Very Bad Wizards

Everytime David Pizarro was mentioned in Very Bad Wizards

Episode 13: Beanballs, Blood Feuds, and Collective Moral Responsibility (With Fiery Cushman)
Very Bad Wizards
Our classiest episode yet (OK, that's not saying much, but still...)--Psychologist Fiery Cushman joins us for a discussion about collective punishment and collective responsibility. We use Fiery's rece
Jan 22, 2013
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1h 0m
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Episode 182: The Paper That Launched a Thousand Twitter Wars (With Yoel Inbar)
Very Bad Wizards
Podcasting legend Yoel Inbar (from Two Psychologists Four Beers ) joins us to break down Tal Yarkoni's "The Generalizability Crisis,” the paper that launched a thousand Twitter wars. Psychologists ma
Feb 11, 2020
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1h 58m
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0

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Episode 134: Digital Outrage (with Molly Crockett)
Very Bad Wizards
It's been 5 years since Molly Crockett has been guest on VBW. During that time she's completed a post-doc at University College, London and become a professor at Yale University. And we're...well, we'r
Feb 27, 2018
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1h 51m
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0

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Episode 218: ...But You Can't Hide (Michael Haneke's "Caché")
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler go deep on Michael Haneke’s unnerving psychological thriller Caché. An upper middle class French intellectual couple receives mysterious videotapes of the exterior of their house, f
Aug 3, 2021
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1h 59m
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0

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Episode 224: Hurts So Good (With Paul Bloom)
Very Bad Wizards
VBW favorite Paul Bloom joins us to talk about the pleasures of suffering, flow states, Sisyphus, meaning, and dating questions. Check out his new book The Sweet Spot which comes out today! Plus what a
Nov 2, 2021
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1h 42m
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Episode 213: What Is It Like To Be a Robot Fish Man? (with Ted Chiang)
Very Bad Wizards
We’ve done deep dives on three of his stories, and now THE MAN HIMSELF, multi-award winning science fiction author Ted Chiang, joins us to explore the post-apocalyptic world of the video-game SOMA. Y
May 25, 2021
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1h 57m
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0

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Episode 204: Happy Freedom Day! (with Lauren Anderson)
Very Bad Wizards
The legendary Houston Ballet dancer Lauren Anderson joins us to talk about the Atlanta Episode “Juneteenth” (Season 1, Episode 9), a hilarious exploration of race, class, identity, and carrying aro
Jan 12, 2021
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1h 36m
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0

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Episode 59: Tumors All the Way Down (With Sam Harris)
Very Bad Wizards
Bestselling author and friend of the podcast Sam Harris joins Tamler and Dave for a marathon podcast. (Seriously, pack two pairs of astronaut diapers for this one). We talk about the costs and benefits
Dec 16, 2014
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2h 32m
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0

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Episode 217: Dropping Paradigms (Kuhn's "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions")
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler hit the books and cram for their beloved Patreon listener-selected episode – this time on Thomas Kuhn’s “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.” David thinks Kuhn is a great
Jul 20, 2021
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2h 6m
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0

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Episode 120: Clap Your Hand for Robert Wright
Very Bad Wizards
Special guest Robert Wright joins the podcast to discuss his latest book "Why Buddhism is True." What is the Buddhist conception of not-self? When we become aware that the boundaries between us and the
Jul 25, 2017
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1h 47m
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0

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Episode 47: Schooled By Our Listeners
Very Bad Wizards
Tamler and David leech off of their listeners and dedicate an episode to their favorite comments, questions, and criticisms from the past few weeks (but not before Tamler goes on a rant about bicycle h
May 22, 2014
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1h 2m
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0

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Episode 147: Effective Altruism and Moral Uncertainty (with The One True Scotsman, Will MacAskill)
Very Bad Wizards
Oxford philosophy professor Will MacAskill joins us to talk about effective altruism, moral uncertainty, and why you shouldn’t eat your grandmother (even if consequentialism is true). How should we a
Sep 4, 2018
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1h 43m
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0

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Episode 183: Accept the Mystery (with Paul Bloom)
Very Bad Wizards
VBW favorite Paul Bloom takes a short break from his Sam Harris duties to help us break down the Coen Brothers' ode to uncertainty, A Serious Man . Does inaction have consequences? Can you understand t
Feb 25, 2020
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1h 39m
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0

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Episode 87: Lucky You (with Robert Frank)
Very Bad Wizards
We hit the jackpot with this one! Economist Robert Frank (you may remember him from such episodes as The Greatest Books Ever Written ) joins David and Tamler to talk about his new book Success and Luck
Apr 12, 2016
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1h 19m
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0

