Episode 317: For Shame

Very Bad Wizards

Tamler Sommers & David Pizarro

Society & Culture, Philosophy

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 30 September 2025

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What is the psychology of shame? Is the experience of shame a human universal? How can we investigate the nature of shame across cultures? David and Tamler dive into Richard Shweder’s “Towards a Deep Cultural Psychology of Shame.” We talk about the methodological challenges of studying shame in other contexts and languages, the virtues of ethnographic approaches, studying literature, and more.

Plus, bloody hell are the Brits starting queues at pubs? Bollocks!

Queueing in pubs disgraces Britain by Will Dunn [newstatesmen.com]

Shweder, R. A. (2003). Toward a deep cultural psychology of shame. Social Research: An International Quarterly, 70(4), 1100-1129. [muse.jhu.edu]

Transcript

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0:00.0	Very Bad Wizards is a podcast with a philosopher, my dad, and psychologist Dave Vizarro, having an informal discussion about issues in science and ethics.
0:09.4	Please note that the discussion contains bad words that I'm not allowed to say, and knowing my dad some very inappropriate jokes.
0:17.3	Son, you keep dancing with the devil.
0:25.6	One day is going to follow you home.
0:29.6	The maiden boss has spoken.
0:36.6	Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. The great end boss has spoken.
0:40.3	Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
0:46.9	Who are you?
0:49.0	Who are you?
0:51.2	I'm a very bad man.
0:52.6	I'm a very good man.
1:01.0	Good man. They think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have. May no attention to that man.
1:04.0	Anybody can have a brain?
1:09.0	You're a very bad man. I'm a very good man. Anybody can have a brain?
1:13.0	You're a very bad man.
1:15.1	I'm a very good man.
1:17.7	Just a very bad wizard.
1:19.6	Welcome to Very Bad Wizards.
1:20.7	I'm Tamler Summers.
1:27.0	Dave, a lot of the most famous comedians in the world, including some VBW favorites like Bill Burr and Dave Chappelle, are getting slammed for
1:30.3	agreeing to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia because of their human rights abuses and purported role in 9-11.
1:39.3	I mean, we know it really happened there, but, you know, some people buy that story.
	...

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