web01.fireside.fm Thu, 30 Apr 2026 19:34:54 -0500 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) Weird Studies - Episodes Tagged with “Psi” https://www.weirdstudies.com/tags/psi Wed, 13 Oct 2021 10:30:00 -0400 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 108: On Skepticism and the Paranormal https://www.weirdstudies.com/108 f6e2fe0e-a303-47b6-bf21-7d0013853485 Wed, 13 Oct 2021 10:30:00 -0400 Phil Ford and J. F. Martel 108 On Skepticism and the Paranormal full Phil Ford and J. F. Martel JF and Phil discuss modern skepticism in light of George P. Hansen's "The Trickster and the Paranormal." 1:19:50 yes Modern skeptics pride themselves on being immune to unreason. They present themselves as defenders of rationality, civilization, and good sense against what Freud famously called the "black mud-tide of occultism." But what if skepticism was more implicated in the phenomena it aims to banish than it might appear to be? What if no one could debunk anything without getting some of that black mud on their hands? In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the weird complicity of the skeptic and the believer in the light of George P. Hansen's masterpiece of meta-parapsychology, The Trickster and the Paranormal. REFERENCES George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal (https://bookshop.org/books/the-trickster-and-the-paranormal/9781401000820) James Randi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Randi), stage magician and paranormal debunker Michael Shermer, (https://michaelshermer.com/) American science writer CSICOP (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_for_Skeptical_Inquiry), Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, Publisher of the Skeptical Inquirer Rune Soup, Interview with George P. Hansen (https://runesoup.com/2017/06/talking-the-trickster-and-the-paranormal-with-george-p-hansen/) Weird Studies, Episode 24 with Lionel Snell (https://www.weirdstudies.com/24) Weird Studies, Episode 89 on Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo (https://www.weirdstudies.com/89) Victor Turner, The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure (https://bookshop.org/books/the-ritual-process-structure-and-anti-structure/9780202011905) Wouter Hanegraaff (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wouter_Hanegraaff), Dutch professor of esoteric philosophy Shannon Taggart, Seance (https://www.shannontaggart.com/) Society for Psychical Research (https://www.spr.ac.uk/) Weird Studies, Episode 44 on William James’s Psychical Research (https://www.weirdstudies.com/44) G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (https://bookshop.org/books/orthodoxy-9780802456571/9781952410482) Robert Anton Wilson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Anton_Wilson), American author Aleister Crowley, [Magic Without Tears](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MagickWithoutTears) Trickster and the paranormal, skepticism, James Randi, debunkers, parapsychology, trickery, belief, materialism Modern skeptics pride themselves on being immune to unreason. They present themselves as defenders of rationality, civilization, and good sense against what Freud famously called the "black mud-tide of occultism." But what if skepticism was more implicated in the phenomena it aims to banish than it might appear to be? What if no one could debunk anything without getting some of that black mud on their hands? In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the weird complicity of the skeptic and the believer in the light of George P. Hansen's masterpiece of meta-parapsychology, The Trickster and the Paranormal.

REFERENCES

George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal

James Randi, stage magician and paranormal debunker
Michael Shermer, American science writer
CSICOP, Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, Publisher of the Skeptical Inquirer
Rune Soup, Interview with George P. Hansen
Weird Studies, Episode 24 with Lionel Snell
Weird Studies, Episode 89 on Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo
Victor Turner, The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure
Wouter Hanegraaff, Dutch professor of esoteric philosophy
Shannon Taggart, Seance
Society for Psychical Research
Weird Studies, Episode 44 on William James’s Psychical Research
G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Robert Anton Wilson, American author
Aleister Crowley, Magic Without Tears

]]> Modern skeptics pride themselves on being immune to unreason. They present themselves as defenders of rationality, civilization, and good sense against what Freud famously called the "black mud-tide of occultism." But what if skepticism was more implicated in the phenomena it aims to banish than it might appear to be? What if no one could debunk anything without getting some of that black mud on their hands? In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the weird complicity of the skeptic and the believer in the light of George P. Hansen's masterpiece of meta-parapsychology, The Trickster and the Paranormal.

REFERENCES

George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal

James Randi, stage magician and paranormal debunker
Michael Shermer, American science writer
CSICOP, Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, Publisher of the Skeptical Inquirer
Rune Soup, Interview with George P. Hansen
Weird Studies, Episode 24 with Lionel Snell
Weird Studies, Episode 89 on Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo
Victor Turner, The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure
Wouter Hanegraaff, Dutch professor of esoteric philosophy
Shannon Taggart, Seance
Society for Psychical Research
Weird Studies, Episode 44 on William James’s Psychical Research
G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Robert Anton Wilson, American author
Aleister Crowley, Magic Without Tears

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