Episode 8: On Graham Harman's "The Third Table"

Episode 8: On Graham Harman's "The Third Table"

Author: SpectreVision Radio April 4, 2018 Duration: 1:12:42
JF and Phil discuss Graham Harman's "The Third Table," a short and accessible introduction to "object-oriented ontology." Phil takes us on a tour of his closet, we discover that JF's kids are better at this weird studies stuff than their old man, and the conversation veers through Harman's Lovecraftian "weird realism," Zen's "just sit" meditation, panpsychism, Martin Buber's I and Thou, experimental filmmaking, and more. WORKS AND IDEAS CITED IN THIS EPISODE Graham Harman, "The Third Table" Graham Harman, Tool-Being: Heidegger and the Metaphysics of Objects Martin Heidegger, Being in Time J. F. Martel, "Ramble on the Real" Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy H. P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu" Arthur Stanley Eddington, The Nature of the Physical World Graham Harman, "Objects and the Arts" (lecture) Bernardo Kastrup, Why Materialism is Baloney Daniel Dennett, Consciousness Explained Walden, A Game – A computer game based on Heny David Thoreau’s classic work, Walden South Park, “Guitar Queer-O” (season 11, episode 13) Wikipedia entry on art critic David Hickey Heraclitus, Fragments Martin Buber, I and Thou The concept of “substantial form” in Aristotle’s philosophy Martin Heidegger, "The Question Concerning Technology" Steven Shaviro, The Universe of Things William James, "Does ‘Consciousness’ Exist?" Andy Warhol’s minimalist films Empire and Sleep Wikipedia entry on filmmaker Terrence Malick Neil Jordan (director), The End of the Affair (based on the novel by Graham Greene) J. F. Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Gustav Klimt, The Kiss (painting) Matthew Akers (director), David Blaine: Beyond Magic The Duffer Brothers (directors), Stranger Things 2 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 160: The Way of All Flesh: On John Carpenter's 'The Thing' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:12
As a horror movie, John Carpenter's The Thing seems to have it all: amazing practical effects, body horror, psychological drama, Kurt Russell ... Indeed, there is only one element this movie lacks, and that is anything a…
Episode 159: Three Songs, with Meredith Michael [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:31:04
Every once in a while, JF and Phil like to do a “song swap.” Each picks a song, and the ensuing conversation locates linkages and correspondences where none was previously thought to exist. In this episode, they are join…
Episode 158: As Above, So Below: On Plato's 'Timaeus' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:36:52
In this episode of Weird Studies, we delve into the mysterious depths of Plato's Timaeus, one of the foundational texts of our civilization. In his characteristic brilliance, Plato blends cosmology and metaphysics, anato…
Episode 154: Into the Night Land, with Erik Davis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:24:02
William Hope Hodgson's The Night Land is without a doubt one of the weirdest entries in the annals of weird fiction. Set in the earth's distant future, after the sun has gone out and the planet has been cleaved in two by…
Episode 153: Celestial Machine: On the Temperance Card in the Tarot [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:19:34
Even learned commentators on the tarot are likely to point out at the fourteenth major arcana, Temperance, is a bit of a boring card. At least, it comes off as dull until you look at it closely, as JF and Phil do in this…
Summer Bonus #2: Art and AI [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:36
In this bonus episode, originally released on July 26th on the Weird Studies Patreon, Phil and JF explore a few ways in which artificial intelligence will impact the arts. The podcast returns with a new official episode…
Summer Bonus: On Affectation, with a Special Announcement [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:23
A bonus offering to break up the summer hiatus, this episode contains a conversation on the virtues of affectation originally available only to third- and fourth-tier members of the Weird Studies Patreon ("Putting on the…