Lost Xplorers
149 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 8 ratingsWilliam James once said that modern people suffer from an ”ontological wonder sickness.” Through the exploration of various cultures and archaeological mysteries throughout the world, authors J David Osborne and Kris Saknussemm attempt to get to the heart of our lost moment, and provide some potential paths out. NO COUNTRY is a psychogeographical exploration of culture, art, language, and strange history.
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Episodes
128 - Media Hygiene Best Practices
November 23, 2022 18:05 - 1 hour - 118 MBOn this episode, I ask Kris some important questions about sense making and storytelling. Considering all of the information out there, how does a person learn what's important and what isn't? How do we build a structure of reality in which we can exist in a healthy way? Kris recounts an experiment with sound, a dream of killer plants and swords, and the importance of remembering 11/22.
127 - The Writers’ Room: Hauntids
November 16, 2022 19:22 - 1 hour - 122 MBKris and I get together to work out a "pilot episode" for a non-existent television show. Kris brings the concept this time: Hauntids is an X-Files, paranoid PKD thriller story about a girl in a hyper progressive future who begins to see a world that those around her can't. Unless, of course, she's just going crazy.
126 - A Pirate of Exquisite Mind
November 09, 2022 18:40 - 2 hours - 159 MBToday on the show we talk about William Dampier, a pirate turned ship captain turned pirate again. Dampier headed the first official Royal Navy mission to collect flora and fauna from distant lands. Along the way he gifted the English language hundreds of new words, recipes, and understanding of winds, currents, and sailing. But he also committed lots and lots of crime along the way. How do we tangle with complicated legacies such as this? Is there a way to become pirates in our own minds, ...
125 - More Like Guidelines
November 03, 2022 02:04 - 2 hours - 160 MBOn this episode, Kris and I begin our discussion on PIRACY! What caused the pirate craze in the 17th century? Is there a way to incorporate this spirit Ito your day-to-day? What did the pirate utopias of the past teach us? Is this a mindset?
124 - Harvesting a Dead Man’s Brain
October 27, 2022 15:42 - 1 hour - 144 MBKris and I continue our discussion about imaginary worlds by looking into the work of Daniel Defoe, with a particular focus on Moll Flanders and his Imaginary Voyages to the Moon. Did Defoe predict the invention of virtual reality? We discuss the importance of satire as a method of observing and reporting, a "descriptive" practice rather than a "prescriptive" one. This morphs into a great discussion about writing and storytelling. What's the difference between "telling a story" and "building...
123 - A Clock is a Spider Missing Some Legs
October 19, 2022 20:00 - 1 hour - 144 MBFor part two of our discussion of Michael Heizer's 'City,' Kris asks the question: what makes a city a city? Is the city's purpose tied into the "feel" of it? Are people the main component, or are cities built first, with the intention of herding people around? This is a great critique of Heizer's massive project, the first of its kind that I've ever seen. We also talk the origins of "beaver" as a euphemism, the City Museum of St. Louis, the credo of the Space Family Robinson, and "antonym t...
122 - A Tour of Michael Heizer’s ’City’
October 12, 2022 17:57 - 1 hour - 145 MBBig episode today folks! Kris got to take a tour of the new Michael Heizer project 'City.' I start off by telling him about a trip I took to an estate sale (complete with a creepy "Christmas room") and from there we move into an absolutely fascinating look at this project 50 years in the making. We talk about accessibility of art, anticipation of experience, obsessive outsider artists, and exotic aircraft over Area 51. This one is a banger!
121 - A Voyage to the Moon
October 05, 2022 22:54 - 1 hour - 111 MBOn this episode, we talk writing routines, positive and negative nodes of discourse, imaginary worlds, psychoarchaeology, utilizing A Voyage to the Moon to map the psyche of thinkers of the path, and perhaps to rewrite our own internal maps. Kris tasks David with developing a play about Darwin's theory of evolution...to be put on by a sixth-grade class. Authors who set out visions of the Moon and other worlds pre-modernity: Plutarch Cicero Lucian Wilkins Godwin Defoe de Bergerac Dan...
