Everytime Paul Bloom was mentioned in Very Bad Wizards
Everytime Paul Bloom was mentioned in Very Bad Wizards
Episode 260: The Scream That Never Found a Voice (Murakami's "Sleep")
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler take the first excursion into the work of Haruki Murakami and talk about his short story “Sleep.” A thirty-year-old woman, the wife of a dentist and mother of a young boy, has a te
May 9, 2023·1h 29m·5.0(1)Episode 105: Wizards With (Reactive) Attitudes
Very Bad WizardsDavid 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, 2016·1h 23m·0(-)
Bonus Episode: The Ambulators (A "Deadwood" Podcast)
Very Bad WizardsWe have a sneak peek for our listeners--the first episode our new Patreon bonus series on David Milch's brilliant (but short-lived) series "Deadwood." In this inaugural edition of "The Ambulators" (we
Aug 9, 2022·1h 30m·5.0(1)Episode 246: Existential Poker-Face (David Foster Wallace's "E Unibus Pluram")
Very Bad WizardsWe 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, 2022·1h 46m·5.0(1)Episode 104: Smelling Salts for Morality: Our Top 3 Movies About Empathy (with Paul Bloom)
Very Bad WizardsPaul 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, 2016·1h 33m·0(-)Episode 162: Parents Just Don't Understand (with Paul Bloom)
Very Bad WizardsAs parents we like to think we have an impact on our children - their future, their happiness, the kinds of people they turn out to be. But are we deluded? Dave and Tamler are joined by empathy's krypo
Apr 16, 2019·1h 26m·0(-)Episode 259: Losing Time ("Tár" with Paul Bloom)
Very Bad WizardsThe 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, 2023·1h 56m·4.5(2)Episode 224: Hurts So Good (With Paul Bloom)
Very Bad WizardsVBW 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, 2021·1h 42m·0(-)Episode 42: Reason, Responsibility, and Roombas (With Paul Bloom)
Very Bad WizardsCan 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, 2014·1h 7m·0(-)Episode 150: Paul Bloom Insisted That We Talk About Sex Robots
Very Bad WizardsWhat 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, 2018·1h 26m·0(-)Episode 130: Dehumanization and Disintegration (with Paul Bloom)
Very Bad WizardsIn 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, 2017·1h 32m·0(-)Episode 24: The Perils of Empathy (with Paul Bloom)
Very Bad WizardsPaul 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, 2013·1h 23m·5.0(1)Episode 183: Accept the Mystery (with Paul Bloom)
Very Bad WizardsVBW 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, 2020·1h 39m·0(-)Episode 236: Your Outie Is Skilled at Lovemaking (With Paul Bloom)
Very Bad WizardsWe welcome Paul Bloom to talk about the first season of "Severance," the new mind-bending and mind-splitting TV series on Apple TV+. What happens when you separate your home life from your work life? D
May 3, 2022·2h 10m·0(-)Episode 75: A Golden Shower of Guests
Very Bad WizardsDave 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, 2015·2h 29m·0(-)Episode 153: Progress in Psychology: A Reply to BootyBootyFartFart
Very Bad WizardsDavid 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, 2018·1h 46m·0(-)Episode 215: Touch My Pink Monkey
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler argue about the philosopher L.A. Paul’s ideas on “transformative experiences” – big life decisions that will change you and your values so much that our normal decision-making
Jun 22, 2021·1h 37m·0(-)Episode 209: Basic Instincts (with Paul Bloom)
Very Bad WizardsVBW favorite Paul Bloom joins us to talk about William James’ account of instinct and its parallels to the nativism/empiricism debates in developmental psychology today. Also discussed: Richard Dawki
Mar 23, 2021·1h 36m·0(-)Episode 55: Rooting for Evil (With Paul Bloom)
Very Bad WizardsPaul Bloom joins us to talk all things villainous -why we sometimes root for the bad guys, why we admire them even when we don't, why they are much more compelling than some of our heroes. Then more ev
Oct 21, 2014·1h 18m·0(-)Episode 196: The Loneliest Paper in Philosophy
Very Bad WizardsShe’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, 2020·1h 49m·0(-)Episode 27: You, Your Self, and Your Brain (With Eddy Nahmias)
Very Bad WizardsOur 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, 2013·1h 22m·0(-)Episode 125: Can You Feel It?
