The novels VALIS, The Divine Invasion, and The Transmigration of Timothy Archer by legendary science-fiction author Philip K. Dick comprise the unofficial VALIS trilogy. Published between 1978 and 1982, these books use psychedelic imagery, religious history, and psychological inquiry to create a portrait of American culture in the late 70s and early 80s. We try to unpack them against the backdrop of our contemporary situation to gain a little clarity on our middle age and growing paranoia.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

The VALIS Trilogy

Sources:

• https://philipdick.com/literary-criticism/interviews/horselover-fat-and-the-new-messiah/

• https://muse.jhu.edu/article/237538

• https://web.archive.org/web/20130528112644/http://www.philipkdick.com/media_twilightzone.html

• https://www.salon.com/2022/07/23/8-facts-about-philip-k-dick_partner/

• https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/just-because-you-re-paranoid-philip-k-dick-s-troubled-life-1.3243976

• Masculinity in the Novels of Philip K. Dick.

• Endopsychic Allegories

• John Boonstra: "Horselover Fat and The New Messiah" (Hartford Advocate April 22, 1981, p. 24

• THE PSYCHEDELIC REINTERPRETATION OF CORPUS CHRISTI BY PHILIP K. DICK, Bogdan Trocha Dr. hab., Professor, University of Zielona Góra, Poland, Zielona Góra

This 1979 instrumental record is considered the beginning of ambient music by many of its listeners. We unpack Eno's intentions behind the function of such music, while considering his goal of provoking his listeners to contemplate their own death. We also do our best to define Ambient Music for ourselves and resist the pull of academic dissection of artistic experimentation.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

Ambient 1: Music For Airports

Sources:

• https://reverbmachine.com/blog/deconstructing-brian-eno-music-for-airports/

• https://www.3ammagazine.com/litarchives/oct2001/interview_judy_nylon.html

• https://inmotionmagazine.com/eno1.html

• https://www.loudersound.com/features/mad-as-tits-but-successful-a-brief-history-of-eg-records

• http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/interviews/unk-78b.html

• http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/MFA-txt.html

• https://pitchfork.com/features/podcast/brian-eno-music-for-airports-review/

• http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/interviews/musn79.html

• Lysaker, J. T. (2018). Brian Eno's Ambient 1: Music for airports. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190497293.001.0001

• Cox C., Warner D., . (2004). Audio culture. New York: Continuum.

• Albiez, S., & Pattie, D. (Eds.). (2016). Brian Eno: Oblique Music. Bloomsbury Academic.

• Sheppard, David. On Some Faraway Beach : The Life and Times of Brian Eno, Chicago Review Press, Incorporated, 2009.

This 1981 horror/comedy film has achieved cult status within the film buff community, built the mold for horror comedies, and completely traumatized Charlie in his youth. Despite the controversies around its creator, it has become ripe for personal interpretations.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

An American Werewolf in London

Sources

• https://davidmvining.wordpress.com/2024/07/24/an-american-werewolf-in-london/

• https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/Interview_John-Landis.pdf

• https://itcamefromblog.com/2018/01/17/famous-monsters-aliens-a-chat-with-rick-baker-monster-maker/

• https://www.sfsite.com/10a/dn233.htm

• https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/an-american-werewolf-in-london-is-still-the-best-horror-reimagining/?pubDate=20250804

• https://kevingoetz360.com/george-folsey-jr-film-editing-art-of-the-fix/

• https://www.northernsoul.me.uk/griffin-dunne/

• https://jennyagutter.net/

• https://www.avid.wiki/PolyGram_Pictures

• https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/aug/21/an-american-werewolf-in-london-1981-john-landis

• https://jewishhorrorreview.com/tag/john-landis/

• https://reellifemonsters.wordpress.com/2024/10/23/american-werewolf-in-london-queer-or-camp/

• Elder, R. K. (2011). The film that changed my life : 30 directors on their epiphanies in the dark /. Chicago Review Press.

• Dietz, F., Bennett, J., Woodward, F. H., Weitz, S., & Maynard, R. (2021). Damn Dirty Geeks Talk Among Us!: Reflections on the classic films that make us geek out. Independently published.

• Curran, A. (2003). Aristotelian Reflections on Horror and Tragedy in An American Werewolf in London and The Sixth Sense. Dark Thoughts. Philosophic Reflections on Cinematic Horror. Lanham, Maryland & Oxford: The Scarecrow Press inc, 47-64.

