Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchThe Fraudulence Paradox (David Foster Wallace's "Good Old Neon")
Episode 181
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 peopl…
6 years, 6 months ago
Chekhov's Schrödinger's Dagger (Kurosawa's "Rashomon")
Episode 180
Eleventh Century Japan. A samurai and his wife are walking through the forest and come across a bandit. The bandit attacks the samurai and has sex wi…
6 years, 6 months ago
Talking Shit
Episode 179
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 i…
6 years, 7 months ago
Borges' Obsession-Obsession ("The Zahir")
Episode 178
David and Tamler happen across Jorge Luis Borges' "The Zahir" and now they can't stop thinking about it. What is the 'Zahir' – this object that can t…
6 years, 7 months ago
Pure Linguistic Chauvinism
Episode 177
Tamler learns something new about menstruation. David weighs in on the democratic debates and the impeachment hearings. Then we map the various socia…
6 years, 8 months ago
Split-Brains and the (Dis)Unity of Consciousness
Episode 176
David and Tamler discuss famous 'split brain' experiments pioneered by Roger Sperry and Michael Gazzaniga. What happens when you cut off the main lin…
6 years, 8 months ago
At Least We Didn't Talk About Zombies (Nagel's "What is it Like to be a Bat?")
Episode 175
We try (with varying success) to wrap our heads around Thomas Nagel's classic article "What is it Like to be a Bat?" Does science have the tools to g…
6 years, 9 months ago
More Chiang for Your Buck ("Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom" Pt. 2)
Episode 174
Is character destiny, or can fluky decisions or tiny shifts in weather patterns fundamentally change who we are? Does the existence or non-existence …
6 years, 9 months ago
Talking to Your (Alternate) Self [Ted Chiang's "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom"]
Episode 173
David 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…
6 years, 9 months ago
Are You Free (to like the Chappelle special)?
Episode 172
David and Tamler start out with a discussion of the new Chappelle special and the negative reaction from many critics. Is Chappelle trolling his audi…
6 years, 10 months ago