Wide Atlantic Weird

Things get a little serious at the cabin in the woods this week as Cian and Dónal talk about problematic podcast hosts Chris Jericho and Joe Rogan. Both have a tendency to showcase fringe beliefs and bad-faith actors without any critical context. Both regularly expose their huge audiences to conspiracy thinking without pushback. And neither seem to feel that wielding such influence requires them to act with any responsibility about who they platform and how they do it.

In a world where media literacy is needed more than ever and where an inability to tell truth from BS is having real, harmful consequences, this stuff matters. We need to talk about Chris Jericho and Joe Rogan.

Why Is Joe Rogan So Popular?

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/08/my-joe-rogan-experience/594802/

The Age Of American Unreason

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/03/24/the-age-of-american-unreason

The Death Of Truth

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-death-of-truth-review-riveting-righteous-and-relevant-1.3580869

Surviving Autocracy

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jun/27/since-day-one-donald-trump-autocrat-making-surviving-autocracy-masha-gessen

THIS IS PART 2 OF A MINI-SERIES, MAKE SURE TO CHECK OUT PART 1 FIRST! WE PROMISE IT'S GREAT. REALLY!

On this episode, enter the Wide Atlantic Weird cabin-in-the-woods to find the place stuffed with mummified cats, cursed relics and forbidden idols as we delve into THE JEWEL OF SEVEN STARS! This 1903 book from Dublin-born Bram ‘Dracula’ Stoker affords us the perfect excuse to doff a pith helmet, drink cognac, and tell mystical tales of turn-of-the-century Gothic London and spooky, mysterious Egypt!

Come to find out when the Western world actually decided that mummies were scary, why the British were obsessed with Egypt, and how to tell when a fellow is decent by looking at his skull – but stay for the eccentric Irish occultists, the racial hang-wringing, and of course the blatant Orientalising.

An empty, apocalyptic London, survivors proposing radical utopias - and all while 9-foot, monstrous carnivorous plants roam the streets? It must be THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS, the most famous novel by John Wyndham, the mid-century British author famous for penning so-called 'cozy catastrophes.' Cian is joined at the Cabin In The Woods by Mr Neil Philips from the UK Wildlife Podcast to discuss Wyndham and the book, Soviet science, Cold War paranoia, mad botany, and 1950s apocalypse fiction. Grab yourself a drink, a pipe, and a tweed jacket for ROOTS OF HORROR: JOHN WYNDHAM AND THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS!

Theme by Kevin Gill & Cian Gill

UK Wildlife Podcast Page

http://www.uk-wildlife.co.uk/uk-wildlife-podcast/

The Blind Logic Of Plants by Adam Stock

https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5621/sciefictstud.42.3.0433?seq=1

A Guide To The Day Of The Triffids by Melanie Kelly

https://www.ideasfestival.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Final-Triffids-PDF.pdf

Like arch-conspiracy fiend Alex Jones, wrestler Hulk Hogan has had to claim in court that his real self is seperate from his in-ring persona - and that's just the beginning of his self-fictionalisation. Join Cian and his BROTHER Donal at the Cabin In The Woods for a somewhat off-topic episode of Wide Atlantic Weird where the lads delve into the extremely weird world of professional wrestling in FAKE NEWS: THE FICTIONAL LIFE OF HULK HOGAN PART 1.

Since we were in the area - a very brief ghost story/urban legend for you from County Cork.

Every town has that one spooky abandoned building, the one that seems to naturally gather scary stories and urban legends. On the west side of Cork City, the great Victorian redbrick section of the Our Lady's complex, St Kevin's, has a real-life history of scandal and tragedy. In this episode, Cian takes a trip to the empty, fire-scarred structure that still stands above the Lee Valley onto the city. We'll discuss the Victorian origins of the complex, the scandals that went on inside, and the reasons we're drawn to places of tragedy.

The Ghost Trail On Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyswG_oLkVQV9vQNnpJj1_A

Abandoned Ireland Article on St Kevin's

http://www.abandonedireland.com/skv_more.html

Harrowing By Name Blog Article On St kevin's

http://harrowingp.blogspot.com/2013/01/st-annes-asylum-cork-ireland.html

Cian's old blog, an earlier visit to St kevin's

https://ciangill2.blogspot.com/2010/03/st-annes.html

Back in the groovy, paranormal-obsessed 70s, brilliant, anti-establishment scientist James Lovelock came up with the idea that all process on Earth, including living things, are part of an enormous self-regulating system. This was meant to explain how Earth's various conditions have remained stable, and suitable for life, over millions of years. Calling this idea 'Gaia' after the personification of the Earth in Greek mythology, Lovelock found, perhaps inevitably, that the notion was taken up by the New Age movement. The notion that the Earth was somehow 'alive' became attached to Gaia in the popular imagination. And ever since, the Gaia hypothesis has seemed to exist in a half-way house, neither science nor mysticism.