Very Bad WizardsWhat 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, 2017·1h 32m·0(-)Episode 225: Forbidden Modules
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler talk about the often rancorous debate among cognitive scientists and evolutionary psychologists over whether the mind is modular -- composed of discrete systems responsible for vision,
Nov 16, 2021·1h 42m·0(-)Episode 108: The Gimp Exception
Very Bad WizardsInspired by a recent article, David and Tamler try to figure out what's behind our aversion to moral hypocrisy. Why do we have such low opinions of people who don't practice what they preach? Shouldn't
Feb 7, 2017·1h 14m·0(-)Episode 195: Jesus on Trial (Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov")
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler dive into the most celebrated and philosophically rich scenes in Dostoevsky’s masterpiece "The Brothers Karamazov." Alyosha gets in the middle of a rock-fight, Ivan Karamazov makes a
Aug 25, 2020·1h 55m·0(-)Episode 96: Memory and Meaning in "Memento" (with Paul Bloom)
Very Bad WizardsSo where are you? You’re in some house. What am I listening to? Sounds like the radio. Is it the radio? No, you’re not allowed to use that language on the radio. What are they talking about? A movi
Aug 16, 2016·1h 26m·0(-)Episode 85: A Zoo with Only One Animal (with Paul Bloom)
Very Bad WizardsPhilosophers can be funny and funny movies can be philosophical. David and Tamler welcome frequent VBW guest and arch-enemy of empathy Paul Bloom to discuss their five favorite comic films with philoso
Mar 12, 2016·1h 9m·0(-)Episode 92: Jonathan Edwards' Basement
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler continue their intermittent “classic paper series” with an episode on Jonathan Bennett’s “The Conscience of Huckleberry Finn” (published in 1974—before the reason vs. emoti
Jun 21, 2016·1h 8m·0(-)Episode 139: Honor, Identity, and Headbutts
Very Bad WizardsIt 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, 2018·1h 31m·0(-)Episode 173: Talking to Your (Alternate) Self [Ted Chiang's "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom"]
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler dive back into the Ted Chiang well and explore the fascinating world described in "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom." What if you could interact with alternate versions of yourself
Oct 1, 2019·1h 40m·0(-)Episode 95: The Repugnance of Repugnance
Very Bad WizardsWe all remember the famous iTunes review calling David and Tamler "repugnant." (And the T-shirt/mugs are coming soon, we promise!) But what did the reviewer mean by that? Was he calling us "immoral"? D
Aug 2, 2016·1h 28m·0(-)Episode 140: Milgram's Mice
Very Bad WizardsHonor shmonor, David and Tamler return to their repugnant roots for this one. First, we pay an overdue homage to the great anonymous blogger and twitter-redeemer Neuroskeptic. We pick a few of our favo
May 22, 2018·1h 33m·0(-)Episode 131: I Have No Genitals and I Must Scream
Very Bad WizardsDavid 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, 2018·1h 39m·0(-)Episode 76: Cha-Cha-changes
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler list three things they've changed their minds about in their careers. (This episode was recorded before Episode 75, but that one was way too long already.) What does Tamler think about
Oct 26, 2015·1h 2m·0(-)Episode 157: Notes From Underground (Pt. 2)
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler continue their discussion of Dostoevsky's funny, sad, philosophical novella Notes From Underground . We focus on part 2 this time - three stories from the Underground Man's past - and
Feb 5, 2019·1h 21m·0(-)Episode 155: Alfred Hitchcock's Money Shot
