Philosophy – Words on Wonder

John Bucher is a mythologist. Communicator, and strategist based out of Hollywood, California. He is also an author, podcaster, and speaker. He is the author of six books including the best-selling Storytelling for Virtual Reality, named by BookAuthority as one of the best storytelling books of all time. John has worked with companies including HBO, DC Comics, The History Channel, A24 Films, The John Maxwell Leadership Foundation and served as a consultant and writer for numerous film, television, and Virtual Reality projects. He also consults on stage magic, puzzles, and escape rooms. Currently, he serves as Content Curator for the Joseph Campbell Foundation and teaches writing and story courses at the LA Film Studies Center. He holds a PhD in Mythology and Depth Psychology and has spoken on 5 continents about using myth and the power of story to reframe how products, individuals, organizations, cultures, and nations are viewed. Disruptor named him one of the top 25 influencers in Virtual Reality in 2018.

Paul Rezkalla is a Graduate Fellow of the Society of Christian Philosophers and works with the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion at the University of Oxford. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at Florida State University and recently completed a M.Sc. in cognitive and evolutionary anthropology as part of his doctoral research on the evolution of morality. He also holds a MA in philosophy from the University of Birmingham (UK) and a MA in theology from Saint John’s University. Paul loves the English Premier League and plays the oud (look it up!) for the Tallahassee Middle Eastern Ensemble.

Will Houstoun has a PhD in the history of magical education, supervised by Dame Marina Warner, and is a winner of both The European Magic Championships and The Magic Circle Close-up Magician of the Year. He holds a Literary Fellowship with The Academy of Magical Arts in Los Angeles, and is an Honorary Research Associate at Imperial College’s Department of Surgery and Cancer as well as Magician in Residence at The Imperial College/Royal College of Music Centre for Performance Science. The current editor of The Magic Circular, The Magic Circle’s 113-year-old journal, Will writes extensively on magic for trade and popular publications. Consultancy credits include Martin Scorsese's Hugo, the BBC's Wolf Hall, The Royal Opera House’s Katya Kabanova and The Almeida's The Twilight Zone. Will spends more time picking up cards than he would like to admit.

Jason is a Associate Professor of Philosophy & NEH Chair in the Humanities at Bucknell University. From 2019–2021 he is also a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at The Centre for Philosophical Psychology, University of Antwerp. His research has two main overlapping areas: (1) aesthetics & philosophy of art and (2) the philosophy of perception. Jason also has a substantial research interest in the epistemology of understanding.

Category: Philosophy

John Bucher – mythologist (#107)

Paul Rezkalla – evolutionary anthropology (#105)

Dr Will Houstoun – magical historian (#94)

Jason Leddington – philosophy of magic (#87)