In this week’s episode, we set out to discuss animals but end up mostly going on a series of wild goose chases. From animals’ heightened senses to the insect worlds living beneath and all around us, tune in to hear a whole lot of horsing around and the occasional gem of wisdom.  

Episode Easter Eggs

• Want to learn about how we try to copy nature? Biomimicry is for you!
• Ants are pretty cool. Watch them build a floating raft of… ants!
• Be wary of skin-walkers and changelings (+2 for your due diligence).
• Hear about the circle of life in a catchy song you may recognize from 90s Disney.
• A lame and forgotten superhero tries to reignite his career in Grant Morrison’s Animal Man.
• Who remembers Animorphs?
• David Foster Wallace asks you to “Consider the Lobster.”
• Did you know owls can see the ultraviolet spectrum?
• Listen to whales communicating and let us know how close we were to emulating their calls (+5).
• Octopi and Cephalopods oh my!
• Was anyone else afraid of sharks after watching Jaws?

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In this episode, we’re falling into the void, a concept ripe for exploration by scientists, artists, and spiritual seekers. But what is the void, exactly? The source of everything, or the nothingness that came before it? We discuss a variety of interpretations of the void, from its role in a few major religions to the overwhelming terror it seems to invoke in most of us. But what if the void isn’t something to be frightened of at all? What if it’s just something we don’t understand yet?

Episode Resources & Easter Eggs:

Science Sinkholes:

• Alive or dead? Schrödinger’s cat is both.
• You know the highest point of a rollercoaster? That’s potential energy.
• Glimpse Earth from space in this famous photo: the pale blue dot.

Spiritual Snacks:

• Wuji: a formless nothingness in Taoism.
• Ashes to ashes, dust to dust on Ash Wednesday.
• Ever felt god-like? Welcome to theosis.
• Draw parallels between the Buddhist idea of Nirvana and the void.

 Mind Benders:

• L’appel du vide (French for the call of the void).
• Learn about Nietzsche.
• Check out the big three: existentialism, fatalism and nihilism (warning: existential malaise may ensue).

Books and Media:

• Ever thought it would be cool to live mostly virtually? Ready Player 1 says it might not be so fun, after all.
• Confuse your brain with this documentary by trying to comprehend infinity (+infinity if you manage it).
• Draw a creature from one of Lovecraft’s stories. (Don’t forget the unspeakable horrors +5.)

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In this episode, we probe into mind control and unearth the hidden mechanics of influence behind why we do what we do. From religion to governments to magic, everyone’s interested in controlling the minds of others. Is it even possible to have an original thought anymore? Covering everything from hypnosis to truth serums, we debate whether we’re preventing or already living in the worlds of 1984 and Brave New World.

Episode Resources & Easter Eggs:

Episode Bookshelf:

• Have you read George Orwell’s 1984 or Animal Farm? (Hi, Big Brother :).)
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: this guy definitely did drugs.
• Hear Amanda’s longer take on The Trial by Kafka.
• Learn how to win friends and influence people.
• Initiate yourself into Hermetics with Franz Bardon.
• Propaganda: Jacque Ellul.
• Hear from another Amanda in Montell’s The Age of Magical Overthinking.

Movies and Media:

• The Men Who Stare at Goats – Not our favorite movie, but an interesting concept.
• Love medical dramas? Try some of our recent favs: ThePitt and The Resident.

Hypnosis?

• Take the Mayo Clinic’s word for it.
• You might be feeling sleepy. Before you drift off, don’t forget to like and rate us 5 stars.

Adbusters:

• Remember this ad? Warning: Completely unforgettable, and not in a good way.
• Make the Marines proud by watching this ad.
• Can you beat James in the corporate logo quiz? He got 31/32 before calling it quits!

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In this episode, we explore the art, and magic, of collage. From musical sampling and physical collage to literature, visual art, and montage, collage touches every part of creativity.

What happens when we place different materials in conversation with each other? How can we create (or see) something new?

And what if this approach to art making could carry over into life? Does our perspective shift if anything we encounter can become part of something larger — something more creative?

Episode Resources & Easter Eggs:

A Sample of Sampling

• A sample definition.
• Coldplay meets Frank Ocean in Strawberry Swing.
• Collage can be a Gangsta’s Paradise or, maybe you just want to Sing for the Moment.

