Topic: Book Of The Damned

Carlwood discusses his recent presentation on Charles Fort's *Book of the Damned*, highlighting Fort's theories on secret societies and the idea that humanity is "property." He also addresses listener feedback on a previous interview with John Klyzak regarding AI in the classroom, defending the importance of the subject despite lower ratings from the audience.

The Book of the Damned documents historical accounts of bizarre objects falling from the sky and other unexplainable phenomena. Notable cases include a worked stone disc discovered in France and the 1894 Vicksburg Turtle, which fell during a Mississippi hailstorm encased in ice. Additional reports mention unclassifiable clawed footmarks in Devonshire, England, and millions of self-luminous bodies observed via telescope by Reverend W. Reed.

David Wolf discusses the influence of Charles Fort, particularly his critique of "scientism" and the tendency of mainstream science to "bully" its worldview by deleting anomalous data. He highlights Fort's philosophy that one cannot understand the "all" by excluding the "damned" facts that do not fit established theories. The segment emphasizes the power of censorship in maintaining fake structures of knowledge.

Gordon White names Charles Fort’s "Book of the Damned" as his number two pick, identifying Fort as the "fountainhead" of high strangeness studies. Fort collected "damned facts"—anomalous events that science could not explain—to argue that the scientific paradigm is as limited as the religious one it replaced. White praises Fort’s 1919 writing style as brilliant, funny, and foundational for the entire paranormal genre.

The host selects Charles Fort’s "Book of the Damned" as his number one pick, noting that despite its age, it remains the most original and provocative work in the field. They discuss Jeffrey Kripal’s claim that Fort "invented postmodernism" by predicting the end of the scientific era. They also lament the decline of the "Fortean Times" magazine, which they feel has moved away from Fort’s original spirit of challenging the materialist context.