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The Partially Examined Life Blog

Ep. 313: Mozi’s Political Ethics (Part One)

March 20, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content including including a new Nightcap discussion relevant to this episode about tributes to the dead. On the central Mohist text, collecting the teachings of Mozi (aka Mo Tzu), from the Chinese Warring States period around 430 B.C.E., with guest Tzuchien Tho joining Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. The  Continue Reading …

(sub)Text: Mortal Pretensions in John Donne’s “Death Be Not Proud” (Holy Sonnet 10)

March 16, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

A recusant Catholic turned Protestant, a rake turned priest, a scholar, lawyer, politician, soldier, secretary, sermonizer, and of course, a poet— John Donne’s biography contains so many scuttled identities and discrete lives, perhaps its no wonder that his great subjects were mortality and death. His Holy Sonnets, likely composed between 1609 and 1610, and published  Continue Reading …

Philosophy vs. Improv #49: Ferrets in Uniform with Cole Nasrallah

March 13, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Mark and Bill talk transcendental idealism and Schopenhauer with Cole, who teaches philosophy at the College of Southern Nevada. How does the idea that everything is ideas actually affect behavior? What if you think that reality is a swirling mass of chaos? What are you gonna do then? Huh? Also, the least effective confidential informant! Hear Mark talk about Schopenhauer on  Continue Reading …

Pretty Much Pop #146: Black Panther Films and Comics

March 13, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Perhaps alone in the Marvel Universe, Black Panther is taken seriously as a political statement, both in the content of its stories and in how the films are produced. Wakanda purports to present an alternate historical condition of Africa had it not been colonized. Mark, Lawrence Ware, Anthony LeBlanc, and Viola Burlew discuss the comics and films, getting into the political  Continue Reading …

Ep. 312: The Dao De Jing on Virtue (Part Two)

March 13, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get both parts of this episode ad free. Concluding our discussion of the Daodejing with guest Theo Brooks. This continues directly from part one, but you should really start with ep. 311. Sections covered in this part of the discussion include: Next episode: We're reading another figure from the Chinese Warring States period: Mozi, specifically the  Continue Reading …

Philosophy vs. Improv #48: Debates in the Orthaganon

March 6, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Mark and Bill act out a couple of scenes of a person trying to convince a stubborn person of something. But there's a twist in the characterization! Also, before you were born, the world did not exist. Part of this came out of some comments in The Partially Examined Life's second Wittgenstein On Certainty episode and anticipates our upcoming treatment of Daoism. Mark  Continue Reading …

NEM#191: Chris Slusarenko and John Moen As (And Before) Eyelids

March 6, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Chris and John were friends since the '80s in the Portland music scene, playing separately in several bands (sometimes as front men, sometimes not). By the '00s, John was drumming for bands like the Decembrists, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, and Elliot Smith, while Chris was doing a stint on bass for Guided by Voices and running a record shop. They recorded together as Boston  Continue Reading …

Ep. 312: The Dao De Jing on Virtue (Part One)

March 6, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content including including a new Nightcap discussion about philosophy as self-help. Our second full discussion on the Daodejing by Laozi. What actions and attitudes characterize the Daoist sage? Featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, Seth, and Theo Brooks. Listen to ep. 311 first. In this part of the  Continue Reading …

Pretty Much Pop #145: Growing Up Sitcommed

February 27, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Mark, Sarahlyn, Lawrence, and guest Landen Celano from the Grunt Work podcast (all about Home Improvement) talk about talk about our ambivalence toward the three-camera, laugh-tracked half-hour comedies that filled our childhoods in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Why did some of these stand the test of time? Are some shows well suited for hate-watching or background watching? Why  Continue Reading …

Ep. 311: Understanding the Dao De Jing (Part Two)

February 27, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get both parts of this episode ad free. Continuing from part one with guest Theodore Brooks on the central Daoist text attributed to Laozi. We start with more discussion of practical vs. metaphysical interpretations of the first chapter. In either case, Laozi recommends not being too self-conscious; you want to be fully present in your activities, open to the  Continue Reading …

