The Encyclopedist

A guide to the best of Mexican Psychotronic Cinema for the years 1974-1977. 

A guide to the best of Mexican Psychotronic Cinema for the years 1968-1973. 

A guide to the best of Mexican Psychotronic Cinema for the years 1963-1967. 

A guide to the best of Mexican Psychotronic Cinema for the years 1939-1962. 

A guide to the best of Mexican Psychotronic Cinema. Part one is an introduction to the genre and an explanation of just what it is and why it rocks. 

In 1724 one "Captain Charles Johnson" wrote a book about the pirates of the day, and included a description of "Libertatia," a Pirate Utopia. I talk about that in this episode, along with some talk about the Algerian cities of Rabat and Salé, the latter being a real pirate utopia. 

Heard about "film noir" but not sure what it is? Curious to learn a little more about film noir? Or eager to hear someone bloviate about what the best films noir are?  That's what I'm here for. Take a listen! Nearly an hour on what constitutes films noir and what are the best noirs of the "classic noir" period of 1940-1958. 

Sure, there were badass male Vikings, and perhaps you can even name them, but do you know the story of Auðr-Unn the Deep-Minded, the most badass female Viking of them all? No? Well, sit back, pour yourself some mead, and have a listen, 'cause it's a good story and (as far as I've been able to tell) 100% true. 

In part 1 of the Bollywood Primer I guided you through the history of Hindi Cinema. In part 2, an unwieldy forty-two minutes long (sorry!), I provide you with three to four movies for every decade that Hindi Cinema has been around. Each of these movies is worth seeing because of their historical importance and/or their intrinsic worth. Bonus: music from the films!

This episode of The Encyclopedist is a two-parter! In part one we take a brisk, eighteen-minute stroll through the history of Bollywood, a.k.a. Hindi Cinema, beginning in 1896 with the first showing of film in India and proceeding through the decades until we end at 2020. Film names will be dropped! Knowledge will be dealt! 

Join me for a brisk twenty-minute spin through the history of cosmic horror (a.k.a. "Lovecraftian horror") from before the years that H.P. Lovecraft wrote. 

A common misconception is that same-sex marriage is a recent innovation. While it doesn't matter if it was or not, the truth is that same-sex marriage is as old as civilization itself. In this episode of the Encyclopedist I cover the history of same-sex marriage in the West from the Mesopotamians up to the year 1900. 

Everyone knows Lord Bulwer-Lytton as the author of the supposed worst opening line in all of literature: "It was a dark and stormy night." But the truth is that Bulwer-Lytton wasn't a bad writer. He could often be a good one, and more importantly he was an important one. In this episode, part two of two, I go through a list of his works and describe why they are important to Victorian and British literature as a whole. 

Everyone knows Lord Bulwer-Lytton as the author of the supposed worst opening line in all of literature: "It was a dark and stormy night." But the truth is that Bulwer-Lytton wasn't a bad writer. He could often be a good one, and more importantly he was an important one. In this episode, part one of two, I discuss and defend him and his work. 

In which I discuss the Jewish pirates of yore. I start by covering the Jewish pirates of antiquity, then move on to a description of the life of Sinan Reis, Jewish privateer for Admiral Barbarossa. Then it's on to the life and times of Samuel Palache, the Rabbi Pirate. I close with a discussion of why there weren't more Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean. Next week: The Importance of Being Bulwer-Lytton. 

A defense of the 1840s penny blood Varney the Vampire. An unjustly-maligned work, Varney is the first novel-length vampire story in the English language, and is one of the two most influential vampire stories of all time. And yet people call it "stilted," "awkward," "pedantic," and "just bad." Wrong, wrong, WRONG. Varney is actually pretty good, and in this episode I'll tell you why.