120 - Attack of the Purple Crabs
September 28, 2022 17:00 - 1 hour - 105 MBOn this episode, Kris relates an amazing story about riding out a hurricane on the Isle of Pines and doing battle with mice, ants, and crabs. We then talk about the imaginary as a necessary component of the material, The Blazing World by Margaret Cavendish (the first work of science fiction by a woman, 1666), lost casinos, dreams of return, and the logical aspects of perception.
119 - Atlantis as Sigil
September 21, 2022 20:33 - 1 hour - 90.7 MBOn this episode, Kris and I discuss the deeper mythological meaning of Atlantis. Kris weaves together Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, Burroughs, and the story of Fordlândia to interrogate why this story holds such power. What if Atlantis was a sigil?
118 - The Road to Atlantis
September 14, 2022 18:47 - 1 hour - 102 MBWhat happens when a point becomes a line?, the Atlantean Halls of Record, Atlantis as a Greek cautionary tale, the difference between a lost civilization and a lost tribe, the importance of ruins, the truth of Atlantis, the need for speculation, afrofuturism, the different thought processes between tribes and civilizations, and mapmaking. Lots of Gus noise in this one! It was quite the experience. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis Atlantis Disney movie Atlantis games The Maracot D...
117 - One Measures a Circle, Beginning Anywhere
September 07, 2022 18:44 - 1 hour - 104 MBWelcome to the 117th episode of No Country...or the 1st episode of "Lost Xplorers." The "E" has gone missing. Kris and I were chatting on the phone about a new book that he's working on called The Lost Xplorer's Handbook. That started lighting up parts of my brain. I've recently been getting back into esoteric stuff, archaeology, history, and anthropology, and I wondered, "What if we changed the name of the podcast, redirected our focus a bit?" We discuss the recent change in this episode. ...
116 - Fabian and the Sun King
August 31, 2022 17:00 - 1 hour - 124 MBOn this episode, we discuss: Nap: Interrupted, what would happen if you were shrunk to the size of an ant, the rise of the Sophists, the possibility of knowledge, the value of speculation, believing everything, thought-terminating clichés, rudeness, and how not being a dick is the most important goal in this day and age. Notes: Harold Budd The Voyage of the Beagle "Letter Concerning the Fire on the "Helen" by Alfred Russel Wallace
115 - Land Art and the ”City”
August 24, 2022 22:58 - 1 hour - 139 MBOne of my favorite episodes, now. In this episode, Kris and I take Michael Heizer's recently-completed fifty-year art/architecture project "City" as a frame to talk about collaboration, ego, atomization, and communitarianism. Notes: Michael Heizer Land Art Movement Robert Smithson Michael Govan Basin and Range National Monument James Turrell Final Hot Desert Roden crater Christo Florence Goodenough's "Draw a Person" test
114 - To Remain Whole and Share Across Time
August 17, 2022 17:21 - 1 hour - 105 MBOn this episode, we talk the realm of angels and saints, visits from the dead, baby DJs, not complaining, externalizing thought, Giordano Bruno, books as sacred objects, the roots of the word “tradition,” the humors, order and secrecy, the importance of worlding, symmetry, and bonds. Henry Corbin - The History of Islamic Philosophy James Hillman - The Dream and the Underworld John Searle’s Chinese room Llullian wheel Vovelles
113 - Value and Money
August 10, 2022 17:00 - 1 hour - 116 MBOn this episode, we talk about covid recovery, finding your focus, monetization, and how that idea relates to value and values. We also have an imaginative challenge about artworks conversing, and a dream of a public toilet. David Blaine James Nestor The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe
112 - Square Dancing in the Meramec Caverns
August 05, 2022 18:57 - 1 hour - 142 MBSorry for the delay on this one. As we talk about in this episode, I've been a bit under the weather. On this episode, we talk about icons and heritage, and whether or not our youngest generations have any connection to time and history. Can we still have devotional practices when everyone has become atomized?
