to Stuart Davis to get his thoughts on nonhuman intelligences, the artistic cosmos, a movie trilogy the Mantis commissioned, and Stuart’s brilliant audio documentary, Man Meets Mantis. Header image by OLJA, Wikimedia Commons Stuart Davis Official Website Stuart Davis, Man Meets Mantis Stuart Davis, “Something from Nothing” course Jasmine Karimova, singer-songwriter Ramsey Dukes, The Good, The Bad, and the Funny John Mack, psychiatrist and abduction phenomenon researcher Jacques Vallee, ufologist John Keel, paranormal researcher Weird Studies episode 2, “Garmonbozia” Norman McLaren, Spheres Remedios Varo, artist Leonora Carrington, artist JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Special Guest: Stuart Evan Davis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 02 Jan 2019 15:00:00 -0000 Entities, with Stuart Davis full 37 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss nonhuman beings in an aesthetic universe with filmmaker, musician and mystic Stuart Evan Davis. Several years ago, on New Year’s Eve, a tall, purple-robed praying mantis appeared to multidisciplinary artist Stuart Evan Davis as he meditated while running a fever. “Remember who you work for,” the entity said after beaming a zettabyte of information into Stuart’s febrile mind. Though it lasted less than a minute, the encounter sparked a series of life-changing -- and hair-raising -- events worthy of a Philip K. Dick novel. JF and Phil talk to Stuart Davis to get his thoughts on nonhuman intelligences, the artistic cosmos, a movie trilogy the Mantis commissioned, and Stuart’s brilliant audio documentary, Man Meets Mantis. Header image by OLJA, Wikimedia Commons Stuart Davis Official Website Stuart Davis, Man Meets Mantis Stuart Davis, “Something from Nothing” course Jasmine Karimova, singer-songwriter Ramsey Dukes, The Good, The Bad, and the Funny John Mack, psychiatrist and abduction phenomenon researcher Jacques Vallee, ufologist John Keel, paranormal researcher Weird Studies episode 2, “Garmonbozia” Norman McLaren, Spheres Remedios Varo, artist Leonora Carrington, artist JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Special Guest: Stuart Evan Davis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Several years ago, on New Year’s Eve, a tall, purple-robed praying mantis appeared to multidisciplinary artist Stuart Evan Davis as he meditated while running a fever. “Remember who you work for,” the entity said after beaming a zettabyte of information into Stuart’s febrile mind. Though it lasted less than a minute, the encounter sparked a series of life-changing -- and hair-raising -- events worthy of a Philip K. Dick novel.

JF and Phil talk to Stuart Davis to get his thoughts on nonhuman intelligences, the artistic cosmos, a movie trilogy the Mantis commissioned, and Stuart’s brilliant audio documentary, Man Meets Mantis.

Header image by OLJA, Wikimedia Commons

Stuart Davis Official Website
Stuart Davis, Man Meets Mantis
Stuart Davis, “Something from Nothing” course
Jasmine Karimova, singer-songwriter
Ramsey Dukes, The Good, The Bad, and the Funny
John Mack, psychiatrist and abduction phenomenon researcher
Jacques Vallee, ufologist
John Keel, paranormal researcher
Weird Studies episode 2, “Garmonbozia”
Norman McLaren, Spheres
Remedios Varo, artist
Leonora Carrington, artist
JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice

Special Guest: Stuart Evan Davis.

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]]> 4517 yes Christmas Bonus: Hyperstition Addendum https://www.weirdstudies.com/36b Happy holidays, Weird Studies listeners! In this short "Christmas Bonus" episode, your intrepid hosts finish up what began as a discussion of Nick Land's concept of hyperstition. Following last week's closing remarks about the importance of "banishing" ideas that might otherwise take us over, the segment focuses on the dividing line between the personal and the political. Where does the one end and the other begin? What do we risk when we choose to make a necessarily limited standpoint the locus of some totalizing view? The answers will take back to the birth of eukaryotic cells, the sin of Cain, and the wisdom of Sun Ra. References made in this conversation were included in the show notes for Episode 36. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Tue, 25 Dec 2018 16:00:00 -0000 bonus SpectreVision Radio The final segment of our conversation on hyperstition, i.e., fiction that turns real. Happy holidays, Weird Studies listeners! In this short "Christmas Bonus" episode, your intrepid hosts finish up what began as a discussion of Nick Land's concept of hyperstition. Following last week's closing remarks about the importance of "banishing" ideas that might otherwise take us over, the segment focuses on the dividing line between the personal and the political. Where does the one end and the other begin? What do we risk when we choose to make a necessarily limited standpoint the locus of some totalizing view? The answers will take back to the birth of eukaryotic cells, the sin of Cain, and the wisdom of Sun Ra. References made in this conversation were included in the show notes for Episode 36. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Happy holidays, Weird Studies listeners! In this short "Christmas Bonus" episode, your intrepid hosts finish up what began as a discussion of Nick Land's concept of hyperstition. Following last week's closing remarks about the importance of "banishing" ideas that might otherwise take us over, the segment focuses on the dividing line between the personal and the political. Where does the one end and the other begin? What do we risk when we choose to make a necessarily limited standpoint the locus of some totalizing view? The answers will take back to the birth of eukaryotic cells, the sin of Cain, and the wisdom of Sun Ra.

References made in this conversation were included in the show notes for Episode 36.

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]]> 1471 yes Episode 36: On Hyperstition https://www.weirdstudies.com/36 Hyperstition is a key concept in the philosophy of Nick Land. It refers to fictions which, given enough time and libidinal investment, become realities. JF and Phil explore the notion using one of those optometric apparatuses with multiple lenses -- deleuzian, magical, mythological, political, ethical, etc. The goal isn't to understand how fictions participate in reality (that'll have to wait for another episode), but to ponder what this implies for a sapient species. The conversation weaves together such varied topics as Twin Peaks: The Return, Internet meme magic (Trump as tulpa!), Deleuze and Guattari's metaphysics, occult experiments in spirit creation, the Brothers Grimm, and the phantasmic overtones of The Communist Manifesto. In the end we can only say, "What a load of bullsh*t!" Header Image: Still from the 1920 German Expressionist film The Golem: How He Came in the World, by Paul Wegener. REFERENCES JF's notes on Deleuze and Guattari's concept of the refrain Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus David Lynch (director), Twin Peaks: The Return Phil Ford, "Garmonbozia" (work in progress, unpublished) Delphi Carstens, "Hyperstition" Delphi Carstens, "Hyperstition: An Introduction" (2009 interview with Nick Land) Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene CCRU Archives The occult concept of the egregore William Irwin Thompson, Imaginary Landscape: Making Worlds of Myth and Science Martin Heidegger, Being and Time Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford, The Blood of the Saints A. T. L. Carver, "The Truth About Pepe the Frog and the Cult of Kek" Paul Spencer, "Trump's Occult Online Supporters Believer 'Meme Magic' Got Him Elected" Colm A. Kelleher, The Hunt for the Skinwalker: Science Confronts the Unexplained at a Remote Ranch in Utah Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy Sun Ra, Space is the Place Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 19 Dec 2018 15:15:00 -0000 On Hyperstition full 36 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil talk hyperstitions, entities born in the realm of fantasy that slowly become denizens of the real. Hyperstition is a key concept in the philosophy of Nick Land. It refers to fictions which, given enough time and libidinal investment, become realities. JF and Phil explore the notion using one of those optometric apparatuses with multiple lenses -- deleuzian, magical, mythological, political, ethical, etc. The goal isn't to understand how fictions participate in reality (that'll have to wait for another episode), but to ponder what this implies for a sapient species. The conversation weaves together such varied topics as Twin Peaks: The Return, Internet meme magic (Trump as tulpa!), Deleuze and Guattari's metaphysics, occult experiments in spirit creation, the Brothers Grimm, and the phantasmic overtones of The Communist Manifesto. In the end we can only say, "What a load of bullsh*t!" Header Image: Still from the 1920 German Expressionist film The Golem: How He Came in the World, by Paul Wegener. REFERENCES JF's notes on Deleuze and Guattari's concept of the refrain Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus David Lynch (director), Twin Peaks: The Return Phil Ford, "Garmonbozia" (work in progress, unpublished) Delphi Carstens, "Hyperstition" Delphi Carstens, "Hyperstition: An Introduction" (2009 interview with Nick Land) Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene CCRU Archives The occult concept of the egregore William Irwin Thompson, Imaginary Landscape: Making Worlds of Myth and Science Martin Heidegger, Being and Time Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford, The Blood of the Saints A. T. L. Carver, "The Truth About Pepe the Frog and the Cult of Kek" Paul Spencer, "Trump's Occult Online Supporters Believer 'Meme Magic' Got Him Elected" Colm A. Kelleher, The Hunt for the Skinwalker: Science Confronts the Unexplained at a Remote Ranch in Utah Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy Sun Ra, Space is the Place Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Hyperstition is a key concept in the philosophy of Nick Land. It refers to fictions which, given enough time and libidinal investment, become realities. JF and Phil explore the notion using one of those optometric apparatuses with multiple lenses -- deleuzian, magical, mythological, political, ethical, etc. The goal isn't to understand how fictions participate in reality (that'll have to wait for another episode), but to ponder what this implies for a sapient species. The conversation weaves together such varied topics as Twin Peaks: The Return, Internet meme magic (Trump as tulpa!), Deleuze and Guattari's metaphysics, occult experiments in spirit creation, the Brothers Grimm, and the phantasmic overtones of The Communist Manifesto. In the end we can only say, "What a load of bullsh*t!"

Header Image: Still from the 1920 German Expressionist film The Golem: How He Came in the World, by Paul Wegener.

REFERENCES

JF's notes on Deleuze and Guattari's concept of the refrain
Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus
David Lynch (director), Twin Peaks: The Return
Phil Ford, "Garmonbozia" (work in progress, unpublished)
Delphi Carstens, "Hyperstition"
Delphi Carstens, "Hyperstition: An Introduction" (2009 interview with Nick Land)
Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene
CCRU Archives
The occult concept of the egregore
William Irwin Thompson, Imaginary Landscape: Making Worlds of Myth and Science
Martin Heidegger, Being and Time
Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford, The Blood of the Saints
A. T. L. Carver, "The Truth About Pepe the Frog and the Cult of Kek"
Paul Spencer, "Trump's Occult Online Supporters Believer 'Meme Magic' Got Him Elected"
Colm A. Kelleher, The Hunt for the Skinwalker: Science Confronts the Unexplained at a Remote Ranch in Utah
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto
G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Sun Ra, Space is the Place

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]]> 4432 yes Episode 35: Whirl Without End: On M.C. Richards' 'Centering' https://www.weirdstudies.com/35 The first step in any pottery project is to center the clay on the potter's wheel. In her landmark essay Centering: In Pottery, Poetry and the Person (1964), the American poet M. C. Richards turns this simple action into a metaphor for all creative acts, including the act of living your life. The result is a penetrating and poetic reflection on the artistic process that values change, unknowing, and radical becoming, making Richards' text a guide to creativity that leaves other examples of that evergreen genre in the dust. Phil and JF get their hands dirty trying to understand what centering is, and what it entails for a life of creation and becoming. The discussion brings in a number of other thinkers and artists including Friedrich Nietzsche, Norman O. Brown, Carl Jung, Antonin Artaud, and Flannery O'Connor. Header image: NASA REFERENCES M. C. Richards, Centering: In Pottery, Poetry, and the Person J. S. Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier American pianist David Tudor C. G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections Weird Studies, Episode 33: "The Fine Art of Changing the Subject" Gilles Deleuze, Nietzsche and Philosophy Antonin Artaud, The Theater and its Double (translated by M. C. Richards) Rudolf Steiner, Alchemy: The Evolution of the Mysteries Norman O. Brown, author of Life Against Death: The Psychoanalytic Meaning of History G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy Flannery O'Connor, "Novelist and Believer" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 05 Dec 2018 15:45:00 -0000 Whirl Without End: On M.C. Richards' 'Centering' full 35 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the first chapter of "Centering," M.C. Richard's penetrating essay on the artistic process. The first step in any pottery project is to center the clay on the potter's wheel. In her landmark essay Centering: In Pottery, Poetry and the Person (1964), the American poet M. C. Richards turns this simple action into a metaphor for all creative acts, including the act of living your life. The result is a penetrating and poetic reflection on the artistic process that values change, unknowing, and radical becoming, making Richards' text a guide to creativity that leaves other examples of that evergreen genre in the dust. Phil and JF get their hands dirty trying to understand what centering is, and what it entails for a life of creation and becoming. The discussion brings in a number of other thinkers and artists including Friedrich Nietzsche, Norman O. Brown, Carl Jung, Antonin Artaud, and Flannery O'Connor. Header image: NASA REFERENCES M. C. Richards, Centering: In Pottery, Poetry, and the Person J. S. Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier American pianist David Tudor C. G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections Weird Studies, Episode 33: "The Fine Art of Changing the Subject" Gilles Deleuze, Nietzsche and Philosophy Antonin Artaud, The Theater and its Double (translated by M. C. Richards) Rudolf Steiner, Alchemy: The Evolution of the Mysteries Norman O. Brown, author of Life Against Death: The Psychoanalytic Meaning of History G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy Flannery O'Connor, "Novelist and Believer" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The first step in any pottery project is to center the clay on the potter's wheel. In her landmark essay Centering: In Pottery, Poetry and the Person (1964), the American poet M. C. Richards turns this simple action into a metaphor for all creative acts, including the act of living your life. The result is a penetrating and poetic reflection on the artistic process that values change, unknowing, and radical becoming, making Richards' text a guide to creativity that leaves other examples of that evergreen genre in the dust. Phil and JF get their hands dirty trying to understand what centering is, and what it entails for a life of creation and becoming. The discussion brings in a number of other thinkers and artists including Friedrich Nietzsche, Norman O. Brown, Carl Jung, Antonin Artaud, and Flannery O'Connor.

Header image: NASA

REFERENCES

M. C. Richards, Centering: In Pottery, Poetry, and the Person
J. S. Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier
American pianist David Tudor
C. G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections
Weird Studies, Episode 33: "The Fine Art of Changing the Subject"
Gilles Deleuze, Nietzsche and Philosophy
Antonin Artaud, The Theater and its Double (translated by M. C. Richards)
Rudolf Steiner, Alchemy: The Evolution of the Mysteries
Norman O. Brown, author of Life Against Death: The Psychoanalytic Meaning of History
G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Flannery O'Connor, "Novelist and Believer"

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]]> 3701 yes Episode 34: The Weird Realism of Robert Aickman https://www.weirdstudies.com/34 Although he is one of the luminaries of the weird tale, Robert Aickman referred to his irreal, macabre short works as strange stories. Born in London in 1914, Aickman wrote less than fifty such stories before his death in 1981. JF and Phil focus on one of his most chilling, "The Hospice," from the collection Cold Hand in Mine, published in 1975. In it, Aickman uses a staple ingredient of the classic ghost story -- a man is stranded on a country road at night, lost and out of petrol -- to concoct an unforgettable blend of fantasy and nightmare, reality and dream. Indeed, Phil and JF argue that Aickman deserves a place alongside David Lynch and a few others as one of those rare fabulists who can adeptly disclose how reality is more dreamlike, and dreams more real, than most of us would care to admit. Header Image: Detail from photo by Ivars Indāns (Wikimedia Commons) REFERENCES Robert Aickman, "The Hospice" from Cold Hand in Mine Dante Aligheri, The Divine Comedy: The Inferno David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding Weird Studies, Episode 22: Divining the World with Joshua Ramey Norman Mailer, An American Dream Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 21 Nov 2018 15:00:00 -0000 The Weird Realism of Robert Aickman full 34 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Robert Aickman's masterwork of weird fiction, "The Hospice," from his 1975 collection "Cold Hand in Mine." Although he is one of the luminaries of the weird tale, Robert Aickman referred to his irreal, macabre short works as strange stories. Born in London in 1914, Aickman wrote less than fifty such stories before his death in 1981. JF and Phil focus on one of his most chilling, "The Hospice," from the collection Cold Hand in Mine, published in 1975. In it, Aickman uses a staple ingredient of the classic ghost story -- a man is stranded on a country road at night, lost and out of petrol -- to concoct an unforgettable blend of fantasy and nightmare, reality and dream. Indeed, Phil and JF argue that Aickman deserves a place alongside David Lynch and a few others as one of those rare fabulists who can adeptly disclose how reality is more dreamlike, and dreams more real, than most of us would care to admit. Header Image: Detail from photo by Ivars Indāns (Wikimedia Commons) REFERENCES Robert Aickman, "The Hospice" from Cold Hand in Mine Dante Aligheri, The Divine Comedy: The Inferno David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding Weird Studies, Episode 22: Divining the World with Joshua Ramey Norman Mailer, An American Dream Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Although he is one of the luminaries of the weird tale, Robert Aickman referred to his irreal, macabre short works as strange stories. Born in London in 1914, Aickman wrote less than fifty such stories before his death in 1981. JF and Phil focus on one of his most chilling, "The Hospice," from the collection Cold Hand in Mine, published in 1975. In it, Aickman uses a staple ingredient of the classic ghost story -- a man is stranded on a country road at night, lost and out of petrol -- to concoct an unforgettable blend of fantasy and nightmare, reality and dream. Indeed, Phil and JF argue that Aickman deserves a place alongside David Lynch and a few others as one of those rare fabulists who can adeptly disclose how reality is more dreamlike, and dreams more real, than most of us would care to admit.

