Episode 200 – On 'The Call of Cthulhu'

Weird Studies

Phil Ford and J. F. Martel

Society & Culture, Arts, Philosophy

4.8 • 688 Ratings

🗓️ 29 October 2025

⏱️ 88 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For their 200th episode, JF and Phil turn their attention to H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu,” a story foundational not only to modern horror fiction but to the very idea of the Weird. In revisiting this tale of forbidden knowledge and cosmic ambiguity, the hosts reflect on Weird Studies itself as a “slow piecing together of dissociated knowledge” that mirrors the work of Lovecraft’s own bewildered protagonists. Image by Antoni Espinosa via Wikimedia Commons. Upcoming Events: Peter Bebergal teaches on Weirdosphere starting November 20, 2025 JF Martel speaks at Back to Haunt Us in East London on November 8, 2025 Phil Ford speaks at the Durations Festival in NYC on November 7, 2025 Phil Ford hangs out at Archestratus Books and Food on November 8, 2025 References H. P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu Weird Studies, Episode 2 on Garmonbozia Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy Phil Ford, “The Wanderer” H. P. Lovecraft, "Nyarlathotep" Weird Studies, Episode 74 on Jung Phil Ford, Jacob Foster, and J. F. Martel, “Care of the Dead” Weird Studies, Episode 110 on The Glass Bead Game Weird Studies, Episode 101 on Tanizaki Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy Weird Studies, Episode 156 on Donna Tartt Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Spector Vision Radio.
0:07.5	I'm Kelly Chase. Four years ago, my life cracked open. I experienced something I couldn't explain, and I haven't stopped chasing it since.
0:18.1	And I'm Jay Christopher King. I've been having anomalous experiences my whole life.
0:22.6	This work, it's not just what I do.
0:25.6	It's who I am.
0:26.6	This season on Cosmosis, we're going into the field,
0:30.6	to places where the veil is thin and where the signal of the phenomenon breaks through.
0:35.6	We're meeting the researchers,
0:37.7	experiencers, and witnesses who live in its wake. From UFOs to near-death
0:42.9	experiences, from cryptids to channeling, we're diving into the high
0:47.1	strangeness that challenges everything we think we know. Because reality
0:52.0	isn't just weird. It's weirder than you can imagine.
0:56.2	We don't know what we'll find,
0:57.9	but we're going to follow the signal wherever
1:00.0	it leaves. And we're taking
1:01.8	you with us. Be sure to follow
1:03.9	us on Spotify so you never miss an
1:05.9	episode of Cosmosis. Coming to you
1:08.2	from Spectrevision Radio.
1:30.6	Music coming to you from Spectrevision Radio. Welcome to Weird Studies, an arts and philosophy podcast with hosts Phil Ford and J.F. Martel. For more episodes or to support the podcast, go to weirdst. This is J.F.
1:59.6	If you'd asked me, back when we started this show,
2:02.7	how many episodes worth of material Phil and I had in us, I'd probably have said 20, maybe 30.
	...

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