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Episode 40: How Many Moralities Are There? Pt. 2 (with Jesse Graham)
Very Bad Wizards
Jesse Graham joins us for part 2 of our discussion on the nature of morality, and his recent paper on Moral Foundations Theory. He highlights the key components of MFT, defends himself against our accu
Feb 3, 2014
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1h 19m
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0

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Episode 181: The Fraudulence Paradox (David Foster Wallace's "Good Old Neon")
Very Bad Wizards
Our whole lives we’ve been frauds. We’re not exaggerating. Pretty much all we’ve ever done is try to create a certain impression of us in other people. Mostly to be liked or admired. This episode
Jan 28, 2020
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2h 9m
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0

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Episode 165: Life With No Head (With Sam Harris)
Very Bad Wizards
Sam Harris returns to the podcast to talk about meditation and his new Waking Up meditation app. What are the goals of mindfulness practice - stress reduction and greater focus, or something much deepe
Jun 4, 2019
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2h 16m
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0

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Episode 66: Übermensch at Work
Very Bad Wizards
Special guest Yoel Inbar (author of Hitchcock’s Women: From Margaret Sullivan to Tippi Hedren) joins us to talk about Hitchcock’s long take masterpiece/gimmick Rope. Based loosely on the case of Le
Apr 20, 2015
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1h 24m
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0

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Episode 130: Dehumanization and Disintegration (with Paul Bloom)
Very Bad Wizards
In this Very Special Boxing Day edition of the podcast, Tamler and David welcome back honorary Third Wizard Paul Bloom to discuss his latest article in the New Yorker about dehumanization and cruelty.
Dec 26, 2017
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1h 32m
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0

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Episode 63: Stalemates and Closets (with Sam Harris)
Very Bad Wizards
Sam Harris gets back in the VBW ring for another round on moral responsibility, ethical theories, and the grounds for our obligations to other people. Are we at a genuine stalemate when it comes to bla
Feb 28, 2015
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2h 46m
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0

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Episode 11: It is Morally Wrong to Kill Morgan Freeman (with Yoel Inbar)
Very Bad Wizards
Social psychologist Yoel Inbar joins Tamler and David to discuss Clint Eastwood's masterpiece of the Western genre, "Unforgiven." The discussion includes the nature of revenge, the requirements of just
Dec 28, 2012
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1h 15m
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Episode 149: Death, Immortality, and Porn (Intuition) Pumps
Very Bad Wizards
Is living forever a good thing? Could we maintain our values and personal attachments throughout eternity? Would we be motivated to accomplish anything? Can we make sense of a human life that doesn't h
Oct 2, 2018
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1h 41m
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0

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Episode 210: The Priming of the American Mind (with Jesse Singal)
Very Bad Wizards
Journalist, podcaster, and rapper Jesse Singal joins us to talk about his new book The Quick Fix, positive psychology (scam?), cancel culture in the media and academia (overblown?), Substack incentives
Apr 6, 2021
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2h 1m
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0

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Episode 253: Tarkovsky's Starchild
Very Bad Wizards
It’s the episode that Tamler has been waiting for – a long deep dive into Andrei Tarkovsky’s mysterious masterpiece "Stalker." A writer and professor are led by their guide (Stalker) into a cordo
Jan 31, 2023
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2h 8m
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5.0

(1)
Episode 46: The Real Josh Knobe
Very Bad Wizards
May I have your attention please? Will the real Josh Knobe please stand up? Will the real... [you know what, screw this--we're just dating ourselves.] X-phi phenom Josh Knobe rejoins the podcast to tal
May 5, 2014
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1h 4m
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0

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Episode 150: Paul Bloom Insisted That We Talk About Sex Robots
Very Bad Wizards
What better way to celebrate our 150th episode than to bring back our favorite guest – Paul Bloom! We riff on a series of topics: the new “grievance studies” hoax, sex robot brothels, perverse de
Oct 23, 2018
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1h 26m
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0

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Episode 80: The Coddling of the Wizard Mind (with Vlad Chituc and Christina Hoff Sommers)
Very Bad Wizards
It's our last episode on campus protests and political correctness for a while, we promise! But it's a fun one. David and Tamler welcome two guests on the opposite side of the debate spectrum. Recent Y
Dec 21, 2015
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1h 40m
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0

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Episode 208: Dream Theater
Very Bad Wizards
Weâ€™ve always had nothing but praise for neuroscientists and their work, and today is no exception. We talk about a fantastically rich and ambitious essay by Erik Hoel that offers a theory of dre
Mar 9, 2021
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1h 42m
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0