Very Bad WizardsDavid 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, 2019·1h 38m·0(-)Episode 28: Moral Persuasion
Very Bad WizardsDave and Tamler try their best to do a show without guests--we talk about moral persuasion, motivated reasoning, and whether it's legitimate to use emotionally charged rhetoric in a philosophical argum
Aug 5, 2013·1h 9m·0(-)Episode 80: The Coddling of the Wizard Mind (with Vlad Chituc and Christina Hoff Sommers)
Very Bad WizardsIt'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, 2015·1h 40m·0(-)Episode 158: False Dichotomies and Oral Reciprocity
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler talk about the invasion of dual process theories in psychology. Why do we love theories that divide complex phenomena into just two categories? Is there any evidence to back up these t
Feb 19, 2019·1h 36m·0(-)Episode 31: An Anthropologist's Guide to Moral Psychology (Pt. 1)
Very Bad WizardsIn the first of a two-part episode, we discuss one of our favorite recent papers--Tage Rai and Alan Page Fiske's 2011 paper on how social relationships shape and motivate our moral emotions and judgmen
Sep 16, 2013·0h 54m·0(-)Episode 274: Can I Get a Kidney Voucher? (with Vlad Chituc)
Very Bad WizardsRETURNING guest Vlad Chituc joins us for a wide-ranging discussion about donating his kidney to a stranger, the effective altruism movement, and his sexuality. Was EA’s turn to ‘long-termist’ goa
Dec 13, 2023·1h 35m·4.8(4)Episode 19: The Burning Bridges Episode (Pt. 2)
Very Bad WizardsRe-recording a not-so-tragically lost episode (it kinda sucked), Dave and Tamler talk about the things they hate most about philosophy and psychology. But first they discuss a blog post by a Rochester
Apr 6, 2013·1h 3m·0(-)Episode 46: The Real Josh Knobe
Very Bad WizardsMay 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, 2014·1h 4m·0(-)Episode 200: Our 200th Episode Spectactular
Very Bad WizardsDavid 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, 2020·1h 44m·0(-)Episode 94: Buttery Friendships
Very Bad WizardsDave and Tamler don’t agree about much, but one thing they do share is an affinity for character-based approaches to ethics. Using Tamler’s interview with Georgetown Philosopher Nancy Sherman as th
Jul 19, 2016·1h 36m·0(-)Episode 239: Lose Yourself
Very Bad WizardsDavid 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, 2022·1h 23m·0(-)Episode 201: Very Bad Lizard People
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler dive deep into the psychology and epistemology of conspiracy theories. What makes people so prone to believe in complex malevolent plots that require meticulous organization and utter
Nov 24, 2020·1h 56m·0(-)Episode 99: Mockingbirds, Destructo-Critics, and Mr. Robot
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler tackle three topics on their last double digit episode. First, should a middle school perform "To Kill a Mockingbird" even if they have to use bad language the "n-word," and talk about
Sep 27, 2016·2h 3m·0(-)Episode 41: Moral Dilemmas at the Movies
Very Bad WizardsDave 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, 2014·1h 37m·5.0(1)Episode 52: Thought Experiments (Huh!) What Are They Good For? (Part 2)
Very Bad WizardsExperience Machines, Chinese Rooms, Original Positions, and Ice Buckets. ("I don't know what you have in mind for this evening Homer, but count me out!") Dave and Tamler continue their discussion on th
Aug 25, 2014·1h 16m·0(-)Episode 163: Should I Stay or Should I Go? (Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas")
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler are pulled into Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas." Omelas is a truly happy city, except for one child who lives in abominable misery. Is that too high a moral co