C&C Ep. 76 Homer’s “Iliad” Book 18

February 26, 2023 by Jeff Black Leave a Comment

Achilles is crushed by Patroclus' death.  Thetis, his mother, helps him to revenge himself on Hector by asking Hephaestus to make Achilles some new armor.  We ask about the elaborate and famous description of Achilles' shield.  How should we understand the details on this shield, which looks like the world of the living?  Does the shield conceal the world of the dead, who are  Continue Reading …

NEM#190: Jad Fair (Half Japanese): Being Productive = Being Yourself

February 22, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Jad estimates he's sung on 2000 songs and released over 180 albums between his band, solo, and collaborative work. He started Half Japanese as an improvisational punk band with his brother David in 1975, and its style evolved through jazz, rock,   and alternative; they opened for Nirvana on one of their biggest tours. The band was based in Maryland for most of its  Continue Reading …

(sub)Text: Trauma and Repetition in Roman Polanski’s “Chinatown” (1974)

February 20, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Roman Polanksi’s 1974 film “Chinatown” seems to have little to do with its titular neighborhood, which is the setting for only one horrible and final scene. Chinatown functions instead to represent the traumatic moment that drives this story just because it is hidden from view—a place indecipherable even to the hard-boiled private investigator who has seen it all … the place he  Continue Reading …

Philosophy vs. Improv #47: What’s in the Chili? w/ Rachael Mason

February 20, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Rachael was a mentor of Bill's and works with him at the newly reopened iO Theater. So it's like we have TWO improv instructors here. We run some  scenes, talk a bit too much about chili, and touch on functionalism, idealism, napism, and other isms. Jump into the marzipan! Brucie and Frucie are waiting for you! Rachael has been a guest on many improv podcasts. Hear  Continue Reading …

Ep. 311: Understanding the Dao De Jing (Part One)

February 20, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer 3 Comments

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. The Daodejing (or Tao Te Ching) from around 500 BCE, attributed considerably after its production to Laozi (or Lao Tzu according to an older but still prevalent style of transliteration; it just means "old master") is the fundamental text of Daoism (Taoism), but what they hell does it mean? Well, it depends on which of  Continue Reading …

Pretty Much Pop #144: Androids and Us

February 13, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Do movie robots want to love us, be us, or kill us? Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al talk through various ethical and narrative problems having to do with the creation of artificial life. We all watched M3GAN and Steve Spielberg's A.I., and also touch on After Yang, Ex Machina, Bicentennial Man, the BBC show Humans, and of course this is an element in classic sci-fi  Continue Reading …

Stendhal’s Red and Black (Le Rouge et le Noir) – Phi Fic Ep. 46

February 13, 2023 by Dan Johnson Leave a Comment

One of Nietzsche’s favorite novels, Le Rouge et le Noir contains some of the most profound psychological analysis in all of fiction.  The novel tells the story about a young man from a modest background who seeks a glorious career, but ends up in enormous trouble as a result of his love affairs.  The novel is divided into halves, with the first half being about a job where he  Continue Reading …

Ep. 310: Wittgenstein On World-Pictures (Part Two)

February 13, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Subscribe to get both parts of this episode ad free, plus a supporter exclusive PEL Nightcap discussion. Concluding our discussion of On Certainty, with guest Chris Heath. Listen to part one first. We spend more time with quotes from the book and try once again to figure out what Wittgenstein's philosophy of science is. We finally fill out Wes' take on conspiracy  Continue Reading …

Nakedly Examined Music #189: Claire Hamill’s Epic Journey

February 6, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

Claire started in the early '70s as a folk prodigy, took some detours through country and Elton-John-esque pop rock, played with Wishbone Ash and members of Yes in the late '70s and early '80s, had her real career break-out as a New Age artist in the mid '80s (with some of her music used extensively by the BBC), did a dance record, and has most recently released several records  Continue Reading …

Ep. 310: Wittgenstein On World-Pictures (Part One)

February 6, 2023 by Mark Linsenmayer 2 Comments

Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. We continue picking at Ludwig Wittgenstein's On Certainty (written 1951), with Mark, Wes, Dylan and Seth now supplemented by guest Chris Heath, who is a guy who's very into philosophy of science who runs a Discord philosophy server. Try the History That Doesn't Suck podcast. Attend our live show in NYC on April  Continue Reading …

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