Joan of Arc, Cap’n Jazz, Owls, and Make Believe frontman Tim Kinsella has long been a source of creative inspiration for me. So it was such an honor to have him on the show, and a pleasure to talk with him. The conversation is wide-ranging, but also intense.
We talk about music, of course; but also the occult, how art happens to us and why, the merits of making audiences uncomfortable, why utopia motivates us, modernism and ghosts.
This is a huge moment for dear Habib: I got to do an episode of Against Everyone with Conner Habib with someone who changed my life: Scott Thompson! Scott, in the event that somehow you don’t know this, is a member of the iconic comedy group Kids in the Hall, author, actor (from Hannibal),stand-up comedian, and creator of the lispy sexual rebel Buddy Cole.
Seeing Scott as Buddy on The Kids in the Hall blew my young still-becoming-gay mind. I was a lonely small town kid with no one to talk to about sex or sexuality, and then there was this crazy dangerous lisping whore on TV making jokes about everything. I was electrified.
Scott and I had a great conversation, and I couldn’t stop laughing. We talk about our alter egos being our better selves, how internalized homophobia follows you around even when you come out, AIDS-era intensities, how representation fails us, ghosts, the elimination of spirituality from the left, portals to other dimensions, raccoon spirit guides,
(Note: There’s a little jumping around in the video editing to deal with technical stuff, but it doesn’t affect the audio or the conversation.)
SHOW NOTES, including quotes from the show, what to listen to and read to go deeper, and more, are now for Patrons only, and you can find them here. For as little as $1/month, you can access the show notes! Please do support the show! Get show notes here!
So excited to welcome postmodern horror writer Brian Evenson to the show. A true honor. And the first fiction writer on the show! Brian is one of my favorite authors, and his stories are violent, unsettling, and profound.
We talk about horror fiction, the occult, David Lynch, metaphors, the horror of relationships extending into our lives, the concept of doubles, the meaninglessness or meaning of suffering, and revising everything we know. I also ask Brian how a character could get out of one of his stories unscathed.
Brian also reads the beginning of his story, “The Intricacies of Post-Shooting Etiquette” from his collection, The Wavering Knife.
Oh, and also, I ask about if Brian’s stories all stem from boner shame.
To get Brian’s book with Paul Tremblay, Another Way To Fall, go to Concord Free Press.
First ep of 2018 features a charmingly jetlagged just-back-from-12-days-in-Vietnam me giving you all the occult tools you need to tackle the new year, and discussing occult stigma.
IN THIS EPISODE:
How we stigmatize our spiritual feelings as leftists/progressives: 2:00
Secrets and vulnerability: 3:00
You don’t need a metaphysics to do occult exercises: 4:35
Sexual liberation is an constant unfolding, not a moment. Notes from Conner’s first porn shoot: 5:00
What’s stopping you? Notice the negative feeling you’re having, and proceed anyway. And also say thanks: 9:10
First practice – Manifesting. And Yes I know that word is an LA new age freak out word: 10:40
I want to do this manifesting stuff but it’s too hard for me to accept. Okay.: 16:00
Dismissing these techniques because others are suffering is exploitative luxuriating: 17:40
Becoming secure in your occult masculinity or whatever, bro: 20:10
Second practice – Judging your thoughts: 20:40
We are addresses where spiritual beings gather, and our thoughts are their movements: 22:45
Third practice – Diminishing Anxiety by Developing the Will: 25:05
Well friends, the time has come for me to hang out with my favorite be-bearded funny podcast mystic, Duncan Trussell.
Maybe you’ve heard me or just listened to his amazing pan-mystic-technoccultist thoughts on Duncan’s show, The Duncan Trussell Family Hour. But if not, you should – He’s creating bridges between humor, politics, mysticism, magic, and data. And not in some dumb cheesy new age NPR way, either. It’s the real deal.
IN THIS EPISODE
How Duncan moved from focusing on comedy to expanding mysticism and magick: 1:45
“Sex is more like conversation than anything else”: 5:20
The shaming of serious discussion, and the disruption of comfortable talk: 8:00
How to harmonize with boredom: 11:20
DWE – Driving While Enlightened (when Ram Dass was pulled over by the police): 16:00
I do not like all of Duncan’s guests – how does he roll with them? 18:55
People will change, and we can be a part of that :28:10
Okay, and what about Joe Rogan having a bunch of assholes on his show?: 30:10
So who wants to start a demon podcast? (Not me): 32:30
The story of Hitler dick tattoo: 35:00
Let’s do dual work cultivating love and craziness (and Duncan’s dog liked barking at this) and also defending against the anti-Christ: 39:05
There are people who do evil, and here’s a little bit about them: 43:20
To fight or not to fight, and how would you know the difference, and what is fighting anyway?: 47:10
The black magician who saw Christ: 56:10
I’m not interested in the valorization of disagreement, and neither is Duncan: 1:10:40
Duncan reads the passage, “Faithfulness” by Rudolf Steiner: 1:15:10
I say this every time, but your contribution to my livelihood is what keeps the show — and all my work! — going. So please do pledge a dollar or more on patreon.
So excited to welcome podcaster, author, and skeptic of skeptics Alex Tsakiris! (You may remember Alex from my blog, when I posted our first-ever conversation, “Fight Science with Science” here)
Alex, author of Why Science Is Wrong…about Almost Everythingis best known as host of the mighty Skeptiko podcast, which has hundreds of episodes up, chronicling his journey from skeptic to full-on consciousness explorer. It’s an exhilarating progression, as Alex talks to scientists, mystics, conspiracy theorist, historians, and more. I encourage you to listen to the episodes in sequence. Alex is, in some ways, even more open and exposed than me, displaying all his misfires and new insights, his frustrations and his fascinations.
IN THIS EPISODE WE TALK ABOUT
Time management as occultism
My first memory was of the spiritual world
How Alex decided to start a podcast and why you should too
The power of self-doubt, and how to make sure doubt doesn’t overwhelm you
Why every discipline should seek to be obsolete
Skeptical ethics
The disconnection between political beliefs and action
The trap of being a spiritual seeker
Whether or not Alex is sick of Skeptiko after 300+ episodes
Gloria Steinem, CIA agent
Social Justice Warriors vs Free Speech Warriors
When being victimization becomes a weapon
Escaping centrism by disregarding the poles
Defending Jon Ronson, Chapo Traphouse, and Camille Paglia
Making this show my main gig outside of writing is a huge dream for me – so please support the show AND get cool stuff by donating as little as a dollar/month here. Thank you!
RT @ConnerHabib: 1
If you were wondering why Eoghan Murphy was on and on about CoLiving, it because this happened in South Dublin, and was… 2 hours ago
