Weird Horizon

Continuing our series exploring the vampire, the ever-popular figure and symbol against which we can define our own humanity. Looking today at the myriad of religious, social and political associations around blood and the body in the Age of Enlightenment. As our views of our interior world changed, own body and how it functioned, they interacted with our view of our exterior world of society and faith. All of which fed into the enduring symbols of the body and blood at the centre of the Vampire canon.

In coming weeks we will take a detailed look at the vampire in literature, before moving on to talk about more modern vampire 'panics' and vampires on film.

Continuing out series exploring the vampire, the ever-popular figure and symbol against which we can define our own humanity. Looking today at some of the most famous and influential historic 'vampire' cases and panics, as well as the discourse and reporting surrounding them. These cases would form the foundation of the evolving vampire myth, and continue to this day to serve as the most cohesive origin for the figure.

In coming weeks we will talk in more detail around the body and blood in metaphor and how it reflects our changing view of ourselves and our world. After this we will take a detailed look at the vampire in literature, before moving on to talk about more modern vampire 'panics' and vampires on film.

Back with a new series exploring the vampire, the ever-popular figure and symbol against which we can define our own humanity. We will be beginning by attempting to find the origin of the word 'vampire' as well as exploring some of the folklore that melded with and was absorbed into the figure of the modern vampire.

In the coming weeks we will take a deeper look at some historical 'real' vampire cases and panics, as well as exploring blood and the body and how our changing attitudes to and knowledge of them influence how we view ourselves and the world. Much much more to come beyond that.

Starting a new series on AI or Artificial Intelligence by beginning to question how we measure for 'human level' or general Artificial Intelligence. Does simply 'talking' or responding like a human imply understanding and therefore machine intelligence? Exploring some of the 'classical' AI theories which seek to answer how we would practically measure this.

Is understanding even necessary for intelligence?

We will be continuing to explore other 'tests' for human-level AI, before looking at other theories around machine intelligence and the different ways it can be achieved.

What may change in the future around how we measure or define intelligence?

Concluding our series discussing the phenomenon of Reality Shifting, a practice part spirituality, part supernatural, and rising to prominence in the perfect storm of covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns and the rise of TikTok. We have discussed whether we can see it as a response or an answer to a world in the midst of a global pandemic, a form of expression for (predominantly) school age adolescents dealing with a world eerily depopulated, socially and physically isolating, and in need of a comforting, safe, and nostalgic mental escape. But we have also discussed the potentially damaging effects the trend can have on those practicing it. Which leads to the question many people ask, is this a form of spirituality or faith and to be treated as such? Would this count as New Religious Movement? Or are we dealing with the extreme end of this spectrum, could Reality Shifting potentially be a cult?

Returning (hopefully) next week with a new topic. Thank you for your patience when it comes to my near glacial uploads.

Continuing our discussion (still) on the phenomenon of Reality Shifting with a question of where it falls on the spectrum between 'normal' imaginative escape, and something more damaging. Exploring a related (and seemingly overlapping) phenomenon that surged in severity during covid, maladaptive daydreaming, and questioning once again the long term effects of the global pandemic.

Exploring a few more recent case studies investigating the conflagration between acquired tics and tremors and a voracious consumption of 'shifting' and backrooms content. Continued next week with the penultimate episode.

Continuing our discussion on the phenomenon of Reality Shifting by exploring some of the potential psychological underpinnings of an emergent practice. Can we view Reality Shifting as an evolved form of Tulpamancy and explore it from the same psychological standpoint? Are there certain traits that make one more susceptible to a belief in 'shifting', such as hypnotizability or one's level of immersion. Did the covid-19 pandemic create a specific psychological situation that lead many to a belief in 'shifting' as a form of escape, or as a way of recapturing a lost sense of normality?

Continuing our discussion on the phenomenon of Reality Shifting by looking at some of the ‘symptoms’ that may indicate being close to, or achieving a shift, as well as a deeper look at ‘scripting’ for shifting. What are the kinds of thing people desire to ‘script’ for in their Desired Reality, ie: what kind of control do people wish to have over their new reality in order to hopefully shield themselves from trauma?

