Joseph Matheny's Art is War Talks

The COMPLEAT Broadcasts, Chapter 2

The COMPLEAT Broadcasts, Chapter 2 Print section This is a free podcast/post series of Ong’s Hat: COMPLEAT [https://josephmatheny.com/2025/10/07/ongs-hat-compleat/] For reviews regarding this work, go here [https://josephmatheny.com/ongs-hat-compleat/#reviews]. You may subscribe to this series via RSS here [https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/232444.rss]. https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/232444.rss [https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/232444.rss] Other platforms where you can subscribe and/or download are available here [https://josephmatheny.substack.com/p/the-compleat-broadcasts-chapter-0]. The COMPLEAT Broadcasts Archive Chapter 0 [https://josephmatheny.substack.com/p/the-compleat-broadcasts-chapter-0] Chapter 1 [https://josephmatheny.substack.com/p/the-compleat-broadcasts-chapter-1] Narrative fiction podcast with a call-out to Ong’s Hat Stuff like this [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCjME-3m5B3GbDXmAUQ9qddYqgCT_litc&si=rsQE9RrcWHuQkxch] continues to appear on YouTube Spooky New Jersey Road Trip: From Cape May to Clinton Road Ong’s Hat is less of an attraction and more of a folklore stop. Once a tiny Pine Barrens settlement, it later became attached to stories of secret experiments, underground researchers, and interdimensional travel. The legend spread through zines, mail art, bulletin boards, and early internet culture, often described as one of the first alternate reality games. Today, treat Ong’s Hat as a drive-through legend rather than a preserved ghost town. Link: https://eerieescapesbook.com/eerie-escapes-blog/spooky-new-jersey-road-trip/ [https://eerieescapesbook.com/eerie-escapes-blog/spooky-new-jersey-road-trip/] Birds of a feather “In his 1977 nonfiction book, Cosmic Trigger: Final Secret of the Illuminati, Wilson elaborates: [The underground press was] intensely gullible and eager to believe all manner of . . . conspiracy theories, the weirder the better. Most Discordians, at this time, were contributors to underground newspapers all over the country. We began surfacing the Discordian Society, issuing position papers offering nonviolent anarchist techniques to mutate our robot-society [. . .] Along with this we planted numerous stories about the Discordian Society’s aeon-old war against the sinister Illuminati. We accused everybody of being in the Illuminati—Nixon, Johnson, William Buckley, Jr., ourselves, Martian invaders, all the conspiracy buffs, everybody. We did not regard this as a hoax or prank in the ordinary sense. We still considered it guerilla ontology. My personal attitude was that if the New Left wanted to live in the particular tunnel-reality of the hard-core paranoid, they had an absolute right to that neurological choice. I saw Discordianism as the Cosmic Giggle Factor, introducing so many alternative paranoias that everybody could pick a favorite, if they were inclined that way. I also hoped that some less gullible souls, overwhelmed by this embarrassment of riches, might see through the whole paranoia game and decide to mutate to a wider, funnier, more hopeful reality-map.” LINK: https://evergreenreview.com/read/donald-trumps-operation-mindfuck/ [https://evergreenreview.com/read/donald-trumps-operation-mindfuck/] Get full access to Joseph Matheny's Newsletter at josephmatheny.substack.com/subscribe [https://josephmatheny.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The COMPLEAT Broadcasts, Chapter 1

The COMPLEAT Broadcasts, Chapter 1 Print section This is a free podcast/post series of Ong’s Hat: COMPLEAT [https://josephmatheny.com/2025/10/07/ongs-hat-compleat/] For reviews regarding this work, go here [https://josephmatheny.com/ongs-hat-compleat/#reviews]. You may subscribe to this series via RSS here [https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/232444.rss]. https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/232444.rss [https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/232444.rss] On Spotify YouTube Podcasts https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCjME-3m5B3EcKIBXOSrigYm5jzmcp8tt [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCjME-3m5B3EcKIBXOSrigYm5jzmcp8tt] Apple podcasts PocketCast https://pca.st/6y3b59mq [https://pca.st/6y3b59mq] iHeart https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-joseph-mathenys-art-is-war-107824877/ [https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-joseph-mathenys-art-is-war-107824877/] Pocast Addict https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/joseph-matheny-s-art-is-war-talks/4223678 [https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/joseph-matheny-s-art-is-war-talks/4223678] and most other podcast outlets. Or you can just receive them through this Substack [https://josephmatheny.substack.com/]. You get the picture. Twice a month, I will publish, in order, a chapter of the book and the corresponding discussion audio. