TrueSciPhi

Podcast Profile: Little Bad Thing

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11 episodes
2020 to 2026
Median: 18 minutes
Collection: Philosophy

Description (podcaster-provided):

True stories each week of the things we wish we hadn't done. Smart, dark, wry, and surprising, this is a show for anyone who's made a big decision or regretted a small one. Hosted by philosopher Eleanor Gordon-Smith and produced by The Ethics Centre.

Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):

➤ True confessional stories of regret and moral dilemmas • Ethics of obedience, bystander inaction, vigilantism • Relationship breakups and identity choices • Fraud, scams, plagiarism, theft • Power, responsibility, unintended consequences

This podcast presents weekly true stories about choices people regret, framed as candid confessions and ethical puzzles. Hosted by philosopher Eleanor Gordon-Smith and produced by The Ethics Centre, it focuses on the moments when ordinary decisions tip into harm, betrayal, or lasting uncertainty, and on the uncomfortable gap between what people intended and what their actions caused.

Across the episodes, narrators confront moral compromise in many forms: following rules that hurt vulnerable people, leaving a relationship abruptly without fully understanding why, crossing lines in creative work through imitation or theft, and stepping toward (or away from) violence in the name of protecting others. Several stories center on deception and exploitation—misleading someone into a bad deal, justifying questionable behavior in the moment, and later reassessing it with clearer eyes. Others examine inaction: witnessing something terrible, failing to intervene, and carrying the lingering question of responsibility.

The tone suggested by the show description is smart, dark, wry, and surprising, with an emphasis on the psychological and ethical aftershocks of “little bad things” that can have outsized consequences. Alongside these personal narratives, the feed also points listeners toward related conversations from the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, which explores broader topics such as surveillance, narcissism, climate change, technological change, and broken systems.

Episodes: