Content at The Partially Examined Life (PEL) ran the gamut in October: from Emil Cioran’s dark aphorisms to Aquinas’s scholastic proofs, from dub producers to fake bands, and from improv’s joyful absurdity to Halloween’s macabre reflections. Below is a list of October content (in order of occurrence) you can revisit, or in case you missed it, enjoy for the first time.
Ep. 377: Emil Cioran’s Pessimism (Part One)
October 6, 2025
The episode focuses on Cioran’s A Short History of Decay, unpacking his caustic humor, despair, and fascination with withdrawal and self-negation.
Philosophy vs. Improv #102: Pit of Despair w/ Seth Paskin
October 6, 2025
Philosophy vs. Improv unites with PEL co-host Seth Paskin for an episode that mixes comic improvisation with reflection on the darker and complicated side of life.
(sub)TEXT: Faith and Industry in There Will Be Blood
October 9, 2025
A philosophical reading of Paul Thomas Anderson’s film, where religion, greed, and hunger for power intertwine in an American drama.
Closereads: Aristotle on Final Causes
October 9, 2025
Focusing on Physics, Book 2, Ch. 8, Aristotle’s defense of teleology and purposiveness in nature.
NEM#239: Adrian Sherwood’s Dub Productions
October 9, 2025
The pioneer dub producer talks mixing, rhythm, and five decades of studio experimentation.
Ep. 377: Emil Cioran’s Pessimism (Part Two)
October 13, 2025
Continuing Cioran’s descent into despair, touching on sloth, fatigue, and the refusal to find comfort even in philosophy itself.
Pretty Much Pop #207: Spinal Tap and Other Fake Bands
October 14, 2025
A tour of fake rock groups and what this genre reveals about parody and the rituals of rock stardom.
Philosophy vs. Improv #103: Post-COVID Mary & Mark
October 16, 2025
A looser, personal episode as the hosts reflect on recovery, embodiment, and absurdity—complete with philosophical tangents about Nietzsche and noses.
Closereads: Hobbes on Liberty
October 17, 2025
A reading of Leviathan Ch. 21, on what it means to be free under absolute power and whether liberty can survive a state of subjection.
Ep. 378: Aquinas on God and Mind (Part One)
October 20, 2025
Turning to the Summa Theologica and selected philosophical writings, the group explores Aquinas’s arguments for God’s existence, divine necessity, and the nature of intellect.
Nakedly Examined Music #240: Jonathan Rundman, Multi-Branded
October 26, 2025
Singer-songwriter Jonathan Rundman talks about straddling indie rock, liturgical music, and Midwestern storytelling.
Ep. 378: Aquinas on God and Mind (Part Two)
October 27, 2025
Continuing Aquinas, the group probes divine simplicity, the eternity of the soul, and scholastic accounts of understanding.
Pretty Much Pop #208: An Ed Gein Halloween
October 28, 2025
A Halloween special tracing the real-life murderer’s influence on horror, including Psycho and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and why audiences remain fascinated by monstrosity.
Closereads: Aquinas and Aristotle on Soul
October 30, 2025
Using Disputed Questions in De Anima as a guide to what persists, what thinks, and whether form can exist apart from body.
(sub)TEXT: Spirit Unbound in Hawthorne’s ‘The Birth-Mark’ and ‘Drowne’s Wooden Image’
October 31, 2025
Exploring Hawthorne’s tales of obsession and artistic creation as meditations on perfection, embodiment, and longing.
Philosophy vs. Improv #104: The Hippie Code w/ Vickie Eistenstein
October 31, 2025
A spirited Halloween-week conversation about authenticity, performance, and the tensions of counterculture.
More to come in November!
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