Bad Philosophy » free will

Episode 097: Ewww!

StephenTorrence — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 04:48:15 +0000

Take a moment to picture something that truly, deeply disgusts you; that photo in the lobby of your doctor’s office, rubbing felt the wrong direction, your own face in the mirror every morning… y’know, that sorta stuff. As it turns out, people get disgusted by relatively similar things, at least according to a couple of researchers with an endless supply of eager survey victims and carte blanche from the IRB. This episode Julie Meadows made her triumphant return to the show alongside myself and Kevin. It was a pretty rank B-isode, but we did manage to throw in some zombies, Star Trek, and a completely unnecessary film adaptation of a decent board game. So grab a barf bag and check yourself for hagfish, it’s BF time!

This Episodes’s Post-show Song Pimpage: “Fish Heads” by Barnes & Barnes

Questions answered in this episode’s FormSqueeze:

Intro song? Technological civilizations?

The power of names?

What is the meaning of life?

Do people have free will?

If you were a pirate, what would your name be?

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 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 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!

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.

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 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 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…

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!