'Take a trip out to the Californian deserts and join the occult rocket-race with Ken and Mark. Our man who fell to Earth this week is the wonderful George Pendle, author of the go-to book on Jack Parsons: Strange Angel.' (SittingNow podcast).
'Adam talks with British writer and cultural historian John Higgs about 90s TV, the KLF, the importance of trying to be optimistic about the future, what John Lennon might be like if he were alive now and what The Beatles and James Bond tell us about the British psyche.'
Blurb:
'John Higgs is a writer who specialises in finding previously unsuspected narratives, hidden in obscure corners of our history and culture, which can change the way we see the world.
'In the words of MOJO magazine, “Reading John Higgs is like being shot with a diamond. Suddenly everything becomes terrifyingly clear”. The Times agreed, saying that “Higgs’s prose has a diamond-hard quality. He knows how to make us relate.”
'“A while ago I decided to read anything Higgs writes,” said Frank Cottrell Boyce, “He seems to be able to take any subject - pop music, Watling Street, conspiracy theories, robotics - and poke at it until it yields up its secrets.”
'Russell Brand described him succinctly as “a great writer […] who pulls shit together in an interesting way.”' (Adam Buxton podcast).
'Jon and Timothy head to the haunted Pottstown Regional Public Library for a ghost tour and investigation. Windows are mysteriously opened, candles mysteriously light, bells ring, unexplained scents drift through the building, and an EVP is collected.'
'The library was founded in 1921 by the Century Club of Pottstown. The library has been at the location of 500 E. High Street (corner of High and Washington streets) since 1962. The building was once the local post office, and is over one hundred years old.
'Strange Familiars is a paranormal podcast that tells stories through a combination of historical research, witness interviews, discussion, and on-site recordings when possible. Join Timothy and his rotating cast of co-hosts (Alison, Chad, Jon, and James) as they legend trip into unknown and forgotten places.
'Timothy is is an illustrator, author, paranormal investigator, and folk musician living in Pennsylvania. His illustrations have appeared in the pages of various books, magazines, fanzines and comics as well as on many record and CD covers. Since 1995, Timothy has been making music both solo and with his band, Stone Breath. Stone Breath has released over a dozen albums. Timothy makes regular appearances on the paranormal radio show, Where Did The Road Go?, and has appeared as a guest on many other podcasts and radio programs, including Coast To Coast AM.' (Strange Familiars podcast).
Douglas Rushkoff is an American media theorist, writer, columnist, lecturer and philosopher.
He has authored works such as Present Shock, Throwing Rocks At The Google Bus and his latest, Aleister And Adolf, a graphic novel exploring the occult warfare that existed between Hitler's Nazi Germany and Aleister Crowley's esoteric Britain during the Second World War.
Also joining in on the discussion is Michael Garfield - a multidisciplinary visionary artist and musician. (Third Eye Drops podcast).
Panel discussion that brings together two well informed, open-minded perspectives in the ongoing search for answers to the nature of Consciousness, mulling over the evidence supporting a fairly new perspective in science: the notion that this thing we call "Reality" may in fact be a digital simulation. Leading the discussion is physicist Tom Campbell and engineer Jim Elvidge.
'Jim Elvidge is an expert in complex computational systems, holds a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University, a patent holder, and author of The Universe - Solved! With over 20 years of research in cosmology, quantum mechanics, philosophy, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and the paranormal under his belt, Jim has kept pace with the latest theories and discoveries on the cutting edge of scientific understanding. It’s from this breadth of knowledge which he draws in order to present a theory of reality so perfect, so powerful that it explains all known scientific and cultural anomalies - presenting a body of strong evidence which he believes shows that consciousness is the source of Reality itself, rather than simply an artifact of brain function - and that the evidence points toward an apparent "programmed nature of reality" which is based on a self-evolving system.
