Gods, Ghosts & UFOs

This is a show about all the things they said weren't real. Guided by strange headlines and ancient mysteries, Jordan and Mal explore the paranormal, metaphysical, and supernatural with all the earnestness and insight two big-hearted nerds can muster. If you don't have a good time, then you don't know what a good time is. SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring the anomalous, the luminous, and the numinous. We’re a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. ⁠spectrevisionradio.com⁠ ⁠linktr.ee/spectrevision⁠

  1. 5 DAYS AGO

    Ego Death, Buddhism, and the Vampire Problem: What's so scary about Pluribus?

    Losing Ourselves in Good TV Ever since we watched Pluribus, we’ve been wanting to talk about it on the pod. Both of us have been wrestling with the concept of ego-death and the ultimate merging of all consciousness, and the core conceit of this show seems to tackle those very same themes. So, really, how could we not talk about it? We get into the so-called vampire problem in philosophy, the idea of coercion vs surrender, and why that one ritual conversion scene with the little girl was so incredibly disturbing to us. Is losing your “self” really the whole point of spirituality? Or is is just the ego? But also what is the ego? Is it even real?! As always, don’t expect any solid answers, but if you want to take a stroll around the questions with us, come on down! Highlights: Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, ex-X-Files) delivers another high-concept sci-fi masterpiece The premise The immune few The Buddhist/Christian tension Nirvana as “annihilation of the drop into the ocean” The hive mind as a character Ritual as theater The Vampire Problem Coerced vs. voluntary ego death Communism, the Law of Consecration, and how to actually make them work Obedience vs. compliance (Deirdre Green) AI parallels A Pluribus plot theory about that, uh, virus We must have a will in order to surrender it The ego is already dying a thousand times a day Acting, improv, and parenthood — all practices of sacrificing plans for presence “Greater love hath no man than this…” And in the epilogue… Mallory in middle school Our personal versions of hell Happiness extraction at Disneyland *** SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring creativity, the esoteric, and the unknown. We’re a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. spectrevisionradio.com linktr.ee/spectrevisionsocial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    48 min
  2. 29 APR

    Why AI Can't Make Art - Film Sets, First Drafts, and Freelancing

    Pretty soon, we’re gonna have a little summer break. Among other things, it’s because Mal is shooting a movie and Jordan is moving his family from LA to Cedar City, Utah. But that’s not really what this episode is about. What it’s about is what happens when you make things that nobody asked you to make. Mal just finished the first draft of her first solo screenplay. Also, she’s been writing music alone in dark rooms for years and only recently felt like it was time to show anyone. Jordan wrote a novel once by telling himself he wasn’t allowed to write anything for anyone else to read, and rediscovered the passion he’d lost decades ago. Mal says she can’t quit the film industry without trying to make this movie first, and she’s defining success as having genuinely gone for it. Jordan says the thing you create can’t be valuable to other people unless it’s first valuable to you — which is also why AI can’t make art. Because AI doesn’t need it. Well, we sure do. Highlights: What’s coming up… Life on a film set Why Jordan gave up on directing Oscar Wilde on the blessing and curse of being an artist: you never become anything Mal finished the first draft of her first solo screenplay Sandboxes Freelance artist life Stop and Go - Mal’s first feature, made during the pandemic with a friend Writing songs in dark rooms for therapy Writing a novel for the same reason “It can’t be genuinely valuable for other people if it is not first valuable to the person who’s creating it” Why AI can’t make art Jordan’s imminent move away from LA to Cedar City, Utah Mal is operating on spiritual logic right now The podcast “forces me to challenge the more deeply worn grooves” Epilogue topics: Mal’s suspicion that she is a “tongue genius,” modern food science, and why food, money, and sex are the three most embarrassing topics And in the epilogue… Is Mal a tongue genius? The absurdity of modern food science Why food, money, and sex are the three most embarrassing topics *** SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring creativity, the esoteric, and the unknown. We’re a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. spectrevisionradio.com linktr.ee/spectrevisionsocial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    32 min
  3. 22 APR

    Why does JD Vance think UFOs are demons?

    Mal’s been slammed, so Jordan rounded up a bunch of good stories to serve up like a pile of gifts on a platter. First, why are people shining lasers at walls while tripping on DMT? Next, we need to discuss the fact that JD Vance is on record believing UFOs are actually demons. What does that even mean? (Hint: it probably doesn’t mean anything about UFOs or demons.) After that, an ancient Greek geek out about what might be the first recorded case of a haunted house. Finally, were there really thousands of dead giants buried in Ohio? Who knows! We certainly don’t. But also, do we even want to? We’re here for the magic, the mystery, and the egregious political exploitation of Christianity. Highlights: People are using lasers to see simulation source code while tripping on DMT Why “proof negates the point” when it comes to spiritual experience We are the Headline Generation: we form opinions from fragments and live by them for years Trickster NHIs are everywhere! (probably) Even getting led into a snake pit might be for your good Mal is remarkably morally relativistic for a God girl (ok not really) JD Vance, the Vice President of these United States, says, on record, UFOs are demons Jordan says weaponizing the resurgence of Christianity is “the closest thing to evil” he knows of Pliny the Younger’s haunted house in Athens — possibly the oldest ghost story on record Hauntings with tidy conclusions are rare Quantum microtubules, waveform collapse, and why biological determinism can’t account for the way life meets you A 1798 homestead sitting on top of 3,000 ancient graves in Ohio An eight-foot-tall woman buried in copper jewelry “Give me the giant queen laser” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    55 min
  4. 18 APR

    How do you know if a spiritual experience is real?

