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April 5, 2027
7pm ET (NYC time)
Free! RSVP with email at checkout
PLEASE NOTE: Video playback of free events is only available to Patreon members. Become a Member HERE.
Ticketholders: A Zoom invite is sent out two hours before the event to the email used at checkout. Please check your spam folder and if not received, email hello@morbidanatomy.org.
Join philosophy professor and author Stephen Asma for an illustrated introduction to his new book The Alchemist’s Thread, which chronicles the shadow history of this esoterica that has been practiced since ancient times.
Asma traces this thread through history, introducing figures such as alchemist John Dee, Illuminati founder Adam Weishaupt, holy sister and artist Hildegard von Bingen, philosopher and astronomer Giordano Bruno, psychologist Carl Jung, painter George Inness, and many others. His journey moves across the world—from Biblioteca Philosophica Hermetica in Amsterdam to the alchemical sites of Prague, the Slovakian castle of the “Blood Countess” Elizabeth Bathory to the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles, and beyond.
Though they are often condemned as the “darker arts,” Asma argues that these practices have been maligned because they challenge the rigidity of conventional religious practice and its need to maintain power. The esoterica Asma explores is intuitive and humanistic, offers followers a greater sense of agency, and can be a light in the darkness—a possible antidote for today’s nihilism and doomer culture, offering a kind of “hopecore,” earnest hope that fosters greater connection and empathy in a pessimistic world.
A unique blend of history and adventure, The Alchemist’s Thread shows how many ideas that emerge from esoterica align with human flourishing, strengthen imaginative creativity, and increase our ethical sense of kinship. It is an offering to those who want more mystery, wonder, and weirdness in their lives.
Stephen Asma is Professor of Philosophy at Columbia College Chicago and co-founder of the Research Group in Mind, Science, and Culture. He is the author of eleven books, including The Emotional Mind, The Evolution of Imagination, On Monsters, and The Alchemist’s Thread. He has lived and taught in Shanghai, Beijing, and Phnom Penh; lectured internationally at institutions such as Harvard, Oxford, Fudan, Xi’an, the Smithsonian; and written for The New York Times, Aeon, The Boston Globe, and other major outlets. He was also the executive producer and co-host of the hit podcast Chinwag, where he and Oscar-nominated actor Paul Giamatti explored esoterica, high strangeness, and the odd corners of culture with guests from science, art, and entertainment. As a blues musician in Chicago, he played regularly with Bo Diddley and Buddy Guy.
April 5, 2027
7pm ET (NYC time)
Free! RSVP with email at checkout
PLEASE NOTE: Video playback of free events is only available to Patreon members. Become a Member HERE.
Ticketholders: A Zoom invite is sent out two hours before the event to the email used at checkout. Please check your spam folder and if not received, email hello@morbidanatomy.org.
Join philosophy professor and author Stephen Asma for an illustrated introduction to his new book The Alchemist’s Thread, which chronicles the shadow history of this esoterica that has been practiced since ancient times.
Asma traces this thread through history, introducing figures such as alchemist John Dee, Illuminati founder Adam Weishaupt, holy sister and artist Hildegard von Bingen, philosopher and astronomer Giordano Bruno, psychologist Carl Jung, painter George Inness, and many others. His journey moves across the world—from Biblioteca Philosophica Hermetica in Amsterdam to the alchemical sites of Prague, the Slovakian castle of the “Blood Countess” Elizabeth Bathory to the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles, and beyond.
Though they are often condemned as the “darker arts,” Asma argues that these practices have been maligned because they challenge the rigidity of conventional religious practice and its need to maintain power. The esoterica Asma explores is intuitive and humanistic, offers followers a greater sense of agency, and can be a light in the darkness—a possible antidote for today’s nihilism and doomer culture, offering a kind of “hopecore,” earnest hope that fosters greater connection and empathy in a pessimistic world.
A unique blend of history and adventure, The Alchemist’s Thread shows how many ideas that emerge from esoterica align with human flourishing, strengthen imaginative creativity, and increase our ethical sense of kinship. It is an offering to those who want more mystery, wonder, and weirdness in their lives.
Stephen Asma is Professor of Philosophy at Columbia College Chicago and co-founder of the Research Group in Mind, Science, and Culture. He is the author of eleven books, including The Emotional Mind, The Evolution of Imagination, On Monsters, and The Alchemist’s Thread. He has lived and taught in Shanghai, Beijing, and Phnom Penh; lectured internationally at institutions such as Harvard, Oxford, Fudan, Xi’an, the Smithsonian; and written for The New York Times, Aeon, The Boston Globe, and other major outlets. He was also the executive producer and co-host of the hit podcast Chinwag, where he and Oscar-nominated actor Paul Giamatti explored esoterica, high strangeness, and the odd corners of culture with guests from science, art, and entertainment. As a blues musician in Chicago, he played regularly with Bo Diddley and Buddy Guy.