May 1, 2019·1h 34m·5.0(1)Episode 7: Psychopaths and Utilitarians Pt. 2 (Now with more poo poo)
Very Bad WizardsAfter a clip from The Third Man , Dave and Tamler continue their discussion from Episode 6 on Ted Bundy, utilitarians, and trolley problems. They also talk about Tamler’s TED talk envy, inappropriate
Nov 4, 2012·1h 7m·5.0(1)Episode 254: Nobody's Parfit
Very Bad WizardsTamler’s earlier self committed to doing an episode on Parfit, and David holds his current self to that promise, which shows how unconvinced David was by Parfit’s skepticism about personal identity
Feb 14, 2023·1h 19m·5.0(1)Episode 267: The Thickness of Reality
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler return to the work of old favorite William James and argue about the 6th lecture (inspired by the French philosopher Henri Bergson) of his 1909 book “A Pluralistic Universe.” James
Aug 22, 2023·1h 12m·5.0(2)Episode 15: The Burning Bridges Episode (Pt. 1)
Very Bad WizardsYou 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, 2013·0h 53m·0(-)Episode 210: The Priming of the American Mind (with Jesse Singal)
Very Bad WizardsJournalist, 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, 2021·2h 1m·0(-)Episode 176: Split-Brains and the (Dis)Unity of Consciousness
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler discuss famous 'split brain' experiments pioneered by Roger Sperry and Michael Gazzaniga. What happens when you cut off the main line of communication between the left and right hemisp
Nov 12, 2019·1h 48m·0(-)Episode 87: Lucky You (with Robert Frank)
Very Bad WizardsWe 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, 2016·1h 19m·0(-)Episode 265: Kekulé (Oh Yeah!)
Very Bad WizardsThe Summer of Cormac McCarthy continues – this time we dive into his one piece of non-fiction, the short essay “The Kekulé Problem.” How does our unconscious mind solve problems that conscious d
Jul 25, 2023·1h 20m·5.0(1)Episode 2: The "Dangerous Truth" about Free Will (Free Will and Morality, Pt. 2)
Very Bad WizardsTamler and David discuss whether giving up our belief in free will makes us more likely to abandon our moral standards. Links “You Can’t Handle the Truth!” Jesse Bering “ Scientists say free wi
Sep 1, 2012·1h 13m·0(-)Episode 263: Free Yoel
Very Bad WizardsA 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, 2023·1h 35m·3.5(2)Episode 269: Death Hilarious (Blood Meridian, Pt. 2)
Very Bad WizardsIn part 2 of our journey into Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian , Tamler and David talk about the kid and his form of resistance to the judge’s gleeful nihilism - does he (as the man) ultimately suc
Oct 10, 2023·1h 31m·4.7(3)Episode 266: I Want to Half-Believe
Very Bad WizardsLast December, with Argentina minutes away from a World Cup championship, friend of the show Yoel texted David “congratulations.” David was furious, and soon after (with less than 2 minutes left in
Aug 8, 2023·1h 22m·4.0(2)Episode 166: Total Recall (Ted Chiang's "The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling")
Very Bad WizardsMemory is highly selective and often inaccurate. But what if we had an easily searchable video record of all our experiences and interactions? How would that affect our relationships? What would it rev
Jun 18, 2019·1h 49m·0(-)Episode 188: Conceptual Mummies (Nietzsche's "Twilight of the Idols")
Very Bad WizardsSocrates was ugly and tired of life, so he made a tyrant of reason. Philosophers are mummies who hate the body and the senses. Reason is a tricky old woman. Morality is a misunderstanding. Kant is a sn
May 12, 2020·1h 42m·0(-)Episode 53: The Psychology People Love to Hate (Evolutionary Psychology Pt.1)
