Weird Studies

• Episode 184: On David Lynch

  David Lynch passed away on January 15th, 2025, leaving behind a body of work that reshaped the landscape of cinema and television. Few artists have delved as deeply into the strange, the beautiful, and the terrifying as Lynch, and few have had as profound an influence on Weird Studies. His films have long been a touchstone for JF and Phil's discussions on art, philosophy, and the nature of the weird. To honor his memory, they decided to devote an episode to Lynch's work as a whole, with special attention paid to Eraserhead—the nightmarish debut that announced his singular vision to the world. A study in dread, desire, and the uncanny, Eraserhead remains one of the most disturbing and mysterious works of American cinema. In this episode, we explore what makes it so powerful and how it connects to Lynch’s larger artistic project. To enroll in JF's new Weirdosphere course, It's All Real: An Inquiry Into the Reality of the Supernatural, please visit www.weirdosphere.org. The course starts on Thursday, Feb 6, at 8 pm Eastern. A video for the piece For David Lynch is available on Pierre-Yves Martel's YouTube channel (https://youtu.be/3d73NWXWgyY?si=kHr9yZV2As9wLzSe). REFERENCES David Lynch, Eraserhead (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074486/) David Lynch: The Art Life (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1691152/) Victorian Nelson, The Secret Life of Puppets (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780674012448) Norman Mailer, An American Dream (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780812986136) Laura Adams, "Existential Aesthetics: An Interview with Norman Mailer” George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781401000820) Carl Jung, The Red Book (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780393065671) Jack Arnold (dir.), The Creature from the Black Lagoon (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046876/) Noel Caroll, The Philosophy of Horror (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780415902168) Gilles Deleuze, The Logic of Sense (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780231059831) Jack Smith, “The Perfect Filmic Appositeness of Maria Montez” (https://www.scribd.com/document/249415272/The-Perfect-Filmic-Appositeness-of-Maria-Montez) David Foster Wallace, “David Lynch Keeps his Head” in A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never do Again (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780316925280) Arthur Machen, The White People (https://shortstoryproject.com/stories/the-white-people/) William Shakespeare, Macbeth (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781451694727)

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• Episode 183: On Hermann Hesse's 'Siddhartha'

  Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha is one of the great novels of the twentieth century and a prime example of literature that transforms the deeply personal into something universal. For Phil and JF in this episode, the novel serves as the foundation for a discussion on spiritual journeying, the ideal of enlightenment, and the challenge of living in an ensouled universe. Sign up for JF's new Weirdosphere course on the supernatural (http://www.weirdosphere.org), starting on February 6th, 2025. Purchase tickets to the Weirdosphere screening of Aaron Poole's Dada (https://weirdosphere.mn.co/plans/1494861?bundle_token=efd897d98f0a13d7bac82f0a49af07fb&utm_source=manual) on February 1st, 2025. Support us on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudies). Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 (https://pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com/album/weird-studies-music-from-the-podcast-vol-1) and 2 (https://pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com/album/weird-studies-music-from-the-podcast-vol-2), on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp (https://pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com) page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia (https://cosmophonia.podbean.com/). Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop (https://bookshop.org/shop/weirdstudies) Find us on Discord (https://discord.com/invite/Jw22CHfGwp) Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau (https://cottonbureau.com/products/can-o-content#/13435958/tee-men-standard-tee-vintage-black-tri-blend-s)! REFERENCES Herman Hesse, Siddhartha (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780553208849) Christopher Theofanidis and Melissa Studdard, Siddhartha Gustav Holst, [The Planets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThePlanets)_ Richard Wagner, Parsifal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsifal) G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781511903608) Colin Wilson, The Outsider (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780399173103) Adam Kirsch, “Herman Hesse’s Arrested Development” (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/11/19/hermann-hesses-arrested-development) Dogen, Genjakoan (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780992112912) Chögyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9781570629570)

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• Episode 182: Providence of Evil: On Robert Eggers' 'Nosferatu'

