We cover the first chunk of Neil Gaiman's 1989 comic and its new Netflix adaptation. Mark is joined by acting coach Anthony LeBlanc, Sarahlyn Bruck, and Al Baker. What are the narrative challenges of depicting a god? What is the show's metaphysics the role of storytelling in it? Were the updates and story choices for the TV show helpful, or was the comic truly "unfilmable," Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #139: The Sandman Cometh
Ep. 305: Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” (Part Two)
Subscribe to get Parts 1 and 2 ad-free, plus a supporter exclusive Part 3. Continuing from part one on McCarthy's 1985 novel, we discuss whether the plentiful, explicit violence in the book is actually gratuitous or whether it's central for presenting the book's philosophy. What makes the book supposedly unfilmable? The Partially Examined Life is sponsored by Continue Reading …
Combat & Classics Ep. 72 Homer’s “Iliad” Book 14
Poseidon interferes with the will of Zeus because Hera has seduced the king of the gods with a sexy belt. Also, the battle between the Greeks and Achaeans continues to escalate. We return to the question of "who should be in charge?" and try to figure out why someone should be in charge of something (war, sports, business) generally. We think especially about taking feedback Continue Reading …
Combat & Classics Ep. 71 Homer’s “Iliad” Book 13
We wonder why Book 13 doesn't have a cool name like Book 12 did. Then we turn to other questions, like what is on the minds of both sides of this conflict? is it true that military prowess, or military virtue, gives you other virtues, such as skill at deliberation? Or are the two things separate? Said another way and using the example of sports, why isn’t the best player Continue Reading …
Combat & Classics Ep. 70 Homer’s “Iliad” Book 12
Shilo, Jeff and Brian continue their read through of Homer's Iliad. We try to figure out why Book 12 exists as the midpoint of the story and how Homer is using it to build on his themes and continue the narrative. Specifically we ask why is the book so short compared to the others? Why all the similes about war and the natural world and is war a natural phenomenon? You can Continue Reading …
Combat & Classics Ep. 69 Homer’s “Iliad” Book 11
[Yell-y war voice] "CARNAGE ON THE BATTLEFIELD!!!!" Our opening question from Jeff is "can we spoil the Iliad?" We try to understand what's going on with the story in terms of the hierarchy of Greek heroes on the battlefield and who the "good guys" and the "bad guys" are. We also try to understand what's happening with Achilles, who said that he'd return to the fight once Continue Reading …
NEM#185: Bruce Thomas’ Bass Lines Before, After, and During the Attractions
Bruce is best known as Elvis Costello's bassist for his first on about a dozen albums as The Attractions, but he's been in bands since 1970 and has done numerous session gigs, most notably for Al Stewart's early albums, plus The Pretenders, John Wesley Harding, Billy Bragg, and many more. We discuss his work on "Blood Makes Noise" by Susanne Vega from 99.9 Degrees (1992), Continue Reading …
(sub)Text: Production for Use in “His Girl Friday”
Before she settles down to life of homemaking, security, and insurance policies with Bruce Baldwin in Albany, star reporter Hildy Johnson has one more story to write for her ex-husband and ex-boss Walter Burns, editor of the Morning Post. Hildy must write up an interview with convicted killer Earl Williams that will grant him a last-minute reprieve on the basis of insanity. The Continue Reading …
Ep. 305: Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. On McCarthy's 1985 anti-Western novel, featuring Wes, Seth, and Dylan. How does violence play a role in the way the world works? The novel tells a historically based story of the 19th century Glanton gang who were hired as scalp hunters by the Mexican government but then went on a rogue massacre. It's told from the Continue Reading …
Philosophy vs. Improv #42: The Worth of a Human Life w/ Carneades the YouTube Star
The anonymous policy wonk who runs the Carneades.org YouTube channel joins Mark and Bill to discuss the core concept of his new book, Are All Lives Equal?: Why Cost-Benefit Analysis Values Rich Lives More and How Philosophy Can Fix It. Should economics really be measuring the value of life at all? Can it do this in any principled way? Can economists really understand how Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #138: What Are “Creatives”?
