With death close at hand, Castaneda races against the clock to finish what will be his very last book. But in order to complete it, he will need to author the final chapter of his own life. Chapter 13 Closing Music: Paradise by French 79 (Writt

XII - The Golden Clasp

May 2nd, 2022 28m

Intimating the end, Castaneda decides it is time for him to anoint his successor, the next nagual. His selection is Tony Karam—a student not only of his but also the Dalia Lama. Castaneda informs Tony that has a year to decide whether or not to

XI - Journey to Ixtlan

Apr 25th, 2022 30m 10s

With the start of the ‘80s, Carlos Castaneda has now become the darling of the New Age movement. But while New Agers are busy championing his past work, Castaneda has begun turning his sights to something new—a secretive project unlike anythin

X - Tinsel Wing

Oct 4th, 2021 58m 39s

In search of a creative elixir to bring new life to his flailing film career, the great Italian director, Federico Fellini, pursues his long-cherished dream of adapting Castaneda’s books into films. But on his trip to Los Angeles, in 1984, to m

IX - Exit Paradise

Sep 27th, 2021 36m 33s

The story of what put Patricia Partin on the path to Death Valley is a story that ultimately goes back to her childhood. It’s a story of how a devastating family tragedy can alter the whole course of a person’s life. www.tricksterpodcast.com Tr

VIII - Games of Truth

Sep 20th, 2021 36m 32s

Richard de Mille—son of the famed Hollywood director—makes it his mission to prove that Castaneda has perpetuated the greatest literary hoax of the 20th century. But spurring his investigation to uncover Castaneda’s secrets are secrets of his o

VII - Gloria's Don Juan

Sep 13th, 2021 27m 24s

Carlos Castaneda didn't just write about a Don Juan—he was one. Over the course of his life, his magnetic personality pulled innumerable women into his orbit. Most stayed briefly. Only a few lasted long enough to see all the different facets th

VI - Dreams of a Shadow

Aug 30th, 2021 38m 36s

TIME Magazine’s investigation into Castaneda kicks into high gear as a series of late breaking discoveries reveal a portrait of a past life wholly at odds with Castaneda’s own. Behind the shroud of mystery lie tragedies. Spilling out into the o

Bonus

Part One Credits

Mar 8th, 2021 3m 34s

V - This New Man

Mar 8th, 2021 33m 30s

At the peak of Castaneda's fame in the early 70s, rumors begin circulating about the authenticity of his books and his purported personal history. An all-star team of TIME Magazine journalists go looking for answers. www.tricksterpodcast.com Tr

IV - Path With Heart

1 Mar 8th, 2021 21m 55s

The tremendous success of "The Teachings of Don Juan" will catapult Carlos Castaneda into the pop culture stratosphere and certify his status as a generational icon. But how exactly did a would-be anthropology master's thesis—which seemed desti

III - Drugs & Shamans

1 Mar 8th, 2021 32m 37s

As the hippie movement flowered across college campuses in the 60s, Carlos Castaneda kept his hair neatly cut and wore brown, three-piece Brooks Brothers suits. But while his appearance may have been conservative, his approach to anthropology w

II - Between Worlds

1 Mar 8th, 2021 25m 32s

Before achieving fame and fortune, Carlos Castaneda was once just another graduate student in the UCLA anthropology program. But even back then, his classmates remember him as being anything but ordinary. His megawatt personality and colorful s

I - Bags of Stories

1 Mar 8th, 2021 28m 17s

His reality-shattering books electrified a generation and inspired some of the greatest creative visionaries of our time — John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, George Lucas, Marvin Gaye, Oliver Stone. But who was Carlos Castaneda? A genius writer? A mil