Bad Philosophy

If you don’t know Judith Butler, you should. She has done more to move forward our discussions around gender and sexuality than perhaps any other philosopher. What’s the “gist” of her work? How does she compare with popular gender pundits like Dan Savage? Has the “Pride” movement gone mainstream? And might we have even stumbled upon the Meaning of Life?! Have a listen and find out!

The Genderbread Person 2.0 by It’s Pronounced Metrosexual

From “Action Philosophers” by Fred Van Lente (via Tal Vez Inútil):

“I’ll Be There For You” by The Rembrandts

Kevin and Stephen reflect on episodes 157, 158, and 159, then refresh the rule framework of BF with a change, removal, and addition. with a change, removal, and addition. Once again, we had to make a change on behalf of the audience (Please email us if you have a rule to suggest for next time!). We also cleaned up the formatting a bit and gave each rule a sexy short name. If you would like to submit a rule change suggestion, you may do so by following the Git process or emailing us. Cheers!

Change: TOPIC | Audience (via Stephen)

You can see the official “diff” on GitHub here.

“Deus Ex Machina” by Whirligig Productions

It’s that time of year again! Each time we go around the sun, we gather together to reflect on the previous orbit and make our feeble predictions for the next. We even managed to assemble last year’s exact crew, including long time Bad Philosopher Matt Legler. If you don’t remember what we talked about last year, you might wanna re-listen to at least the second half of that show first. Enjoy!

And hey, here’s a handy playlist of ALL our New Years shows. Because you’re worth it.

New Years Show Playlist

Note: Many apologies for the audio quality! Totally Stephen’s fault for not selecting the correct microphone during recording.

“Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads

A long time ago, in a gaming tavern not that far away, three nerds gathered around coffee-infused beers to talk Star Wars, sci-fi, and (of course) philosophy. In what is perhaps our first official “cross-over” show, we welcomed Robert Bapst of the Bald Solo Podcast. He brought loads of nifty audio gear and a wookieepedic knowledge of the Star Wars universe to the table. It was more fun than bulls-eyeing womp rats in Beggar’s Canyon. Have a listen!

“Star Wars Theme” by John Williams

“Opening Title Sequence” from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

It takes a lot to make a podcast. A pinch of cold brew to make us last. A scoop of irony to add the spice. And pretty soon you’ve got too many coo— oh… OH NO. IT GOT ME. *shakes head vigorously* Okay… whew… um… Yeah, Too Many Cooks. It’s viral, though more in the sense that if we don’t discuss it, we’ll have committed some kind of unforgivable Internet Faux Pax. Apologies for the noisy audio as Kevin and I recorded this episode outdoors. There was a sock on the mic. It was absurd. Enjoy!

If you’d like to submit a transcript for this episode, we’d greatly appreciate it. Please email us or submit a pull request to our transcript repository. Thanks!

“Too Many Cooks Theme” from Too Many Cooks

Kevin and Stephen reflect on episodes 154, 155, and 156, and refresh the rule framework of BF with a change, removal, and addition. Since we screwed up in planning, Kevin changed a rule on behalf of the audience. We also began using GitHub to publicly host and edit the canonical rule set. If you would like to submit a rule change suggestion, you may do so by following the Git process or emailing us. Cheers!

Change: Audience (via Kevin)

You can see the official “diff” on GitHub here.

We all exist in a vast network of mostly unacknowledged power relationships. Those of us in the Western, English-speaking, Caucasian culture especially have disproportionately high economic, social, and political advantages — aka. “privilege.” This episode, Kevin and I discuss privilege and attempt to unpack some of ours through the lens of a recent controversy over my ASL music videos. It’s a doozy, y’all. Have a listen…

“Weird Science” by Oingo Boingo

Do we have a fundamental right to be forgotten on the Internet? Would the exercise of that right constitute censorship? How do these considerations intersect with our notions of privacy and security? This episode Kevin and I dive deep into these questions. A broad topic, complex rabbit trails, and more show notes than you can shake a Stingray at… it’s time for BF! Enjoy.

“Secrets From The Future” by MC Frontalot

Big thanks to Figure8 Coffee Purveyors for hosting us for this show!

If you ever want to send me encrypted mail, just ask for my public key. Happy to share.

Six years ago today, we launched BadPhilosophy.com

Premiering site for my new podcast brainchild, “Bad Philosophy.” No eps yet, but please comment on the design: http://www.badphilosophy.com

— Stephen Torrence (@STorrence) August 9, 2008

We didn’t know what would happen. We didn’t have guests. We didn’t have topics. We didn’t even have microphones. But over the months and years we put stuff out there, not caring too much about the reception (“Bad”, remember?). We just enjoyed ourselves to the max, spoke our minds, and brought anyone along who was brave enough to ride our mildly crazy train.

Continuing our long-standing traditions and inaugurating some news ones this episode, Kevin and I (appropriately) took on the topic of nostalgia once again. Enjoy the show!

P.S. If you haven’t done so yet, listen to some of our early shows. They’re a hoot.

“Hero” by Family of the Year

Kevin and Stephen reflect on episodes 151, 152, and 153, how (badly) we adhered to Rule Set B, and refresh the rule framework of BF with a change, removal, and addition. Enjoy this meta-episode and let us know what you think of the new rules!

Change: Kevin