PODCAST · leisure
Bad at Magic
by Bad at Magic
This is a podcast about games, life, and other things. Co-hosts Ben and Josh have been friends for 15 years. Our curiosity about life is at the heart of our great conversations about virtually anything. Come join us every other week as we look at the world around us and the things we enjoy with the perspective of lifetime gamers.
Episodes
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Episode 187 – Murderbot
Josh enlists ChatGPT as a board-game referee, Ben sits around wondering if Weezer is famous enough to make him wait this long, we finally finish our love-language deep dives (with a scoring system for hugs), and discuss Martha Wells’s All Systems Red (aka "Murderbot Diaries" #1).
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Episode 186 – AI-pocalypse
Josh falls headfirst into the ChatGPT rabbit hole, Ben rages against bureaucracy (again), and the guys ask whether the latest predictions that AI will kill us all within a decade is actually different than all of the other times we've been told the world is about to end (i.e. nuclear war, the...
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Episode 185 – What the Flock?
Ben and Josh mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11, argue about unfinished stories, discover the limits of corporate conflict-of-interest rules, and rage against bureaucracy (again). Also the guys finally discuss automated license plate readers (ALPRs), AI-enabled surveillance, and the uncomfortable...
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Episode 184 – Touch the Piece
Josh rails against the creeping subscription-ification of everything from printers to cars, while Ben revisits a painful Air Force move that left his family trapped between two bureaucracies. Ben also reckons with his old assumptions after reading Michelle Obama’s Becoming, before we revisit The...
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Episode 183 – Brand New Day
We start Season 8 with a bang: Ben nearly burns down his house with a new HVAC system and Josh accidentally drinks eight Mai Tais by the pool. We also talk about self-driving Teslas getting wrecked, spoil Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and disagree on the goodness of The Hobbit as it comes to Magic:...
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Episode 182 – Blink
The hosts talk AI data center water consumption, July 2026 at the movies (including Spider-Man and The Odyssey), Ben celebrates his parents' 50th wedding anniversary, Josh's Hardcore WoW character bites the dust, and the guys talk about why we do the things we do.
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Episode 181 – The AI Bubble
Ben and Josh talk dogs, swearing, World Cup Soccer, Arena Football, Doritos, Menopause, Star Trek Magic Cards, and last, but definitely not least: How AI is transforming our world today--3.5 years after their first brush with ChatGPT v1.0.
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Episode 180 – Lost (in) Vegas
We revisit the joys of the 2026 World Cup, Europe has a lot less air conditioning than the United States, Josh is bad at vacationing across 3 states, Ben talks about why Ukraine is now blanketed in thin plastic wires, and in the first Bad at English in a LONG time: Ben teaches about eggcorns.
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Episode 179 – Parenting Rope
Colin Jost is made the unofficial mascot of the podcast, Josh has to activate the warranty on his month-old earbuds, Ben goes to see the Dungeons and Dragons movie but with the soundtrack played by a full orchestra, the guys sound off on the World cup coming back to North America for the first…
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Episode 178 – The Breadwinner
Josh sets the record straight on Keanu's pay structure for John Wick, quits the INTVL app after one try, and takes his family to the movies 3 times. Ben reads a popular memoir, goes to the movies by himself, and invents 3 new infographics. The guys do a retrospective on the 1983 movie "Mr. Mom"…
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Episode 177 – Star Wars Small Claims Court
Show Notes
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Episode 177 – Star Wars Small Claims Court
Josh and Ben do a deep dive on the American cultural practice of "seat saving" at free-to enter events, discuss the new trend of graduates booing commencement speakers who mention AI, and finally they try several claims of Star Wars in the court of B@M opinion.
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Episode 176 – The Tyranny of Zero
Show Notes
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Episode 176 – The Tyranny of Zero
Josh joins the High School band booster club, Ben's Optometrist "almost served" in the military, the guys recap their trip to MagicCON Vegas 2026, they discuss the "red button or blue button" dilemma, and Ben updates his thesis that the accumulation of risk controls is an uncontrolled risk (AKA...