  In this episode, JF and Phil examine the myth of the vampire through the lens of Robert Eggers' latest film, Nosferatu, a reimagining of F. W. Murnau's German Expressionist masterpiece. Topics covered include the nature of vampires, the symbolism of evil, the implicit theology of Eggers' film (compared with that of Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula), the need for shadow work, as well as the power of real introspection and self-sacrifice. Support us on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudies). Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 (https://pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com/album/weird-studies-music-from-the-podcast-vol-1) and 2 (https://pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com/album/weird-studies-music-from-the-podcast-vol-2), on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp (https://pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com) page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia (https://cosmophonia.podbean.com/). Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop (https://bookshop.org/shop/weirdstudies) Find us on Discord (https://discord.com/invite/Jw22CHfGwp) Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau (https://cottonbureau.com/products/can-o-content#/13435958/tee-men-standard-tee-vintage-black-tri-blend-s)! REFERENCES Robert Eggers (dir.), Nosferatu (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5040012/) F. W. Murnau (dir.), Nosferatu (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013442/) Mel Brooks (dir.), Dracula: Dead and Loving It (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112896/) Francis Ford Coppola (dir.), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103874/) Bram Stoker, Dracula (https://bookshop.org/a/18799/9780141439846) Richard Wagner, [Tristan und Isolde](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TristanundIsolde) David James Smith, “The Archaeologist Couple who Unearthed a Field Full of Vampires” (https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/vampires-poland-field-archaeology-secrets-svm5mt26v) Robert Eggers, The Witch (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4263482/) Richard Strauss, Salome (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salome_(opera)) Weird Studies, Episode 156 on “The Secret History” (https://www.weirdstudies.com/156) Rudolf Steiner, “Lucifer and Ahriman” (https://rsarchive.org/Lectures/LucAhr_index.html) Richard Wagner, Ring Cycle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Ring_des_Nibelungen)

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  1:20:20
• Holiday Bonus: Waiting for the Next Sentence

  With the next flagship show set to drop on January 8, 2025, we thought we'd tide you over with this conversation on the art and craft and writing, originally recorded for Listener's Tier patrons on the Weird Studies Patreon. To join our Patreon community, please visit www.patreon.com/weirdstudies. To purchase tickets to Phil and JF's winter solstice celebration, happening on Weirdosphere on Thursday, December 19, at 8 pm Eastern, please visit www.weirdosphere.org. We wish you a happy and safe holiday season! The journey continues in 2025.

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  44:43
• Episode 181: On 'The X Files,' with Meredith Michael

  Chris Carter's The X-Files is weird on its face: a dramatic series that, from the start, presented itself as more than drama, an exploration of the reality of the paranormal using the tools of fiction, a fantasy posing as reality (or is it the other way around?). Strangely prescient, undeniably zany, and truly "hyperstitious," the series is likely to strike contemporary viewers as equal parts naive and prophetic. In this episode, music scholar and Weird Studies assistant Meredith Michael joins Phil and JF for a deep dive into the archival sublime of the filing cabinet marked "X." To purchase tickets to JF and Phil's December 19th solstice event on Weirdosphere, with live music by Pierre-Yves Martel, to to weirdosphere.org (http://www.weirdosphere.org). Support us on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/weirdstudies). Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack, volumes 1 (https://pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com/album/weird-studies-music-from-the-podcast-vol-1) and 2 (https://pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com/album/weird-studies-music-from-the-podcast-vol-2), on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp (https://pierre-yvesmartel.bandcamp.com) page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia (https://cosmophonia.podbean.com/). Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop (https://bookshop.org/shop/weirdstudies) Find us on Discord (https://discord.com/invite/Jw22CHfGwp) Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau (https://cottonbureau.com/products/can-o-content#/13435958/tee-men-standard-tee-vintage-black-tri-blend-s)! REFERENCES Cut-up technique (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut-up_technique) Phil Ford, “The View from the Cheap Seats at the UFO Show” Richard Dawkins, [Unweaving the Rainbow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UnweavingtheRainbow) Special Guest: Meredith Michael.

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  1:17:33

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