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Episode 79: Good Lives, Good Friends, and Gay Mormons (with Valerie Tiberius)
Very Bad Wizards
Special guest Valerie Tiberius joins us to talk about values, well-being, and friendship. What role should reflection play in the good life? What about emotion? How can we make our values more consiste
Dec 4, 2015
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1h 47m
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0

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Episode 153: Progress in Psychology: A Reply to BootyBootyFartFart
Very Bad Wizards
David dies for science’s sins and addresses the failed replication of one of his studies (conducted with three former VBW guests) by the Many Labs Project . But first, the guys try to gauge their int
Dec 4, 2018
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1h 46m
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0

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Episode 170: Social Psychology Gets an Asch-Kicking
Very Bad Wizards
Is social psychology just a kid dressing up in grown-up science clothes? Are the methods in social psychology--hypothesis-driven experiments and model-building--appropriate for the state of the field?
Aug 13, 2019
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1h 49m
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0

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Episode 137: Are Buddhists Afraid to Die? (with Shaun Nichols)
Very Bad Wizards
Why are we always attracted to people who mock us, resist our advances, and play hard to get? Maybe because it’s extra satisfying when you finally get them to… appear on your podcast. In our first
Apr 10, 2018
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1h 19m
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Episode 249: Phlegm and Carelessness (Hume's "The Sceptic")
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler gild and stain David Humeâ€™s essay â€œThe Scepticâ€ with their sentiments. If nothing is inherently valuable or despicable, desirable or hateful, then what do philosophers
Nov 22, 2022
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1h 25m
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5.0

(1)
Episode 18: "Boy If Life Were Only Like This" (With Joe Henrich)
Very Bad Wizards
Joe Henrich joins the podcast to tell us that we know nothing about his work and that how we got to teach a class in anything is absolutely amazing. We continue our discussion from Episode 17 about his
Mar 22, 2013
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0h 49m
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0

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Episode 244: Thanks for the Memories? (Borges' "Funes the Memorious)
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler return to Borges land to get lost in the infinite, this time with his legendary and tragic character Funes the memorious. What would it be like to have perfect memory, to have full acc
Sep 6, 2022
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1h 51m
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5.0

(1)
Episode 113: Pascal, Probability, and Pitchforks
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler break down what may be the best argument that it's rational to believe in God: Pascal's Wager. (No, we're not just trolling our Sam Harris listeners.) Does the expected value of believ
Apr 18, 2017
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1h 18m
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0

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Episode 62: Brain Jizz and "Black Mirror"
Very Bad Wizards
Dave and Tamler discuss a new study that, according to Tamler, offers decisive support for restorative approaches to criminal punishment (the only problem is he didn't read past the introduction). And
Feb 9, 2015
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1h 1m
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0

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Episode 196: The Loneliest Paper in Philosophy
Very Bad Wizards
She’s beautiful, smart, funny, and head over heels in love with you. There’s only one problem – she’s from a possible world, not the actual one. What we thought would be a funny opening segment
Sep 8, 2020
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1h 49m
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0

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Episode 131: I Have No Genitals and I Must Scream
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler break down two episodes (with full spoilers) from the new season of Charlie Brooker's bleaker-than-bleak Netflix series Black Mirror. First up, "The USS Callister," a Star Trek parody
Jan 9, 2018
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1h 39m
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0

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Episode 24: The Perils of Empathy (with Paul Bloom)
Very Bad Wizards
Paul Bloom joins us in the second segment for a lively discussion about the value of empathy as a guide our moral decisions. And in our first scoop, we talk about Paul's new book (coming in November) J
Jun 10, 2013
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1h 23m
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5.0

(1)
Episode 88: A Doobie for Elijah
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler celebrate Passover with a high-spirited episode on guns, revenge, liberals, being offended, the fear of death, and whether kids have a right to be loved. Thanks to all you listeners fo
Apr 26, 2016
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1h 20m
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0

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Episode 26: Evolution and Sexual Perversion (with Jesse Bering)
Very Bad Wizards
Psychologist and author Jesse Bering joins us to talk about evolutionary psychology and his forthcoming book Perv. In the relatively uncontroversial part of the episode, we ask if homophobia is an adap
Jul 8, 2013
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1h 21m
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0

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Episode 246: Existential Poker-Face (David Foster Wallace's "E Unibus Pluram")
Very Bad Wizards
We dive into David Foster Wallace’s sprawling 1993 essay “E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction.” How do TV and new forms of media keep their hold on us when we know at some level that the
Oct 4, 2022
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1h 46m
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5.0