Into the Stacks

• Check out a definitive argument for collage in Reality Hunger.
• Read The Brothers Karamazov, a giant Russian novel.
• Compare narrative notes with Bolano’s 2666.
• Impact meets inventive form in Long Soldier’s Whereas.
• Match the references and allusions in The Wasteland to their original source material (+4).
• Memoir meets criticism in Nelson’s The Argonauts.
• A fragmentary Greek poem gets a new life in Carson’s Autobiography of Red.
• Whitehead explores New York through collage (+10 to collage a city of your own).
• Read Cortazar’s Hopscotch while playing the famed game (+2).
• Metacommentary and footnotes abound in House of Leaves (but you got this, don’t worry).
• Read Naked Lunch…while naked having lunch? (don’t send pics. Some things should be kept to yourself.)
• Laugh your way to buy Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest.
• Collage rebranded as a literary puzzle in Diaz’s Trust.
• The internet is rewiring our brains. Find out more in Carr’s The Shallows.

General Collage Knowledge

• Fridge magnet poems = the cut up method, rebranded.
• Is hypertext the future?

A Mini Art Rabbit Hole

• When a child’s first words are not Ma Ma but Dada.
• Comic books winning Pulitzers? That’s Pop Art energy.
• Ever looked at a urinal and thought: art? Marcel Duchamp did.

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In this episode, we explore the role of teachers, mentors, and coaches on the spiritual path. What makes a genuinely good teacher, and how do you recognize one? Are teachers essential for a meaningful practice, or can the path be walked alone? From the qualities great teachers embody, to what they awaken in us, we unpack why intentional guidance feels more like companionship than hierarchy.

Episode Resources & Easter Eggs:

Media Mania:

• Ready for a great teacher (and great tragedy)? Watch Dead Poets Society.
• Browse Eragon for teacher/student training sequences.
• Who’s your favorite teacher in Star Wars? Watch the whole thing again, just to be sure (+5).

Two Types of Teachers:

• Learn about the sensei, or “the one who came before.”
• Guru is actually a Sanskrit term.

Other Rabbit Holes:

• You’ve probably heard about Scientology (or at least the South Park episode about it.)
• With FIRE, you can stop working earlier (and no, it doesn’t involve actual flames!)
• Heard the term “drinking the Kool-Aid”? This comes from what happened at Jonestown.
• Influencers have a Wikipedia page now (but who needs to read it when we have our friends online?)
• William Arthur Ward, motivational writer (whatever that is), provides our weekly wisdom.

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In this episode, we explore the magic of dreams—what they are, why they matter, and what happens when we start paying attention. From lucid dreaming and dream journals to divine messages and midnight ideas that refuse to stay asleep, we wander through science, myth, and the weird wisdom of the unconscious.

Episode Resources & Easter Eggs:

Shout outs to People

• Imagine a world (where John Lennon still exists).
• A nod to the 2 OG dream baddies (Freud and Jung).
• Stay up late to try and catch the Sandman (+100 if you catch him. Good luck, players…)
• Boycott Neil Gaiman. Read Jeff Vandermeer or T. Kingfisher instead.
• Remember memorizing the periodic table of elements?You can thank Dmitri Mendeleev for that.

Tunes & Movies

• Bang your head to Dokken’s Dream Warriors.
• Watch Inception simultaneously with 3 other movies (+3).

Conceptual Rabbit Holes

• Try to astral travel (+5 if you succeed).
• Practice oneiromancy, or dream divination.
• Do some dream yoga, then fall asleep (+2 for each, no halfsies).
• Ever noticed you’re dreaming? Welcome to lucid dreams.

An Assigned Reading List (No Grading Here)

• Follow a symbologist’s wild adventure in The Da Vinci Code.
• Read Ben Okri’s The Famished Road while walking down a street (+4).
• Read Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey and see where your dreams take you. Send us your fanfic (+50).

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In this episode, we explore the role of magic and spirituality in a technology-centered world. Where do we go when our physical and digital worlds are increasingly monetized and controlled by corporations? How do these shifts affect community and personal wellbeing? While spiritual knowledge is more accessible than ever, constant availability and mental crowding take a spiritual and psychological toll. We also ask: what is truth in a world where the “real” becomes more and more difficult to identify?

Episode Resources & Easter Eggs:

Books & Media:

• Learn about techno-capitalism (how fun!) in Paul Kingsnorth’s Against the Machine.
• Explore technique in Jacque Ellul’s The Technological Society.
• A huge company tells a story about a desiccated earth in Wall-E. Ironic or prophetic?
• Dive into Marx and Engels’ Communist Manifesto.
• Poltergeist meets internet chain mail in Pulse.

Concepts:

• Impress your friends with this cool word: Luddite.
• Think you have a lead foot? Introducing cannonball runs.

