Episode 116: On 'Blade Runner'

Episode 116: On 'Blade Runner'

Author: SpectreVision Radio February 16, 2022 Duration: 1:29:29
In his 1978 bestseller The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins described humans as "survival machines" whose sole purpose is the replication of genes. All of culture needed to be understood as a side-effect, if not an epiphenomenon, of that defining function. Four years after Dawkins' book was published, Warner Brothers released Blade Runner, an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's dystopian novel Do Androis Dream of Electric Sheep?. Ridley Scott's film presents us with a different kind of survival machine: the replicant, a technology whose sole function is the replication of human beings. In this episode, Phil and JF discuss the ethical, metaphysical, and aesthetic dimensions of one of the greatest and most prophetic science fiction films of all time. Support us on Patreon Find us on Discord Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack REFERENCES Ridley Scott (dir.), Blade Runner Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick, “The Android and the Human” Philip K. Dick, “Man, Android, and Machine” Dennis Villeneuve (dir.), Blade Runner 2049 Weird Studies, Episode 114 on the Wheel of Fortune Scott Bukatman, Blade Runner: BFI Film Classics Alan Nourse, The Bladerunner Weird Studies, Episode 115 on Brian Eno Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene Todd Gitlin, The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism Weird Studies, Episode 5 on “When Nothing is Cool” JF Martel, “Reality is Analog: Philosophizing with Stranger Things” John Carpenter (dir,), The Thing Beyond Yacht Rock podcast Sigmund Freud, “The Uncanny” Weird Studies, Episode 86 on “The Sandman” Orson Welles (dir.), Touch of Evil George Orwell, 1984 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the heart of Weird Studies, a podcast from SpectreVision Radio, you’ll find long-form conversations between Professor Phil Ford and writer J. F. Martel. Their discussions aren’t simple reviews or straightforward analyses; instead, they wander through the tangled undergrowth where art and philosophy meet, giving generous time to concepts that resist easy understanding and to creative works that fracture our ordinary sense of the world. This podcast deliberately lingers in that ambiguous space, treating the “weird” not as a genre but as a particular mode of experience-one that reveals the cracks in what we comfortably assume is real. Each episode feels like joining a deep, meandering dialogue between two friends who are both deeply knowledgeable and endlessly curious, covering a vast terrain that includes literature, film, music, and esoteric thought. It’s a show for anyone who suspects that the most profound truths are often found in the shadows, the anomalies, and the strangely beautiful. As part of the SpectreVision Radio network, which specializes in content that explores the uncanny edges of creativity, Weird Studies builds a unique community of listeners who are eager to think differently. You won’t find pat answers here, but you will encounter compelling questions and a shared sense of exploration that makes each installment a distinctive journey.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 230

Weird Studies
Podcast Episodes
Episode 152: The Science of Things Spiritual: Live in Lily Dale [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:48:51
On the last week of July, 2023, Phil and JF were delighted to speak at Shannon Taggart's Science of Things Spiritual Symposium in Lily Dale, the nerve centre of the Spiritualist movement. As speakers, your hosts were par…
Episode 148: Mythos of the Moment: On 'Twin Peaks,' Season 3 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:14
David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks has been a touchstone of Weird Studies since the podcast's inception. Back in 2018, Phil and JF recorded Episode 1: Garmonbozia while still reeling from the series' third season, w…
Episode 147: You Must Change Your Life [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:33:57
Rainer Maria Rilke's poem "Archaic Torso of Apollo" ends on a note that has puzzled and inspired readers for more than a century: "For there is no place that does not see you. You must change your life." In this episode,…
Episode 146: An Air of Great Power: On the Chariot in the Tarot [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:49
Of the twenty-two figures that make up the major arcana of the tarot, the Chariot is probably the most commonplace. While the tenth arcanum is a wheel, it's The Wheel of Fortune, not just any old wagon wheel. But arcanum…
Episode 143: On UFOs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:30:34
In the 1950s, Carl Jung expressed frustration at the impenetrability of the UFO mystery, the "strange, unknown, and indeed contradictory nature" of this "ostensibly physical phenomenon" with "an extremely important psych…