Bad Philosophy

Episode 152

"Help Me, Internet”

Recorded 05-04-14

Bad Philosophers: Stephen Torrence, Kevin Saunders

Genetic diversity is a crucial component any species' survival. Could a similar principle apply to the creative potential of a a media entity? Specifically, is the Star Wars franchise at risk of inbreeding under Disney's command? This Star Wars Day, Kevin and I tackle this and other questions related to our beloved cultural phenomenon. May the Fourth be with y'all!

Bad Philosophy

Episode 151

"You’re Welcome, Google”

Recorded 04-13-14

Bad Philosophers: Stephen Torrence, Kevin Saunders

We seem to have painted ourselves into a corner as a global economy. The promises of consumer capitalism (a strong middle class, prosperity for all, accelerating progress, and such) have largely failed to materialize. True reform is elusive, despite what should have been a devastating financial crisis in 2008. Today we are more unequal than ever. The global economy is largely controlled by a plutocracy, whose asset-based power shapes political policy, information flow, and social structure with unaccountable hands. Roberto Unger is angry about this! On today's show, Kevin and I ask some simple but hard questions about our predicament, ponder the role of the individual in structural change, and dote on cats. Because cats. Have a listen (or watch)!

Bad Philosophy

Episode 150

"Into The Future”

Recorded 03-16-14

Bad Philosophers: Stephen Torrence, Kevin Saunders

Well, we made it. A hundred and fifty episodes! Wow. If you've been with us since the beginning, OH MY GOD THANK YOU. And if you haven't, well... we hope you enjoy us, stick around, and maybe say something to us from time to time. Anyways, Kevin and I have some mildly crazy ideas to share with you about the future of the show. Have a listen!

Show Notes

http://badphilosophy.com/rules/

Post-Show Song

"Back to the Future Theme" (Spotify)

Bad Philosophy

Episode 149

"Downstream Monochrome”

Recorded 01-23-14

Bad Philosophers: Stephen Torrence, Kevin Saunders, Brian Morgan

Nary a hipster conversation on the world of 21st century cinema goes by without mention of Shane Carruth's chart-inducing indie film Primer. Carruth's second film, Upstream Color, weaves a more subtly mind-bending narrative. Kevin and Brian having recently watched it prompted us to dive into the movie's multi-layered thematic storytelling and explore some related (and not-so-related) tangents. Have a listen!

Show Notes

Upstream Color (Wikipedia)

Primer (Wikipedia)

Director's Cut, by Penn Jillette (Fund Anything)

Tiny Courage (by Brian Morgan)

This Week's Post-Show Song

"Nobody Likes Me" by The Rockin' Worms (Spotify)

What is Buddhism? More precisely, what does it mean to be "Buddhist?" Perhaps surprisingly, potential answers to this vary greatly whether one approaches Buddhism from a theoretical or a practical framework. Roughly representing these approaches respectively, Dr. Mark Webb and newcomer Sebastian Bentkowski joined me to explore, compare, and contrast. Does a dog have Buddha-nature? The answer might surprise you.

Bad Philosophy

Episode 147

“Diving Into Little Black Mirrors”

Recorded 01-01-14

Bad Philosophers: Stephen Torrence, Kevin Saunders, Matt Legler

Another year has come and gone, y'all. Babies were born, folks passed away, and cats walked on two legs. The world kept spinning (at least we're pretty sure it did). As always, this episode we bring you our annual round-up of last year's predictions followed by our predictions for 2014. We're happy to welcome back Matt Legler, who plans to scuba dive in the Caribbean several times in the upcoming year. Yep. Your life sounds pretty boring now, doesn't it? Well anyways... enjoy the show, and Happy New Year!

Post-Show Song

"New Years End" by God is An Astronaut

Bad Philosophy

Episode 146

“Ternalism Part 2: Academic'd”

Recorded 11-30-13

Bad Philosophers: Stephen Torrence, Kevin Saunders, Shawn Brackett

Just in time for the conclusion of Finals Week, we bring you Part Deux of our "critically acclaimed" series on paternalism / maternalism in contemporary academia. BIG apologies for the delay on this one. I dropped the ball. Screwed the pooch. Zigged when I should've zagged. BUT the episode is here! We even got the venerable Shawn Brackett back on to reprise his role as our resident Expert on All Things Higher Education (eat your heart out, Rick Harrison). He even ran a whole marathon recently, so please send him some huge props for that. Enjoy the show...

Bad Philosophy

Episode 145

“Ternalism (Part 1)”

Recorded 11-10-13

Bad Philosophers: Stephen Torrence, Kevin Saunders, Shawn Brackett

Bad Philosophy

Episode 144

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

Recorded 10-07-13

Bad Philosophers: Stephen Torrence, Kevin Saunders

Space. It's big. REALLY big. Also empty. And cold. And silent. Except for George Clooney. George Clooney could fill all of space with his voice. That wonderful, baritone voice... wow....... um, what was I... OH! Right! Gravity. Kevin and I recently checked out this spectacle of a cinematic achievement to see what all the fuss was about. We laughed, we cried, we screamed. We enjoyed it? Well, just have a listen.

Bad Philosophy

Episode 143

"Are We Recording?"

Recorded 09-25-13

Bad Philosophers: Stephen Torrence, Kevin Saunders

This might surprise you (heavy sarcasm), but a good 50% of the time we record these episodes, we haven't a clue what to discuss until very shortly before the episode. Through the magic of editing we make it look like we had everything well planned and ready to execute beforehand. Not so this time. Kevin and I decided to free-form it, have an F-isode, go down rabbit trails -- whatever you want to call it. Good sound, good flow, and the second time we've played a tabletop game live on the show... have a listen!