    Kelly Chase was a materialist and an atheist. Then on a random Saturday morning in August 2021, something reached into her mind and showed her what she’s come to refer to as The Good — coherence, beauty, truth — whatever it is that allows creation to exist. The experience completely changed her life. But here’s the problem: she also knows that whatever did this to her could also make her happy about it. And as someone who values her personal freedom more than almost anything, it’s frightening to suspect that something fundamentally rewired her without her consent. This is the epistemic paradox of gnosis, or, in other words, knowledge that is supposed to be self-authoritative, but that you still have to figure out how to test. How do you build a life on something you can’t prove? And if you can’t, what exactly are you supposed to build on instead? Highlights: Kelly Chase is the host of Inquiry (formerly Cosmos, formerly The UFO Rabbit Hole Podcast) — find her at kellychase.media Mal couldn’t make it, thanks to business travel and a conspiracy of misfortune “Semantic anarchy” — words don’t mean the same things across tribes anymore What turned Kelly into an experiencer: an out-of-body, out-of-time connection to a higher intelligence that changed everything she believes From lifelong materialist and atheist to a spiritual convert to The Good Plato’s Republic and the allegory of Er Experience without consent (does being happy about it make it ok?) Kelly’s precognitive dreams The IRVA conference in Mexico Precognitive dreams vs. regular dreams The epistemic paradox of gnosis The preface paradox, the lottery paradox, and the paradox of the knower The Mormon parallel: revelation is basically the Mormon word for gnosis, and discerning true revelation has been the church’s ongoing problem for 200 years Are feelings of unconditional love emotional manipulation? The Enlightenment is an oxymoron The cultural dominance of the “dead universe cosmology” If your cosmological foundation breaks down, you’re desperate for a replacement — and there are people happy to sell you one Control systems What the elites believe about souls Brother Richard on human utilitarianism The Law of One and the left hand path vs. the right hand path — Kelly argues America’s default values are left hand path, along which the ultimate purpose is self-expression Is there such a thing as a true cosmology? The imperative to judge for oneself The missing character in Plato’s Cave — who drags the prisoner out? “Gnosis is a great starting point. It’s a terrible ending point.” Tools of Discernment “It can’t just be vibes” And in the epilogue… Is yearning for the divine evidence of the divine? Worship as technology Supernatural love (of your enemy) *** SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring creativity, the esoteric, and the unknown. We’re a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. spectrevisionradio.com linktr.ee/spectrevisionsocial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1hr 1min
  5. 15 APR

    Is 2026 the year everything changes? What remote viewers, astrologers, and the pentagon are all saying

    Welcome to season two. This week: a dad in North Yorkshire set up CCTV after his cat refused to go downstairs. The footage is pretty convincing — toys moving, doors swinging, skateboards clattering. Except he’s a video game developer. And it’s 2026. And we genuinely cannot tell anymore what’s real on the internet. Which is the actual problem. Not whether this particular video is real, but the fact that we’ve reached a point where even governments are using AI-generated footage to prove their leaders are alive. And then of course there's the deluge of predictions, prophecies, and institutional claims that 2026 is the year everything changes. SLASH IS ALREADY CHANGING. So okay, what do we do with that? The answer is boring. And also the only one that works. Highlights: Bunch of interviews coming up, and then a GGU summer break — details TBA Story of the father of two in North Yorkshire who fled his home after a bunch of poltergeist incidents But also he’s a video game developer? AI has permanently broken video evidence The Netanyahu coffee shop video, etc The Princess Kate Photoshop incident Jordan’s essay on 2026 predictions Dozens of unrelated sources pointing at 2026 as a turning point: Carl Nell, Gary Nolan, Lou Elizondo, John Ramirez, Chris Bledsoe, the astrological community, Ray Kurzweil Most predictions are unfalsifiable or already wrong — the more dramatic the claim, the vaguer it tends to be The Bledsoe prediction (Easter, “a new knowledge”) and the Regulus-Sphinx alignment But 2026 actually is extraordinary: AI, UFO disclosure, potential WWIII, deepfakes dissolving consensus reality, globalism fracturing, religion surging back Maybe the seers are just seeing reality as it really is Brené Brown on parenting (it relates!) The collective ego story Whatever you’re procrastinating, stop On finally starting a daily meditation practice (good job, Jordan! Mal has thoughts) Kelly Chase on control systems Economic anxiety is Jordan’s personal vulnerability, but everyone has a soft spot where apocalyptic messaging hooks them Viktor Frankl Learning unconditional kindness for the present moment You can’t future proof your life. Lots of coders who future-proofed by learning to code are out of work right now What do we do??? The boring answer is the right one And in the epilogue… Squaring Mormonism with…everything else Does religion lead to or protect against spiritual enslavement? (Yes.) The correlation between certainty and death *** SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring creativity, the esoteric, and the unknown. We’re a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. spectrevisionradio.com linktr.ee/spectrevisionsocial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    43 min
  6. 1 APR