(1)
Episode 142: Suicide (with Matthew Nock)
Very Bad Wizards
In what has to be the most somber VBW to date, David and Tamler welcome Harvard psychologist Matthew Nock to the podcast to talk about suicide and other forms of self-harm. Matt tells us what we know �
Jun 26, 2018
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1h 30m
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0

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Episode 220: On Your Marx
Very Bad Wizards
In honor of Labor Day, David and Tamler dive into two works by Karl Marx - "The Communist Manifesto" and "Estranged Labor." What is Marx's theory of historical change? Why does capitalism produce an al
Sep 7, 2021
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1h 50m
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0

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Episode 61: Putting a Little Meaning in Your Life
Very Bad Wizards
Dave and Tamler take a break from blame and responsibility to tackle a much easier subject: meaning in life. We discuss Susan Wolf's new book "Meaning in Life and Why it Matters," and play some excerpt
Jan 19, 2015
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1h 15m
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0

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Episode 235: Animated Objects
Very Bad Wizards
Panpsychism didn't give us river spirits or mischievous sootballs, so this time we go straight to the source - a defense of animism, and in a top 10 analytic philosophy journal. Could a failed argument
Apr 19, 2022
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1h 51m
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0

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Episode 60: Drunk on Intuitions
Very Bad Wizards
Dave and Tamler argue some more about the role of emotion and intuition in blame judgments, and then offer some moral psychology-related recommendations for your New Year’s viewing and reading pleasu
Jan 2, 2015
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1h 12m
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Episode 68: Risky, Reckless, and Regretful
Very Bad Wizards
Dave drags Tamler into the nerd abyss by making him watch an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (“Tapestry,” from the 6th season. It's available on Netflix instant in the US, and likely worl
Jun 1, 2015
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1h 14m
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Episode 41: Moral Dilemmas at the Movies
Very Bad Wizards
Dave keeps trying to explain to Tamler that we're not a movie podcast, but somehow they're doing another podcast about movies. This time they each list their top 5 movies featuring moral dilemmas. Also
Feb 19, 2014
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1h 37m
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5.0

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Episode 74: Lies, Damned Lies, and Ashley Madison
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler return after an end of summer hiatus to finally talk about the ethics of deception….eventually. But first they break down a recent article in the journal Science documenting an attem
Sep 16, 2015
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1h 53m
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5.0

(1)
Episode 231: Ideal Critics (Hume's "Of the Standard of Taste")
Very Bad Wizards
Many of us think that art is subjective, but at the same time it seems like some artistic judgments are better than others. Do you think Crash deserved to receive an award for Best Picture? Did you lik
Feb 22, 2022
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1h 51m
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0

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Episode 177: Pure Linguistic Chauvinism
Very Bad Wizards
Tamler learns something new about menstruation. David weighs in on the democratic debates and the impeachment hearings. Then we map the various social and political factions onto the factions in our re
Nov 26, 2019
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2h 4m
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0

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Episode 259: Losing Time ("Tár" with Paul Bloom)
Very Bad Wizards
The great Paul Bloom returns to the show to explore the many mysteries of Todd Field’s 2022 film “Tár.” Is it a ghost story? A movie about cancel culture and abuse of power? Guilt? Professional
Apr 25, 2023
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1h 56m
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4.5

(2)
Episode 172: Are You Free (to like the Chappelle special)?
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler start out with a discussion of the new Chappelle special and the negative reaction from many critics. Is Chappelle trolling his audience? Has he lost touch with the powerless people he
Sep 17, 2019
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1h 40m
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0

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Episode 124: Dr. Strawson or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Episodic Life
Very Bad Wizards
Do you think of your life as a story? Does your life have a narrative structure or form? Do you identify with your past selves and your future selves? If not, can you live a good life, a moral life, an
Sep 26, 2017
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1h 21m
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0

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Episode 179: Talking Shit
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler wrap up the decade with an episode on trash-talking that morphs into a debate over the value of experimental inquiry. Participants in a lab put more effort into a slider task after the
Dec 24, 2019
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2h 3m
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0

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Episode 122: Nothing but a "G" Thing (Intelligence Pt. 1)
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler do their best to talk frankly about intelligence and IQ research. (It's our Patreon listener-selected topic! We probably would never have chosen this one on our own...). Is intelligenc
Aug 29, 2017
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1h 40m
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0