Header Image: Detail from photo by Ivars Indāns (Wikimedia Commons)

REFERENCES

Robert Aickman, "The Hospice" from Cold Hand in Mine
Dante Aligheri, The Divine Comedy: The Inferno
David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Weird Studies, Episode 22: Divining the World with Joshua Ramey
Norman Mailer, An American Dream

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]]> 3355 yes Episode 33: The Fine Art of Changing the Subject: On Duchamp's 'Fountain' https://www.weirdstudies.com/33 In 1917, Marcel Duchamp trolled the New York art scene with Fountain, the famous urinal, whose significance has since swelled in the minds of art aficionados to become the prototype of all modern art. The conversation as to whether or not Fountain fulfills the conditions of a genuine work of art has been going on ever since. In this episode, JF and Phil weigh in with their own ideas, not just about what art is, but more importantly, about what art -- and only art -- can do. The result is a no-holds-barred assault on the very idea of conceptual art, a j'accuse aimed squarely at Duchamp and anyone else who would make the arts as scrutable, and as trivial, as the latest political attack ad or home insurance jingle. REFERENCES J. S. Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier Roger Scruton, The Face of God Philip Larkin, All What Jazz Daniel Clowes, Art School Confidential Banksy, Girl with Balloon Bill Hicks, stand-up bit on marketers Walter Benjamin, “Theses on the Philosophy of History” and Paul Klee, Angelus Novus Arthur Danto, “The Art World” Andy Warhol, Brillo Boxes JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Cornelius Cardew, “Stockhausen Serves Imperialism” John Roderick, “Punk Rock is Bullshit” Susan McClary, foreword to William Cheng, Just Vibrations Deleuze, "What is the Creative Act?" Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" Biggie Smalls, "Ready to Die" Cave paintings at Chauvet Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Nobel lecture Jonathan Glazer, Under the Skin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 07 Nov 2018 15:00:00 -0000 The Fine Art of Changing the Subject: On Duchamp's 'Fountain' full 33 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the profound effects of Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" (the urinal) on the development of the arts since 1917. In 1917, Marcel Duchamp trolled the New York art scene with Fountain, the famous urinal, whose significance has since swelled in the minds of art aficionados to become the prototype of all modern art. The conversation as to whether or not Fountain fulfills the conditions of a genuine work of art has been going on ever since. In this episode, JF and Phil weigh in with their own ideas, not just about what art is, but more importantly, about what art -- and only art -- can do. The result is a no-holds-barred assault on the very idea of conceptual art, a j'accuse aimed squarely at Duchamp and anyone else who would make the arts as scrutable, and as trivial, as the latest political attack ad or home insurance jingle. REFERENCES J. S. Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier Roger Scruton, The Face of God Philip Larkin, All What Jazz Daniel Clowes, Art School Confidential Banksy, Girl with Balloon Bill Hicks, stand-up bit on marketers Walter Benjamin, “Theses on the Philosophy of History” and Paul Klee, Angelus Novus Arthur Danto, “The Art World” Andy Warhol, Brillo Boxes JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Cornelius Cardew, “Stockhausen Serves Imperialism” John Roderick, “Punk Rock is Bullshit” Susan McClary, foreword to William Cheng, Just Vibrations Deleuze, "What is the Creative Act?" Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" Biggie Smalls, "Ready to Die" Cave paintings at Chauvet Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Nobel lecture Jonathan Glazer, Under the Skin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In 1917, Marcel Duchamp trolled the New York art scene with Fountain, the famous urinal, whose significance has since swelled in the minds of art aficionados to become the prototype of all modern art. The conversation as to whether or not Fountain fulfills the conditions of a genuine work of art has been going on ever since. In this episode, JF and Phil weigh in with their own ideas, not just about what art is, but more importantly, about what art -- and only art -- can do. The result is a no-holds-barred assault on the very idea of conceptual art, a j'accuse aimed squarely at Duchamp and anyone else who would make the arts as scrutable, and as trivial, as the latest political attack ad or home insurance jingle.

REFERENCES

J. S. Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier
Roger Scruton, The Face of God
Philip Larkin, All What Jazz
Daniel Clowes, Art School Confidential
Banksy, Girl with Balloon
Bill Hicks, stand-up bit on marketers
Walter Benjamin, “Theses on the Philosophy of History” and Paul Klee, Angelus Novus
Arthur Danto, “The Art World”
Andy Warhol, Brillo Boxes
JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice
Cornelius Cardew, “Stockhausen Serves Imperialism”
John Roderick, “Punk Rock is Bullshit”
Susan McClary, foreword to William Cheng, Just Vibrations
Deleuze, "What is the Creative Act?"
Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"
Biggie Smalls, "Ready to Die"
Cave paintings at Chauvet
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Nobel lecture
Jonathan Glazer, Under the Skin

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]]> 3627 yes Episode 32: Orbis Tertius: Borges on Magic, Conspiracy and Idealism https://www.weirdstudies.com/32 Jorge Luis Borges's story "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" is a metaphysical detective story, an armchair conspiracy thriller, and a masterpiece of weird fiction. In this tale penned by a true literary magician, Phil and JF see an opportunity to talk about magic, hyperstition, non-linear time, and the power of metaphysics to reshape the world. When Phil questions his co-host's animus against idealist doctrines, the discussion turns to dreams, cybernetics, and information theory, before reaching common ground with the dumbfound appreciation of radical mystery. Jorge Luis Borges, "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" in Ficciones Weird Studies, Episode 29, "On Lovecraft" George Berkley, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge (1710) John Crowley, the Aegypt tetralogy Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency Sir Thomas Browne, Hydriotaphia - Urn Burial Richard Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) William James, A Pluralistic Universe Karl Schroeder, "Degrees of Freedom" Weird Studies, Episode 26, "Living in a Glass Age" Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution Dogen, Genjokoan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 31 Oct 2018 15:15:00 -0000 Orbis Tertius: Borges on Magic, Conspiracy and Idealism full 32 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the classic tale, "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius," by the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. Jorge Luis Borges's story "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" is a metaphysical detective story, an armchair conspiracy thriller, and a masterpiece of weird fiction. In this tale penned by a true literary magician, Phil and JF see an opportunity to talk about magic, hyperstition, non-linear time, and the power of metaphysics to reshape the world. When Phil questions his co-host's animus against idealist doctrines, the discussion turns to dreams, cybernetics, and information theory, before reaching common ground with the dumbfound appreciation of radical mystery. Jorge Luis Borges, "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" in Ficciones Weird Studies, Episode 29, "On Lovecraft" George Berkley, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge (1710) John Crowley, the Aegypt tetralogy Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency Sir Thomas Browne, Hydriotaphia - Urn Burial Richard Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) William James, A Pluralistic Universe Karl Schroeder, "Degrees of Freedom" Weird Studies, Episode 26, "Living in a Glass Age" Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution Dogen, Genjokoan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Jorge Luis Borges's story "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" is a metaphysical detective story, an armchair conspiracy thriller, and a masterpiece of weird fiction. In this tale penned by a true literary magician, Phil and JF see an opportunity to talk about magic, hyperstition, non-linear time, and the power of metaphysics to reshape the world. When Phil questions his co-host's animus against idealist doctrines, the discussion turns to dreams, cybernetics, and information theory, before reaching common ground with the dumbfound appreciation of radical mystery.

Jorge Luis Borges, "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" in Ficciones
Weird Studies, Episode 29, "On Lovecraft"
George Berkley, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge (1710)
John Crowley, the Aegypt tetralogy
Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency
Sir Thomas Browne, Hydriotaphia - Urn Burial
Richard Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung)
William James, A Pluralistic Universe
Karl Schroeder, "Degrees of Freedom"
Weird Studies, Episode 26, "Living in a Glass Age"
Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution
Dogen, Genjokoan

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]]> 4274 yes Episode 31: Scarcely Human at All: On Glenn Gould's 'Prospects of Recording' https://www.weirdstudies.com/31 Most people know Glenn Gould as a brilliant pianist who forever changed how we receive and interpret the works of Europe's great composers: Bach, Beethoven, Schoenberg... But Gould was also an aesthetic theorist who saw a new horizon for the arts in the age of recording technology. In the future, he said, the superstitious cult of history, performance, and authorship would disappear, and the arts would retrieve a "neo-medieval anonymity" that would allow us to see them for what they really are: scarcely human at all. This episode interprets Gould's prophecy with the help of the Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan, the Chinese Daoist sage Zhuang Zhou, and the German philosopher Martin Heidegger, among others. SHOW NOTES Glenn Gould, "The Prospects of Recording" Marshall McLuhan's Tetrad of media effects Ludwig van Beethoven, Concerto no. 3 in C minor Glenn Gould, "Glenn Gould Interviews Glenn Gould about Glenn Gould" Glenn Gould and Yehudi Menuhin, dialogue on The Music of Man Jean-Luc Godard, A Married Woman (A Married Woman) Heidegger, Der Spiegel interview (1966) Daoist sage Zhuang Zhou Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" Stanley Kubrick, A Clockwork Orange Marshall McLuhan, The Playboy interview Marshall McLuhan, The Mechanical Bride Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media Douglas Rushkoff and Michael Avon Oeming, Aleister and Adolph  Joyce Hatto Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking Kevin Bazzana, Glenn Gould: The Performer in the Work Phil Ford, “Blogging and the Van Meegeren Syndrome” David Thompson, Have You Seen...?: A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 24 Oct 2018 14:00:00 -0000 Scarcely Human at All: On Glenn Gould's 'Prospects of Recording' full 31 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould's prophetic essay, "The Prospects of Recording." Most people know Glenn Gould as a brilliant pianist who forever changed how we receive and interpret the works of Europe's great composers: Bach, Beethoven, Schoenberg... But Gould was also an aesthetic theorist who saw a new horizon for the arts in the age of recording technology. In the future, he said, the superstitious cult of history, performance, and authorship would disappear, and the arts would retrieve a "neo-medieval anonymity" that would allow us to see them for what they really are: scarcely human at all. This episode interprets Gould's prophecy with the help of the Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan, the Chinese Daoist sage Zhuang Zhou, and the German philosopher Martin Heidegger, among others. SHOW NOTES Glenn Gould, "The Prospects of Recording" Marshall McLuhan's Tetrad of media effects Ludwig van Beethoven, Concerto no. 3 in C minor Glenn Gould, "Glenn Gould Interviews Glenn Gould about Glenn Gould" Glenn Gould and Yehudi Menuhin, dialogue on The Music of Man Jean-Luc Godard, A Married Woman (A Married Woman) Heidegger, Der Spiegel interview (1966) Daoist sage Zhuang Zhou Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" Stanley Kubrick, A Clockwork Orange Marshall McLuhan, The Playboy interview Marshall McLuhan, The Mechanical Bride Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media Douglas Rushkoff and Michael Avon Oeming, Aleister and Adolph  Joyce Hatto Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking Kevin Bazzana, Glenn Gould: The Performer in the Work Phil Ford, “Blogging and the Van Meegeren Syndrome” David Thompson, Have You Seen...?: A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Most people know Glenn Gould as a brilliant pianist who forever changed how we receive and interpret the works of Europe's great composers: Bach, Beethoven, Schoenberg... But Gould was also an aesthetic theorist who saw a new horizon for the arts in the age of recording technology. In the future, he said, the superstitious cult of history, performance, and authorship would disappear, and the arts would retrieve a "neo-medieval anonymity" that would allow us to see them for what they really are: scarcely human at all. This episode interprets Gould's prophecy with the help of the Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan, the Chinese Daoist sage Zhuang Zhou, and the German philosopher Martin Heidegger, among others.

SHOW NOTES

Glenn Gould, "The Prospects of Recording"
Marshall McLuhan's Tetrad of media effects
Ludwig van Beethoven, Concerto no. 3 in C minor
Glenn Gould, "Glenn Gould Interviews Glenn Gould about Glenn Gould"
Glenn Gould and Yehudi Menuhin, dialogue on The Music of Man
Jean-Luc Godard, A Married Woman (A Married Woman)
Heidegger, Der Spiegel interview (1966)
Daoist sage Zhuang Zhou
Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"
Stanley Kubrick, A Clockwork Orange
Marshall McLuhan, The Playboy interview
Marshall McLuhan, The Mechanical Bride
Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media
Douglas Rushkoff and Michael Avon Oeming, Aleister and Adolph 
Joyce Hatto
Lionel Snell, My Years of Magical Thinking
Kevin Bazzana, Glenn Gould: The Performer in the Work
Phil Ford, “Blogging and the Van Meegeren Syndrome”
David Thompson, Have You Seen...?: A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films

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]]> 4595 yes Episode 30: On Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut' https://www.weirdstudies.com/30 No dream is ever just a dream. Or so Tom Cruises tells Nicole Kidman at the end of Eyes Wide Shut. In this episode, Phil and JF expound some of the key themes of Kubrick's film, a masterpiece of cinematic chamber music that demonstrates, with painstaking attention to detail, Zen Master Dōgen's utterance that when one side of the world is illuminated, the other side is dark. Treading a winding path between wakefulness and dream, love and sex, life and art, your paranoid hosts make boldly for that secret spot where the rainbow ends, and the masks come off. REFERENCES Arthur Schnitzler, Dream Story (Traumnovelle) -- Source of the EWS screenplay, sadly overlooked in the episode but well worth a read. Frederic Raphael, Eyes Wide Open: A Memoir of Stanley Kubrick Bathysphere  Frank L. Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz David Icke's "reptilian" theory of the British Royal Family  Thomas A. Nelson, Kubrick: Inside a Film Artist's Maze Screenshot of newspaper article from Eyes Wide Shut Rodney Ascher, Room 237 James Hillman, Pan and the Nightmare  Gustave Moreau, L'Apparition Mario Praz, The Romantic Agony William S. Burroughs, “On Coincidence,” in The Adding Machine J.F. Martel, "The Kubrick Gaze" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Sun, 14 Oct 2018 15:00:00 -0000 On Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut' full 30 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss Stanley Kubrick's final masterpiece. No dream is ever just a dream. Or so Tom Cruises tells Nicole Kidman at the end of Eyes Wide Shut. In this episode, Phil and JF expound some of the key themes of Kubrick's film, a masterpiece of cinematic chamber music that demonstrates, with painstaking attention to detail, Zen Master Dōgen's utterance that when one side of the world is illuminated, the other side is dark. Treading a winding path between wakefulness and dream, love and sex, life and art, your paranoid hosts make boldly for that secret spot where the rainbow ends, and the masks come off. REFERENCES Arthur Schnitzler, Dream Story (Traumnovelle) -- Source of the EWS screenplay, sadly overlooked in the episode but well worth a read. Frederic Raphael, Eyes Wide Open: A Memoir of Stanley Kubrick Bathysphere  Frank L. Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz David Icke's "reptilian" theory of the British Royal Family  Thomas A. Nelson, Kubrick: Inside a Film Artist's Maze Screenshot of newspaper article from Eyes Wide Shut Rodney Ascher, Room 237 James Hillman, Pan and the Nightmare  Gustave Moreau, L'Apparition Mario Praz, The Romantic Agony William S. Burroughs, “On Coincidence,” in The Adding Machine J.F. Martel, "The Kubrick Gaze" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices No dream is ever just a dream. Or so Tom Cruises tells Nicole Kidman at the end of Eyes Wide Shut. In this episode, Phil and JF expound some of the key themes of Kubrick's film, a masterpiece of cinematic chamber music that demonstrates, with painstaking attention to detail, Zen Master Dōgen's utterance that when one side of the world is illuminated, the other side is dark. Treading a winding path between wakefulness and dream, love and sex, life and art, your paranoid hosts make boldly for that secret spot where the rainbow ends, and the masks come off.

