Weird Studies

Episode 118: The Unseen and the Unnamed, with Meredith Michael


Listen Later

In this episode, Phil and JF are joined by music scholar and Weird Studies assistant Meredith Michael to discuss two strange and unsettling short stories: J.G. Ballard's "The Gioconda of the Twilight Noon" (1964) and Ursula K. Le Guin's "She Unnames Them" (1985). Their plan was to talk about three stories, but they never got to Phil's pick, which will be the focus of episode 119. The reason is that Le Guin and Ballard's stories share surprising resonances that merited close discussion. From opposite perspectives, both tales put words to a region of reality that resists discursive description, a borderland where that which is named reveals its unnamed facet, and that which must remain unseen reveals itself to the inner eye.

Support us on Patreon

Find us on Discord
Get the new T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau!
Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop
Buy the Weird Studies soundtrack

REFERENCES

J. G. Ballard, “The Giaconda of the Twilight Noon,” from The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard

Ursula K. Le Guin, "She Unnames Them," from The Real and the Uneal
Alfred Hitchcock (dir.), The Birds
Jung's concept of the collective unconscious
Walter Pater, The Renaissance
Ursula K. Le Guin, “She Unnames Them” in The Real and the Unreal
Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution
M. C .Richards, Centering
Weird Studies, Episode 35 on Centering
Weird Studies, Episode 81 on The Course of the Heart
Weird Studies, Episode 84 on the Empress
Linguistically deprived children
Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy
Samuel Taylor Coleridge's thoughts on on imagination and fancy can be found in Biographia Literaria

Special Guest: Meredith Michael.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Weird StudiesBy SpectreVision Radio

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

571 ratings


More shows like Weird Studies

View all
Entitled Opinions (about Life and Literature) by Robert Harrison

Entitled Opinions (about Life and Literature)

505 Listeners

Aeon Byte Gnostic Radio by Aeon Byte Gnostic Radio, Bleav

Aeon Byte Gnostic Radio

428 Listeners

Rune Soup by Gordon

Rune Soup

759 Listeners

Team Human by Douglas Rushkoff

Team Human

357 Listeners

Desert Oracle Radio by Ken Layne

Desert Oracle Radio

794 Listeners

Why Theory by Why Theory

Why Theory

565 Listeners

This Jungian Life Podcast by Joseph Lee, Deborah Stewart, Lisa Marchiano

This Jungian Life Podcast

1,569 Listeners

Hermitix by Hermitix

Hermitix

343 Listeners

TrueAnon by TrueAnon

TrueAnon

3,206 Listeners

Acid Horizon by Acid Horizon

Acid Horizon

175 Listeners

Joshua Citarella by Joshua Citarella

Joshua Citarella

220 Listeners

What's Left of Philosophy by Lillian Cicerchia, Owen Glyn-Williams, Gil Morejón, and William Paris

What's Left of Philosophy

261 Listeners

Nymphet Alumni by Nymphet Alumni

Nymphet Alumni

295 Listeners

The Nietzsche Podcast by Untimely Reflections

The Nietzsche Podcast

182 Listeners

Ordinary Unhappiness by Patrick & Abby

Ordinary Unhappiness

219 Listeners