111 - For the Record
July 27, 2022 18:10 - 1 hour - 100 MBWhat does it mean to say that something is "on the record"? Who's keeping this record? Kris and I talk about moving away from community, becoming a stranger to old friends, and developing tribes instead. It's good to be a part of a tribe...not so much a mob. Also, David is tasked with making a billionaire believe that he lives in 1988.
110 - In the Library of Libraries
July 25, 2022 01:53 - 1 hour - 99.8 MBOn this episode, Kris and I continue our discussion of mental maps. We're getting really close to something here Sorry for the lateness, my cord broke on this one. TOO MANY MIKES.
109 - Mattang
July 13, 2022 19:10 - 1 hour - 103 MBOn this episode, Kris and I discuss Marshall Islands stick charts (known as Mattang), and their relation to the maps we know and (no longer know how to) use. How do we construct maps in our minds? What is their relation to the territory? When is it good to trust a guide? Kris tasks me with inventing a scenario involving deals, and we tell each other our dreams. (Giant Hyenas!)
108 - The Disappearing Inventory
July 07, 2022 00:07 - 1 hour - 56.9 MBOn this episode, Kris and I talk 4th of July recap, beer break, necessity of responsibility, and an imaginative challenge involving Elvis impersonators and an all-sign-language theater troupe. This episode will only be up for one month, because it expresses a very important tool that will change the way we talk about what we talk about on this show. So we’re trying to put a bit of a time limit on it. Kris delivers a real tour de force on this one. NOTES: Call it Courage by Armstrong Sper...
107 - The Jukebox on the Other Side of the Sun
June 29, 2022 17:00 - 1 hour - 84.3 MBOn this episode, Kris and I talk Roe v. Wade, gun control, big government vs. small, mutual aid societies, plumb bob 9/11, dogs with explosive diarrhea, non sequiturs, and a dream poem. Notes: Leonora Carrington Carlos Mérida Baker Hotel T.R.M. Howard Pootie Tang
106 - My Own Private Derangement
June 22, 2022 17:00 - 1 hour - 107 MBOr, The Puppeteer Adjudicators Kris and I talk de-normalization, adding color to the wardrobe, and mitigating OCD. We then address our two “derangement syndromes,” ie the cultural debates that trigger us: COVID-19 and wokeness in academia. How do we inoculate ourselves against this allergic reaction to beliefs that we find distasteful? How do we just get on with the process of living? Should values follow from skills? Notes: Jonas Salk Heather Mac Donald John McWhorter Wilfred Reilly...
105 - Living in the Past
June 15, 2022 15:49 - 55 minutes - 31.7 MBOn this episode, Kris and I recap the strange incident of the "lost" episode. Last week, we had a real banger recorded...but something had other plans. We go on to discuss this essay by The Convivial Society, "We are Not Living in a Simulation, We are Living in the Past." Is it accurate to say that the transparent, false nature of the internet is a function of it being a large archive? Can you be in the present while constantly reinterpreting the past? What does that even look like? I am t...
104 - The Chair of Oblivion
June 01, 2022 17:00 - 1 hour - 57.3 MBAlternate title: Turn Your Mirrors to the Wall in the House of the New Dead How do we reconcile our beliefs with stark reality? Why does this keep happening? On this episode, Kris and I discuss the sacredness of hobbies, young men gone wrong, incel gamers, car culture, private grieving, the pornography of the feed, and how art can act as a cure for the mind-melting wide-eyed Clockwork Orange-style hypnosis. Finite and Infinite Games Tristram Shandy The Idiot
103 - The Jury of the Dead Within Us
May 30, 2022 01:21 - 1 hour - 50.6 MBWe talk about the concept of wantok, the ability to hold two thoughts at once, engaging with ideas that you don't agree with, Christopher Hitchens, Jordan Peterson Derangement Syndrome, drug trips as ways to grapple with reality, cinema's unique ability to communicate psychedelic experience, and the necessity of love and hate in creating a public figure. The Trip Head The Northman Wolfman Jack
102 - You Can’t Normalize Complexity
May 25, 2022 20:26 - 1 hour - 53 MBOn this episode, Kris and I talk about the recent Roe v. Wade controversy. It leads to a reinvigorating idea about the ability to hold two thoughts at the same time. What ways can we look to indigenous thought styles to maintain (in)coherence?
