Bad Philosophy » Christianity

Episode 103: yhposolihP sdrawkcaB

StephenTorrence — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:14:58 +0000

Questions Answered in This Week’s FormSqueeze:

This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage: “Artificial Heart” by Jonathan Coulton (reversed)

Reverse your expectations, everyone! It’s BF time. Hate to spoil it for you, but Kevin is officially a published scholar. This week we gathered to join with Kiki and discuss some good ol’ equivocation of the religious variety. Apparently having little more than a cross or uttering the world “Jesus” in your film automatically makes it Christian. Who’d have guessed? We certainly didn’t! It’s a backwards kind of world out there y’all, but in here, it’s all your glorious BF.

Episode 089: You Asked For It

StephenTorrence — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 17:43:10 +0000

At any given moment thousands of people around the world are praying (and since it’s Easter today you can probably tack a few more zeroes onto that estimate). Whether it’s praying for the destruction of sinful local businesses or just a little tsunami from God to show the world He’s still awake at the control board, people pray for stuff constantly. But there are a few philosophical problems with this practice, beyond the fact that it feels really, really good for some reason. Here to take us through these conundrums are the venerable Dr. Mark Webb from good ol’ Texas Tech University, alongside the indomitable Kiki Canon. Careful what you pray for! Have a listen…

This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage: “Gambler’s Prayer” by Jonathan Coulton

Episode 076: Dalai Lama For Realz

StephenTorrence — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 04:10:51 +0000

As we approach Halloween and the cool weather starts to move in, the Bad Philosophers reconvene for yet another intellectual foray into this excitingly dynamic world. Recently Kevin had a chance to see His Holiness, the Dalai Lama in person. We discussed his newfound insights into the human condition, religion, and crowd control, as well as Facebook’s latest ploy to take over your social life and Google’s prototype of the Johnny Cab. Have a listen!

This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage: “We’re All Gonna Die” – featuring Kiki Canon, Devo Spice and Schaffer the Darklord

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 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 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 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 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!

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?”

(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 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…

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

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…

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

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…

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…