REFERENCES

Arthur Schnitzler, Dream Story (Traumnovelle) -- Source of the EWS screenplay, sadly overlooked in the episode but well worth a read.
Frederic Raphael, Eyes Wide Open: A Memoir of Stanley Kubrick
Bathysphere 
Frank L. Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
David Icke's "reptilian" theory of the British Royal Family 
Thomas A. Nelson, Kubrick: Inside a Film Artist's Maze
Screenshot of newspaper article from Eyes Wide Shut
Rodney Ascher, Room 237
James Hillman, Pan and the Nightmare 
Gustave Moreau, L'Apparition
Mario Praz, The Romantic Agony
William S. Burroughs, “On Coincidence,” in The Adding Machine
J.F. Martel, "The Kubrick Gaze"

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]]> 4016 yes Episode 29: On Lovecraft https://www.weirdstudies.com/29 Phil and JF indulge their autumnal mood in this discussion of Howard Phillips Lovecraft's work, specifically the essay "Notes on the Writing of Weird Fiction" and the prose piece "Nyarlathotep." Philip K. Dick, Algernon Blackwood, and David Foster Wallace make appearances as our fearsome hosts talk about how the weird story differs from conventional horror fiction, how Lovecraft gives voice to contemporary fears of physical, psychological and political infection, and how authors like Lovecraft and Dick can be seen as prophetic poets of the "great unbuffering of the Western self." REFERENCES H. P. Lovecraft, "Notes on Writing Weird Fiction" H. P. Lovecraft, "Nyarlathotep" 1974 Rolling Stone feature on PKD Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy Theodor Roszak, The Making of a Counterculture: Reflections on the Technocratic Society and its Youthful Opposition Algernon Blackwood, "The Wendigo" Algernon Blackwood, "The Willows" Ann and Jeff Vandermeer, The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories H.P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature" Charles Taylor, A Secular Age E.E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest H.P. Lovecraft, "The Music of Erich Zann" H.P. Lovecraft, "The Colour Out of Space" H.P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu" Weird Studies, Episode 2: Garmonbozia Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Tue, 09 Oct 2018 18:00:00 -0000 On Lovecraft full 29 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF try to distill the essence of H. P. Lovecraft's monumental work. Phil and JF indulge their autumnal mood in this discussion of Howard Phillips Lovecraft's work, specifically the essay "Notes on the Writing of Weird Fiction" and the prose piece "Nyarlathotep." Philip K. Dick, Algernon Blackwood, and David Foster Wallace make appearances as our fearsome hosts talk about how the weird story differs from conventional horror fiction, how Lovecraft gives voice to contemporary fears of physical, psychological and political infection, and how authors like Lovecraft and Dick can be seen as prophetic poets of the "great unbuffering of the Western self." REFERENCES H. P. Lovecraft, "Notes on Writing Weird Fiction" H. P. Lovecraft, "Nyarlathotep" 1974 Rolling Stone feature on PKD Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy Theodor Roszak, The Making of a Counterculture: Reflections on the Technocratic Society and its Youthful Opposition Algernon Blackwood, "The Wendigo" Algernon Blackwood, "The Willows" Ann and Jeff Vandermeer, The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories H.P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature" Charles Taylor, A Secular Age E.E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest H.P. Lovecraft, "The Music of Erich Zann" H.P. Lovecraft, "The Colour Out of Space" H.P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu" Weird Studies, Episode 2: Garmonbozia Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Phil and JF indulge their autumnal mood in this discussion of Howard Phillips Lovecraft's work, specifically the essay "Notes on the Writing of Weird Fiction" and the prose piece "Nyarlathotep." Philip K. Dick, Algernon Blackwood, and David Foster Wallace make appearances as our fearsome hosts talk about how the weird story differs from conventional horror fiction, how Lovecraft gives voice to contemporary fears of physical, psychological and political infection, and how authors like Lovecraft and Dick can be seen as prophetic poets of the "great unbuffering of the Western self."

REFERENCES

H. P. Lovecraft, "Notes on Writing Weird Fiction"
H. P. Lovecraft, "Nyarlathotep"

1974 Rolling Stone feature on PKD
Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy
Theodor Roszak, The Making of a Counterculture: Reflections on the Technocratic Society and its Youthful Opposition
Algernon Blackwood, "The Wendigo"
Algernon Blackwood, "The Willows"
Ann and Jeff Vandermeer, The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories
H.P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature"
Charles Taylor, A Secular Age
E.E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande
Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life
David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest
H.P. Lovecraft, "The Music of Erich Zann"
H.P. Lovecraft, "The Colour Out of Space"
H.P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"
Weird Studies, Episode 2: Garmonbozia
Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man

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]]> 4537 yes Episode 28: Weird Music, Part Two https://www.weirdstudies.com/28 "Music is worth living for," Andrew W.K. sings in his latest rock anthem. In this second episode on the weirdness of music, JF and Phil focus on two works steeped in ambiguity and paradox: Bob Dylan's "Jokerman," from the landmark post-Christian album Infidels, and Franz Liszt's "Mephisto Waltz, No. 1: The Dance at the Village Inn," inspired by an episode in the Faust legend. If this conversation has a central theme, it may be music's power to unhinge every fixed binary, from God and the Devil to culture and nature. Music, as exemplified in these pieces, can put us in touch with the abiding mystery of the eternal in the historical, the unhuman in the human... The hills are alive! REFERENCES Bob Dylan, "Jokerman" Franz Liszt, “Mephisto Waltz no. 1,” performed by Boris Berezovsky Andrew WK, "Music is Worth Living For" Leonard Cohen, “The Future” C.G. Jung, Aion Douglas Rushkoff, Testament The Guardian, “Carthaginians sacrificed own children, archaeologists say” Garry Wills, "Our Moloch" Minoan snake goddess statues Richard Wagner, Parsifal http://www.monsalvat.no/ T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland Daniel Albright, Untwisting the Serpent: Modernism in Music, Literature, and Other Arts Beckett, Not I Nikolaus Lenau, German Romantic poet Wolgang von Goethe, Faust, Part 1, translated by David Luke Weird Studies, Episode 3: Sin: "Ecstasy, and the White People" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Tue, 02 Oct 2018 18:00:00 -0000 Weird Music, Part Two full 28 SpectreVision Radio The search for the music of the weird continues with a discussion on Bob Dylan and Franz Liszt. "Music is worth living for," Andrew W.K. sings in his latest rock anthem. In this second episode on the weirdness of music, JF and Phil focus on two works steeped in ambiguity and paradox: Bob Dylan's "Jokerman," from the landmark post-Christian album Infidels, and Franz Liszt's "Mephisto Waltz, No. 1: The Dance at the Village Inn," inspired by an episode in the Faust legend. If this conversation has a central theme, it may be music's power to unhinge every fixed binary, from God and the Devil to culture and nature. Music, as exemplified in these pieces, can put us in touch with the abiding mystery of the eternal in the historical, the unhuman in the human... The hills are alive! REFERENCES Bob Dylan, "Jokerman" Franz Liszt, “Mephisto Waltz no. 1,” performed by Boris Berezovsky Andrew WK, "Music is Worth Living For" Leonard Cohen, “The Future” C.G. Jung, Aion Douglas Rushkoff, Testament The Guardian, “Carthaginians sacrificed own children, archaeologists say” Garry Wills, "Our Moloch" Minoan snake goddess statues Richard Wagner, Parsifal http://www.monsalvat.no/ T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland Daniel Albright, Untwisting the Serpent: Modernism in Music, Literature, and Other Arts Beckett, Not I Nikolaus Lenau, German Romantic poet Wolgang von Goethe, Faust, Part 1, translated by David Luke Weird Studies, Episode 3: Sin: "Ecstasy, and the White People" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices "Music is worth living for," Andrew W.K. sings in his latest rock anthem. In this second episode on the weirdness of music, JF and Phil focus on two works steeped in ambiguity and paradox: Bob Dylan's "Jokerman," from the landmark post-Christian album Infidels, and Franz Liszt's "Mephisto Waltz, No. 1: The Dance at the Village Inn," inspired by an episode in the Faust legend. If this conversation has a central theme, it may be music's power to unhinge every fixed binary, from God and the Devil to culture and nature. Music, as exemplified in these pieces, can put us in touch with the abiding mystery of the eternal in the historical, the unhuman in the human... The hills are alive!

REFERENCES

Bob Dylan, "Jokerman"
Franz Liszt, “Mephisto Waltz no. 1,” performed by Boris Berezovsky

Andrew WK, "Music is Worth Living For"
Leonard Cohen, “The Future”
C.G. Jung, Aion
Douglas Rushkoff, Testament
The Guardian, “Carthaginians sacrificed own children, archaeologists say”
Garry Wills, "Our Moloch"
Minoan snake goddess statues
Richard Wagner, Parsifal http://www.monsalvat.no/
T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland
Daniel Albright, Untwisting the Serpent: Modernism in Music, Literature, and Other Arts
Beckett, Not I
Nikolaus Lenau, German Romantic poet
Wolgang von Goethe, Faust, Part 1, translated by David Luke
Weird Studies, Episode 3: Sin: "Ecstasy, and the White People"

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]]> 3899 yes Episode 27: Weird Music, Part One https://www.weirdstudies.com/27 In this first of two episodes devoted to the music of the weird, Phil and JF discuss two works that have bowled them over: the second movement of Ligeti's Musica Ricercata, used to powerful effect in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, and the opening music to Cronenberg's film Naked Lunch, composed by Howard Shore and featuring the inimitable stylings of Ornette Coleman. After teasing out the intrinsic weirdness of music in general, the dialogue soars over a strange country rife with shadows, mad geniuses, and skittering insects. And to top it all off, Phil breaks out the grand piano. Header image by Bandan, Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES Ligeti, Musica Ricercata, 2nd movement Howard Shore and Ornette Coleman, opening music for David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation Suzanne Langer, Philosophy in a New Key Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey Viktor Shklovsky, "Art as Technique" Stanley Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut Hitchcock, Psycho Vulture, "The Evolution of the Movie Trailer" by Granger Willson Official Trailer for The Shining_vs teaser for _2012 Jan Harlan (director), Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures David Cronenberg, Crash William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus Gunther Schuller's interview with Ethan Iverson Weird Studies, Episode 25: David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch Deleuze & Guattari, Anti-Oedipus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 26 Sep 2018 17:00:00 -0000 Weird Music, Part One full 27 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss two powerful pieces of music: Ligeti's Musica Ricercata, second movement, and the opening music to Cronenberg's Naked Lunch, composed by Howard Shore and featuring Ornette Coleman. In this first of two episodes devoted to the music of the weird, Phil and JF discuss two works that have bowled them over: the second movement of Ligeti's Musica Ricercata, used to powerful effect in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, and the opening music to Cronenberg's film Naked Lunch, composed by Howard Shore and featuring the inimitable stylings of Ornette Coleman. After teasing out the intrinsic weirdness of music in general, the dialogue soars over a strange country rife with shadows, mad geniuses, and skittering insects. And to top it all off, Phil breaks out the grand piano. Header image by Bandan, Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES Ligeti, Musica Ricercata, 2nd movement Howard Shore and Ornette Coleman, opening music for David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation Suzanne Langer, Philosophy in a New Key Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey Viktor Shklovsky, "Art as Technique" Stanley Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut Hitchcock, Psycho Vulture, "The Evolution of the Movie Trailer" by Granger Willson Official Trailer for The Shining_vs teaser for _2012 Jan Harlan (director), Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures David Cronenberg, Crash William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus Gunther Schuller's interview with Ethan Iverson Weird Studies, Episode 25: David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch Deleuze & Guattari, Anti-Oedipus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this first of two episodes devoted to the music of the weird, Phil and JF discuss two works that have bowled them over: the second movement of Ligeti's Musica Ricercata, used to powerful effect in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, and the opening music to Cronenberg's film Naked Lunch, composed by Howard Shore and featuring the inimitable stylings of Ornette Coleman. After teasing out the intrinsic weirdness of music in general, the dialogue soars over a strange country rife with shadows, mad geniuses, and skittering insects. And to top it all off, Phil breaks out the grand piano.

Header image by Bandan, Wikimedia Commons

REFERENCES

Ligeti, Musica Ricercata, 2nd movement
Howard Shore and Ornette Coleman, opening music for David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch

Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation
Suzanne Langer, Philosophy in a New Key
Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution
Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey
Viktor Shklovsky, "Art as Technique"
Stanley Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut
Hitchcock, Psycho
Vulture, "The Evolution of the Movie Trailer" by Granger Willson
Official Trailer for The Shining_vs teaser for _2012
Jan Harlan (director), Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures
David Cronenberg, Crash
William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch
Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus
Gunther Schuller's interview with Ethan Iverson
Weird Studies, Episode 25: David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch
Deleuze & Guattari, Anti-Oedipus

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]]> 4712 yes Episode 26: Living in a Glass Age, with Michael Garfield https://www.weirdstudies.com/26 Stone, bronze, iron... glass? In his recent thought and writing, transdisciplinary artist and thinker Michael Garfield defines modernity as an age of glass, arguing that the entire ethos of our era inheres in the transformative enchantments of this amorphous solid. No one would deny that glass plays a central role in our lives, although glass does have a knack for disappearing into the background, at least until the beakers or screens crack and shatter. Glass is weird, and like a lot of weird things, it can serve as a lens (so to speak!) for observing our world from strange new angles. In this episode, Michael joins Phil and JF to talk through the origins, the significance, and the fate of the Glass Age. Michael Garfield is a musician, live painter, and futurist. He is the host of the brilliant Future Fossils Podcast. REFERENCES Michael Garfield's website + Patreon + Medium + Bandcamp Michael Garfield, "The Future is Indistinguishable from Magic" (This is the essay we discuss that was unpublished at the time of the recording) Michael Garfield, "The Future Acts Like You" Michael Garfield, "The Evolution of Surveillance Part 3: Living in the Belly of the Beast" Artist David Titterington's Patreon page Richard Doyle, On Beyond Living: Rhetorical Transformations of the Life Sciences Corning, "The Glass Age" (corporate video) Jean-Paul Sartre, Baudelaire John David Ebert, "On Hypermodernity" John C. Wright, The Golden Age J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings Timothy Morton, Hyperobjects Christopher Knight and Alan Butler, Who Built the Moon? Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon Marshall McLuhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage Spinoza, Ethics Charles Taylor, The Malaise of Modernity Martine Rothblatt, Virtually Human: The Promise and the Peril of Digital Immortality John Crowley, Little, Big Jose Arguelles, Dreamspell Calendar William Irwin Thompson, Lindisfarne Tapes Jonathan Sterne, The Audible Past Karl Schroeder, “Degrees of Freedom,” in Heiroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future Michael Garfield, “Being Every Drone” Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution Special Guest: Michael Garfield. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 19 Sep 2018 17:30:00 -0000 Living in a Glass Age, with Michael Garfield full 26 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil talk to artist and thinker Michael Garfield about his idea that we are living in the final days of the Age of Glass. Stone, bronze, iron... glass? In his recent thought and writing, transdisciplinary artist and thinker Michael Garfield defines modernity as an age of glass, arguing that the entire ethos of our era inheres in the transformative enchantments of this amorphous solid. No one would deny that glass plays a central role in our lives, although glass does have a knack for disappearing into the background, at least until the beakers or screens crack and shatter. Glass is weird, and like a lot of weird things, it can serve as a lens (so to speak!) for observing our world from strange new angles. In this episode, Michael joins Phil and JF to talk through the origins, the significance, and the fate of the Glass Age. Michael Garfield is a musician, live painter, and futurist. He is the host of the brilliant Future Fossils Podcast. REFERENCES Michael Garfield's website + Patreon + Medium + Bandcamp Michael Garfield, "The Future is Indistinguishable from Magic" (This is the essay we discuss that was unpublished at the time of the recording) Michael Garfield, "The Future Acts Like You" Michael Garfield, "The Evolution of Surveillance Part 3: Living in the Belly of the Beast" Artist David Titterington's Patreon page Richard Doyle, On Beyond Living: Rhetorical Transformations of the Life Sciences Corning, "The Glass Age" (corporate video) Jean-Paul Sartre, Baudelaire John David Ebert, "On Hypermodernity" John C. Wright, The Golden Age J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings Timothy Morton, Hyperobjects Christopher Knight and Alan Butler, Who Built the Moon? Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon Marshall McLuhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage Spinoza, Ethics Charles Taylor, The Malaise of Modernity Martine Rothblatt, Virtually Human: The Promise and the Peril of Digital Immortality John Crowley, Little, Big Jose Arguelles, Dreamspell Calendar William Irwin Thompson, Lindisfarne Tapes Jonathan Sterne, The Audible Past Karl Schroeder, “Degrees of Freedom,” in Heiroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future Michael Garfield, “Being Every Drone” Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution Special Guest: Michael Garfield. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Stone, bronze, iron... glass? In his recent thought and writing, transdisciplinary artist and thinker Michael Garfield defines modernity as an age of glass, arguing that the entire ethos of our era inheres in the transformative enchantments of this amorphous solid. No one would deny that glass plays a central role in our lives, although glass does have a knack for disappearing into the background, at least until the beakers or screens crack and shatter. Glass is weird, and like a lot of weird things, it can serve as a lens (so to speak!) for observing our world from strange new angles. In this episode, Michael joins Phil and JF to talk through the origins, the significance, and the fate of the Glass Age.

Michael Garfield is a musician, live painter, and futurist. He is the host of the brilliant Future Fossils Podcast.

REFERENCES

Michael Garfield's website + Patreon + Medium + Bandcamp
Michael Garfield, "The Future is Indistinguishable from Magic" (This is the essay we discuss that was unpublished at the time of the recording)
Michael Garfield, "The Future Acts Like You"
Michael Garfield, "The Evolution of Surveillance Part 3: Living in the Belly of the Beast"

Artist David Titterington's Patreon page
Richard Doyle, On Beyond Living: Rhetorical Transformations of the Life Sciences
Corning, "The Glass Age" (corporate video)
Jean-Paul Sartre, Baudelaire
John David Ebert, "On Hypermodernity"
John C. Wright, The Golden Age
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
Timothy Morton, Hyperobjects
Christopher Knight and Alan Butler, Who Built the Moon?
Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon
Marshall McLuhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy
Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage
Spinoza, Ethics
Charles Taylor, The Malaise of Modernity
Martine Rothblatt, Virtually Human: The Promise and the Peril of Digital Immortality
John Crowley, Little, Big
Jose Arguelles, Dreamspell Calendar
William Irwin Thompson, Lindisfarne Tapes
Jonathan Sterne, The Audible Past
Karl Schroeder, “Degrees of Freedom,” in Heiroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future
Michael Garfield, “Being Every Drone”
Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution

Special Guest: Michael Garfield.

