Today we’ve got something special—two deep dives into the world of magic and role-playing!

We sit down with Douglas Rushkoff—media theorist, writer, and host of the Team Human podcast—to explore how RPGs, especially Mage: The Ascension, serve as tools for reality manipulation and self-discovery. We talk about the changing face of magic in society, its impact on public figures, and how Storytellers can weave magical sensibilities into their campaigns.

Then, we chat with Richard Metzger, lifelong explorer of the occult and host of the Magic Show. He takes us on a journey through the cultural evolution of magic, its place in pop culture, and intriguing ideas like radionics that could bring a whole new layer to modern RPGs.

Show Notes

Douglas Rushkoff
- Vampire: The Masquerade, GURPS, and Magic: The Gathering.
- Genesis P-Orridge and Psychic TV.
- Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea and Taoist philosophy
- Douglas’s book,Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires
- Donald Trump, Norman Vincent Peale and The Power of Positive Thinking.
- Douglas’s Substack newsletter.
Richard Metzger
- Bewitched and mythical figures like Merlin.
- Aleister Crowley’s magick as act of willpower
- Radionics: electronic devices believed to manipulate reality, as explored by figures like John W. Campbell and William Burroughs (search on Etsy).
- The Magick Show, featuring interviews with 55+ magicians, witches, and scholars!
- Arden Leigh, chaos magician and Grant Morrison’s magical heir
Alan Moore’s The Great When
Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles

Paradigm Shift: Stygian Library