'There is a significant overlap between the concepts presented in Jim’s writing and ideas, with those of our second panellist - nuclear physicist, author and pioneering consciousness researcher/expert, Thomas Campbell. Tom has been a serious explorer of the frontiers of reality, mind, consciousness, and psychic phenomena since the early 1970s, when he began researching altered states of consciousness with Bob Monroe, and was instrumental in getting the revered Monroe Laboratory up and running. Tom’s book, My Big TOE, represents the results and conclusions of thirty years of careful scientific exploration of the boundaries and contents of reality from both the physical and metaphysical viewpoints, and expresses a model of existence and reality that is based directly on Campbell’s scientific research and first hand experience. His "Theory of Everything" is truly a theory of everything, unifying under one seamless scientific understanding: Science and philosophy, physics and metaphysics, mind and matter, purpose and meaning, the normal and the paranormal, and even objective and subjective realities.'
With the occasional hilarious story of his time working on the Redstone, Atlas and Apollo programs, this is a highly informative and entertaining interview with rocket engineer George Knudsen.
'George Knudsen started working in 1958 on the Redstone missile and moved on to working on the Atlas ICBM. Later he worked on the Saturn 5 launch vehicle, where he was responsible for the fuel tanks. He was on the launch team at Cape Canaveral for various Apollo missions. In this episode George talks about his work in this fascinating period of science and engineering history.' (Omega Tau podcast).
'Cory Allen is a meditation teacher, composer, mastering engineer, and podcast host from Austin, TX.
'Cory has taught hundreds of people the practice of meditation through his guided workshops and delivers lectures on mindfulness and the expansion of human consciousness.'
In this episode, Cory talks about consensus reality being an illusion and finding liberation from our monkey-mind mechanisms through objective thinking. (Astral Hustle podcast).
'The sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic regions of the earth is an especially sensitive indicator of the earth’s climate, and in particular, the current overall atmospheric temperature of the planet. It was recently reported to have reached a new low. Our guest, NASA’s Walt Meier explains why this is the case and which processes govern the increase or decrease of the ice. We then discuss how the ice mass is measured based on satellite and how its thickness is estimated based mostly on in-situ measurements. We cover climate modelling and its connection to sea ice and conclude with an outlook on future research.' (Omega Tau podcast).
Danny McGregor of the Scottish Green Party provides some personal insight into the timing of a second Scottish Independence Referendum...
'There is a view held by some commentators that it is “only a matter of time” before Scotland obtains independence and so we should wait it out for more favourable conditions to manifest.
'Implicit in this argument is that the devolution process started a one-way train towards independence and there is nothing that can be done to stop it, regardless of political developments in the meantime.
'Resting on the idea of a permanent SNP juggernaut or, more broadly, a pro-independence majority being present at Holyrood, may be comforting for some. However, this is based on the erroneous assumption that the status quo will continue to prevail. Political developments often surprise even the most astute political commentators.
'The only reason people can argue indyref2 is only a matter of time is because the SNP dominance is assumed to be in a fixed position come what may. If we remove this assumption, holding to the “only a matter of time” argument becomes considerably more difficult.
'In just over the last year or so, the list of political events that were near impossible to accurately predict include: the Corbyn victory, the Sanders surge, the SNP landslide at the last UK elections, and the victory for Leave in the EU referendum.
'On the specific question of the SNP, the last Scottish election showed how much voting patterns are consolidating around the constitutional question. Although we shouldn’t read too much into a by-election with a meagre 20 per cent turnout, Tory transfers in the recent North Ayrshire Council by-election helped Labour scrape over the line. Whatever the exact cause, the impact of increased Tory representation reflects a rejuvenated right and, unfortunately, it is not a guarantee that their vote share won’t grow. It wasn’t so long ago that the Tories were thought “dead” in Scotland.
'The debate around tactical voting seems likely to sharpen at the next Scottish election and not in a way that benefits advocates of independence. Aside from anything else, the last result helped to make the Tories seem like a legitimate alternative to a struggling Labour Party - Ruth Davidson’s party is no longer isolated after years in the wilderness.
'Furthermore, the political landscape in the UK could change sufficiently in such a way that could make blocking a second independence referendum more likely. For example, if the Corbyn/PLP dynamic ends badly, the prospect of an increased Tory majority is not so farfetched. In this political climate, it is entirely possible that attitudes in England towards granting a second independence referendum could harden.' (Bella Caledonia article & Scottish Independence podcast).