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Episode 128: Fragmented Values and Sex Panics (with Christina Hoff Sommers)
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler keep their Nagel streak alive, discussing the essay "The Fragmention of Value" from his collection "Mortal Questions." How should we address our fragmented moral landscape, with multip
Nov 28, 2017
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1h 50m
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Episode 105: Wizards With (Reactive) Attitudes
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler go back to basics--discussing a paper (Victoria McGeer on responsibilty and Strawson) and arguing about restorative justice. What is the function of attitudes like resentment and anger
Dec 28, 2016
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1h 23m
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0

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Episode 70: Some Favorite Things
Very Bad Wizards
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, papers by Williams and movies from Sweden. Long graphic novels that celebrate being. These are a few of our favorite things. Dave and Tamler offer some moral
Jun 29, 2015
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1h 34m
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0

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Episode 15: The Burning Bridges Episode (Pt. 1)
Very Bad Wizards
You don't need to be a psychologist or a philosopher to enjoy a good, old-fashioned bitch-fest. In the first of a two-part episode (no single compact disc, 8-track, or LP could hold all our complaints)
Feb 16, 2013
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0h 53m
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0

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Episode 247: Open the Pod, Dave (with Sam Harris)
Very Bad Wizards
We welcome Sam Harris back to the show for a deep dive into Stanley Kubrick’s confounding 1968 masterpiece "2001: A Space Odyssey." How long is the Dawn of Man? What does the second monolith do exact
Oct 18, 2022
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2h 34m
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5.0

(1)
Episode 27: You, Your Self, and Your Brain (With Eddy Nahmias)
Very Bad Wizards
Our streak of very special guests continues! Philosopher Eddy Nahmias joins the podcast to us why people mistakenly think they're not morally responsible, and how his new study casts doubt on Sam Harri
Jul 22, 2013
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1h 22m
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0

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Episode 103: Very Bad Utopias
Very Bad Wizards
Itâ€™s the Thanksgiving episode! David and Tamler give thanks to their listeners and Patreon supporters with an episode chosen by our top Patreon subscribers (it was the most enjoyable election we
Nov 29, 2016
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1h 7m
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0

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Episode 155: Alfred Hitchcock's Money Shot
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler dive deep into Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 hallucinatory classic, Vertigo . Why does this movie seem to gain stature among critics and academics every year? Is this a really a exploration
Jan 8, 2019
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1h 38m
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0

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Episode 138: Memory, Pain, and Relationships (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
Very Bad Wizards
Award-winning screenwriter and medieval philosophy scholar Yoel Inbar joins us for a deep dive on the Charlie Kaufman/Michel GondREY masterpiece Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. When relationship
Apr 24, 2018
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1h 45m
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5.0

(1)
Episode 139: Honor, Identity, and Headbutts
Very Bad Wizards
It took two tries (the first one led to a big non-productive fight), but David and Tamler end up with a good discussion of honor and its connection to identity, pride, and personal relationships. Why h
May 12, 2018
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1h 31m
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0

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Episode 17: Learning about Bushmen by Studying Freshmen?
Very Bad Wizards
Thousands of studies in psychology rely on data from North American undergraduates. Can we really conclude anything about the "human" mind from such a limited sample-- especially since Westerners are p
Mar 16, 2013
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0h 50m
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0

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Episode 3: "We believe in nothing!" (Cultural diversity, relativism, and moral truth)
Very Bad Wizards
Tamler and Dave discuss recent work in philosophy and psychology about the differences in moral values and practices across cultures. We talk about the implications of moral diversity: does it mean tha
Sep 8, 2012
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1h 1m
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5.0

(1)
Episode 83: Ego Trip
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler continue their series of breaking down a classic essay/article in their fields. For this installment, David assigns Tamler Anthony Greenwald's fascinating 1980 review article "The Tota
Feb 9, 2016
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1h 1m
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0

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Episode 211: To Live and Die in Kurosawa's "Ikiru"
Very Bad Wizards
"Sometimes I think of my death," Akira Kurosawa said, "I think of ceasing to be...and it is from these thoughts that Ikiru came.” David and Tamler explore what it means to truly live in Kurosawa’s
Apr 20, 2021
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1h 46m
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0

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Episode 263: Free Yoel
Very Bad Wizards
A VBW exclusive report! For years David and Tamler have been a little dismissive of fears about cancel culture in academia but now the SJWs have come for one of our own! We welcome back Yoel Inbar to t
Jun 27, 2023
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1h 35m
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3.5