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]]> 4757 yes Episode 25: David Cronenberg's 'Naked Lunch' https://www.weirdstudies.com/25 JF and Phil head for Interzone in an attempt to solve the enigma of Naked Lunch, David Cronenberg's 1991 screen adaptation of William S. Burroughs' infamous 1959 novel. A treatise on addiction, a diagnosis of modern ills, a lucid portrait of the artist as cosmic transgressor, and like the book, "a frozen moment when everyone sees what is on the end of every fork," Naked Lunch is here framed in the light Cronenberg's recent speech making the case for the crime of art. Image by Melancholie, Wikimedia Commons. REFERENCES David Foster Wallace, "Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way," from Girl With Curious Hair Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Anti-Oedipus, and "How Do You Make Yourself a Body Without Organs?" in A Thousand Plateaus David Cronenberg (writer-director), Naked Lunch (the film) William Burroughs, Naked Lunch (the novel) Thomas De Quincey, Confessions of an Opium-Eater Dale Pendell, Pharmako/Poeia: Power Plants, Poisons and Herbcraft "David Cronenberg: I would like to make the case for the crime of art," Globe and Mail June 22 2018 JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Derek Bailey (director), On the Edge: Improvisation in Music Phil Ford, "Good Prose is Written By People Who Are Not Frightened" Geroge Orwell, "Inside the Whale" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 12 Sep 2018 14:00:00 -0000 David Cronenberg's 'Naked Lunch' full 25 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss David Cronenberg's 1991 film, "Naked Lunch," an adaptation of William S. Burroughs' hallucinatory classic. JF and Phil head for Interzone in an attempt to solve the enigma of Naked Lunch, David Cronenberg's 1991 screen adaptation of William S. Burroughs' infamous 1959 novel. A treatise on addiction, a diagnosis of modern ills, a lucid portrait of the artist as cosmic transgressor, and like the book, "a frozen moment when everyone sees what is on the end of every fork," Naked Lunch is here framed in the light Cronenberg's recent speech making the case for the crime of art. Image by Melancholie, Wikimedia Commons. REFERENCES David Foster Wallace, "Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way," from Girl With Curious Hair Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Anti-Oedipus, and "How Do You Make Yourself a Body Without Organs?" in A Thousand Plateaus David Cronenberg (writer-director), Naked Lunch (the film) William Burroughs, Naked Lunch (the novel) Thomas De Quincey, Confessions of an Opium-Eater Dale Pendell, Pharmako/Poeia: Power Plants, Poisons and Herbcraft "David Cronenberg: I would like to make the case for the crime of art," Globe and Mail June 22 2018 JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Derek Bailey (director), On the Edge: Improvisation in Music Phil Ford, "Good Prose is Written By People Who Are Not Frightened" Geroge Orwell, "Inside the Whale" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices JF and Phil head for Interzone in an attempt to solve the enigma of Naked Lunch, David Cronenberg's 1991 screen adaptation of William S. Burroughs' infamous 1959 novel. A treatise on addiction, a diagnosis of modern ills, a lucid portrait of the artist as cosmic transgressor, and like the book, "a frozen moment when everyone sees what is on the end of every fork," Naked Lunch is here framed in the light Cronenberg's recent speech making the case for the crime of art.

Image by Melancholie, Wikimedia Commons.

REFERENCES

David Foster Wallace, "Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way," from Girl With Curious Hair
Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Anti-Oedipus, and "How Do You Make Yourself a Body Without Organs?" in A Thousand Plateaus
David Cronenberg (writer-director), Naked Lunch (the film)
William Burroughs, Naked Lunch (the novel)
Thomas De Quincey, Confessions of an Opium-Eater
Dale Pendell, Pharmako/Poeia: Power Plants, Poisons and Herbcraft
"David Cronenberg: I would like to make the case for the crime of art," Globe and Mail June 22 2018
JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice
Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture
Derek Bailey (director), On the Edge: Improvisation in Music
Phil Ford, "Good Prose is Written By People Who Are Not Frightened"
Geroge Orwell, "Inside the Whale"

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]]> 4836 yes Episode 24: The Charlatan and the Magus, with Lionel Snell https://www.weirdstudies.com/24 As Lionel Snell, also known as Ramsey Dukes, observes in his seminal esoteric essay, "The Charlatan and the Magus" (1984), the series of trumps in a tarot deck doesn't begin with the noble Emperor or august Hierophant, but with the lowly Fool, followed by the Juggler. Trickery or illusion, Snell suggests, may not be the dealbreaker we've thought it to be in parapsychological investigation. It may even be a feature, not a bug, of the magical process. In this episode of Weird Studies, JF and Phil talk to Lionel Snell about trickster magic, and all we miss out on when we make rational truth the only measure by which we know reality. Ramsey Dukes [Lionel Snell], "The Charlatan and the Magus" Darren Brown, Tricks of the Mind Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Phil Ford, “Birth of the Weird" Ramsey Dukes [Lionel Snell], How to See Fairies: Discover Your Psychic Powers in Six Weeks Ramsey Dukes [Lionel Snell], S.S.O.T..B.M.E. John Keats, Negative Capability Weird Studies, Episode 9: "On Aleister Crowley and the Idea of Magick" Special Guest: Lionel Snell [Ramsey Dukes]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Tue, 28 Aug 2018 19:00:00 -0000 The Charlatan and the Magus, with Lionel Snell full 24 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss magic with occult thinker and practicing magician Lionel Snell, also known as Ramsey Dukes. As Lionel Snell, also known as Ramsey Dukes, observes in his seminal esoteric essay, "The Charlatan and the Magus" (1984), the series of trumps in a tarot deck doesn't begin with the noble Emperor or august Hierophant, but with the lowly Fool, followed by the Juggler. Trickery or illusion, Snell suggests, may not be the dealbreaker we've thought it to be in parapsychological investigation. It may even be a feature, not a bug, of the magical process. In this episode of Weird Studies, JF and Phil talk to Lionel Snell about trickster magic, and all we miss out on when we make rational truth the only measure by which we know reality. Ramsey Dukes [Lionel Snell], "The Charlatan and the Magus" Darren Brown, Tricks of the Mind Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Phil Ford, “Birth of the Weird" Ramsey Dukes [Lionel Snell], How to See Fairies: Discover Your Psychic Powers in Six Weeks Ramsey Dukes [Lionel Snell], S.S.O.T..B.M.E. John Keats, Negative Capability Weird Studies, Episode 9: "On Aleister Crowley and the Idea of Magick" Special Guest: Lionel Snell [Ramsey Dukes]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices As Lionel Snell, also known as Ramsey Dukes, observes in his seminal esoteric essay, "The Charlatan and the Magus" (1984), the series of trumps in a tarot deck doesn't begin with the noble Emperor or august Hierophant, but with the lowly Fool, followed by the Juggler. Trickery or illusion, Snell suggests, may not be the dealbreaker we've thought it to be in parapsychological investigation. It may even be a feature, not a bug, of the magical process. In this episode of Weird Studies, JF and Phil talk to Lionel Snell about trickster magic, and all we miss out on when we make rational truth the only measure by which we know reality.

Ramsey Dukes [Lionel Snell], "The Charlatan and the Magus"
Darren Brown, Tricks of the Mind
Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Phil Ford, “Birth of the Weird"
Ramsey Dukes [Lionel Snell], How to See Fairies: Discover Your Psychic Powers in Six Weeks
Ramsey Dukes [Lionel Snell], S.S.O.T..B.M.E.
John Keats, Negative Capability
Weird Studies, Episode 9: "On Aleister Crowley and the Idea of Magick"

Special Guest: Lionel Snell [Ramsey Dukes].

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]]> 3533 no Episode 23: On Presence https://www.weirdstudies.com/23 Phil stops by JF's Canadian homestead for a raucous IRL conversation on the idea of presence. The range of topics includes objects of power, the magic of books, the mystery of the event, modernity's knack for making myths immanent, genius loci, the mad wonder of Blue Velvet, and the iron fist of the virtual. REFERENCES Gil Scott-Heron, "The Revolution Will Bot Be Televised" Louis CK on smart phones at the ballet recital Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory, Creative Evolution Gilles Deleuze on the virtual: see Bergsonism, Proust and Signs, The Logic of Sense, Difference and Repetition, Cinema II: The TIme Image Expanding Mind with Erik Davis, "Being Anarchist" JF Martel, "Reality is Analog" Jason A. Josephson-Storm, The Myth of Disenchantment (and Gyrus's review) Gyrus, North: The Rise and Fall of the Polar Cosmos William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture Geoffrey O’Brien, Phantom Empire David Foster Wallace, “David Lynch Keeps His Head” Donald Barthelme David Lynch, Blue Velvet Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Cannibal Meraphysics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 15 Aug 2018 14:00:00 -0000 On Presence full 23 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF meet in person to discuss the mysteries of presence and event. Phil stops by JF's Canadian homestead for a raucous IRL conversation on the idea of presence. The range of topics includes objects of power, the magic of books, the mystery of the event, modernity's knack for making myths immanent, genius loci, the mad wonder of Blue Velvet, and the iron fist of the virtual. REFERENCES Gil Scott-Heron, "The Revolution Will Bot Be Televised" Louis CK on smart phones at the ballet recital Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory, Creative Evolution Gilles Deleuze on the virtual: see Bergsonism, Proust and Signs, The Logic of Sense, Difference and Repetition, Cinema II: The TIme Image Expanding Mind with Erik Davis, "Being Anarchist" JF Martel, "Reality is Analog" Jason A. Josephson-Storm, The Myth of Disenchantment (and Gyrus's review) Gyrus, North: The Rise and Fall of the Polar Cosmos William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture Geoffrey O’Brien, Phantom Empire David Foster Wallace, “David Lynch Keeps His Head” Donald Barthelme David Lynch, Blue Velvet Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Cannibal Meraphysics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Phil stops by JF's Canadian homestead for a raucous IRL conversation on the idea of presence. The range of topics includes objects of power, the magic of books, the mystery of the event, modernity's knack for making myths immanent, genius loci, the mad wonder of Blue Velvet, and the iron fist of the virtual.

REFERENCES

Gil Scott-Heron, "The Revolution Will Bot Be Televised"
Louis CK on smart phones at the ballet recital
Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory, Creative Evolution
Gilles Deleuze on the virtual: see Bergsonism, Proust and Signs, The Logic of Sense, Difference and Repetition, Cinema II: The TIme Image
Expanding Mind with Erik Davis, "Being Anarchist"
JF Martel, "Reality is Analog"
Jason A. Josephson-Storm, The Myth of Disenchantment (and Gyrus's review)
Gyrus, North: The Rise and Fall of the Polar Cosmos
William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture
Geoffrey O’Brien, Phantom Empire
David Foster Wallace, “David Lynch Keeps His Head”
Donald Barthelme
David Lynch, Blue Velvet
Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Cannibal Meraphysics

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]]> 6229 yes Episode 22: Divining the World with Joshua Ramey https://www.weirdstudies.com/22 American philosopher Joshua Ramey, author of The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and the Spiritual Ordeal, and Politics of Divination: Neoliberal Endgame and the Religion of Contingency, joins Phil and JF to discuss a philosophical project whose implications go deep and weird. In his books and articles, Joshua proffers the vision of a world where divination -- whether or not it is recognized as such -- isn't just possible, but necessary for advancing knowledge, creating art, and forming communities. And his research has revealed that the wardens of our neoliberal order know this all too well. As he writes in an essay discussed in this episode, the mandate of a weird age ought to be clear: "Occupy, and practice divination." **REFERENCES Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and the Spiritual Ordeal Joshua Ramey, Politics of DIvination: Neoliberal Endgame and the Religion of Contingency Joshua Ramey, "Contingency Without Unreason: Speculation After Meillassoux" (abstract) Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti, University of British Columbia, at academia.edu Fred Moten and Stefano Harney, The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning and Black Study Deleuze, Nietzsche and Philosophy, Difference and Repetition, and The Logic of Sense Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on Contingency Elie Ayache, The Blank Swan: The End of Probability Weird Studies, "Does Consciousness Exist?" Parts One and Two Special Guest: Joshua Ramey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 01 Aug 2018 15:00:00 -0000 Divining the World with Joshua Ramey full 22 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF talk with American philosopher Joshua Ramey about his work on chance, contingency, and divination. American philosopher Joshua Ramey, author of The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and the Spiritual Ordeal, and Politics of Divination: Neoliberal Endgame and the Religion of Contingency, joins Phil and JF to discuss a philosophical project whose implications go deep and weird. In his books and articles, Joshua proffers the vision of a world where divination -- whether or not it is recognized as such -- isn't just possible, but necessary for advancing knowledge, creating art, and forming communities. And his research has revealed that the wardens of our neoliberal order know this all too well. As he writes in an essay discussed in this episode, the mandate of a weird age ought to be clear: "Occupy, and practice divination." **REFERENCES Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and the Spiritual Ordeal Joshua Ramey, Politics of DIvination: Neoliberal Endgame and the Religion of Contingency Joshua Ramey, "Contingency Without Unreason: Speculation After Meillassoux" (abstract) Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti, University of British Columbia, at academia.edu Fred Moten and Stefano Harney, The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning and Black Study Deleuze, Nietzsche and Philosophy, Difference and Repetition, and The Logic of Sense Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on Contingency Elie Ayache, The Blank Swan: The End of Probability Weird Studies, "Does Consciousness Exist?" Parts One and Two Special Guest: Joshua Ramey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices American philosopher Joshua Ramey, author of The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and the Spiritual Ordeal, and Politics of Divination: Neoliberal Endgame and the Religion of Contingency, joins Phil and JF to discuss a philosophical project whose implications go deep and weird. In his books and articles, Joshua proffers the vision of a world where divination -- whether or not it is recognized as such -- isn't just possible, but necessary for advancing knowledge, creating art, and forming communities. And his research has revealed that the wardens of our neoliberal order know this all too well. As he writes in an essay discussed in this episode, the mandate of a weird age ought to be clear: "Occupy, and practice divination."

**REFERENCES

Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and the Spiritual Ordeal
Joshua Ramey, Politics of DIvination: Neoliberal Endgame and the Religion of Contingency
Joshua Ramey, "Contingency Without Unreason: Speculation After Meillassoux" (abstract)
Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti, University of British Columbia, at academia.edu
Fred Moten and Stefano Harney, The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning and Black Study
Deleuze, Nietzsche and Philosophy, Difference and Repetition, and The Logic of Sense
Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on Contingency
Elie Ayache, The Blank Swan: The End of Probability
Weird Studies, "Does Consciousness Exist?" Parts One and Two

Special Guest: Joshua Ramey.

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]]> 4177 yes Episode 21: The Trash Stratum - Part 2 https://www.weirdstudies.com/21 The writings of underground filmmaker Jack Smith serve as a starting point for Phil and JF's second tour of the trash stratum. In their wanderings, they will uncover such moldy jewels as the 1944 film Cobra Woman, the exploitation flick She-Devils on Wheels, and (wonder of wonders) Hitchcock's Vertigo. The emergent focus of the conversation is the dichotomy of passionate commitment and ironic perspective, attitudes that largely determine whether a given object will turn out to appear as a negligible piece of garbage... or the Holy Grail. By the end, our hosts realize that even their own personal trash strata may give off shimmers of the divine. Jack Smith, Flaming Creatures Robert Siodmak (director), Cobra Woman (1944) Jack Smith, "The Perfect Filmic Appositeness of Maria Montez" Roger Scruton, English philosopher Mystery Science Theater 3000 (TV series) Kenneth Burke, American literary theorist Alfred Hitchcock (director), Vertigo (1958) Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground Charles Ludlam's Theater of the Ridiculous Mel Brooks (director), High Anxiety (1977) "Ironic Porn Purchase Leads to Unironic Ejaculation", The Onion (1999) James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games Jorge Luis Borges, "The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim" Herschell Gordon Louis (director), She-Devils on Wheels André Bazin, What is Cinema? Erik Davis, "The Alchemy of Trash" David Lynch, Mulholland Drive William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience Phil Ford, "Birth of the Weird" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Fri, 13 Jul 2018 14:00:00 -0000 The Trash Stratum - Part 2 full 21 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF continue to muse on Philip K. Dick's line, "the symbols of the divine initially show up at the trash stratum." The writings of underground filmmaker Jack Smith serve as a starting point for Phil and JF's second tour of the trash stratum. In their wanderings, they will uncover such moldy jewels as the 1944 film Cobra Woman, the exploitation flick She-Devils on Wheels, and (wonder of wonders) Hitchcock's Vertigo. The emergent focus of the conversation is the dichotomy of passionate commitment and ironic perspective, attitudes that largely determine whether a given object will turn out to appear as a negligible piece of garbage... or the Holy Grail. By the end, our hosts realize that even their own personal trash strata may give off shimmers of the divine. Jack Smith, Flaming Creatures Robert Siodmak (director), Cobra Woman (1944) Jack Smith, "The Perfect Filmic Appositeness of Maria Montez" Roger Scruton, English philosopher Mystery Science Theater 3000 (TV series) Kenneth Burke, American literary theorist Alfred Hitchcock (director), Vertigo (1958) Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground Charles Ludlam's Theater of the Ridiculous Mel Brooks (director), High Anxiety (1977) "Ironic Porn Purchase Leads to Unironic Ejaculation", The Onion (1999) James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games Jorge Luis Borges, "The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim" Herschell Gordon Louis (director), She-Devils on Wheels André Bazin, What is Cinema? Erik Davis, "The Alchemy of Trash" David Lynch, Mulholland Drive William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience Phil Ford, "Birth of the Weird" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The writings of underground filmmaker Jack Smith serve as a starting point for Phil and JF's second tour of the trash stratum. In their wanderings, they will uncover such moldy jewels as the 1944 film Cobra Woman, the exploitation flick She-Devils on Wheels, and (wonder of wonders) Hitchcock's Vertigo. The emergent focus of the conversation is the dichotomy of passionate commitment and ironic perspective, attitudes that largely determine whether a given object will turn out to appear as a negligible piece of garbage... or the Holy Grail. By the end, our hosts realize that even their own personal trash strata may give off shimmers of the divine.

