Bad Philosophy

Watch Kevin Read Ulysses LIVE

StephenTorrence — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 21:09:36 +0000

Tomorrow our intrepid theater grad student Kevin Saunders will undertake a feat unparalleled in his existence. He will stream himself reading ALL of James Joyce’s adaptation of The Odyssey, “Ulysses” live on the Internet. Check out the link below for more details on the event and how you can become a part of it!

Ustream – Kevin Reads Ulysses

Episode 071: What’s in the News, Robin?

StephenTorrence — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:04:38 +0000

For no particular reason we’ve decided to try something *BRAND NEW* on this week’s episode of Bad Philosophy. Kevin and I pulled a few articles and a comic out of the news, grabbed a couple of beers, and dove in to the stories for an hour. What came was something of a nice balance between F-isode and B-isode. We hope you agree! Here are the articles if you’d like to read them first:

1. Neil Patrick Harris expecting twins
2. SubNormality – “Do Something”
3. Beware of fake Facebook ‘dislike’ button
4. Man tries living on coupons for a year

Now that you’re prepared, have a listen!

This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage: “The Princess Who Saved Herself” by Jonathan Coulton, part of the Many Hands album for Haiti relief. Buy this song or hell, buy the whole album. Haiti might not be in the news cycle anymore, but they still need help rebuilding. Do your part!

Episode 070: The Internet Says No

StephenTorrence — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 12:27:32 +0000

For the past couple of decades the indomitable Kevin Smith has proudly distinguished himself as a maker of funny, poignant, and outrageously vulgar cinema. We at BF are huge fans of Smith’s work and felt that it was high time to devote an episode of our show to discussing the facets of his genius. Appropriately enough, Kevin Saunders and Kiki Canon joined me for a delightfully self-indulgent frolic through the philosophy of the Askewniverse. So grab a Mooby burger, lean against your local Quick Stop, and have a listen!

This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage: “Jungle Love” by Morris Day and The Time

Episode 069: Insert Sexual Innuendo Here

StephenTorrence — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 02:34:38 +0000

Recently the wild and brilliant imagination of Christopher Nolan brought forth a true gem of a movie, Inception. It’s been making good money and getting rave reviews all around, and for good reason. It’s a heady and philosophical and hence right up our rabbit trail. This time Kevin Saunders and Kiki Canon joined me to discuss the film, reality, dreams, and the finer points of top physics. Have a listen to this F-isode for the ages! Oh, and insert some sexual innuendo here. Seriously.

This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage: “Dream Police” by Cheap Trick

Episode 068: Unfortunate Convenience

StephenTorrence — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:53:16 +0000

After another long and completely unnecessary hiatus, we’re back for another rip-roaring episode! Last week Kevin joined me after returning from his whirlwind theatrical tour of the Czech Republic and greater Eastern Europe. This got us talking about language, culture, music and of course Homestar Runner. Have a listen!

This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage: 4 Renditions of the Czech National Anthem

Episode 067: We Love You, Torgo!

StephenTorrence — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 03:11:20 +0000

Howdy, folks! Yes, you may throw tomatoes at me now. I really thought that graduating and coming home for the summer would leave me with more time. Sadly, this has not been the case. BUT we are back now, with an episode that’s almost a month old but still delightfully entertaining. Kiki and her friend Bess joined me for a quintessentially BF drive along the fringe of Twilight. I hear Kevin is back in town, an AWESOME fan donated enough money for us to buy an HD camera, and aside from building a vacuum table this weekend, I am FREE! So expect new episodes right around the corner. Thanks for sticking with us and enjoy the episode!

Oh, and if you’re wondering who the heck Torgo is, go check the cool cat out. He works for RiffTrax. We love him.

This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage: “Cody Monkey (Frugal Glucose Mix)” by Jonathan Coulton and emerson

Episode 066: 6 Years and It’s Over

StephenTorrence — Thu, 27 May 2010 02:20:02 +0000

Tragedy struck the podcast this past week. As Kevin Saunders departed for his trip to Prague, the plane encountered unusually heavy turbulance over a remote region of the South Pacific (why the pilot was flying over the Pacific to get to Eastern Europe is perhaps an even greater mystery). Kevin’s plane and all aboard crash landed in the water, but many washed ashore in relative safety. Now Kevin has been forced to survive as supernatural events and interpersonal intrigue threaten to…

OH! Sorry, I was getting that confused with something else. You see, LOST has sorta been on our minds recently, having wrapped up it’s sixth and final season this past weekend. In case you haven’t had enough post-show commentary already, we decided to throw in our two cents. Lostie Britton Peele joins us in this episode for his first appearance on BF as we discuss religious undertones, shoddy writing, and the occasional double-back over the course of this epic prime time show’s run. So sit back and come sail away with us on this totally LOST episode of BF…

*SUPER DUPER SPOILER ALERT*

(Don’t say we didn’t warn you)

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Theme from Gilligan’s Island”

Episode 065: Whoa…

StephenTorrence — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:02:48 +0000

It should come as no surprise to y’all out there that a great percentage of the world indulges in the wily wonders of psychotropic drugs. Whether it’s that requisite pot of coffee in the morning or just… pot, lots of folks like to take a walk on the wild side of the mind every now and then. In this episode of BF Kevin Saunders, Bryan Mitchell and I explore some of the philosophical and political issues behind psychotropics in a solid B-isode. Oh, and we get TOTALLY BAKED at the end. Really. Listen all the way through. It’s hilarious.

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” by William Shatner (seriously, Kirk singing a drug song, it’s awful)

Episode 064: Foremanslaw

StephenTorrence — Thu, 20 May 2010 05:18:46 +0000

Oh my… *cough* …wow, I had no idea dust built up that quickly …on the Internet. ANYWHO. We’re back, yes indeed. And we brought along a classic F-isode just for y’all! Yeah it may be last week’s news, but apparently Iron Man 2 dropped in theaters. Oh, and apparently Stephen Hawking said something about aliens. So what did Kevin Saunders, Matt Legler, Kiki Grover, Jed Cummins, and I talk about? Why, what NOT to do when the UFO’s abduct your sorry ass, that’s what! So pull on your Cosa Nostra t-shirt, strap into your Mark IV armor, and slap some ‘slaw on your George Foreman grill… it’s BF time!

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Pomp and Circumstance (Heavy Metal Version)” by Wolf Hoffman

Episode 063: A Big Shiny Piece of Paper

StephenTorrence — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 01:41:05 +0000

Here at Texas Tech things were shaken up a bit recently with the resignation of Dr. Gary Bell, someone beloved to all of us in the Honors College. Dr. Bell basically built the Honors College over the past 17 years into a mainstay of the university. However, he came into conflict with the upper administration over the past few months on their goal to expand Texas Tech to 40,000 students by 2020 and bring it to to Tier One status. Bell felt that the administration was sacrificing quality education to make this happen. This time on BF we had Kevin Saunders and newcomer Levi Schlegel on to discuss the story and the general issue of research versus teaching in academia. It was a good one, folks. Have a listen!

This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage: “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2″ by Pink Floyd

Episode 062: iKevin2.0.net@blogspot.com

StephenTorrence — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:25:50 +0000

Every once in a while we here at BF like to have a gratuitously self-indulgent show that focuses purely on our own half-baked accomplishments and personal history. This time it was all about the K-man, mister Kevin Saunders himself. We had live Skype callers on the show once again, talked a little history, and answered questions about Kevin and the show. It was a jolly good time. Oh, and apologies for taking so long to upload this one. I was abducted by aliens.

