Writer, musician, and game designer James Curcio joins us for a warm, wide-ranging chat on magic, myth, and RPGs. From Dungeons & Dragons to Mage: The Ascension and Modern Mythology, we talk play, storytelling, and the mystery of it all. Oh, yeah, and we also shoot the breeze about goblins, game systems, and why magic might just be another name for imagination.

• Generation Hex - Editor Jason Louv brings together a batch of wild and thoughtful voices from the edge of things—a generation of young folks dreaming up bold new paths for spirit, soul, and what it means to grow as human beings—including an essay by James Curcio
• Blades in the Dark - A tabletop role-playing game about a scrappy crew of daring scoundrels chasing fortune and stirring up trouble on ghost-filled streets
• Fate Accelerated - Folks just call it FAE—is a slimmed-down, easy-to-learn version of Fate Core that still packs all the punch and flexibility of the full game. It’s quick as a whip to pick up, and before you know it, you and your pals can be off adventuring in the world of your favorite book, movie, or show—or cookin’ up a brand-new world of your own. Best part? Setup’s a breeze. You can go from idea to dice-rollin’ in just a few minutes.
• Alan Moore and his latest book, The Great When, a spellbinding new series full of murder, magic, and mayhem—set between two Londons: one picking up the pieces after World War II, and the other a hidden world brimming with mystery and wonder
• Grant Morrison and his comic book series, The Invisibles, a scrappy little cell of The Invisible College—a secret bunch fighting the good fight against all kinds of oppression, using time travel, magic, meditation, and (when needed) a good ol’ fashioned scuffle
• Modern Mythologies, a podcast exploring mythmaking and mechanics in RPGs
• You can find James’ work at:
  • jamescurcio.com
  • fallencycle.com
  • modernmythology.net
• Operation Watchtower - a podcast rooter in Kult: Divinity Lost, set in the wake of 9/11 and launches September 11, 2025

This is the final two-hander episode featuring the brilliant and sorely missed Terry Robinson, recorded with Pooka before Terry’s passing. In this deeply personal and intellectually rich conversation, Terry and Pooka dive headfirst into the mystic heart of the Syndicate , exploring its layered portrayal across Mage: The Ascension editions—from Mafia caricature to modern myth-makers of the market.

• Revised & M20 era implications:Syndicate in charge—but how and when did that happen?
• Bourdieu’s Capital Theory: Economic, social, cultural, and linguistic capital in Mage terms
• Roland Barthes & Jean Baudrillard: Semiotics, simulation, and consumer ritual as hyper-sigil work
• Pierre Lévy’s Anthropological Spaces: Syndicate mages as avatars of the Commodity Space
• Control, Blindsight & Data Visualization: Facial recognition as magical parsing; the uncanny art of market faces
• Tate Modern installation: A stock ticker + Greek lament = sublime Syndicate paradox realm?
• The Syndicate as potential chaos magicians of the Technocracy

In this episode, legendary occult historian and ex-Blondie bassist Gary Lachman joins us to talk magic, Crowley, meme sorcery, and the reality-bending weirdness of the 21st century. From shared dreams in 1970s New York to egregores, astral hobos, and the dark gravity of Trump as a Tulpa, Gary pulls no punches.

• How a hit Blondie song was inspired by psychic experiences
• Colins Wilson’s books The Outsider and The Occult
• His involvement with Ordo Templi Orientis
• Why Crowley’s followers creeped him out
• Gary’s book, Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump
• The occult revival of the 1970s (and how it compares to today)
• Why reality itself is up for grabs—and what that means for Mage: The Ascension players
• The movies Dark City, The Matrix and Forbidden Planet
• Gary’s forthcoming memoir, Touched by the Presence: From Blondie’s Bowery and Rock and Roll to Magic and the Occult, scheduled for release on November 18, 2025, by Inner Traditions.
• Plus: what happened when he contradicted David Bowie at a party