Weird Studies

Dive into the slippery concept of consciousness as the hosts unpack William James' radical empiricism. They explore how consciousness intertwines with politics and societal change, challenging materialistic views. The discussion moves through the relationship between consciousness, choice, and enlightenment, critiquing simplistic narratives around awakening. Additionally, the notion of 'hipness' is examined alongside key philosophical ideas, and the podcast hints at psychic phenomena that defy traditional science, showcasing the complex fabric of reality.

JF and Phil tackle Genjokoan, a profound and puzzling work of philosophy by Dogen Zenji. In it, the 13th-century Zen master ponders the question, "If everything is already enlightened, why practice Zen?" As a lapsed Zen practitioner ("a shit buddhist") with many hours of meditation under his belt, Phil draws on personal experience to dig into Dogen's strange and startling answers, while JF speaks from his perspective as a "decadent hedonist." "When one side is illumined," says Dogen, "the other is dark." For proof of this utterance, you could do worse than listen to this episode of Weird Studies. REFERENCES Dogen Zenji, Genjokoan Shohaku Okumura and the Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, Indiana Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life Weird Studies, Episode 8: "On Graham Harman's 'The Third Table'" Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1: The Movement Image Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling Joris-Karl Huysmans, À Rebours (Against Nature) Chogyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this second of a two-part conversation on Andrei Tarkovsky's 1979 film Stalker, Phil and JF explore the film's prophetic dimension, relating it to Samuel R. Delany's classic science-fiction novel Dhalgren, the cultural revolution of the 1960s, the affordances of despair, the spookiness of color, the transformation of noise into music, and the Chernobyl disaster. They even come up with a title for a novel Robert Ludlum never wrote but should have written: The Criterion Rendition! REFERENCES Andrei Tarkovsky (dir.), Stalker Samuel R. Delany, Dhalgren (foreword by William Gibson) H.P. Lovecraft, "The Colour Out of Space" John Searle, Seeing Things as They Are: A Theory of Perception Steve Reich, Come Out Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 1 Martin Heidegger, "The Question Concerning Technology" Stanley Kubrick, The Shining The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journey into the Zone to uncover some of the strange artifacts buried in Tarkovsky's cinematic masterpiece, Stalker (1979). In this first of a two-part conversation, Phil and JF discuss a poem by Tarkovsky's dad, compare the film with the sci-fi novel that inspired it, explore the ideological underpinnings of formulaic genre, delve into the meaning and affordances of the concept of zone, and affirm that in a sufficiently weird mindset, even a casual stroll in your hometown can become an excursion into a Zone of your own. REFERENCES Andrei Tarkovsky (dir.), Stalker Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic The Wachowskis (dir.), The Matrix James Cameron (dir.), Avatar Second City Television (SCTV), vintage Canadian comedy show Alex Garland (dir.), Annihilation (based on the novel by Jeff Vandermeer; here's an article on how Garland's film differs from Vandermeer's arguably weirder text) SCTV, Monster Chiller Horror Theatre: Whispers of the Wolf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Delving into the enigmatic philosophy of Heraclitus, the hosts explore random fragments of his work, discussing interconnectedness, flow, and the essence of being. They bring in diverse references like Dungeons and Dragons, I Ching, and dreams, unveiling the depth and mystery of Heraclitus's wisdom.