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In this episode, we sink our teeth into the vampire as a spiritual and magical symbol—one that lives at the crossroads of fear and desire. Why does this figure haunt us across centuries and cultures? From its deep ties to aristocracy and power, to religion’s attempt to name, control, and sanctify the terrors of the night, the vampire becomes a mirror for how societies manage the unknown. The vampire is a god on the physical plane yet is barred from transcendence after death. This episode examines the toll of immortality, its seductive corruption, and what it means to live forever without release.

Episode Resources & Easter Eggs:

Books & Media

• Soak up Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
• Interview a vampire after reading Anne Rice’s similarly named book.
• Team Edward or Team Jacob? Read the Twilight series to find out.
• Female villains and an all-female cast? Read Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil.
• Watch people survive in the wilderness to get money on Alone.
• Read book 1 of Robin Hobb’s fantasy trilogy, Assassin’sApprentice.
• Like graphic novels? Learn your directions in East of West.
• Sometimes, the ogre gets the girl. (Watch Shrek to learn how you, too, can be successful).
• Watch Freaky Friday on the appropriate day of the week (+1).

Cast of Characters

• Check out Vlad the III the Impaler (not to be confused with the first two Vlads).
• Ever heard of this guy: Brad Pitt? He’s been in some movies.

Concepts to Sink Your Teeth Into

• Distinguish between arhats and bodhisattvas.
• Identify the energy vampires in your life (+2).
• Stay away from a succubus (or don’t.)
• Remember learning about feudalism in school? No? Check it out now.

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Creativity is magic—and you can tap in. Everyone is creative, even if you’ve been taught otherwise. Asking questions and coming up with innovative solutions is no less powerful than creating an art piece. This episode explores creativity as a spiritual practice, asking where inspiration truly comes from and why it’s important. By adopting a creative mindset, we can shift how we see the world, rooting deeply into the present, where limitations transform from obstacles into enticing launch points.

Episode Resources & Easter Eggs:

Books and Media

• Follow The Artist’s Way (or don’t. It doesn’t make a difference to us.)
• +5 to watch Taxi Driver in a taxi (Ubers don’t count.)
• Ever seen this woman? Hint: It’s the Mona Lisa.
• Watch Denzel Washington give a highly underratedcommencement speech.

Concepts To Chew On

• Automatic writing might not have been what we meant. But hey, here’s the link, anyway. Enjoy.
• Wu wei, a key to living in the present.
• Anyone else into ecocomposition? No? Just us?

People

• Hemingway, famous ambulance driver (he also wrote some stuff).
• Who is the most well-known U.S. postal worker (and writer)? Charles Bukoski!
• Why do we have some many inventive myths about Thomas Edison?
• Like Apple? Thank Steve Jobs.
• Read about Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro(+10 to make a film in his style).
• You probably know Pablo Picasso.

Repeat Characters

• Didya read about Joan Didion last time?
• It’s the Magical Salon’s most referenced book!
• Another gimme in Art Trivia: Van Gogh.
• Rabbit hole, meet Da Vinci. You will be the best of friends.

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Alchemy is often advertised as a wild goose chase for gold, but its true aim is transformation. In this episode, we trace the origins of alchemy, unpacking humanity’s obsession with immortality, and explore the idea of alchemy as a metaphorical, spiritual and physical process. From the alchemist’s search for firsthand knowledge to the idea of the magnum opus as a tangible expression of inner transformation, we uncover how experimentation lies at the heart of both alchemy and creativity.

Episode Resources & Easter Eggs:

Spiritual Concepts:

• Start here: alchemy.
• Gno some stuff about gnosis.
• The Great Work can take you many places, but I’m taking you here.
• Actually, maybe start here: prima materia. (Start anywhere).
• Mercury, salt, and sulphur (and maybe the first academic link on the show).
• Are you a recluse, or are you going through your hermit phase?

Books & Media

• Tuck Everlasting, a book for kids about immortality (+3 to read it).
• Groundhog day deserves your views (+3 to watch three times in a row).
• Scare a cashier at a local bookshop by buying Real Alchemy: A Primer of Practical Alchemy.
• Did Dexter from Dexter’s Laboratory even have parents?
• Read The Wasteland (+15 to read all of the source material, too).

Episode Cast

• Paracelsus, the father of toxicology.
• Learn about the guy who banned alchemy, aka Pope John XXII (+2 to defend or defame the use of roman numerals).
• You have 9.58 seconds to read Usain Bolt’s Wiki.

Repeat Characters

• Remember yin/yang? If not, ⁠click here!⁠
• ⁠Nirvana is here⁠ (not the band).
• Internal alchemy, aka ⁠qigong⁠.
• ⁠Wicca⁠.

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