(2)
Episode 69: CHiPs on Our Shoulders (Lessons in Objectivity)
Very Bad Wizards
Dave and Tamler try to figure out what we talk about when we talk about objectivity. In past episodes we’ve claimed that logic and science (when it isn't fraudulent) are objective. Tamler has claimed
Jun 17, 2015
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1h 33m
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0

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Episode 107: Winking Under Oppression (with Manuel Vargas)
Very Bad Wizards
The philosopher and pride of Bakersfield, CA Manuel Vargas joins us to talk about culpability under conditions of oppression. How should we treat wrongdoers when their actions and character are shaped
Jan 24, 2017
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1h 21m
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0

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Episode 202: Not as It Ought to Be (H.P. Lovecraft's "The Colour Out of Space")
Very Bad Wizards
A phosphorescence casts a pale sickly glow on David and Tamler as talk only in verbs and pronouns about H.P. Lovecraft’s 1927 story “The Colour Out of Space.” What is this creature or substance t
Dec 8, 2020
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1h 31m
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0

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Episode 98: Mind the Gap
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler break down the biggest question in moral philosophy -- can we derive value judgments from a set of purely factual claims? Like the Scottish Philosopher David Hume they're surprised whe
Sep 13, 2016
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1h 22m
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0

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Episode 42: Reason, Responsibility, and Roombas (With Paul Bloom)
Very Bad Wizards
Can a fully determined creature deliberate? How big a role does conscious reasoning play in moral judgment and everyday life? Are we responsible for our thoughts and actions? Paul Bloom rejoins us agai
Mar 3, 2014
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1h 7m
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0

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Episode 49: Psychopaths and Contrastivizzzzzzzz (With Walter Sinnott-Armstrong)
Very Bad Wizards
Special guest Walter Sinnott-Armstrong joins the podcast to explain how his theory which desperately needs a new name ("contrastivism") can dissolve most of the fundamental problems and paradoxes in ph
Jun 23, 2014
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1h 43m
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0

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Episode 23: Straw Dogs (with Yoel Inbar)
Very Bad Wizards
Dave, Tamler, and special guest Yoel Inbar break down Sam Peckinpah's brilliant (at least according to one of us) 1971 film Straw Dogs. They talk about the notorious rape scene, the meaning of the fina
May 27, 2013
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1h 16m
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0

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Episode 16: Race, Reparations, and American (In)Justice (with Damani McDole)
Very Bad Wizards
For those who thought our most uncomfortable topics were behind us, on this episode we are joined by David's childhood friend Damani McDole [facebook.com] to discuss several potentially offensive topic
Mar 2, 2013
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1h 0m
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0

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Episode 135: Utilitarianism and Moral Identity
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler take a break from complaining about psychological studies that measure utilitarianism to complain about the moral theory itself. We talk about one of the most famous critiques of utili
Mar 13, 2018
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1h 16m
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0

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Episode 205: Making Your Nervous System Your Ally (William James on "Habit")
Very Bad Wizards
Ever wonder why you’re still listening to VBW all of these years? Or why you check your phone 50 times a day? Or why you put on your pants the same way every morning? (If you still wear pants these d
Jan 26, 2021
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1h 32m
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0

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Episode 109: Moral Pluralism: Behind the Lube
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler return to their repugnant roots to talk about Cornell's refusal to hire conservative faculty, Milo getting disinvited from CPAC, and a case in Canada involving child sex dolls and a bo
Feb 28, 2017
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1h 11m
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0

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Episode 93: Avalanches, Blame, and Cowardice (With Yoel Inbar)
Very Bad Wizards
Scandinavian film scholar Yoel Inbar joins the podcast for a deep dive on the Swedish film Force Majeure , a darkly funny meditation on what our instinctive behavior in a moment of panic can reveal abo
Jul 5, 2016
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1h 39m
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0

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Episode 77: On the Moral Nature of Nazis, Jerks, and Ethicists (with Eric Schwitzgebel)
Very Bad Wizards
Special guest Eric Schwitzgebel joins David and Tamler to discuss the moral behavior (or lack thereof) of ethicists. Does moral reflection make us better people, or does it just give us better excuses
Nov 9, 2015
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1h 20m
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0

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Episode 75: A Golden Shower of Guests
Very Bad Wizards
Dave and Tamler celebrate their 75th episode by welcoming six BFFs of the podcast and asking them to share the biggest thing they've changed their minds about in their professional careers. You'll hear
Oct 6, 2015
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2h 29m
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0

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Episode 100: It's a Celebration
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler have their 100th episode hijacked briefly before taking it back like Wesley Snipes in Passenger 57. To celebrate the milestone Tamler pops some champagne, Dave sips his high priced Ivy
Oct 13, 2016
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1h 38m
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0