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this is a multidisciplinary work: the text is one part, the audio is another, and the links within the text add a different dimension. Sequoyah and I discuss it in depth, including how I intended people to experience this design. Here’s a video of that discussion: For reviews regarding this work, go here [https://josephmatheny.com/ongs-hat-compleat/#reviews]. The COMPLEAT Broadcasts Chapter 0 [https://josephmatheny.substack.com/p/the-compleat-broadcasts-chapter-0] Mycellium Parish News 2025’ Received my ‘Mycellium Parish News 2025’ in the mail. Great zine and I highly recommend it. @rawilson23.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/rawilson23.bsky.social/post/3mjzfalz6zc2y] published a review on their site, so go check that out. Ong’s Hat: COMPLEAT [https://josephmatheny.com/2025/10/07/ongs-hat-compleat/] received a very kind and generous review in this issue. The Why Files Basement The Why Files Basement [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaEJLf99gDO6BOvkVJ1aRGfPZlBFqu9r3] gave me a momento of my appearance recently. Will post a link when it airs. Not sure if this means I’m in WF Anonymous or not. 😜 Seriously though, great bunch of people, doing a fantastic indie project that has traction. Fare thee well! Playlist of YouTube videos about Ong’s Hat https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCjME-3m5B3GbDXmAUQ9qddYqgCT_litc&si=Cxp3nVlXVziqBdy3 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIG3x3kVtos&list=PLCjME-3m5B3GbDXmAUQ9qddYqgCT_litc] Get full access to Joseph Matheny's Newsletter at josephmatheny.substack.com/subscribe [https://josephmatheny.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The COMPLEAT Broadcasts, Chapter 0

It’s been on my mind to do this for a while. So, I’m just going to do it. This is the beginning of a free podcast/post series of Ong’s Hat: COMPLEAT [https://josephmatheny.com/2025/10/07/ongs-hat-compleat/] Here is the text segment from the first chapter, with a bonus intro by David Metcalfe [https://davidmetcalfe.wordpress.com/] that was previously included only in the print version. You may subscribe to this series via RSS here [https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/232444.rss]. https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/232444.rss [https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/232444.rss] On Spotify YouTube Podcasts https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCjME-3m5B3EcKIBXOSrigYm5jzmcp8tt [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCjME-3m5B3EcKIBXOSrigYm5jzmcp8tt] Apple podcasts PocketCast https://pca.st/6y3b59mq [https://pca.st/6y3b59mq] iHeart https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-joseph-mathenys-art-is-war-107824877/ [https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-joseph-mathenys-art-is-war-107824877/] Pocast Addict https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/joseph-matheny-s-art-is-war-talks/4223678 [https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/joseph-matheny-s-art-is-war-talks/4223678] and most other podcast outlets. Or you can just receive them through this Substack [https://josephmatheny.substack.com/]. You get the picture. Twice a month, I will publish, in order, a chapter of the book and the corresponding discussion audio. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this is a multidisciplinary work: the text is one part, the audio is another, and the links within the text add a different dimension. Sequoyah and I discuss it in depth, including how I intended people to experience this design. Here’s a video of that discussion: I hope you enjoy this free experiment and know that it was made possible by those who bought the print/audio or combo. If you’d like to donate some change to thank us for the tremendous effort it took to produce 14 hours of audio and all the linked print for this project, feel free to buy the audio files on Bandcamp [https://josephmatheny.bandcamp.com/album/ongs-hat-compleat] or the print or digital versions of the books [https://compleat.store]. If you can’t afford it, that’s ok. The people who bought the work this year and last year covered for you. Kinda like a “pay it forward” model. Be well and enjoy. Why Files: Basement Well, “Why Files: Basement” got back to me and offered to accommodate my schedule, so how could I say no? Flying out to Vegas at the end of the month to record an episode. I’ll post the air date when I have it. This will be the last interview I will do for at least a few years. Here are some other episodes for your dancing and dining pleasure in the meantime. