David and Tamler try to control their emotions (with varying success) as they go deep into Franz Kafka's masterful novella "The Metamorphosis." What kind of a story is this? A Marxist or religious allegory? A work of weird fiction? A family drama? A dark comedy? Why does a story about a man who turns into a giant insect get under our skins so much?

Plus a study that links insomnia to our fear of death. What a cheerful summer episode! (Actually we're fairly proud of this one... As always we suggest reading the text before you listen or soon after).

This episode brought to you by Prolific.co, and by the support of our listeners.

Sponsored By:

• Prolific: Just for listeners of Very Bad Wizards-get $100 added on to your account when you start an account and top it off at $250 or more!

Support Very Bad Wizards

Links:

• Life is short, stay awake: Death anxiety and bedtime procrastination. - PubMed - NCBI
• 2nd Annual BEworks Summit for Behavioural Science in Business
• The Metamorphosis - Wikipedia
• On Translating Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" | The New Yorker
• Franz Kafka - Wikipedia