Is there really a division in today's culture between those who create and the merely receptive masses? Mark gathers three artists in different media about the place of the artist in society: sci-fi author Brian Hirt, art photographer and academic Amir Zaki, and musician/novelist/ex-English prof John Andrew Fredrick (of The Black Watch). We touch on art education, the Continue Reading …
Ep. 304: Dworkin v. Hart on Legal Judgment (Part Two)
Subscribe to get both parts of this episode ad free, plus a supporter exclusive PEL Nightcap discussion. Continuing from part one on Roland Dworkin's "The Model of Rules" (1967) and Scott J. Shapiro's "The 'Hart-Dworkin' Debate: A Short Guide for the Perplexed" (2007), plus some of Dworkin's "Hard Cases" (1977). We go through some responses by Hartians to Dworkin's Continue Reading …
Combat & Classics Ep. 68 Bonus Pod Q&A with Mr. Mark Eleveld’s AP Literature Class at Kankakee High School
We got some calls! Thanks a ton to Mark Eleveld and his students at Kankakee High School. We’re truly honored that you all took the time to call or write in with your questions about our Episode 62 on the Iliad Book 5, where we discussed the apparent blurring of gods and mortals, and especially Diomedes' wounding of a god, as well as the difference between courage and the Continue Reading …
NEM#184: Mike Baggetta Feels Out the Guitar
Mike has put out 18 releases of largely instrumental guitar music since 2004, sometimes with his jazz quintet or as a duo with trumpeter Kris Tiner, and more recently in more of an instrumental rock format with legendary bassist Mike Watt and with drums by either Jim Keltner (Traveling Wilburys, Ry Cooder) or Stephen Hodges (Tom Waits). We discuss the title track to Continue Reading …
Ep. 304: Dworkin v. Hart on Legal Judgment (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free. On Ronald Dworkin's "The Model of Rules" (1967) and Scott J. Shapiro's "The 'Hart-Dworkin' Debate: A Short Guide for the Perplexed" (2007). How do judges make decisions in hard cases? When the law "runs out" and doesn't definitively decide, e.g., whether we have a general "right of privacy," do judges then just draw Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Ep. 303: H.L.A. Hart on the Foundations of Law (Part Three)
Subscribe to get Part 3 of this episode in its entirety. On The Concept of Law (1961), ch. 6, "Foundations of a Legal System." This chapter goes into detail about Hart's "rule of recognition," which is what is supposed to foundationally make something legitimately a law in a given society. How can we identify something as a law? In Britain, Hart says it's when the Queen in Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #137: Slashing the “Halloween” Film Franchise
What's the appeal of this 13-film franchise that started with John Carpenter's 1978 film Halloween and has purportedly wrapped up with David Gordon Green's Halloween Ends? Actor/SFX makeup designer/horror podcaster Nathan Shelton joins Mark, Lawrence, and Al to figure out if even all the various filmmakers involved understood what the appeal of that first film was. Continue Reading …
Combat & Classics Ep. 67 Homer’s “Iliad” Book 10
The Night Raid! It’s an important book kinda in the middle of the story with lots of action. Agamemnon wakes up in the middle of the night and convenes a war planning committee. Nestor says the Greeks should send some spies out; Diomedes and Odysseus volunteer. Hector also calls for a spy to go look at the what the Greeks are up too, and Dolon volunteers. We talk about the Continue Reading …
Ep. 303: H.L.A. Hart on the Foundations of Law (Part Two)
Subscribe to get Parts 1 and 2 ad-free, plus a supporter exclusive Part 3. Continuing from part one on "Positivism and the Separation of Law and Morals" (1958) and The Concept of Law (1961), ch. 5 and 6. If law is not based on morality, then why obey the law? Hart claims that it's just a fact that most of us feel most of the time that we should obey the law. If this Continue Reading …
Philosophy vs. Improv #41: Situatedness in Three Persons w/ Sarah Shockey
What is personhood? How can a group best collaboratively invent a scene? Sarah is a host of Marty and Sarah Love Wrestling and a repeat guest on Hello From the Magic Tavern. We fit in THREE scenes, some discussion of the various layers of what it is for something to be (or not be) person, and some musings about the weather and such. Follow us @sarahjoyshockey, @btarnett, and Continue Reading …