Very Bad Wizards26 Dec 2023

Episode 275: The Ineffable Center (Borges' "The Aleph")

An episode interesting from every point of view, we train our eyes on Jorge Luis Borges' "The Aleph." The first segment wins the kudos of the learned, the academician, the Hellenist, as we talk about the favorite things we saw this year. The second segment — baroque? decadent? the purified and fanatical cult of form? — dives into the philosophy, comedy, satire, and poignancy of this classic story. Once again, we show our awareness that truly modern podcasting demands the balm of laughter, of scherzo. The finicky will want to excommunicate our discussion without benefit of clergy but the critic of more manly tastes will embrace this episode as he does his very life.

"The Aleph" by Jorge Luis Borges [wikipedia.org]

Version we read: Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges (translated by Andrew Hurley) [amazon.com affiliate link]

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The Lotus Eaters Episode 3: The Halfway House to Humanity [unlocked]

Tamler and David discuss books 5 & 6 of The Odyssey, where we follow Odysseus as he finally leaves Calypso's Island and returns to the realm of the human. We also finally pick a name for the podcast. ...

13 Aug 41min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 2: Intangible as Wind [unlocked]

Welcome to The Lotus Eaters! This is part 2 of our 12 part series on Homer's Odyssey that will be released every Thursday. The series was supported by our Patreon community, but we are now making it a...

6 Aug 54min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 1: The Journey Begins [unlocked]

Welcome to The Lotus Eaters! This is part 1 of our 12 part series on Homer's Odyssey that will be released every Thursday. The series was supported by our Patreon community, but we are now making it a...

6 Aug 1h

Episode 338: The Lotus Eaters (Nolan's "The Odyssey")

Dropping this a week early - after completing a 12-part series on Homer's Odyssey for our beloved Patreon supporters, we now dive into Christopher Nolan's version of this epic tale. We're mixed on the...

4 Aug 1h 1min

Episode 337: First Contact? (Tarkovsky's "Solaris")

First it was a book, then it was a groundbreaking movie… that's right it's Solaris. After having discussed the Stanislaw Lem novel in the previous episode, David and Tamler try to make contact with An...

28 Juli 1h 45min

Episode 336: That Oceanic Feeling (Stanisław Lem's "Solaris")

David and Tamler tackle the first half of the VBW Madness topic tournament winner, Stanislaw Lem's science fiction masterpiece, Solaris, about a mysterious ocean planet that resists all attempts to un...

14 Juli 1h 35min

Episode 335: The Wright Stuff

The great Robert Wright returns to the podcast to talk about his new book The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning. We debate the magnitude of AI's potential impact, the n...

30 Juni 1h 30min

Episode 334: Let's Get Metaphysical

What are the legitimate ways to inquire about the nature of the universe? We have science, metaphysics, phenomenological inquiry, but what about mystical and meditative practices? David and Tamler tal...

16 Juni 1h 20min