BROADCASTS.com

With his latest film, a meditation on what it means to believe we live in a computer simulation, Rodney Ascher has once again placed himself among the most innovative and visionary filmmakers working in the documentary form today. While the "Simulation Hypothesis" has been a hot topic ever since The Matrix came out in 1997, it is Ascher's ability to suspend judgement, training his camera on the experience of believers rather than the value of their beliefs, that makes A Glitch in the Matrix such a unique and significant exploration, a strange work of "phantom phenomenology."

Weird Studies listeners will recall that Phil and JF devoted an episode to Ascher's films -- most notably Room 237 and The Nightmare -- back in the early days of the podcast. In this episode, Rodney Ascher joins them to discuss his cinematic vision, his take on the weird, and his thoughts on what is real and why it matters.

REFERENCES

[Rodney Ascher](www.rodneyascher.com), American filmmaker
\n-- [A Glitch in the Matrix](www.aglitchinthematrixfilm.com)

Jay Weidner's theories on Kubrick
\nBuddhist idea of the the Arising and Passing Away
\n[Dungeons & Dragons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons%26_Dragons), tabletop roleplaying game
\nJames Machin, _Weird Fiction in Britain 1880-1939
\nMagic Eye pictures
\nParmenides, Greek philosopher
\nWachowskis, The Matrix
\nAlan Moore, "Superman: For the Man Who Has Everything"
\nConway's Game of Life
\nJoshua Clover, The Matrix (BFI Film Classics)
\nJonathan Snipes, American composer
\nClipping, experimental hip hop band
\n"Shining" romantic comedy recut
\nMichael Curtiz (dir.), Casblanca
\nJohn Boorman (dir.), [Point Blank](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062138/?ref=fn_al_tt_2)_
\nLouis Sass, Madness and Modernism: Insanity in the Light of Modern Art, Literature, and Thought

Special Guest: Rodney Ascher.