Weird Studies

"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.

Music: "Hypnagogic," from Weird Studies Vol. 3.

References

Henri Corbin, Alone with the Alone

Alfred Hallowell, "Ojibwa Ontology, Behavior, and Worldview"

Martin Buber, I and Thou

Charles Taylor, A Secular Age

Rainer Maria Rilke, “Archaic Torso of Apollo”

Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life

Carl Jung, “On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry”

Alejandro Jodorowsky, Pyschomagic

Dan Sperber, “The Causal Chains of Culture”

Paul Stoller, In Sorcery’s Shadow

Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky

Ishmael Reed, Mumbo Jumbo

Holly Cusack-McVeigh, Stories Find You

Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind

Ikea lamp commercial

Sam Raimi (dir.), Evil Dead II
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.

To listen to more tracks from Weird Studies Vol. 3 and purchase the download or LP, visit Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.

Events

Shannon Taggart's Lily Dale Symposium (July 23-25, 2026Transcendence in the Age of AI, a Weirdosphere chat with Michael Garfield and JF Martel, hosted by Joel Gunz - June 25, 2026

Kickstarter campaign 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

Peter Bebergal, All Our Famous Monsters (forthcoming) 

Malachi Martin, Hostage to the Devil

Vilhelm Hammershøi, Danish painter

H. R. Giger, Swiss artist

Simon-Max, French entertainer

Eric Wargo, Passion of the Space Jockey

Weird Studies, Episode 213 on “Eric” 

Mel Brooks (dir.), Spaceballs

Howard and Emerson, “Hello, Ma Baby”

Beowulf

Eugene Thacker, In the Dust of This Planet

Graham Harman, Weird Reality

Pierre Schaeffer, French musician
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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

Fortune’s Fools Oracle Deck

Duns Scotus, Scottish priest

Marshall Sahlins, The New Science of the Enchanted Universe

Henri Bergson, Time and Free Will

Ithell Colquhoun, Taro as Colour

Lord Dunsany, The Gods of Pegana
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tom Manning's 2018 graphic novel Eric is that rarest of gems: the self-published masterpiece. Available only on the author's website, 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 to sign up for the Weird Studies Vol. 3 listening party on May 30, 2026.

Join the Weird Studies Patreon and support the show.

References

Tom Manning, ERIC

Leslie Stevens, “So So Surreal”

“Beach Bum #1”

Mike Relm, “Change the Channel”

Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, What is Philosophy?

Sarah Heston, “Magical Los Angeles: An Interview with Tom Manning”

Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics

David Mamet, On Directing Film

Richard J. Lewis (dir.), Whale Music

Joel and Ethan Coen, The Big Lebowski

Darren Aronovsky (dir.), The Wrestler

Jorge Luis Borges, “The Garden of Forking Paths” 

Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time 

Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea

Jean-Paul Sartre, The Transcendence of the Ego

David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices