Very Bad Wizards

David and Tamler cross the border into Denis Villeneuve's taut and propulsive thriller Sicario, the story of an FBI agent who gets pulled into a task force drawn from the shadiest elements of the US government. The assignment: to disrupt, infiltrate, and take down a major Mexican cartel. But what's the deal with Alejandro, and who does he work for? This is Roger Deakins in God mode and Villeneuve, Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benicio Del Toro at the very top of their games.
Plus, we select 16 topics from the hundreds submitted by our beloved patrons for VBW Madness 2, a tournament to determine what we discuss on the listener selected episode. Join the VBW Patreon to vote on the winner!
Sicario [wikipedia.org]

David and Tamler return to the Southern Gothic well and talk about Flannery O'Connor's short story masterpiece "Good Country People." A nihilistic atheist philosophy PhD named Joy or Helga (depending on who you ask) lives with her mother and some tenants on a farm in rural Georgia. One day 19-year-old aw-shucksy Bible salesman comes to the house and shakes up her philosophical convictions. Plus a case study of a sexsomniac who masturbates (and more) in his sleep.
Support Eliza's film project [seedandspark.com]
Brice, M., Gales, A. Z., Attali, V., Chauvin, M., & Arnulf, I. (2026). Left hand sleep masturbation in a right-handed male patient with sexsomnia. Sleep Medicine, 108823. [scientificdirect.com]
Good Country People by Flannery O'Connor [wikipedia.org]

Are you a college student or about to be one? Do you have friends or family in college? This is the most important episode of your life. David and Tamler do something a little different this episode and tier rank a wide range of academic fields from engineering to art history, computer science to women & gender studies. Step aside U.S. News and World Report, the new definitive rankings have just dropped. Plus, Dave reveals he's in the Epstein files, but do we buy his explanation?

Have you always wanted to ask us a question but too cheap to spring for Patreon? Join us Saturday 2/21 at 6pm Eastern for our first ever reddit AUA on r/verybadwizards
Final Tier List [spoiler!]

David and Tamler return to Mircea Eliade's The Sacred and Profane and discuss the chapter "Sacred Time and Myths." How does viewing time as circular give us a periodic window into the sacred? What does it mean to reactualize the creation of the universe in ritual and to view time as "starting anew"? How did Christianity radically change the experience of time by locating the incarnation of the sacred in the historical past?
Plus, do you believe in conspiracy theories?  A new study says you should think twice about putting them in your dating profiles.
Green, R., Kamitz, L. C., Toribio-Flórez, D., Biddlestone, M., Gasking, F., Sutton, R. M., & Douglas, K. M. (2022). Conspiracy theories and online dating: It'sa (mis) match!. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 01461672251399448.
Eliade, M. (1959). The sacred and the profane: The nature of religion (Vol. 81). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

David and Tamler consecrate their podcast with a discussion of "The Sacred and the Profane" by Mircea Eliade. We focus on the first chapter on sacred spaces, where the divine breaks through (or irrupts) our homogenous and chaotic reality, creating a center that gives us meaning and allows us to orient our lives. Plus speaking of the profane, a new study shows that cursing makes you stronger – but why in god's living fuck do they always end up spewing nonsense about the "underlying psychological mechanisms"?   
Stephens, R., Dowber, H., Richardson, C., & Washmuth, N. B. (2025). "Don't hold back": Swearing improves strength through state disinhibition. American Psychologist.
Eliade, M. (1959). The sacred and the profane: The nature of religion (Vol. 81). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.