Bad Philosophy

Stephen Torrence, Kevin Saunders, and Matt Legler haven't been together for years. With a global pandemic on and humanity facing immanent extinction, the Bad Philosophers made time to reunite, share COVID stories, and encourage each other. No frills. Just friendship. The post Episode 168: Pandemic Starship Reunion first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Is ALL culture appropriation? Shawn Brackett joins Kevin and Stephen to unpack this and other juicy questions... from Canada! The post Episode 167: United Statesians first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

A year on from his deconversion from Christianity, we interview Jon Fortenbury to ask how he's getting along without God. The post Weekly Why 014: Deconversion 2 first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Photographer Simon Ponder joins Kevin and Stephen to settle the Film v. Digital debate once and for ALL, and you'll never guess who wins... The post Episode 166: Transparent Vomit first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Why give flowers on Valentine's Day when you could be getting naked and splattering blood on people in public? The Bad Philosophers discuss... The post Episode 165: A Dozen Zombies first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Kevin hosts Stephen and new guest Ana Huertas, reflecting on their 2015 experiences, the pending apocalypse, and beards The post Episode 163-164: Destroy the Past! first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Local poet Marc Powell joins Stephen for some high-frequency riffing on world systems, philosophy ...and each other The post Weekly Why 016: Fuck Marshall McLuhan! first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

After WAY too long, Stephen finally gets around to posting this incredibly important announcement episode. The post Rule Set Update E first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Fan Fiction, cultural appropriation, and deep geekery with guest expert Katherine The post Episode 162: Plain Old Smut first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Special guest Dania Toth joins us to talk startups, success, and beer. The post Episode 161: Zero to WHAT? first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Tackling Judith Butler, gender conceptions, and the complex contemporary web of thought around these subjects with Stephen and Kevin The post Episode 160: Sum-Prime Philosophy first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Kevin and Stephen reflect on episodes 157, 158, and 159, then refresh the rule framework of BF The post Rule Set Update D first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Our annual New Years show! How did we do in 2014? And what do we expect for 2015? Listen to find out! Special guest Matt Legler. The post Episode 159: Same As It Ever Was first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Geeking out on everything Star Wars, with special guest Robert Bapst of the Bald Solo Podcast The post Episode 158: Bald Philosophy first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Kevin and Stephen riff on absurdism, Too Many Cooks, and the fuzzy lines between postmodernism and poststructuralism (if they exist at all) The post Episode 157: Too Many Philosophers first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Kevin and Stephen reflect on episodes 154, 155, and 156, and refresh the rule framework of BF with a change, removal, and addition. The post Rule Set Update C first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Kevin and Stephen discuss privilege, prompted by a recent controversy over Stephen's ASL music videos. The post Episode 156: Privelosophy first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Does the "Right to be Forgotten" entail censorship? What is public or private anymore? Can PHP save us? Kevin and Stephen dive into all this and more. The post Episode 155: The Right to [REDACTED] first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Kevin and Stephen reminisce on nostalgia, avoid personal pronouns for 10 minutes, and contemplate Linklater's "Boyhood" The post Episode 154: Coffee of the Breakfast Variety first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Kevin and Stephen reflect on episodes 151 - 153, examine how (poorly) we adhered to Rule Set B, and refresh the rule framework of BF. The post Rule Set Update B first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Where do moral values come from? Kevin and Stephen tackle this question personally and theoretically. The post Episode 153: Moral Prodcasting first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Is the Star Wars franchise at risk of inbreeding under Disney's command? This Star Wars Day, Kevin and I share our latest musings on the beloved cultural force. The post Episode 152: Help Me, Internet first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Is consumer capitalism played-out? Why is Roberto Unger so angry? And could cats save us all? Kevin and I ponder these questions and more. The post Episode 151: You’re Welcome, Google first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

WOW! 150 episodes. To celebrate, Kevin and I have some mildly crazy ideas to share with you about the future of the show. The post Episode 150: Into The Future first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Kevin, Brian, and Stephen burrow deep inside Shane Carruth's mind-bending film Upstream Color The post Episode 149: Downstream Monochrome first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Dr. Mark Webb and Sebastian Bentkowski join Stephen to discuss their varying paths into Buddhism, comparing theory / practice and all the MU! in between. The post Episode 148: Perfect Tommy Pickleseed first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Matt Legler joins Stephen and Kevin to look back at our prediction Wins and Fails for 2013, then look ahead at what's in store for 2014 The post Episode 147: Diving Into Little Black Mirrors first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Shawn takes a break from running marathons to join Stephen and Kevin as they wrap up an in-depth discussion of paternalism in American Higher Education. The post Episode 146: Ternalism Part 2: Academic’d first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

