Weird Academia

By Tyler Lake

Published January 16, 2026 at 12:00 PM EST

IU professor Phil Ford and Canadian philosopher J.F. Martel and a host of academics, artists, and thinkers descend on Bloomington to talk all things weird. Ford and Martel, who host the popular podcast Weird Studies, team up with the IU based Center for Possible Minds to create a series of events to push the boundaries of academic exploration.

Fans of the Weird Studies podcast co-hosted by IU professor Phil Ford rejoice! Phil and co-host J.F. Martel will descend on the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on January 29th, and they are bringing a host of intellectuals, creators, and thinkers along with them. Weird Academia, started out as a night of conversation about the unexplained, the occult, and the mystic arts is now a festival of sorts. Alongside the evening of discussion about all things strange, there will be a screening of the colossally weird film Altered States, followed by a live recording of an episode of Weird Studies that will take place on January 28^th at the IU Cinema. To kick it all off will be an exhibition of photographer Shannon Taggart’s otherworldly photography called Séance at the IU McCalla School Gallery on Tuesday, January 27^th.