Today I sit down with Prof. Jeff Kripal, noted scholar of religion at Rice University, to talk about extraordinary, mysterious, and “impossible” experiences. This is a conversation I’ve been waiting a few years to have. Together we explore what you can or can’t talk about in the humanities — and what we risk when we break the rules. Along the way, we touch on paranormal phenomena, epistemological pluralism, conspiracy theories, Plato’s cave, and why no one dresses up as a humanities professor for Halloween. 

If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in deep conversations about the dark side of Asian religions and medicines, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts. Also check out our members-only benefits on Substack.com to see what our guests have shared with you. Enjoy the show!

Resources related to this conversation:

• Jeff Kripal's website
• Archives of the Impossible & Conferences 
• Pierce Salguero, "Secret Lives of Buddhist Studies Scholars" (2024)
• Pierce Salguero, "The Fractal of Humanities" (2021)
• Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes, "On the need for metaphysics in psychedelic therapy and research" (2023)
• Jeff Kripal, The Flip (2020)
• Jeff Kripal, Secret Body (2019)
• Commonweal Podcast

Subscribe on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including:

• PDF of the introduction of Jeff's book, How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else (2024)