Pop Apocalypse

Ecstatic Knowledge and the Study of Religion - featuring Jeffrey Kripal

Episode Summary

For episode five of the pod, we are honored to welcome Jeffrey J. Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Chair of Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University. In this career-spanning chat [10:36], we discuss Kripal’s Catholic upbringing, psychoanalysis, and the ecstatic experience in Calcutta that changed the direction of his career. From there, we touch on Jeff’s role at Esalen, historical mystics and paranormal powers, telepathic insects, and how the study of religion and popular culture come together in film, comedy, and comics.

Episode Notes

For episode five of the pod, we are honored to welcome Jeffrey J. Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Chair of Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University. In this career-spanning chat 10:36 we discuss Kripal’s Catholic upbringing, psychoanalysis, and the ecstatic experience in Calcutta that changed the direction of his career. From there, we touch on Jeff’s role at Esalen, historical mystics and paranormal powers, telepathic insects, and how the study of religion and popular culture come together in film, comedy, and music.

NOTES

Peripheries No. 6 launch event
Jeffrey J. Kripal's personal website
Jeffrey Kripal, Mutants and Mystics
Kripal, The Superhumanities
Kripal, Authors of the Impossible
Kripal, Kali's Child
Kripal, How to Think Impossibly
The Archives of the Impossible
Hellier, season 1
Hellier, season 2
Esalen's Center for Theory and Research