Very Bad Wizards

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. 

November 29, 2023
273
01:57:51135.09 MB

Episode 273: Ah. Ah. (Miyazaki's "Spirited Away")

David and Tamler board the train for Hayao Miyazaki’s 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, ...

November 15, 202301:24:3897.08 MB

Episode 272: Neigh Means Yay

The morality of zoophilia has received shockingly little attention in contemporary ethical discourse…until now. David and Tamler break down the paper “Zoophilia is Morally Permissible” from the latest issue of  The Journal of Controversial Ideas . We exp...

November 13, 2023
271
58:5367.6 MB

Episode 271: Concept-Con 2023

It’s the first annual “Concept-Con” – a not at all cringe episode where David and Tamler apply the methods and rigor of analytic philosophy to dissect not one, not two, but four new concepts. We start out with a Gen-Z special “mid” and then after a break...

October 10, 202301:43:26118.59 MB

Episode 270: Take Me to the River (Blood Meridian, Pt. 3)

David and Tamler conclude their three-part discussion of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. We talk about the Judge’s coin trick by the fire and the question of the supernatural in the novel. Next we dive into the imbecile’s “baptism” by the river, and th...

October 10, 202301:31:42105.15 MB

Episode 269: Death Hilarious (Blood Meridian, Pt. 2)

In part 2 of our journey into Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian , Tamler and David talk about the kid and his form of resistance to the judge’s gleeful nihilism - does he (as the man) ultimately succumb at the end of the novel? We also discuss other notab...

Listener Reviews

Read what other people are saying about our podcast!

Apple Podcasts
Amazing

Absolutely amazing!

Apple Podcasts
Best Podcast

Love the format and discussions. Enjoy how they AVOID culture war nonsense. Podcast has expanded my reading and interest a great deal.

Apple Podcasts
Probably the best Podcast on Apple

I never write reviews and submit ratings. Making a single exception for Very Bad Wizards.