This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage: “I Wanna Talk About Me” by Toby Keith

Episode 061: Newspaper Zombies

StephenTorrence — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 07:57:10 +0000

When was the last time you read a newspaper? Oh… you’re reading one now. Well um… I guess I’ll just let you finish then. No, it’s cool, take your time. … Done? Okay, awesome. So… wow, this is a bit awkward. Our topic this week is actually the “death” of newspapers, which probably sounds a lot less interested to you now in light of… yeah. Turns out the news of their death might be a bit exaggerated. On the show to tell us why were print journalism gurus Simon Ponder and Ashley Liles. Back on the show to give them hell was the one and only Kevin Saunders. We do hope you enjoy this romp into the subject… right after you finish the Sports section.

Hey, we actually broadcast this one live, too! Check it out:

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Hard Times” from Newsies

Episode 060: Rooftop Skinny Dipping SXSW

StephenTorrence — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:15:14 +0000

There is a place where, once a year, every geek worth his or her salt comes together in the magically weird city of Austin. For five days we mingle, bond, network, and bring our alcohol consumption up to par with our 3G bandwidth consumption. We call this beer- and bandwidth-infused tribal gathering SXSW Interactive, and this year a couple of us from BF got the privilege of attending it. BF mainstay Jediah Cummins, photoblogger and Rackspace contractor Simon Ponder, and yours truly gathered in the Austin Hilton to reflect on our experiences, share some thoughts on location-based gaming, and forget to talk about robots. We even managed to match the sucky audio quality of our first episode with our 60th! How is that NOT worth your time? Have a listen…

This Week’s Post-Show Song Pimpage: “Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats

Weekly Why 008: Kevin Reads the Paper

StephenTorrence — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:09:33 +0000

So Kevin Saunders decided to send in this little gem of a throwback episode for this week. It’s raw, live, and mostly uncut–in other words, classic BF. So sit back, relax, and listen as Kevin reads the news of the week…

This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage: “That’s the News of the Week” by Paul and Storm

Episode 059: Cheap Chocolate Eve

StephenTorrence — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:34:16 +0000

Another Valentine’s Day has come and gone. Love was in the air. Some relationships soared, others crashed and burned. For those of us on the sidelines, it was quite a sight to behold and discuss. Here at BF we gathered a completely new panel of guests for our most estrogen-infused episode ever. Single ladies Kiki Canon, Megan Brase, and Ivy Filbin came on to discuss holidays, singularity, and commercialized sexism, among many other things. So cook yourself a bloody steak, get some chocolate on the side, and enjoy the show…

This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage: “Single and Famous” by MC Lars and K Flay

Episode 058: Banana Pancakes

StephenTorrence — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:31:16 +0000

For most folks fame comes rarely, if ever. Only a few people ever rise above the sea of obscurity, either from their own effort or by the grace of others (or some combination of the two). In the Internet age, this process of fame-making has taken on a whole new dimension, with the advent of alternative paths to fame such as YouTube. Still, culture remains transfixed by mainstream shows such as American Idol and America’s Got Talent. What are we to think of this? Thankfully, we at BF are here to give you some ideas. This episode we were joined by BF newcomer Margaret Kammer alongside mainstay Kevin Saunders. Apologies on the delay! School waits for no one. Enjoy the episode…

This Week’s Post-Show Song Pimpage: “Kenesaw Mountain Landis” by Jonathan Coulton

Episode 057: Philocalypse How?

StephenTorrence — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:43:02 +0000

Quick! There’s an asteroid barreling toward your corner of the earth and you have no chance of escape. The world as you know it ends in 4 hours. What do you do?! Listen to the latest BF, that’s what! On this show we tackled that ever-present subject of the apocalypse. Kevin Saunders joined me alongside the recently crippled Jediah Cummins. We also had our FIRST EVER “caller” on BF, the lovely and entertaining vlogger Margaret Kammer. So sit down, relax, and enjoy your pending doom the BF way!

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” by R.E.M.

Episode 056: I Miss D’n'D

StephenTorrence — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:58:16 +0000

Remember back when Bad Philosophy was good? Man, that show had some great moments. Recording in taco joints on a single microphone, losing episodes right and left, and always having the same people on week after week. Boy I tell ya, those were the days…

Hmm? Oh yeah, description! This week we decided to talk about nostalgia. Remember? That warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you dust off your old Nintendo 64 that your mom was about to throw out, blow the chunks of cat hair out of a cartridge, and remember how frustrating that last level of Starfox was? Yep, that. Nostalgia expert and BF mainstay Kevin Saunders joined me, alongside friend of the show and chiptune guru Bryan Mitchell. Together we reminisced, analyzed, and speculated our way through one of our most F episodes in a while. Enjoy! We hope you remember the experience fondly.

This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage: “Those Were the Days” from All in the Family

Episode 055: Twenty, Not Two Thousand

StephenTorrence — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 04:15:14 +0000

I know, I know… I was horribly late with the editing on this one, but I swear that two weeks ago we recorded a new BF on the first day of the new decade! This one was a pretty straightforward retrospective, but the first time we actually had an episode one year ago that we could pull our predictions from. That’s right folks! BF’s run now straddles two new years! The venerable Kevin Saunders joined me, alongside Matt Legler, fulfilling his BF-imposed new years’ resolution… one year later. There was reflection, prediction, and a solid dose of classic BF. Have a listen! And have a most excellent decade, everybody.

This Week’s Post-Show Song Pimpage: “Days Aren’t Long Enough” by Steve Earle

Episode 054: Eywa Ex Machina

StephenTorrence — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:07:20 +0000

Unless you’ve been living under a diamond the size of Manhattan recently, you’ve no doubt noticed the release of the much-hyped movie Avatar, James Cameron‘s latest bulldozer-full of eye candy. It’s got noble savages, heavy-handed environmentalism, and more stunning CGI visuals than anything George Lucas could ever hope to conjure forth. Shortly after BF newcomer and certified geek Kristin DeGroot watched the film, we sat down with Kevin Saunders over Skype to banter and bash on it. Aside from a huge recording fail on my part, we had a darn good episode. Have a listen!

This weeks post-show song pimpage: “DotA” by Basshunter

Episode 053: Kevin Squared

StephenTorrence — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:46:04 +0000

First off, I would like to express my apologies for the lack of WIN here recently on BF. We are college students after all, with all the lack of sleep, homework, and other rigmarole that entails. BUT we’re back for another episode, though the relevance is about a week late. If you’ve been following Dollhouse, you’ll know it has been rather full of WIN lately, so full in fact that we needed to get an additional Kevin to talk about it all. BF fan and fellow podcaster Kevin Miller joined me and Kevin Saunders to discuss our pet show a bit. There were SPOILERS GALORE, so if you’re averse to that… tough. Suck it up and listen anyway.

