McCarthy Underground: Recent Episodes
Ian Cattanach
Daily Cormac McCarthy podcasts exploring alternative perspectives. Breaking free from the academic lullabies plaguing the McCarthy community, this show delivers massive energy through a playful approach to McCarthy's work. Our deep dive series cover McCarthy's synergy with Nature, God, language, evil, philosophy, and psychology. Chapter-by-chapter breakdowns are in the works for every McCarthy work from endless lenses. Dynamic interviews with McCarthy scholars help integrate many of this channel's critical Orphic ecstasies with based theories. Once the scholars have gone to bed, we will travel back to Eden and have fun with wild theories about McCarthy's work. The main goal of this podcast is to share McCarthy's work with millions of new readers. Happy reading!
What is Cormac McCarthy's connection to Western Philosophy? In today's interview with Professor of Philosophy Patrick O'Connor, we deep dive into Cormac McCarthy's connection to philosophy!
Dr. O'Connor is the author of "Cormac McCarthy Philosophy and the Physics of the Damned" and is one of the more vibrant McCarthy scholars. Today we discuss McCarthy's philosophy of language, Derrida, Greek Philosohpy, Nietzche, McCarthy's film adaptions, and a ton more!
In this episode of the Cormac McCarthy Underground, we are joined by Cormac McCarthy fan Shane Harrington, the founder of the band Cinemartyr.
https://www.youtube.com/@CINEMARTYR
https://www.instagram.com/cine.martyr/
On this episode of the Cormac McCarthy Underground, we are joined by fellow BookTuber @theworldofa.j.p.7472 . If you guys like Cormac McCarthy content, go check out some of his videos and subscribe (more video links down below!) This video had some audio issues that cut off an entire hour, so we will have to collab again and bring the Blood Meridian & Alchemy and book by book breakdown we did in the lost segment!
This podcast breaks down The Passenger/Stella Maris, McCarthy's hatred of magical realism, and other fun stuff!
Cormac McCarthy died this morning at his Santa Fe, N.M. home. He was 89. The cause is unknown, but this is a massive blow to literature. Cormac McCarthy was our greatest living novelist, and few others will fill the void. Over the past seven months, I've released almost 100 videos on McCarthy, and I plan to make thousands more over the decades.
With his twelve novels, McCarthy has more actionable rabbit holes to follow than whole literary movements (cough, post-modernists 🤣). Yet, parts of me still yearn for more about McCarthy's life. His reclusiveness is cryptic, and his death is final. One quote that comes to mind is from Suttree.
“How surely are the dead beyond death. Death is what the living carry with them. A state of dread, like some uncanny foretaste of a bitter memory. But the dead do not remember and nothingness is not a curse. Far from it.”
Cormac McCarthy loved Ernest Hemingway, and today I'll discuss the relationship between the two. For some reason, you can't mention Papa Hemingway in the title without getting demonetized, so expect more weird titles in the future lol.
The historical device Cormac McCarthy uses in Blood Meridian to display Judge Holden's supernatural strength is the Tucson Meteor. In this video, we will discuss how McCarthy uses the meteorite, vibe on the meteor's history, and discuss how strong Judge Holden really is...
Cormac McCarthy had some positive and negative words for Albert Einstein in his last novel "Stella Maris." Today we will examine Einstein's relation to Arthur Schopenhauer, Einstein/McCarthy's view of free will, and another fun physics-related talk! LETS GO!
In this video, we talk about Cormac McCarthy's first and second awakenings! We are joined by Alistar for this video, and if you want to hear more crazy theories, tune into our podcast dropping in a few hours!
Cormac McCarthy studied occultism throughout his entire life. Today we will be tracking the influences of the occult in his work!
In half of Cormac McCarthy's novels, he plays with the axiomatic biblical idea that women in distress are the downfall of men. I will track McCarthy's use of the damsel in distress trope in this video! We will also discuss how Cormac's personal life probably influenced his ideas on this issue 🤣
Cormac McCarthy is a massive fan of Ludwig Wittgenstein. In this clip, Cormac talks about Wittgenstein's early days, his stylistic esotericism, and how to live the life of a philosopher!
