Episode 210 – Angels & Daimons, with Cristina Campo and M.C. Richards

Weird Studies

Phil Ford and J. F. Martel

Arts, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.8 • 784 Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2026

⏱️ 94 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Do you believe fairies exist?
0:07.0	Each day more people are coming forward with stories of encountering otherworldly beings.
0:15.0	Join me, Joe Hickey Hall, on the Modern Fairy Sightings Podcast,
0:20.0	as we hear from people who are ready to share
0:23.5	their experiences.
0:25.2	Like a tree stop walking and he walked with this weird gait.
0:30.3	It had to take a double take because in front of me were two elf-like goblin-y things.
0:37.4	So the red light was gone and now this slack shape is forming.
0:43.0	They then stopped, look around at us, chuckled and then just vanished in front of our eyes.
0:48.9	Whether you're already a believer or full of intrigue, come, open-minded and open-hearted, and make your own mind up.
0:59.3	The Modern Fairy Sightings podcast on Spectar Vision Radio.
1:20.2	Welcome to Weird Studies, an arts and philosophy podcast with hosts Phil Ford and J.F. Martel.
1:25.5	For more episodes or to support the podcast, go to weirdstudies.F.
1:53.7	Mary Carolyn Richards, better known as MC Richards, was an American poet, Potter, and essayist, whose work centering Phil and I discussed
2:03.6	all the way back in 2018 in episode 35 of Weird Studies.
2:09.4	Christina Campo was an Italian poet, essayist, and translator, who is gaining wider recognition
2:15.3	in the Anglosphere these days,
2:21.8	thanks in part to New York Review Books' recent publication of The Unforgivable.
2:25.8	A collection of her essay is translated by Alex Andriess.
2:29.2	Today we discuss a piece by each of these authors.
2:34.4	Richards' wrestling with the Dimononic and Campos on fairy tales.
2:40.9	In the show notes, you'll find a link to an audio recording of Richards' essay, read by Phil himself.
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