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Barbie Girl” by Aqua

Episode 052: A Fictional Pair of Ducks

StephenTorrence — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:11:29 +0000

Have you ever been sitting in a horror movie and right after that moment when the bad guy leaps out and you spring about four inches off your seat, turned to yourself and gone “Why did I do that? I know this isn’t real.” If so, then you’ve most definitely experienced the Paradox of Fiction. The Texas Tech Philosophy Department‘s own visiting professor Dr. Darren Hick recently joined us on BF to discuss this crazy conundrum in the world of aesthetics. The indomitable Kevin Saunders also dropped by to pitch in his two cents on the subject. So please, suspend your disbelief, go irrational, and remember that Batman is most certainly not Clark Kent as you enjoy this episode of BF…

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors” by Moxy Fruvous

Episode 051: Reading Rainbow

StephenTorrence — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:31:55 +0000

It’s easy to take our perceptions for granted. Colors, shapes, smells, and so forth are for the most part universal. But some people have this kickass condition called synesthesia, where their wires get crossed and their perceptions get… interesting. BF was privileged to get a man who sees letters and numbers as colors on the show, Shawn Brackett. Never one to miss out on a good freak show, Damn Good Philosopher of Religion Dr. Mark Webb also decided drop by, with Numero Uno Fanboy Jed Cummins and the Uke-tastic Kevin Saunders. Best f***ing believe, it was the trippiest BF ever. Take a look…

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Roy G. Biv” by They Might Be Giants

Episode 050: Includes Teeth

StephenTorrence — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:24:55 +0000

Can you believe it? Fifty episodes! FIVE OH! Well… that is if you sorta count Episode Zero, don’t count the Lost Episode, count Episode 21b as Episode 21, count Episode 42b as Episode 42, count Episodes 46 and 49 even though they’re video only and… aw, screw it, just humor us, okay?

So in homage to our very first gathering, Kevin, Jed, Bryan, David, Matt, Michael Atellano, and I all gathered at the Freebird’s in Lubbock where it all started over a year ago and recorded the downright s***tiest episode since that fateful day (audio-wise, at least). Plenty of B, sprinkled with a little F, all wrapped up in a FAILtilla – just like you like it. Have a listen (and please, for the love of God, buy something from us). We love you!!!

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Title of the Song” by Da Vinci’s Notebook

Episode 049: Frozen Philosophy [Video Only]

StephenTorrence — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:03:46 +0000

As you long-time listeners no doubt know, we here at BF are prone to technical issues like a pigeon is prone to relieving himself on cars – we do it randomly, completely without intention, and ultimately everyone ends up various degrees of pissed. Well… that happened a couple of weeks ago when Jed, Kevin, and I attempted to record an episode about social engineering. Feel free to watch what there is of this episode and try to imagine how it could’ve ended…

Episode 048: Full of WINtegrity

StephenTorrence — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:16:21 +0000

We hear a lot of talk these days about “Integrity,” and how it’s all good to have and such. But what does it even mean to have integrity? In this episode BF took a trip to Curzertown (the realm of Texas Tech philosophy professor Dr. Howard Curzer) to find out the answer. Ad-hoc philosopher Michael Hayslip also joined us for another appearance, and sadly we did without the presence of the good Kevin Saunders. Somehow we survived though, and came up with quite the F-isode in the process. Check it out!

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “A Talk With George” by Jonathan Coulton

Episode 047: A Big To Do About WOO

StephenTorrence — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:06:35 +0000

Input, Achiever, Restorative, Deliberative… to many these are but a few odd-sounding words, but to those of us here at BF they are the vocabulary of success and self-knowledge itself. They are Strengths, as defined by the Gallup Organization’s StrengthsFinder assessment. This past weekend Jay Killough of Texas Tech University Career Services joined us to discuss the assessment, its philosophy of success, and his own WOO-nature. Kevin Saunders and Jed Cummins also came along for the ride, with Bryan Mitchell providing camera support. We had a grand old time. Enjoy!

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Handlebars” by Flobots

Weekly Why 007: The Kevin Show

StephenTorrence — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:11:12 +0000

Yes, we’re back! I apologize for our lack of prompt, punctual posts as of late. College is back in full swing and as a good student that means I’ve got less and less time to devote to BF lately. Thankfully Kevin (who ironically has even less time than I do) took up the slack last week and produced a very special Weekly Why installment. This one’s a web-exclusive, so enjoy the videos (courtesy of Stickam) below…

Part 1

Part 2

Episode 045: Bach in Business

StephenTorrence — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 05:33:39 +0000

Stop me if you’ve heard this one… a pianist, a mathematician, and a crab walk into a bar. No wait… I forget how the rest goes. Anyway, this week Julie Meadows, now back from the future, joined me alongside sneezing philosopher Michael Hayslip and spaghetti extraordinaire Kevin Saunders to talk about some music. I think it’s safe to call this one a solid F-isode, people. So grab yourself a bowl of Raisin Brahms, hang onto your mobius strip, and enjoy this aurally stimulating installment of BF…

(No embedded video, but you can check out the archived clips here)

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Hurt” by Johnny Cash

Episode 044: BYOBF

StephenTorrence — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:25:51 +0000

Beer. That oh-so-ubiquitous alcoholic beverage. It has been the bane and boon of many a man’s life over the centuries, and now it has finally arrived (officially) here at Bad Philosophy. Local Texas Tech physics student Catherine Chesnutt kindly hosted the show in her back yard shack, where Eric Beutlich, Josh Clemmons, Kevin Saunders and I came together in splendid inebriation to talk causation, epistemology, and much more over some delicious Planters Peanuts. So grab a cold one, settle in, and enjoy some authentic beer philosophy…

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Galaxy Song” by Monty Python

Episode 043: Endless Meltdown

StephenTorrence — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:06:36 +0000

It should be no surprise to you that we here are, for the most part, poor college students doing this for a hobby. Nevertheless, in this exciting world of new media opportunities and inexplicable successes, we cannot help but hold a glimmer of hope for a future in which we roll around in big piles money for BF-ing all day long. This week Kevin, Jed, and I discuss merchandise, cultural shifts, and the future of the show. Got an idea that we didn’t cover? Leave us a comment! We promise we’ll listen.

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Money Song” by Monty Python

We’ve got merch

StephenTorrence — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:01:03 +0000

Along with giving our header and other official logos a nice high-resolution facelift, I’ve also created an official merchandise store for BF at PrintFection.com. You can buy T-Shirts in both men’s and women’s styles, as well as a snazzy mousepad. PrintFection doesn’t do much more than apparel, but they do apparel better than anyone else. So if you’d like to support the snow by putting our logo between the world and an unobstructed view of your naked body, head on over and buy yourself some BF gear!

How My ASL Songs Work

StephenTorrence — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:52:18 +0000

Unless you’ve been living under a rock so heavy that not even God could lift it, you most likely know that I like to sing with my hands on occasion, and that Kevin and I have sung with our hands on stage with Jonathan Coulton. Well, if you’ve ever wanted to know more about my ASL videos, today’s your lucky day.

Recently Tracy Wilson from HowStuffWorks.com‘s interviewed me for her FanStuff blog. The interview is in two parts and includes some video clips of yours truly interspersed with the best account of my ASL song hobby that’s ever graced the Interwebs.

Head on over and read it now!

Episode 042b: Plato’s Movie Theater

StephenTorrence — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:34:16 +0000

Imagine yourself in a movie theater. It is the only place you’ve ever known. The smell of popcorn, the sticky floors, and of course the endless projected movies on the screen are your reality. What would you believe about “the real world” if this was all you knew? Would you even believe there was one if someone told you?

Plato asked questions like this over 2000 years ago in his infamous “Allegory of the Cave” from The Republic. On this historic episode, Kevin Saunders and I read and discuss the dialogue itself… in character (yes, we are that awesome). You can read along with us if you’d like (trust us, the wording can get pretty thick).

