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. 

October 08, 2024
294
01:13:3084.32 MB

Episode 294: The Scandal of Philosophy (Hume's Problem of Induction)

CD Broad called induction “the glory of science and the scandal of philosophy.” As a matter of habit, we’re all confident that the sun will rise tomorrow morning and that we can predict where the planets and stars will be tomorrow night. But what’s the r...

September 24, 2024
293
01:25:3378.54 MB

Episode 293: Who Is the Dreamer? (Borges' "The Circular Ruins")

David and Tamler crawl up a riverbank, kiss the mud, and dream a discussion of Borges’ “The Circular Ruins.” We sort through various interpretations and allusions, the story as a metaphor for artistic creation, gnostic cosmology, solipsism, eternal recur...

September 10, 2024
292
01:15:1769.14 MB

Episode 292: Boundary Issues

David and Tamler lead off with a breakdown of the new commercial for â€œfriend (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...

August 27, 2024
291
02:12:12121.25 MB

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...

August 06, 2024
290
01:37:16111.53 MB

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...

Listener Reviews

Read what other people are saying about our podcast!

Apple Podcasts
Neat

Some of the coolest boomers you‘ll find

Apple Podcasts
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...

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Apple Podcasts
Very bad fun!

Love the intellectual banter, love the prove that intellectuals and academics can be funny, love the bad about this goodness!