Podcast Episodes

Episode 291: Shoe Shining

Episode 291

Cornell philosopher David Shoemaker joins us for a long winding journey up to the Overlook Hotel, a DEEP dive on Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. We ta…

2 years ago

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Episode 290: Blinded by the Light (Plato's Cave Pt. 2)

Episode 290

David and Tamler continue their discussion of Plato's allegory of the cave. We talk about the connections with mystical traditions including Gnostici…

2 years, 1 month ago

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Episode 289: Shadows on the Wall (Plato's Cave Pt. 1)

Episode 289

Over the years we've referred repeatedly to Plato's cave, Platonic forms, and phrases like "copies of copies" without ever really explaining what we …

2 years, 2 months ago

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Episode 288: The Despised Foot (The Denial of Death Pt. 2)

Episode 288

David and Tamler conclude their discussion of Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death. We talk about Becker's philosophy of science (does he have one?), …

2 years, 2 months ago

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Episode 287: Gods With Anuses (The Denial of Death Pt. 1)

Episode 287

David faces his greatest fear as he and Tamler dive into Ernest Becker's 1973 Pulitzer Prize winner The Denial of Death. Blending existentialist idea…

2 years, 2 months ago

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Episode 286: Laugh and the World Laughs With You

Episode 286

David and Tamler dive into the mysteries at the heart of Park Chan-wook's deeply disturbing masterpiece "Oldboy" (2003). An ordinary man, Oh Dae-su, …

2 years, 3 months ago

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Episode 285: On Culture and Agriculture

Episode 285

It's an old-school episode as David and Tamler dive into some intriguing research on the origins of cultural differences. Two neighboring communities…

2 years, 3 months ago

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Episode 284: Reel Choices

Episode 284

David and Tamler choose an episode topic that will define the identity and meaning of the Very Bad Wizards podcast going forward – our top 3 existent…

2 years, 4 months ago

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Episode 283: When Elephants Podcast

Episode 283

David and Tamler talk about Caitrin Keiper's wonderful sprawling essay on elephant life and society and the many philosophical questions surrounding …

2 years, 4 months ago

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Episode 282: Fearful Symmetry (Borges' "Death and the Compass")

Episode 282

A Rabbi is found dead in a hotel room, stabbed in the chest. The room is filled with Kabbalah texts and a single page in an typewriter that reads "Th…

2 years, 5 months ago

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