Mark Linsenmayer (host of The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast) and Bill Arnett (head of the Chicago Improv Studio) each try to teach each other their crafts via conversation, scenes, and what can only be called performance art. No taking turns! 
Zach is an improvisor who's written for MST3K, been a commentator for Resistance Pro Wrestling, and has been a recurring guest on Hello From the Magic Tavern. He joins Mark and Bill to discuss competitiveness in all its forms. Is strife part of utopia, or would all conflict be removed in an ideal political situation? Is the controlled competitiveness of sports or improv Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #150: Dark Shadows w/ Kathryn Leigh Scott
Mark, Lawrence, and guest co-host horror writer Sean Michael Cooney (who has seen all 1225 episodes) discuss the gothic romance vampire soap opera from 1966-1971 plus the spin-off movies and reboots. We interview one of the stars of the original show, the author Kathryn Leigh Scott, to talk about the appeal and enduring legacy of this show that was once massively popular but is Continue Reading …
Ep. 318: Friedrich Schiller on the Civilizing Potential of Art (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this ad-free, plus a supporter-exclusive part three. Listen to a preview.. We continue (from part one) working through letters 1-15 of On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795), helped by Markus Reuter. By the end of this, we get a clearer picture of what Schiller means by the experience of Beauty. We have a sensuous drive on the one hand Continue Reading …
Ep. 318: Friedrich Schiller on the Civilizing Potential of Art (Part Three for Supporters)
Mark and Wes dive deeper into the text of the first several letters of On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795). Start with part one. Are verbal descriptions of art destined to fall short? Beauty for Kant (and hence Schiller) is semi-conceptual, in that it uses the cognitive tools that are employed in making concepts, but doesn't actually come up with a concept; instead the Continue Reading …
Ep. 318: Friedrich Schiller on the Civilizing Potential of Art (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content including an exclusive part three to this discussion. Can art make us better people? Musician Markus Reuter joins Mark, Wes, and Seth to discussion the first half of On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795). Schiller was a famous poet of early German Romanticism, and this book is partly Continue Reading …
Ep. 318: Friedrich Schiller on the Civilizing Potential of Art (Part Two for Supporters)
We continue (from part one) working through letters 1-15 of On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795), helped by Markus Reuter. By the end of this, we get a clearer picture of what Schiller means by the experience of Beauty. We have a sensuous drive on the one hand to fill our experience with material stuff, and a form drive on the other that raises us up (a la Plato) to wonder Continue Reading …
Ep. 318: Friedrich Schiller on the Civilizing Potential of Art (Part One for Supporters)
Can art make us better people? Musician Markus Reuter joins Mark, Wes, and Seth to discussion the first half of On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795). Schiller was a famous poet of early German Romanticism, and this book is partly political philosophy and partly philosophy of art. The work takes the form of a series of letters. We read 1-15 for this discussion and will cover Continue Reading …
NEM#195: Nicholas Tremulis Reads Better Books
Nick started as a teen punk jazz guitarist in Chicago and has fronted 10+ carefully arranged solo albums in various styles from R&B to Latin to alt-country. He has also been in groups with Alejandro Escovedo (Fauntleroys), Bun E. Carlos from Cheap Trick (Candy Golde), and now the Chi-Town Social Club. He's also a teacher and has scored 40+ films. We discuss "Amanda and Continue Reading …
(sub)Text: Time and Taboo in “Back to the Future” (1985)
In the parking lot of the Twin Pines Mall, Doc Brown plans to use his Delorean time machine to head 25 years into the future and see, as he puts it, “the progress of mankind.” But like the license plate on the Delorean, Doc is out of time. Through his absent-mindedness—and angering some terrorists—Doc has failed to provide a future into which he or his friend Marty McFly can Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #149: Rocky and Creed
It's our most successful sports film franchise ever, starting with the Best Picture winning, highest grossing film from 1976, continuing through 1990's Rocky V and 2006's Rocky Balboa under Sylvester Stallone's leadership, which in fits and starts then shifted to a new generation of filmmakers for three films focusing on the son of Apollo Creed, the antagonist from the first Continue Reading …