Who is the greatest living author now that Cormac McCarthy has died? Honestly, there aren't many! Cormac is such an OG in the game and making this list made me very pessimistic for fiction writing until a new wave of writers emerge!
If Cormac McCarthy's novels were tarot cards, what would they be? For all the tarot haters out there, McCarthy was very familiar with the tarot and used it in Blood Meridian to foreshadow the entire novel. I'll be making a breakdown on that soon!
However, in this video, I will break down the tarot correspondence to all twelve of McCarthy's novels and also give breakdowns of some spiritual interpretations of McCarthy's novels.
Almost all of Cormac McCarthy's novels feature some weird stuff... Today, we are going to be breaking down all the taboo topics in McCarthy novels!
Blood Meridian's Judge Holden is a favorite for lit bro's to fixate on! However, today we will transcend "THE JUDGE IS THE DEVIL" idea and do a historical and philosophical analysis of Judge Holden. We first turn to examine Samuel Chamberlain's memoir, which McCarthy STOLE a ton of ideas/stories about Judge Holden from. This will help set up a foundation for a philosophical analysis of Judge Holden!
What does Cormac McCarthy believe happens after death? Is Cormac McCarthy a Christian? Did Cormac McCarthy write about his death through his novels before it happened? We will answer all these questions today and more with this deep philosophical dive into Cormac McCarthy's views on death!
Cormac McCarthy is a co-writer for the Blood Meridian movie screenplay! This is massive news for the potential of this movie. However, at the age of 90, is McCarthy really up to the task of turning this into a masterpiece? The Blood Meridian movie has been attempted to be done over five times, but now that McCarthy has his hands in, it should come out!
So, are you more confident in the success of Blood Meridian Movie now?
One of the best scenes in Blood Meridian is when Judge Holden trolls the revival tent 😂 However, Reverend Green is a historical character. We will be examining how Cormac McCarthy turned two sentences in an obscure book into this iconic scene!
Blood Meridian's Comanche attack is one of the most iconic moments in literature history. However, today we will track where McCarthy got his information for the Comanche attack, the history of the Comanche, and how McCarthy wrote such a beautiful scene!
Cormac McCarthy's Suttree is an absurd classic, and today we will be examining Suttree through Sarte and Camus' definition of existentialism!
Cormac McCarthy has been flamed for decades for his lack of female characters, objectification of women, using male movies for female characters, and seeing women as vessels for exploitation. Today, I will be examining and refuting these claims!
The Blood Meridian Movie Soundtrack has the potential to be a classic! However, we are stuck with Nick Cave... So, what music do you think should be in the movie? Please include links to the songs on YouTube so we can listen!
Wayfarer: Best Blood Meridian-Inspired Music. It could be used in any battle scene or as the intro music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmnGR6Gmfj4&ab_channel=ProfoundLoreRecords
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atuJzivuF1o&ab_channel=wpg99
The Proposition Soundtrack by Nick Cave: This is around what we'll get for Blood Meridian. This is good, but this is the safe mainstream pick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3NJ1usd_-M&list=PLcXviRsCvzrCugcYHhTYhKNIzUIeMr0OP&ab_channel=NickCave%26TheBadSeeds
Earth: This album always comes up as the music sounds most like Blood Meridian. While reading this is awesome, I don't think it would translate well to film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbPeZMpdSjE&ab_channel=patbateman26
Ambient: You could go with any combination of nature-based ambient, dark drones, or something very minimal.
Welcome to a new Cormac McCarthy miniseries on how to write like Cormac McCarthy! Today we are focusing on how McCarthy got so great at writing landscape/nature passages!
🌵💼 In McCarthy's novels, the setting isn't just a backdrop, it becomes a living, breathing character in its own right. From the barren and unforgiving landscapes of "Blood Meridian" to the post-apocalyptic world of "The Road," McCarthy has a knack for immersing readers in the environments he creates. In this video, we will explore how YOU can achieve this level of depth and realism in your writing.
