Twitter: @weirdstudies • @JF_Martel (@weirdstudies followed by 16 philosophers)
Site: www.weirdstudies.com
150 episodes
2018 to present
Average episode: 75 minutes
Open in Apple Podcasts • RSS
Categories: Interview-Style • Two Hosts
Podcaster's summary: 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."
| Episodes |
| 2023-Mar-15 • 81 minutes Episode 142: The Music of the Spheres: On Jóhann Jóhannsson's "Last and First Men" Phil and JF discuss the Icelandic's composer posthumous science fiction film. |
| 2023-Feb-28 • 84 minutes Episode 141: Actual Magic: On Ramsey Dukes' SSOTBME JF and Phil discuss Dukes' seminal essay on modern magic. |
| 2023-Feb-15 • 81 minutes Episode 140: That Ain't Plot: On Hayao Miyazaki's 'Spirited Away' Meredith joins Phil and JF to discuss the 2001 Studio Ghibli masterpiece. |
| 2023-Feb-01 • 94 minutes Episode 139: Sex, Money, and Power are YOURS with our SECRET Art-Power Formula! You must change your life. |
| 2023-Jan-18 • 75 minutes Episode 138: Yours and Yours Alone: On the Death Card in the Tarot Phil and JF continue their occasional series of episodes on the major arcana of the tarot with a discussion on arcanum XIII, Death. |
| 2022-Dec-25 • 38 minutes The Weird Studies Christmas Special Phil and JF discuss why seeing twinkling lights in the dark is so Christmassy |
| 2022-Dec-14 • 75 minutes Episode 137: Brute Force: on Sunn O)))'s 'Life Metal' JF and Phil discuss Sunn O)))'s eighth album, released in 2019 |
| 2022-Nov-30 • 68 minutes Episode 136: The Things That Were And Shall Be Again: On 'Evil Dead II' Phil and JF discuss Sam Raimi's "splatstick" classic, Evil Dead II. |
| 2022-Nov-16 • 63 minutes Episode 135: On 'The Secret Life of Puppets,' with Victoria Nelson Independent scholar and novelist Victoria Nelson joins JF and Phil to discuss her masterpiece of weird studies, The Secret Life of Puppets. |
| 2022-Nov-01 • 92 minutes Episode 134: On Federico Campagna's 'Technic and Magic' Phil and JF discuss Campagna's proposal of a new reality system rooted in the idea of "magic." |
| 2022-Oct-19 • 71 minutes Episode 133: On Weirding, and the Virtues of Unknowing Everything JF and Phil discuss making things weird as a survival strategy for the Weird Age. |
| 2022-Oct-05 • 82 minutes Episode 132: Art Is an Alien Technology: Live at the Supernormal Festival Phil and JF discuss Werner Herzog's "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" at the 2022 Supernormal Festival in England. |
| 2022-Sep-27 • 57 minutes Off-Week Bonus: On Worlds and Stories, with a Special Announcement After announcing a new online course they will be teaching together, JF and Phil talk storytelling and worldbuilding. |
| 2022-Sep-21 • 72 minutes Episode 131: Knocking on the Abyssal Door: Live at the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute 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. |
| 2022-Sep-07 • 77 minutes Episode 130: Holiday Memories Phil and JF discuss their recent adventures in the United Kingdom. |
| 2022-Aug-03 • 93 minutes Episode 129: Luminous Miasma: On Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" JF and Phil visit the House of Usher. |
| 2022-Jul-19 • 88 minutes Episode 128: Demon Workshop: On Victoria Nelson's 'Neighbor George' Phil and JF discuss Victoria Nelson's novel of psychological horror. |
| 2022-Jul-06 • 76 minutes Episode 127: Leaving the Mechanical Dollhouse: On Abeba Birhane's "The Impossibility of Automating Ambiguity" JF and Phil discuss Abeba Birhane's essay on the ethical, psychological, and political cost of universal automation. |
| 2022-Jun-22 • 82 minutes Episode 126: The Daemon Speaks, with Matt Cardin Matt Cardin joins JF and Phil to discuss daimonic reality and the idea of dark enlightenment. |
| 2022-Jun-08 • 97 minutes Episode 125: Strange Brews: Weird Studies Live at Illuminated Brew Works Phil, Meredith, and JF discuss ritual and potion-making in a live recording hosted by Illuminated Brew Works in Chicago. |