Jack Smith, Flaming Creatures
Robert Siodmak (director), Cobra Woman (1944)
Jack Smith, "The Perfect Filmic Appositeness of Maria Montez"
Roger Scruton, English philosopher
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (TV series)
Kenneth Burke, American literary theorist
Alfred Hitchcock (director), Vertigo (1958)
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground
Charles Ludlam's Theater of the Ridiculous
Mel Brooks (director), High Anxiety (1977)
"Ironic Porn Purchase Leads to Unironic Ejaculation", The Onion (1999)
James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games
Jorge Luis Borges, "The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim"
Herschell Gordon Louis (director), She-Devils on Wheels
André Bazin, What is Cinema?
Erik Davis, "The Alchemy of Trash"
David Lynch, Mulholland Drive
William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience
Phil Ford, "Birth of the Weird"

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]]> 3971 yes Episode 20: The Trash Stratum - Part 1 https://www.weirdstudies.com/20 Is the Holy Grail a crushed beer can in the gutter? JF and Phil consider the implications of Philip K. Dick's line, "the symbols of the divine initially show up at the trash stratum." Gnosticism, Aleister Crowley's Thoth tarot, Thomas Ligotti's "The Order of Illusion," Jack Smith's glorification of moldy glamour, saints' relics that look like beef jerky -- all this and more in the first of a two-part conversation. REFERENCES Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Phil Ford, "What Good News Do You Bring?" Philip K. Dick, The Exegesis Philip K. Dick, VALIS Stanislav Lem, Microworlds Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind Robertson Davies, The Rebel Angels Thomas Ligotti, Noctuary Friedrich Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy Frank Darabont (dir.), The Shawshank Redemption Weird Studies podcast, On Tarkovsky's 'Stalker' Part 1 and Part 2 Richard Wagner, Parsifal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 04 Jul 2018 14:00:00 -0000 The Trash Stratum - Part 1 full 20 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF muse on Philip K. Dick's line, "the symbols of the divine initially show up at the trash stratum." Is the Holy Grail a crushed beer can in the gutter? JF and Phil consider the implications of Philip K. Dick's line, "the symbols of the divine initially show up at the trash stratum." Gnosticism, Aleister Crowley's Thoth tarot, Thomas Ligotti's "The Order of Illusion," Jack Smith's glorification of moldy glamour, saints' relics that look like beef jerky -- all this and more in the first of a two-part conversation. REFERENCES Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth Phil Ford, "What Good News Do You Bring?" Philip K. Dick, The Exegesis Philip K. Dick, VALIS Stanislav Lem, Microworlds Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind Robertson Davies, The Rebel Angels Thomas Ligotti, Noctuary Friedrich Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy Frank Darabont (dir.), The Shawshank Redemption Weird Studies podcast, On Tarkovsky's 'Stalker' Part 1 and Part 2 Richard Wagner, Parsifal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Is the Holy Grail a crushed beer can in the gutter? JF and Phil consider the implications of Philip K. Dick's line, "the symbols of the divine initially show up at the trash stratum." Gnosticism, Aleister Crowley's Thoth tarot, Thomas Ligotti's "The Order of Illusion," Jack Smith's glorification of moldy glamour, saints' relics that look like beef jerky -- all this and more in the first of a two-part conversation.

REFERENCES

Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth
Phil Ford, "What Good News Do You Bring?"
Philip K. Dick, The Exegesis
Philip K. Dick, VALIS
Stanislav Lem, Microworlds
Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind
Robertson Davies, The Rebel Angels
Thomas Ligotti, Noctuary
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy
Frank Darabont (dir.), The Shawshank Redemption
Weird Studies podcast, On Tarkovsky's 'Stalker' Part 1 and Part 2
Richard Wagner, Parsifal

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]]> 4542 yes Episode 19: Intermezzo https://www.weirdstudies.com/19 After announcing that Weird Studies will be going to a bi-weekly release schedule for the summer, Phil and JF talk about how the podcast has gone so far and what's on the horizon (more guests!). Before long, they're digging deep into what makes each of them tick as weird speculators, locating the points at which their ideas differ and converge. The discussion touches on the philosophy of Quentin Meillassoux, the theology of Tertullian, the Beatles, the Coke-Pepsi dichotomy, the art of religion, and more. SHOUT OUTS Mandala artist Betty Paz Infinite Conversations Michael Garfield, the Future Fossils podcast Ramsey Dukes (Lionel Snell), “The Charlatan and the Magus” Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and the Spiritual Ordeal and The Politics of Divination: Neoliberal Endgame and the Religion of Contingency REFERENCES Patrick Harpur, The Secret Tradition of the Soul Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on Contingency GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy MC Escher, Drawing Hands The works of Tertullian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 20 Jun 2018 15:00:00 -0000 Intermezzo full 19 SpectreVision Radio A discussion on the past and future of the podcast, and the nature of the conversation unfolding therein. After announcing that Weird Studies will be going to a bi-weekly release schedule for the summer, Phil and JF talk about how the podcast has gone so far and what's on the horizon (more guests!). Before long, they're digging deep into what makes each of them tick as weird speculators, locating the points at which their ideas differ and converge. The discussion touches on the philosophy of Quentin Meillassoux, the theology of Tertullian, the Beatles, the Coke-Pepsi dichotomy, the art of religion, and more. SHOUT OUTS Mandala artist Betty Paz Infinite Conversations Michael Garfield, the Future Fossils podcast Ramsey Dukes (Lionel Snell), “The Charlatan and the Magus” Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and the Spiritual Ordeal and The Politics of Divination: Neoliberal Endgame and the Religion of Contingency REFERENCES Patrick Harpur, The Secret Tradition of the Soul Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on Contingency GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy MC Escher, Drawing Hands The works of Tertullian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices After announcing that Weird Studies will be going to a bi-weekly release schedule for the summer, Phil and JF talk about how the podcast has gone so far and what's on the horizon (more guests!). Before long, they're digging deep into what makes each of them tick as weird speculators, locating the points at which their ideas differ and converge. The discussion touches on the philosophy of Quentin Meillassoux, the theology of Tertullian, the Beatles, the Coke-Pepsi dichotomy, the art of religion, and more.

SHOUT OUTS
Mandala artist Betty Paz
Infinite Conversations
Michael Garfield, the Future Fossils podcast
Ramsey Dukes (Lionel Snell), “The Charlatan and the Magus”
Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and the Spiritual Ordeal and The Politics of Divination: Neoliberal Endgame and the Religion of Contingency

REFERENCES
Patrick Harpur, The Secret Tradition of the Soul
Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on Contingency
GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy
MC Escher, Drawing Hands
The works of Tertullian

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]]> 4168 yes Episode 18: Does 'Consciousness' Exist? - Part Two https://www.weirdstudies.com/18 JF and Phil finally get down to brass tacks with William James's essay "Does Consciousness Exist?" At the heart of this essay is the concept of what James calls "pure experience," the basic stuff of everything, only it isn't a stuff, but an irreducible multiplicity of everything that exists -- thoughts as well as things. We're used to thinking that thoughts and things belong to fundamentally different orders of being, but what if thoughts are things, too? For one thing, psychical phenomena (a great interest of James's) suddenly become a good deal more plausible. And the imaginal realm, where art and magic make their home, becomes a sovereign domain. REFERENCES William James, "Does 'Consciousness' Exist?" Steven Shaviro, The Universe of Things Jean-Paul Sartre, The Transcendence of the Ego William James, Essays in Psychical Research Weird Studies D&D episode Proust, À la Recherche du Temps Perdu The Venera 13 probe's photos of the surface of Venus Wallace Stevens, "A Postcard from the Volcano" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 13 Jun 2018 14:00:00 -0000 Does 'Consciousness' Exist? - Part Two full 18 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF continue (begin?) their discussion of William James's essay "Does Consciousness Exist"? JF and Phil finally get down to brass tacks with William James's essay "Does Consciousness Exist?" At the heart of this essay is the concept of what James calls "pure experience," the basic stuff of everything, only it isn't a stuff, but an irreducible multiplicity of everything that exists -- thoughts as well as things. We're used to thinking that thoughts and things belong to fundamentally different orders of being, but what if thoughts are things, too? For one thing, psychical phenomena (a great interest of James's) suddenly become a good deal more plausible. And the imaginal realm, where art and magic make their home, becomes a sovereign domain. REFERENCES William James, "Does 'Consciousness' Exist?" Steven Shaviro, The Universe of Things Jean-Paul Sartre, The Transcendence of the Ego William James, Essays in Psychical Research Weird Studies D&D episode Proust, À la Recherche du Temps Perdu The Venera 13 probe's photos of the surface of Venus Wallace Stevens, "A Postcard from the Volcano" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices JF and Phil finally get down to brass tacks with William James's essay "Does Consciousness Exist?" At the heart of this essay is the concept of what James calls "pure experience," the basic stuff of everything, only it isn't a stuff, but an irreducible multiplicity of everything that exists -- thoughts as well as things. We're used to thinking that thoughts and things belong to fundamentally different orders of being, but what if thoughts are things, too? For one thing, psychical phenomena (a great interest of James's) suddenly become a good deal more plausible. And the imaginal realm, where art and magic make their home, becomes a sovereign domain.

REFERENCES

William James, "Does 'Consciousness' Exist?"
Steven Shaviro, The Universe of Things
Jean-Paul Sartre, The Transcendence of the Ego
William James, Essays in Psychical Research
Weird Studies D&D episode
Proust, À la Recherche du Temps Perdu
The Venera 13 probe's photos of the surface of Venus
Wallace Stevens, "A Postcard from the Volcano"

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]]> 3691 yes Episode 17: Does 'Consciousness' Exist? - Part One https://www.weirdstudies.com/17 In this first part of their discussion of William James' classic essay in radical empiricism, "Does 'Consciousness' Exist?", Phil and JF talk about the various ways we use the slippery C-word in contemporary culture. The episode touches on the political charge of the concept of consciousness, the unholy marriage of materialism and idealism ("Kant is the ultimate hipster"), the role of consciousness in the workings of the weird -- basically, anything but the essay in question. That will come in part two. Header image by Miguel Bolacha, Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES William James, "Does 'Consciousness' Exist?" Daniel Dennett, Consciousness Explained Daniel Pinchbeck, author and founder of Reality Sandwich Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Scott Saul, Freedom Is, Freedom Ain't: Jazz and the Making of the Sixties Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency Matt Cardin - author and editor, creator of The Teeming Brain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 06 Jun 2018 14:00:00 -0000 Does 'Consciousness' Exist? - Part One full 17 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil do everything in their power to delay the moment where they will actually discuss William James' essay, "Does 'Consciousness' Exist?". In this first part of their discussion of William James' classic essay in radical empiricism, "Does 'Consciousness' Exist?", Phil and JF talk about the various ways we use the slippery C-word in contemporary culture. The episode touches on the political charge of the concept of consciousness, the unholy marriage of materialism and idealism ("Kant is the ultimate hipster"), the role of consciousness in the workings of the weird -- basically, anything but the essay in question. That will come in part two. Header image by Miguel Bolacha, Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES William James, "Does 'Consciousness' Exist?" Daniel Dennett, Consciousness Explained Daniel Pinchbeck, author and founder of Reality Sandwich Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Scott Saul, Freedom Is, Freedom Ain't: Jazz and the Making of the Sixties Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency Matt Cardin - author and editor, creator of The Teeming Brain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this first part of their discussion of William James' classic essay in radical empiricism, "Does 'Consciousness' Exist?", Phil and JF talk about the various ways we use the slippery C-word in contemporary culture. The episode touches on the political charge of the concept of consciousness, the unholy marriage of materialism and idealism ("Kant is the ultimate hipster"), the role of consciousness in the workings of the weird -- basically, anything but the essay in question. That will come in part two.

Header image by Miguel Bolacha, Wikimedia Commons

REFERENCES

William James, "Does 'Consciousness' Exist?"
Daniel Dennett, Consciousness Explained
Daniel Pinchbeck, author and founder of Reality Sandwich
Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture
Scott Saul, Freedom Is, Freedom Ain't: Jazz and the Making of the Sixties
Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency
Matt Cardin - author and editor, creator of The Teeming Brain

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]]> 2885 yes Episode 16: On Dogen Zenji's 'Genjokoan' https://www.weirdstudies.com/16 JF and Phil tackle Genjokoan, a profound and puzzling work of philosophy by Dogen Zenji. In it, the 13th-century Zen master ponders the question, "If everything is already enlightened, why practice Zen?" As a lapsed Zen practitioner ("a shit buddhist") with many hours of meditation under his belt, Phil draws on personal experience to dig into Dogen's strange and startling answers, while JF speaks from his perspective as a "decadent hedonist." "When one side is illumined," says Dogen, "the other is dark." For proof of this utterance, you could do worse than listen to this episode of Weird Studies. REFERENCES Dogen Zenji, Genjokoan Shohaku Okumura and the Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, Indiana Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life Weird Studies, Episode 8: "On Graham Harman's 'The Third Table'" Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1: The Movement Image Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling Joris-Karl Huysmans, À Rebours (Against Nature) Chogyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 30 May 2018 14:00:00 -0000 On Dogen Zenji's 'Genjokoan' full 16 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss a classic work of Zen metaphysics. JF and Phil tackle Genjokoan, a profound and puzzling work of philosophy by Dogen Zenji. In it, the 13th-century Zen master ponders the question, "If everything is already enlightened, why practice Zen?" As a lapsed Zen practitioner ("a shit buddhist") with many hours of meditation under his belt, Phil draws on personal experience to dig into Dogen's strange and startling answers, while JF speaks from his perspective as a "decadent hedonist." "When one side is illumined," says Dogen, "the other is dark." For proof of this utterance, you could do worse than listen to this episode of Weird Studies. REFERENCES Dogen Zenji, Genjokoan Shohaku Okumura and the Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, Indiana Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life Weird Studies, Episode 8: "On Graham Harman's 'The Third Table'" Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1: The Movement Image Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling Joris-Karl Huysmans, À Rebours (Against Nature) Chogyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices JF and Phil tackle Genjokoan, a profound and puzzling work of philosophy by Dogen Zenji. In it, the 13th-century Zen master ponders the question, "If everything is already enlightened, why practice Zen?" As a lapsed Zen practitioner ("a shit buddhist") with many hours of meditation under his belt, Phil draws on personal experience to dig into Dogen's strange and startling answers, while JF speaks from his perspective as a "decadent hedonist." "When one side is illumined," says Dogen, "the other is dark." For proof of this utterance, you could do worse than listen to this episode of Weird Studies.

REFERENCES

Dogen Zenji, Genjokoan
Shohaku Okumura and the Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, Indiana
Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life
Weird Studies, Episode 8: "On Graham Harman's 'The Third Table'"
Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1: The Movement Image
Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory
Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling
Joris-Karl Huysmans, À Rebours (Against Nature)
Chogyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

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]]> 4317 yes Episode 15: On Tarkovsky's 'Stalker' - Part Two https://www.weirdstudies.com/15 In this second of a two-part conversation on Andrei Tarkovsky's 1979 film Stalker, Phil and JF explore the film's prophetic dimension, relating it to Samuel R. Delany's classic science-fiction novel Dhalgren, the cultural revolution of the 1960s, the affordances of despair, the spookiness of color, the transformation of noise into music, and the Chernobyl disaster. They even come up with a title for a novel Robert Ludlum never wrote but should have written: The Criterion Rendition! REFERENCES Andrei Tarkovsky (dir.), Stalker Samuel R. Delany, Dhalgren (foreword by William Gibson) H.P. Lovecraft, "The Colour Out of Space" John Searle, Seeing Things as They Are: A Theory of Perception Steve Reich, Come Out Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 1 Martin Heidegger, "The Question Concerning Technology" Stanley Kubrick, The Shining The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 23 May 2018 14:00:00 -0000 On Tarkovsky's 'Stalker' - Part Two full 15 SpectreVision Radio The second part of Phil and JF's conversation about Andrei Tarkovsky's masterpiece, "Stalker." In this second of a two-part conversation on Andrei Tarkovsky's 1979 film Stalker, Phil and JF explore the film's prophetic dimension, relating it to Samuel R. Delany's classic science-fiction novel Dhalgren, the cultural revolution of the 1960s, the affordances of despair, the spookiness of color, the transformation of noise into music, and the Chernobyl disaster. They even come up with a title for a novel Robert Ludlum never wrote but should have written: The Criterion Rendition! REFERENCES Andrei Tarkovsky (dir.), Stalker Samuel R. Delany, Dhalgren (foreword by William Gibson) H.P. Lovecraft, "The Colour Out of Space" John Searle, Seeing Things as They Are: A Theory of Perception Steve Reich, Come Out Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 1 Martin Heidegger, "The Question Concerning Technology" Stanley Kubrick, The Shining The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In this second of a two-part conversation on Andrei Tarkovsky's 1979 film Stalker, Phil and JF explore the film's prophetic dimension, relating it to Samuel R. Delany's classic science-fiction novel Dhalgren, the cultural revolution of the 1960s, the affordances of despair, the spookiness of color, the transformation of noise into music, and the Chernobyl disaster. They even come up with a title for a novel Robert Ludlum never wrote but should have written: The Criterion Rendition!