• 'AMERICAN WEREWOLF,' HORROR PLUS LAUGHS Aug. 21, 1981 The New York Times Archives

• "A Meditation on 'An American Werewolf in London' The Old Horror Film from John Landis: A Queer Look," Walter Holland, April 5, 2023

• "An American Werewolf in London at 40: John Landis's crafty creative peak," The Guardian, Guy Lodge.

After being serialized in Heavy Metal magazine, this dystopian bio-punk comic was published as a beautiful book in 2010... and hardly anyone is talking about it now. We discuss the creators' intentions and hopes for the story, along with Heavy Metal's history, and Christian's youthful memories of Singapore.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Track it down from here:

Fluorescent Black

Sources

• https://www.zonanegativa.com/fluorescent-black-an-interview-with-m-f-wilson-and-nathan-fox/

• https://variety.com/2007/film/news/imagi-plotting-fluorescent-black-1117975671/?jwsource=cl

• https://comicattack.net/ddwddnf/

• https://livefromthedmz-blog.tumblr.com/post/18558447254/nathan-fox-interview

• https://vimeo.com/mfwilson

• https://www.comicbox.com/index.php/news-english/fluorescent-black-the-graphic-novel/ (review with full Heavy Metal press release text)

• https://readrant.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/review-fluorescent-black/

• "A Challenge to Gene Theory, a Tougher Look at Biotech," New York Times, July 1, 2007

• Waldby, C. (2009). Singapore Biopolis: Bare Life in the City-State. East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal, 3(2–3), 367–383. https://doi.org/10.1215/s12280-009-9089-2

• https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-history-of-cyberpunk-comics/

• Transhumanism - Francis Fukuyama

This television show, created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, ran from 2021 to 2023, taking on themes like grief and indigenous identity with humor, inventive storytelling, and touching reminders of coming of age within a compassionate community.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Track it down from here:

Reservation Dogs

Sources:

• https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/reservation-dogs-the-real-story-of-okern-oklahoma/

• https://deadline.com/2024/08/reservation-dogs-dpharaoh-woon-a-tai-interview-emmys-1236033993/

• https://variety.com/2024/tv/awards/reservation-dogs-producer-migizi-pensoneau-indigenous-storytelling-1236044429/

• https://screenrant.com/reservation-dogs-original-5-season-plan-details/

• https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/reservation-dogs-sterlin-harjo-series-finale-interview-1235607021/

• https://www.huffpost.com/entry/reservation-dogs-authentic-native-moments_n_64c5771fe4b03ad2b898c325

• https://www.npr.org/2023/08/02/1191671833/the-unassumingly-brilliant-reservation-dogs-is-back-for-its-third-and-final-seas

• https://variety.com/2023/tv/features/reservation-dogs-creator-sterlin-harjo-why-ending-season-3-1235686188/

• https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/reservation-dogs-season-3-tv-review-fx-hulu-1235547845/

• https://www.npr.org/2022/08/08/1115613218/reservation-dogs-indian-native-american-hulu

• https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/sep/01/why-reservation-dogs-is-the-funniest-and-most-groundbreaking-new-tv-show

• https://www.salon.com/2021/08/09/reservation-dogs-fx-hulu-taika-waititi-sterlin-harjo/

• https://www.cbr.com/reservation-dogs-hot-chip-metaphor/

• https://www.indiewire.com/features/interviews/reservation-dogs-finale-sterlin-harjo-interview-1234910461/

• https://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1489-taika-waititi

This 2020 novel by Native American author Stephen Graham Jones mixes literary explorations of indigenous peoples' identity with slasher-film tropes, making it his first novel with mainstream success. Did Jones change something about his writing to get there, or did the literary world catch up to him? We discuss how history, symbols, and context fit into his project while asking, "Why did the literary establishment like this so much?"

