Very Bad Wizards

In the final episode of The Lotus Eaters, Tamler and David make their casting decisions (any actors across history) for their dream "Odyssey" film. We then end with some broader thoughts about The Odyssey and our experience doing The Lotus Eaters. Thank you for coming along with us on this journey!

How would you a describe a friend or a co-worker? Would you list their personality traits like generous, aggressive, principled, or stubborn? Or would you give more concrete context-filled descriptions ("she argues with her parents a lot," "she brings us donuts at work sometimes"?) According to Shweder and Bourne's influential 1982 article, culture and the dominant metaphors within it influence how we answer these questions. David and Tamler continue their deep dive into the work of Richard Shweder with a discussion of his paper "Does the Concept of a Person Vary Cross-Culturally."
Plus, you might not save baby Hitler from drowning, but would you save his father or his grandfather? Moral psychology has a new paradigm! 
Pucci, M., & Gagliardi, L. (2026). The killing baby Hitler dilemma: A novel paradigm for studying causal-temporal distance in moral decision-making. Consciousness and Cognition, 145, 104141.
Shweder, R. A., & Bourne, E. J. (1982). Does the concept of the person vary cross-culturally?. In Cultural conceptions of mental health and therapy (pp. 97-137). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

As foretold in the prophecies, Tamler and David unite in Ithaca to cover the final chapters (23 & 24) of The Odyssey, in which Odysseus passes Penelope's final test, reunites with Laertes, and Athena and Zeus do a little deus ex machina-ing and prevent the suitors' families from getting revenge.

Tamler and David discuss books 20, 21, & 22 of The Odyssey. Beginning with omens and portents and ending with merciless slaughter (with a bow contest in between), we finally see Odysseus' plans for revenge reach fruition.

David and Tamler steal some of Laurie Santos' podcast money (she'll never miss it), drive to LA, and pull over in the rain to spend the night in the Bates Motel. That lanky young man in the office seems nice if a bit awkward, not sure about his mother though. Plus, we share a few things that might turn us into psycho killers. Like we always say, a son is a poor substitute for a lover.