REFERENCES

Andrei Tarkovsky (dir.), Stalker
Samuel R. Delany, Dhalgren (foreword by William Gibson)
H.P. Lovecraft, "The Colour Out of Space"
John Searle, Seeing Things as They Are: A Theory of Perception
Steve Reich, Come Out
Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 1
Martin Heidegger, "The Question Concerning Technology"
Stanley Kubrick, The Shining
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle

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]]> 3904 yes Episode 14: On Tarkovsky's 'Stalker' - Part One https://www.weirdstudies.com/14 Journey into the Zone to uncover some of the strange artifacts buried in Tarkovsky's cinematic masterpiece, Stalker (1979). In this first of a two-part conversation, Phil and JF discuss a poem by Tarkovsky's dad, compare the film with the sci-fi novel that inspired it, explore the ideological underpinnings of formulaic genre, delve into the meaning and affordances of the concept of zone, and affirm that in a sufficiently weird mindset, even a casual stroll in your hometown can become an excursion into a Zone of your own. REFERENCES Andrei Tarkovsky (dir.), Stalker Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic The Wachowskis (dir.), The Matrix James Cameron (dir.), Avatar Second City Television (SCTV), vintage Canadian comedy show Alex Garland (dir.), Annihilation (based on the novel by Jeff Vandermeer; here's an article on how Garland's film differs from Vandermeer's arguably weirder text) SCTV, Monster Chiller Horror Theatre: Whispers of the Wolf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 16 May 2018 03:00:00 -0000 On Tarkovsky's 'Stalker' - Part One full 14 SpectreVision Radio The first part of JF and Phil's conversation on Tarkovsky's 1979 masterpiece, "Stalker." Journey into the Zone to uncover some of the strange artifacts buried in Tarkovsky's cinematic masterpiece, Stalker (1979). In this first of a two-part conversation, Phil and JF discuss a poem by Tarkovsky's dad, compare the film with the sci-fi novel that inspired it, explore the ideological underpinnings of formulaic genre, delve into the meaning and affordances of the concept of zone, and affirm that in a sufficiently weird mindset, even a casual stroll in your hometown can become an excursion into a Zone of your own. REFERENCES Andrei Tarkovsky (dir.), Stalker Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic The Wachowskis (dir.), The Matrix James Cameron (dir.), Avatar Second City Television (SCTV), vintage Canadian comedy show Alex Garland (dir.), Annihilation (based on the novel by Jeff Vandermeer; here's an article on how Garland's film differs from Vandermeer's arguably weirder text) SCTV, Monster Chiller Horror Theatre: Whispers of the Wolf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Journey into the Zone to uncover some of the strange artifacts buried in Tarkovsky's cinematic masterpiece, Stalker (1979). In this first of a two-part conversation, Phil and JF discuss a poem by Tarkovsky's dad, compare the film with the sci-fi novel that inspired it, explore the ideological underpinnings of formulaic genre, delve into the meaning and affordances of the concept of zone, and affirm that in a sufficiently weird mindset, even a casual stroll in your hometown can become an excursion into a Zone of your own.

REFERENCES

Andrei Tarkovsky (dir.), Stalker
Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic
The Wachowskis (dir.), The Matrix
James Cameron (dir.), Avatar
Second City Television (SCTV), vintage Canadian comedy show
Alex Garland (dir.), Annihilation (based on the novel by Jeff Vandermeer; here's an article on how Garland's film differs from Vandermeer's arguably weirder text)
SCTV, Monster Chiller Horror Theatre: Whispers of the Wolf

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]]> 2493 yes Episode 13: The Obscure: On the Philosophy of Heraclitus https://www.weirdstudies.com/13 Heraclitus of Ephesus was one of the great pre-Socratic thinkers. Called the Obscure and the Weeping Philosopher, he left behind a collection of fragments so mysterious and pregnant with meaning that they continue to puzzle scholars to this day. In this episode, Phil and JF use a random number generator to select a number of fragments and speculate about their content. By the end, they will also have disclosed the bizarre contents of JF's tenth-grade "hippie bag," outed Oscar Wilde as a Zen Buddhist, and taken a walking tour of a city that exists only in Phil's dreams. REFERENCES Pierre Hadot, What is Ancient Philosophy? Northrop Frye, The Great Code Northrop Frye, Words with Power I Ching: The Book of Changes Oxford World Classics, The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and Sophists Wikisource page for Heraclitus James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld Dogen Zenji, Genjokoan Mark Johnson, The Meaning of the Body Gilles Deleuze on Spinoza Benedict de Spinoza, Ethics Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Grey Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols Neil Gaiman, Seasons of Mist (the fourth arc of the Sandman series) Deleuze on Dreams Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 09 May 2018 14:00:00 -0000 The Obscure: On the Philosophy of Heraclitus full 13 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF riff on randomly generated fragments from the work of a truly weird philosopher, Heraclitus of Ephesus. Heraclitus of Ephesus was one of the great pre-Socratic thinkers. Called the Obscure and the Weeping Philosopher, he left behind a collection of fragments so mysterious and pregnant with meaning that they continue to puzzle scholars to this day. In this episode, Phil and JF use a random number generator to select a number of fragments and speculate about their content. By the end, they will also have disclosed the bizarre contents of JF's tenth-grade "hippie bag," outed Oscar Wilde as a Zen Buddhist, and taken a walking tour of a city that exists only in Phil's dreams. REFERENCES Pierre Hadot, What is Ancient Philosophy? Northrop Frye, The Great Code Northrop Frye, Words with Power I Ching: The Book of Changes Oxford World Classics, The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and Sophists Wikisource page for Heraclitus James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld Dogen Zenji, Genjokoan Mark Johnson, The Meaning of the Body Gilles Deleuze on Spinoza Benedict de Spinoza, Ethics Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Grey Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols Neil Gaiman, Seasons of Mist (the fourth arc of the Sandman series) Deleuze on Dreams Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Heraclitus of Ephesus was one of the great pre-Socratic thinkers. Called the Obscure and the Weeping Philosopher, he left behind a collection of fragments so mysterious and pregnant with meaning that they continue to puzzle scholars to this day. In this episode, Phil and JF use a random number generator to select a number of fragments and speculate about their content. By the end, they will also have disclosed the bizarre contents of JF's tenth-grade "hippie bag," outed Oscar Wilde as a Zen Buddhist, and taken a walking tour of a city that exists only in Phil's dreams.

REFERENCES

Pierre Hadot, What is Ancient Philosophy?
Northrop Frye, The Great Code
Northrop Frye, Words with Power
I Ching: The Book of Changes
Oxford World Classics, The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and Sophists
Wikisource page for Heraclitus
James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld
Dogen Zenji, Genjokoan
Mark Johnson, The Meaning of the Body
Gilles Deleuze on Spinoza
Benedict de Spinoza, Ethics
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Grey
Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols
Neil Gaiman, Seasons of Mist (the fourth arc of the Sandman series)
Deleuze on Dreams

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]]> 4892 yes Episode 12: The Dark Eye: On the Films of Rodney Ascher https://www.weirdstudies.com/12 American filmmaker Rodney Ascher is a master of the weird documentary. Whether he be exploring wild interpretations of a classic horror film in Room 237, bracketing the phenomenon of sleep paralysis in The Nightmare, studying the uncanny power of the moving image in "Primal Screen," or considering the sinister power of a kitschy logo in "The S from Hell," Ascher confronts his viewers with realities that resist final explanations and facile reduction. In this episode, Phil and JF follow Ascher's films into the living labyrinth of a strange universe that isn't just unknown, but radically unknowable. REFERENCES American filmmaker Rodney Ascher, director of "The S from Hell", Room 237, The Nightmare, and "Primal Screen" James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld The Duffer Brothers (directors), Stranger Things (web TV series) Alan Landsburg (creator), In Search Of... with Leonard Nimoy (American TV series) Errol Morris (director), The Thin Blue Line Ann and Jeff Vandermeer (editors), The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories British speculative writer Michael Moorcock Lord Dunsany, The Gods of Pegana Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles Stanley Kubrick (writer-director), The Shining Richard Attenborough (director), Magic Sandor Stern (writer-director), Pin Freud, "The Uncanny" Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle David Lynch (writer-director), Lost Highway French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan Duncan Barford, Occult Experiments in the Home: Personal Explorations of Magick and the Paranormal JF Martel, "Ramble on the Real" Phil Ford, "Birth of the Weird" American astronomer Carl Sagan Charles Taylor, Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 02 May 2018 14:00:00 -0000 The Dark Eye: On the Films of Rodney Ascher full 12 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF discuss the work of American filmmaker Rodney Ascher, contemporary master of the weird documentary. American filmmaker Rodney Ascher is a master of the weird documentary. Whether he be exploring wild interpretations of a classic horror film in Room 237, bracketing the phenomenon of sleep paralysis in The Nightmare, studying the uncanny power of the moving image in "Primal Screen," or considering the sinister power of a kitschy logo in "The S from Hell," Ascher confronts his viewers with realities that resist final explanations and facile reduction. In this episode, Phil and JF follow Ascher's films into the living labyrinth of a strange universe that isn't just unknown, but radically unknowable. REFERENCES American filmmaker Rodney Ascher, director of "The S from Hell", Room 237, The Nightmare, and "Primal Screen" James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld The Duffer Brothers (directors), Stranger Things (web TV series) Alan Landsburg (creator), In Search Of... with Leonard Nimoy (American TV series) Errol Morris (director), The Thin Blue Line Ann and Jeff Vandermeer (editors), The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories British speculative writer Michael Moorcock Lord Dunsany, The Gods of Pegana Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles Stanley Kubrick (writer-director), The Shining Richard Attenborough (director), Magic Sandor Stern (writer-director), Pin Freud, "The Uncanny" Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle David Lynch (writer-director), Lost Highway French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan Duncan Barford, Occult Experiments in the Home: Personal Explorations of Magick and the Paranormal JF Martel, "Ramble on the Real" Phil Ford, "Birth of the Weird" American astronomer Carl Sagan Charles Taylor, Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices American filmmaker Rodney Ascher is a master of the weird documentary. Whether he be exploring wild interpretations of a classic horror film in Room 237, bracketing the phenomenon of sleep paralysis in The Nightmare, studying the uncanny power of the moving image in "Primal Screen," or considering the sinister power of a kitschy logo in "The S from Hell," Ascher confronts his viewers with realities that resist final explanations and facile reduction. In this episode, Phil and JF follow Ascher's films into the living labyrinth of a strange universe that isn't just unknown, but radically unknowable.

REFERENCES

American filmmaker Rodney Ascher, director of "The S from Hell", Room 237, The Nightmare, and "Primal Screen"
James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld
The Duffer Brothers (directors), Stranger Things (web TV series)
Alan Landsburg (creator), In Search Of... with Leonard Nimoy (American TV series)
Errol Morris (director), The Thin Blue Line
Ann and Jeff Vandermeer (editors), The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories
British speculative writer Michael Moorcock
Lord Dunsany, The Gods of Pegana
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles
Stanley Kubrick (writer-director), The Shining
Richard Attenborough (director), Magic
Sandor Stern (writer-director), Pin
Freud, "The Uncanny"
Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle
David Lynch (writer-director), Lost Highway
French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan
Duncan Barford, Occult Experiments in the Home: Personal Explorations of Magick and the Paranormal
JF Martel, "Ramble on the Real"
Phil Ford, "Birth of the Weird"
American astronomer Carl Sagan
Charles Taylor, Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity
René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy

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]]> 5330 yes Episode 11: Art is a Haunting Spirit https://www.weirdstudies.com/11 M. R. James' "The Mezzotint" is one of the most fascinating, and most chilling, examples of the classic ghost story. In this episode, Phil and JF discover what this tale of haunted images and buried secrets tells us about the reality of ideas, the singularity of events, the virtual power of the symbol, and the enduring magic of the art object in the age of mechanical reproduction. To accompany this episode, Phil recorded a full reading of the story. Listen to it here. REFERENCES M.R. James, "The Mezzotint" Robert Aickman, English author of "strange stories" Edgar Allan Poe, "The Oval Portrait" Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" Marshall McLuhan, The Book of Probes Clement Greenberg, American art critic J.F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Marcel Duchamps, Fountain Henri Bergson, Laughter John Cage, American composer David Lynch (director), Twin Peaks: The Return Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition Vilhelm Hammershøi, Danish painter Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle Martin Heidegger, What is Called Thinking? Stanley Kubrick, [The Shining](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shining(film))_ Ferruccio Busoni, Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music David Lynch on why you shouldn't watch films on your phone Nelson Goodman, American philosopher Pablo Picasso, Guernica Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master Martin Heidegger, Basic Writings Phil Ford, "No One Understands You" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 25 Apr 2018 14:00:00 -0000 Art is a Haunting Spirit full 11 SpectreVision Radio A discussion of M. R. James' ghost story "The Mezzotint" turns into a disquisition on the nature of art in the modern age. M. R. James' "The Mezzotint" is one of the most fascinating, and most chilling, examples of the classic ghost story. In this episode, Phil and JF discover what this tale of haunted images and buried secrets tells us about the reality of ideas, the singularity of events, the virtual power of the symbol, and the enduring magic of the art object in the age of mechanical reproduction. To accompany this episode, Phil recorded a full reading of the story. Listen to it here. REFERENCES M.R. James, "The Mezzotint" Robert Aickman, English author of "strange stories" Edgar Allan Poe, "The Oval Portrait" Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" Marshall McLuhan, The Book of Probes Clement Greenberg, American art critic J.F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Marcel Duchamps, Fountain Henri Bergson, Laughter John Cage, American composer David Lynch (director), Twin Peaks: The Return Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition Vilhelm Hammershøi, Danish painter Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle Martin Heidegger, What is Called Thinking? Stanley Kubrick, [The Shining](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shining(film))_ Ferruccio Busoni, Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music David Lynch on why you shouldn't watch films on your phone Nelson Goodman, American philosopher Pablo Picasso, Guernica Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master Martin Heidegger, Basic Writings Phil Ford, "No One Understands You" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices M. R. James' "The Mezzotint" is one of the most fascinating, and most chilling, examples of the classic ghost story. In this episode, Phil and JF discover what this tale of haunted images and buried secrets tells us about the reality of ideas, the singularity of events, the virtual power of the symbol, and the enduring magic of the art object in the age of mechanical reproduction.

To accompany this episode, Phil recorded a full reading of the story. Listen to it here.

REFERENCES

M.R. James, "The Mezzotint"
Robert Aickman, English author of "strange stories"
Edgar Allan Poe, "The Oval Portrait"
Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"
Marshall McLuhan, The Book of Probes
Clement Greenberg, American art critic
J.F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice
Marcel Duchamps, Fountain
Henri Bergson, Laughter
John Cage, American composer
David Lynch (director), Twin Peaks: The Return
Gilles Deleuze, Difference and Repetition
Vilhelm Hammershøi, Danish painter
Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle
Martin Heidegger, What is Called Thinking?
Stanley Kubrick, [The Shining](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shining(film))_
Ferruccio Busoni, Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music
David Lynch on why you shouldn't watch films on your phone
Nelson Goodman, American philosopher
Pablo Picasso, Guernica
Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master
Martin Heidegger, Basic Writings
Phil Ford, "No One Understands You"