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Episode 125: Can You Feel It?
Very Bad Wizards
What do we mean when we say someone is angry? Can we identify anger (or any other emotion) via facial expressions, physiological changes, or neural markers? Is anger simply a feeling, something that ha
Oct 10, 2017
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1h 32m
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0

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Episode 197: The Long Slow Death That Is Life
Very Bad Wizards
The psychologist Yoel Inbar has always tried to imbue his work with a sort of interiority, and now he joins us for a deep dive into Charlie Kaufman’s baffling and distressing new film “I’m Thinki
Sep 22, 2020
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1h 52m
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0

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Episode 104: Smelling Salts for Morality: Our Top 3 Movies About Empathy (with Paul Bloom)
Very Bad Wizards
Paul Bloom takes some time away from his "Waking Up" appearances to join us for a very special movie episode: our top three films about empathy. Can movies help us understand the experiences of people
Dec 14, 2016
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1h 33m
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0

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Episode 72: Tweenie Turing Tests, AI, and Ex Machina (with Joshua Weisberg)
Very Bad Wizards
It finally happened: David and Tamler welcome special guest Joshua Weisberg to the podcast to talk about Turing machines, Chinese Rooms, and AI. What does it mean for a machine to acquire intelligence?
Jul 28, 2015
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1h 32m
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0

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Episode 239: Lose Yourself
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler lose themselves in Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s (pr. ‘chick sent me high’) classic paper on the concept of flow. We talk about the features of flow activities – loss of ego, the m
Jun 21, 2022
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1h 23m
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0

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Episode 198: Is Mental Illness a Myth? (Thomas Szasz's "The Myth of Mental Illness")
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler explore Thomas Szasz’s provocative and still relevant 1961 book “The Myth of Mental Illness,” the topic selected by our beloved Patreon supporters. When we think of mental disord
Oct 6, 2020
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1h 32m
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0

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Episode 214: You Shouldn't Feel Bad (Except You Should)
Very Bad Wizards
Tamler welcomes social psychologist David Pizarro of Cornell University to the podcast to talk about his recent article (along with Raj Anderson, Shaun Nichols, and Rachana Kamtekar) on “false-positi
Jun 8, 2021
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1h 20m
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5.0

(1)
Episode 200: Our 200th Episode Spectactular
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler celebrate their 200th episode with bourbon and a return to their potty humor roots. First we talk about holes, zoom dicks, and the election. Then we relitigate our bitter debate (from
Nov 3, 2020
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1h 44m
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0

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Episode 227: A Terrible Master (David Foster Wallace's "This Is Water").
Very Bad Wizards
David and Tamler dive into David Foster Wallace’s celebrated and surprisingly earnest Kenyon College commencement speech “This is Water”. How can we escape the prison and prism of our (literally)
Dec 21, 2021
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1h 38m
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0

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Episode 132: Emotional Willpower (with David DeSteno)
Very Bad Wizards
What's the best way to build self-control, patience, productivity, and delayed marshmallow eating? For decades psychologists and economists have told us to develop traits like willpower and grit. But p
Jan 23, 2018
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1h 35m
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0

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Episode 151: Viddy Well, My Listeners (Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange")
Very Bad Wizards
There was me, that is Tamler, and my droog, that is David, and we sat in our living rooms on Skype trying to make up our rassoodocks what Stanley Kubrick's a Clockwork Orange was really about? Free wil
Nov 6, 2018
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2h 4m
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0

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Episode 126: The Absurd
Very Bad Wizards
Is life meaningless? Are humans just glorified dung beetles, pushing around our piles of poop with no greater purpose? What would it take for life to actually be meaningful? In this episode, Tamler and
Oct 24, 2017
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1h 32m
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0

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Everytime David Pizarro was mentioned in Very Bad Wizards

Everytime David Pizarro was mentioned in Very Bad Wizards

Episode 13: Beanballs, Blood Feuds, and Collective Moral Responsibility (With Fiery Cushman)

Episode 182: The Paper That Launched a Thousand Twitter Wars (With Yoel Inbar)

Episode 134: Digital Outrage (with Molly Crockett)

Episode 218: ...But You Can't Hide (Michael Haneke's "Caché")

Episode 224: Hurts So Good (With Paul Bloom)

Episode 213: What Is It Like To Be a Robot Fish Man? (with Ted Chiang)

Episode 204: Happy Freedom Day! (with Lauren Anderson)