Ep. 317: Character Philosophies in Dostoevsky’s “Brothers Karamazov” (Part One)
Subscribe to get this ad-free, plus a supporter-exclusive final part to this discussion, which you can preview. Exiting the high-pressure live situation of our last episode, Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan ponder the 1869 novel in a more leisurely way. First, we revisit the prime "problem of evil"-related arguments in the book, and then look at textual passages to see how the Continue Reading …
Ep. 317: Character Philosophies in Dostoevsky’s “Brothers Karamazov” (Part Two for Supporters)
To conclude our discussion of the novel, we turn to the philosophies of Dmitri and Ivan. Start with part one, or better yet, ep. 316. Dmitri is fixated on honor and its conflict with his romantic desires, and this causes him to make all sorts of terrible decisions that drive much of the plot of the novel. Ivan is a more complicated case, because so much of his motivations Continue Reading …
Ep. 317: Character Philosophies in Dostoevsky’s “Brothers Karamazov” (Part One for Supporters)
Exiting the high-pressure live situation of our last episode, Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan ponder the 1869 novel in a more leisurely way. First, we revisit the prime "problem of evil"-related arguments in the book, and then look at textual passages to see how the various brothers deal with the problems of existence in an imperfect world. The Christian story says that evil and Continue Reading …
Ep. 316: Dostoevsky’s “Brothers Karamazov”: PEL Live in NYC (Part Two)
Subscribe to get the ad-free, unbroken Citizen Edition of this episode along with plenty of bonus content. Continuing from part one on Dostoevsky's 1880 novel, we respond to some objections to the Christian arguments that the characters Alyosha and Zosima put forward (either explicitly or just through their behavior) to respond to Ivan's "problem of evil"-type arguments Continue Reading …
Philosophy vs. Improv #52: Elegant Stoicism w/ Tanner Campbell
Tanner runs the popular daily podcast Practical Stoicism, so of course we brought him on to talk about on-board flight services and attitudes among retail service workers. Seriously, this is one of the most beefy philosophical discussions (about Stoicism and virtue, naturally) we've had on the show. Follow Tanner @stoicismtanner. Listen to PEL's episodes on Stoicism Continue Reading …
NEM#194: Vashti Bunyan Is Not a Folk Singer
Vashti was discovered in the mid-60s by the Rolling Stones manager, recorded a seminal (though commercially unsuccessful) acoustic album in 1970, then quit music until her children were grown, recording two more albums since 2005, touring, and her old songs have appeared on several commercials and soundtracks. She's just released her autobiography, Wayward: Just Another Life to Continue Reading …
Ep. 316: Dostoevsky’s “Brothers Karamazov”: PEL Live in NYC (Part One)
Subscribe to get the ad-free, unbroken Citizen Edition of this episode. On Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1880 novel, focusing mostly on the "Rebellion" and "Grand Inquisitor" chapters, featuring Mark, Wes, Seth and Dylan at the Caveat in Lower Manhattan. How can we reconcile ourselves to the existence of evil and suffering? The character Ivan Karamazov gives an argument that we Continue Reading …
Ep. 316: Dostoevsky’s “Brothers Karamazov”: PEL Live in NYC (Citizen Edition)
On Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1880 novel, focusing mostly on the "Rebellion" and "Grand Inquisitor" chapters, featuring Mark, Wes, Seth and Dylan at the Caveat in Lower Manhattan. How can we reconcile ourselves to the existence of evil and suffering? The character Ivan Karamazov gives an argument that we just can't. This is a variation of the classic argument from evil against the Continue Reading …
(sub)Text: The Violence of Redemption in John Donne’s “Batter My Heart” (Holy Sonnet 14)
In “Holy Sonnet 14,” John Donne would like his “three person’d God” to break instead of knock, blow instead of breathe, and burn instead of shine. This vision of redemption is about remaking rather than reform. And it seems to be motivated by a sense that neither reason nor the typical rhetoric of faith are not enough to bridge the mortal and the divine—what’s needed is God’s Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #148: Resource Management Video Games
Mark, Al, our editor Tyler Hislop, and Dr. Jamie Madigan of the Psychology of Video Games podcast talk about a wide range crafting and building games from Minecraft to Starcraft to Sim City to Civilization to Rimworld to Subnautica. Given what a time commitment these typically require, what makes some of them worthwhile? Is it better to mix the building and crafting with Continue Reading …