Weird Studies
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."
SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring creativity, the esoteric, and the unknown. We’re a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions.
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Episode 50: Demogorgon: On 'Stranger Things'
JF and Phil discuss the eldritch metaphysics of the Netflix series 'Stranger Things.'
96 min
152
Episode 49: Out of Time: Nietzsche on History
Phil and JF discuss Nietzsche's seminal essay, "On the Uses and Disadvantages of History for Life," from Untimely Meditations.
82 min
153
Episode 48: Walking the Tightrope with Erik Davis
JF and Phil sit down with Erik Davis to discuss his new book, "High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies."
84 min
154
Episode 47: Machines of Loving Grace: Technolog...
A wide-ranging conversation on technology, utopia, and the ethics of cybernetics.
67 min
155
Episode 46: Thomas Ligotti's Angel
An in-depth discussion of horror writer Thomas Ligotti's short story, "Mrs. Rinaldi's Angel."
89 min
156
Episode 45: Jeffrey J. Kripal on 'Flipping' Out...
JF and Phil talk to Jeffrey Kripal about his new book, "The Flip: Epiphanies of Mind and the Future of Knowledge"
69 min
157
Episode 44: Doomed to Enchantment: The Psychica...
Phil and JF discuss two articles by William James on the early years of psychical research in Britain and the US.
93 min
158
Episode 43: On Shirley Jackson
JF and Phil discuss two weird masterworks, "The Lottery" and "The Summer People" by the American horror luminary, Shirley Jackson.
76 min
159
Episode 42: On Pauline Oliveros, with Kerry O'B...
Music scholar Kerry O'Brien join Phil and JF for a conversation on the work of American composer Pauline Oliveros.
63 min
160
Episode 41: On Speculative Fiction, with Matt C...
JF and Phil talk fantasy and horror with writer and editor Matt Cardin.
59 min
161
Episode 40: On Jonathan Glazer's 'Under the Skin'
Phil and JF discuss the recent masterwork of weird cinema starring Scarlett Johansson.
77 min
162
Episode 39: The Challenge of the Paranormal, wi...
JF and Phil discuss the paranormal with the esteemed professor and philosophy and religious thought, Jeffrey J. Kripal.
62 min
163
Episode 38: Style as Analysis
Phil and JF discuss a recently published article of Phil's authorship on how to write about music.
70 min
164
Episode 37: Entities, with Stuart Davis
JF and Phil discuss nonhuman beings in an aesthetic universe with filmmaker, musician and mystic Stuart Evan Davis.
74 min
165
Christmas Bonus: Hyperstition Addendum
The final segment of our conversation on hyperstition, i.e., fiction that turns real.
24 min
166
Episode 36: On Hyperstition
JF and Phil talk hyperstitions, entities born in the realm of fantasy that slowly become denizens of the real.
73 min
167
Episode 35: Whirl Without End: On M.C. Richards...
Phil and JF discuss the first chapter of "Centering," M.C. Richard's penetrating essay on the artistic process.
61 min
168
Episode 34: The Weird Realism of Robert Aickman
JF and Phil discuss Robert Aickman's masterwork of weird fiction, "The Hospice," from his 1975 collection "Cold Hand in Mine."
55 min
169
Episode 33: The Fine Art of Changing the Subjec...
JF and Phil discuss the profound effects of Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" (the urinal) on the development of the arts since 1917.
59 min
170
Episode 32: Orbis Tertius: Borges on Magic, Con...
Phil and JF discuss the classic tale, "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius," by the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges.
70 min
171
Episode 31: Scarcely Human at All: On Glenn Gou...
JF and Phil discuss the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould's prophetic essay, "The Prospects of Recording."
76 min
172
Episode 30: On Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut'
Phil and JF discuss Stanley Kubrick's final masterpiece.
66 min
173
Episode 29: On Lovecraft
Phil and JF try to distill the essence of H. P. Lovecraft's monumental work.
75 min
174
Episode 28: Weird Music, Part Two
The search for the music of the weird continues with a discussion on Bob Dylan and Franz Liszt.
64 min
175
Episode 27: Weird Music, Part One
Phil and JF discuss two powerful pieces of music: Ligeti's Musica Ricercata, second movement, and the opening music to Cronenberg's Naked Lunch, composed by Howard Shore and featuring Ornette Coleman.
78 min