web01.fireside.fm Thu, 30 Apr 2026 04:01:19 -0500 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) Weird Studies - Episodes Tagged with “Media Studies” https://www.weirdstudies.com/tags/media%20studies Wed, 08 Dec 2021 10:45:00 -0500 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." en-us episodic Art and philosophy at the limits of the thinkable Phil Ford and J. F. Martel 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." yes weird, art, philosophy Phil Ford and J. F. Martel admin@weirdstudies.com Episode 112: Readings from the 'Book of Probes': The Mysticism of Marshall McLuhan https://www.weirdstudies.com/112 61f8bb43-3c2e-4964-8c5b-cf609a1a4a1c Wed, 08 Dec 2021 10:45:00 -0500 Phil Ford and J. F. Martel 112 Readings from the 'Book of Probes': The Mysticism of Marshall McLuhan full Phil Ford and J. F. Martel JF and Phil discuss Marshall McLuhan and David Carson's enigmatic 'Book of Probes.' 1:29:16 yes The Book of Probes contains a assortment of aphorisms and maxims from the work of the Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan, each one set to evocative imagery by American graphic designer David Carson. McLuhan called the utterances collected in this book "probes," that is, pieces of conceptual gadgetry designed not to disclose facts about the world so much as blaze new pathways leading to the invisible background of our time. In this episode, Phil and JF use an online number generator to discuss a random yet uncannily cohesive selection of of McLuhanian probes. REFERENCES Marshall Mcluhan and David Carson, The Book of Probes (https://bookshop.org/books/the-book-of-probes/9781584232520) Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse (https://bookshop.org/books/to-the-lighthouse-9780156907392/9780156907392) Marshall Mcluhan, The Mechanical Bride (https://bookshop.org/books/the-mechanical-bride-folklore-of-industrial-man/9781584232438) Aristotle, System of causation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_causes) G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (https://bookshop.org/books/orthodoxy-chesterton/9781511903608) Eric A. Havelock, Preface to Plato (https://bookshop.org/books/preface-to-plato/9780674699069) Weird Studies, Episode 71 on Marshall Mcluhan (https://www.weirdstudies.com/71) Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy (https://bookshop.org/books/orality-and-literacy-30th-anniversary-edition/9780415538381) Christiaan Wouter Custers, A Philosophy of Madness (https://bookshop.org/books/a-philosophy-of-madness-the-experience-of-psychotic-thinking/9780262044288) Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense (https://bookshop.org/books/the-logic-of-sense-revised/9780231059831) Marshall Mcluhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy (https://bookshop.org/books/the-gutenberg-galaxy/9781442612693) Harry Partch (https://www.harrypartch.com), American composer Marc Augé, Non-Places (https://bookshop.org/books/non-places-an-introduction-to-supermodernity/9781844673117) Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/sapir-whorf-hypothesis) Denis Villeneuve (dir.), Arrival (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt254316/) Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus (https://bookshop.org/books/a-thousand-plateaus-capitalism-and-schizophrenia/9780816614028) Harry G. Frankfurt, On Bullshit (https://bookshop.org/books/on-bullshit/9780691122946) Marshall McLuhan, book of probes, David Carson, analysis, metaphysics, background, media The Book of Probes contains a assortment of aphorisms and maxims from the work of the Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan, each one set to evocative imagery by American graphic designer David Carson. McLuhan called the utterances collected in this book "probes," that is, pieces of conceptual gadgetry designed not to disclose facts about the world so much as blaze new pathways leading to the invisible background of our time. In this episode, Phil and JF use an online number generator to discuss a random yet uncannily cohesive selection of of McLuhanian probes.

REFERENCES

Marshall Mcluhan and David Carson, The Book of Probes

Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse
Marshall Mcluhan, The Mechanical Bride
Aristotle, System of causation
G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Eric A. Havelock, Preface to Plato
Weird Studies, Episode 71 on Marshall Mcluhan
Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy
Christiaan Wouter Custers, A Philosophy of Madness
Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense
Marshall Mcluhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy
Harry Partch, American composer
Marc Augé, Non-Places
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Denis Villeneuve (dir.), Arrival
Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus
Harry G. Frankfurt, On Bullshit

]]> The Book of Probes contains a assortment of aphorisms and maxims from the work of the Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan, each one set to evocative imagery by American graphic designer David Carson. McLuhan called the utterances collected in this book "probes," that is, pieces of conceptual gadgetry designed not to disclose facts about the world so much as blaze new pathways leading to the invisible background of our time. In this episode, Phil and JF use an online number generator to discuss a random yet uncannily cohesive selection of of McLuhanian probes.

