A riotous and charming conversation with the Iliad Bookshop’s infamous horror enthusiast — While reading up on dragonflies and biting mites, a very specific set of questions came to mind. What really happens during a séance? Should I have been a trash man? And, what does Lisa Morton have to say about it all? Join me as I welcome Lisa to read from one of her most recent projects on the macabre, while she also discusses her experience with quarantine, and reads from her new book, CALLING THE SPIRITS: A History of Séances. Episode includes a playlist of musical escapades to soothe the spirit. 

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Join me in a conversation during quarantine with Maggie Mackay, the Executive Director of the infamous VIDIOTS: an all-women-run cult video store which originally opened up in the mid 1980’s. Mackay shares a brief synopsis on how she first got involved with VIDIOTS founders Patty Polinger and Cathy Tauber; two women who changed the face of video stores over the past three decades. Maggie also announces the future plans for opening the new VIDIOTS brick-and-mortar storefront & theatre, which will be located in East Los Angeles. Episode includes a playful set of songs, an insomniacs dream come true.

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An excerpt from my embarrassingly long essay, Whaddaya Want From Me, Blood? which explores my absolute favorite film, Frank Oz’s Little Shop Of Horrors. It’s here where we investigate the rites of desire & poverty, through one very specific cinematic experience. Seymour Krelborn, Little Shop's main protagonist, represents the intuitive and sensitive male which society has tried it's best to eradicate —this is the divine story about rising above the gutter, and an extraterrestrial plant craving a little S&M. Although the message behind the film goes a bit deeper than world domination. Also includes a brief visit to Eddie Brandt’s Saturday Night Matinee, and the usual playlist of unfamiliar songs for sanctuary purposes.

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One rainy evening I sat down out on my back patio to read some Fernando Pessoa and Baudelaire -the only two writers that I’ve gravitated toward during this time of quarantine. Suddenly my phone rings...it's my dear friend Seymour, who becomes my special guest; he reads some quotes relative to my studies for the episode (by Bataille and others), while touching on the emotional milestones which represent this very stressful pandemic adjustment. Episode also includes a playlist of musical escapades to soothe the spirit. 

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Join me for a phone chat with social historian and author, Sam Wasson (FOSSE, The Big Goodbye) -who speaks with us about the current pandemic, who he thinks should be our next president elect for 2020, and what he's currently reading. "This is all about emotional management now. The people have got to seize upon this opportunity..." Episode also features blatherings during my morning walk, an encounter with some strange diptera napping on the aloe in my yard, readings on the works of Guy Murchie, and includes a playlist of enchanting musical escapades to soothe the pandemic panic. 

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