| 2022-May-25 • 88 minutes Episode 124: Dark Night Radio of the Soul, with Duncan Barford Spiritual practitioner Duncan Barford joins JF and Phil to talk about the Dark Night of the Soul. |
| 2022-May-18 • 40 minutes Episode 123: Off-Week Patreon Bonus: On Modern Miracles A free Patreon episode exploring more of the affordances of a spiral universe. |
| 2022-May-11 • 81 minutes Episode 122: Spirals and Crooked Lines: On the Star Card in the Tarot 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 litt... |
| 2022-Apr-27 • 64 minutes Episode 121: Dream Theater: On 'Mandy' and 'The Band Wagon' 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. |
| 2022-Apr-13 • 77 minutes Episode 120: On Radical Mystery JF and Phil cope with the unexpungable fact of mystery. |
| 2022-Mar-30 • 67 minutes Episode 119: Behind the Cosmic Curtain: On Stanislaw Lem's 'The New Cosmogony,' with Meredith Michael Meredith, Phil, and JF dig into Stanislaw Lem's short story, "The New Cosmogony." |
| 2022-Mar-16 • 76 minutes Episode 118: The Unseen and the Unnamed, with Meredith Michael Meredith Michael joins JF and Phil to discuss short fiction by Ursula K. Le Guin and J.G. Ballard. |
| 2022-Mar-02 • 68 minutes Episode 117: Time is a Child at Play: On the Mystery of Games Phil and JF discuss the mystery of games and the play function in culture and cosmos. |
| 2022-Feb-16 • 89 minutes Episode 116: On 'Blade Runner' JF and Phil discuss philosophical ideas in Ridley Scott's 1982 film. |
| 2022-Feb-02 • 75 minutes Episode 115: Transience & Immersion: On Brian Eno's 'Music for Airports' Phil and JF discuss the 1978 album that established the ambient music genre. |
| 2022-Jan-19 • 95 minutes Episode 114: On the Wheel of Fortune, the Tenth Card of the Tarot 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. |
| 2021-Dec-22 • 81 minutes Episode 113: Framing the Invisible, with Shannon Taggart Phil and JF talk spiritualism and photography to American artist and paranormal researcher Shannon Taggart. |
| 2021-Dec-08 • 89 minutes Episode 112: Readings from the 'Book of Probes': The Mysticism of Marshall McLuhan JF and Phil discuss Marshall McLuhan and David Carson's enigmatic 'Book of Probes.' |
| 2021-Nov-24 • 82 minutes Episode 111: What Is Best in Life: On "Conan the Barbarian" 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. |
| 2021-Nov-10 • 73 minutes Episode 110: Monks of the Cultural Apocalypse: 'The Glass Bead Game,' Part Two 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. |
| 2021-Oct-27 • 80 minutes Episode 109: Infinite Play: On 'The Glass Bead Game,' by Hermann Hesse Phil and JF discuss Hesse's final novel, a quiet masterwork of science fiction about a game that encompasses all of reality. |
| 2021-Oct-13 • 80 minutes Episode 108: On Skepticism and the Paranormal JF and Phil discuss modern skepticism in light of George P. Hansen's "The Trickster and the Paranormal." |
| 2021-Sep-29 • 87 minutes Episode 107: On Joy Williams' 'Breaking and Entering,' with Conner Habib Writer, podcaster, and spiritual thinker Conner Habib joins Phil and JF to discuss Williams' novel and the primacy of style in literature. |
| 2021-Sep-01 • 87 minutes Episode 106: The Wanderer: On Weird Studies JF and Phil discuss consciousness, free will, and podcasting in context of the artwork that is Weird Studies. |
| 2021-Aug-18 • 92 minutes Episode 105: Fire Walk with Tamler Sommers Phil and JF are joined by philosophy professor Tamler Sommers to discuss the film "Fire Walk with Me." |
| 2021-Aug-04 • 83 minutes Episode 104: We'd Love to Turn You On: 'Sgt. Pepper' and the Beatles JF and Phil mine the weird in the Beatles' iconic 1967 album. |