REFERENCES

Marshall Mcluhan and David Carson, The Book of Probes

Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse
Marshall Mcluhan, The Mechanical Bride
Aristotle, System of causation
G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Eric A. Havelock, Preface to Plato
Weird Studies, Episode 71 on Marshall Mcluhan
Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy
Christiaan Wouter Custers, A Philosophy of Madness
Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense
Marshall Mcluhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy
Harry Partch, American composer
Marc Augé, Non-Places
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Denis Villeneuve (dir.), Arrival
Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus
Harry G. Frankfurt, On Bullshit

]]> Episode 104: We'd Love to Turn You On: 'Sgt. Pepper' and the Beatles https://www.weirdstudies.com/104 4064bd31-ceb0-4bf2-a78c-c1acd9721f3a Wed, 04 Aug 2021 10:30:00 -0400 Phil Ford and J. F. Martel 104 We'd Love to Turn You On: 'Sgt. Pepper' and the Beatles full Phil Ford and J. F. Martel JF and Phil mine the weird in the Beatles' iconic 1967 album. 1:22:32 yes It is said that for several days after the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the spring of 1967, you could have driven from one U.S. coast to the other without ever going out of range of a local radio broadcast of the album. Sgt. Pepper was, in a sense, the first global musical event -- comparable to other sixties game-changers such as the Kennedy assassination and the moon landing. What's more, this event is as every bit as strange as the latter two; it is only custom and habit that blind us to the profound weirdness of Sgt. Pepper. In this episode, Phil and JF reimagine the Beatles' masterpiece as an egregore, a magical operation that changes future and past alike, and a spiritual machine for "turning us on" to the invisible background against which we strut and fret our hours on the stage. Support us on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudies): Find us on Discord (https://discord.com/invite/Jw22CHfGwp) Get your Weird Studies merchandise (https://www.redbubble.com/people/Weird-Studies/shop?asc=u) (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop (https://bookshop.org/shop/weirdstudies) Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack (https://pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com/album/weird-studies-music-from-the-podcast-vol-1) REFERENCES Weird Studies, Episode 31 on Glenn Gould’s ‘Prospects of Recording’ (https://www.weirdstudies.com/31) Nelson Goodman, [Languages of Art](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LanguagesofArt) Brian Eno, Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) Weird Studies, Episode 33 On Duchamp’s Fountain (https://www.weirdstudies.com/33) Emmanuel Carrère, La Moustache (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0428856/) Rob Reiner, This is Spinal Tap (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258/) Richard Lester, A Hard Day's Night (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058182/) Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 2 (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780816616770) James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781476731711) Felix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze, What is Philosophy? (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780231079891) Arthur Machen, “A Fragment of Life” (http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks07/0700361h.html) David Lynch, Lost Highway (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116922/) Zhuangzi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuangzi) (Butterfly dream) Ian MacDonald, Revolution in the Head (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781556527333) beatles, sgt pepper and his lonely hearts club band, analysis, meaning, weird, day in the life, magic It is said that for several days after the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the spring of 1967, you could have driven from one U.S. coast to the other without ever going out of range of a local radio broadcast of the album. Sgt. Pepper was, in a sense, the first global musical event -- comparable to other sixties game-changers such as the Kennedy assassination and the moon landing. What's more, this event is as every bit as strange as the latter two; it is only custom and habit that blind us to the profound weirdness of Sgt. Pepper. In this episode, Phil and JF reimagine the Beatles' masterpiece as an egregore, a magical operation that changes future and past alike, and a spiritual machine for "turning us on" to the invisible background against which we strut and fret our hours on the stage.

Support us on Patreon:
Find us on Discord
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack

REFERENCES

Weird Studies, Episode 31 on Glenn Gould’s ‘Prospects of Recording’
Nelson Goodman, Languages of Art
Brian Eno, Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
Weird Studies, Episode 33 On Duchamp’s Fountain
Emmanuel Carrère, La Moustache
Rob Reiner, This is Spinal Tap
Richard Lester, A Hard Day's Night
Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 2
James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games
Felix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze, What is Philosophy?
Arthur Machen, “A Fragment of Life”
David Lynch, Lost Highway
Zhuangzi (Butterfly dream)
Ian MacDonald, Revolution in the Head

]]> It is said that for several days after the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the spring of 1967, you could have driven from one U.S. coast to the other without ever going out of range of a local radio broadcast of the album. Sgt. Pepper was, in a sense, the first global musical event -- comparable to other sixties game-changers such as the Kennedy assassination and the moon landing. What's more, this event is as every bit as strange as the latter two; it is only custom and habit that blind us to the profound weirdness of Sgt. Pepper. In this episode, Phil and JF reimagine the Beatles' masterpiece as an egregore, a magical operation that changes future and past alike, and a spiritual machine for "turning us on" to the invisible background against which we strut and fret our hours on the stage.

Support us on Patreon:
Find us on Discord
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack

REFERENCES

Weird Studies, Episode 31 on Glenn Gould’s ‘Prospects of Recording’
Nelson Goodman, Languages of Art
Brian Eno, Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
Weird Studies, Episode 33 On Duchamp’s Fountain
Emmanuel Carrère, La Moustache
Rob Reiner, This is Spinal Tap
Richard Lester, A Hard Day's Night
Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 2
James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games
Felix Guattari and Gilles Deleuze, What is Philosophy?
Arthur Machen, “A Fragment of Life”
David Lynch, Lost Highway
Zhuangzi (Butterfly dream)
Ian MacDonald, Revolution in the Head

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