**Warning: This episode contains potentially disturbing content!**
On this episode of the Black Beryl, I sit down with Justin McDaniel, a scholar of Theravada Buddhist literature and art. Together we explore the darker side of Thai Buddhism, including meditation on decomposing bodies, fetus spirits, corpse oil, and the spectrum of white and black magic. We d ... Show More
Apr 2025
Amy Zhang, "Circular Ecologies: Environmentalism and Waste Politics in Urban China" (Stanford UP, 2024)
After four decades of reform and development, China is confronting a domestic waste crisis. As the world's largest waste-generating nation, the World Economic Forum projects that by 2030, the volume of household waste in China will be double that of the United States. Starting in ... Show More
1h 7m
Yesterday
Sophie Chao, "Land of Famished Beings: West Papuan Theories of Hunger" (Duke UP, 2025)
In Land of Famished Beings: West Papuan Theories of Hunger (Duke UP, 2025), Sophie Chao examines how Indigenous Marind communities understand and theorize hunger in lowland West Papua, a place where industrial plantation expansion and settler-colonial violence are radically reco ... Show More
1h 2m
May 3
Arely M. Zimmerman, "Contentious Citizenship: Salvadoran Activism and Belonging Across Borders" (U Arizona Press, 2026)
Contentious Citizenship: Salvadoran Activism and Belonging Across Borders (U Arizona Press, 2026) reshapes how we understand belonging, identity, and political participation in the context of migration. Drawing on decades of Salvadoran activism from the 1980s solidarity movement ... Show More
23m 24s
Jul 2025
Emergent Phenomena with Daniel M. Ingram
Today, host Prof. Pierce Salguero sits down with Dr. Daniel M. Ingram, a retired ER physician, co-founder of the Emergent Phenomena Research Consortium, CEO of Emergence Benefactors, and a noted adept in Buddhist meditation. Together we explore “emergent phenomena,” or the spirit ... Show More
1h 11m
Oct 2023
The Necromantic Urge, Part 3
It’s that time of year again. Join Robert and Joe as Stuff to Blow Your Mind descends into the Halloween season. In this episode, explore the historic and psychological origins of necromancy: the ancient practice by which shamans, wizards and sorcerers sought communication with t ... Show More
54m 12s
Jul 2025
Required Readings: Buddhism - A Journey Through History
In this episode of "Decoding Academia: Required Readings", Chris and Matt take a joint stroll through the history of Buddhism through Donald S. Lopez Jr.'s latest book, 'Buddhism: A Journey Through History.' We discuss the unexpected historical and cultural facets of Buddhism, ho ... Show More
28m 53s
Sep 2024
Ep. 12 - Live Burials & MURDEROUS Spirits
In today's episode, Genevieve will discuss mediums getting attacked by spirits, men drinking their own blood, live burials, nuns getting struck with lightning and rising from the dead – it’s going to be a spooky rollercoaster.Subscribe to the Newsletter!Subscribe to the Patreon f ... Show More
39m 34s
Oct 2024
From the Vault: The Necromantic Urge, Part 1
In this classic episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the historic and psychological origins of necromancy: the ancient practice by which shamans, wizards and sorcerers sought communication with the dead. (Part 1 of 3, originally published 09/28/2023)See omny ... Show More
1h 9m