    She saw a UFO at BYU and a Ghost at Disneyland

    Mal’s roommate Candice is the kind of person you kind of just believe, even when she’s telling you about seeing literal ghosts and UFOs. Which makes her the perfect guest on this week’s episode of Gods, Ghosts & UFOs, the podcast about all the things they said weren’t real. Highlights: Candice Gutierrez, Mal’s roommate and longtime friend An amber orb sighting near BYU, around 2010–2011, the night before finals Other witnesses Strange, impossible, perspective-breaking movement Trying to explain it to other people The Phoenix Lights connection Working on the show Ancient Aliens, who told her to self-publish a book if she wanted to get on the show Similarities to Brown Mountain Lights in North Carolina Real UFOs always get weird “Welcome to adulthood. Here are aliens.” Tom notices the Lotería cards on Candice’s wall, and has a wild story about them Candice’s bonus story: A Disneyland teenage girl ghost Tom invites Emrys to tell her Disneyland story (Space Mountain, hooded figure with black eyes, time dilation, violent visions, eery silence, many witnesses) It was “something wearing a child” Tom reiterates his Disneyland theory And in the open epilogue… GGU origin story Our faith so-called journeys Deconstructing the problem of evil *** SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring creativity, the esoteric, and the unknown. We’re a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. spectrevisionradio.com linktr.ee/spectrevisionsocial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    52 min
  7. 25 MAR

    The whole actual deal with Haunted Dolls - History, Science, and Spirit

    Highlights: How the Mexican City Mannequins inspired this episode Ushabtis: ancient Egyptian figurines (2600–2100 BC) placed in tombs to do labor in the afterlife, in place of killing servants The Louvre Doll: a bound female clay figure pierced with 13 needles Kolossoi: ancient Greek defensive effigies designed to contain hostile spirits Victorian mourning dolls: wax effigies made at funerals with the dead child’s hair and clothing What did Mal do to her Cabbage Patch doll? Robert the Doll “It was like a metal bar running down my back... That doll was listening to us” The connection to an apparition of a biracial girl Robert exhibits both Type A and Type B inhabitation, and he might be the only one Thousands of apology letters at the museum from visitors who took photos without asking permission Poppets The Nkisi tradition from the Congo Connection to the movie Weapons How Robert the Doll became haunted (possibly) — he might be a mourning doll? The Free Robert the Doll campaign The Kuleshov Effect Projecting consciousness onto human-shaped forms Tsukumogami and vengeful yokai The Hyakki Yagyō, the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons Djinn in Islamic tradition The etymology of pandemonium Michael Singer on not resisting the snake Knowledge vs respect And in the epilogue… Mallory’s gluten-free experiment Suspicious exercise equipment at the gym Pros and cons of Western vs Traditional Chinese Medicine Some of the grossest words we know To help you share this episode, we picked out three moments we all loved and tied them up with a little copy/paste-able bow. “Mal made herself a poppet” (~9:40) — Mal put a lost tooth into her Cabbage Patch doll’s mouth as a child, and Tom points out she was accidentally participating in an ancient ritual of fixing a part of yourself into an effigy. “Don’t go up the stairs!” (~12:12) — Why Victorian mourning dolls never seemed to get haunted, and how human carelessness drives the plot of every horror movie. “It’s not a monster story. It’s an ecosystem.” (~58:11) — Tom’s synthesis after connecting Mexico City mannequins, the Night Parade, jinn, and tsukumogami: when humans leave, something adjacent that was always there fills the space. And then of course there’s this neat little thing we made, if you want to send someone one of our more popular past episodes: The Sharing Kit *** SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring creativity, the esoteric, and the unknown. We’re a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. spectrevisionradio.com linktr.ee/spectrevisionsocial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1hr 15min

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About

This is a show about all the things they said weren't real. Guided by strange headlines and ancient mysteries, Jordan and Mal explore the paranormal, metaphysical, and supernatural with all the earnestness and insight two big-hearted nerds can muster. If you don't have a good time, then you don't know what a good time is. SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring the anomalous, the luminous, and the numinous. We’re a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions. ⁠spectrevisionradio.com⁠ ⁠linktr.ee/spectrevision⁠

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