Very Bad Wizards
Very Bad Wizards is a podcast featuring a philosopher (Tamler Sommers) and a psychologist (David Pizarro), who share a love for ethics, pop culture, and cognitive science.
The Lotus Eaters Episode 6: Psyches [unlocked]
David and Tamler discuss The Odyssey's iconic books 11 & 12, in which our hero visits the ghosts of the dead, hears the call of the sirens, and survives a no-win situation.
The Lotus Eaters Episode 5: Circe, Cyclops, and Psychedelics (Oh My!) [unlocked]
Tamler and David discuss the action-packed books 9 & 10 of The Odyssey, in which Odysseus makes some questionable choices, the crew encounters cannibal giants, and Circe casts her porcine spells.
Episode 339: Is Analytic Philosophy Truthmaxxing?
Since well before the big bang, people have been bitching about Tamler's chosen field. We talk about Bernard Williams' (qualified) defense of analytic philosophy in his essay "On Hating and Despising Philosophy." We also dig into Lily Hu's review of a rec...
The Lotus Eaters Episode 4: I Am Odysseus [unlocked]
Tamler and David discuss books 7 & 8 of The Odyssey--while at Alcinous' palace in Phaeacia, Odysseus listens to poetry, plays some games, cries some more, and finally starts to regain his identity.
The Lotus Eaters Episode 3: The Halfway House to Humanity [unlocked]
Tamler and David discuss books 5 & 6 of The Odyssey, where we follow Odysseus as he finally leaves Calypso's Island and returns to the realm of the human. We also finally pick a name for the podcast. But only after recording this episode (as will be obvio...
Listener Reviews
Read what other people are saying about our podcast!
Very Bad Listener
I started listening to Very Bad Wizards in 2026, but went back to their first episode from 2012 and began listening from there. I’d never taken this approach to a new pod, but thinking I’d get a much better picture of the topics discussed if I start from the beginning. Maybe I was hoping these guys would systematically...
Read MoreNot one of those fake 5 star reviews
If only Tamler would stop eating meat. Five star reviews are fake anyway. Still repugnant after all these years.
Lovely Show
so relaxing to listen to these guys cut it up. subjects are real thinky, which i like, give my brain some oats while my body is binging carrots. ive prob listened to 100 episodes and could't tell you about a single one, but im right there with it in the moment, im nodding my head about Spinoza something or other. Give ...
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