Weird Studies

Episode 99: Curing the Human Condition: On 'Wild Wild Country'

Episode  |  May 26th, 2021  |  1 hr 30 mins

class, religion, spirituality

Phil and JF work through the differences between spirituality and religion in the context of the documentary series about Bhagwan Rajneesh.

Episode 98: Taboo: Time and Belief in Exotica

Episode  |  May 12th, 2021  |  1 hr 20 mins

aesthetics, culture, exotica, history, music

JF and Phil discuss the ethics and metaphysics of the obscure musical genre known as exotica.

Episode 97: Art in the Age of Artifice

Episode  |  April 28th, 2021  |  1 hr 25 mins

aesthetics, criticism, metaphysics, religion

Phil and JF discuss the ideas in JF's 2015 book, 'Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice.'

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

Episode  |  April 14th, 2021  |  1 hr 20 mins

animals, cinema, fairy tales, love

JF and Phil discuss Jean Cocteau's masterful film, "Beauty and the Beast."

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

Episode  |  March 31st, 2021  |  1 hr 25 mins

literature, monsters, parenthood, psychology

Phil and JF discuss Nobel Prize-winning novelist Doris Lessing's unsettling story of a woman who gives birth to a monster.

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

Episode  |  March 17th, 2021  |  1 hr 14 mins

JF and Phil continue their series on the tarot with a discussion of the eighteenth major arcanum.

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

Episode  |  March 3rd, 2021  |  1 hr 27 mins

myth, philosophy, religion, secularism

Phil and JF discuss Charles Taylor's monumental work of philosophy, "A Secular Age."

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

Episode  |  February 17th, 2021  |  1 hr 27 mins

cinema, guest episodes, metaphysics, simulationism

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.

Episode 91: On Susanna Clarke's 'Piranesi'

Episode  |  February 3rd, 2021  |  1 hr 23 mins

JF and Phil explore the mysterious world of Susanna Clarke's incredible new novel.

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

Episode  |  January 20th, 2021  |  1 hr 9 mins

philip k. dick, philosophy. literature

Phil and JF discuss the novel that would have been Philip K. Dick's magnum opus ... if he had written it.

Episode 89: On Ishmael Reed's 'Mumbo Jumbo,' or, Why We Need More Magical Thinking

Episode  |  January 6th, 2021  |  1 hr 19 mins

conspiracy, history, literature, magic

JF and Phil discuss Ishmael Reed's masterpiece of conspiracy fiction.

Holiday Bonus: Magic, Madness, and Sadness

Episode  |  December 21st, 2020  |  50 mins 15 secs

cinema, comedy, metaphysics, time

In this special winter solstice release, Phil and JF discuss a memorable episode of the bizarro animated series Adventure Time.

Episode 88: On Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean's 'Mr Punch'

Episode  |  December 9th, 2020  |  1 hr 19 mins

art, comics, memory, trickster

A discussion of Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean's 1994 graphic novel, "The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch"

Episode 87: Glyphs, Rifts, and Ecstasy: On Arthur Machen's Vision of Art

Episode  |  November 25th, 2020  |  1 hr 7 mins

art, ecstasy, literature

JF and Phil talk art and ecstasy in this episode on Arthur Machen's aesthetic treatise, "Hieroglyphics".

Episode 86: On E. T. A. Hoffmann's "The Sandman," and Freud's Sequel to It

Episode  |  November 11th, 2020  |  1 hr 23 mins

fiction, psychology

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.

Episode 85: On 'The Wicker Man'

Episode  |  October 28th, 2020  |  1 hr 16 mins

film, horror, religion

JF and Phil discuss the 1973 masterpiece of folk horror cinema.