In the first episode of Intrinsically Profane, Jarrod Nelson and Jordan Petersen Kamp discuss Paul Schrader's 1972 book, Transcendental Style in Film, in which Schrader develops his guiding aesthetic theory using the works of three directors: Yasujiro Ozu, Robert Bresson, and Carl Dreyer. Other topics include Schrader's upbringing in the Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan and education at Calvin College, a background that is shared by Jordan.