Deeping our discussion on the satanic witch panic by exploring a few influential European witch trials. Witch trials from their inception have a startling level of uniformity, aspects of even the earliest organised trials would be echoed in later ones, across Europe and beyond. At the same time, responses to the trials, both good and bad influenced the shape of them as they were happening...

We will be continuing next week with the case of the American witch trials, before moving to some modern approaches to the witch and looking at some of the achievements of modern witches, retaking this potent symbol for good.

Continuing our series on witchcraft by exploring the transformation which took the idea of the 'witch', a magical practitioner with varying cultural contexts and qualities, and turned it into an archetype of a person capable of being hunted...

Where the Witch Trials inevitable, or part of a process by which a demographic is intentionally marginalised and demonised? Let's find out...

Next week we will be exploring the trials themselves in more detail, so we hope you'll stick around for that. 

Continuing our series on witchcraft, by taking a deeper look at what social and literary ideas merged to form the idea of the 'witch'. 

We also begin to answer the question of why the idea of the witch came into being at this time, if, as some believe, it is a reflection of an innate archetype or a reaction to Christianity in general. 

Next we will be exploring what specific legal and political forces combined to create not only the idea of the 'witch', but the urgent need to eradicate them...

Concluding (for now) a lengthy series exploring the various things Bigfoot, Sasquatch and related creatures mean to various peoples and in various contexts. Today, rounding out our investigation with a look at the overlap between Bigfoot and UFO or UAP encounters. Are they connected, are they one and the same? Or is there something else that can explain the universality of experience inherent to these different contexts, something intrinsically human? Bibliography and transcript coming soon. I will be taking a little break for a few weeks and top priority will be getting these episodes up on various platforms with their correct transcripts, and in a more accessible format. Watch this space. 

Continuing a series on Cryptozoology by looking at the changing context in which Native American and First Nations legends were re-interpreted by European audiences. Exploring some of the ways in which the personhood of Sasquatch-like encounters was downplayed for an ‘ape-like’ creature more suited to pop culture audiences. 

Bibliography coming soon, check out ‘Raincoast Sasquatch’ by J. Robert Alley, ‘Tribal Bigfoot’ by David Paulides and ‘The Evolution of “Monsters” in North American Exploration and Travel Literature 1607-1930’ by Adam Shoalts. 

Inspired by fellow podcasters Bigfoot Club, Review It Yourself and The Nerdstalgic Podcast. Check them out. :-)

Continuing a series on Cryptozoology by looking at an overview of some of the potential explanations for the Bigfoot/Sasquatch encounter experience. Are they some form of hallucination, a simple hoax, or some other animal encounter misinterpreted? Or are they a blend of all the above?

Bibliography coming soon, check ‘The Locals, A Contemporary Investigation of the Bigfoot/Sasquatch Phenomenon’ by Thom Powell as well as “The ‘Truth’ about the Bigfoot Legend.” by Linda Milligan, published in Western Folklore, vol. 49, no. 1, 1990 and "Abominable Snowman or Bigfoot: A Psychoanalytic Search for the Origin of Yeti and Sasquatch Tales" by Manfred Kets de Vries.

Inspired by fellow podcasters Bigfoot Club, Review It Yourself and The Nerdstalgic Podcast. Check them out. :-)

Concluding this discussion on Tarot with a brief look into Tarot’s history. From its origins as a medieval Italian parlour game, to its reimagining as a lost goldmine of Hermetic wisdom, Tarot has taken a variety of forms and meanings as a reaction to its historical context. Tracing a little about where it came from can help us to fully understand some of its more evocative imagery, as well as theorise what kind of form it may take in the future.

In this episode I am joined once again by my good friends Lee and Lewis, as we start to explore another aspect of Spirituality and esoteric beliefs, Tarot and its application as a form of spiritual development. This is a slightly more relaxed discussion on the topic, but will be followed up by a more in-depth history if you're interested in that.

