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Weird Studies

Episode 29: On Lovecraft

Weird Studies

Phil Ford and J. F. Martel

Society & Culture, Arts, Philosophy

4.8688 Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2018

⏱️ 75 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Phil and JF indulge their autumnal mood in this discussion of Howard Phillips Lovecraft's work, specifically the essay "Notes on the Writing of Weird Fiction" and the prose piece "Nyarlathotep." Philip K. Dick, Algernon Blackwood, and David Foster Wallace make appearances as our fearsome hosts talk about how the weird story differs from conventional horror fiction, how Lovecraft gives voice to contemporary fears of physical, psychological and political infection, and how authors like Lovecraft and Dick can be seen as prophetic poets of the "great unbuffering of the Western self." REFERENCES H. P. Lovecraft, "Notes on Writing Weird Fiction" H. P. Lovecraft, "Nyarlathotep" 1974 Rolling Stone feature on PKD Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy Theodor Roszak, The Making of a Counterculture: Reflections on the Technocratic Society and its Youthful Opposition Algernon Blackwood, "The Wendigo" Algernon Blackwood, "The Willows" Ann and Jeff Vandermeer, The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories H.P. Lovecraft, "Supernatural Horror in Literature" Charles Taylor, A Secular Age E.E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest H.P. Lovecraft, "The Music of Erich Zann" H.P. Lovecraft, "The Colour Out of Space" H.P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu" Weird Studies, Episode 2: Garmonbozia Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Specter Vision Radio

0:03.3

Welcome to Weird Studies, an art and philosophy podcast with hosts Phil Ford and J.F. Martel.

0:21.8

For more episodes and to support the podcast, go to Weird Studies.com. Okay.

0:48.3

Okay.

0:49.3

Okay.

0:52.3

So this way you can see me neurotically checking and rechecking the numbers on my device.

0:58.4

It's sort of like people who leave home and then drive immediately back to check to make sure that they turn the stove off.

1:03.7

You mean OCD people?

1:05.6

Yeah, I'm a little OCD about my recorder.

1:08.3

Well, it's good to be a bit OCD.

1:11.0

Mm, yeah. Because, you know, these devices are constantly lying away at night, thinking of ways to

1:17.5

trick us. Definitely. This whole universe, really, that we perceive is just a thin veneer of reason

1:24.4

on a bottomless ocean of chaos. Yes, a thin icing of reason on a bottomless ocean of chaos.

1:34.8

Yes, a thin icing of reason on a rich, meaty chaos cake.

1:37.9

I don't know, I'm just trying to think, what would a chaos cake be made out of?

1:41.3

It'd be made out of all kinds of shit you don't normally put in a cake, that's what.

1:45.3

Yeah, everything, but, no, we'd have to also include the cake ingredients somewhere,

1:47.0

or else it'd just be... Yeah, it's true.

1:48.9

You'd have cake and nails...

1:50.8

Yeah.

1:51.4

And the meat of fell creatures...

1:55.0

Yeah.

...

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