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Episode 175 – Snip Snip
Ben and Josh find out who is actually the most evil Disney baddie based on the crimes they committed, Josh cleans out his bookmarks bar (in 2026? Really??), Ben gets a cat (yes, really), and--CONTENT WARNING--the guys relive their vasectomies.
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Episode 174 – Project Alignment
Ben and Josh review the fictional Project Hail Mary and the real-life Artemis II mission. They give props to the WNBA management and take them from the Chipotle app developers. The hosts explore being bad at work, sports, food, and love. And finally, they give the D&D alignment chart one last...
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Episode 173 – Mastermind AI
Josh and Ben discuss the new Major League Baseball Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System, Planar Standard, some Bad at Parenting, smelling nice vs. smelling clean, and they take on an AI-generated round of Mastermind you won't want to miss!
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Episode 172 – Give me a Knob
Ben and Josh wax prolific about movies, work, and tech in this potpourri episode.
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Episode 171 – Love is Algaecide
Ben and Josh take on "the most dangerous room in the house", group orders, skiing after 45, accountants as lawyers, and another dozen topics in the second Anthropocene Reviewed-style revue. Five stars.
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Episode 170 – Falling Down
Ben and Josh debate the origins of The Bible, Josh crashes headlong into his limitations, and the guys discuss what makes a good (and bad) series and what the payoffs and pitfalls are for revisiting an intellectual property.
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Episode 169 – Squeegee the Shower
Josh and Ben are (surprise, surprise) bad at parenting, the Cosmere is coming to TV with the oversight of Brandon Sanderson, Ben explains what a "trash bag move" is, and the guys fruitlessly debate which is better: fiction or nonfiction?
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Episode 168 – Ways of the Realm
Ben and Josh talk about death, parenting, making your mark on the world, and present a new framework for analyzing business priorities they call "Ways of the Realm".
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Episode 167 – New Year’s Bingo Redux
The Bad at Magic Disney Baddie Showdown reaches the Semifinals thanks to a sudden-death tiebreak on Patreon, Ben is bad at parenting (again), Josh's World of Warcraft characters died to his surprising great dismay, and the hosts set their New Year's resolutions with the now-customary bingo cards.
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Episode 166 – Tiny Tim goes to Disney
Show Notes Happy holidays from the Bad at Magic podcast as Ben and Josh revisit last year’s resolutions bingo cards, Josh shares some research on what probably happened to Tiny Tim in the Dickens’ classic, and the guys do a deep dive following Josh’s trip to Walt Disney World. Intro & Follow-up...
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Episode 166 – Tiny Tim Goes to Disney
Happy holidays from the Bad at Magic podcast as Ben and Josh revisit last year's resolutions bingo cards, Josh shares some research on what probably happened to Tiny Tim in the Dickens' classic, and the guys do a deep dive following Josh's trip to Walt Disney World.
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Episode 165 – The Murtaugh List
Show Notes Ben and Josh weigh in on the death of the penny, AI in video game development, the evils of social media, and finally a trip to the Emergency Room over the Thanksgiving holiday for Ben prompts the hosts to share their “Murtaugh List”. Intro & Follow-up (0-32:06) US Mint FAQ on the…
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Episode 165 – The Murtaugh List
Ben and Josh weigh in on the death of the penny, AI in video game development, the evils of social media, and finally a trip to the Emergency Room over the Thanksgiving holiday for Ben prompts the hosts to share their "Murtaugh List".
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Episode 164 – House of Dynamite
Show Notes Ben and Josh discuss why Elon Musk threatened to buy Hasbro Corporation, office potlucks, fender benders, political thrillers that have come true 30 years later, some revisions that need to be made to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and finally, the new movie on Netflix...