| 2021-Jul-21 • 77 minutes Episode 103: On the Tower, the Sixteenth Card of the Tarot Phil and JF continue their series on the major arcana of the tarot with a discussion on The Tower. |
| 2021-Jul-07 • 78 minutes Episode 102: On Pan, with Gyrus Writer and independent scholar Gyrus joins JF and Phil to talk about Pan, the Greek god of fear and desire. |
| 2021-Jun-23 • 61 minutes Episode 101: Our Fear of the Dark: On Tanizaki's 'In Praise of Shadows' Phil and JF discuss Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's meditation on the aesthetics of darkness. |
| 2021-Jun-09 • 83 minutes Episode 100: The Price of Beauty is Horror: On the Films of John Carpenter JF and Phil discuss the themes and ideas in the films of one of the great American directors. |
| 2021-May-26 • 90 minutes Episode 99: Curing the Human Condition: On 'Wild Wild Country' Phil and JF work through the differences between spirituality and religion in the context of the documentary series about Bhagwan Rajneesh. |
| 2021-May-12 • 80 minutes Episode 98: Taboo: Time and Belief in Exotica JF and Phil discuss the ethics and metaphysics of the obscure musical genre known as exotica. |
| 2021-Apr-28 • 85 minutes Episode 97: Art in the Age of Artifice Phil and JF discuss the ideas in JF's 2015 book, 'Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice.' |
| 2021-Apr-14 • 80 minutes Episode 96: Beautiful Beast: On Jean Cocteau's 'La Belle et la Bête' JF and Phil discuss Jean Cocteau's masterful film, "Beauty and the Beast." |
| 2021-Mar-31 • 86 minutes Episode 95: Demon Seed: On Doris Lessing's 'The Fifth Child' Phil and JF discuss Nobel Prize-winning novelist Doris Lessing's unsettling story of a woman who gives birth to a monster. |
| 2021-Mar-17 • 75 minutes Episode 94: All is Mysterious: On the Moon Card in the Tarot JF and Phil continue their series on the tarot with a discussion of the eighteenth major arcanum. |
| 2021-Mar-03 • 87 minutes Episode 93: Living and Dying in a Secular Age: On Charles Taylor and Disenchantment Phil and JF discuss Charles Taylor's monumental work of philosophy, "A Secular Age." |
| 2021-Feb-17 • 87 minutes Episode 92: Glitch in the Matrix: A Conversation with Rodney Ascher 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. |
| 2021-Feb-03 • 84 minutes Episode 91: On Susanna Clarke's 'Piranesi' JF and Phil explore the mysterious world of Susanna Clarke's incredible new novel. |
| 2021-Jan-20 • 70 minutes Episode 90: 'The Owl in Daylight': On Philip K. Dick's Unwritten Masterpiece Phil and JF discuss the novel that would have been Philip K. Dick's magnum opus ... if he had written it. |
| 2021-Jan-06 • 79 minutes Episode 89: On Ishmael Reed's 'Mumbo Jumbo,' or, Why We Need More Magical Thinking JF and Phil discuss Ishmael Reed's masterpiece of conspiracy fiction. |
| 2020-Dec-21 • 50 minutes Holiday Bonus: Magic, Madness, and Sadness In this special winter solstice release, Phil and JF discuss a memorable episode of the bizarro animated series Adventure Time. |
| 2020-Dec-09 • 80 minutes Episode 88: On Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean's 'Mr Punch' A discussion of Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean's 1994 graphic novel, "The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch" |
| 2020-Nov-25 • 67 minutes Episode 87: Glyphs, Rifts, and Ecstasy: On Arthur Machen's Vision of Art JF and Phil talk art and ecstasy in this episode on Arthur Machen's aesthetic treatise, "Hieroglyphics". |
| 2020-Nov-11 • 84 minutes Episode 86: On E. T. A. Hoffmann's "The Sandman," and Freud's Sequel to It 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. |
| 2020-Oct-28 • 77 minutes Episode 85: On 'The Wicker Man' JF and Phil discuss the 1973 masterpiece of folk horror cinema. |
| 2020-Oct-14 • 79 minutes Episode 84: Mona Lisa Smile: On the Empress, the Third Card in the Tarot Phil and JF discuss the third major arcana of the traditional tarot deck. |
