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
Processions of the Living Dead: Day of the Dead Parades
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In this episode of Junk and Disorderly, I’m joined by Oaxaca retreat organizers Mija Matriz and Jon Labrousse for a conversation about Day of the Dead processions in Oaxaca — comparsas, calendas, and muerteadas — and why they feel like much more than parades. We talk about music you hear before you see, masks and costumes that feel more like presence than dress-up, and the way these events turn the street into a temporary world of memory, celebration, theater, and community. We also get into the differences between broader Muertos processions and the more eerie, theatrical muerteadas, plus what outsiders often misunderstand when they see these traditions only as spectacle.
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• TikTok: @michaeldemeng