On a side note, we’re also ONE YEAR OLD as of a few days ago! Please wish us a happy birthday if you’d like, and then go listen to Episode Zero while shedding a nostalgic tear.

Stickam version below of course:

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Bruce’s Philosophers’ Song” by Monty Python

Episode 041: How the West Was Mu

StephenTorrence — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:34:51 +0000

Eastern thought has been a curiosity for Western culture ever since Marco Polo made his epic journey to Asia in the 1200s. The legacy of this curiosity lives on, and so Bad Philosophy has decided to undertake the momentous task of reconciling Eastern and Western philosophy in a single episode (because we’re just awesome like that). Joining me for his first episode ever is mechanical engineering graduate student Sean Mullen, alongside an uncharacteristically in-person Kevin Saunders. NUF (Numero Uno Fanboy) Jed Cummins worked the camera (sort of) and despite many technical difficulties we actually managed some good conversation. So grab a fortune cookie, sit down on your tatami, and have a listen…

You can also watch the live *UNCENSORED* Stickam recording below.

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “I Like Chinese” by Monty Python

Episode 040: Meta-Mathic Smackdown

StephenTorrence — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:36:37 +0000

In a world, divided by history, separate but equal, teetering on the brink of the cosmos, one podcast dares to defy the axioms and go where no podcast has gone bef… well you get the idea. This week we’re talking Anathem! Neal Stephenson‘s latest work of spec-fic awesomery is ripe with headiness, so we decided to bring on couple of powerhouses in the brain department. Former-KTXT and current Llano Idea DJ Benjamin Brown returns to duke it out in a literary smackdown for the ages with veteran Bad Philosopher and aspiring YouTube reviewer Kevin Saunders. If this were a book, it’d be a genuine page-turner. But you read with your ears, right? Of course you do. So have a listen…

You also have the option to watch our live Stickam recording below. Join us next Sunday at 12pm CST for Episode 41!

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Mandelbrot Set” by Jonathan Coulton

Episode 039: What’s the Right Thing Again?

StephenTorrence — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:06:35 +0000

Ethics is a tricky subject. For some, it’s subjective; anything goes. For others, it can be quite objective; right and wrong can be determined. Here at Texas Tech, ethics has become a full-blown initiative, though perhaps not as full-blown as some would like. Joining us to shine some light on the subject from the inside is Tech philosopher Dr. Daniel Nathan, alongside myself and jelly baby-munching mainstay Kevin Saunders. Do the right thing, folks: have a listen…

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Do the Right Thing” by George Strait

Episode 038: Incremental Hope

StephenTorrence — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:53:12 +0000

After a completely unintended hiatus brought on by the super-unfortunate necessity to re-edit this episode, it’s finally here! And it’s a good one, folks. Dr. Mark Webb, now chairman of the Texas Tech philosophy department joins me for his third appearance on the show, alongside Numero Uno Fanboy Jed Cummins and national traveler Kevin Saunders. We discuss charity, education, and the Turkish movement that’s sweeping the world. Also, trolleys. Enjoy!

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Birdhouse in Your Soul” by They Might be Giants

Episode 037: Back Seat Philosophy

StephenTorrence — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:17:27 +0000

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve lost a lot of celebrities–Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, even Billy Mays. It’s been tragic, but it got us here at BF thinking… what will happen to our social graphs when we pass on? We decided to answer this pressing question in possibly our most daring setup ever; inside a car going 70 MPH down a freeway. Why? Because, y’know… we could. Intrepid driver Matt Legler, Numero Uno co-pilot Jed Cummins, official iPhone 3G Sexy videographer Aaron Baxter and I were joined by Kevin Saunders via Skype over Jed’s tethered iPhone. Check out Aaron’s short video of the craziness, get your will in order, and enjoy this week’s totally road-trippin’ BF…

Episode 036: Eight Buffalos in a Row

StephenTorrence — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:16:18 +0000

Why did the chicken cross the road? To listen to BF, of course! Throughout the centuries, comedy has been an integral part of human society. This week on BF, we tackle what it really means to be funny, which comedians have the best style, and whether jumping the shark should become an Olympic sport. Joining me on the show are Numero Uno funny man Jed Cummins and comedic stalwart Kevin Saunders, alongside special from-beyond-the-grave comedy expert, Mitch Hedberg. So sit back, get your funny bone ready, and prepare to buffalo some Buffalo buffalo… it’s BF time!

Episode 035: Intellectual Hedonism

StephenTorrence — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 04:53:47 +0000

Why are we here? What’s this all about? What is my purpose? What is yours? Is there even one at all? These are easy questions to ask, but answering them is a whole different story. Wolfram Alpha has one idea. We’ve got some others. Composing my party in an epic aural quest for the meaning of life, the universe, and everything this week were BF newcomer, veteran philosophy major, and budding teleologist Joshua Clemmons, Numero Uno Fanboy Jed Cummins, and electricity-less Kevin Saunders via Skype. This one’s deep folks. We’re talking Edward Norton in Fight Club deep. Have a listen…

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Purpose” from Avenue Q. Puppets with life lessons? Yes, please!

Episode 034: A Squishy Affricate

StephenTorrence — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:01:57 +0000

You’d think that after 50 years, the nations of North and South Korea would have kissed and made up. But these days as we light up our barbecues and relish the summer heat, the Korean peninsula is once again on the brink of war. From across the seas in Ulsan, South Korea, Julie Meadows joins to compare the cultural, political, and linguistic quirks of her locale alongside me, Kevin and his former roommate Jordan Mueller (first heard in the background some time ago). So as you reflect on Memorial Day this summer, remember the lost, have a nice heaping helping of mother hand tasty blue director of a bureau, and enjoy this week’s BF…

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue” by Toby Keith. Buy it on iTunes, or we’ll put a boot in your ass.

Episode 033: Zombocalypse Now

StephenTorrence — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:37:20 +0000

Imagine you wake up tomorrow, turn on the TV as usual, and find that all the networks have turned to static. Out your window, you see a hoard of staggering, droopy-eyed zombies ambling toward you, groaning ominously for your cerebral contents. What’s your next move? Thankfully, we explore this very scenario and much more in great detail this week on BF. Kevin, Jed, and the ever-baby-loving Danielle join me to talk zombies, zombie movies, and planetary repopulation. So grab a shotgun, barricade yourself in a well-fortified building, and break open a can of Chunky, it’s zombocalypse time!

This week’s post-show audio pimpage: “Re: Your Brains” by Jonathan Coulton

Weekly Why 006: Live on Stage

StephenTorrence — Mon, 25 May 2009 19:28:33 +0000

Every once in a while you get to do something truly extraordinary. You make a video, a rock star picks it up, one thing leads to another and the next thing you know you’re on stage with said rock star. In this special BF Kevin, his sister Kat and I discuss our thoughts on getting to perform live with Jonathan Coulton. Check out the crazy awesome video itself below the podcast…

Episode 032: We Love the Future

StephenTorrence — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:16:02 +0000

After a long and completely unnecessary haitus, BF is back. And we’re going back, WAY back to a simpler time, a more optimistic time, to the days of the Virtual Boy and its ilk. That’s right, Kevin, pre-Facebook Jed, Matt and I are talking virtual reality, ladies and gentlemen! It was supposed to be the wave of the future, so what happened? Why aren’t we all living in holodecks already? And where’s my virtual haircut? We’ll try to answer all this and more before the singularity hits, so strap in and have a listen!