| 2020-Sep-30 • 78 minutes Episode 83: On David Lynch's 'Lost Highway' JF and Phil take a joy ride into the dark heart David Lynch's surreal 1997 film. |
| 2020-Sep-16 • 90 minutes Episode 82: On The I Ching Phil and JF discuss the great Chinese oracle. |
| 2020-Sep-02 • 77 minutes Episode 81: Gnostic Lit: On M. John Harrison's 'The Course of the Heart' JF and Phil discuss M. John Harrison's masterpiece of weird fiction. |
| 2020-Aug-19 • 77 minutes Episode 80: The Pit and the Pyramid, or, How to Beat the Philosopher's Blues Phil and JF discuss the Neoplatonism of Radiohead and the dark side of Beat culture, as revealed on Broadway. |
| 2020-Aug-05 • 64 minutes Episode 79: Love, Death, and the Dream Life JF and Phil discuss decadence and vision in Nina Simone's rendition of "Lilac Wine" and Ghostface Killah's "Underwater." |
| 2020-Jul-22 • 74 minutes Episode 78: On John Keel's 'The Mothman Prophecies' Phil and JF discuss John Keel's classic work of weird nonfiction. |
| 2020-Jul-08 • 68 minutes Episode 77: What a Fool Believes: On the Unnumbered Card in the Tarot JF and Phil discuss the figure of the Fool in the tarot, society, and literature. |
| 2020-Jun-24 • 79 minutes Episode 76: Below the Abyss: On Bergson's Metaphysics Phil and JF discuss Henri Bergson's 1903 essay, "Introduction to Metaphysics." |
| 2020-Jun-18 • 64 minutes Bonus: The Duke of Ellington Weird Studies presents the first of Phil's solo music history podcasts as an off-week bonus. |
| 2020-Jun-10 • 86 minutes Episode 75: Our Old Friend the Monolith: On Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' 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). |
| 2020-May-27 • 71 minutes Episode 74: A Luminous Parasite: Jung on Art, Part Two The second part of Phil and JF's discussion C. G. Jung's conception of art. |
| 2020-May-13 • 64 minutes Episode 73: Carl Jung and the Power of Art, Part One The first of two conversations in which JF and Phil investigate C. G. Jung's thoughts on the psychology of artistic creation. |
| 2020-Apr-29 • 74 minutes Episode 72: Morning of the Mutants: On the Castrati Phil and JF discuss the curious phenomena of castrati, the famous singing eunuchs of early modern Europe. |
| 2020-Apr-15 • 85 minutes Episode 71: The Medium is the Message JF and Phil discuss the meanings of Marshall McLuhan's famous utterance. |
| 2020-Apr-01 • 77 minutes Episode 70: Masks All the Way Down, with James Curcio 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". |
| 2020-Mar-25 • 59 minutes Episode 69: Special Episode: On Some Mental Effects of the Pandemic Phil and JF discuss William James's essay "On Some Mental Effects of the Earthquake." |
| 2020-Mar-23 • 22 minutes Weird Stories: "On Some Mental Effects of the Earthquake" by William James Phil reads an essay by William James on the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. |
| 2020-Mar-18 • 75 minutes Episode 68: On James Hillman's 'The Dream and the Underworld' JF and Phil discuss James Hillman's archetypal psychology as it pertains to dreams and death. |
| 2020-Mar-04 • 83 minutes Episode 67: Goblins, Goat-Gods and Gates: On 'Hellier' Phil and JF discuss the hit documentary series "Hellier." |
| 2020-Feb-19 • 92 minutes Episode 66: On Diviner's Time JF and Phil discuss Phil's work-in-progress, an essay on synchronicity, divination, and cosmic meaning entitled "Diviner's Time." |
| 2020-Feb-05 • 80 minutes Episode 65: Touched by that Fire: On Visionary Literature, with B. W. Powe Phil and JF discuss the visionary tradition in art and literature with Canadian poet and scholar, B. W. Powe. |
| 2020-Jan-22 • 78 minutes Episode 64: Dreams and Shadows: On Ursula Le Guin's 'A Wizard of Earthsea' JF and Phil discuss Ursula Le Guin's great coming-of-age fantasy novel, the first of the Earthsea cycle. |
