Very Bad Wizards

Latest Episodes:

The Lotus Eaters Episode 11: Cleaning House Oct 08, 2026

Show notes

Tamler and David discuss books 20, 21, & 22 of The Odyssey. Beginning with omens and portents and ending with merciless slaughter (with a bow contest in between), we finally see Odysseus' plans for revenge reach fruition.

Episode 342: A Boy's Best Friend (Hitchcock's "Psycho") Oct 06, 2026

Show notes

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 seems nice if a bit awkward, not sure about his mother though. Plus, we share a few things that might turn us into psycho killers. Like we always say, a son is a poor substitute for a lover.

The Lotus Eaters Episode 10: Like-Minded [unlocked] Oct 01, 2026

Show notes

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 with Penelope, and finally gets recognized by his former slave Eurycleia.

The Lotus Eaters Episode 9: An Ode to Argos [unlocked] Sep 24, 2026

Show notes

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 Argos was (and will always be) a very good boy.

Episode 341: Psychology Ranked (With Paul Bloom) Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

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 far will Zimbardo fall? Is the Stroop effect a super effect? Did you see the Gorilla in these notes? Which is more plausible: that we have Paul Bloom as a guest, or we have Paul Bloom and a guest and it's a banger? Note: no dogs or baby monkeys were harmed in the making of this episode.

Final Tier List Rankings (episode spoilers!)

List of Studies Ranked (all links are to pages on wikipedia.org)

The Lotus Eaters Episode 8: Home and Homelessness [unlocked] Sep 17, 2026

Show notes

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 revenge against the suitors.

The Lotus Eaters Episode 7: Lying Odysseus [unlocked] Sep 10, 2026

Show notes

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.

Episode 340: The Sublime Folly of Hope Sep 08, 2026

Show notes

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 Bronisław Malinowski's classic 1925 paper "Magic, Science, and Religion" along with George Gmelch's "Baseball Magic," two articles that explore the role of religion and superstition as a response to the absence of control. And speaking of losing control, we do a conceptual analysis of "crashing out" in the opening segment- analytic philosophy at its finest.

Malinowski, B. (1925). Magic, science and religion. In J. Needham (Ed.), Science, religion and reality (pp. 19–84). The Macmillan Company. [link to our Amazon S3 so everyone can find it easily]

Gmelch, G. (2012). Baseball magic. In J. Spradley, D. W. McCurdy, & R. Shandy (Eds.), Conformity and conflict: Readings in cultural anthropology (14th ed., pp. 266–274). Pearson. (Original work published 1971).

The Lotus Eaters Episode 6: Psyches [unlocked] Sep 03, 2026

Show notes

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.

The Lotus Eaters Episode 5: Circe, Cyclops, and Psychedelics (Oh My!) [unlocked] Aug 27, 2026

Show notes

Tamler and David discuss the action-packed books 9 & 10 of The Odyssey, in which Odysseus makes some questionable choices, the crew encounters cannibal giants, and Circe casts her porcine spells.

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