This week’s postshow audio pimpage: “The Future Soon” by Jonathan Coulton

Hang in there, peeps!

StephenTorrence — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:00:56 +0000

I’m sure many of y’all are wondering anxiously where our latest episode is. Believe me, we’d love to bring it to you, but recently we’ve been having some serious issues with our web host. They were recently *acquired* by another company and the transition has been… rough. We lost our database briefly last week and then got our storage space slashed down to an unusable 750mb.

Since we’re going to have to pay more for additional hosting anyway, we figured we’d use this chance to transition over to a better web host. At this point we’re weighing the comparative benefits of GoDaddy and Squarespace. The former is cheap, ubiquitous, and would allow us to continue using WordPress. The latter is fast and flexible but would require a site redesign since they do not support WordPress directly.

Whichever way we go, rest assured we should have Episodes 32 and 33 up here shortly. We’d like to remind y’all that a collection of clips from all shows is still up in the BF Soundboard. Feel free to listen and remix to your heart’s desire.

Thanks again for sticking with us, peeps! Through the F times and the B, we love having you with us.

Episode 031: Farewell to a Legend

StephenTorrence — Wed, 06 May 2009 21:01:13 +0000

Seasons come and seasons go, but here at Bad Philosophy one thing has never really changed: the utter ubiquity of one Kevin Saunders. Fortunately for him but unfortunately for us, the big man himself has jumped through his last hoop of fire and is graduating our fair university. But fear not! He will be participating in episodes still, albeit via the wonders of Skype rather than in person.

Joining us for Kevin’s last live episode was Bryan Mitchell and Numero Uno Fanboy Jed Cummins. We had some audio woes (read: Bryan turned his microphone off) and video stream woes that ruined the opening bit, but through the magic of GarageBand I have made all right with the world. We talked Dollhouse, philosophy of mind, and Swine Flu, leading Kevin to do a classic rant on politics. Relish this episode, everyone, it’s special…

This week’s outro song pimpage: “I’m Your Moon” by Jonathan Coulton (yeah, we love him dearly for very good reasons)

Episode 030: It’s a Ponzi Scheme

StephenTorrence — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:40:35 +0000

We’ve got a great deal to tell you about today. You can reduce your carbon emissions, save the planet from swine flu, and get an education without leaving home… everything you’ve ever wanted! All you have to do is listen to BF once a week and get five friends to do the same! For every friend you recruit we’ll give you one of the aforementioned rewards at a predetermined time in the near future!

Yeah, we talked about ponzi schemes on the show… you got us. Kevin returned with an homage to This Week at Texas Tech, his own short-lived but much beloved podcast. We also revamped our intro and streamed the editing process live on Stickam. Miss out on that? Don’t worry, we’ll be making it a thing. For now, sit back and take a bite out of your carbon footprint chocolate bar, it’s BF time!

This week’s post-show song pimpage: “Gambler’s Prayer” by Jonathan Coulton

Episode 029: A BF Orange

StephenTorrence — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:31:02 +0000

Easter time is here again, and what better way to celebrate than with some ultraviolence, m’droogs? That’s right, this week BF took a dive down the proverbial rabbit hole into the dark dystopian future of Stanley Kubrick’s 1972 masterpiece A Clockwork Orange, examining the moral, psychological, and cinematographical facets of the film. Numero Uno Fanboy and BF Cameraman Jed Cummins joined us for his third episode alongside newcomer Greg “Bob” Briley. Sex, murder, and prison await you! Have a listen…

This week’s featured track: “The Easter Song” by Paul and Storm

Episode 028: But Is It Science?

StephenTorrence — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 22:29:31 +0000

Since the dawn of time, man has peered out humbly at the world through his eyeballs and tried to make sense of it all in some systematic fashion. Aristotle famously set this ship of science on its way when he remarked casually one fine Grecian day, “You know, studies show that women have fewer teeth than men.” Of course, he was full of s***, but that’s beside the point! The A-man set a precedent of discourse that has continued to this very day, according to some experts.

On this episode BF embarked on the adventure of video once again, trying and failing to broadcast via Justin.tv and then returning to our loyal stalwart, Stickam. We had Eric Beutlich back on for his second appearance since co-founding the podcast, and numero uno fanboy Jed Cummins once again operated our camera. It wasn’t scientific, it wasn’t pretty, but it was most definitely BF. Have a listen!

This week’s post-roll music: “That Spells DNA” by Jonathan Coulton. Buy it! Download it! Whatever! We love the man and his music, and so should you.

Episode 027: It’s Gonna Be a Shaving Thing

StephenTorrence — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:26:20 +0000

Progress is a tricky thing. It doesn’t always go like you think it should. Sometimes the days are Blue and Sunny, sometimes things blow up in your face, and sometimes you just have to put yourself out there and let it happen. What I’m trying to say is, of course, that BF had an AWESOME time doing our first live recording in a while, and we promise this will be the first of many. Be sure to follow us on Twitter for all the juicy updates.

On this episode we talked about the meaning of live, Kevin’s source of power, and even experimented with musicality. It was live, it was random, it was totally BF. Have a listen…

Change for the Betterment of Mankind

StephenTorrence — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:11:22 +0000

We’ve got some exciting things happening here at Bad Philosophy. I know this non-podcast post is totally blowing your mind on its own, but try to keep your brains intact for a little longer! Check it out after the break…

1) If you’re not already, start following BF on Twitter. There we post episode releases, insider secrets, and cool announcements like…

2) LIVE SHOWS! Yes, that’s right, BF is back experimenting with the wonderful world of video. We’ve got some groovy new lapel mics and some snazzy new threads to show off. This Sunday at 12:00 PM CST tune in to our spiffy Ustream Stickam page and watch as we dish out a heaping helping of visual vivacity. Be sure to join the live chat room and tell us how much we suck/rock.

3) Last but not least, you might have noticed the ads over there on the right-hand side. This is part of our new effort to show our support for the services and products we love and share their awesomeness with you. (Shout out to Blubrry.com for their most excellent affiliate program!) By clicking these banners you’ll be doing your part to support us too. Isn’t that cool? Everybody wins!

We’ll likely have some additional announcments in the near future, so keep an eye out. In the meantime, watch us live on Sunday!

Episode 026: Digg Phallusophy

StephenTorrence — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:03:03 +0000

Have you ever actually rubbed elbows with a celebrity? Everyone talks about doing that, but seriously, have you ever actually gone up to a star and asked “can I rub my elbow against your elbow?” Hmm…

Well, in any case, we got to do something akin to that this past weekend at the Bigg Digg Shindigg during SXSW in Austin, Texas. Matt and I got to watch Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht record a live DiggNation at Stubb’s BBQ and then meet both them plus a bunch of other web celebrities in the crowd afterward. Yeah, we geeked out to the MAX, but it was totally and completely worth it! Oh yeah, and among all the hoopla we managed to record a new BF. Check out the links below for Facebook pictures of us waiting in line and of the show itself. It was AWESOME.