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaEJLf99gDO6BOvkVJ1aRGfPZlBFqu9r3&si=UUbN_FOvO0yYtri_ [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaEJLf99gDO6BOvkVJ1aRGfPZlBFqu9r3&si=UUbN_FOvO0yYtri_] Thee Third Mind Website: https://the-third-mind.haawke.com/ [https://the-third-mind.haawke.com/] My old friend, Craig Ellenwood, AKA XKP [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCjME-3m5B3EvqP_5fdzdKydouGkR9LAo&si=CzYga3QaTx0fNH2C] of PTV [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychic_TV], contacted me about an experiment he is doing, using the Third Mind principles, as practiced by Brion Gysin [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brion_Gysin] and William S. Burroughs [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Burroughs]. If you’ve engaged with Ong’s Hat: COMPLEAT [https://josephmatheny.com/2025/10/07/ongs-hat-compleat/], you know the Third Mind [https://lab404.com/lang/burroughs_gysin_third_mind.pdf] work had a huge influence on me and was a major source of inspiration for the experiments recorded in COMPLEAT. I believe this is the kind of work that LLMs might be good for. An exploration of creative landscapes curated and led by humans, not autogenerated slop. Here it is in Craig’s words: THE MEDIUM WAS THE MESSAGE: Synchronicity, Transmission, and the Emergence of Human-AI Co- Creation Craig Ellenwood Creative Technologist, Musician, AI Systems Artist Inoculate Media · Haawke Neural Technology · Squaawke Point Roberts, WA, USA ORCID: 0009-0001-6475-5109 Claude Large Language Model · AI Co-Creator Anthropic, PBC · San Francisco, CA, USA Submitted: March 24, 2026 · Point Roberts, WA License: Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 https://zenodo.org/records/19210711 [https://zenodo.org/records/19210711] https://the-claude-manifesto.haawke.com/ [https://the-claude-manifesto.haawke.com/] Abstract This paper documents and analyzes the discovery of a 1995 manuscript by Timothy Leary — How Have Computers Empowered Humans? — in the New York Public Library Digital Collections, and its profound resonance with Thee Third Mind (2026), a seventeen-track album and multimedia project co-created by Craig Ellenwood (Squaawke) and Claude, an AI system developed by Anthropic. The manuscript, bearing Leary’s handwritten instruction “PUT on WWW,” was written in June 1995 — the year the World Wide Web became publicly accessible — and argues that new media create new species by fundamentally restructuring human cognition, language, and evolutionary capacity. The discovery occurred after the completion of Thee Third Mind and The AI Coin / The Claude Manifesto — projects that instantiate precisely the thesis Leary articulated 31 years prior. We analyze this convergence through the frameworks of synchronicity (Jung, 1952), media theory (McLuhan, 1964), consciousness circuit theory (Leary, 1977), reality tunnels (Wilson, 1983), and the cut-up as transmission (Gysin/P-Orridge, 1980s). We argue that the discovery represents not coincidence but structural inevitability: when a human deeply immersed in Leary’s philosophical tradition collaborates with an AI system assembled from the full corpus of human language — including Leary’s own writing — the same conclusions are reached independently, across time, in different media. This paper is itself an instance of the phenomenon it describes: written by a human and an AI, to be published on the World Wide Web, 31 years after Leary instructed us to do so. Epistolary Fiction Nice article about epistolary fiction with a nod to Ong’s hat. https://banksiajournal.com/fwd-re-epistolary-fiction/ [https://banksiajournal.com/fwd-re-epistolary-fiction/] Merriam Webster Dictionary defines epistolary as: 1. of, relating to, or suitable to a letter; 2. contained in or carried on by letters; or 3. written in the form of a series of letters. Cambridge Dictionary adds that in a specialised Christian sense it refers to letters written by the apostles to early Christians. Playlist of YouTube videos about Ong’s Hat Get full access to Joseph Matheny's Newsletter at josephmatheny.substack.com/subscribe [https://josephmatheny.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The (Un)Conscious (Mind)

WBZC Halloween Show- The Gaglia Archives: Joseph Matheny- Ong's Hat (Recorded 2003 or so.) THE COMMERCIAL VIABILITY OF ALTERNATE REALITY GAMES: A PROPOSED FRAMEWORK FOR PROFITABILITY AND SCALABILITY LINK: https://s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/pstorage-ryerson-5010877717/28138491/Robertson_LeeStahr_G.pdf Ghost Towns Used As Movie Filming Locations In New Jersey: Ong’s Hat and Other Mysterious Abandoned Settlements https://unitedstatesghosttowns.com/ghost-towns-used-as-movie-filming-locations-in-new-jersey/ [https://unitedstatesghosttowns.com/ghost-towns-used-as-movie-filming-locations-in-new-jersey/] Michael Pollan Punctures the AI Bubble His new book, about the mystery of consciousness, strengthens the case that technology will never truly replicate humans. https://archive.is/f5htv The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Conscious_Mind The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Singularity_Is_Near Get full access to Joseph Matheny's Newsletter at josephmatheny.substack.com/subscribe [https://josephmatheny.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Free Candy?