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]]> 4585 yes Weird Stories: M. R. James' "The Mezzotint" https://www.weirdstudies.com/11a M. R. James has been hailed as the unrivalled maser of the classic ghost tale, and his powers are at their zenith in "The Mezzotint," a story that first appeared in his 1904 collection, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. In it, James reimagines the Gothic trope of the haunted picture in a weird new light. The text, read here by co-host Phil Ford, serves as a springboard for Weird Studies episode 11, where we discuss the enduring power of the art object in the age of mechanical reproduction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Mon, 23 Apr 2018 17:00:00 -0000 bonus SpectreVision Radio An unabridged reading of M. R. James' classic ghost story, "The Mezzotint," read by Weird Studies co-host, Phil Ford. M. R. James has been hailed as the unrivalled maser of the classic ghost tale, and his powers are at their zenith in "The Mezzotint," a story that first appeared in his 1904 collection, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. In it, James reimagines the Gothic trope of the haunted picture in a weird new light. The text, read here by co-host Phil Ford, serves as a springboard for Weird Studies episode 11, where we discuss the enduring power of the art object in the age of mechanical reproduction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices M. R. James has been hailed as the unrivalled maser of the classic ghost tale, and his powers are at their zenith in "The Mezzotint," a story that first appeared in his 1904 collection, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. In it, James reimagines the Gothic trope of the haunted picture in a weird new light. The text, read here by co-host Phil Ford, serves as a springboard for Weird Studies episode 11, where we discuss the enduring power of the art object in the age of mechanical reproduction.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 1684 yes Episode 10: Philip K. Dick: Adrift in the Multiverse https://www.weirdstudies.com/10 In 1977, Philip K. Dick read an essay in France entitled, "If You Find this World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others." In it, he laid out one of the dominant tropes of his fictional oeuvre, the idea of parallel universes. It became clear in the course of the lecture that Dick didn't intend this to be a talk about science fiction, but about real life - indeed, about his life. In this episode, Phil and JF seriously consider the speculations which, depending on whom you ask, make PKD either a genius or a madman. This distinction may not matter in the end. As Dick himself wrote in his 8,000-page Exegesis: "The madman speaks the moral of the piece." REFERENCES Philip K. Dick, excerpts from “If You Find This World Bad You Should See Some Of The Others” R. Crumb, The Religious Experience of Philip K. Dick Emmanuel Carrère, I Am Alive and You Are Dead: A Journey into the Mind of Philip K. Dick “20 Examples of the Mandela Effect That’ll Make You Believe You’re In A Parallel Universe” Philip K. Dick, The Man in the High Castle Weird Studies, "Episode 9: On Aleister Crowley and the Idea of Magick" Weird Studies, "Episode 4: Exploring the Weird with Erik Davis" William Shakespeare, The Tempest Sun Ra, Space is the Place Zebrapedia (crowdsourced online transcribing/editing of the Exegesis) Ramsey Dukes (Lionel Snell), Words Made Flesh Daniel Dennett, Consciousness Explained Bernado Kastrup, Why Materialism is Baloney Gordon White, Star.Ships: A Prehistory of the Spirits Nick Bostrom, “Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 18 Apr 2018 14:00:00 -0000 Philip K. Dick: Adrift in the Multiverse full 10 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Philip K. Dick's seminal essay, "If You Find this World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others." In 1977, Philip K. Dick read an essay in France entitled, "If You Find this World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others." In it, he laid out one of the dominant tropes of his fictional oeuvre, the idea of parallel universes. It became clear in the course of the lecture that Dick didn't intend this to be a talk about science fiction, but about real life - indeed, about his life. In this episode, Phil and JF seriously consider the speculations which, depending on whom you ask, make PKD either a genius or a madman. This distinction may not matter in the end. As Dick himself wrote in his 8,000-page Exegesis: "The madman speaks the moral of the piece." REFERENCES Philip K. Dick, excerpts from “If You Find This World Bad You Should See Some Of The Others” R. Crumb, The Religious Experience of Philip K. Dick Emmanuel Carrère, I Am Alive and You Are Dead: A Journey into the Mind of Philip K. Dick “20 Examples of the Mandela Effect That’ll Make You Believe You’re In A Parallel Universe” Philip K. Dick, The Man in the High Castle Weird Studies, "Episode 9: On Aleister Crowley and the Idea of Magick" Weird Studies, "Episode 4: Exploring the Weird with Erik Davis" William Shakespeare, The Tempest Sun Ra, Space is the Place Zebrapedia (crowdsourced online transcribing/editing of the Exegesis) Ramsey Dukes (Lionel Snell), Words Made Flesh Daniel Dennett, Consciousness Explained Bernado Kastrup, Why Materialism is Baloney Gordon White, Star.Ships: A Prehistory of the Spirits Nick Bostrom, “Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices In 1977, Philip K. Dick read an essay in France entitled, "If You Find this World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others." In it, he laid out one of the dominant tropes of his fictional oeuvre, the idea of parallel universes. It became clear in the course of the lecture that Dick didn't intend this to be a talk about science fiction, but about real life - indeed, about his life. In this episode, Phil and JF seriously consider the speculations which, depending on whom you ask, make PKD either a genius or a madman. This distinction may not matter in the end. As Dick himself wrote in his 8,000-page Exegesis: "The madman speaks the moral of the piece."

REFERENCES

Philip K. Dick, excerpts from “If You Find This World Bad You Should See Some Of The Others”
R. Crumb, The Religious Experience of Philip K. Dick
Emmanuel Carrère, I Am Alive and You Are Dead: A Journey into the Mind of Philip K. Dick
“20 Examples of the Mandela Effect That’ll Make You Believe You’re In A Parallel Universe”
Philip K. Dick, The Man in the High Castle
Weird Studies, "Episode 9: On Aleister Crowley and the Idea of Magick"
Weird Studies, "Episode 4: Exploring the Weird with Erik Davis"
William Shakespeare, The Tempest
Sun Ra, Space is the Place
Zebrapedia (crowdsourced online transcribing/editing of the Exegesis)
Ramsey Dukes (Lionel Snell), Words Made Flesh
Daniel Dennett, Consciousness Explained
Bernado Kastrup, Why Materialism is Baloney
Gordon White, Star.Ships: A Prehistory of the Spirits
Nick Bostrom, “Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?”

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]]> 5053 yes Episode 9: On Aleister Crowley and the Idea of Magick https://www.weirdstudies.com/9 The plan was to discuss the introduction to Aleister Crowley's classic work, Magick in Theory and Practice (1924), a powerful text on the nature and purpose of magical practice. JF and Phil stick to the plan for the first part of the show, and then veer off into a dialogue on the basic idea of magic. Along the way, they share some of the intriguing results of their own occult experiments. REFERENCES Photo of JF's "large sum" cheque Aleister Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice The Gospel According to Thomas James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion Erik Davis, "Weird Shit" I Ching, The Book of Changes Joshua Gunn, Modern Occult Rhetoric: Mass Media and the Drama of Secrecy in the Twentieth Century The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage The Shackleton Expedition Grant Morrison on how to do sigil magic Alan Chapman, Advanced Magick for Beginners David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning the Human Understanding Joshua Ramey, "Contingency Without Unreason" Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande H. P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 11 Apr 2018 14:00:00 -0000 On Aleister Crowley and the Idea of Magick full 9 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil talk about Aleister Crowley's 1924 work, _Magick in Theory and Practice_. The plan was to discuss the introduction to Aleister Crowley's classic work, Magick in Theory and Practice (1924), a powerful text on the nature and purpose of magical practice. JF and Phil stick to the plan for the first part of the show, and then veer off into a dialogue on the basic idea of magic. Along the way, they share some of the intriguing results of their own occult experiments. REFERENCES Photo of JF's "large sum" cheque Aleister Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice The Gospel According to Thomas James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion Erik Davis, "Weird Shit" I Ching, The Book of Changes Joshua Gunn, Modern Occult Rhetoric: Mass Media and the Drama of Secrecy in the Twentieth Century The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage The Shackleton Expedition Grant Morrison on how to do sigil magic Alan Chapman, Advanced Magick for Beginners David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning the Human Understanding Joshua Ramey, "Contingency Without Unreason" Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande H. P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The plan was to discuss the introduction to Aleister Crowley's classic work, Magick in Theory and Practice (1924), a powerful text on the nature and purpose of magical practice. JF and Phil stick to the plan for the first part of the show, and then veer off into a dialogue on the basic idea of magic. Along the way, they share some of the intriguing results of their own occult experiments.

REFERENCES

Photo of JF's "large sum" cheque
Aleister Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice
The Gospel According to Thomas
James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion
Erik Davis, "Weird Shit"
I Ching, The Book of Changes
Joshua Gunn, Modern Occult Rhetoric: Mass Media and the Drama of Secrecy in the Twentieth Century
The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage
The Shackleton Expedition
Grant Morrison on how to do sigil magic
Alan Chapman, Advanced Magick for Beginners
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning the Human Understanding
Joshua Ramey, "Contingency Without Unreason"
Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency
E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande
H. P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness

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]]> 4593 yes Episode 8: On Graham Harman's "The Third Table" https://www.weirdstudies.com/8 JF and Phil discuss Graham Harman's "The Third Table," a short and accessible introduction to "object-oriented ontology." Phil takes us on a tour of his closet, we discover that JF's kids are better at this weird studies stuff than their old man, and the conversation veers through Harman's Lovecraftian "weird realism," Zen's "just sit" meditation, panpsychism, Martin Buber's I and Thou, experimental filmmaking, and more. WORKS AND IDEAS CITED IN THIS EPISODE Graham Harman, "The Third Table" Graham Harman, Tool-Being: Heidegger and the Metaphysics of Objects Martin Heidegger, Being in Time J. F. Martel, "Ramble on the Real" Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy H. P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu" Arthur Stanley Eddington, The Nature of the Physical World Graham Harman, "Objects and the Arts" (lecture) Bernardo Kastrup, Why Materialism is Baloney Daniel Dennett, Consciousness Explained Walden, A Game – A computer game based on Heny David Thoreau’s classic work, Walden South Park, “Guitar Queer-O” (season 11, episode 13) Wikipedia entry on art critic David Hickey Heraclitus, Fragments Martin Buber, I and Thou The concept of “substantial form” in Aristotle’s philosophy Martin Heidegger, "The Question Concerning Technology" Steven Shaviro, The Universe of Things William James, "Does ‘Consciousness’ Exist?" Andy Warhol’s minimalist films Empire and Sleep Wikipedia entry on filmmaker Terrence Malick Neil Jordan (director), The End of the Affair (based on the novel by Graham Greene) J. F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Gustav Klimt, The Kiss (painting) Matthew Akers (director), David Blaine: Beyond Magic The Duffer Brothers (directors), Stranger Things 2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 04 Apr 2018 17:00:00 -0000 On Graham Harman's "The Third Table" full 8 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss Graham Harman's essay "The Third Table" and discover that even the most commonplace objects, seen in the right light, are strange to the core. JF and Phil discuss Graham Harman's "The Third Table," a short and accessible introduction to "object-oriented ontology." Phil takes us on a tour of his closet, we discover that JF's kids are better at this weird studies stuff than their old man, and the conversation veers through Harman's Lovecraftian "weird realism," Zen's "just sit" meditation, panpsychism, Martin Buber's I and Thou, experimental filmmaking, and more. WORKS AND IDEAS CITED IN THIS EPISODE Graham Harman, "The Third Table" Graham Harman, Tool-Being: Heidegger and the Metaphysics of Objects Martin Heidegger, Being in Time J. F. Martel, "Ramble on the Real" Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy H. P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu" Arthur Stanley Eddington, The Nature of the Physical World Graham Harman, "Objects and the Arts" (lecture) Bernardo Kastrup, Why Materialism is Baloney Daniel Dennett, Consciousness Explained Walden, A Game – A computer game based on Heny David Thoreau’s classic work, Walden South Park, “Guitar Queer-O” (season 11, episode 13) Wikipedia entry on art critic David Hickey Heraclitus, Fragments Martin Buber, I and Thou The concept of “substantial form” in Aristotle’s philosophy Martin Heidegger, "The Question Concerning Technology" Steven Shaviro, The Universe of Things William James, "Does ‘Consciousness’ Exist?" Andy Warhol’s minimalist films Empire and Sleep Wikipedia entry on filmmaker Terrence Malick Neil Jordan (director), The End of the Affair (based on the novel by Graham Greene) J. F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Gustav Klimt, The Kiss (painting) Matthew Akers (director), David Blaine: Beyond Magic The Duffer Brothers (directors), Stranger Things 2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices JF and Phil discuss Graham Harman's "The Third Table," a short and accessible introduction to "object-oriented ontology." Phil takes us on a tour of his closet, we discover that JF's kids are better at this weird studies stuff than their old man, and the conversation veers through Harman's Lovecraftian "weird realism," Zen's "just sit" meditation, panpsychism, Martin Buber's I and Thou, experimental filmmaking, and more.

WORKS AND IDEAS CITED IN THIS EPISODE

Graham Harman, "The Third Table"
Graham Harman, Tool-Being: Heidegger and the Metaphysics of Objects
Martin Heidegger, Being in Time
J. F. Martel, "Ramble on the Real"
Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy
H. P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"
Arthur Stanley Eddington, The Nature of the Physical World
Graham Harman, "Objects and the Arts" (lecture)
Bernardo Kastrup, Why Materialism is Baloney
Daniel Dennett, Consciousness Explained
Walden, A Game – A computer game based on Heny David Thoreau’s classic work, Walden
South Park, “Guitar Queer-O” (season 11, episode 13)
Wikipedia entry on art critic David Hickey
Heraclitus, Fragments
Martin Buber, I and Thou
The concept of “substantial form” in Aristotle’s philosophy
Martin Heidegger, "The Question Concerning Technology"
Steven Shaviro, The Universe of Things
William James, "Does ‘Consciousness’ Exist?"
Andy Warhol’s minimalist films Empire and Sleep
Wikipedia entry on filmmaker Terrence Malick
Neil Jordan (director), The End of the Affair (based on the novel by Graham Greene)
J. F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice
Gustav Klimt, The Kiss (painting)
Matthew Akers (director), David Blaine: Beyond Magic
The Duffer Brothers (directors), Stranger Things 2

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]]> 4362 yes Episode 7: The Unspeakable Mystery at the Heart of Boxing https://www.weirdstudies.com/7 For as long as they've been pounding the crap out of each other for good reasons, humans have also been pounding the crap out of each other for fun. Everywhere, in ever age, elaborate systems, rituals, and traditions have arisen to ring in the practice of violence and thereby offer the rough beast that lurks in every soul a chance to come out for a stretch in the sun. In this episode, Phil and JF delve into one of the most scandalous affairs of all: the illicit dalliance of Aphrodite and Ares, beauty and violence. WORKS & IDEAS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE: Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon James Hillman, A Terrible Love of War Homer, The Odyssey Joyce Carol Oates, On Boxing La fosse aux tigres (documentary directed by Jason Brennan and JF Martel; Nish Media) Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Richard Strauss's opera Salome Gur Hirshberg, "Burke, Kant, and the Sublime" Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 28 Mar 2018 13:30:00 -0000 The Unspeakable Mystery at the Heart of Boxing full 7 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil wrestle with philosophical issues surrounding violent sports. For as long as they've been pounding the crap out of each other for good reasons, humans have also been pounding the crap out of each other for fun. Everywhere, in ever age, elaborate systems, rituals, and traditions have arisen to ring in the practice of violence and thereby offer the rough beast that lurks in every soul a chance to come out for a stretch in the sun. In this episode, Phil and JF delve into one of the most scandalous affairs of all: the illicit dalliance of Aphrodite and Ares, beauty and violence. WORKS & IDEAS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE: Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon James Hillman, A Terrible Love of War Homer, The Odyssey Joyce Carol Oates, On Boxing La fosse aux tigres (documentary directed by Jason Brennan and JF Martel; Nish Media) Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Richard Strauss's opera Salome Gur Hirshberg, "Burke, Kant, and the Sublime" Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices For as long as they've been pounding the crap out of each other for good reasons, humans have also been pounding the crap out of each other for fun. Everywhere, in ever age, elaborate systems, rituals, and traditions have arisen to ring in the practice of violence and thereby offer the rough beast that lurks in every soul a chance to come out for a stretch in the sun. In this episode, Phil and JF delve into one of the most scandalous affairs of all: the illicit dalliance of Aphrodite and Ares, beauty and violence.

WORKS & IDEAS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon
James Hillman, A Terrible Love of War
Homer, The Odyssey
Joyce Carol Oates, On Boxing
La fosse aux tigres (documentary directed by Jason Brennan and JF Martel; Nish Media)
Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
Richard Strauss's opera Salome
Gur Hirshberg, "Burke, Kant, and the Sublime"
Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 3977 yes Episode 6: Dungeons & Dragons, or the Reality of Illusions https://www.weirdstudies.com/6 The Dutch historian Johan Huizinga was one of the first thinkers to define games as exercises in world-making. Every game, he wrote, occurs within a magic circle where the rules of ordinary life are suspended and new laws come into play. No game illustrates this better than Gary Gygax's tabletop RPG, Dungeons & Dragons. In this episode, Phil and JF use D&D as the focus of a conversation about the weird interdependence of reality and fantasy. Header image: Gaetan Bahl (Wikimedia Commons) WORKS CITED OR DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE Official homepage of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game Critical Role web series   Another RPG podcast JF failed to mention: The HowWeRoll Podcast Demetrious Johnson’s Twitch site Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine (documentary)   Chessboxing!   Jackson Lears, Something for Nothing: Luck in America   Peter Fischli, The Way Things Go   Jon Cogburn and Mark Silcox, Dungeons & Dragons and Philosophy: Raiding the Temple of Wisdom   Lawrence Schick, ed., Deities & Demigods: Cyclopedia of Gods and Heroes from Myth and Legend   Article on Mazes and Monsters, a movie that came out of the D&D moral panic of the 1980s   Phil Ford, “Xenorationality”   Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element of Culture   John Sinclair, [Guitar Army: Rock and Revolution with the MC5 and the White Panther Party](https://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Army-Revolution-White-Panther/dp/1934170003) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 21 Mar 2018 14:00:00 -0000 Dungeons & Dragons, or the Reality of Illusions full 6 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF use D&D as a lens to locate the vanishing point where fantasy converges with the real. The Dutch historian Johan Huizinga was one of the first thinkers to define games as exercises in world-making. Every game, he wrote, occurs within a magic circle where the rules of ordinary life are suspended and new laws come into play. No game illustrates this better than Gary Gygax's tabletop RPG, Dungeons & Dragons. In this episode, Phil and JF use D&D as the focus of a conversation about the weird interdependence of reality and fantasy. Header image: Gaetan Bahl (Wikimedia Commons) WORKS CITED OR DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE Official homepage of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game Critical Role web series   Another RPG podcast JF failed to mention: The HowWeRoll Podcast Demetrious Johnson’s Twitch site Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine (documentary)   Chessboxing!   Jackson Lears, Something for Nothing: Luck in America   Peter Fischli, The Way Things Go   Jon Cogburn and Mark Silcox, Dungeons & Dragons and Philosophy: Raiding the Temple of Wisdom   Lawrence Schick, ed., Deities & Demigods: Cyclopedia of Gods and Heroes from Myth and Legend   Article on Mazes and Monsters, a movie that came out of the D&D moral panic of the 1980s   Phil Ford, “Xenorationality”   Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element of Culture   John Sinclair, [Guitar Army: Rock and Revolution with the MC5 and the White Panther Party](https://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Army-Revolution-White-Panther/dp/1934170003) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The Dutch historian Johan Huizinga was one of the first thinkers to define games as exercises in world-making. Every game, he wrote, occurs within a magic circle where the rules of ordinary life are suspended and new laws come into play. No game illustrates this better than Gary Gygax's tabletop RPG, Dungeons & Dragons. In this episode, Phil and JF use D&D as the focus of a conversation about the weird interdependence of reality and fantasy.