With the publication of The Passenger/Stella Maris, Wendigoon making a video on Blood Meridian, and the announcement of the Blood Meridian movie Cormac McCarthy's work is attracting many new fans. McCarthy's logical, violent, and nature-oriented novels draw a very bizarre group of men 🤣 In this video, I discuss how we should approach and feel about all of our fellow weirdos 👽
What genre is Cormac McCarthy? The obvious answer is literary fiction, but in today's show, we will explore if The Border Trilogy, The Road, No Country For Old Men, Outer Dark, Child of God, and The Orchard Keeper are genre works!
We are playing a fun game of over/under rated today! This isn't my definitive ranking video, but a response to the community's perception of McCarthy's novels! If you want to partpiate, copy the
The Orchard Keeper:
Outer Dark:
Child of God:
Suttree:
Blood Meridian:
All the Pretty Horses:
The Crossing
Cities of the Plain
No Country for Old Men:
The Road:
The Passenger:
Stella Maris:
Today we are diving into some Cormac McCarthy quotes and comments not available anywhere online! What does Cormac McCarthy think about God? What role does language play in Cormac McCarthy's work? In the early drafts of McCarthy's unpublished screenplay "Whales and Men," he explores these ideas more than any other work. He wrote "Whales and Men" right after Blood Meridian, which is peak McCarthy!
In this video, we look at the most definitive quote in Cormac McCarthy's career on the purpose of life. No, it is not violence, getting tough like David Goggins, being an existentialist, or a logic bro. It's something most of us have never had and avoid like the plague!
Some of Cormac McCarthy's best novels take place in a Desert setting, and in today's video, we will hear from Cormac McCarthy about the Desert. After Cormac is done, we will discuss what he said, I'll recommend some of the best books on the Desert, and I'll conclude with a section on individuation in the Desert.
In this spoiler-free introduction to Cormac McCarthy's debut novel The Orchard Keeper, I discuss what you need to know before reading one of McCarthy's more challenging novels.
What is Judge Holden a Judge of in Blood Meridian? In today's video, I will argue Judge Holden is a representation of dark capital and explore the destructive and mystical elements of currency in Blood Meridian.
Blood Meridan by Cormac McCarthy features an idiot. McCarthy takes a unique take on idiocy and diverts from classical literature and his mentors, Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor. In this video, we discuss the role of The Idiot in Blood Meridian, analyze his character, and discuss Cormac McCarthy's motive for including him in Blood Meridian!
Today I will be analyzing the claim by author David Foster Wallace that Cormac McCarthy started to write more for money/fame after Blood Meridian!
Cormac McCarthy's novel Blood Meridian is packed with fairy lore, liminal spaces, and otherworldly beings. Exploring the Sonoran, Chihuahuan, and Sierra Madre Occidental faerie zones in Blood Meridian enables a reader to transcend the western woodland conception of fairies into the Duende spirit. A manifestation of an otherworldly evil.
Judge Holden, The Kid, and the men that look like "fairybook beasts" are archonic/archetypal characters representing something ambiguous to logic. What axiomatic tradition does McCarthy draw these ideas? In today's video, I will postulate the faerie energy/tradition aligns most with the characters of Blood Meridian!
An adaption of Cormac Mccarthy's Blood Meridian has just been announced! New Regency will back the film with John Hillcoat (UGH) directing it! The movie will seemingly come out in 2025, with Cormac McCarthy and his son John McCarthy serving as executive producers. Do you think Blood Meridian should become a movie? Who do you think should be cast as The Judge and The Kid? What do you think of John Hillcoat directing the Blood Meridian movie?
Cormac McCarthy isn't really a fan of humans... Today's video is a fun roller coaster exploring Cormac McCarthy's connection to anti-humanism. I EVOKE the OG of eco-poetry, Robinson Jeffers, cry, and discuss the psychic weight of being an anti-humanist in 2023. LETS GO!