Join us as we chat Tarot and our ideas around it. If you want more like this, please check out the series on Astrology which takes a similar approach. There's no better way to interrogate where we are in our spiritual journey, than with good friends and a little wine... This is a part of an ongoing series where we delve into ideas like this, so if you like this, more is on the way. 

Transcription will be available soon. Apologies for the delay, these can be a bit more challenging to accurately transcribe but I promise you I am working on it. 

In this episode we will conclude our discussion on Internet culture and the philosophies that surround our changing relationship with it. So far we have explored all the ways in which the Internet may be classed as 'alive', or at least share similarities with other living structures and networks. 

In this episode we look at a more modern theory, that the Internet of the 2020s is in fact much less alive than we would think. Have the bots officially taken over, have we reached the point that the human on the Internet is in the minority? And is all this a natural process, the logical culmination of what has come before? Is the Internet dead and did we kill it?

Read the full archived 'Dead Internet Theory' thread here:

https://forum.agoraroad.com/index.php?threads/dead-internet-theory-most-of-the-internet-is-fake.3011/

Transcript coming soon:

Continuing on with our discussion and moving into the early 00s, we explore some of the theories surrounding the structural similarities between the maturing internet and the human brain. 

If the Internet is indeed similar to the human brain, is it capable of the emergent product of said structure: thought?

If so, does that mean the brain and body are divisible?

Transcription available here soon.

The conclusion to our discussion on the Bennewitz affair. Rejoining the campaign against him and the community at large at the point the plan is in full swing. We look at the wider effects on the community as well as the extent to which modern UFO lore is directly descended from stories as penned and controlled by AFOSI agent, Richard Doty. 

Transcription available here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B2dpqPf5nuuZmJbpLTDoZOGoCS9d5kyN/view?usp=sharing

Selected bibliography available here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/169r71wQocHKWP2h2MvujX8yEiv9DSewC/view?usp=sharing

Continuing our exploration of the ‘men in black’ myth, with the disinformation campaign levelled against the UFO community coming to a head in a complicated and dangerous hall of mirrors.

Transcription available here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oDSgxtoRijTFhKBNsrkmgw8SzsVFib8P/view?usp=sharing

Continuing our look into the ‘men in black’ myth and starting to untangle the complicated web make up these stories. Government and military involvement, SF authors and counter-espionage agents all leave their marks on the evolving narrative. But what is it evolving into?

Transcription available here: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13RIhD_eJdnd65RqjtyBVDjPwYd5xg36G/view?usp=sharing

In this special bonus episode, we cover a few extra details around the Elisa Lam case that didn't quite fit into the main episode.

If you are joining me from Love & Murder Podcast, it also contains some exclusive paranormal stories of our very own, and the ways in which we've had experiences we couldn't quite explain...

If that sounds good to you, stick around and hang out with us for a bit.

Find Love & Murder @NoConductRadio on Twitter and online at murderandlove.com. 

In this special collaboration with Love & Murder Podcast we explore one of the most widely publicised true crime cases of the decade, the disappearance and death of 21 year old student, Elisa Lam from a hotel in downtown LA. Little did she know when she checked into the re-branded hotel, that the building had a long and chequered past. As soon as the police appealed for help in this case with the release of the security footage showing her confusing last known moments, internet sleuths worked to link the unfurling tragedy with the dark stain cast by the hotel's former guests... But is there more to the story?

Find Love & Murder @NoConductRadio on Twitter and online at murderandlove.com.

Stay tuned for a bonus episode with some extra content working alongside this episode, including some spooky, paranormal stories of our own. 

I am joined by two very good friends of mine as we start to put into practice some basic astrology concepts. Exploring ideas such as modality and cardinal signs via Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a healthy dose of wine. Sceptics that we all are, it's hard to deny there's something persuasive about astrology...

Bridging the gap between ancient astrology and modern astrology with our good friend Carl Jung. We'll also be taking a look at some of the modern services that serve similar needs to astrology for those who are spiritually averse.