On Pretty Much Pop, a philosopher, an actor, and a sci-fi writer (often with entertainment industry guests) talk about media and how we consume it: TV, film, music, novels, games, comics, comedy, theater, podcasts, and more. Most of what (other) people like is pretty weird when you think about it, so thinking about it is what we do.
Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al talk about Charlie Brooker’s British anthology TV series that began in 2011 and recently released its 6th season. How has this show evolved from satirical science fiction to something more often just horror studies that study human nature? We talk about our favorite episodes and what does and doesn't work. Does the show have to be so dark to Continue Reading …
PEL End-of-Summer Nightcap 2023
Recorded 8/21/23. Mark, Seth, Dylan, and eventually Wes catch up, getting into people's travels, getting in touch with nature, Barbie, How To with John Wilson, anticipating our upcoming episodes, and then a large information dump from Wes about his research into gender and evolutionary psychology, which will no doubt end up in a PEL episode eventually. We conclude by Continue Reading …
Closereads: Reason in Hobbes’ “Leviathan” (Part One)
Sign up for Closereads at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy to get parts 2 and 3 of this reading, as well as our previous and future installments of this new podcast. We've covered a lot of rationalists (I'm including the Romantics in this, strangely enough) and wanted to turn back to one of the original Enlightenment empiricists, Thomas Hobbes. His Leviathan (1651) is best Continue Reading …
PvI#59: Yes, and Technological Dystopia w/ Anthony LeBlanc
How does new technology affect ethics? Anthony (who is on strike, but that doesn't apply to improv) is an improviser with a computer science degree who now coaches kid TV actors. We talk personal identity, transhumanism, genetic engineering, AI, organizational ethics, Black Mirror, Beastars, and transporter virginity. Listen to more transporter talk on The Partially Examined Continue Reading …
NEM#201: Ivan Neville Gets Personal (but Still Funky)
Ivan is the keyboardist/singer/multi-instrumentalist son of Aaron Neville and has played with the Neville Brothers, The Rolling Stones and Keith Richards' solo band, The Spin Doctors, Soul Asylum, and Robbie Robertson among others. He has released eight albums since 1988, half of these under the band name Dumpstaphunk (a collaboration that includes his cousin Ian Continue Reading …
Ep. 323: Acquiring Language: Tomasello vs. Chomsky (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On Michael Tomasello's "Language Is Not an Instinct" (1995) and ch. 1, 2, 8 and 9 of Constructing a Language: A Usage-Based Theory of Language Acquisition (2003), plus the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article Innateness and Language by Fiona Cowie (posted 2008, updated 2017). Featuring Continue Reading …
Closereads: How to Hear and Watch Emerson’s Oversoul Parts Two, Three and Four (and Future Installments)
Continuing from part one, we took three more sessions to get through the rest of the essay. You can hear these if you sign up to support Closereads via Patreon at patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy. You can listen to audio previews of all the episodes there as well (here's part two). I'm not going to keep making posts like this on this site to tantalize you, but the plan is Continue Reading …
Ep. 323: Acquiring Language: Tomasello vs. Chomsky (Part Two for Supporters)
Continuing from part one on Michael Tomasello's "Language Is Not an Instinct" (1995) and Constructing a Language: A Usage-Based Theory of Language Acquisition (2003), as contrasted with Chomsky universal grammar (the flag that Steven Pinker continues to carry). With guest Christopher Heath. We get into more of the insights and studies that drove Chomsky and Pinker to argue Continue Reading …
Ep. 323: Acquiring Language: Tomasello vs. Chomsky (Part One for Supporters)
On Michael Tomasello's "Language Is Not an Instinct" (1995) and ch. 1, 2, 8 and 9 of Constructing a Language: A Usage-Based Theory of Language Acquisition (2003), plus the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article Innateness and Language by Fiona Cowie (posted 2008, updated 2017). Featuring Mark, Wes, Seth, Dylan, and guest Christopher Heath. Clearly we are not born Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #155: Existentialist Barbie
Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al talk about the most discussable movie of the summer made by the unlikely pairing of feminist indie director Greta Gerwig and Barbie's corporate overlords at Mattel. Does the film convey at least a legitimate teen version of feminist existentialism, whereby oppressed women question their identities? On this account (says Mark), even the Ken plot Continue Reading …