Very Bad WizardsDave and Tamler take a shot at answering the question: what is an evolutionary psychologist? Is it just a psychologist who believes in evolution? (No.) Is it a psychologist who embraces a computational
Sep 8, 2014·1h 15m·0(-)Episode 113: Pascal, Probability, and Pitchforks
Very Bad WizardsDavid 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, 2017·1h 18m·0(-)Episode 100: It's a Celebration
Very Bad WizardsDavid 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, 2016·1h 38m·0(-)Episode 230: Be Happy (Lars von Trier's "Melancholia")
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler sink deeper and deeper into Melancholia, Lars von Trier’s harrowing and stunningly beautiful depiction of depression, anxiety, and a wedding reception that just won’t end. They bri
Feb 8, 2022·1h 50m·0(-)Episode 43: The Nature of Nudges
Very Bad WizardsDave and Tamler talk about a recent study that seems to support the view that "justice is what the judge had for breakfast" (or at least how long ago the parole board had breakfast), and that makes Tam
Mar 17, 2014·0h 50m·0(-)Episode 21: Grad School
Very Bad WizardsDave and Tamler shrug off inside baseball concerns and argue whether to go to grad school, what to do when you get there, and share horror stories about the job market. Also, Tamler explains why the so
May 6, 2013·1h 33m·5.0(1)Episode 241: Very Bad Orgies (Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut")
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler mask up and wander through the audio and visual orgy of Stanley Kubrick’s final masterpiece Eyes Wide Shut . What is this movie really about? Dreams? Wealth and power? Marriage? Jeal
Jul 19, 2022·2h 35m·5.0(1)Episode 67: Funny How?
Very Bad WizardsDave and Tamler break the cardinal rule of comedy by trying to analyze it. What are the origins and functions of humor? Can a theory explain what makes us laugh? Is humor entirely subjective? Why would
May 18, 2015·1h 17m·0(-)Episode 97: Dogmatic Slumber Party
Very Bad WizardsDo you have strong views on climate change, taxes, health care, or gun control? Do you think the evidence and reason support your side of the debate? How do you know you’re right? David and Tamler di
Aug 30, 2016·1h 23m·0(-)Episode 50: Keeping it Unreal
Very Bad WizardsDude, do you ever think about how, like, we could be all be in the Matrix? Seriously, no no, dude, I'm being serious. It's like, none of this might be real, you know? Actually we don't know. We honestl
Jul 15, 2014·1h 27m·0(-)Episode 229: Skin Deep?
Very Bad WizardsWe think racism is wrong but what about “lookism” – a bias that favors attractive people over unattractive ones? If it’s wrong to judge people by the color of their skin, what about judging peo
Jan 25, 2022·1h 39m·0(-)Episode 69: CHiPs on Our Shoulders (Lessons in Objectivity)
Very Bad WizardsDave 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, 2015·1h 33m·0(-)Episode 276: Attention Please
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler are back for the new year and one of our resolutions was to do more episodes on William James. Today we talk about his account of ‘Attention’ from his 1890 volume The Principles of
Jan 16, 2024·1h 27m·4.3(4)Episode 129: Dystopias
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler assert their autonomy as individuals by discussing their favorite dystopian works of art. Rebelling against a repressive regime, they refuse to sacrifice their privacy, uniqueness, and
Dec 12, 2017·1h 45m·5.0(1)Episode 151: Viddy Well, My Listeners (Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange")
Very Bad WizardsThere 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, 2018·2h 4m·0(-)Episode 135: Utilitarianism and Moral Identity
Very Bad WizardsDavid 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, 2018·1h 16m·0(-)Episode 256: The Right to Punish?
