Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchEpisode 337: First Contact? (Tarkovsky's "Solaris")
Episode 337
First it was a book, then it was a groundbreaking movie… that's right it's Solaris. After having discussed the Stanislaw Lem novel in the previous ep…
17 hours ago
Episode 336: That Oceanic Feeling (Stanisław Lem's "Solaris")
Episode 336
David and Tamler tackle the first half of the VBW Madness topic tournament winner, Stanislaw Lem's science fiction masterpiece, Solaris, about a myst…
2 weeks ago
Episode 335: The Wright Stuff
Episode 365
The great Robert Wright returns to the podcast to talk about his new book The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning. We d…
4 weeks ago
Episode 334: Let's Get Metaphysical
Episode 334
What are the legitimate ways to inquire about the nature of the universe? We have science, metaphysics, phenomenological inquiry, but what about myst…
1 month, 1 week ago
Episode 333: P-hacking the Mind
Episode 333
David and Tamler do another tier ranking--this time on philosophical thought experiments, so as not to further alienate our chemistry-adjacent listen…
2 months ago
Episode 332: Talking to Myself ("The Other" by Jorge Luis Borges)
Episode 332
David and Tamler talk about Jorge Luis Borges' disorienting short story "The Other." A 70-year-old Borges sits on a bench by the Charles River and wh…
2 months, 2 weeks ago
Episode 331: Who's Your Law Daddy? (Plato's "Crito")
Episode 331
In another Back 2 Basics episode, David and Tamler talk about Plato's "Crito," a dialogue that takes place two days before Socrates' death by hemlock…
3 months ago
Episode 330: A Fact-Based Podcast (Gogol's "The Overcoat")
Episode 330
David and Tamler return to the strange world of Nikolai Gogol and discuss his absurdist masterpiece "The Overcoat," a story that both calls for and s…
3 months, 2 weeks ago
Episode 329: Why We Suffer
Episode 329
David and Tamler return to the work of Richard Shweder and colleagues, focusing this time on his foundational paper "The "Big Three" of Morality (Au…
3 months, 4 weeks ago
Episode 328: Weapons Free
Episode 328
David and Tamler cross the border into Denis Villeneuve's taut and propulsive thriller Sicario, the story of an FBI agent who gets pulled into a task…
4 months, 1 week ago