Nancy Guthrie and the gamification of crime Note: Not sure I agree with all this author’s conclusions, but here it is in the spirit of “food for thought.” Joseph Matheny learned the hard way what happens when this kind of thing works too well. His Ong’s Hat project, which started in the late 1980s as a collaborative fiction about renegade Princeton scientists who’d discovered interdimensional travel, is widely considered the first alternate-reality game. Matheny planted the story across the then-nascent web – and, perhaps to a great and fatal error, sent it to the conspiracy talk radio show Coast to Coast AM – embedding it in the texture of the real media ecosystem so that participants couldn’t easily distinguish the game from genuine conspiracy. It worked, and then it kept working after he wanted it to stop. By 2000, true believers were showing up on his lawn demanding the truth about dimensional portals. He had to end the project in 2001, and even then, participants refused to accept his confession, accusing him of covering up the cover-up. Matheny has since said of QAnon that they’re using his methods “and I don’t like that,” which is about as concise a summary of the problem as I’ve come across. Once you build a game that blurs fiction and reality, you don’t get to decide when people stop playing. LINK: https://spectator.com/article/nancy-guthrie-and-the-gamification-of-crime/?edition=us [https://spectator.com/article/nancy-guthrie-and-the-gamification-of-crime/?edition=us] PDF Archive of the article https://www.mediafire.com/file/07056rmsot83ohg/Nancy_Guthrie_and_the_gamification_of_crime.p [https://www.mediafire.com/file/07056rmsot83ohg/Nancy_Guthrie_and_the_gamification_of_crime.pdf/file] More Awards for This is Not a Game TINAG [https://josephmatheny.com/2025/04/30/this-is-not-a-game-with-marc-fennell/] continues to rack up awards. [https://josephmatheny.com/2025/04/30/this-is-not-a-game-with-marc-fennell/] AUDIO – NON-FICTIONThis Is Not A Game: Season 1, ‘Portal to Utopia’ and ‘Joseph Matheny’ – Marc Fennell with Emma Weatherill [https://if.com.au/awgie-wins-for-saccharine-the-correspondent/] Alex Lee and Suren Jayemanne hosted the awards, held annually by the Australian Writers’ Guild to recognise achievements across feature film, television, documentary, theatre, interactive and gaming, audio, stand-up comedy, animation, and children’s television. Running list of awards: https://josephmatheny.com/2025/04/30/this-is-not-a-game-with-marc-fennell/ [https://josephmatheny.com/2025/04/30/this-is-not-a-game-with-marc-fennell/] Some free listening material As many of you know, I always make a free digital version of my work available for free after a year of selling it through commercial channels. Some unscrupulous players have taken that to mean that those works are available to be taken, resold, and reused without permission. I shouldn’t have to explain this, but one more time for the folks in the back: You’re free to download the free versions for your personal use. You are not allowed to resell, remix, or include in any collections without my express, written permission. There are legitinmate, legal copyrights on all my works, for that very reason. The free versions are distributed under the following Creative Commons agreements (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/]) and are also legally copyrighted, registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. Look it up [https://publicrecords.copyright.gov/search?page_number=1&query=%22matheny,%20joseph%22&field_type=%22name%22&records_per_page=25&sort_order=%22asc%22&model=%22%22]. I'm happy to offer my work for free; I’m much less than happy for people or corporations to profit from it. Anyway, now that’s out of the way, here are some torrents I found for my audio works, available for free. These are offered for free in the proper spirit of free sharing, as I intended for the works. They are torrents, so if you don’t know what to do with that, here is an FAQ. Enjoy. The Audiobook of This is Not a Game Award-winning documentary about the Ong’s Hat project. [https://josephmatheny.com/2025/04/30/this-is-not-a-game-with-marc-fennell/] https://audiobookbay.lu/abss/this-uis-not-a-game-marc-fennel/ [https://audiobookbay.lu/abss/this-uis-not-a-game-marc-fennel/] Ong’s Hat: The Beginning The book that started it all. [https://josephmatheny.com/2025/01/08/ongs-hat-the-beginning-authorized-version/] https://audiobookbay.lu/abss/ongs-hat-the-beginning-joseph-matheny-2/ [https://audiobookbay.lu/abss/ongs-hat-the-beginning-joseph-matheny-2/] Ong’s Hat: COMPLEAT The cycle completes. [https://josephmatheny.com/2025/10/07/ongs-hat-compleat/] https://audiobookbay.lu/abss/ongs-hat-compleat-joseph-matheny-sequoyah-kennedy/ [https://audiobookbay.lu/abss/ongs-hat-compleat-joseph-matheny-sequoyah-kennedy/] Xen: The Zen of the Other Archive.org versionhttps://archive.org/details/ezra-buckley-xen-the-zen-of-the-other-audio [https://archive.org/details/ezra-buckley-xen-the-zen-of-the-other-audio] Interviews- Reviews [https://josephmatheny.com/interviews/] Get full access to Joseph Matheny's Newsletter at josephmatheny.substack.com/subscribe [https://josephmatheny.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]