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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Episode 342: A Boy's Best Friend (Hitchcock's "Psycho")

David and Tamler steal some of Laurie Santos' podcast money (she'll never miss it), drive to LA, and pull over in the rain to spend the night in the Bates Motel. That lanky young man in the office see...

6 Okt 1h 53min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 10: Like-Minded [unlocked]

Tamler and Dave devote a full episode to Book 19 of The Odyssey. In what is one of the most emotionally intense chapters of the story so far, Odysseus continues his Cretan lies, has a long tête-à-tête...

1 Okt 1h 3min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 9: An Ode to Argos [unlocked]

Tamler and David discuss The Odyssey books 17 & 18, in which Telemachus and Odysseus, back at home, continue their deception and put everyone to the test. Everyone except for Argos, that is, because A...

24 Sep 49min

Episode 341: Psychology Ranked (With Paul Bloom)

David and Tamler welcome Paul Bloom back to the show for a definitive ranking of classic psychology experiments. Will the shocking results of the Milgram studies earn him a posthumous 'S' ranking? How...

22 Sep 1h 37min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 8: Home and Homelessness [unlocked]

In this episode, Tamler and David discuss The Odyssey Books 15 & 16, in which father and son (and father figure and son) are reunited, and in which the Odysseus and Telemachus start planning their rev...

17 Sep 1h 2min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 7: Lying Odysseus [unlocked]

Tamler and David discuss Books 13 & 14 of The Odyssey. Odysseus finally makes it to Ithaca and meets up with Athena, gets a disguise, and has a chat with his most loyal slave Eumaeus.

10 Sep 55min

Episode 340: The Sublime Folly of Hope

Why do baseball players have so many superstitious rituals compared to athletes in other sports? How does this relate to the magic rituals of the Trobriand Islanders of Melanesia? We dive into Bronisł...

8 Sep 1h 15min

The Lotus Eaters Episode 6: Psyches [unlocked]

David and Tamler discuss The Odyssey's iconic books 11 & 12, in which our hero visits the ghosts of the dead, hears the call of the sirens, and survives a no-win situation.

3 Sep 58min