I tend to think of phrenology as a 19th-century phenomenon. In 1902, LA Vaught, late to the party, published 'Vaught's Practical Character Reader', a work seeking to (re)popularise phrenology. Mostly charming drawings and advertisements for phrenology ('it's plain to see!' is a commonly used phrase), it's a fun read, albeit one that is so chaotically set out that it's kinda hard to follow.

Capitalisimo joined me for this episode, helping me to phrenologically and physiognomically analyse various world leaders and luminaries.

NB: This episode is probably best watched as a video, as we examine Vaught's illustrations and carry out phrenological case studies using Google image search.

Capitalisimo on X: @thecapitalisimo

Tooky's Mag Sidebar: https://www.youtube.com/@tookysmag/podcasts

Drive Time Movie Night: https://rumble.com/c/c-6180416/livestreams

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Contact: jack.bcfh@gmail.com

Jack has published a novel called Tower!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tower-Jack-BC-ebook/dp/B0CM5P9N9M/ref=monarch_sidesheet

The first nine chapters of Tower are available for free here: jackbc.substack.com

Our Patreon: www.patreon.com/TheBookClubfromHell

Jack's Substack: jackbc.substack.com

Levi's website: www.levioutloud.com

Join our Discord (the best place to interact with us): discord.gg/ZMtDJ9Hscr

Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0n7r1ZTpsUw5exoYxb4aKA/featured

X: @bookclubhell666

Jack on X: @supersquat1

Levi on X: @optimismlevi

Brad Kelly, of the Method and Madness podcast, returns to talk about his new book, The Earthen Dark. It's a work of weird fiction set in a sewer. Turns out, this is the perfect place to set such a tale. We talked about why subterranean places are so spooky, the near and far alien of weird fiction, the Glass Bead Game and LLMs, the effect of having children on one's writing, the provenance of imagination, Brad's writing process, and a whole lot more.

Get The Earthen Dark here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GF67226L
Brad's website: https://www.bradkellyesque.com/
Brad on Substack: https://bradkellyesque.substack.com/
Brad on X: @bradkelly

Utter Goodness is an upcoming short story collection written by Audrey Lee and published by Farthest Heaven. Its thirteen stories are lovely character studies, various faces of that peculiarly American form of cultural maximalism, and each rendered in very lithe prose. There's a kinda extemporising quality to the writing here, if one could extemporise in full paragraphs with foreshadowing and multiple layers of meaning, etc, etc, ect. It's good!
We spent a lot of time talking about how Audrey comes up with these characters, and how her return to faith influenced the writing of Utter Goodness, both consciously and unconsciously.

This will be the last episode this year. We'll start releasing things again early 2026.

Get Utter Goodness here: https://farthestheaven.com/products/utter-goodness
Audrey's website: https://audreymorganlee.com/
Audrey on X: @tinndfishmonger
Audrey on Substack: https://jawndidion.substack.com/

We mentioned Anna Krivolapova's work here, and you (you!) should also check it out: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CCW2HGMX

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Contact: jack.bcfh@gmail.com

Jack has published a novel called Tower!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tower-Jack-BC-ebook/dp/B0CM5P9N9M/ref=monarch_sidesheet

The first nine chapters of Tower are available for free here: jackbc.substack.com

Our Patreon: www.patreon.com/TheBookClubfromHell

Jack's Substack: jackbc.substack.com

Levi's website: www.levioutloud.com

Join our Discord (the best place to interact with us): discord.gg/ZMtDJ9Hscr

Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0n7r1ZTpsUw5exoYxb4aKA/featured

X: @bookclubhell666

Jack on X: @supersquat1

Levi on X: @optimismlevi