Professor Phil Ford and writer J. F. Martel host a series of conversations on art and philosophy, dwelling on ideas that are hard to think and art that opens up rifts in what we are pleased to call "reality." SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring the anomalous, the luminous, and the numinous. We’re a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. spectrevisionradio.com linktr.ee/spectrevision
Latest episodes
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1 h 21
On 'The Exorcist'
In this episode, long overdue, Phil and JF discuss one of the great American horror films: WIlliam Friedkin's 1973 adaptation of Willam Peter's Blatty's _The Exorcist_. Music: "Nas…
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1 h 54
The Dream of a Ridiculous Man: Live at the Dream Mapping Symposium
On September 26, JF and Phil took part in the Dream Mapping Symposium, a three-day event organized by the Dream Mapping Project and the Dream Library Foundation, and held at the Br…
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1 h 25
Composing the Cosmos, with Meredith Rigby
In this episode, JF and Phil are joined by their beloved assistant and invaluable collaborator Meredith Rigby (formerly Meredith Michael) to discuss her recently completed doctoral…
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1 h 14
A Mighty Matter of Legend
Having taken up the first part of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in episode 207, Phil and JF turn to part two, The Two Towers. Together, they peel back the husk of familiar…
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45 min
Mid-Hiatus Bonus: A Door in the Fourth Wall
Episode 218 will drop at the end of our summer break on September 9, 2026. Today, enjoy this recent audio extra, originally released for members of the Weird Studies Patreon. In th…
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1 h 17
Episode 217 – Books, Spirits, and Hysteria, with Asti Hustvedt
Researcher Asti Hustvedt joins Phil and JF to discuss a talk she gave at the Lily Dale Symposium this year entitled "Bibliophantoms." The question: What does it mean to "get lost"…
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1 h 34
Artworks Are People Too
"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 Intelligence…
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41 min
Special Episode: Make Art!
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 20…
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1 h 29
Where No One Can Hear You Scream: On Ridley Scott's 'Alien'
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…
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1 h 15
Fortune's Fools: On Gordon White's Philosophy of Fortune-Telling
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 uni…
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1 h 19
Episode 213 – Comics, Surf Rock, and the Weirdness of Time: On Tom Manning's 'Eric'
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…
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1 h 24
Episode 212 – Beyond Music and Back Again: On Glenn Gould
The pianist, composer and sound artist Glenn Gould once wrote: "Art on its loftiest mission is scarcely human at all." What becomes of art and humanity when they are allowed to var…
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1 h 27
Episode 211 – You've Always Been the Caretaker: On Kubrick's 'The Shining'
In this episode, Phil and JF discuss Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's novel The Shining. That they are doing this eight years after starting the podcast is weird in i…
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58 min
M.C. Richards's "Wrestling with the Daimonic," read by Phil Ford
We regret that we were unable to release a new episode this week. Episode 211 will drop on Wednesday, April 29, and will be devoted to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, a film we have…
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1 h 33
Angels & Daimons, with M.C. Richards and Cristina Campo
In this episode, JF and Phil bring together two visionary essays on the daimonic and the imaginal: Cristina Campo’s “On Fairy Tales” and M.C. Richards’s “Wrestling with the Daimoni…
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1 h 33
At Home in the Labyrinth, with Murakami and Borges
In this episode, Phil and JF discuss Haruki Murakami’s “Cream,” from First Person Singular, alongside Jorge Luis Borges’s classic tale, “The Garden of Forking Paths.” Together, the…
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1 h 19
Episode 208 – Unbridled Creation: On Kenneth Batcheldor's Theory of the Paranormal
Kenneth Batcheldor was a British clinical psychologist who, during the final two decades of his life, investigated the paranormal through direct experiments in table-turning. The f…
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1 h 32
Magic Mirror: On J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Fellowship of the Ring'
This is the first of three episodes on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings to be released in the course of the next several months. Focusing here on The Fellowship of the Ring,…
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1 h 21
Episode 206 – On Ken Russell's 'Altered States': Live at Indiana University Bloomington
This episode was recorded before a live audience at Indiana University Cinema as part of Weird Academia, a series of events that brought much high strangeness to Bloomington, India…
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1 h 33
Discipline and Delight: On the Hierophant Card in the Tarot
In this episode of Weird Studies, we turn to the fifth Major Arcanum, the Hierophant, symbolizing tradition, instruction, and the exoteric aspect of spiritual practice. Drawing on…