Weird Studies – Details, episodes & analysis

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Weird Studies

SpectreVision Radio

Arts

Society & Culture

Frequency: 1 episode/13d. Total Eps: 239

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

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https://www.redbubble.com/people/Weird-Studies/shop?asc=u
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https://www.weirdstudies.com/98
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http://www.monsalvat.no/
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlogiston_theory

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Episode 188: Pioneers of the Untimely: On the Hermit Card in the Tarot

Episode 188

Wednesday, April 9, 2025 • Duration 01:22:59

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

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Episode 187: The Affirmation of Imagination: On John Crowley's 'Little, Big,' with Erik Davis

Episode 187

Wednesday, March 26, 2025 • Duration 01:34:13

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

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Episode 180: The Player: On the Magician Card in the Tarot

Episode 180

Wednesday, November 20, 2024 • Duration 01:22:27

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

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Episode 96: Beautiful Beast: On Jean Cocteau's 'La Belle et la Bête'

Episode 96

Wednesday, April 14, 2021 • Duration 01:21:03

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

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Episode 95: Demon Seed: On Doris Lessing's 'The Fifth Child'

Episode 95

Wednesday, March 31, 2021 • Duration 01:26:18

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

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Episode 94: All is Mysterious: On the Moon Card in the Tarot

Episode 94

Wednesday, March 17, 2021 • Duration 01:15:19

"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

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Episode 93: Living and Dying in a Secular Age: On Charles Taylor and Disenchantment

Episode 93

Wednesday, March 3, 2021 • Duration 01:28:05

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

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Episode 92: Glitch in the Matrix: A Conversation with Rodney Ascher

Episode 92

Wednesday, February 17, 2021 • Duration 01:27:56

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

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Episode 91: On Susanna Clarke's 'Piranesi'

Episode 91

Wednesday, February 3, 2021 • Duration 01:24:32

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

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Episode 90: 'The Owl in Daylight': On Philip K. Dick's Unwritten Masterpiece

Episode 90

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 • Duration 01:10:36

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

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