'The Gemini programme of the mid-sixties is relatively unknown, even though it was an important stepping stone in the Apollo moon programme: Gemini is where NASA learned to fly in space. In this episode we cover Gemini with our two guests David Woods (who has been on the show talking about Apollo) and David Harland. Together they wrote a book on Gemini that serves as the rough outline of this conversation. We talk about the Gemini spacecraft itself, the launch vehicles, some of the achievements and learnings of the programme as well as some of the specifics of some of the missions.' (Omega Tau podcast).
'This episode is a mix between computer architecture, programming and (historic) space flight. We cover the ins and outs of the Apollo Guidance Computer. Our guest is Frank O’Brien, who wrote an incredibly detailed book about this machine. In the episode we cover the hardware architecture, the instruction set, the various layers (native, executive and interpreter) as well as some mission programs.' (Omega Tau podcast).
'Richard Manning is an award-winning environmental author and journalist whose books include Against The Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization.
'Manning has just co-authored Go Wild: Free Your Body And Mind From The Afflictions Of Civilization with John J. Ratey, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
'The book asserts that we should draw on our hunter-gatherer past to live more closely to our genetic inheritance.'
Manning: "Agriculture is really the dominant system of 8,000 years, and it's more than a way of growing food. It's a way of domesticating humans and organising humans. It is 'the' system." (The Enternities podcast).
'Anthony Peake is a consciousness theorist and perhaps the ideal candidate to write A Life Of Philip K. Dick: The Man Who Remembered The Future, a new biography of a novelist obsessed with probing the nature of reality.
Peake’s book attempts to put Dick’s visionary experiences into a wider context, advancing the notion that Dick’s imagination might truly have been a precognitive gateway to the future. Peake’s biography is the first to follow the publication of The Exegesis, Dick’s own eight year attempt to write himself into an understanding of his experiences.
Terms you will hear in this interview include: “ITLADian” which acronymically refers to Peake’s first book, Is There Life After Death, and denotes his philosophy of consciousness, which he has been developing through several books; “The Daemon” relates to the theory of the higher self, a separate consciousness that may potentially exist within, and/or communicate with, the normal waking consciousness of the self. (The Enternities podcast).
Media Underground's very own James Inman was recently interviewed by Doug Stanhope for his podcast.
If you don't know who James Inman is then it's about time you found out because James is one of the funniest guys I've ever met in my life and an undoubted American National Treasure (I once spent five crazy days in the Mojave Desert with James and he recently reviewed my book Bothy Culture describing it as "a trail of bread crumbs to an unknown world").
I suspect that much of his humour is completely unintentional, which is what makes James all the more hilarious...
'Doug invites long time friend James Inman for a pre-show podcast in the green room of the KC Improv to discuss hate crimes, kinds of homelessness and being 86'd from gigs and Greyhounds. James is featured in the indie film The Unbookables and wrote the Greyhound Diary.' (Doug Stanhope podcast).
'Brooklyn-based Gangstagrass is headed to Vail tonight, fresh on the heels of their newly released album, Broken Hearts & Stolen Money. The Emmy-nominated band is known for their “rap‘n’grass” renditions, pairing the sounds of classic bluegrass with contemporary hip-hop.
'“It always catches my attention when bands converge previously non-meshed styles, (that) takes guts and vision,” said Scotty Stoughton, owner of Bonfire Entertainment and the show promoter. “Couple that with positive reviews from artists like the MarchForth Marching Band and national promoter friends, it was a no brainer to bring their energetic and unique live show to Vail.”
'The band’s founder, Rench (his stage name), said he has been working on combining the music styles for more than a decade.' (Vail Daily article).
Omega Tau is a fascinating podcast covering interesting topics in science and engineering.
In this episode Ray Mooney of the University of Texas in Austin talks about artificial intelligence. The show starts out by providing an overview about the field in general, followed by an exploration of some of the historical aspects as well as some of the subfields. Ray Mooney’s own specialties are machine learning and natural language processing. The episode concludes with a brief conversation about IBM’s Watson, the computer than won the jeopardy game. (Omega Tau podcast).
Omega Tau is a fascinating podcast covering interesting topics in science and engineering.