Gallery One – Waiting in line, recording, posing, other shenanigans

Gallery Two – Live recording, celebrity mingling

Episode 025: Squidalien

StephenTorrence — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:58:18 +0000

Fear not, good mortals! Bad Philosophy is not gone. There’s just, y’know, this thing called “college.” Maybe you’ve heard of it? Well, in any case, it tends to take priority over this show (at least for now), and that’s why this episode has taken so long to come out. You’ve probably all seen Watchmen by now, but in any case we’ve got our own take on the movie after seeing it at a drive-in theater (yes, you read that right). Satisfying your grit quota since 2008, it’s time for some BF…

Episode 024: Slumming With Destiny

StephenTorrence — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:31:11 +0000

We’re back! Pardon the week off. We had to deal with a rather unexpected chainsaw-wielding polar bear invasion, but all is good now… except for Kevin’s leg … Anyway! This week BF took a trip to the movies, grilling Hollywood’s latest Oscar fetish, Slumdog Millionaire with first-time guest Eric Braden. We also delved deep into the realm of free will vs. determinism, where Eric and I pulled no punches in our quest to disprove the other. Oh, and the audio was FRAKKING AMAZING if I do say so myself. Enjoy, peeps!

Episode 023: The Birds and the Babies

StephenTorrence — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:47:58 +0000

When a man and a woman love each other very much… they listen to Bad Philosophy together! This week neither panelist woes nor audio troubles nor the relentless Lubbock wind could keep us from recording BF. Numero Uno fanboy Jed brought Danielle, a [female] friend from Colorado, onto the show to talk about BABIES. You know… those cute, pink little flesh-wads that scream and crap a lot? Of course, we took some very BF detours, and we swear we didn’t let Kevin talk the whole time (really). So put on a diaper, slam an adrenaline shot into your heart, and crank up the Barry Manilow. It’s time to BF!

Weekly Why 004: Reflections on Dollhouse

StephenTorrence — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:28:18 +0000

This past Friday the 13th, Joss Whedon’s new series “Dollhouse” premiered on FOX, and unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past two episodes of BF, you’ll recall that Kevin and I are huge fans of Mr. Whedon’s work. We were there on the scene to record our immediate reaction, and now you get to listen to it (don’t you feel lucky?).

[ratings]

Episode 022: Baldwin Bonanza

StephenTorrence — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:38:15 +0000

Title psych! In this episode we actually focused on the man, the myth, the legend himself, Mr. Joss Whedon, and all his crazy nephews (shows). Despite last-minute panelist panic, we successfully procured Jed and Michael and had a Baldwin blast of a time. So brush up on your Mandarin, grab a wooden stake, and set your TiVo to record Dollhouse… it’s BF time!

[ratings]

Episode 021b: Guerrilla Fascism

StephenTorrence — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 08:28:28 +0000

Stay calm. You’re not imagining things. That “b” is real, and we have a good explanation for it… sort of. As you well know, we here at Bad Philosophy have had our [some might say disproportionate] share of unsavory experiences with audio equipment. Trying new things tends to get us in trouble, and well… we tried something new. Suffice it to say, the majority of Episode 021–a fine, somber treatise on education–came out corrupt, and will henceforth become known as the “Failisode.”

Not ones to give up, however, we decided to roll our weekly Starbucks tweet-up and post-Super-Bowl-watching experiences into a totally impromptu guerrilla episode, centering on the fantastic commercial lineup, Bruce Springsteen’s crotch, the definition of fascism, and Kevin’s new girlfriend [hint: you've already met her - gasp!], among many other thoroughly exciting things. Get ready for some old school BF action reminiscent of Episode Zero. One laptop, four guys, and caffeine – it’s BF time.

[ratings]

Episode 020: Library Nurse Curses

StephenTorrence — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:20:48 +0000

We’re in a crisis today, peeps. Healthcare in the United States is whack, and everybody’s got a plan to fix it. We may not be Obama’s advisory board, but we’ll be darned if BF is gonna sit on the sidelines for this most relevant of issues. Numero Uno fanboy Jediah Cummins joined us for his first appearance alongside Matt Legler (and LO, the universe did NOT explode!). We had our crazy awesome microphone setup going once again, so hold onto your W2 form, strap on a heart monitor, and take a speed-of-light tour on the healthcare freeway – BF style!

[ratings]

Episode 019: OreoBama

StephenTorrence — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 07:26:38 +0000

We’ve got ourselves a new president in these grand United States of America, and in celebration of that common knowledge we dedicated this BF to discussing… pretty much anything except that. Jessica Story joined us for the first time, bringing a flare of femininity to the show in a shameless attempt to lure in the other 51% of the world’s population. But demographics be damned! We had rabbit trails to follow, cookies to chew, and Rubik’s cubes to solve… all in a high-quality multi-track audio extravaganza. You thought we could never get more BF? Well I’ve got news for you: Yes we can. And… we did…

[ratings]

As mentioned in the show, we’re now hunting for new guest panelists who would like to share a taste of our thunder on Bad Philosophy. If you have Skype and a decent microphone, please tweet at one of us and tell us (in 140 characters or less) why you would be a worthy guest Bad Philosopher.

Episode 018: How Long for Copywrong?

StephenTorrence — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:38:16 +0000

It’s here, people! We’re inching our way ever closer to becoming bona fide, honest to goodness procasters. We’re back in the DMS and managed to rig up their spiffy, expensive microphones into the best audio configuration we’ve had yet. Julie Meadows joins us this episode for a finagled foray into copyright, Mickey Mouse, and sneezing… among many other decidedly BF things. So pull up an ideal chair and get ready for the audio bliss that is Episode 18…

[ratings]

Update: We realized shortly after posting this episode that Kevin’s brilliant publicity plan has been thwarted by none other than Cory Doctorow himself. Ah, happenstance… such a strange bedfellow you are…

Episode 017: The Last of the Noughties

StephenTorrence — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 05:16:23 +0000

As we enter 2009, the last year of the Noughties, we here at BF decided to do a little retrospective on the previous year, highlighting some things that piqued our interest in 2008. Not only that, we decided to make some outlandish predictions as well. If you’re still hungover from last night’s revelry, we forgive you. If not, join me, Kevin, and Jed for some laid-back BF action. We even created a New Year’s resolution for once-again-absent Matt Legler, who was stuck in the middle of nowhere unfortunately. Oh, and as an added New Year’s bonus, I cooked up a brand new intro. Bon appetit!

[ratings]

Episode 016: Ecomikindle

StephenTorrence — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:36:18 +0000

One may be the loneliest number that you’ll ever do, but two is certainly NOT as bad as one when it’s Bad Philosophy. Kevin and I convened over Skype this week in leu of any other panelists. We actually got the audio working half-decently (can you believe it?!) and had a great back-and-forth about a wide variety of topics. So sit back, kindle your excitement, strap on your golden parachute, and shove those old VHS bootlegs of Oh, Killmas Tree under your desk – it’s time for some BF!

[ratings]

We’re also now on Podcast Alley {pca-758bd8544b03dfdc84be8678b7a726d7}

Episode 015: Save KTXT!

StephenTorrence — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 06:43:23 +0000

Something appalling just happened here at Texas Tech. On the evening of December 10th, Tech decided to pull the plug on our 47-year-strong campus radio station, KTXT 88.1 FM. This move came with no warning, no recourse, and at a moment when students had finished the semester and gone home. Needless to say, we got pissed. Thankfully, BF was right there to pick up on this developing story, and we managed to get (former?) KTXT DJ Benjamin Brown on the show via Skype to give us the inside scoop. Intrigue, deception, and the sudden death of a Lubbock tradition – it’s all here! Have a listen…

[ratings]

ATTENTION! If you are a Tech student and would like more information on how you can help save KTXT, please join the Facebook group and take the actions they suggest. Don’t let our station perish! ACT NOW!