101 - Slogans
May 25, 2022 20:24 - 1 hour - 55 MBOn this episode, Kris and I ponder the various types of clothing people wear, constant messaging, and developing a Sherlock Holmes-style observational ability.
100 - Integration vs. Imposition
May 25, 2022 20:22 - 1 hour - 45.9 MBOn this episode, Kris and I discuss new directions for the show, the difference between integration and imposition, and Kris relates a dream where an action figure is stuck in his chest.
99 - The Rewind Button
May 25, 2022 20:21 - 1 hour - 54.6 MBOn this episode, Kris and I talk about the ability to pause and rewind, filling in your own blanks, and psychosomatic illness. Kris tasks me with developing three intro questions for a psychological examination.
98 - Heroes
May 25, 2022 20:20 - 1 hour - 62.5 MBKris recounts a disturbing conversation, and we discuss the value of having heroes. What does a hero look like? He also gives me the task of elaborating on a high-concept idea about tattoos. It's Gus's birthday today! The young man is one. Hope you are all doing well.
97 - The Harmony of Opposites
May 25, 2022 20:18 - 1 hour - 46.8 MBOn this episode, Kris and I talk about performative enjoyment, drag shows, Heraclitus' concept of 'Panta Rhei,' the sacred as a game of hot potato, games of mental elasticity, and the language of Gene Wolfe. Kris also tasks David with coming up with a jargon-filled mission statement, and recounts a very "Book of the New Sun" style dream.
96 - History is Misunderstood Myth
May 25, 2022 20:16 - 1 hour - 54.9 MBKris and I discuss the Joseph Campbell quote "history can best be understood as misunderstood myth." What does it mean to take the plants, animals, and spirits out of our stories? Does this signal a shift from the internal to the external, agency to control? Can dreams be too on the nose? Please excuse the audio quality on this one. Busy week, and I had to record with Gus. He did well for an almost one-year-old for an hour plus! Enjoy the ambient noise...
95 - The Energy of Conversation is Curved
May 25, 2022 20:14 - 1 hour - 69.5 MBOn this episode, Kris and I continue our discussion on coherence. What is the shape of conversations? How important are tangents to understanding? Can you come at ideas head on? We discuss Thor Heyerdahl, Yukio Mishima, Haruki Murakami, cybernetics, and Ethiopian HVAC repairmen.
94 - The Anti-Zero-Sum Game
May 25, 2022 20:12 - 1 hour - 66.1 MBOn this show, Kris and I discuss how to navigate the world of dissonance. If we're all like cats in a library, how do we actually go about exploring that library without being overwhelmed? We also discuss a learning activity to teach the concept of the anti-zero-sum game, and Kris gets a new mattress.
93 - Society Eats Community
May 25, 2022 20:11 - 1 hour - 67.3 MBOn this episode, Kris and I talk about the rising price of gas, the ability to discern things with your own eyes, and the difference between society and community.
92 - Where the People Are
May 25, 2022 20:10 - 1 hour - 70.5 MBOn this episode, Kris and I talk about cool stuff I saw in the Dallas Museum of Art, the ever changing media focus, Japanese headlines, thinking locally, being out of place, balance and equation as a process, photosynthesis equations, an ad campaign for NYC, and paying compliments.
91 - Between Zero and Nothing
May 25, 2022 20:08 - 1 hour - 70.4 MBOn this episode, Kris and I discuss clearing out clutter during a move, broken remote controls, creating your own Babel, the need for objects as centers for ritual, whether or not objects become more meaningful the less functionality they contain, the difference between zero and nothing, the institutionalization of equality, a theme park of death, and how to give advice.
