Episode 169: A Bug's Life (Kafka's "The Metamorphosis")
Very Bad Wizards30 Heinä 2019

Episode 169: A Bug's Life (Kafka's "The Metamorphosis")

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).

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Jaksot(335)

Episode 314: The In-Betweeny Place

Episode 314: The In-Betweeny Place

David and Tamler go long on McDonagh's 2008 masterpiece "In Bruges." We talk about the terrific performances and all the weighty themes - sin, guilt, redemption, honor, language, and very inappropriat...

12 Elo 20251h 58min

Episode 313: The Spontaneous Eruption of Now

Episode 313: The Spontaneous Eruption of Now

David and Tamler try to wrap their heads around the metaphysics of past and future via the Borges essay(s) "A New Refutation of Time." What does it mean to be a time skeptic or a time realist for that...

29 Heinä 20251h 15min

Episode 312: MechaSkeptic

Episode 312: MechaSkeptic

David and Tamler return to David Hume's somewhat slippery brand of skepticism, this time focusing Chapter 12 of his Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. Plus speaking of things to be skeptical abou...

15 Heinä 20251h 16min

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

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 Shakespeare play – The Tragedy of Macbeth. Plus we select 16 topics for our first VBW topic tournament suggested a...

1 Heinä 20251h 26min

Episode 310: Bayes, Brains, and Buddhists

Episode 310: Bayes, Brains, and Buddhists

David and Tamler try to wrap their heads around the predictive processing theory of the mind and brain function and talk about a paper that applies the framework to meditation practices. But first a n...

10 Kesä 20251h 14min

Episode 309: Dissolving Into the One

Episode 309: Dissolving Into the One

David and Tamler heed the call to journey into the realm of Joseph Campbell. What are the unifying elements shared by myths and religions across time and culture? Does myth give us a portal into the h...

27 Touko 20251h 23min

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

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). While the rest of the bonus series will be for Patreon subscribers only, the first is free to all.

20 Touko 20251h 14min

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

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 story "Shakespeare's Memory" and the [essay/story/poem/literary sketch??] "Everything and Nothing." What woul...

6 Touko 20251h 14min

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