Everytime Stanley Kubrick was mentioned in Very Bad Wizards
Everytime Stanley Kubrick was mentioned in Very Bad Wizards
Episode 207: Sometimes a Paper Tray is Just a Paper Tray
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler wander through the maze of Room 237, the great documentary by Rodney Ascher about five people and their views about what Stanley Kubrick’s "The Shining" is really about. When do inte
Feb 23, 2021·1h 28m·0(-)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 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 247: Open the Pod, Dave (with Sam Harris)
Very Bad WizardsWe 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, 2022·2h 34m·5.0(1)Episode 248: Checkmate, Grasshopper
Very Bad WizardsIn this podcast we examine a recent argument for the view that chess is not, in fact, a game. We discuss the Grasshopper’s claim that all games must have a prelusory goal, as well as Skepticus’ obj
Nov 1, 2022·1h 23m·5.0(1)Episode 261: Death of the Author
Very Bad WizardsWhat’s the meaning of a work of art? Does the text mean just what the author intends it to mean? Does it matter what Kubrick and Arthur C. Clark thinks about the end of 2001? Or is the artist’s int
May 30, 2023·1h 22m·5.0(1)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 121: The Beauty of Illusion - David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive"
Very Bad WizardsGuest Yoel Inbar joins David and Tamler to break down David Lynch’s dreamy masterpiece Mulholland Drive. (FULL SPOILERS – watch before you listen!) What’s real and what’s illusion? What happens
Aug 15, 2017·1h 29m·0(-)Episode 38: The Greatest Movies Ever Made about Personal Identity
Very Bad WizardsWho is the real you? What happens to your identity when your body gets cloned or reconstituted with all the same memories and character traits? Does society construct our true selves or repress them? C
Dec 31, 2013·1h 21m·5.0(1)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 5: Revenge, Pt. 2: The Revenge
Very Bad WizardsDave and Tamler continue their discussion about their favorite topic. They talk about the evolutionary origins of retributive behavior, cross-cultural differences in revenge norms, and the proportionat
Oct 8, 2012·1h 5m·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 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 208: Dream Theater
Very Bad WizardsWe’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, 2021·1h 42m·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 60: Drunk on Intuitions
Very Bad WizardsDave 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, 2015·1h 12m·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 197: The Long Slow Death That Is Life
Very Bad WizardsThe 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, 2020·1h 52m·0(-)Episode 35: Douchebags and Desert
Very Bad WizardsDave and Tamler talk about the influence of character judgments on attributions of blame. What is the function of the blame--to assign responsibility or to judge a person's character? Is it fair that w
Nov 11, 2013·1h 1m·0(-)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 194: God Has No Mother (with Chris Matheson)
Very Bad WizardsDavid and Tamler welcome special guest Chris Matheson - co-writer of the "Bill and Ted" movies and author of "The Story of God" and "The Buddha’s Story" - to talk about religion, immortality, comedy,
Aug 11, 2020·1h 53m·0(-)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(-)