The Dulles Brothers! Chaos Theory! That monstrous jackass who wrote Against All Heresies! It's all there in this special holiday episode, no fooling around. The title of this episode comes from Larisa Shepitko's cinematic masterpiece, which use

The Face of Another

Feb 11th, 2018 2m 54s

Japanese literature and neurobiology are two disciplines that should be combined more often! The title of this episode comes from the Kobo Abe novel, which was adapted by Abe and Teshigahara into an under-appreciated film that explores the tens

The Exterminating Angel

Feb 4th, 2018 1m 58s

Although the phrase "Exterminating Angel" comes from Revelations, the title of this episode takes its name from the Luis Bunuel film about dinner party guests inexplicably trapped inside their hosts' home and their degeneration into savagery. B

The Burmese Harp

Jan 21st, 2018 1m 19s

Complexity Buddhism seems to be an inevitable progression in this podcast. This episode was named after Kon Ichikawa's extraordinary film about a Japanese soldier struggling to find peace and redemption after WWII.

Danton

Jan 6th, 2018 2m 15s

Ubu is not a fan of censorship. Incidentally, Danton really did make that joke about giving "virtue" to his wife every evening. We know because Robespierre wrote an angry entry in his diary about it.

Ministry of Fear

Dec 17th, 2017 2m 19s

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition, but they should. As Goya said in 1799, "The sleep of reason produces monsters."

Holy Mountain

Dec 10th, 2017 2m 18s

Ubu really hates it when people use reductionist techniques to model complex adaptive systems.

The Devils

Sep 23rd, 2017 2m 50s

"Duly constrained, the Devil is bound to tell the truth."-Baron de Laubardemont, 1634

Emergence

Sep 10th, 2017 1m 28s

Not that anyone asked, but Ubu stubbornly refuses to consider panpsychism and complexity science to be mutually exclusive.

Wonderland

Aug 21st, 2017 2m 43s

Forensic pathology, network science, and the military industrial complex swirl around in the novel world of Wonderland.

A Guide to Virtual Death

Apr 16th, 2017 4m 47s

A little J.G. Ballard for those feeling slightly apocalyptic.

Donkey Skin

Feb 14th, 2017 2m 3s

I do believe this may be considered the beginning of my Necrobiome Fairy Tale phase.

On the Borgesian Properties of Memory Holes

Jan 14th, 2017 2m 56s

A meditation on the fragility of civilization and consciousness.

The Defiant Ones: The Poetry of Ameen Rihani and Al Ma'arri

Jan 7th, 2017 6m 31s

Readings from Ameen Rihani and Al Ma'arri merely as a reminder that intellectual defiance has existed in every century and we need more of it.

T.S. Eliot: Hollow Men

Dec 18th, 2016 5m 12s

In which Bodhisattva Ubu reads "Hollow Men" out loud because Marlon Brando isn't around to do it and Dennis Hopper isn't around to interrupt.

The Blood of a Poet (For Pasolini)

Nov 19th, 2016 1m 12s

"When I hear the word 'culture', I grab my gun."That quote is attributed to Hermann Goring, but actually from a play, Schlageter, about a French nationalist uprising. It was meant to be a glorification of nationalism and was adapted for Hitler

The Sophists Are Drinking Their Own Hemlock

Oct 26th, 2016 1m 36s

Incidentally, Rene Descartes did dissect sheep brains to find human consciousness because finding human specimens were obviously very difficult. He considered the pineal gland to be the seat of human consciousness because it was so centrally l

My Best Fiend, The Poetry of Rimbaud, Brecht, and Others

Oct 16th, 2016 17m

A good old-fashioned poetry reading with Pasolini, Schiller, Rimbaud, Brecht, Amiri Baraka, Russian and Ukrainian poets whose names have been butchered, and many more!

The George Jetson Effect

Sep 18th, 2016 2m 23s

"The George Jetson Effect" is a common phrase used by efficiency experts and life coaches to describe overwork culture. As the treadmill goes faster, the worker works harder, under reporting their hours and creating the illusion that downsizin

The Face of Henry Wells

Sep 11th, 2016 1m 50s

This work is dedicated to the prisoners striking for fair wages and fair treatment. You can go to Pickens County Courthouse and see The Face of Henry Wells for yourself. It's an old legend of a man lynched for burning down the old courthouse. T

The Hive Tombs of the Xi Xia Empire

Aug 13th, 2016 1m 53s

Bodhisattva Ubu returns to the roots of this podcast with a meditation on memory on the global and molecular level. The Xi Xia people were not completely destroyed by Temujin (aka Genghis Khan), but what happened to them has been called an "et

Red Dragon: The Poetry of William Blake

Aug 7th, 2016 9m 50s

It's the Great Red Dragon, Charlie Brown! Ubu muses on the visionary artist and poet William Blake and reads poems from The Songs of Innocence and Experience for no particular reason.