In this episode, Cian takes Gaia back to its original scientific roots. What exactly did Lovelock propose? Has Gaia been accepted by mainstream science? What is its connection to the 'super-organism?'

Join us at the Cabin In The Woods to find out.

*NOW UPDATED WITH EXTRA BONUS MATERIAL!*

On this episode, enter the Wide Atlantic Weird cabin-in-the-woods to find the place stuffed with mummified cats, cursed relics and forbidden idols as we delve into THE JEWEL OF SEVEN STARS! This 1903 book from Dublin-born Bram ‘Dracula’ Stoker affords us the perfect excuse to doff a pith helmet, drink cognac, and tell mystical tales of turn-of-the-century Gothic London and spooky, mysterious Egypt!

Come to find out when the Western world actually decided that mummies were scary, why the British were obsessed with Egypt, and how to tell when a fellow is decent by looking at his skull – but stay for the eccentric Irish occultists, the racial hang-wringing, and of course the blatant Orientalising.

-what race were the ancient Egyptians anyway?

-did an Irish palm-reader predict the downfall of Charles Stuart Parnell?

-why did Oscar Wilde’s father want Cleopatra’s Needle brought to London?

-can Cian jam HG Wells, AC Doyle and ‘Invasion literature’ into another episode??

All these questions and more will be raised, mulled over, and distainfully dismissed in THE JEWEL OF SEVEN STARS: BRAM STOKER’S SPOOKY EGYPT PART 1.

Theme from the 1959 Hammer version of The Mummy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zef-RrAunZ4

Quadrivia article about Cleopatra’s Needle

https://quadriv.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/the-sphinx-cleopatras-needle-and-the-psychogeography-of-london/

Prometheus, made with a decent amount of creative control by increasingly-eccentric director Ridley Scott, is a sorta-maybe prequel to the Alien movies, and a rather divisive entry into the franchise. Cian invites Prometheus fan Daffy to the Cabin In The Woods on a rainy summer's night to discuss the ups and downs of this visually-stunning but thematically confusing film. The guys discuss racism in Ancient Astronauts theory, the place of religion in science, bad plot tropes, and lots of other good things. So grab a bottle and listen here for ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS, RELIGION & SCIENCE IN PROMETHEUS. Spoilers aplenty.

DRAGON'S HOARD ETSY

https://www.etsy.com/shop/DragonsHoardMinis

Christ on a bicycle, you just wouldn't believe the madness that went on behind the scenes during the making of ALIEN 3. An astonishingly bleak, gothic entry into a big-budget franchise that killed off most of its beloved cast, Alien 3 was hated by fans upon release and has only very slowly gained a slightly better reputation over the years. Cian and Stokes enjoy some fine German beer (and Kinsale Pale Ale - recommended!) while getting into the almost incredible reasons why this film spent so long in development hell. From unused scripts about monks on a wooden planet to British wrestlers, dogs in costumes, sexy blonde studio spies, and a pre Fight Club David Fincher, this story has enough weirdness going on to swing a Xenomorph. But does the film hold up? Will the guys ever record an episode about Alien Resurrection? And what is the connection to Last Action Hero? Join Wide Atlantic Weird for some horror film goodness and a descent to Fiorina (Fury) 161 in RUMOUR CONTROL: THE UNBELIEVABLE DEVELOPMENT HELL OF ALiEN 3. 

Theatre Preview (The Bitch is back)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3L3jJyzjFI

Alien 3 UUP

Original Script (Hicks, Ripley and Newt)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_3#1987%E2%80%931989

Brian Glover, wrestler, angry, bald, yorkshireman.

Wrestling 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_zPH3u65H8

Wrestling 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QxyO_rGqYg

Bottom (i.e Secret Shame): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsz5aGJUNXs

Special Effects

Whippet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUMX6hsvbO4

Super Face Hugger: https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Royal_Facehugger

Bambi Buster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQCq3CHzhdk

Michael Biehn

Time Bomb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105597/

Michael Biehn on Ripley & Hicks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vgl6eopOy8

Reactions to Alien 3:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QHc0n0G2kA