| 2020-Jan-08 • 79 minutes Episode 63: Faculty X: On Colin Wilson's 'The Occult' Phil and JF discuss Faculty X, a key notion from Colin Wilson's classic study of the supernatural and Western esotericism, "The Occult." |
| 2019-Dec-18 • 93 minutes Episode 62: It's Like 'The Shining', But With Nuns: On 'Black Narcissus' JF and Phil discuss the 1947 British film, "Black Narcissus." |
| 2019-Dec-04 • 67 minutes Episode 61: Evil and Ecstasy: On 'The Silence of the Lambs' Phil and JF discuss Jonathan Demme's 1991 film, "The Silence of the Lambs." |
| 2019-Nov-20 • 86 minutes Episode 60: Space is the Place: On Sun Ra, Gnosticism, and the Tarot JF and Phil discuss Sun Ra's strange and prophetic film, "Space is the Place." |
| 2019-Nov-06 • 80 minutes Episode 59: Green Mountains Are Always Walking Phil and JF discuss the mysteries of our oldest, and strangest, mode of transportation. |
| 2019-Oct-23 • 60 minutes Episode 58: What Do Critics Do? JF and Phil discuss Dave Hickey's 1997 essay, "Air Guitar". |
| 2019-Oct-09 • 90 minutes Episode 57: Box of God(s): On 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' Phil and JF discuss Steven Spielberg's classic film, "Raiders of the Lost Ark." |
| 2019-Sep-25 • 79 minutes Episode 56: On Jean Gebser, with Jeremy D. Johnson JF and Phil talk to Jeremy Johnson about his new book, "Seeing Through the World: Jean Gebser and Integral Consciousness." |
| 2019-Sep-11 • 83 minutes Episode 55: The Great Weird North: On Algernon Blackwood's 'The Wendigo' Phil and JF discuss Algernon Blackwoods tale of the Canadian forest, "The Wendigo." |
| 2019-Aug-28 • 77 minutes Episode 54: Lobsters, Pianos, and Hidden Gods JF and Phil discuss Errol Morris's fascinating essay, "The Pianist and the Lobster." |
| 2019-Aug-14 • 62 minutes Episode 53: Astral Jet Lag: On William Gibson's 'Pattern Recognition' Phil and JF discuss Gibson's masterwork of speculative naturalism. |
| 2019-Jul-31 • 75 minutes Episode 52: On Beauty JF and Phil discuss the nature and power of beauty. |
| 2019-Jul-17 • 96 minutes Episode 51: Blind Seers: On Flannery O'Connor's 'Wise Blood' Phil and JF discuss Flannery O'Connor first novel, interpreting it as an investigation into the implications of the modern. |
| 2019-Jul-03 • 96 minutes Episode 50: Demogorgon: On 'Stranger Things' JF and Phil discuss the eldritch metaphysics of the Netflix series 'Stranger Things.' |
| 2019-Jun-19 • 82 minutes Episode 49: Out of Time: Nietzsche on History Phil and JF discuss Nietzsche's seminal essay, "On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life," from Untimely Meditations. |
| 2019-Jun-05 • 84 minutes Episode 48: Walking the Tightrope with Erik Davis JF and Phil sit down with Erik Davis to discuss his new book, "High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies." |
| 2019-May-22 • 68 minutes Episode 47: Machines of Loving Grace: Technology and the Unabomber A wide-ranging conversation on technology, utopia, and the ethics of cybernetics. |
| 2019-May-08 • 89 minutes Episode 46: Thomas Ligotti's Angel An in-depth discussion of horror writer Thomas Ligotti's short story, "Mrs. Rinaldi's Angel." |
| 2019-Apr-24 • 70 minutes Episode 45: Jeffrey J. Kripal on 'Flipping' Out of Materialism JF and Phil talk to Jeffrey Kripal about his new book, "The Flip: Epiphanies of Mind and the Future of Knowledge" |
| 2019-Apr-09 • 93 minutes Episode 44: Doomed to Enchantment: The Psychical Research of William James Phil and JF discuss two articles by William James on the early years of psychical research in Britain and the US. |
| 2019-Mar-27 • 76 minutes Episode 43: On Shirley Jackson JF and Phil discuss two weird masterworks, "The Lottery" and "The Summer People" by the American horror luminary, Shirley Jackson. |
| 2019-Mar-13 • 64 minutes Episode 42: On Pauline Oliveros, with Kerry O'Brien Music scholar Kerry O'Brien join Phil and JF for a conversation on the work of American composer Pauline Oliveros. |
