J.F. Martel
Co-Host of Weird Studies
J.F. Martel is an author, screenwriter, and film & TV director from Ottawa, Canada. His screen work includes French and English-language documentary series and features focused on culture and the arts. He is the author of Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice, a book about the nature and power of art published by Evolver Editions in 2015, and released in Spanish by Ediciones Atalanta in 2016. J.F.'s writings on art, culture and philosophy have appeared in Reality Sandwich, Metapsychosis, The Finch, Disinfo, and other online magazines.
J.F. Martel has hosted 198 Episodes.
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Episode 174: Magick and Enlightenment, with Alan Chapman and Duncan Barford
Episode | July 24th, 2024 | 1 hr 29 mins
enlightenment, magic, metaphysics, occult, religion
Magical practitioners Duncan Barford and Alan Chapman join JF and Phil to talk about magic, truth, and the Holy Guardian Angel.
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Episode 173: By Heart: On Memory, Poetry, and Form
Episode | July 10th, 2024 | 1 hr 18 mins
aesthetics, formalism, literature, memory, poetry
JF and Phil try to recite classic poems by heart in this discussion on the magic of memory.
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Episode 172: Head Over Heels: On the Hanged Man of the Tarot
Episode | June 26th, 2024 | 1 hr 19 mins
archetypes, occult, psychology, religion, tarot
Phil and JF continue their series on the tarot with a discussion of the twelfth major arcanum.
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Episode 171: The Beauty and the Horror
Episode | June 13th, 2024 | 1 hr 8 mins
aesthetics, beauty, cinema, literature, metaphysics, music
JF and Phil discuss the interplay between beauty and horror in art, examining how each enhances the other.
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Episode 170: Art is Another Word for Truth: On Orson Welles's 'F for Fake'
Episode | May 29th, 2024 | 1 hr 25 mins
aesthetics, art, cinema, forgery, magic
JF and Phil discuss Orson Welles's 1973 film essay on the strange overlap of fraud, art, and truth.
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Episode 169: On Free Expression
Episode | May 15th, 2024 | 1 hr 37 mins
art, philosophy, politics
Phil and JF tackle the thorny issue of freedom of expression in politics, academia, and the arts.
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Episode 168: Visions of the Wasteland: On George Miller's 'Mad Max' Films
Episode | May 1st, 2024 | 1 hr 20 mins
apocalypse, cinema, civilization, science fiction
JF and Phil find glimmers of the Weird in George Miller's post-apocalyptic outback.
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Episode 167: The Hand of Ithell, with Amy Hale
Episode | April 17th, 2024 | 1 hr 28 mins
aesthetics, art, celticism, goes episodes, occult, scholarship, surrealism
Independent scholar Amy Hale joins Phil and JF to discuss the life and work of esoteric artist Ithell Colquhoun.
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Episode 166: Make Believe: On the Power of Pretentiousness
Episode | April 3rd, 2024 | 1 hr 13 mins
creativity, criticism, culture, methodology
JF and Phil discuss pretentiousness as both an occupational hazard and a virtue of creative work.
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Episode 165: Tatters of the King: On Robert Chambers' 'The King in Yellow'
Episode | March 20th, 2024 | 1 hr 26 mins
cosmic horror, decadence, literature, religion
Phil and JF discuss four stories from Robert W. Chambers' pioneering work of weird fiction.
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Episode 164: Towards a Weird Materialism: On Expressionism in Cinema
Episode | March 6th, 2024 | 1 hr 29 mins
aesthetics, cinema, expressionism, literature, metaphysics, music, visual art
JF and Phil discuss the expressionist sensibility in the history of film.
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Episode 163: The Source of All Abysses: On the Devil Card in the Tarot
Episode | February 21st, 2024 | 1 hr 10 mins
divination, esotericism, evil, religion, tarot, the devil
Phil and JF continue their occasional series on the major trumps of the tarot with a discussion on the fifteenth Arcanum, the Devil.
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Episode 162: The Incarnation of Meaning: Greenwich Village After the War
Episode | February 7th, 2024 | 1 hr 18 mins
america, art, cities, decadence, film, history, literature
JF and Phil discuss post-war Greenwich Village, by way of Anatole Broyard's "Kafka Was the Rage" and John Cassavetes' "Shadows."
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Episode 161: Scene of the Crime: On Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's 'From Hell'
Episode | January 24th, 2024 | 1 hr 30 mins
comics, history, occult, politics, true crime
Phil and JF discuss Victorian London through the lens of Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's occult reimagining of Jack the Ripper.
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Mid-Hiatus Bonus: On Horror and the Retail Experience
Episode | January 10th, 2024 | 54 mins 20 secs
bonus episodes, horror, patreon extra, shopping
A bonus episode, previously exclusive to our Patreon supporters.
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Episode 160: The Way of All Flesh: On John Carpenter's 'The Thing'
Episode | December 20th, 2023 | 1 hr 15 mins
body horror, cinema, horror, john carpenter, metaphysics
JF and Phil discuss the great 1982 horror film starring Kurt Russell.