In this episode W. David Woods - author of How Apollo Flew To The Moon - returns to the show to talk about the technology used to explore the moon's surface. (Omega Tau podcast).
Omega Tau is a fascinating podcast covering interesting topics in science and engineering.
This episode is a conversation with W. David Woods about his book How Apollo Flew To The Moon where he describes at length all the details a geek would want to know about how the Apollo spacecraft operated and how the flights to the Moon were actually carried out. (Omega Tau podcast).
'Was Jesus a literary creation of the Roman Emperors? This episode delves into the controversial work of Joseph Atwill, author of Caesar’s Messiah.' (Out There Radio podcast).
'In an extremely personal episode of Out There Radio, Raymond explains the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and how politicians are playing a dangerous game with the health and well-being of the people you love most.' (Out There Radio podcast).
'Combining tales of the HAARP conspiracy, Nikola Tesla’s death ray, and a space cannon capable of launching objects into orbit, this episode of Out There Radio has something for everyone.' (Out There Radio podcast).
'Arthur Machen's stories of the supernatural twitched the veil between our own world and an underworld populated by gods, demons and malevolent 'little people'. His themes were visions, dreams and madness and his novel The Hill Of Dreams was described on publication as "the most decadent book in the English language".
'Machen was also responsible for one of the great myths of the First World War - the story of the 'Angels of Mons'- and he has inspired generations of horror writers and film-makers, from Stephen King to Guillermo del Toro.
'Machen spent a solitary childhood roaming the hills and woodlands of his native Monmouthshire. He became fascinated by the history and folklore of the border landscapes and the idea that this was a 'thin place' which touched supernatural borders too. As a writer he returned to this area again and again in stories which revealed abduction, possession and routes into dark underworlds. By contrast, his other favourite place was London and he was probably the first horror writer to set terrifying events in everyday, suburban settings.
'Writer Horatio Clare grew up in the same Welsh landscapes which so haunted and inspired Machen. On the 150th anniversary of his literary predecessor's birth, Horatio Clare hunts for Machen and his supernatural familiars in a North London necropolis, a fairy-haunted wood and a nightjar-haunted hill. And he meets an artist whose work was already full of malevolent Machen-esque faeries long before she discovered that Arthur Machen was actually her great-grandfather.' (BBC Radio Four audio stream).
Raymond and Austin explore the mysteries of Corel Castle...
Episode 57: The Wizard Of Corel Castle - Part 1
'Episode 57 begins with a discussion of the mysterious death of Michael Hastings. Was this notable journalist murdered because he uncovered government corruption? The main topic of the episode is Coral Castle, a puzzling monument which stands in south Florida. Was its lone creator, Edward Leedskalnin, a genius who uncovered the secrets of the pyramids, a time-traveler, an alien, or just a dedicated man who longed for his lost “Sweet Sixteen?”' (Out There Radio podcast).
Episode 58: The Wizard Of Corel Castle - Part 2
'Episode 58 begins with a discussion of the zombie mind control drug known as scopolamine, along with new information about the suspicious death of investigative journalist Gary Webb. In the main segment, we continue our investigation of Coral Castle.' (Out There Radio podcast).
'Gangstagrass are musical pioneers: fusing traditional stylings of bluegrass with the rebellious expression of hip-hop. While these two genres may seem an unlikely mix, the resulting sound is irrefutably addictive. Heavy backbeats intertwined with ornate banjo rolls provide a powerful chug, setting the stage for skilful rap and twangy melodic hooks.
'The founder of the group, Rench, grew up with the sounds of country radio stations filling his home. At the same time, grade school recesses were spent embracing hip-hop culture. His friends were break dancers and rappers, endlessly enthusiastic about sharing their favourite rap albums. Instead of resisting either influence, he embraced them both. As a musician he approached these sounds in a way no one had done before. Taking his folk expertise, he reached out to established rappers to sample on his tracks. From this, he created the original recordings: “Rench Presents: Ganstagrass.” It didn’t take long for hundreds of thousands of downloads to occur shortly after its free internet release. Their new genre of music was introduced even further when their song “Long Hard Times to Come” was placed as the theme song of the television series Justified, a track which was EMMY nominated for “Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music”.