Episode 014: The Jolly Llama

StephenTorrence — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 06:44:16 +0000

So there we were, sitting in the midst of the collective knowledge of our time. Rows upon rows of books lined up at our sides. The scent of the 1960′s wafting through the air. And then, out of the blue, this llama walks out from behind the geodynamics section, looks at us, and just starts laughing profusely, sending shudders of glee down its long, fuzzy neck. We looked at each other briefly, incredulously, and then all at once… we put away the rest of the acid.

Once our high subsided, we got the strangest urge: to do an episode on religion. It’s controversial, it’s deep, it’s something we’ve never before… it’s totally BF. Though our microphones refused to comply (again!), we completed the episode successfully (albeit in 16kHz… oops). Open your mind, put your bias aside, and indulge us as we tackle one of the biggest questions of all time… “Why be religious?”

[ratings]

(Disclaimer: Bad Philosophy does not endorse the use of illegal hallucinogens. We do not, will not, nor have ever, taken acid, and you shouldn’t either. If you want a trip, watch Fantasia after going 48 hours without sleep. You will never see household mops the same way again…)

Episode 013: Big in Scandinavia

StephenTorrence — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:30:32 +0000

Hälsningarna, Nordisk solfjäder av Dålig Filosofi! Du er göra sval.

And I hope you Scandinavian cats can understand poorly-translated Swedish as well as the English we love so dearly here on the show. Honestly though, unlike our beloved brethren to the north, we aren’t actually devoting a whole episode to you this week. Instead, we convened over Skype to discuss the American shopping ritual known as Black Friday, as well as a healthy dose of memetics, duckrolling, and other such jazz. We apologize for the audio quality (I mean… it is Skype after all), but we did manage to give you the treat of hearing our voices in stereo for the first time ever. We promise to get back on civilized audio hardware for the next episode. Grin and bear with us; we actually had some good stuff to say…

[ratings]

Episode 012: Close Enough for Brains in Vats

StephenTorrence — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:00:50 +0000

Technology is a tricky thing. When it works, it’s wonderful, and when it doesn’t… heads explode. For the most part, BF’s first foray into high-tech recording went swimmingly. We did have a couple of complications, but despite having to crowd around a single AKG condenser microphone, our intrepid panel managed to record one of the best BFs yet. Dr. Webb joined us to tackle Kevin’s simple-yet-deep question: “Is man unnatural?” As you can see by the tag list, said tackling took us on a bit of a wild ride. Less “Bad,” more “Philosophy,” totally BF. Enjoy the show…

[ratings]

Remember you can watch the episode on Stickam. We looked darn spiffy. Really.

Watch us LIVE this Friday!

StephenTorrence — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:30:43 +0000

As we mentioned in our last episode, this Friday will be a special day for BF. We’ve gotten our shiny new mixer in, and I have confirmed that it does indeed facilitate our recording process better than the 1945 telephone + Kazoo configuration I had also considered. As a special treat for you fans who happen to read this post and don’t have anything going on this Friday afternoon, we will narrowcast Episode 012 LIVE via Stickam at 2:00 PM CST. We’ve got a juicy topic, we’ll be coming at you in high-quality stereo, and best of all… Dr. Webb will be our guest.

Could it get any better? Tune in Friday and see!

UPDATE: Click Here to Watch Episode 012: Close Enough for Brains in Vats

Audio version coming soon…

Episode 011: Half-Hour of “Huh?”

StephenTorrence — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:50:20 +0000

As Oscar Wilde once said, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go to EPIC FAIL.”

Such was our experience this past Friday, as guest after guest bailed on us and we exhausted our respective phone books and Facebook friend lists trying to procure a replacement. Ultimately, we ended up with Hayslip again, who… y’know… I mean… he’s okay… I guess. It turned into another meta-episode (you love those, right?) as we threw down some thoughts on merch‘, cables, and how to grow this baby into Godzilla. Hint: it involves YOU. So sit back and listen as we give a little back to you, our audience, on this short but sweet edition of BF…

[ratings]

Bad Philosophers: Kevin Saunders, Matt Legler, Stephen Torrence, Michael Haslip

Episode 010: What a Bunch of Halloweenies

StephenTorrence — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:11:53 +0000

Back from the dead (or so you thought!), BF is coming at you with our long-overdue ultra-cliche excessively-hyphenated Halloween episode! Our panel of friendly ghosts, including Lost Episode veteran Michael Hayslip and first-time guest but long-time #1 fan Jediah Cummins, takes a spooky ride through the cultural, historical, and religious facets of the holiday. But we must acknowledge the true star of this episode… CANDY. Candy: it’ll rot out your teeth, but you’ll love every delicious minute of it. You know what won’t rot out your teeth, though? Bad Philosophy! So what are you waiting for? Grab a 40, kick back, and let our creepy rants envelope your SOUL…

[ratings]

Bad Philosophers: Kevin Saunders, Stephen Torrence, Jediah Cummins, Michael Haslip

Weekly Why 003: RaiderVille Diaries Part III

StephenTorrence — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:44:55 +0000

This is it! ESPN Game Day is here in Lubbock, TX and we here at Bad Philosophy are pleased to bring you this final chapter in the RaiderVille Diaries series from the line outside Jones AT&T Stadium. We’ve stuck it out, we’ve done the hours, and the moment of reckoning is upon. Tech alumni Jeff Pratt (of Microsoft) and his brother Mike join us before tailgating for some final thoughts, reminiscing about their time at Tech, and other reflections.

More Photos of Game Day (Facebook)

[ratings]

Bad Philosophers: Stephen Torrence, Matt Legler, Jediah Cummins, Kimberly Stewart

Guests: Jeff and Mike Pratt

Weekly Why 002: RaiderVille Diaries Part II

StephenTorrence — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:39:09 +0000

We’re back for the second installment of the RaiderVille Diaries, joined this time by yet another first-time guest, Lexi Ellis. We managed to cram four people into the midget tent and muse about the social dynamics of the growing community, authority, lawlessness, and such. The party’s going strong and there are still two days to go!

[ratings]

Bad Philosophers: Stephen Torrence, Kevin Saunders, Matt Legler, Lexi Ellis

Weekly Why 001: RaiderVille Diaries Part I

StephenTorrence — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:45:39 +0000

Every once in a while, people come together for an event spontaneously, forming a community of like minds that lives, breathes, and functions like a full-fledged village. This week, leading up to the epic college football match-up between Texas Tech University and the University of Texas, Bad Philosophy will follow the development of just such a place: RaiderVille, TX. Watch and listen as we record our experiences from INSIDE this unique gathering in our new mini-series, RaiderVille Diaries.

Photos: Facebook Album

[ratings]

Bad Philosophers: Stephen Torrence, Matt Legler, Kimberly Stewart, Michael Atilano

Episode 009: Politics, Eh

StephenTorrence — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:53:41 +0000

This week on Bad Philosophy we tackle the age-old question: if one does not like America, should they move to Canada? I mean, what could be better than free health care and all the moose meat you can eat, right? Austin Fielding joins us for the first time, making it our largest panel ever (five, baby, five!). Canada listeners take heart; we tried to keep the Canada cliches to a minimum. Really…

…eh.

