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Episode 108: The Ultimate Egotist

StephenTorrence — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 06:11:00 +0000

People change. Recently I made a video about how I’d like to change my approach to YouTube rather significantly. In hindsight, it’s one of the most egotistical videos I’ve ever made, and Kevin had no hesitation telling me this. He and Jacie Hood joined me to discuss and critique my latest endeavor, the changing nature of my ASL fame, and the YouTube community in general. Have a listen…

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

Questions Answered in This Week’s FormSqueeze:

Best subject?

Descrates?

Rude kids? Give ‘em the Face!

Episode 107: Killer Hipstinct

StephenTorrence — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 04:38:38 +0000

Have you ever found yourself uttering anything like the following phrases? “Oh, I was totally into that band before they sold out” or “Forget polyester, tweed is where it’s at” or maybe “Gosh, I wish they’d bring back the phonograph cylinder; vinyl is so mainstream.” Well, I have some good news, my hipster friend — we recorded an episode just for you! On my first visit to Texas Tech University in over a year, I managed to rally some old stalwarts to tackle this topic: Shawn Brackett (of synesthesia fame), Matt Legler (who I swear will get carded at bars until he’s 40), and Bryan Mitchell (that guy who wore hats and wasn’t Kevin but now doesn’t wear hats anymore). Load this MP3 onto your iRiver H10 before your friends do, it’s BF time!

This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage: “Too Soon” by Hey Ocean!

Question Answers in This Week’s Formsqueeze:

Babies?

Episode 098: Eticat

StephenTorrence — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:14:29 +0000

When was the last time you held a door open for a stranger? Refrained from shaking hands with someone while you were sick? Cringed at dipping from that bleu cheese sauce your friend just dipped in after taking a bite from his chicken strip? Likely you don’t remember specific instances. Etiquette is just a part of what you do. But is there a deeper structure to the actions we take in the name of etiquette? Could there be a science to determine the ideal model for human interaction? In a recent article for Charlie’s Diary, Karl Schroeder poses this question and offers some interesting thoughts on how we might “re-wild etiquette.” Too tempting a topic to pass up, we decided to get the band back together, having Kevin Saunders, Eric Beutlich, and I all in the same place for the first time in years! Magic, beer, and some fresh baked cookies definitely went down. So grab your salad fork, put on your Sunday best, and prepare for some good ol’ fashioned BF! Have a listen…

This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage: “Etiquette Song” by the Animaniacs

Question(s) Answered in This Week’s FormSqueeze:

Can you copyright the copyright sign?

Episode 084: Safe for Work

StephenTorrence — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:56:30 +0000

Ever get the feeling that society is holding you back? Like a ball and chain are just wrapped around your ankles, and if you could only break free and be your own person, the world would miraculously become your sandbox? Well according to Ayn Rand, that ball and chain are nothing more than your own inhibitions. Success is there for the taking! Oh, but just remember to bring a plow.

This week on BF we tackle quite possibly the most controversial piece of philosophical literature ever to spend 50 years in development hell before they finally made a crappy movie out of it: Atlas Shrugged. Joining me to bite into this tasty morsel were recent Rand reader Jed Cummins and reliable Rand resister Kiki Canon. Ready for some self-interested Objectivismania? Well get on board!

This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage: “The Trees” by Rush (suggested by @treycaliva)

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

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 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 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 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!

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.

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…

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.

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.