Weird Studies

Episode 216 – Artworks Are People Too

"Now and then, a mysterious life and potency will flicker out of an artwork and confront you." So began "Artworks Are People Too," a talk Phil presented at the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute earlier this summer. In this episode, JF and Phil discuss the implications of this idea that some artworks break the mould of the inanimate and act as persons in the world. Are artworks mere creations, or creatures too? To enroll in Questionable Cinema, our live summer series happening in August 2026, visit Weirdosphere [https://www.weirdosphere.org]. Music: "Hypnagogic," from Weird Studies Vol. 3 [https://pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com/album/weird-studies-vol-3]. References Henri Corbin,  Alone with the Alone [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780691058344⁠] Alfred Hallowell, "Ojibwa Ontology, Behavior, and Worldview" Martin Buber, I and Thou [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781774641651⁠] Charles Taylor, A Secular Age [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780674986916⁠] Rainer Maria Rilke, “Archaic Torso of Apollo” [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/1679348/archaic-torso-of-apollo⁠] Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780745649221⁠] Carl Jung, “On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry” [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780691017754] Alejandro Jodorowsky, Pyschomagic  [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780691017754] Dan Sperber, “The Causal Chains of Culture” [https://www.dan.sperber.fr/wp-content/uploads/2007_hirschfeld_culture-and-modularity.pdf] Paul Stoller, In Sorcery’s Shadow [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780226775432⁠] Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780060834821⁠] Ishmael Reed, Mumbo Jumbo [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780684824772⁠] Holly Cusack-McVeigh, Stories Find You [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781607815822⁠] Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780307455772⁠] Ikea lamp commercial [https://youtu.be/jU-cori12KU?si=orN-pCQk90nnSIyE⁠] Sam Raimi (dir.), Evil Dead II [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092991/⁠] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Special Episode: Make Art!

Owing to circumstances preventing us from releasing a new show this week, we are offering you one from the archives. This episode was originally released on our Patreon in March 2026. In it, we discuss the splendour and squalor of Victorian London, kung-fu bobbies, the (mis)alignment of society and technology, post-apocalyptic optimism, the emancipating genius of tabletop roleplaying games, the human after AI, and a reason for creating works of art. A new episode of Weird Studies will drop on July 22. For more information on Questionable Cinema, Phil and JF's upcoming online course, visit Weirdosphere [https://www.weirdosphere.org]. To listen to more tracks from Weird Studies Vol. 3 and purchase the download or LP, visit Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp [https://pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com/]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Episode 215 – Where No One Can Hear You Scream: On Ridley Scott's 'Alien'

In this episode, JF and Phil discuss Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi/horror blockbuster Alien. Together, they wipe off the patina of familiarity that beclouds the film, restoring it to its original weirdness. What is the organism that terrorizes the Nostromo? What's its relation to technology, evolution, industry? How does it differ from the monsters of older horror classics? How does one interpret without explaining away? Music in this episode: "Hypnagogic," from Pierre-Yves Martel's Weird Studies Vol. 3. [https://pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com/album/weird-studies-vol-3] Events Shannon Taggart's Lily Dale Symposium [https://www.shannontaggart.com/events/2026] (July 23-25, 2026 https://www.shannontaggart.com/events Transcendence in the Age of AI [https://weirdosphere.org/course/transcendence-in-the-age-of-a-i/], a Weirdosphere chat with Michael Garfield and JF Martel, hosted by Joel Gunz - June 25, 2026 Kickstarter campaign [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/strangeattractoruk/artist-as-astronaut-the-otherworldly-art-of-ionel-talpazan] for Artist as Astronaut: The Otherworldly Art of Ionel Talpazan from Strange Attractor Press. The campaign closes June 27! References Ionel Talpazan, Romanian experiencer and artist Ridley Scott (dir.), Alien [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078748/%E2%81%A0] Peter Bebergal, All Our Famous Monsters (forthcoming)  Malachi Martin, Hostage to the Devil [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780060653378%E2%81%A0] Vilhelm Hammershøi [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilhelm_Hammersh%C3%B8i%E2%81%A0], Danish painter H. R. Giger [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._R._Giger], Swiss artist Simon-Max [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon-Max%E2%81%A0], French entertainer Eric Wargo, Passion of the Space Jockey [https://www.thenightshirt.com/?p=4627%E2%81%A0] Weird Studies, Episode 213 on “Eric”  Mel Brooks (dir.), Spaceballs [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094012/] Howard and Emerson, “Hello, Ma Baby” [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello!_Ma_Baby%E2%81%A0] Beowulf [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780393320978%E2%81%A0] Eugene Thacker, In the Dust of This Planet [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781846946769] Graham Harman, Weird Reality [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781780992525] Pierre Schaeffer [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Schaeffer%E2%81%A0], French musician Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Episode 214 – Fortune's Fools: On Gordon White's Philosophy of Fortune-Telling

