Bad Philosophy

First off, let’s acknowledge a tragedy. We lost Episode 133, folks. It joins the likes of Episodes 7, 21, 42, 49, 87, and 127 in the oblivion of BF content that has never seen the light of day due to unfortunate technical glitches. If you’re curious, we had our good friend Nicholas Bergfeld on to discuss Chinese hacker schools. It was rad.

On a happier note, after a longer hiatus than we would’ve liked, Kevin and I got back together to talk about hats! Turns out there are quite a few on OK Cupid, that bastion of everything right and good. Speaking of rampant sexism, Samsung let this happen. Yeah. It was almost as entertaining as Kevin’s first webcomic series, but it can hardly hold a candle to Joss Whedon’s new gem. So put on your trilby and have a listen. BF is back!

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This Week’s Post-Show Song Pimpage
“Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat” by Bob Dylan

Questions Answered in This Week’s FormSqueeze
Why is Formspring going away?

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Abraham Lincoln, Amanda Palmer, Bananarchy, baseball cap, bowler hat, Don Draper, fashion, Fergie, frozen bananas, hats, home video, Jason Calacanis, Jason Mraz, Joss Whedon, Kevin, lost episode, Mackelmore and Ryan Lewis, Mad Men, Much Ado About Nothing, porkpie hat, Rewind This!, Rifftrax, Stephen, SXSW, The Retrieval, Thrift Shop, top hat, VHS

It’s a nice day to start again, folks. The end of January marked the beginning of the first Coursera MOOC purely focused on the venerable phield of philosophy. In this first application of the first week of material (what I meant but forgot to call “Coursera Diaries Part I”), Kevin and I test out Dave Ward’s conception of philosophy as “the activity of working out the right way of thinking about the things that matter most to us.” Television happens to matter quite a bit to me and Kevin, so we put on our best drinking caps for one of our more intentionally F-isodes in a while. So man the boats, don’t touch that dial, and prepare to go meta, it’s BF time!

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This Week’s Post-Show Song Pimpage:
“Kill Your Televion” by God Fodder

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Africa, Arrested Development, broadcasting, Canada, cell phones, Charlie Brooker, Choose Your Own Adventure, Contact, Coursera, David Ward, definition, Doctor Who, etymology, Halo 2, Hamlet, Hitler, house of cards, I Love Bees, Kevin, Leverage, Memento, metaphilosophy, mobile payments, My Little Pony, Netflix, Network, Oxford Dictionary, Philosophy Bites, Phineas and Ferb, Ryan North, Sherlock. radio serial, Stephen, structural dramaturgy, television, The Guild, The Hub, theatre, To Be or Not to Be: That is the Adventure, TV, University of Edinburgh, YouTube

Okay, granted, it’s been a very long time since our last “Weekly Why.” They are not weekly, nor do they even strictly deal with explanations, questions, or anything that might involve “why.” Even the index number “12” is not entirely accurate (there have been a few discarded potential Weekly Why’s since 008, if you’re curious). Put simply, the Weekly Why is just our way to share super rabbit trail content that didn’t make it into a main episode (and bring up our episode/month* count a little). This time around Kevin had some critical thoughts regarding the very nature of the popular podcast / radio program Radiolab, in particular their unwillingness to dive deep into the issue of truth itself, even when they come face-to-face with it. Have a listen!

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*Speaking of episodes per month, you might recall that in a recent episode we challenged YOU, our listeners, to graph the frequency of our episodes since beginning the podcast over 4 years ago. Well, New Zealand economic analyst Stephen Hoskin put his skills to the task and sent us this very informative / sobering chart shortly thereafter:

BF Episodes / Month (Credit: Stephen Hoskins)

In our defense, this *technically* graphs posts per month, including updates on the Wiki, merchandise, and such from the early days. Still, I’m sure the two are strongly correlated. Whichever way you slice it, we clearly need to get our butts in gear.

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Kevin, poststructuralism, RadioLab, reality, Stephen, truth

Recently our favorite behavioral economist, Dan Ariely, made an appearance on Triangulation to talk about his many works on the predictable irrationality of mankind. Conveniently enough, he’s also written and done a bit of work on the subject of essay mills and student plagiarism, a topic our good friend and fellow former student Matt Legler got to thinking about as a result of that interview. On short notice he joined me and Kevin to touch on automated grading, education, reform, and Mars for a whirlwind show. Calling all Gen M-ers! Grab your table-sized tablet, reticulate your charter, and make your voice heard… it’s BF time!

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This Week’s Post-show Song Pimpage:
“Honduras” by National Anthem Orchestra

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Barack Obama, cheating, college, Colonialism, Coursera, Dan Ariely, economics, education, English, essay mills, globalism, government, grading, Honduras, Hong Kong, Kevin, Mars One, Matt, outsourcing, plagiarism, SimCity, Stephen, Steve Jobs, Texas, The Wire, This American Life, Tim Cook, Triangulation