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

The Only Good Indians

Sources:

• https://blackfeetnation.com/

• https://blog.nativehope.org/native-american-animals-the-elk-a-protector-and-relative

• https://academic.oup.com/isle/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/isle/isad056/7255951?redirectedFrom=fulltext

• https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/stephen-graham-jones-the-only-good-indians-interview/

• https://ew.com/books/2019/08/08/only-good-indians-preview/

• https://www.npr.org/2020/07/29/896840079/in-his-new-book-stephen-graham-jones-explores-the-idea-of-good-indians

• https://www.npr.org/2020/07/16/891433693/grief-and-guilt-spawn-horrors-in-the-only-good-indians

• https://www.jstor.org/stable/541345

• https://journals.kent.ac.uk/index.php/transmotion/article/view/266/900

• https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2020-07-15/the-only-good-indians-by-stephen-graham-jones-review

• https://blog.nativehope.org/native-american-animals-the-elk-a-protector-and-relative

• https://filmobsessive.com/film/film-news/film-interviews/interview-stephen-graham-jones-a-discussion-on-lost-highway-and-mapping-the-interior/

• ERIC GARY ANDERSON, et al. "Demon Theory for Beginners, or The Intertextual Badlands of Stephen Graham Jones." Postindian Aesthetics, University of Arizona Press, 2022, pp. 165-, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2c3k193.24.

• Washuta, Elissa and Warburton, Theresa. Shapes of Native Nonfiction: Collected Essays by Contemporary Writers, Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 2019.

• Schaak, Hogan D. "Bleeding All over the Shelves and Tracking It Out into the World: Theorizing Horror in the Indigenous North American Novels The Only Good Indians and Empire of Wild." Studies in the Fantastic, vol. 15, 2023, p. 94-126.

Fugazi, the legendary post-punk band, released Repeater, their first full-length record in 1990, and it still feels relevant today. We talk about the DIY ethic of the band and its label, and how they recorded a thematically unified collection of songs that is still interpreted in deeply personal ways by listeners who weren't alive when it came out.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store [if you're not getting it direct from Dischord or your local record store]:

Repeater

Sources:

• https://www.allmusic.com/album/repeater-mw0000086712
• https://thequietus.com/opinion-and-essays/anniversary/fugazi-repeater-review/
• https://consequence.net/2020/04/fugazi-repeater-album-anniversary/
• https://pitchfork.com/features/interview/5840-fugazi/
• https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/421596/nothing-but-a-number-a-live-history-of-fugazis-song-repeater/
• https://alchetron.com/Guy-Picciotto
• Azerrad, M. (2001). Our band could be your life : scenes from the American indie underground, 1981-1991. Little, Brown and Company.
• Brace, E. (1993, Aug 01). PUNK LIVES!: WASHINGTON'S FUGAZI CLAIMS IT'S JUST A BAND. SO WHY DO SO MANY KIDS THINK IT'S GOD? The Washington Post (1974-) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/punk-lives/docview/140829838/se-2
• https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/27/fugazi-sang-an-anti-rape-message-to-their-male-audience-30-years-ago-whats-changed
• https://www.reddit.com/r/Fugazi/comments/1hcsv2o/is_fugazi_problematic_in_any_way_possible/?sort=new
• https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/end-on-end/id1500702253?i=1000544525911

Christian and Charlie have a couple things to say.

This podcast ran independently from 2016 to 2020. We reflect on our goals in creating it and how successful those were while trying to be transparent about the ins and outs of podcast production, marketing, and monetization.

This graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell came out between 1989 and 1998, 100 years after the Jack the Ripper murders it's based on. We look at the meticulous research they put into this to try to understand how this story manages to be about true crime while indulging in deep themes like English identity, psychogeography, and the nature of time.

Interested in the media we discussed this episode? Please support the show by purchasing it through our affiliate store:

• From Hell

Additional Resources:

• A Look Back at 'From Hell' by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
• Delivering the Twentieth Century, Part 1: Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell
• Delivering the 20th Century, Part 2: Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell
• The Great Alan Moore Reread: From Hell, Part 1
• The Great Alan Moore Reread: From Hell, Part 2
• Eddie Campbell explains why he's coloring From Hell for the first time
• Michael J. Prince (2017) The magic of patriarchal oppression in Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell, Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 8:3, 252-263
• Vollmar, R. (2017). Northampton Calling. World Literature Today, 91(1), 28–34.
• The House That Jack Built – An Interview with Alan Moore (2002)
• From Hell And Back: The Eddie Campbell Interview
• Superhuman Cognitions, Fourth Dimension and Speculative Comics Narrative: Panel Repetition in Watchmen and From Hell
• Postimperial Landscapes "Psychogeography" and Englishness in Alan Moore's Graphic Novel"From Hell: A Melodrama in Sixteen Parts" Author(s): Elizabeth Ho Source: Cultural Critique, No. 63 (Spring, 2006), pp. 99-121 Published by: University of Minnesota Press