90 - Channel Surfing
May 25, 2022 20:06 - 1 hour - 79.7 MBOn this episode, Kris and I talk about the uncomfortable frankness of television advertising, and how to inoculate yourself against the disease of television (or internet) brain. I do a memory exercise where I recount a strange alcove of esoteric ephemera at a swap meet in North Hollywood, Kris gives a tip on listening, and as always...we end with a dream. The Florida Project Maajid Newaz Agamben Slate Article Ogolies Podcast Ufology
89 - Point in Time
May 25, 2022 20:05 - 1 hour - 65.4 MBKris and I discuss the ongoing real estate crisis in this country, with some fresh (and perhaps unworkable) ideas about how to approach lawmaking. What if laws were introduced with a shelf life? We also talk Euclidean geometry, breaking down thought into axioms, personality tests, and the Black Knights Posse for Universal Vengeance.
88 - The Invisible Dog Fence
May 25, 2022 20:03 - 1 hour - 56.6 MBThis one is a Week in Doom/Dissonance episode. We really get to a point that I find valuable, however. After all the lamentations of the confusing and insidious times that we live in, what is the way forward? Kris posits an interesting idea: clarity of strictures. We also begin to develop a new part of speech.
87 - Good Enough for Bear Grease
May 25, 2022 20:02 - 1 hour - 52.5 MBWe start with some great listener mail from Ryan regarding the MKULTRA roots of Sesame Street, then move into the Rogan/Spotify vs. Neil Young / Joni Mitchell story, nonstarter phrases, the insidiousness of the “false equivalence,” knowing your boundaries, American divinatory practices, new idioms, trusting your intuition, and origami beings gifting cake boxes.
86 - Sweeping the Clouds Away
May 25, 2022 20:00 - 1 hour - 60.5 MBOn this episode, JDO delivers his Sesame Street report, and he and Kris discuss ongoing issues with schools, a new suit for the minor arcana, speaking other people's words, and speaking in malapropisms and rhyme.
85 - Train Dreams
May 25, 2022 19:59 - 1 hour - 52.8 MBOn this episode, Kris and I continue our discussion of linguistic tools. We talk domestic terrorism, podcasting vs. writing, aspirational imagery, the context of words, forbidden words, hyperbole, euphemism, and a thought experiment about the first time a person sees a train.
84 - Fish Strength
May 25, 2022 19:58 - 1 hour - 69.6 MBOn this episode, Kris and I talk about a sheep named Mr. Balls, Antonio Brown, the pope, the fight over the definition of "secular," the fish strength of words, and seeing a plane for the first time.
83 -Tools for Discerning Signal
May 25, 2022 19:57 - 1 hour - 59.4 MBHi everyone! First off, big time apologies for the sound quality on this one. I recorded my end on a TASCAM, with the idea that I'd pick up some nice ambient leaf crunching and birdsong. What I got instead was a lot of Oklahoma wind. Should have tested it out beforehand. It's a shame, too, because this is one of our best episodes yet. Kris really brings the goods, providing three tools (ways of thinking) that I will be pondering over the next week. It's really worth a listen, despite my qua...
82 - Dissonance as a Tool
May 25, 2022 19:55 - 1 hour - 53.6 MBOn this episode, Kris and I talk the New Year and holiday season, in addition to outlining the three major problems we see with society. We discuss how to navigate reality tunnels, discerning signal in noise, sitting with thoughts, and how to handle uncomfortable situations. Gus woke up from his nap as soon as this episode started recording, so apologies if I sound a bit distant. I had to walk him around the office, throw him in the air, distract him with toys, etc. I even get vomited on at...
81 - A Fricassee of Coherence
May 25, 2022 19:54 - 1 hour - 50.5 MBOn this episode, Kris and I recap the patron Xmas meetup, talk about where we're going in the new year, and develop a creative challenge involving a backpack of poker chips and a dead elf.
80 - The Eroticism of Rubber Bullets
May 25, 2022 19:52 - 1 hour - 57.7 MBThe move from symbol to emoji, elephant in the room scenarios, loss of memory in the young, masking the donkey show, schizophrenic chirality, how you think of yourself, and cream corn wrestling. Tips on how to avoid inflation Pfizer’s fourth shot Atlantic sex trade article The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas Body Heat Chirality
79 - Controlled Demolition
May 25, 2022 19:50 - 1 hour - 60.5 MBOn this episode, Kris and I talk about government overreach and what it means to be a teacher. What responsibilities do we have when it comes to giving information to children?