Weird Studies25 Okt 2023

Episode 156: The Only Possible End: On Donna Tartt's 'The Secret History'

There are works of weird fiction that dispense their strangeness so subtly that many readers never pick up on it, books that allow themselves to be pass for mundane, the better to haunt us after we put them down. Donna Tartt's debut novel The Secret History, published in 1992, is such a work. On the surface, it is a brilliant, yet completely naturalistic, telling of the lead-up and aftermath of a murder. But The Secret History is also a work of the depths, and readers who go in seeking the Weird will find it lurking on every page. More than a masterpiece of psychological exploration, it is a story about the resurgence of the old god Dionysus, and a chronicle of fate; fate conceived, in the manner of the Ancient Greeks, as a cosmic force. Support us on Patreon. Buy the Weird Studies sountrack, volumes 1 and 2, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page. Listen to Meredith Michael and Gabriel Lubell's podcast, Cosmophonia. Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! REFERENCES Donna Tartt, The Secret History Robertson Davies, Canadian novelist Weird Studies, Episode 98 on Exotica M. R. James, English author Weird Studies, Episode 3 on “The White People” E. R. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational Jean Cocteau, La Machine Infernale John Crowley, Little, Big Star Trek: The Next Generation, “The Outrageous Okana” Weird Studies, Episode 110 on “The Glass Bead Game” Gabriel Faure, Nocturne No. 11 Pierre-André Boutang, L'Abécédaire de Gilles Deleuze Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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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" in a book? Asti's an...

5 Aug 1h 17min

Episode 216 – 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 Intelligences Summer Institute e...

22 Juli 1h 34min

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 2026. In it, we discus...

8 Juli 41min

Episode 215 – 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 its original weirdne...

24 Juni 1h 29min

Episode 214 – 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 unique perspectives and...

10 Juni 1h 15min

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 stumbles into a cos...

27 Maj 1h 19min

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 vary independently of o...

13 Maj 1h 24min

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 itself, so fundamenta...

29 Apr 1h 27min