In this episode of The Sacred Speaks, Dr. John W. Price sits down with Timothy Morton, philosopher, writer, and Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English at Rice University, for a wide-ranging conversation about hell, ontology, and what it means to live without an "outside."Morton is the author of Hell, along with numerous works on ecology, object-oriented ontology, and the entanglement of human and nonhuman worlds. Together, John and Morton explore hell not as an afterlife destination but as a lived condition of felt distance from the divine and deep entanglement with the biosphere.This conversation moves through ontology and how things exist, the critique of holism and mastery as tied to fascism and colonial habits of thought, the distinction between panic and grief as pathways to change, and why mystery, irony, and hesitation may be the most honest responses to reality. Morton frames social media as a continuation of 18th-century politics of sensibility, critiques metaphysics of presence and gnostic hierarchies, and suggests that paradise is not elsewhere but something we build inside hell.Rather than offering resolution, this episode invites listeners into an uncomfortable and generative encounter with the structures we inhabit without seeing.Key Takeaways:Timothy Morton defines ontology as how things exist and argues that our deepest assumptions about reality shape everything from ecology to politics.The conversation frames holism and mastery as colonial and fascist habits of thought, suggesting that ecology requires giving up the fantasy of total comprehension.Morton distinguishes panic from grief, proposing that panic is an ontological shock when our worldview cracks, while grief is the doorway through.The interview explores hell as an embodied, cultural structure rather than a metaphysical location, and suggests irony, hesitation, and mystery as reality signals.Morton reads William Blake as a poet of infinite narrators and weaponized gentleness, connecting the Lamb and the Tiger to questions of presence and paradox.Timestamps((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Connect with Timothy MortonRice University Faculty Page: Timothy Morton, Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English, Rice UniversityBook: Hell by Timothy MortonWebsite for Johnhttp://www.drjohnwprice.comWATCH:YouTube for The Sacred Speakshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOAuksnpfht1udHWUVEO7RgInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/@thesacredspeaksFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/thesacredspeaks/Brought to you by:https://www.thecenterforhas.comTheme music provided by:http://www.modernnationsmusic.com