It was with heavy hearts that Phil and JF learned of Gordon White's passing. Gordon was a force to be reckoned with: as an author and podcaster on all things occult, he offered unique perspectives and provocative interpretations at every turn. In this episode, your hosts discuss Gordon's thoughts on divination—or fortune-telling, as he preferred to call it... Click here [https://www.shannontaggart.com/events/2026] to purchase tickets to the 2026 edition of the Lily Dale Symposium (July 23-25), organized by Shannon Taggart and closing this year with a live recording of Weird Studies. References Rune Soup [https://runesoup.com/%E2%81%A0%C2%A0] Fortune’s Fools Oracle Deck [%C2%A0%E2%81%A0https://fortunesfools.runesoup.com/%E2%81%A0%C2%A0] Duns Scotus [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duns_Scotus%E2%81%A0], Scottish priest Marshall Sahlins, The New Science of the Enchanted Universe [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780691215938] Henri Bergson, Time and Free Will [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780486417677%E2%81%A0] Ithell Colquhoun, Taro as Colour [https://www.fulgur.co.uk/books/taro-as-colour-deck/%E2%81%A0] Lord Dunsany, The Gods of Pegana [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9789357485401%E2%81%A0] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Episode 213 – Comics, Surf Rock, and the Weirdness of Time: On Tom Manning's 'Eric'

Tom Manning's 2018 graphic novel Eric is that rarest of gems: the self-published masterpiece. Available only on the author's website [https://www.tommanning.info/], it's the story of a washed-up surf rocker who stumbles into a cosmic conspiracy involving elite cultists, post-apocalyptic cowboys, renegade magicians, and three-eyed djinn. In this episode, Manning's work serves as a shining example of what makes comics such a unique and potent art form. There's no need to have read the book before listening—but know that you'll probably want to do when you're done. You're welcome. Visit the Weirdosphere website [https://weirdosphere.org/course/inside-weird-studies-vol-3/] to sign up for the Weird Studies Vol. 3 listening party on May 30, 2026. Join the Weird Studies Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudies] and support the show. References Tom Manning, ERIC [https://www.tommanning.info/books/p/fresa-a644m-5sh75] Leslie Stevens, “So So Surreal” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glTRyP1PqJI%E2%81%A0] “Beach Bum #1” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKOW2pU_VWM%E2%81%A0] Mike Relm, “Change the Channel” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHivQq1Jjlc%E2%81%A0] Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, What is Philosophy? [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780231079891] Sarah Heston, “Magical Los Angeles: An Interview with Tom Manning” [https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/magical-los-angeles-an-interview-with-tom-manning/%E2%81%A0] Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780060976255%E2%81%A0] David Mamet, On Directing Film [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780140127225%E2%81%A0] Richard J. Lewis (dir.), Whale Music [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111687/] Joel and Ethan Coen, The Big Lebowski [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118715/%E2%81%A0] Darren Aronovsky (dir.), The Wrestler [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1125849/%E2%81%A0] Jorge Luis Borges, “The Garden of Forking Paths”  Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time  Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780811220309] Jean-Paul Sartre, The Transcendence of the Ego [https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780809015450%E2%81%A0] David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4093826/%E2%81%A0] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]