'Gangstagrass believes that music has no limitations. With their confidence to be innovative, they break away from what’s already been done. By bridging rural and urban music, they expand perspectives, defying the pre-conceived notions of either culture. As Rench puts it, “I want to provide the soundtrack for a wave of cultural miscegenation that will let us all party together at last!”' (Pinball Sessions audio download).
'Alex Jones is the most famous conspiracy theorist in the world, but his fame has come with a price. His increasingly bizarre behavior has led many to question both his sanity and his sincerity. Is he a digital cult leader, or a stooge for the NWO, or just a man destabilized by fame? This episode examines how single figures come to represent entire movements, and the potential drawbacks of being a conspiracy celebrity.' (Out There Radio podcast).
After a rather long hiatus, the wonderful Out There Radio is back with two new episodes that are also now available as vodcasts...
Episode 54: UFO Disclosure And Mermaid Hoaxes
'Out There’s first video podcast begins with an in-depth discussion of the recent popularity of mock-umentaries about mermaids, as well as previous examples of the “found footage” genre. Austin and Raymond then debate the significance of the Citizens Committee for UFO Disclosure and its predecessor, the Disclosure Project.' (Out There Radio podcast).
Episode 55: Phantom Time Hypothesis
'This episode begins with an analysis of possible “Satanic” influences on people who practice Yoga. Is the dark lord lurking in the corner of your Yoga studio, or are evangelicals just scared of a little competition? Later on, Austin and Raymond present the basics of Phantom Time Hypothesis and New Chronology, and report shocking discoveries of phantom years during the second age of Middle Earth.' (Out There Radio podcast).
Here's a podcast I did with some atheists where we ended up not having much to disagree on even though they tried to box me in. I think I did a pretty good job. Mortimer was really drunk last night and he posted this but it didn't look right when I saw it this morning so I had to hack into to the mainframe and fix his work. Most of the time everything runs smoothly here at Headquarters but lately he's been wanting to go into space. I know we have all had this fantasy as a child but somehow he never let go of the dream. The weird thing is, as crazy as he is with his weird Scottish luck, he may actually pull it off. Space exploration and technology keeps doubling every few years with Moore's Law so it might actually happen sooner than later. He could win this contest or he might pull it off some time in the future after he builds a spaceship in his basement when he's ninety years old.
Anyway this is a podcast where I talk with a couple atheists who are stuck on the fact that nothing weird ever happens in the universe. My point that I keep trying to make is that this God-reality, or whatever it is, exists inside consciousness itself. There is no objective reality, life itself is an illusion and we create our own universe with our own minds. So one way or another we can all build a spaceship in our basement and go to space if we make it so. (Skeptiles podcast).
NPR's Science Friday book club takes to the skies with the Tom Wolfe classic The Right Stuff, a behind-the-curtain look at the 20th century’s most famous test pilots - including Chuck Yeager. Yeager joins the club to talk about his long career, and what he considers “the right stuff”.
'Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager (born February 13, 1923) is a retired major general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot. He was the first pilot to travel faster than sound (1947). Originally retiring in 1975 as a brigadier general, Yeager was promoted to major general on the Air Force's retired list in 2005 for his military achievements.
'His career began in World War II as a private in the United States Army Air Forces. After serving as an aircraft mechanic, in September 1942 he entered enlisted pilot training and upon graduation was promoted to the rank of flight officer (the World War II USAAF equivalent to warrant officer) and became a North American P-51 Mustang fighter pilot.
'After the war he became a test pilot of many kinds of aircraft and rocket planes. Yeager was the first man to break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, flying the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 45,000 ft (13,700 m). Although Scott Crossfield was the first man to fly faster than Mach 2 in 1953, Yeager shortly thereafter set a new record of Mach 2.44.
'Yeager later commanded fighter squadrons and wings in Germany and in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, and in recognition of the outstanding performance ratings of those units he then was promoted to brigadier general. Yeager's flying career spans more than 60 years and has taken him to every corner of the globe, including the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War.
'Yeager's popularity soared in the 1980s, when he was prominently featured in Tom Wolfe's book The Right Stuff and in its 1983 movie adaptation, in which he was portrayed by Sam Shepard.' (SciFri podcast).