Very Bad Wizards podcast

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, and who have a marked inability to distinguish sacred from profane. Each podcast includes discussions of moral philosophy, recent work on moral psychology and neuroscience, and the overlap between the two.

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, and who have a marked inability to distinguish sacred from profane. Each podcast includes discussions of moral philosophy, recent work on moral psychology and neuroscience, and the overlap between the two.

 

#100

Episode 317: For Shame

What is the psychology of shame? Is the experience of shame a human universal? How can we ... more

30 Sep 2025

1 HR 23 MINS

1:23:30

30 Sep 2025


#99

Episode 316: A Four-Letter Man (Hemingway's "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber")

David and Tamler go big game hunting and explore their first Hemingway short story “The Sh... more

16 Sep 2025

1 HR 33 MINS

1:33:15

16 Sep 2025


#98

Episode 315: Ceaseless Striving (Schopenhauer’s Pessimism)

David and Tamler tackle the topic chosen by our beloved Patreon supporters in the first VB... more

02 Sep 2025

1 HR 30 MINS

1:30:00

02 Sep 2025


#97

Episode 314: The In-Betweeny Place

David and Tamler go long on McDonagh’s 2008 masterpiece "In Bruges." We talk about the ter... more

12 Aug 2025

1 HR 58 MINS

1:58:56

12 Aug 2025


#96

Episode 313: The Spontaneous Eruption of Now

David and Tamler try to wrap their heads around the metaphysics of past and future via the... more

29 Jul 2025

1 HR 15 MINS

1:15:30

29 Jul 2025


#95

Episode 312: MechaSkeptic

David and Tamler return to David Hume’s somewhat slippery brand of skepticism, this time f... more

15 Jul 2025

1 HR 16 MINS

1:16:24

15 Jul 2025


#94

Episode 311: The Way to Dusty Death (Shakespeare's "Macbeth")

David and Tamler screw their courage to the sticking place and talk about their first Shak... more

01 Jul 2025

1 HR 26 MINS

1:26:06

01 Jul 2025


#93

Episode 310: Bayes, Brains, and Buddhists

David and Tamler try to wrap their heads around the predictive processing theory of the mi... more

10 Jun 2025

1 HR 14 MINS

1:14:45

10 Jun 2025


#92

Episode 309: Dissolving Into the One

David and Tamler heed the call to journey into the realm of Joseph Campbell. What are the ... more

27 May 2025

1 HR 23 MINS

1:23:21

27 May 2025


#91

Bonus Episode: Va Va Boom (Robert Aldrich's "Kiss Me Deadly")

We kick off our Bonus "Noir Summer" series with Robert Aldrich's "Kiss Me Deadly" (1956). ... more

20 May 2025

1 HR 14 MINS

1:14:48

20 May 2025


#90

Episode 308: The Gray Man who Dreamed (Borges' "Shakespeare's Memory")

David and Tamler return to their happy place and talk about two pieces by JL Borges – the ... more

06 May 2025

1 HR 14 MINS

1:14:50

06 May 2025


#89

Episode 307: What's in the BOX?

David and Tamler talk about two famous puzzles that for different reasons have bedeviled t... more

22 Apr 2025

1 HR 16 MINS

1:16:37

22 Apr 2025


#88

Episode 306: What to Expect When You're Expecting (David Lynch's "Eraserhead" with Barry Lam)

David and Tamler welcome Barry Lam back to the show. In the first segment we violate one o... more

08 Apr 2025

2 HR 04 MINS

2:04:08

08 Apr 2025


#87

Episode 305: Emile Is the Name of the Goat (with Paul Bloom)

VBW favorite Paul Bloom joins us to break down the Severance season finale and season 2 in... more

25 Mar 2025

1 HR 44 MINS

1:44:26

25 Mar 2025


#86

Episode 304: The Planes Don't Land

What has four thumbs and can effortlessly glide from the a priori to the a posteriori in a... more

11 Mar 2025

1 HR 40 MINS

1:40:28

11 Mar 2025


#85

Episode 303: Measure This

Everyone knows Tamler hates numbers but he’s not the only one who worries about them. We t... more

25 Feb 2025

1 HR 26 MINS

1:26:20

25 Feb 2025


#84

Episode 302: Metaphysical Edging

What makes something weird? What makes something eerie? David and Tamler wander into Mark ... more

11 Feb 2025

1 HR 17 MINS

1:17:08

11 Feb 2025


#83

Episode 301: Believing is Seeing?

It’s Back 2 Basics: Psychology edition! Do coins look bigger to poor people? Do hills look... more

28 Jan 2025

1 HR 29 MINS

1:29:34

28 Jan 2025


#82

Episode 300: If We Only Had A Brain

David and Tamler celebrate their 300th episode with a deep dive into the movie that inspir... more

14 Jan 2025

1 HR 48 MINS

1:48:01

14 Jan 2025


#81

Episode 299: Oh the Humility!

David and Tamler wrap up the new year talking about intellectual virtues and Rachel Fraser... more

24 Dec 2024

2 HR 06 MINS

2:06:33

24 Dec 2024