| 2019-Feb-27 • 60 minutes Episode 41: On Speculative Fiction, with Matt Cardin JF and Phil talk fantasy and horror with writer and editor Matt Cardin. |
| 2019-Feb-13 • 78 minutes Episode 40: On Jonathan Glazer's 'Under the Skin' Phil and JF discuss the recent masterwork of weird cinema starring Scarlett Johansson. |
| 2019-Jan-30 • 62 minutes Episode 39: The Challenge of the Paranormal, with Jeffrey J. Kripal JF and Phil discuss the paranormal with the esteemed professor and philosophy and religious thought, Jeffrey J. Kripal. |
| 2019-Jan-16 • 70 minutes Episode 38: Style as Analysis Phil and JF discuss a recently published article of Phil's authorship on how to write about music. |
| 2019-Jan-02 • 75 minutes Episode 37: Entities, with Stuart Davis JF and Phil discuss nonhuman beings in an aesthetic universe with filmmaker, musician and mystic Stuart Evan Davis. |
| 2018-Dec-25 • 24 minutes Christmas Bonus: Hyperstition Addendum The final segment of our conversation on hyperstition, i.e., fiction that turns real. |
| 2018-Dec-19 • 73 minutes Episode 36: On Hyperstition JF and Phil talk hyperstitions, entities born in the realm of fantasy that slowly become denizens of the real. |
| 2018-Dec-05 • 61 minutes Episode 35: Whirl Without End: On M.C. Richards' 'Centering' Phil and JF discuss the first chapter of "Centering," M.C. Richard's penetrating essay on the artistic process. |
| 2018-Nov-21 • 55 minutes Episode 34: The Weird Realism of Robert Aickman JF and Phil discuss Robert Aickman's masterwork of weird fiction, "The Hospice," from his 1975 collection "Cold Hand in Mine." |
| 2018-Nov-07 • 60 minutes Episode 33: The Fine Art of Changing the Subject: On Duchamp's 'Fountain' JF and Phil discuss the profound effects of Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" (the urinal) on the development of the arts since 1917. |
| 2018-Oct-31 • 71 minutes Episode 32: Orbis Tertius: Borges on Magic, Conspiracy and Idealism Phil and JF discuss the classic tale, "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius," by the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. |
| 2018-Oct-24 • 76 minutes Episode 31: Scarcely Human at All: On Glenn Gould's 'Prospects of Recording' JF and Phil discuss the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould's prophetic essay, "The Prospects of Recording." |
| 2018-Oct-14 • 66 minutes Episode 30: On Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut' Phil and JF discuss Stanley Kubrick's final masterpiece. |
| 2018-Oct-09 • 75 minutes Episode 29: On Lovecraft Phil and JF try to distill the essence of H. P. Lovecraft's monumental work. |
| 2018-Oct-02 • 64 minutes Episode 28: Weird Music, Part Two The search for the music of the weird continues with a discussion on Bob Dylan and Franz Liszt. |
| 2018-Sep-26 • 78 minutes Episode 27: Weird Music, Part One 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. |
| 2018-Sep-19 • 79 minutes Episode 26: Living in a Glass Age, with Michael Garfield 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. |
| 2018-Sep-12 • 80 minutes Episode 25: David Cronenberg's 'Naked Lunch' Phil and JF discuss David Cronenberg's 1991 film, "Naked Lunch," an adaptation of William S. Burroughs' hallucinatory classic. |
| 2018-Aug-28 • 58 minutes Episode 24: The Charlatan and the Magus, with Lionel Snell Phil and JF discuss magic with occult thinker and practicing magician Lionel Snell, also known as Ramsey Dukes. |
| 2018-Aug-15 • 103 minutes Episode 23: On Presence Phil and JF meet in person to discuss the mysteries of presence and event. |
| 2018-Aug-01 • 69 minutes Episode 22: Divining the World with Joshua Ramey Phil and JF talk with American philosopher Joshua Ramey about his work on chance, contingency, and divination. |