[ratings]

Bad Philosophers: Stephen Torrence, Kevin Saunders, Matt Legler, Austin Fielding, Kimberly Stewart

Episode 008: Microwave THIS

StephenTorrence — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 05:39:40 +0000

A friend of a friend told me that if you listen to Bad Philosophy on a Microsoft Zune while preparing a Hot Pocket, the microwaves resonate with the current in the headphone wires and cause your ears to secrete Jello! Really … this totally happens … … Okay, you caught us. It’s a pure urban legend, just one of many we discuss on this fine yarn of an episode. Local genius Nick Bergfeld and the beautiful Kimberly Stewart both joined us for the first time, adding a touch of magic and some unintentional cuteness to the occasion. Oh, be sure to meet your swallowed spider quota after listening, or Osama Bin Ladin will forward you knock-knock joke emails from now until the end of the Mayan calendar.

PS. If you’re wondering what happened to Episode 007: Pretentiousism… well, it will forever be known as the “lost episode,” since the sound quality on the recording was discovered to be catastrophically horrendous after the fact. We might attempt to recover it someday, but until then it will be lost forever to the sands of time. On the bright side though, our ordinal and cardinal number sequences are now in sync. (i.e. episode 8 = the 8th episode) Yay…

[ratings]

Episode 006: Metanoids

StephenTorrence — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:16:24 +0000

We’ve started it people, we really have. This time we had no idea what to talk about, so we took what is arguably the first step in the typical death throe sequence of serial entertainment: the Behind-the-Scenes Show (*collective gasp!*). Before you know it we’ll be doing the Blooper Show, followed by the Old-Cast-Member Show, followed by… wait! We’re not dead yet. Why, this week we actually got bold enough to show you our faces. You can watch the full, unedited episode courtesy of Stickam. “Why the heck would I want to see that,” you say? One word: prodcasting. In the future we’ll tweet when we’re recording live, so make sure you’re following one of us.

As for the episode itself, we metaphiles meander through a meta-maze of meta-discussion about meta-this and meta-that. Little history of the show, little thoughts on podcasting, little DNA patenting… You know, the usual. But in the event that we disgust you so much that you must send us a poorly-worded email in ALL CAPS, this is your lucky day. Cheers…

[ratings]

Episode 005: Leveraging Excellence

StephenTorrence — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 02:10:50 +0000

Why do bad things happen to good people? Do cheaters ever prosper? And what the heck does it mean to “leverage excellence” anyway? We’re not quite sure, but apparently it has something to do with setting baby deer on fire, Ray Kurzweil, and slurpees. Eminent Texas Tech philosopher, fencer, and all-around good guy Dr. Mark Webb joins us to tackle these issues and lend some academic credibility to our incredible little experiment. Don’t panic if his benevolent, authoritative voice puts you into a trance. It’s all part of the plan…

[ratings]

Episode 004: Benn Diagrams

StephenTorrence — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 23:03:51 +0000

What do Warhammer, Ayn Rand, and Westerns have in common? Darned if we know. Ben Brown joins us on this episode as we dive into the realm of speculative fiction, sci-fi, and modifying the human body/mind with technology… among other things. Apologies about the awfuller-than-usual sound quality. We tried to use a bunch of different microphones to do the recording, but I think we created some sort of time distortion field that caused all our microphones to record out-of-sync. Subsequently we were left using just the one. I swear that next time we’ll go back to the dependable old MacBook Pro internal microphone. Try to enjoy this one, if you dare…

[ratings]

Episode 003: What Would Hitler Choose?

StephenTorrence — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 03:22:24 +0000

After a rather significant rain delay, the wild of musings of the Bad Philosophers are back. With the healthy addition of founding member Eric Beutlich, we went on a rockin’ roller coaster ride that kicked off with some pondering about free will, meandered around to the homogenization of modern society, and even weathered an unfortunate appearance of Godwin’s Law before dropping precipitously into the depths of the problem of evil and narrowly skirting decapitation. By the end of the ride… well… let’s just say the roller coaster operators had a few “protein spills” to clean up. Enjoy…

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I did some meddling with the intro sequence on this one. Also, be sure to listen all the way to end. As you may have discovered already, there will be a different audible morsel following each episode. Collect them all and you might win a pat on the back from a horny penguin!

Episode 002: The Fertility of Penguins

StephenTorrence — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 05:36:25 +0000

Unbeknownst to our listeners, we intrepid Bad Philosophers have taken a sudden interest in the mating habits of sphenisciformes. Gone are the days of Descartes and neuroscience. Henceforth, we shall devote all our time and energy to covering in laborious detail the intricacies of hot, feathery, penguin sex.

In all seriousness though, we actually just butchered the title of Kevin’s latest article on the futility of opinions into a rather eye-catching title. This week he joined us for a techno-heavy foray into Google, their controversial new Chrome browser, and big company control versus the good of society. Still more tantalized by the prospect of penguin’s getting it on? Well, have we ever got a treat for you.

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Be sure to click the handy new iTunes subscription button on the sidebar and get new episodes delivered to you as soon as they’re posted. We wouldn’t want you to miss any steamy penguin action, afterall.

Episode 001: Hello EveryWelcome

StephenTorrence — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:32:00 +0000

Beyond all odds, lightning has struck twice, and the first “official” episode BF is here. Matt, David, and Stephen discuss Stephen’s article in the campus newspaper, spawning a deep, meandering, extravagantly philosophical discussion on neuropsychology, artificial intelligence, and the possibility of a robot future. Join us for a journey deep into the mind, if you dare…

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We are also now officially on iTunes. Click “Subscribe” and enjoy all the philosophical goodness fed automatically to your computer via RSS. You can also manually subscribe by copying the following address into your podcast client of choice:

http://www.badphilosophy.com/blog/?feed=podcast

Duration: 60:18 | Format: MP3 | Rating: Clean

Bad Philosophers: Stephen Torrence, David Ronderos, Matt Legler

Episode Zero: MyJority Rules

StephenTorrence — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:52:09 +0000

Every once in a blue moon, the stars align, the burritos are just *that* good, and the right people come together in just the right mindset to make magic happen. Such was it this past Monday, when the Bad Philosophers spewed forth our “first” bit of genius upon a darkening Earth. In layman’s terms: Episode Zero is here. Click “Continue Reading” for show notes and guest list.

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Duration: 42:37 | Format: MP3 | Rating: Clean

Web Pick: Spreeder – Free Flash-based speed reading application | http://www.spreeder.com/

Guest List: Kevin “Jeff Mckinzie” Saunders, Stephen “Just the Captain” Torrence, David “Captain and Tennille” Ronderos, Matt “John C. Dvorak” Legler, a few random strangers

Absurdity of Absurdities

StephenTorrence — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 04:00:12 +0000

Finally the home base of the Bad Philosophers is taking shape. I have settled on a slightly modified version of FRESH01′s “Scruffy” theme and I am fuddling my way through CSS and PHP to do said modifications. As you can see, some rather flabbergasted philosophers (René Descartes and John Locke, to be exact) have landed on the header image to make their opinions of our philosophy known. I thank them kindly and look forward to many more such appearances in the future.

The website is now ready for us once we make the first episode (yay!) when the gang reconvenes at Texas Tech in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I have an order of 1/8″ stereo extension cables coming in and am still racking my brain on how to mount shotgun microphones on a desk. Styrofoam and duct tape maybe?

Opening our eyes on a brand new world…

admin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:04:02 +0000

…and then promptly asking why it looks so bland. Construction commences…