Closereads on Emerson’s Oversoul: Audio and Video Podcast Premiere
Subscribe to get this discussion ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Are we underlyingly all really a single, unified organism? Or do we just have a lot in common? We begin unraveling this puzzling claim by reading Ralph Waldo Emerson's 1841 essay "The Over-Soul." Read along with us. This is the public premiere of a new weekly series by the most verbose of your PEL Continue Reading …
Closereads: Emerson’s Oversoul (Part One for PEL Supporters)
Are we underlyingly all really a single, unified organism? Or do we just have a lot in common? We begin unraveling this puzzling claim by reading Ralph Waldo Emerson's 1841 essay "The Over-Soul." Read along with us. This is the first of four parts of this series. The others will all be up this week, but will only be visible to those support Closereads through Continue Reading …
Closereads: Hegel on Spinoza (Part Three)
We conclude our Closeread of the Spinoza section from Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy (1830) by getting into some heavy metaphysical issues. Read along with us. Start with parts one and two. Watch the video: Sign up to the new Closereads Patreon: patreon.com/closereadsphilosophy, to get every episode of the new endeavor. We've provided this first series Continue Reading …
Closereads: Hegel on Spinoza (Part Two)
We're continuing from part one reading through the entry on Spinoza from Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy (1830). Read along with us. You can listen via the Citizen feed or watch the video: Note that this is a new project, not just more PEL, so we're creating new Closereads-specific supporter mechanisms like a standalone Closereads Patreon page, which Continue Reading …
NEM#200: Mikaela Davis: Singer-Songwriter-Harpist
Mikaela has a degree in harp performance and has been recording since 2011. We discuss "Cinderella" (and listen at the end to "Leave It Alone") from her second label-released album, And Southern Star (2023), "Left Hand Path" (2002, released on the compilation album Spelljams), and "In My Groove" from Delivery (2018). Intro: "When You're Away" (recorded 2015). Hear more at Continue Reading …
Philosophy vs. Improv #58: Avant Garde Accounting
The guests are away, and so Billy and Markaroony will play. This fast-paced, sweet-moving discussion covers the genius individual artist and how that might or might not allow collaboration, genres and definitions, strife, and more. Mark just can't WAIT for a canoe, and getting CRAZY at the salad bar. Oops, we forgot to determine a winner, so YOU decide. The image was pulled Continue Reading …
Closereads: Hegel on Spinoza (Part One)
It's a brand new podcast! Closereads: Philosophy with Mark and Wes, where we read through and talk about a text line by line. Today we're starting the entry on Spinoza from Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy (1830). Read along with us. But you don't have to just listen: This is a video podcast... not that you have to watch the video, but maybe you'd like to. Continue Reading …
Ep. 322: Schelling on Art vs. Nature (Part Three)
Subscribe to get parts 1-3 of this discussion ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Mark and Wes conclude with some close reading of Part 6 of System of Transcendental Idealism (1800), section 3: "Relation of Art to Philosophy." What exactly is self-consciousness, and how to we achieve it? We try to really figure out Schelling's story about art in light of his general Continue Reading …
(sub)Text: Competing Affections in “The Lion in Winter”
Before Henry VIII changed history for lack of a son, Henry II had too many. His eldest, Richard, a fierce soldier who controls the wealthy Aquitaine, is the favorite of his mother, Eleanor. The youngest, John, is immature and dull, but his father’s favorite. And the middle son, scheming Geoffrey, is, quite dangerously, no one’s favorite. In the end, there are no winners; Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #154: Indiana Jones and the Various MacGuffins
Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al talk about the blockbuster archaeological adventure films created in 1981 by George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg that we grew up with and which have now been revived and apparently concluded twice, currently via James Mangold's Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. What's the formula for these films, and which deviations to we appreciate? Continue Reading …