Podcast interview with me: 'Writing into the Dark'
An interview on journaling, creativity, Christianity, dreams, sleep paralysis, models of reality, and more
I recently made a second appearance on Therapy for Guys, a podcast in which host Quique Autrey, a psychotherapist, “explores men's issues relating to mental health, science, philosophy and spirituality.”
Here’s the episode:
Dr. Matt Cardin: Writing into the Dark
Also access it at Quique’s website.
The starting topic for our conversation was my published private journal, whose first volume (of two) came out last fall.
With that as our supervening theme, we branched out to talk about a multitude of topics, including:
the nature of journaling
creative obsession, the daemon muse, and the strange autonomy of the psyche
my undergraduate experiences in a New Agey college class on the creative process
dreams
sleep paralysis, including my own personal experiences, the popularity of sleep paralysis in contemporary cultural discourse, and David Hufford’s groundbreaking book The Terror That Comes in the Night: An Experience-Centered Study of Supernatural Assault Traditions
the reality status of the paranormal and the nature of rationality
the work of Jeffrey Kripal, chair of Rice University’s religious studies department, and a prominent figure in the study of anomalous and paranormal experiences, especially as related to religion
Robert Anton Wilson and the idea of reality tunnels
Christianity and its attitude toward alternative worldviews
Erik Davis’s High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies
my decision last year to launch the very Substack newsletter that you’re reading right now
It was a rich conversation. Again, access it at Quique Autrey’s website, or through any of the standard podcast services.
Also see my previous interview on Therapy for Guys: “Beyond Theology: Christianity, Nonduality, and the Play of Existence.”