Episode 211: To Live and Die in Kurosawa's "Ikiru"

from Very Bad Wizards · host Tamler Sommers & David Pizarro

"Sometimes I think of my death," Akira Kurosawa said, "I think of ceasing to be...and it is from these thoughts that Ikiru came." David and Tamler explore what it means to truly live in Kurosawa's 1952 masterpiece about a bureaucrat in postwar Japan who learns that he will die from stomach cancer within six months. Plus a new study provides evidence for what every pet owner knows: dogs get jealous. And a shocking revelation about Harvard legends Kohlberg, Rawls, and Nozick. Sponsored By: BetterHelp: You deserve to be happy. BetterHelp online counseling is there for you. Connect with your professional counselor in a safe and private online environment. Our listeners get 10% off the first month by visiting Betterhelp.com/vbw. Promo Code: VBW Support Very Bad Wizards Links: Ikiru - Wikipedia Dogs Mentally Represent Jealousy-Inducing Social Interactions - Amalia P. M. Bastos, Patrick D. Neilands, Rebecca S. Hassall, Byung C. Lim, Alex H. Taylor, 2021

NOW PLAYING

0:00 1:46:03

1×

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

Share this episode

Similar Episodes

The confession tapes When Confessions Break

Apr 17, 2026 ·16m

Mr. Robot’s First Episode Works Because You Can’t Trust What You See

Apr 8, 2026 ·17m

Episode 50 - Wicked Movie Review, Musical Masterpiece or A Bum Note?

Nov 18, 2025 ·70m

Episode 49 - Back to the Future Review, From DeLoreans to Delusions

Nov 4, 2025 ·81m

Episode 48 - Mad Max, Aussie Indie To Hollywood Epic

Oct 21, 2025 ·60m

hEaD PoP #78, One Punch Man Season 3 EP1, The Rock Deserves an Oscar and Tron Deserves a Timeout!

Oct 18, 2025 ·88m

Similar Podcasts

BALDERDAWGS Several John Doe's Old high school friends decide to come back together after 30 years to create a Podcast. Bad idea? Explicit Cast-A-Role: A Movie Podcast Cast-a-role A movie podcast that has absolutely nothing to do with cooking. Three friends take some of cinema’s much loved (or unloved) films and, for better or worse, stir in a different cast (it’s usually worse). A must listen for film and comedy fans alike.Cast-A-Role is filled with delicious humour, bad language, dubious opinions, and delectable movie trivia. Explicit The Midnight Cinema Screening Unkn Welcome to The Midnight Cinema Screening.This is basically the place where we hang out after midnight and talk about movies and TV shows that stuck with us… the good, the bad, the weird, and the ones that probably shouldn’t exist but somehow do. I also talk about true crime. If you love horror, cult classics, creepy shows, and the occasional random deep dive into something strange, you’re in the right place. Nothing here is super scripted or overly serious. It’s more like sitting around with friends after a late-night movie, breaking down what worked, what didn’t, and the moments that made you pause the screen and go, “Wait… what just happened?”Some episodes we’ll be reviewing movies.Some we’ll be talking about TV episodes.And sometimes we’ll just go down a rabbit hole about the weird history behind something we watched.So if you like late-night movie talk, dark stories, and conversations that feel a little unfiltered Explicit Reformed Bad Boys Reformed Bad Boys We are Reformed Bad Boys and we are here to share our truth good or bad. We talk about the things we’ve been through and what we have learned. We want to create a community to share skills with dealing with mental health and issues faced when changing your life for the better. Explicit

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Very Bad Wizards?

This episode is 1 hour and 46 minutes long.

When was this Very Bad Wizards episode published?

This episode was published on April 20, 2021.

What is this episode about?

Can I download this Very Bad Wizards episode?

Yes, you can download this episode by clicking the download button on the episode player, or subscribe to the podcast in your preferred podcast app for automatic downloads.

URL copied to clipboard!