| 2018-Jul-13 • 66 minutes Episode 21: The Trash Stratum - Part 2 Phil and JF continue to muse on Philip K. Dick's line, "the symbols of the divine initially show up at the trash stratum." |
| 2018-Jul-04 • 75 minutes Episode 20: The Trash Stratum - Part 1 Phil and JF muse on Philip K. Dick's line, "the symbols of the divine initially show up at the trash stratum." |
| 2018-Jun-20 • 69 minutes Episode 19: Intermezzo A discussion on the past and future of the podcast, and the nature of the conversation unfolding therein. |
| 2018-Jun-13 • 61 minutes Episode 18: Does 'Consciousness' Exist? - Part Two Phil and JF continue (begin?) their discussion of William James's essay "Does Consciousness Exist"? |
| 2018-Jun-06 • 48 minutes Episode 17: Does 'Consciousness' Exist? - Part One JF and Phil do everything in their power to delay the moment where they will actually discuss William James' essay, "Does 'Consciousness' Exist?". |
| 2018-May-30 • 71 minutes Episode 16: On Dogen Zenji's 'Genjokoan' Phil and JF discuss a classic work of Zen metaphysics. |
| 2018-May-23 • 65 minutes Episode 15: On Tarkovsky's 'Stalker' - Part Two The second part of Phil and JF's conversation about Andrei Tarkovsky's masterpiece, "Stalker." |
| 2018-May-15 • 41 minutes Episode 14: On Tarkovsky's 'Stalker' - Part One The first part of JF and Phil's conversation on Tarkovsky's 1979 masterpiece, "Stalker." |
| 2018-May-09 • 81 minutes Episode 13: The Obscure: On the Philosophy of Heraclitus Phil and JF riff on randomly generated fragments from the work of a truly weird philosopher, Heraclitus of Ephesus. |
| 2018-May-02 • 88 minutes Episode 12: The Dark Eye: On the Films of Rodney Ascher Phil and JF discuss the work of American filmmaker Rodney Ascher, contemporary master of the weird documentary. |
| 2018-Apr-25 • 76 minutes Episode 11: Art is a Haunting Spirit A discussion of M. R. James' ghost story "The Mezzotint" turns into a disquisition on the nature of art in the modern age. |
| 2018-Apr-23 • 28 minutes Weird Stories: M. R. James' "The Mezzotint" An unabridged reading of M. R. James' classic ghost story, "The Mezzotint," read by Weird Studies co-host, Phil Ford. |
| 2018-Apr-18 • 84 minutes Episode 10: Philip K. Dick: Adrift in the Multiverse JF and Phil discuss Philip K. Dick's seminal essay, "If You Find this World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others." |
| 2018-Apr-11 • 76 minutes Episode 9: On Aleister Crowley and the Idea of Magick JF and Phil talk about Aleister Crowley's 1924 work, _Magick in Theory and Practice_. |
| 2018-Apr-04 • 72 minutes Episode 8: On Graham Harman's "The Third Table" 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. |
| 2018-Mar-28 • 66 minutes Episode 7: The Unspeakable Mystery at the Heart of Boxing JF and Phil wrestle with philosophical issues surrounding violent sports. |
| 2018-Mar-21 • 79 minutes Episode 6: Dungeons & Dragons, or the Reality of Illusions Phil and JF use D&D as a lens to locate the vanishing point where fantasy converges with the real. |
| 2018-Mar-13 • 69 minutes Episode 5: Reading Lisa Ruddick's "When Nothing is Cool" Phil and JF do their best to weird the cultural politics of the postmodern academy. |
| 2018-Mar-07 • 81 minutes Episode 4: Exploring the Weird with Erik Davis Scholar, author and journalist Erik Davis joins Phil and JF to talk about Weird Sh*t. |
| 2018-Feb-21 • 80 minutes Episode 3: Ecstasy, Sin, and "The White People" JF and Phil discuss key themes and ideas from Arthur Machen's weird story, "The White People." |
| 2018-Feb-19 • 97 minutes Weird Stories: Arthur Machen's "The White People" 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. |
| 2018-Feb-01 • 86 minutes Episode 2: Garmonbozia 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. |
| 2018-Jan-31 • 32 minutes Episode 1: Introduction to Weird Studies Phil and J.F. attempt to explain the non-existent field of Weird Studies. |