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.
Episode 292: Boundary Issues
David and Tamler lead off with a breakdown of the new commercial for “friend (not imaginary)” a new AI necklace that takes hikes with you, interrupts your favorite shows, and will be there for your first kiss. Then we talk about a new paper co-authored b...
Episode 291: Shoe Shining
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 tackle all the big questions - is the hotel truly haunted? What if anything does it symbolize? Why are the...
Episode 290: Blinded by the Light (Plato's Cave Pt. 2)
David and Tamler continue their discussion of Plato’s allegory of the cave. We talk about the connections with mystical traditions including Gnosticism, Sufism, and Buddhist paths to awakening. We also dig deeper into what Socrates calls ‘dialectic’ – wh...
Episode 289: Shadows on the Wall (Plato's Cave Pt. 1)
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 mean by these things. So as part of a new mini-series we’re going dive deeper into Plato’s famous images ...
Episode 288: The Despised Foot (The Denial of Death Pt. 2)
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?), his sweeping explanations for strongman leaders, neuroses, mental illness, sexual fetishes, and the refr...
Listener Reviews
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Very good but …
I really like this show, the interplay of psychology, philosophy, modern science, timeless classics and pop culture makes VBW an all time favorite. As a pastor and Christian missionary of 20 years I especially appreciate the way the hosts handle questions of religion and spirituality. I’ve learned a lot and been provok...
Read MoreVery bad fun!
Love the intellectual banter, love the prove that intellectuals and academics can be funny, love the bad about this goodness!
Great show
Makes me laugh. Makes me think. Two of my favorite things.