Episode 179: Talking Shit
David and Tamler wrap up the decade with an episode on trash-talking that morphs into a debate over the value of experimental inquiry. Participants in a lab put more effort into a slider task after th...
24 Des 20192h 3min
Episode 178: Borges' Obsession-Obsession ("The Zahir")
David and Tamler happen across Jorge Luis Borges' "The Zahir" and now they can't stop thinking about it. What is the 'Zahir' – this object that can take many forms and that consumes the people who fin...
10 Des 20191h 40min
Episode 177: Pure Linguistic Chauvinism
Tamler learns something new about menstruation. David weighs in on the democratic debates and the impeachment hearings. Then we map the various social and political factions onto the factions in our r...
26 Nov 20192h 4min
Episode 176: Split-Brains and the (Dis)Unity of Consciousness
David and Tamler discuss famous 'split brain' experiments pioneered by Roger Sperry and Michael Gazzaniga. What happens when you cut off the main line of communication between the left and right hemis...
12 Nov 20191h 48min
Episode 175: At Least We Didn't Talk About Zombies (Nagel's "What is it Like to be a Bat?")
We try (with varying success) to wrap our heads around Thomas Nagel's classic article "What is it Like to be a Bat?" Does science have the tools to give us a theory of consciousness or is that project...
29 Okt 20191h 42min
Episode 174: More Chiang for Your Buck ("Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom" Pt. 2)
Is character destiny, or can fluky decisions or tiny shifts in weather patterns fundamentally change who we are? Does the existence or non-existence of alternate universes have any bearing on freedom ...
15 Okt 20191h 46min
Episode 173: Talking to Your (Alternate) Self [Ted Chiang's "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom"]
David and Tamler dive back into the Ted Chiang well and explore the fascinating world described in "Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom." What if you could interact with alternate versions of yourself...
1 Okt 20191h 40min
Episode 172: Are You Free (to like the Chappelle special)?
David and Tamler start out with a discussion of the new Chappelle special and the negative reaction from many critics. Is Chappelle trolling his audience? Has he lost touch with the powerless people h...
17 Sep 20191h 40min
