Part two of conversation with Jamieson Webster, on calcified neuroses, the closing down of speech, the loss of conversation, the power of the Trump spectacle, conditions for contact, the crisis of the unconscious, seeking the trajectory back inward, embodied guidance, finding coherence, psychoanalysis & the spiritual quest, a permanent state of enlightenment, the question of ... Read moreThe Liminalist # 79.5: Conditions for Contact (with Jamieson Webster)

Two-part conversation with author & psychoanalyst Jamieson Webster, on discovering psychoanalysis, finding someone to listen, working with dreams, the absence of psychoanalysis in psychology programs, practicing clinical psychology, the school of Lacan, defining the psyche, a fetishized idea of mind, everything consciousness isn’t, shredding the ground, the recognition of the unconscious, recognizing embodied voices, expressing ... Read moreThe Liminalist # 79: Everything Consciousness Isn’t (or: Nothing But Flowers, with Jamieson Webster)

Part two of a return conversation with Jonathan Lethem, author of A Gambler’s Anatomy, on the struggle to be a somebody, Chase Steadman’s celebrity vs. Bruno’s wanna-be-ness, the unknown face, the desire for anonymity, distrusting popularity, a termite operator or a failed elephant, Dissident Gardens, Lethem’s bid for the mainstream, being marketed, a multi-genre author, ... Read moreThe Liminalist # 78.5: The Termite & the Elephant (or: The Unknown Face of Jonathan Lethem)

Part one of a return conversation with author Jonathan Lethem, on the religious sense and being scarred by reality, an international lexicon, defining oneness, the astronauts’ betrayal, writing outside oneself, negative capability, the noose of trauma, A Gambler’s Anatomy, a novel in code, Nabokov & the Lolita puzzle, Lethem’s rebus, in the presence of the ... Read moreThe Liminalist # 78: The Lack Behind the Mask (with Jonathan Lethem)

Part two of a “conversation” with Sara Scott’s The Politics and Experience of Ritual Abuse: Beyond Disbelief, on substituting anger for love, the rage of powerlessness, the slave morality of goodness (Satanism credo), automatic disbelief and death awareness, death denial, religion, & science, death-as-entertainment, ritual sacrifice as a throwback, the bereavement industry, the progression of ... Read moreThe Liminalist # 77.5: A Jealous Reality (Discussing Sara Scott on Ritual Abuse)

Jasun reads from Sara Scott’s The Politics & Experience of Ritual Abuse: Beyond Disbelief, and discusses who defines the narrative, superordinate and subordinate testimonies, political power and narrative creation, the incoherency of ritual abuse narratives in the context of the dominant narrative, how we put our unthinking trust in figures of high status, the question ... Read moreThe Liminalist # 77: The Discourse of Disbelief (discussing Sara Scott on Ritual Abuse)

Talking with Gabriella Coleman on Anonymous as Hive vs. Hydra, the wisdom of crowds, innate intelligence, spontaneity & play, liminality & the tricksters, moral ambiguity, the Janus face of Anon, a moral threshold, the need for liminal zones, teenage anons, the Anonymous paradox, avoiding naming, the war on Scientology & early days of Anon, Anon’s ... Read moreThe Liminalist # 76: The Internet Id Machine (with Gabriella Coleman)

Two disillusioned sorcerers look back on past follies, off the cuff chat with Mitch Fraas from January 2016, on the Grateful Dead, CIA, & LSD, creating the counterculture, the pendulum of social engineering, Burning Man, a sucker born every minute, the cosmic convergence, the Josue Arguelles let-down, audience cults, generating hope, Terence McKenna & Jan ... Read moreThe Liminalist # 75: The Devil’s Shoes (with Mitch Fraas)

Animation by Simon Prades The second part of a conversation with Michael Lesher, on a culture of abuse hidden within a culture, ritualized sexual dominance, the difference between pedophilia and dominance as motivation, Alice Miller & parent-child relations, the norm of parents using children for satisfaction, the commandment to honor thy parents, choosing to align ... Read moreThe Liminalist # 74.5: Kenosis, Standing on Nothing (with Michael Lesher)

First part of two-part conversation with Michael Lesher, author of Sexual Abuse, Shonda, and Concealment in Orthodox Jewish Communities, on being a traitor to one’s religion, a pervasive problem, the differing cultures of abuse, institutional inattention, Shonda, shame, and scandal, a self-concealing problem, a shameful reality, challenging self-image, hierarchy in religious communities, the fear of ... Read moreThe Liminalist # 74: The Logic of Denial (with Michael Lesher)