Phil is an associate professor of musicology at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He is the author of the book Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture (a cultural history of hipness from the 1930s through the 1960s), the long-running blog Dial 'M' for Musicology, and various essays that have appeared in Representations, Journal of Musicology, Musical Quarterly, and elsewhere. With co-host J. F. Martel he is working on a book titled Weirding, to be published by Strange Attractor Press.
Phil is a pianist, rabid Wagnerite, crap Buddhist, degenerate fight fan, and avid consulter of the I Ching. He wishes that just for once he had an enthusiasm that he didn't have to apologize for or explain to his academic peers.
Phil Ford has hosted 176 Episodes.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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"
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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".
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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.
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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.
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Episode 84: Mona Lisa Smile: On the Empress, the Third Card in the Tarot
Episode | October 14th, 2020 | 1 hr 19 mins
archetypes, divination, tarot
Phil and JF discuss the third major arcana of the traditional tarot deck.
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Episode 83: On David Lynch's 'Lost Highway'
Episode | September 30th, 2020 | 1 hr 18 mins
david lynch, film
JF and Phil take a joy ride into the dark heart David Lynch's surreal 1997 film.
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Episode 82: On The I Ching
Episode | September 16th, 2020 | 1 hr 29 mins
divination, i ching
Phil and JF discuss the great Chinese oracle.
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Episode 81: Gnostic Lit: On M. John Harrison's 'The Course of the Heart'
Episode | September 2nd, 2020 | 1 hr 17 mins
fiction, gnosticism
JF and Phil discuss M. John Harrison's masterpiece of weird fiction.
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Episode 80: The Pit and the Pyramid, or, How to Beat the Philosopher's Blues
Episode | August 19th, 2020 | 1 hr 17 mins
Phil and JF discuss the Neoplatonism of Radiohead and the dark side of Beat culture, as revealed on Broadway.
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Episode 79: Love, Death, and the Dream Life
Episode | August 5th, 2020 | 1 hr 4 mins
art, decadence, music, prophecy
JF and Phil discuss decadence and vision in Nina Simone's rendition of "Lilac Wine" and Ghostface Killah's "Underwater."
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Episode 78: On John Keel's 'The Mothman Prophecies'
Episode | July 22nd, 2020 | 1 hr 13 mins
entities, nonfiction, paranormal
Phil and JF discuss John Keel's classic work of weird nonfiction.
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Episode 77: What a Fool Believes: On the Unnumbered Card in the Tarot
Episode | July 8th, 2020 | 1 hr 8 mins
archetypes, literature, occult, tarot
JF and Phil discuss the figure of the Fool in the tarot, society, and literature.
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Episode 76: Below the Abyss: On Bergson's Metaphysics
Episode | June 24th, 2020 | 1 hr 18 mins
epistemology, henri bergson, metaphysics
Phil and JF discuss Henri Bergson's 1903 essay, "Introduction to Metaphysics."