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!

A year on from his deconversion from Christianity, we interview Jon Fortenbury to ask how he's getting along without God.

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...

Why give flowers on Valentine's Day when you could be getting naked and splattering blood on people in public? The Bad Philosophers discuss...

Kevin hosts Stephen and new guest Ana Huertas, reflecting on their 2015 experiences, the pending apocalypse, and beards

Local poet Marc Powell joins Stephen for some high-frequency riffing on world systems, philosophy ...and each other

After WAY too long, Stephen finally gets around to posting this incredibly important announcement episode.

Fan Fiction, cultural appropriation, and deep geekery with guest expert Katherine

Special guest Dania Toth joins us to talk startups, success, and beer.

Tackling Judith Butler, gender conceptions, and the complex contemporary web of thought around these subjects with Stephen and Kevin

Kevin and Stephen reflect on episodes 157, 158, and 159, then refresh the rule framework of BF

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.

Geeking out on everything Star Wars, with special guest Robert Bapst of the Bald Solo Podcast

Kevin and Stephen riff on absurdism, Too Many Cooks, and the fuzzy lines between postmodernism and poststructuralism (if they exist at all)

Kevin and Stephen reflect on episodes 154, 155, and 156, and refresh the rule framework of BF with a change, removal, and addition.

Kevin and Stephen discuss privilege, prompted by a recent controversy over Stephen's ASL music videos.

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.

Kevin and Stephen reminisce on nostalgia, avoid personal pronouns for 10 minutes, and contemplate Linklater's "Boyhood"

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

Where do moral values come from? Kevin and Stephen tackle this question personally and theoretically.

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.

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.

WOW! 150 episodes. To celebrate, Kevin and I have some mildly crazy ideas to share with you about the future of the show.

Kevin, Brian, and Stephen burrow deep inside Shane Carruth's mind-bending film Upstream Color

Dr. Mark Webb and Sebastian Bentkowski join Stephen to discuss their varying paths into Buddhism, comparing theory / practice and all the MU! in between.

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

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.

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.

Kevin and Stephen scream their way through the spectacular new film Gravity, and miraculously return to earth to discuss it.

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.

Peter Buffett recently accused charities of philanthropic paternalism. What does this mean and why does it matter?

Gaming journalists Britton Peele and Tim Poon join us to discuss Gone Home, gaming industry philosophy, and expanding spheres.

Artisanal mayonnaise, punks and hippies, and one very persistent puppy. Kevin and Stephen have fun discussing it all.

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.

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.

Bitcoins are back! Or are they? Simon Ponder joins Kevin and Stephen to find out whether they're worth Beliebing in.

Old friend Greg Briley joins Kevin and Stephen to discuss ancient Soviet gamification and the core concepts of Marxism. Also, puppies full of candy.

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 […]

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 […]

Kevin challenges RadioLab's aversion to exploring the issue of truth itself in a rare installment of the Weekly Why.

Matt, Kevin, and Stephen don their student hats once again to talk Dan Ariely, education, and soft colonialism... on the way to Mars!

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...

Is Doctor Who a religion? Kevin and Stephen respond to Idea Channel and ruminate on Facebook, memory and identity

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.

Kevin and Stephen expected something very different out of Looper, but liked what they got... kind of. Hooray time travel stories!

Newcomer Adam Easterling joins Britton, Kevin, and Stephen on a leap of faith into the philosophy of Braid and many other video games.

New guest Bryson Rushing joins Kevin, Stephen, and John Elliott to debate the nature of science, the Higgs Boson, and avian progressive rock bands.

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 future is a funny thing. We’ve talked on the show before about the many theories that abound about how we’ll evolve as a species and a society. Especially since the introduction of Google Glasses the future (or a future) feels closer than ever. This episode Kevin and I discuss the many ways that a continuous, […]