What Mad Universe?!?

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Special Thanks: Alex Ross

Theme song by Jack Feerick

All is revealed as we press on into the second half of our look at Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea's Illuminatus Trilogy. Know, O patient listener, that you have passed the threshold into the inner chamber of wisdom, and now we will present to you the REAL truth of what it all means. Or at least we'll take a look at the impact the book has had on pop culture, as well as some of the political and cultural ramifications of this paranoid Discordian manifesto.

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Special thanks to Alex Ross

Theme Song by Jack Feerick

This is a big one, man. I mean it's for real, this is like the one that explains EVERYTHING, like how it's all connected, you picking up what I'm putting down? World governments, secret technologies, the lost continent of Atlantis, drug culture, the significance of the number 5, the whole big master plan to immanentize the eschaton--it's all here, man. It's all connected, and it all makes sense, you dig? But better not listen to this in public--they're listening...

This time around Phil and I are tackling Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea's seminal counterculture tome The Illuminatus! Trilogy, ground zero for pop culture paranoia! It's such a fertile subject we had to do it as a two-parter. This one covers the intricate lore the authors wove together as the background for their manifesto, with a second half on its way very soon!

Support us on Patreon and listen to the show early (part 2 of this 2-part podcast is already available for subscribers)!

Adam's Patreon

Phil's Twitter

What Mad Universe on Facebook

Special Thanks to Alex Ross

Theme song by Jack Feerick

Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early!

Phil's Patreon

Adam's Twitter

What Mad Universe on Facebook

Theme song by Jack Feerick

Special thanks to Alex Ross

Terrorists have seized the building! The police are clueless! People are in danger! Only one man can save the day! That man is...Joe Leland.

It's explosive action and political turmoil in this episode of WHAT MAD UNIVERSE?!? as we take a look at NOTHING LASTS FOREVER, the book that was adapted (loosely) into the movie DIE HARD. What, you didn't think 80s action movies were literary?

Theme song by Jack Feerick

Producer/Engineer: Alex Ross Never Sleeps Network

There's an energy coming from the underground...it's the strange and wonderful power known as Vril, as documented in the book Vril: A Story of the Coming Race by the infamous Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Bulwer-Lytton's left huge mark on pop culture, and in this episode we sit down with guest Jess Nevins to see whether his reputation doesn't deserve a bit of rehabilitation...

Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early!

Phil's Patreon

Adam's Twitter

What Mad Universe on Facebook

Producer/Engineer: Alex Ross Never Sleeps Network

Theme song by Jack Feerick

Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early!

Phil's Patreon

Adam's Twitter

What Mad Universe on Facebook

Producer/Engineer: Alex Ross Never Sleeps Network

Theme song by Jack Feerick

Automation! The wave of the future! Imagine a world of tireless, artificial workers, uncomplainingly catering to your whims and doing all your hard labour! In 1920, Karol Capek imagined such a world in his play R.U.R. and created the word "Robot" in the process. He also helped instill one of the great neuroses of 20th century SF: the robot rebellion.

Phil's Patreon

Adam's Twitter

What Mad Universe on Facebook

Producer/Engineer: Alex Ross Never Sleeps Network

Theme song by Jack Feerick

Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early!

Phil's Patreon

Adam's Twitter

What Mad Universe on Facebook

Producer/Engineer: Alex Ross Never Sleeps Network

Theme song by Jack Feerick

This is probably the weirdest and most obscure book series we've tackled for What Mad Universe?!?., though it's come back into prominence for some reason. It's The Adventures of Little Baron Trump, by Ingersoll Lockwood, author of "The Last President"

Cough.

Support us on Patreon and listen to the show a week early!

Adam's Patreon

Adam's Twitter

What Mad Universe on Facebook

Producer/Engineer: Alex Ross Never Sleeps Network

Theme song by Jack Feerick