logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2020
1h 56m

Episode 180: Chekhov's Schrödinger's Dag...

Tamler Sommers & David Pizarro
About this episode
tail spinning
Up next
Yesterday
Episode 336: The Wright Stuff
The great Robert Wright returns to the podcast to talk about his new book The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning. We debate the magnitude of AI's potential impact, the natural selection analogy Bob presses in the book, and a whole lot more. Plus, a ... Show More
1h 30m
Jun 16
Episode 334: Let's Get Metaphysical
What are the legitimate ways to inquire about the nature of the universe? We have science, metaphysics, phenomenological inquiry, but what about mystical and meditative practices? David and Tamler talk about a paper that argues for allowing mystical insight into our broader searc ... Show More
1h 20m
May 26
Episode 333: P-hacking the Mind
David and Tamler do another tier ranking--this time on philosophical thought experiments, so as not to further alienate our chemistry-adjacent listeners. We hit most of the big ones: Pascal's wager, Pascal's mugging, Mary the color scientist, the Ring of Gyges, Jarvis Thomson's v ... Show More
54m 27s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2023
EPISODE 103: The Lone Samurai, Miyamoto Musashi (Part 2)
Ever since I started History on Fire, one topic has been the most consistently requested by listeners. Over the years, I received hundreds of messages asking me to cover the life of Miyamoto Musashi. That time has come. Here we go. Musashi has been the subject of one of the great ... Show More
2h 12m
Oct 2023
EPISODE 102: The Lone Samurai, Miyamoto Musashi (Part 1)
Ever since I started History on Fire, one topic has been the most consistently requested by listeners. Over the years, I received hundreds of messages asking me to cover the life of Miyamoto Musashi. That time has come. Here we go. Musashi has been the subject of one of the great ... Show More
1h 45m
Jun 2020
197 - Serial Killer: Joachim Kroll
<p>Wow. THIS guy! Joachim Kroll is one of the most disturbing serial killers we've covered so far. And if you've listened to the Albert Fish and Toybox Killer episodes, you know that is saying A LOT. From 1955 to 1976, this German rapist, murderer, and cannibal is thought to have ... Show More
2h 1m
Jan 2022
Simon Reeve, broadcaster and writer
Simon Reeve is a broadcaster and writer best known for his TV documentaries which combine travel and adventure with investigations into the challenges faced by the places he visits.His journeys have taken him across jungles, deserts, mountains and oceans, and to some of the most ... Show More
35m 45s
Apr 2022
Very Bad Gurus with David Pizarro & Tamler Sommers
In the most ambitious crossover since the Fraggles met the Muppets, this week we have a special joint episode with moral psychologist David Pizzaro and famed philosopher and ghost detective, Tamler Sommers. Also known as the hosts of a small academic podcast Very Bad Wizards.Stea ... Show More
2h 15m
Nov 2023
105: The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
"Perhaps the deepest reason why we are afraid of death is because we do not know who we are. We believe in a personal, unique, and separate identity — but if we dare to examine it, we find that this identity depends entirely on an endless collection of things to prop it up: our n ... Show More
1h 31m
Feb 2024
108: To Strive or Not to Strive: Straw Dogs
"If you believe that humans are animals, there can be no such thing as the history of humanity, only the lives of particular humans. If we speak of the history of the species at all, it is only to signify the unknowable sum of these lives. As with other animals, some lives are ha ... Show More
1h 6m
Feb 2021
Spiritual Developments
One Sunday afternoon, a man named William Mumler decided to take a self portrait. He said he was alone in the photography studio, but as the photograph developed he saw something very strange—the image of someone else, sitting beside him. Mumler’s “spirit photograph” was champion ... Show More
40m 21s
Dec 2021
The good life is painful
Sean Illing talks with psychologist Paul Bloom about his new book The Sweet Spot, and whether it's necessary to experience suffering in order to live a fulfilling, meaningful life. They discuss the rich philosophical history of the question: what does it mean to be happy? They al ... Show More
53m 20s