Bad Philosophy

—George Orwell

Blasting in from several months ago, it’s my pleasure to bring you this episode / interview with Marc Powell — local poet, San Francisco ex-pat, and former (?) iPhone virus writer, among many many many other things. Heavy leitmotifs of highfalutin postmodern riffing in this one. An F-isode for the record books (if we kept them). Enjoy...

Audio Video References:

• Marshall McLuhan | Wikipedia
• The Archdruid Report | John Michael Greer
• Buddhism, Science, and Scientism | Buddhist Geeks Podcast
• The One-Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka

[Production Note from Stephen: This episode was originally recorded on May 17, 2015. Yes. Quite a long time ago. I recommend re-listening to (or watching) Episode 151 for a hint at where this came from. My personal frustration with an inability to effect change in the world came to a head last year around April 2015. Many “necessary” things in my life had fallen away, and I saw a new path open up before me. I’ve been following this path ever since, and it has required almost all of my time and dedication. Now, in an interlude of sorts, I’m picking up some of the pieces of BF that I left hanging and getting them out into the world, starting with this rather odd Betweenisode. There’s another excellent episode coming, and a lot more information too. Thank y’all for your patience, understanding, and support.]

Kevin and Stephen reflect on episodes 160, 161, and 162, then refresh the rule framework of BF with a change, removal, and addition. Once again, we had to make an addition on behalf of the audience, and Kevin threw quite a curve-ball with his change on this one.

For more on Stephen’s “EcoTexan” path so far, check out...

• http://ecotexan.tumblr.com
• http://tinyletter.com/EcoTexan/archive
• http://www.facebook.com/EcoTexan
• http://www.instagram.com/storrence
• http://www.stephent.me

Also in the meantime, Kevin has launched a Fiasco podcast!
Check it out. It’s pretty cool.

• http://catastrophic.horse

Change: HOST | Kevin
Remove: LINGUISTIC LABYRINTH | Stephen
Add: IMITATE | Stephen (via Audience email)

New Rule Set: [F]

• Kevin hosts every episode | HOST
• Each episode is roughly 1 hour long | LENGTH
• We record episodes using audio only | MEDIUM
• Episodes are posted every 3 weeks | FREQUENCY
• We choose an explicitly philosophical topic to guide every episode | TOPIC
• Digressions (aka. rabbit trails) are okay | FLAVOR
• We use post-show music at the end of each episode | MUSIC
• We include post-show banter cut from each episode | POSTSHOW
• We include a “stinger” at the end of each episode | STINGER
• We do not edit episodes for time and content | EDITING
• We assume listeners have heard at least 5 recent episodes | BACKGROUND
• We record using whatever devices are available | EQUIPMENT
• We record wherever is most convenient | LOCATION
• The host ends every episode with the phrase “We’ll see you next time, on Bad Philosophy” | CLOSING
• For every episode, we must have at least one guest who is not like us (i.e. not white/male/straight/etc.) | GUEST
• If any of these rules are not met, each host may choose one song lyric that the other must post on their personal Twitter account within a day of the episode going live with the hashtag #bfail | FAIL
• For 5 minutes each episode, the hosts shall authentically embody someone they have met in person | IMITATE

You can see the official “diff” on GitHub here.

Fan Fiction! You might know it, you might have written it, and you might have no idea what it is, but there’s a good chance it’s touched your life somehow. This episode, we welcomed our friend Katherine, a long-time fan fiction fan and Bad Philosophy Certified Guest Expert®, to help us unpack this juicy topic. We had so much incredible discussion that we decided to break our rule and go a Feature Length 90 minutes! Enjoy, everyone...

[Production Note: I must apologize for the 4-month delay in releasing this show. I have been traveling in Europe as part of a major life transition that began a few days after we recorded this episode, and that’s thrown a heck of a wrench into my capacities to edit and release the show. But that doesn’t mean we’re over! Just means it might take longer to get new shows posted... a lot longer. Please listen to the forthcoming Rule Set Update E episode for more.]

Audio

Recorded on March 30, 2015

Show Notes

• FanFiction.net
• Archive of Our Own (AO3)
• “Ghost on the Brain” by Kevin Saunders | FanFiction.net
• The Tomorrow People (Credits) | YouTube
• “My Immortal” | FanFiction.net
• China Miéville on The Future of the Novel | YouTube
• Medieval People of Color | Tumblr
• Slash: The fan fiction party game
• Sturgeon’s Law | Wikipedia

Post-Show Song

“Gimme the Prize [Kurgan’s Theme]” by Queen

What does it take to create a successful startup company these days? Should you go Lean? Go Green? And wait... what does “success” even mean?! Special guest Dania Toth joins us to mull over these questions and more.

Audio Show Notes

• Zero to One | Book by Peter Thiel
• The Lean Startup | Book by Eric Ries
• Conscious Capitalism | Book by John Mackey
• Cars That Run on Compost | Onion Talks

Post-Show Song

A Message to Entrepreneurs by Biondo

Stephen Torrence, Kevin Saunders, and Matt Legler haven’t been together for years. With a global pandemic on and humanity facing immanent extinction, the Bad Philosophers made time to reunite, share COVID stories, and encourage each other. No frills. Just friendship. Hope y’all enjoy this.

Audio Video

Show Notes

• Kevin Saunders is at tinyletter.com/kevsaund
• Matt Legler is many places online at “legmar”
• Stephen Torrence is at www.stephentorrence.com and www.monasticacademy.org