logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2025
1h 48m

Episode 300: If We Only Had A Brain

Tamler Sommers & David Pizarro
About this episode

David and Tamler celebrate their 300th episode with a deep dive into the movie that inspired the podcast's title. Why is "The Wizard of Oz" the most influential American movie of all time? How does it dig deep into our collective psyches? What makes the effects so timeless and effective? And what's the actual moral of the story? Plus we crawl up our own asses and talk about what we're proud of from last year, excited for in 2025, and the ways the podcast has changed since episode 1.

The Wizard of Oz (1939)[wikipedia.org]

Roger Ebert's review of The Wizard of Oz [rogerebert.com]

The Wizard of Oz as allegory for atheism [forgetfulfilmcritic.com]

Technicolor [wikipedia.org]

A Very Bad Wizard: Morality Behind the Curtain by Tamler Sommers [amazon.com affiliate link]

Break Music [soundcloud.com]

Up next
Jul 14
Episode 336: That Oceanic Feeling (Stanisław Lem's "Solaris")
David and Tamler tackle the first half of the VBW Madness topic tournament winner, Stanislaw Lem's science fiction masterpiece, Solaris, about a mysterious ocean planet that resists all attempts to understand and communicate with it. We talk about the epistemological obstacles th ... Show More
1h 35m
Jun 30
Episode 335: 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
Recommended Episodes
May 2011
The 300th Episode: The Real
<p>It's the three-hundredth episode of your favorite history podcast, and what better way to celebrate than to take a closer look at real story behind the blockbuster film 300? Listen in and learn more in this episode.</p><p> </p> Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="http ... Show More
20m 10s
Feb 2023
Wizard of Oz Film Analysis: Symbolism, Conspiracies, Rainbows, MKULTRA, Osiris & More! Part 2!
We’re going into Part 2 of our Wizard of Oz deep dive! The focus for this episode will be on the film itself- straight outta 1939 we’re gonna walk through the whole story and cover the conspiracies and symbolism as it unfolds! This includes a deep dive into the song Somwhere Over ... Show More
1h 27m
Oct 2024
200: The Big 200 Bash
MAIL BAG HERE Well, we made it. For our 200th episode we are taking a look back over our first 4 1/2 years by selecting our podcast favorite book and movie of each decade. Join us for a fun discussion and nice retrospective. Introduction (00:00) Rules of the Game (7:45) The Game ... Show More
1h 34m
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
Jun 2008
150: Episode #150: Cry Babies
It’s our 150th regular episode of MuggleCast! Entertainment Weekly names Potter a classic. What IS a classic in this case? Some moments make us realize how much we’ve changed. Or how mean we were. MuggleMail answers some questions we had last week. Chapter by Chapter, Chapter 34, ... Show More
1h 29m
Sep 2020
Q and A Number 3
Once upon a time in the dark ages of podcasting, two friends set out on a quest to bring the stories of historical women to your ears. In this episode, we have some speculative history, a few predictions about the future, and a peek behind the curtain in this, our tenth year! Tha ... Show More
1h 27m
Oct 2015
300. [1] EPISODE 300 (PART 1)
Here it is - Episode 300. This is quite a landmark episode for me. I've been doing the podcast for 6.5 years now, and I've uploaded about 300 hours of content for you to listen to. In this episode I talk about the significance of the number 300 in history, and then we take a trip ... Show More
1h 5m
Mar 2022
Episode 100 - A Hundred Reasons Why We Love Movies!
Mar. 8, 2022 For our 100th episode we revisit our first question pondered; What makes for a good movie?<p>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href= ... Show More
1h 15m