AD 263 | Erik Davis

Artist Decoded by Yoshino

Erik Davis, PhD, is an author, award-winning journalist, sometimes podcaster, and popular speaker based in San Francisco. He is the author of 6 books which include:

• Blotter: The Untold Story of an Acid Medium (MIT Press)
• High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the 70s (MIT Press/Strange Attractor Press).
• Nomad Codes: Adventures in Modern Esoterica (Yeti, 2010).
• The Visionary State: A Journey through California’s Spiritual Landscape (Chronicle, 2006), with photographs by Michael Rauner.
• Led Zeppelin IV (Continuum, 2005) - 33 1/3 volume.
• TechGnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information (Crown, 1998; republished by North Atlantic Press).

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• Erik’s work and his areas of interest (00:04:37)
• Deciding what projects to dedicate his time to (00:06:36)
• Finding his authentic voice (00:13:27)
• The transformation of subcultural movements into mainstream cultural (00:13:18)
• Trying to make sense out of confusing times (00:24:22)
• Learning to appreciate banality, and simplicity in an increasingly more technologically focused world (00:36:33)
• Separating yourself from devices and giving yourself the space to allow the muse to enter (00:46:15)
• The consensus trance and becoming more conscious (00:49:38)
• Having good “epistemological hygiene” (00:57:04)
• Getting back to basic joys (01:05:09)
• Erik’s new book “Blotter: The Untold Story of an Acid Medium” (01:07:09)

Episode co-host: Jennifer Sodini

artistdecoded.com techgnosis.com x.com/erik_davis burningshore.com