Episodes and Blog Entries
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Episode 16: On Dogen Zenji's 'Genjokoan'
Episode | May 30th, 2018 | 1 hr 11 mins
dogen, genjokoan, metaphysics, religion, zen buddhism
Phil and JF discuss a classic work of Zen metaphysics.
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Episode 15: On Tarkovsky's 'Stalker' - Part Two
Episode | May 23rd, 2018 | 1 hr 4 mins
chernobyl, liminality, samuel delany, stalker, tarkovsky
The second part of Phil and JF's conversation about Andrei Tarkovsky's masterpiece, "Stalker."
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Episode 14: On Tarkovsky's 'Stalker' - Part One
Episode | May 15th, 2018 | 41 mins 3 secs
cinema, genre, stalker, tarkovsky, zone
The first part of JF and Phil's conversation on Tarkovsky's 1979 masterpiece, "Stalker."
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Episode 13: The Obscure: On the Philosophy of Heraclitus
Episode | May 9th, 2018 | 1 hr 21 mins
death, dreams, greek philosophy, heraclitus, sleep, soul
Phil and JF riff on randomly generated fragments from the work of a truly weird philosopher, Heraclitus of Ephesus.
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Episode 12: The Dark Eye: On the Films of Rodney Ascher
Episode | May 2nd, 2018 | 1 hr 28 mins
documentary, horror films, rodney ascher, sleep paralysis, the shining
Phil and JF discuss the work of American filmmaker Rodney Ascher, contemporary master of the weird documentary.
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Episode 11: Art is a Haunting Spirit
Episode | April 25th, 2018 | 1 hr 15 mins
aesthetics, mezzotint, mr james, walter benjamin
A discussion of M. R. James' ghost story "The Mezzotint" turns into a disquisition on the nature of art in the modern age.
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Weird Stories: M. R. James' "The Mezzotint"
Episode | April 23rd, 2018 | 27 mins 34 secs
mezzotint, mr james, story readings, weird fiction
An unabridged reading of M. R. James' classic ghost story, "The Mezzotint," read by Weird Studies co-host, Phil Ford.
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Episode 10: Philip K. Dick: Adrift in the Multiverse
Episode | April 18th, 2018 | 1 hr 23 mins
multiverse, parallel universes, philip k dick, time
JF and Phil discuss Philip K. Dick's seminal essay, "If You Find this World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others."
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Episode 9: On Aleister Crowley and the Idea of Magick
Episode | April 11th, 2018 | 1 hr 16 mins
aleister crowley, magick, occult
JF and Phil talk about Aleister Crowley's 1924 work, Magick in Theory and Practice.
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Episode 8: On Graham Harman's "The Third Table"
Episode | April 4th, 2018 | 1 hr 12 mins
idealism, lovecraft, materialism, panpsychism, philosophy, zen
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.
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Episode 7: The Unspeakable Mystery at the Heart of Boxing
Episode | March 28th, 2018 | 1 hr 5 mins
bloodsport, boxing, martial arts, sublime, violence
JF and Phil wrestle with philosophical issues surrounding violent sports.
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Episode 6: Dungeons & Dragons, or the Reality of Illusions
Episode | March 21st, 2018 | 1 hr 18 mins
d&d, fantasy, imaginal, roleplaying games
Phil and JF use D&D as a lens to locate the vanishing point where fantasy converges with the real.
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Episode 5: Reading Lisa Ruddick's "When Nothing is Cool"
Episode | March 13th, 2018 | 1 hr 8 mins
critique, essence, lisa ruddick, nihilism, soul
Phil and JF do their best to weird the cultural politics of the postmodern academy.
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Episode 4: Exploring the Weird with Erik Davis
Episode | March 7th, 2018 | 1 hr 21 mins
erik davis, techngosis, uncanny, weird
Scholar, author and journalist Erik Davis joins Phil and JF to talk about Weird Sh*t.
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Episode 3: Ecstasy, Sin, and "The White People"
Episode | February 21st, 2018 | 1 hr 19 mins
arthur machen, ecstasy, faerie, sin, the white people
JF and Phil discuss key themes and ideas from Arthur Machen's weird story, "The White People."
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Weird Stories: Arthur Machen's "The White People"
Episode | February 19th, 2018 | 1 hr 36 mins
audiobooks, machen, the white people, weird fiction
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.