Episode 59: Tumors All the Way Down (With Sam Harris)

Episode 217: Dropping Paradigms (Kuhn's "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions")

Episode 120: Clap Your Hand for Robert Wright

Episode 47: Schooled By Our Listeners

Episode 147: Effective Altruism and Moral Uncertainty (with The One True Scotsman, Will MacAskill)

Episode 183: Accept the Mystery (with Paul Bloom)

Episode 87: Lucky You (with Robert Frank)

Episode 40: How Many Moralities Are There? Pt. 2 (with Jesse Graham)

Episode 181: The Fraudulence Paradox (David Foster Wallace's "Good Old Neon")

Episode 165: Life With No Head (With Sam Harris)

Episode 66: Übermensch at Work

Episode 130: Dehumanization and Disintegration (with Paul Bloom)

Episode 63: Stalemates and Closets (with Sam Harris)

Episode 11: It is Morally Wrong to Kill Morgan Freeman (with Yoel Inbar)

Episode 149: Death, Immortality, and Porn (Intuition) Pumps

Episode 210: The Priming of the American Mind (with Jesse Singal)

Episode 253: Tarkovsky's Starchild

Episode 46: The Real Josh Knobe

Episode 150: Paul Bloom Insisted That We Talk About Sex Robots

Episode 80: The Coddling of the Wizard Mind (with Vlad Chituc and Christina Hoff Sommers)

Episode 208: Dream Theater

Episode 79: Good Lives, Good Friends, and Gay Mormons (with Valerie Tiberius)

Episode 153: Progress in Psychology: A Reply to BootyBootyFartFart

Episode 170: Social Psychology Gets an Asch-Kicking

Episode 137: Are Buddhists Afraid to Die? (with Shaun Nichols)

Episode 249: Phlegm and Carelessness (Hume's "The Sceptic")

Episode 18: "Boy If Life Were Only Like This" (With Joe Henrich)

Episode 244: Thanks for the Memories? (Borges' "Funes the Memorious)

Episode 113: Pascal, Probability, and Pitchforks

Episode 62: Brain Jizz and "Black Mirror"

Episode 196: The Loneliest Paper in Philosophy

Episode 131: I Have No Genitals and I Must Scream

Episode 24: The Perils of Empathy (with Paul Bloom)

Episode 88: A Doobie for Elijah

Episode 26: Evolution and Sexual Perversion (with Jesse Bering)

Episode 246: Existential Poker-Face (David Foster Wallace's "E Unibus Pluram")

Episode 142: Suicide (with Matthew Nock)

Episode 220: On Your Marx

Episode 61: Putting a Little Meaning in Your Life

Episode 235: Animated Objects

Episode 60: Drunk on Intuitions

Episode 68: Risky, Reckless, and Regretful

Episode 41: Moral Dilemmas at the Movies

Episode 74: Lies, Damned Lies, and Ashley Madison

Episode 231: Ideal Critics (Hume's "Of the Standard of Taste")

Episode 177: Pure Linguistic Chauvinism

Episode 259: Losing Time ("Tár" with Paul Bloom)

Episode 172: Are You Free (to like the Chappelle special)?

Episode 124: Dr. Strawson or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Episodic Life

Episode 179: Talking Shit

Episode 122: Nothing but a "G" Thing (Intelligence Pt. 1)

Episode 128: Fragmented Values and Sex Panics (with Christina Hoff Sommers)

Episode 105: Wizards With (Reactive) Attitudes

Episode 70: Some Favorite Things

Episode 15: The Burning Bridges Episode (Pt. 1)

Episode 247: Open the Pod, Dave (with Sam Harris)

Episode 27: You, Your Self, and Your Brain (With Eddy Nahmias)

Episode 103: Very Bad Utopias

Episode 155: Alfred Hitchcock's Money Shot

Episode 138: Memory, Pain, and Relationships (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

Episode 139: Honor, Identity, and Headbutts

Episode 17: Learning about Bushmen by Studying Freshmen?

Episode 3: "We believe in nothing!" (Cultural diversity, relativism, and moral truth)

Episode 83: Ego Trip

Episode 211: To Live and Die in Kurosawa's "Ikiru"

Episode 263: Free Yoel

Episode 69: CHiPs on Our Shoulders (Lessons in Objectivity)

Episode 107: Winking Under Oppression (with Manuel Vargas)

Episode 202: Not as It Ought to Be (H.P. Lovecraft's "The Colour Out of Space")

Episode 98: Mind the Gap

Episode 42: Reason, Responsibility, and Roombas (With Paul Bloom)