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Episode 164 – House of Dynamite
Ben and Josh discuss why Elon Musk threatened to buy Hasbro Corporation, office potlucks, fender benders, political thrillers that have come true 30 years later, some revisions that need to be made to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and finally, the new movie on Netflix called 'A...
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Episode 163 – Bad Blood
Show Notes Ben and Josh tentatively embrace the newest Magic set (Avatar: The Last Airbender) prior to its release, Josh complains about Daylight Savings Time (again), Presidents do (or don’t) catch fainting people standing behind them, the first round of the Bad at Magic Disney Baddie Showdown...
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Episode 163 – Bad Blood
Ben and Josh tentatively embrace the newest Magic set (Avatar: The Last Airbender) prior to its release, Josh complains about Daylight Savings Time (again), Presidents do (or don't) catch fainting people standing behind them, the first round of the Bad at Magic Disney Baddie Showdown "sweet 16"...
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Episode 162 – Sleeping in a Panini Press
Show Notes In this potpourri episode, Josh wrestles with Microsoft Corporation, Ben goes camping on Tatooine, Josh has another fast food disaster, the AWS outage turns smart beds into panini presses (#aboringdystopia), join in on the 2025 Disney Baddie Showdown, and hang in there for the first…
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Episode 162 – Sleeping in a Panini Press
In this potpourri episode, Josh wrestles with Microsoft Corporation, Ben goes camping on Tatooine, Josh has another fast food disaster, the AWS outage turns smart beds into panini presses (#aboringdystopia), join in on the 2025 Disney Baddie Showdown, and hang in there for the first ever...
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Episode 161 – Tron Ares
Show Notes Ben responds to the church shooting in Michigan, Josh faces a Halloween costume crisis, Ben starts Year 2 at Hogwarts, Josh has WORDS about the book he’s been reading, and the guys share their thoughts on the brand-new movie Tron: Ares (SPOILER WARNING). Intro & Follow-up (0-27:25)...
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Episode 161 – Tron Ares
Ben responds to the church shooting in Michigan, Josh faces a Halloween costume crisis, Ben starts Year 2 at Hogwarts, Josh has WORDS about the book he's been reading, and the guys share their thoughts on the brand-new movie Tron: Ares (SPOILER WARNING).
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Episode 160 – The Siege
Show Notes Josh’s electric car almost burns down his house, Ben gets a “fat guy clap” in the office 5K, the hosts propose a Disney Baddie Showdown (coming soon!), and finally they guys do a retrospective on ‘The Siege’ (1998) starring Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis. Intro & Follow-up…
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Episode 160 – The Siege
Josh's electric car almost burns down his house, Ben gets a "fat guy clap" in the office 5K, the hosts propose a Disney Baddie Showdown (coming soon!), and finally they guys do a retrospective on 'The Siege' (1998) starring Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis.
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Episode 159 – All the CLIX
Show Notes Ben goes to Disneyland but not without managing to be bad at parenting, Josh creates an intensity metric for the 3rd of the 5 Love Languages (Quality Time) in their ongoing deep-dive series on the topic, and the hosts lament the unfortunate state of political discourse in the United...
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Episode 159 – All the CLIX
Ben goes to Disneyland but not without managing to be bad at parenting, Josh creates an intensity metric for the 3rd of the 5 Love Languages (Quality Time) in their ongoing deep-dive series on the topic, and the hosts lament the unfortunate state of political discourse in the United States.
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Episode 158 – ‘Andor’ Season 2
Show Notes Josh is bad at Korean, Ben almost dies in a Tesla, and the guys give the full Bad at Magic treatment to Andor, Season 2. Intro & Follow-up (0-10:33) Bad at Korean (10:33-22:16) Andy Samberg on KPop Demon Hunters Bad at Service (22:16-30:17) Josh’s Rule for when to fire your customer…
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Episode 158 – Andor Season 2
Josh is bad at Korean, Ben almost dies in a Tesla, and the guys give the full Bad at Magic treatment to Andor, Season 2.
