It's our season finale, and it's a doozy. We explore two texts: Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Shadow" and Ursula K. Le Guin's essay "The Child and the Shadow," which gives an analysis of the fairy tale. We also pull in many of the stories we've discussed this season, as well as our own experiences, in order to explore this fantastical, creepy, and fascinating archetype. We will be taking a break for a few months to work on a brand new theme and topics, but stay tuned for our ...

This week we travel back to the Shang Dynasty of China, where we examine tomb art and the lives of the shamans and kings who interpreted the cracking of oracle bones and presided over human sacrifices. Find the images we discuss on our instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cqapod/Content warnings: mentions of death, violence, human sacrifice

Today we're trying something new, and discussing a movie that shaped our childhood, even though it was an utter box office flop. It's Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, which came out in 2003 under DreamWorks Animation, and it's a swashbuckling romp across the ocean, complete with a sneaky, slinky goddess, a wise-cracking pirate thief, way too much innuendo for a children's movie, and--Avast ye! Is that some queer subtext on the horizon? Polygon article about the movie: https://www.polygo...

The Queen of Spades is a fantastic and spooky little tale from Russian literary great Alexander Pushkin. In this episode we enter his magical world of 1830s St. Petersburg, where we attend lavish balls, play cards late into the night, yearn, possibly commit murder, and definitely see some ghosts. Note: at the beginning of this episode we say this story was published in 1933; it was actually published in 1833. Content warnings: mention of violenceEmail: credo.quia.absurdum.podcast@gm...

In this episode we explore two epistolary romances: one between 17th century samurai and the other between two American writers, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville, with forays into Kabuki theater, scented gel pens, and an honorable mention of Alexander Hamilton's flirty flirty prose. Our new instagram! : https://www.instagram.com/cqapod/Links: My Dear Boy gay love letter excerpts: http://rictornorton.co.uk/dearboy.htmAll-female theater group: https://www.insidejapantours.com/b...

In a loose continuation of our discussion of "The Sandman," in this episode we delve into the bizarre, fantastical, and spooky world of Sigmund Freud's theories, and find that even though he is both ridiculous and unscientific, there is still something here that resonates with us. If you have spooky or uncanny stories you'd like to share with us, you can email them to us at [email protected]! Content Warnings: discussions of sexuality and mental health topics

In this episode we discuss The Sandman, the 1816 short story by ETA Hoffmann. The story has had a substantial influence on fantasy and horror genres, as well as on early psychoanalysis, and as you’ll soon hear, we just love it. It’s full of fun spooky motifs, creepy imagery, and lovingly making fun of over-dramatic young men (always a favorite). Content warnings: light discussion of body horror imagery, mental health-related issues, and mention of death and suicide. NOTE: This is th...

Howl's Moving Castle is a Studio Ghibli classic, but it was originally based off of a book by the British author Diana Wynne Jones, which happens to be very dear to our hearts. Here we expound on how much we love it, how funny and how insanely plot-dense it is, revel in the snark of the book characters, and do a little cross-analysis with the movie.

Here we kick off our first episode of Credo Quia Absurdum! This week, we are analyzing a classical text, the Iliad. We talk about the story, the history, and our favorite homeric moments. Content warnings: Some discussion of violence, gore, death.