Very Bad WizardsHere’s an episode with something for both of us – a healthy serving of Kantian rationalism for David with a dollop of Marxist criminology for Tamler. We discuss and then argue about Jeffrie Murphy�
Mar 14, 2023·1h 36m·4.5(2)Episode 243: Finding My Religion
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler continue their discussion of Leo Tolstoy’s 'Confession.' When we left him last time, the famous author had bottomed out just years after writing two of the greatest novels ever writt
Aug 16, 2022·1h 32m·5.0(1)Episode 190: We Pod. We Pod-Cast. We Podcast. (Frankfurt’s “On Bullshit”)
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler talk about police violence, the protests, and Harry Frankfurt's journal article turned bestseller ”On Bullshit." Plus we dive into a comic masterpiece of late capitalism: the Univers
Jun 9, 2020·2h 1m·0(-)Episode 40: How Many Moralities Are There? Pt. 2 (with Jesse Graham)
Very Bad WizardsJesse 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, 2014·1h 19m·0(-)Episode 36: An Irresponsible Meta-Book Review of Joshua Greene's "Moral Tribes"
Very Bad WizardsOur most irresponsible episode ever! Dave and Tamler talk about two reviews of a book they haven't read--Joshua Greene's Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them --and feel only a
Nov 25, 2013·0h 55m·0(-)Episode 136: The Good Life (with Laurie Santos)
Very Bad WizardsFrom Very Bad Wizards to Megyn Kelly Today back to Very Bad Wizards, Laurie Santos has traveled the typical trajectory of the celebrity academic. Laurie joins us to talk about her cult status after cre
Mar 27, 2018·1h 32m·0(-)Episode 10: Religion, Meaning, and Morality
Very Bad WizardsDoes life have meaning if there is no God? Why should I be a good person if there's no reward or punishment waiting for me in the afterlife? Why does religion seem to make people happier and healthier?
Dec 11, 2012·0h 58m·0(-)Episode 205: Making Your Nervous System Your Ally (William James on "Habit")
Very Bad WizardsEver 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, 2021·1h 32m·0(-)Episode 51: Zombies, Trolleys, and Galileo's Balls
Very Bad WizardsEpisode Audio Dave and Tamler talk about the value and purposes of thought experiments in philosophy and science. Does the trolley problem tell us more about moral psychology than how people make judgm
Aug 12, 2014·1h 18m·0(-)Episode 160: Everything is Meaningless: The Book of Ecclesiastes
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler dive into the book of Ecclesiastes, an absurdist classic that is somehow also a book of the Bible. Is everything meaningless, vain, and a chasing after the wind? Are humans just the sa
Mar 19, 2019·1h 33m·0(-)Episode 59: Tumors All the Way Down (With Sam Harris)
Very Bad WizardsBestselling 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, 2014·2h 32m·0(-)Episode 103: Very Bad Utopias
Very Bad WizardsIt’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, 2016·1h 7m·0(-)Episode 116: Pain, Pleasure, and Peer-Reviewed Penises
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler break down the latest small-stakes academic controversy--yes the one about conceptual penises. Does the recent "Sokal-like" hoax expose the ideological extremism of gender studies? Or
May 31, 2017·1h 16m·0(-)Episode 48: Restorative Circle Jerk
Very Bad WizardsDave and Tamler take a mulligan and try to resolve their conflict about restorative justice. Do restorative processes lead to more just outcomes than other approaches? Is it more vulnerable to instance
Jun 9, 2014·1h 8m·0(-)Episode 49: Psychopaths and Contrastivizzzzzzzz (With Walter Sinnott-Armstrong)
Very Bad WizardsSpecial 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, 2014·1h 43m·0(-)Episode 23: Straw Dogs (with Yoel Inbar)
Very Bad WizardsDave, 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, 2013·1h 16m·0(-)Episode 44: Killer Robots
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler argue about the use of autonomous robots and drones in warfare. Could it lead to less suffering during wars and afterwards? Would nations be motivated to design robots that behave ethi
Apr 5, 2014·1h 8m·0(-)Episode 83: Ego Trip
Very Bad WizardsDavid 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, 2016·1h 1m·0(-)Episode 20: Boston, Brains, and Bad Pronunciation (with Molly Crockett)
Very Bad WizardsDave and Tamler begin with a brief, heartfelt discussion about the Boston Bombings. Tamler talks about why Patriots' Day and the Boston Marathon mean so much to a kid growing up in Boston. They specula
Apr 21, 2013·1h 0m·0(-)