How did you feel about the staff at your university when they enforced policy? When they told you that something wasn't in your best interest? When they offered to help you through tough times? It's been a while since we've visited the subject of Higher Education, and we've perhaps never approached it from quite the same vector as this episode. Student Affairs veteran and resident synesthete Shawn Brackett joins me and Kevin for an insider's look at institutionalized paternalist / maternalist practices in public universities, historical precedents for them, and some questions around the ethics of their implementation. So settle in for some free pizza, free condoms, and free thought in this week's BF. The post Episode 145: Ternalism (Part 1) first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Kevin and Stephen scream their way through the spectacular new film Gravity, and miraculously return to earth to discuss it. The post Episode 144: Ahhhhhhhhhh! first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Kevin and Stephen fight a Story War and discuss Honest Trailers, PoMo theatre, the Monomyth, and much more on this week's free-flowing F-isode. The post Episode 143: Are We Recording? first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Peter Buffett recently accused charities of philanthropic paternalism. What does this mean and why does it matter? The post Episode 142: One-Two-Three-Fourlosophy first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Gaming journalists Britton Peele and Tim Poon join us to discuss Gone Home, gaming industry philosophy, and expanding spheres. The post Episode 141: Sloppy Sci-Fi first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Artisanal mayonnaise, punks and hippies, and one very persistent puppy. Kevin and Stephen have fun discussing it all. The post Episode 140: Let’s Make Mayonnaise first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Local writer Jon Fortenbury joins us to reflect on his personal journey among Christianity, atheism, and agnosticism. The post Episode 139: Deconversion first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

We could be wrong, but we think you'll love this episode on fallibilism, featuring Kevin, Stephen, and our least favorite philosopher Dr. Mark Webb. The post Episode 138: No Longer a Thing first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

What do trees, brains, and pants have in common? Kevin, Stephen, John Elliott, and Matt Epperson explore our complex world through the works of Manuel Lima. The post Episode 137: Keep Your Pants On, Monkey Brain first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Bitcoins are back! Or are they? Simon Ponder joins Kevin and Stephen to find out whether they're worth Beliebing in. The post Episode 136: Please Don’t Send Us Cocaine first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Old friend Greg Briley joins Kevin and Stephen to discuss ancient Soviet gamification and the core concepts of Marxism. Also, puppies full of candy. The post Episode 135: Think Pushers first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

First off, let’s acknowledge a tragedy. We lost Episode 133, folks. It joins the likes of Episodes 7, 21, 42, 49, 87, and 127 in the oblivion of BF content that has never seen the light of day due to unfortunate technical glitches. If you’re curious, we had our good friend Nicholas Bergfeld on to […] The post Episode 134: Hats Off first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

It’s a nice day to start again, folks. The end of January marked the beginning of the first Coursera MOOC purely focused on the venerable phield of philosophy. In this first application of the first week of material (what I meant but forgot to call “Coursera Diaries Part I”), Kevin and I test out Dave Ward’s […] The post Episode 132: Of Television first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Kevin challenges RadioLab's aversion to exploring the issue of truth itself in a rare installment of the Weekly Why. The post Weekly Why 012: Radiolab is Scared of Poststructuralism first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Matt, Kevin, and Stephen don their student hats once again to talk Dan Ariely, education, and soft colonialism... on the way to Mars! The post Episode 131: Cheating Our Way to Mars first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

WOW! Another year is upon us. The world didn't end in 2012, even though it gave us an extra day to contemplate our doom. So once again we're back for our annual retrospective / prediction-fest. Kevin joined me to welcome newcomer and fellow philosopher Oso Perez to the show. This episode may not shock you, but it might move you to reflect, resolve, and predict a bit for yourself. Leave your own New Years thoughts in the comments! Hope y'all enjoy our first episode of 2013... The post Episode 130: High Framerate Train Wreck first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Is Doctor Who a religion? Kevin and Stephen respond to Idea Channel and ruminate on Facebook, memory and identity The post Episode 129: Poddly-Woddly first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

When James Bond isn't busy fighting himself nowadays, he's busy being the blandest (or the boldest) he's ever been in the franchise. But how much "Bond" is too much for Bond? If the last 50 years have shown us anything, it's that the perfect mix of Bond-i-ness may be more complex than shaking a martini. After seeing the unfortunately-named Skyfall, Kevin and I had some thoughts to share on this beloved series. So put on your best suit and hop in an Aston Martin, it's time for some Philosophy. Bad Philosophy. The post Episode 128: Shoefoot first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Kevin and Stephen expected something very different out of Looper, but liked what they got... kind of. Hooray time travel stories! The post Episode 126: Mosquitos Suck! first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Newcomer Adam Easterling joins Britton, Kevin, and Stephen on a leap of faith into the philosophy of Braid and many other video games. The post Episode 125: The Princess’s Curfew first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

New guest Bryson Rushing joins Kevin, Stephen, and John Elliott to debate the nature of science, the Higgs Boson, and avian progressive rock bands. The post Episode 124: Finches on a Guitar first appeared on Bad Philosophy.

Stephen and Kevin tackle a fan's Formspring suggestion, the frickin' Moderny film "The Sunset Limited," starring two stereotypes having a conversation about suicide. Hooray! The post Episode 123: Gray first appeared on Bad Philosophy.