Episodes
Episode 281: Choose Your Fighter
We dig into the biggest rivalry in Tamlerâs profession, analytic vs. continental philosophy. Are analytic philosophers truly the rigorous, precise, clear thinkers they take themselves to be? And is continental philosophy really just a bunch pretentious c...
Episode 280: Mad Masque (with Phil Ford and J.F. Martel)
Phil Ford and J.F. Martel from the great "Weird Studies" podcast join us for a whirling discussion of Edgar Allan Poeâs mesmerizing tale of decadence and disease âThe Masque of the Red Death." We also talk about weird fiction more generally, why itâs so ...
Episode 279: The Greenhouses We Burned Along the Way (Lee Chang-dong's "Burning" Pt. 2)
David and Tamler conclude their discussion of Lee Chang-dongâs "Burning" â we talk about the hunger dance at twilight, Benâs greenhouse burning habit, Shin Hae-miâs mysterious disappearance, Lee Jong-suâs clumsy and doomed quest to find out what really h...
Episode 278: Schrödinger's Everything (Lee Chang-dong's "Burning" Pt. 1)
David and Tamler fall under the spell of Lee Chang-dongâs 2018 masterpiece Burning , a movie where nothing is what it seems, or maybe it is. An alienated young man meets what seems like his dream girl from his small town, but sheâs about to leave for Afr...
Episode 277: The Merits of Buggery (Nagel's "Sexual Perversion")
David and Tamler play the old hits â Thomas Nagel and sex robots. In the main segment we talk about Nagelâs essay âSexual Perversionâ, a surprising essay on many fronts (Sartre, erotic fiction, conceptual analysis, much more). Whatâs the nature of sexual...
Episode 276: Attention Please
David 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 âAttentionâ from his 1890 volume The Principles of Psychology â another remarkably prescient chapter that ...
Episode 275: The Ineffable Center (Borges' "The Aleph")
An episode interesting from every point of view, we train our eyes on Jorge Luis Borgesâ âThe Aleph.â The first segment wins the kudos of the learned, the academician, the Hellenist, as we talk about the favorite things we saw this year. The second segme...
Episode 274: Can I Get a Kidney Voucher? (with Vlad Chituc)
RETURNING 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 EAâs turn to âlong-termistâ goals like preventing evil AI inevitable? Have they strayed to...
Episode 273: Ah. Ah. (Miyazaki's "Spirited Away")
David and Tamler board the train for Hayao Miyazakiâs mystical dreamy coming of age masterpiece Spirited Away . This is a true VBW deep dive. Plus a study by our secret crush suggests we may not be optimizing the value of our conversations. Mastroianni, ...