Header image: Gaetan Bahl (Wikimedia Commons)

WORKS CITED OR DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE

Official homepage of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game

Critical Role web series
 
Another RPG podcast JF failed to mention: The HowWeRoll Podcast

Demetrious Johnson’s Twitch site

Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine (documentary)
 
Chessboxing!
 
Jackson Lears, Something for Nothing: Luck in America
 
Peter Fischli, The Way Things Go
 
Jon Cogburn and Mark Silcox, Dungeons & Dragons and Philosophy: Raiding the Temple of Wisdom
 
Lawrence Schick, ed., Deities & Demigods: Cyclopedia of Gods and Heroes from Myth and Legend
 
Article on Mazes and Monsters, a movie that came out of the D&D moral panic of the 1980s
 
Phil Ford, “Xenorationality”
 
Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element of Culture
 
John Sinclair, [Guitar Army: Rock and Revolution with the MC5 and the White Panther Party](https://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Army-Revolution-White-Panther/dp/1934170003)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4742 yes Episode 5: Reading Lisa Ruddick's "When Nothing is Cool" https://www.weirdstudies.com/5 Phil and JF discuss Lisa Ruddick's "When Nothing is Cool," an essay on the postmodern humanities and its allergy to essences -- especially that personal essence we call soul. Maybe the soul is a heap of miscellaneous notions and influences that I paint a face onto and then call "me." Or maybe there is something under that painted effigy of the self. If so, what? And if there's nothing under there, could it be a nothing that delivers? WORKS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE Lisa Ruddick, "When Nothing is Cool" Elizabeth Gilbert, "Your Elusive Creative Genius" Judith Halberstam, "Skinflick: Posthuman Gender in Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs" Daniel Chua (the musicologist whose name Phil couldn't remember) Brett Easton Ellis, American Psycho Mary Harron, American Psycho (film) David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Tue, 13 Mar 2018 19:45:00 -0000 Reading Lisa Ruddick's "When Nothing is Cool" full 5 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF do their best to weird the cultural politics of the postmodern academy. Phil and JF discuss Lisa Ruddick's "When Nothing is Cool," an essay on the postmodern humanities and its allergy to essences -- especially that personal essence we call soul. Maybe the soul is a heap of miscellaneous notions and influences that I paint a face onto and then call "me." Or maybe there is something under that painted effigy of the self. If so, what? And if there's nothing under there, could it be a nothing that delivers? WORKS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE Lisa Ruddick, "When Nothing is Cool" Elizabeth Gilbert, "Your Elusive Creative Genius" Judith Halberstam, "Skinflick: Posthuman Gender in Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs" Daniel Chua (the musicologist whose name Phil couldn't remember) Brett Easton Ellis, American Psycho Mary Harron, American Psycho (film) David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Phil and JF discuss Lisa Ruddick's "When Nothing is Cool," an essay on the postmodern humanities and its allergy to essences -- especially that personal essence we call soul. Maybe the soul is a heap of miscellaneous notions and influences that I paint a face onto and then call "me." Or maybe there is something under that painted effigy of the self. If so, what? And if there's nothing under there, could it be a nothing that delivers?

WORKS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE

Lisa Ruddick, "When Nothing is Cool"

Elizabeth Gilbert, "Your Elusive Creative Genius"

Judith Halberstam, "Skinflick: Posthuman Gender in Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs"

Daniel Chua (the musicologist whose name Phil couldn't remember)

Brett Easton Ellis, American Psycho

Mary Harron, American Psycho (film)

David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return

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]]> 4161 yes Episode 4: Exploring the Weird with Erik Davis https://www.weirdstudies.com/4 Scholar, journalist and author Erik Davis joins Phil and JF for a freewheeling conversation on the permutations of the weird, Burning Man, speculative realism, the uncanny, the H. P. Lovecraft/Philip K. Dick syzygy, and how the world has gotten weirder (and less weird) since Erik’s groundbreaking Techgnosis was published twenty years ago. WORKS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE: Erik Davis’s Techgnosis website Erik Davis's podcast, Expanding Mind Erik Davis, Techgnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information Erik Davis, Nomad Codes: Adventures in Modern Esoterica Erik Davis, Led Zeppelin IV Mark Fisher, The Weird and the Eerie Philip K. Dick, Exegesis Goop Magazine, no. 2 Hakim Bey and the Temporary Autonomous Zone The Burning Man Festival Ian Hacking, The Taming of Chance Erik Davis, “Weird Shit” JF Martel, “How Symbols Matter” Henri Bergson, Introduction to Metaphysics Charles Baudelaire, “Correspondances” from Fleurs du mal Sigmund Freud, “The Uncanny” Deleuze and Guattari, Anti-Oedipus The Onion, “Lovecraftian School Board Member Wants Madness Added to Curriculum” Special Guest: Erik Davis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 07 Mar 2018 15:00:00 -0000 Exploring the Weird with Erik Davis full 4 SpectreVision Radio Scholar, author and journalist Erik Davis joins Phil and JF to talk about Weird Sh*t. Scholar, journalist and author Erik Davis joins Phil and JF for a freewheeling conversation on the permutations of the weird, Burning Man, speculative realism, the uncanny, the H. P. Lovecraft/Philip K. Dick syzygy, and how the world has gotten weirder (and less weird) since Erik’s groundbreaking Techgnosis was published twenty years ago. WORKS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE: Erik Davis’s Techgnosis website Erik Davis's podcast, Expanding Mind Erik Davis, Techgnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information Erik Davis, Nomad Codes: Adventures in Modern Esoterica Erik Davis, Led Zeppelin IV Mark Fisher, The Weird and the Eerie Philip K. Dick, Exegesis Goop Magazine, no. 2 Hakim Bey and the Temporary Autonomous Zone The Burning Man Festival Ian Hacking, The Taming of Chance Erik Davis, “Weird Shit” JF Martel, “How Symbols Matter” Henri Bergson, Introduction to Metaphysics Charles Baudelaire, “Correspondances” from Fleurs du mal Sigmund Freud, “The Uncanny” Deleuze and Guattari, Anti-Oedipus The Onion, “Lovecraftian School Board Member Wants Madness Added to Curriculum” Special Guest: Erik Davis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Scholar, journalist and author Erik Davis joins Phil and JF for a freewheeling conversation on the permutations of the weird, Burning Man, speculative realism, the uncanny, the H. P. Lovecraft/Philip K. Dick syzygy, and how the world has gotten weirder (and less weird) since Erik’s groundbreaking Techgnosis was published twenty years ago.

WORKS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

Erik Davis’s Techgnosis website

Erik Davis's podcast, Expanding Mind

Erik Davis, Techgnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information

Erik Davis, Nomad Codes: Adventures in Modern Esoterica

Erik Davis, Led Zeppelin IV

Mark Fisher, The Weird and the Eerie

Philip K. Dick, Exegesis

Goop Magazine, no. 2

Hakim Bey and the Temporary Autonomous Zone

The Burning Man Festival

Ian Hacking, The Taming of Chance

Erik Davis, “Weird Shit”

JF Martel, “How Symbols Matter”

Henri Bergson, Introduction to Metaphysics

Charles Baudelaire, “Correspondances” from Fleurs du mal

Sigmund Freud, “The Uncanny”

Deleuze and Guattari, Anti-Oedipus

The Onion, “Lovecraftian School Board Member Wants Madness Added to Curriculum”

Special Guest: Erik Davis.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

]]> 4898 yes Episode 3: Ecstasy, Sin, and "The White People" https://www.weirdstudies.com/3 JF and Phil delve deep into Arthur Machen's fin-de-siècle masterpiece, "The White People," for insight into the nature of ecstasy, the psychology of fairies, the meaning of sin, and the challenge of living without a moral horizon. WORKS CITED OR DISCUSSED Arthur Machen, "The White People" - full text or Weird Stories audiobook read by Phil Ford Arthur Machen, Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy H. P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature" J.F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell Jack Sullivan (ed)., The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies: A True Story Patrick Harpur, Daimonic Reality Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia: From Folklore to Flying Saucers Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier, The Morning of the Magicians Michael Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison J.K. Huysmans, Against Nature (À rebours) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 21 Feb 2018 15:00:00 -0000 Ecstasy, Sin, and "The White People" full 3 SpectreVision Radio JF and Phil discuss key themes and ideas from Arthur Machen's weird story, "The White People." JF and Phil delve deep into Arthur Machen's fin-de-siècle masterpiece, "The White People," for insight into the nature of ecstasy, the psychology of fairies, the meaning of sin, and the challenge of living without a moral horizon. WORKS CITED OR DISCUSSED Arthur Machen, "The White People" - full text or Weird Stories audiobook read by Phil Ford Arthur Machen, Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy H. P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature" J.F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell Jack Sullivan (ed)., The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies: A True Story Patrick Harpur, Daimonic Reality Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia: From Folklore to Flying Saucers Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier, The Morning of the Magicians Michael Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison J.K. Huysmans, Against Nature (À rebours) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices JF and Phil delve deep into Arthur Machen's fin-de-siècle masterpiece, "The White People," for insight into the nature of ecstasy, the psychology of fairies, the meaning of sin, and the challenge of living without a moral horizon.

WORKS CITED OR DISCUSSED

Arthur Machen, "The White People" - full text or Weird Stories audiobook read by Phil Ford

Arthur Machen, Hieroglyphics: A Note Upon Ecstasy

H. P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature"

J.F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice

Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

Jack Sullivan (ed)., The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural

John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies: A True Story

Patrick Harpur, Daimonic Reality

Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia: From Folklore to Flying Saucers

Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier, The Morning of the Magicians

Michael Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison

J.K. Huysmans, Against Nature (À rebours)

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]]> 4825 yes Weird Stories: Arthur Machen's "The White People" https://www.weirdstudies.com/3a Weird Stories is a series of readings for Weird Studies listeners who want to dig deeper into the themes and ideas discussed on the Weird Studies podcast. In his seminal essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature," H. P. Lovecraft named Arthur Machen one of the four "modern masters" of horror fiction, alongside Lord Dunsany, Algernon Blackwood, and M. R. James. Born in 1863, Machen burst onto the London literary scene in 1890 with the controversial novella "The Great God Pan." He was briefly considered one of the luminaries of the Decadent movement before falling into obscurity and experiencing a literary rebirth toward the end of his life. In this Weird Stories installment, Phil Ford reads the complete text of one of Machen's most famous works, "The White People" (1904). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Mon, 19 Feb 2018 15:00:00 -0000 bonus SpectreVision Radio A complete reading of Arthur Machen's 1904 novella, "The White People," by co-host Phil Ford. This reading accompanies the upcoming episode of the Weird Studies podcast where J.F. and Phil plumb the imaginal depths of the classic weird tale. Weird Stories is a series of readings for Weird Studies listeners who want to dig deeper into the themes and ideas discussed on the Weird Studies podcast. In his seminal essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature," H. P. Lovecraft named Arthur Machen one of the four "modern masters" of horror fiction, alongside Lord Dunsany, Algernon Blackwood, and M. R. James. Born in 1863, Machen burst onto the London literary scene in 1890 with the controversial novella "The Great God Pan." He was briefly considered one of the luminaries of the Decadent movement before falling into obscurity and experiencing a literary rebirth toward the end of his life. In this Weird Stories installment, Phil Ford reads the complete text of one of Machen's most famous works, "The White People" (1904). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Weird Stories is a series of readings for Weird Studies listeners who want to dig deeper into the themes and ideas discussed on the Weird Studies podcast.

In his seminal essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature," H. P. Lovecraft named Arthur Machen one of the four "modern masters" of horror fiction, alongside Lord Dunsany, Algernon Blackwood, and M. R. James. Born in 1863, Machen burst onto the London literary scene in 1890 with the controversial novella "The Great God Pan." He was briefly considered one of the luminaries of the Decadent movement before falling into obscurity and experiencing a literary rebirth toward the end of his life.

In this Weird Stories installment, Phil Ford reads the complete text of one of Machen's most famous works, "The White People" (1904).

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]]> 5823 yes Episode 2: Garmonbozia https://www.weirdstudies.com/2 Phil and JF use a word from the Twin Peaks mythos, "garmonbozia," to try to understand what it was that the detonation of atomic bomb brought into the world. We use the fictional world of Twin Peaks as a map to the (so-called) real world and take Philip K. Dick, Krzysztof Penderecki, Norman Mailer, William S. Burroughs, Theodor Adorno, and H.P. Lovecraft as our landmarks. Warning: some spoilers of Twin Peaks season 3. Works Cited or Discussed: Phil Ford, "The Cold War Never Ended", Dial M for Musicology (1) (2) (3) (4) Twin Peaks: The Return — Official Site Philip K. Dick, “The Empire Never Ended,” treated in R. Crumb’s “The Religious Experience of Philip K. Dick” and the “Tractate” from Dick’s Exegesis: http://www.tekgnostics.com/PDK.HTM Norman Mailer, “The White Negro” Ray Brassier, Nihil Unbound: Enlightenment and Extinction J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion Arthur Machen, The White People Robert Oppenheimer, “I am become death” C.G. Jung, Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch Howard Phillips Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu William B. Yeats, "The Second Coming" Krzysztof Penderecki, Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima The Book of Ecclesiastes Jon H. Else, The Day After Trinity (documentary) Francisco Goya, "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters" Stanley Kubrick, Doctor Strangelove, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment Jean Beaudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle William James, A Pluralistic Universe Norman Mailer, Advertisements for Myself Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Thu, 01 Feb 2018 12:00:00 -0000 Garmonbozia full 2 SpectreVision Radio Phil and JF use Twin Peaks mythos to try to understand what it was that the detonation of atomic bomb brought into the world. Our answer: garmonbozia and plenty of it. Phil and JF use a word from the Twin Peaks mythos, "garmonbozia," to try to understand what it was that the detonation of atomic bomb brought into the world. We use the fictional world of Twin Peaks as a map to the (so-called) real world and take Philip K. Dick, Krzysztof Penderecki, Norman Mailer, William S. Burroughs, Theodor Adorno, and H.P. Lovecraft as our landmarks. Warning: some spoilers of Twin Peaks season 3. Works Cited or Discussed: Phil Ford, "The Cold War Never Ended", Dial M for Musicology (1) (2) (3) (4) Twin Peaks: The Return — Official Site Philip K. Dick, “The Empire Never Ended,” treated in R. Crumb’s “The Religious Experience of Philip K. Dick” and the “Tractate” from Dick’s Exegesis: http://www.tekgnostics.com/PDK.HTM Norman Mailer, “The White Negro” Ray Brassier, Nihil Unbound: Enlightenment and Extinction J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion Arthur Machen, The White People Robert Oppenheimer, “I am become death” C.G. Jung, Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch Howard Phillips Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu William B. Yeats, "The Second Coming" Krzysztof Penderecki, Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima The Book of Ecclesiastes Jon H. Else, The Day After Trinity (documentary) Francisco Goya, "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters" Stanley Kubrick, Doctor Strangelove, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment Jean Beaudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle William James, A Pluralistic Universe Norman Mailer, Advertisements for Myself Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Phil and JF use a word from the Twin Peaks mythos, "garmonbozia," to try to understand what it was that the detonation of atomic bomb brought into the world. We use the fictional world of Twin Peaks as a map to the (so-called) real world and take Philip K. Dick, Krzysztof Penderecki, Norman Mailer, William S. Burroughs, Theodor Adorno, and H.P. Lovecraft as our landmarks.

Warning: some spoilers of Twin Peaks season 3.

Works Cited or Discussed:

Phil Ford, "The Cold War Never Ended", Dial M for Musicology (1) (2) (3) (4)

Twin Peaks: The Return — Official Site

Philip K. Dick, “The Empire Never Ended,” treated in R. Crumb’s “The Religious Experience of Philip K. Dick” and the “Tractate” from Dick’s Exegesis: http://www.tekgnostics.com/PDK.HTM

Norman Mailer, “The White Negro”

Ray Brassier, Nihil Unbound: Enlightenment and Extinction

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion

Arthur Machen, The White People

Robert Oppenheimer, “I am become death”

C.G. Jung, Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle

William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu

William B. Yeats, "The Second Coming"

Krzysztof Penderecki, Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima

The Book of Ecclesiastes

Jon H. Else, The Day After Trinity (documentary)

Francisco Goya, "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters"

Stanley Kubrick, Doctor Strangelove, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment

Jean Beaudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation

Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle

William James, A Pluralistic Universe

Norman Mailer, Advertisements for Myself

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]]> 5192 yes Episode 1: Introduction to Weird Studies https://www.weirdstudies.com/1 Phil and J.F. share stories of sleep paralysis and talk about Charles Fort's sympathy for the damned, Jeff Kripal's phenomenological approach to Fortean weirdness, Dave Hickey's notion of beauty as democracy, and Timothy Morton's hyperobjects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Wed, 31 Jan 2018 13:00:00 -0000 Introduction to Weird Studies full 1 SpectreVision Radio Phil and J.F. attempt to explain the non-existent field of Weird Studies. Phil and J.F. share stories of sleep paralysis and talk about Charles Fort's sympathy for the damned, Jeff Kripal's phenomenological approach to Fortean weirdness, Dave Hickey's notion of beauty as democracy, and Timothy Morton's hyperobjects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Phil and J.F. share stories of sleep paralysis and talk about Charles Fort's sympathy for the damned, Jeff Kripal's phenomenological approach to Fortean weirdness, Dave Hickey's notion of beauty as democracy, and Timothy Morton's hyperobjects.

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