Junk and Disorderly: Art • Myth • Oddities From Real and Imagined Worlds
Junk and Disorderly is your backstage pass to art, myth, oddities, and the strange little sparks that fly between real and imagined worlds. Hosted by Michael deMeng — artist, author, instructor, and professional rummager of the beautifully peculiar — this podcast wanders through the stories, symbols, films, folklore, objects, and creative misadventures that inspire his work.
Some episodes dig into the art of transforming found objects into something mythic. Others follow the trail of legends, monsters, rituals, strange histories, haunted places, favorite films, and curious cultural debris. Along the way, Michael talks with fellow artists, makers, collectors, travelers, organizers, and creative oddballs who know that the best stories often hide in the cracks, cupboards, alleys, attics, and junk drawers of the world.
With humor, curiosity, and a healthy dose of artistic anarchy, Junk and Disorderly invites you to embrace the odd, the handmade, the haunted, and the half-forgotten — and to find beauty in the discarded, the mysterious, and the gloriously out of place.
Whether you’re an artist, a maker, a mythology nerd, a film lover, or just someone who enjoys a good tale from the weirder side of the road, this podcast may leave you inspired, entertained, and possibly itching to rummage for your next masterpiece.
Formerly home to Strange Tales of Myth and Magic, the show continues to explore legend, lore, and the stories from around the world that inspire Michael’s art — now with a wider lens and a bigger junk drawer.
Junk and Disorderly: Art • Myth • Oddities From Real and Imagined Worlds
Tarradiddling with Baron Muchausen
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In this episode of Junk and Disorderly, Michael deMeng is joined by artist, author, and crime-fiction historian Gary Warren Niebuhr to explore the cinematic adventures of literature’s most gloriously unreliable storyteller—Baron Munchausen.
Together we dive into two wildly different film interpretations: Karel Zeman’s visually astonishing 1962 fantasy The Fabulous Baron Munchausen and Terry Gilliam’s lavish and chaotic 1988 epic The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. One blends live action, animation, and imagery inspired by antique engravings; the other erupts with Gilliam’s signature theatrical imagination and big-budget spectacle.
Along the way we trace the Baron’s origins in the 18th-century tall tales popularized by Rudolf Erich Raspe, discuss the influence of Gustave Doré’s legendary illustrations, and compare how each filmmaker translates these outrageous adventures to the screen in completely different visual languages.
It’s a conversation about cinematic trickery, storytelling excess, and the enduring appeal of a hero who can ride a cannonball to the moon and still insist he’s only telling the truth.
Expect film history detours, artistic rabbit holes, and—naturally—a few tall tales of our own.
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• Instagram: @michael_demeng_art
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• TikTok: @michaeldemeng