American filmmaker Rodney Ascher is a master of the weird documentary. Whether he be exploring wild interpretations of a classic horror film in Room 237, bracketing the phenomenon of sleep paralysis in The Nightmare, studying the uncanny power of the moving image in "Primal Screen," or considering the sinister power of a kitschy logo in "The S from Hell," Ascher confronts his viewers with realities that resist final explanations and facile reduction. In this episode, Phil and JF follow Ascher's films into the living labyrinth of a strange universe that isn't just unknown, but radically unknowable. REFERENCES American filmmaker Rodney Ascher, director of "The S from Hell", Room 237, The Nightmare, and "Primal Screen" James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld The Duffer Brothers (directors), Stranger Things (web TV series) Alan Landsburg (creator), In Search Of... with Leonard Nimoy (American TV series) Errol Morris (director), The Thin Blue Line Ann and Jeff Vandermeer (editors), The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories British speculative writer Michael Moorcock Lord Dunsany, The Gods of Pegana Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles Stanley Kubrick (writer-director), The Shining Richard Attenborough (director), Magic Sandor Stern (writer-director), Pin Freud, "The Uncanny" Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle David Lynch (writer-director), Lost Highway French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan Duncan Barford, Occult Experiments in the Home: Personal Explorations of Magick and the Paranormal JF Martel, "Ramble on the Real" Phil Ford, "Birth of the Weird" American astronomer Carl Sagan Charles Taylor, Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The hosts discuss their personal connection to the book 'The Mezzotint' by M.R. James. They explore the unique use of ghosts in the works of MR James and Robert Aikman. They delve into Benjamin's thesis on the reproducibility of artwork in the modern age and its impact on the aura of the original. They examine the relationship between art and the supernatural, discussing Marcel Duchamp's 'Fountain' and mechanical reproduction. They also explore the relationship between artworks and mediums, the privatization of experiences, and the role of artwork as communication.

M. R. James has been hailed as the unrivalled maser of the classic ghost tale, and his powers are at their zenith in "The Mezzotint," a story that first appeared in his 1904 collection, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. In it, James reimagines the Gothic trope of the haunted picture in a weird new light. The text, read here by co-host Phil Ford, serves as a springboard for Weird Studies episode 11, where we discuss the enduring power of the art object in the age of mechanical reproduction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1977, Philip K. Dick read an essay in France entitled, "If You Find this World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others." In it, he laid out one of the dominant tropes of his fictional oeuvre, the idea of parallel universes. It became clear in the course of the lecture that Dick didn't intend this to be a talk about science fiction, but about real life - indeed, about his life. In this episode, Phil and JF seriously consider the speculations which, depending on whom you ask, make PKD either a genius or a madman. This distinction may not matter in the end. As Dick himself wrote in his 8,000-page Exegesis: "The madman speaks the moral of the piece." REFERENCES Philip K. Dick, excerpts from “If You Find This World Bad You Should See Some Of The Others” R. Crumb, The Religious Experience of Philip K. Dick Emmanuel Carrère, I Am Alive and You Are Dead: A Journey into the Mind of Philip K. Dick “20 Examples of the Mandela Effect That’ll Make You Believe You’re In A Parallel Universe” Philip K. Dick, The Man in the High Castle Weird Studies, "Episode 9: On Aleister Crowley and the Idea of Magick" Weird Studies, "Episode 4: Exploring the Weird with Erik Davis" William Shakespeare, The Tempest Sun Ra, Space is the Place Zebrapedia (crowdsourced online transcribing/editing of the Exegesis) Ramsey Dukes (Lionel Snell), Words Made Flesh Daniel Dennett, Consciousness Explained Bernado Kastrup, Why Materialism is Baloney Gordon White, Star.Ships: A Prehistory of the Spirits Nick Bostrom, “Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The plan was to discuss the introduction to Aleister Crowley's classic work, Magick in Theory and Practice (1924), a powerful text on the nature and purpose of magical practice. JF and Phil stick to the plan for the first part of the show, and then veer off into a dialogue on the basic idea of magic. Along the way, they share some of the intriguing results of their own occult experiments. REFERENCES Photo of JF's "large sum" cheque Aleister Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice The Gospel According to Thomas James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion Erik Davis, "Weird Shit" I Ching, The Book of Changes Joshua Gunn, Modern Occult Rhetoric: Mass Media and the Drama of Secrecy in the Twentieth Century The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage The Shackleton Expedition Grant Morrison on how to do sigil magic Alan Chapman, Advanced Magick for Beginners David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning the Human Understanding Joshua Ramey, "Contingency Without Unreason" Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande H. P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices