A conversation with writer, editor, and performer Mitch Mignano—aka Raven—about existential humor, the Cacophony Society and the origins of Burning Man, pranking your fears, nihilism, and the sacred clowns of the Sun Dance ceremony.   Download this episode (right click and save)

A conversation with philosopher and religious studies professor Dustin Atlas about ancient skepticism, Madhyamaka Buddhism, the taste of honey, Montaigne, Robert Anton Wilson, and the path of doubt. Download this episode (right click and save)

A talk with gnostic scholar Matthew Dillon about religious mourning, the Nag Hammadi library, sex magick Jesus, the gnostic Eden, David Icke’s lizards, and the power of the archons as an allegory of contemporary technological and political power. Download this episode (right click and save)

A talk with journalist Adam Fisher about virtual reality, fumbling the future, the cyberculture underground, human augmentation, libertarianism, and his rich oral history Valley Of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley, as Told by the Hackers, Founders, and Freaks Who Made It Boom (Twelve). Download this episode (right click and save)

A conversation with bestselling author Michael Pollan about psychedelic awe, trip reports, the mental health crisis, underground therapists and the highly positive reception of his book How to Change your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence (Penguin).   Download this episode (right click and save)

A talk with music scholar and ethnographer Owen Coggins about amplifier worship, sonic pilgrimage, “as if” listening, metal humor, and his new book Mysticism, Ritual and Religion in Drone Metal. Download this episode (right click and save)

A wide-ranging conversation with writer and teacher Miranda Mellis about uncanny climates, thinking with fables, empathic fictions, “don’t know” politics, Buddhist meditation, and the entanglement with the nonhuman. Download this episode (right click and save)

A discussion with anthropologist Joanna Steinhardt about her study of DIY mycology, psilocybe politics, PF Tek, and psychedelic naturalism.

A conversation with esoteric writer Gary Lachman about postmodernism, Positive Thinking, chaos magic, Putin’s esoteric tricksters, and Gary’s hot new book Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump (Tarcher). Download this episode (right click and save)