Very Bad Wizards

Tamler and Dave devote a full episode to Book 19 of The Odyssey. In what is one of the most emotionally intense chapters of the story so far, Odysseus continues his Cretan lies, has a long tête-à-tête with Penelope, and finally gets recognized by his former slave Eurycleia.

Tamler and David discuss The Odyssey books 17 & 18, in which Telemachus and Odysseus, back at home, continue their deception and put everyone to the test. Everyone except for Argos, that is, because Argos was (and will always be) a very good boy.

David and Tamler welcome Paul Bloom back to the show for a definitive ranking of classic psychology experiments. Will the shocking results of the Milgram studies earn him a posthumous 'S' ranking? How far will Zimbardo fall? Is the Stroop effect a super effect? Did you see the Gorilla in these notes? Which is more plausible: that we have Paul Bloom as a guest, or we have Paul Bloom and a guest and it's a banger? Note: no dogs or baby monkeys were harmed in the making of this episode. Final Tier List Rankings (episode spoilers!) List of Studies Ranked (all links are to pages on wikipedia.org) Milgram Shock Studies Tversky and Kahneman Linda Problem Loftus Car Crash/False Memory Ekman Basic Emotions Studies Good Samaritan Study Invisible Gorilla Study Shepard Figure Rotation Harlow's Monkeys Seligman Learned Helplessness Asch Conformity Stroop Effect Dunning-Kruger Effect Visual Cliff Experiment Zimbardo Prison Experiment False Belief Task Bem ESP Study Marshmallow Test Bargh Elderly Walking Prime 

In this episode, Tamler and David discuss The Odyssey Books 15 & 16, in which father and son (and father figure and son) are reunited, and in which the Odysseus and Telemachus start planning their revenge against the suitors.

Tamler and David discuss Books 13 & 14 of The Odyssey. Odysseus finally makes it to Ithaca and meets up with Athena, gets a disguise, and has a chat with his most loyal slave Eumaeus.