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Episode 157 – Positive Illusion
Show Notes Ben and Josh court several sponsorship opportunities (NOT REALLY), are bad at A LOT of things (more than usual), Josh reads a whole bunch of trashy sci-fi (read: more Dungeon Crawler Carl), and they take on the second leg of the improvement triangle: rationalization. Intro & Follow-up...
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Episode 157 – Positive Illusion
Ben and Josh court several sponsorship opportunities (NOT REALLY), are bad at A LOT of things (more than usual), Josh reads a whole bunch of trashy sci-fi (read: more Dungeon Crawler Carl), and they take on the second leg of the improvement triangle: rationalization.
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Episode 156 – Dungeon Crawler Carl
Show Notes Ben recommends the new Fantastic Four movie (with no spoilers), Josh definitely does not recommend trying to pay down the national debt, Ben gets a new B@M theme wrapped PC, and the hosts give the full Bad at Magic treatment to Dungeon Crawler Carl (book #1) by Matt Dinniman. Intro &...
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Episode 156 – Dungeon Crawler Carl
Ben recommends the new Fantastic Four movie (with no spoilers), Josh definitely does not recommend trying to pay down the national debt, Ben gets a new B@M theme wrapped PC, and the hosts give the full Bad at Magic treatment to Dungeon Crawler Carl (book #1) by Matt Dinniman.
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Episode 155 – Hardcore Misogi
Show Notes Ben catches up on the hottest summer movies, Josh plays World of Warcraft Classic: Hardcore, the hosts search for their Misogi, and finally it’s time to take a deep dive on MOTIVATION. Intro & Follow-up (0:00-16:08) Summer 2025 Movie Trailers: Elio K-Pop Demon Hunters F1: The Movie...
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Episode 155 – Hardcore Misogi
Ben catches up on the hottest summer movies, Josh plays World of Warcraft Classic: Hardcore, the hosts search for their Misogi, and finally it's time to take a deep dive on MOTIVATION.
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Episode 154 – K-Pop Demon Hunters
Show Notes Josh recounts his 4th of July celebration in small-town Kansas, Ben ponders what the boundaries are of the profession “Fire and Rescue”, and the hosts strongly recommend the new Sony Pictures Animation hit movie on Netflix: K-Pop Demon Hunters. Intro & Follow-up (0-1:00:42) New...
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Episode 154 – K-Pop Demon Hunters
Josh recounts his 4th of July celebration in small-town Kansas, Ben ponders what the boundaries are of the profession "Fire and Rescue", and the hosts strongly recommend the new Sony Pictures Animation hit movie on Netflix: K-Pop Demon Hunters.
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Episode 153 – Y’shtola and Chandra
Show Notes The hosts finally get together in Las Vegas to celebrate the 6th anniversary of the podcast. They share their summer adventures (including the #nokings protest), reminisce about the genesis of the podcast, debate the best ice cream, and even talk about Magic. Intro & Follow-up…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
This is a podcast about games, life, and other things. Co-hosts Ben and Josh have been friends for 15 years. Our curiosity about life is at the heart of our great conversations about virtually anything. Come join us every other week as we look at the world around us and the things we enjoy with the perspective of lifetime gamers.
HOSTED BY
Bad at Magic
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Bad at Magic have?
Bad at Magic currently has 174 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Bad at Magic about?
This is a podcast about games, life, and other things. Co-hosts Ben and Josh have been friends for 15 years. Our curiosity about life is at the heart of our great conversations about virtually anything. Come join us every other week as we look at the world around us and the things we enjoy with the...
How often does Bad at Magic release new episodes?
Bad at Magic publishes regularly with 174 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Bad at Magic?
You can listen to Bad at Magic on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Bad at Magic?
Bad at Magic is created and hosted by Bad at Magic.
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