This one is for all my rocket men out there! Cormac McCarthy had much to say about nuclear weapons, the Manhattan project, and his trauma in "Stella Maris" and "The Passenger." Today I will be breaking down McCarthy's passages about nukes!
What is Cormac McCarthy's Hardest Book? Cormac McCarthy is known to write long books with atavistic words, perambulating dialogue, and side-quests meant to quirt you into acceptance. Let me know your rankings down below!
This is a narration/audiobook of Cormac McCarthy's first published short story "Wake for Suan." First published in Fall of 1959, "Wake For Susan" is instrumental for Cormac refining techniques he brings into the "Orchard Keeper" and "Outer Dark."
Who is Cormac McCarthy's favorite physicist? In this clip, we will hear who Cormac McCarthy admires and why he likes them. I will then explain how the physics lineage he follows aligns with his personal writing and life philosophy! LET'S GO!
There have been debates for years on if Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian is unfilmable. Today I will discuss how it could be made into a film or tv show, the elements that would make it a masterpiece, director picks, actor selections, and other fun stuff related to the movie!
Cormac McCarthy Course: https://writeconscious.com/cormac-mccarthy-course/
T -Shirts -- https://writeconscious.com/cormac-mccarthy-shirts
Cormac McCarthy believes Blood Meridian could be made into a film when he said this to The Wall Street Journal.
"WSJ: People have said "Blood Meridian" is unfilmable because of the sheer darkness and violence of the story."
CM: That's all crap. The fact that's it's a bleak and bloody story has nothing to do with whether or not you can put it on the screen. That's not the issue. The issue is it would be very difficult to do and would require someone with a bountiful imagination and a lot of balls. But the payoff could be extraordinary.
The photo is from this guy on Reddit who edited it into a wallpaper from an original image in a special edition "Blood Meridian" book.
https://www.reddit.com/r/cormacmccarthy/comments/12oorbw/couldnt_find_any_decent_blood_meridian_wallpapers/
Does Cormac McCarthy cave to standard writing advice? All of us have heard about how important the first line is. Well, how seriously does Cormac McCarthy take the first line???
We are joined by Professor of Philosophy Patrick O'Connor to talk about Jacques Derrida and No Country for Old Men. Dr. O'Connor is the author of "Cormac McCarthy's Philosophy and the Physics of the Damned."
What first-edition Cormac McCarthy book covers are the best? In 1992, when All The Pretty Horses was released, Cormac McCarthy had never sold more than 5,000 copies of a book. Six months after its release, All The Pretty Horses had sold nearly 200,000 copies. Why had McCarthy's books failed so hard before? Was it the covers? Marketing? Well, in this video, we will cover the cover's side and analyze the typography, color choices, and art choices of his covers!
Cormac McCarthy is not just a massive fan of architecture. He also built his own house with his second wife. This video overlays images of Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water house while McCarthy talks about it. After the video, I will highlight some of the most revelatory parts of the video!
Cormac McCarthy seems to have a problem with Carl Jung. Today I will show Cormac McCarthy's rejection of Carl Jung's philosophy by analyzing his view on the unconscious and direct statements about Jung in Stella Maris.
An in-depth look at Nietche's philosophical influence within Cormac McCarthy's masterpiece novel "Blood Meridian." We will be joined by Professor of Philosophy Dr. Patrick O'Connor, who wrote a beautiful book titled "Cormac McCarthy Philosophy and the Physics of the Damned." In this video we will talk about the active nihilism of Judge Holden, The Passive Nihilism of "The Kid," and other topics related to Nietsche and "Blood Meridian!"
An invitation to change the world through Cormac McCarthy's work. We are here to transcend the endless journey into finding the "truth" about McCarthy's work, and rather explore an infinite landscape of perspectives. This is the start of a journey that will put a McCarthy book in a million new readers' hands. I believe in our power to change the world through great literature!
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YouTube.com/writeconscious
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