Weird Studies

Tom Manning's 2018 graphic novel Eric is that rarest of gems: the self-published masterpiece. Available only on the author's website, it's the story of a washed-up surf rocker who stumbles into a cosmic conspiracy involving elite cultists, post-apocalyptic cowboys, renegade magicians, and three-eyed djinn. In this episode, Manning's work serves as a shining example of what makes comics such a unique and potent art form. There's no need to have read the book before listening—but know that you'll probably want to do when you're done. You're welcome.

Visit the Weirdosphere website to sign up for the Weird Studies Vol. 3 listening party on May 30, 2026.

Join the Weird Studies Patreon and support the show.

References

Tom Manning, ERIC

Leslie Stevens, “So So Surreal”

“Beach Bum #1”

Mike Relm, “Change the Channel”

Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, What is Philosophy?

Sarah Heston, “Magical Los Angeles: An Interview with Tom Manning”

Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics

David Mamet, On Directing Film

Richard J. Lewis (dir.), Whale Music

Joel and Ethan Coen, The Big Lebowski

Darren Aronovsky (dir.), The Wrestler

Jorge Luis Borges, “The Garden of Forking Paths” 

Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time 

Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea

Jean-Paul Sartre, The Transcendence of the Ego

David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return
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The pianist, composer and sound artist Glenn Gould once wrote: "Art on its loftiest mission is scarcely human at all." What becomes of art and humanity when they are allowed to vary independently of one another? Which serves which, and to what end? In this episode, JF and Phil discuss Glenn Gould's style and vision of music through the lens of François Girard's memorable 1993 film, Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould.

For details on the upcoming Weird Studies Volume 3 listening party, and to register for the event, go to the event page on the Weirdosphere website. The album will be released on May 22, 2026, on Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page.

⁠Click here⁠ to support Weird Studies on Patreon.

REFERENCES

Francois Girard (dir.), Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould

Rob Reiner, This is Spinal Tap

Weird Studies, Episode 31 on Gould’s “Prospects of Recording” 

"The Shining Recut"

"Glenn Gould Interviews Glenn Gould About Glenn Gould"

Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture

Glenn Gould, "The Idea of North"

Weird Studies, Episode 124 with Duncan Barford

Francois Girard, Production of Wagner’s Parsifal

Richard Wagner, Parsifal (clip from performance conducted by Reginald Goodall) 

Spear of Longinus

Header image by Ana Pismel, via Wikimedia Commons.
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In this episode, Phil and JF discuss Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's novel The Shining. That they are doing this eight years after starting the podcast is weird in itself, so fundamental is Kubrick's "chamber epic" to the modern weird in general, and the hosts' specific interests in particular. Well, as the Overlook Hotel's former caretaker Delbert Grady might put it, consider the situation corrrrected.

Visit Weirdosphere to enroll in JF's upcoming course on Deleuzian philosophy, starting May 7 2026.

Support Weird Studies on Patreon

Interstitial Music: "Corridors" from Pierre-Yves Martel's Weird Studies Volume 2.

REFERENCES

Stanley Kubrick, The Shining

Jan Harlan, A Life in Pictures

Stanely Kubruck, Killer’s Kiss

Alberto Giacometti, “The Palace at 4am”

Gilles Deleuze, What is Philosophy?

Reyner Banham, “The New Brutalism”

Mark Fisher, The Weird and the Eerie
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We regret that we were unable to release a new episode this week. Episode 211 will drop on Wednesday, April 29, and will be devoted to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, a film we have long wanted to revisit in depth. In the meantime, we are pleased to offer Phil’s spirited reading of M. C. Richards’ essay “Wrestling with the Daimonic,” discussed in our previous episode and available only to Patreon members until now.

This recording is shared with kind permission from Wesleyan University Press. Visit their website for details on The Crossing Point and other works by M.C. Richards.

To support Weird Studies and get access to exclusive essays and bonus episodes, visit our Patreon page.

And go to Weirdosphere to learn more about JF's upcoming course on Deleuzian philosophy, which starts on May 7th, 2026.
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In this episode, JF and Phil bring together two visionary essays on the daimonic and the imaginal: Cristina Campo’s “On Fairy Tales” and M.C. Richards’s “Wrestling with the Daimonic.” What emerges is a conversation about imagination, personhood, and a world shot through with meaning. Notably, this episode opens with a discussion of what your hosts mean by "imaginal."

Phil’s reading of Richards’s essay can be found on our Patreon page. Thanks to Wesleyan University Press for permission to share this with our listeners.

Go to Pierre-Yves Martel's Bandcamp page to preorder his marvellous new album, Weird Studies Volume 3.

Click here to sign up for JF's seminar on Henri Bergson, happening on the Mutations learning platform on Saturday, April 11, 2026.

Click here for details on JF's upcoming Weirdosphere course, "What is Philosophy?".

Music in this Episode

"Scavenger," from ⁠Weird Studies Vol. 3⁠

"Domes and Spires," from ⁠Weird Studies Vol. 2⁠

References

M. C. Richards, American artist and philosopher

Cristina Campo, Italian poet and essayist

M. C. Richards, “Wrestling with the Daimonic” 

Cristina Campo, “On Fairy Tales”

Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory

William Blake, “Auguries of Innocence”

Weird Studies, Episode 8 on Graham Harmon

Susan Chang, The Tarot Podcast

Ramsey Dukes, The Little Book of Demons

“The Boy Who Knew No Fear,” fairy tale 

Una Voce, Catholic movement 

Franz Liszt, Hungarian Pianist

Walter Benjamin, The Storyteller

William Shakespeare, Othello 

M. C. Richards, Centering

Robert Duncan, American poet

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