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Phi Fic LogoPhi Fic means Philosophical Fiction. Each episode, we have a candid dicussion on a heady work of of fiction, full of SPOILERS. Join host Nathan Hanks and readers Cezary Baraniecki, Daniel St. Pierre, Laura Davis, and Mary Claire, plus the occasional guest.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Refer your friends to us at PhiFicPodcast.com!

Originating from The Partially Examined Life’s Not School and its Philosophical Fiction group. Sign up for a small recurring donation for access to many more discussions!

Phi Fic #19 “Death in Venice” by Thomas Mann

November 17, 2017 by Nathan Hanks Leave a Comment

To rest in the arms of perfection is the desire of any man intent upon creating excellence… –Death in Venice
Join us for our discussion of the extraordinary novella of beauty, desire, and morality.
Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.

Phi Fic #18 “The Trouble with Being Born” by E.M. Cioran

October 30, 2017 by Nathan Hanks Leave a Comment

“This very second has vanished forever, lost in the anonymous mass of the irrevocable. It will never return. I suffer from this, and I do not. Everything is unique—and insignificant.” –Emil Cioran
Join us as we dive into this beautiful work of nonfiction (yes, we veered from the path a bit) and luxuriate in the charmingly dismal prose of one of life’s master skeptics.
Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.

Phi Fic #17 “Invisible Cities” by Italo Calvino

September 30, 2017 by Nathan Hanks Leave a Comment

“The inferno of the living is not something that will be; if there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live every day, that we form by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it…”
Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.

Phi Fic #16 Stories by Clarice Lispector

August 27, 2017 by Nathan Hanks 1 Comment

Our chinwag this time concerns two works by the remarkable Clarice Lispector, the novella The Hour of the Star and the short story “The Departure of the Train.”
Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.

Phi Fic #15 “The State of the Art” by Iain M. Banks

July 19, 2017 by Nathan Hanks Leave a Comment

This time, we talk about a novella in the late, great Iain M. Banks’s famed Culture sci-fi series, which is centered around a utopian, post-scarcity society that spans various planets (and other habitats) within the Milky Way galaxy.
Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.

Phi Fic #14 “The Last Question” by Isaac Asimov

July 2, 2017 by Nathan Hanks 3 Comments

For this month’s episode, we discuss Isaac Asimov’s famous short story that (repeatedly) asks the question: Can we find a way to reverse entropy?
Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.

Phi Fic #13 “The House of the Dead” by Fyodor Dostoevsky

May 31, 2017 by Nathan Hanks 3 Comments

This time, the group discusses The House of the Dead, Dostoevsky’s semi-autobiographical novel about life in a labor camp.
Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.

Phi Fic #12 Stories by James Baldwin

April 21, 2017 by Nathan Hanks 1 Comment

For this month’s reading we chose two short stories by James Baldwin: “This Morning, This Evening, So Soon” and “Sonny’s Blues.” Both stories are included in the collection Going to meet the Man (1965). Unfortunately, Daniel had to be absent this time, but we did get Mark Linsenmayer to join us!
Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.

Phi Fic #11 “The Body Artist” by Don DeLillo

March 20, 2017 by Nathan Hanks 4 Comments

Our book this time is The Body Artist by Don Delillo, an absorbing look at Lauren, a performance artist, and her experience of loss at her husband’s death.
Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.

Phi Fic #10 “The Fall” by Albert Camus

February 27, 2017 by Nathan Hanks Leave a Comment

We discuss the novel about what you do when you’re “called” and how you live afterward. You can listen along while Cezary, Daniel, Laura, Mary, and Nathan discuss The Fall by Albert Camus, which Sartre claimed was “perhaps the most beautiful and the least understood” of Camus’s books.
Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.

Phi Fic #9 “The Grand Inquisitor” by Fyodor Dostoevsky

January 23, 2017 by Nathan Hanks 1 Comment

We discuss the poem within The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.

Phi Fic #8 “Erewhon” by Samuel Butler

December 1, 2016 by Nathan Hanks Leave a Comment

For this month’s discussion, Daniel had us read Erewhon by Samuel Butler. We had a discussion that we all enjoyed much more than reading the book.

Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.

Phi Fic #7 “The Call of Cthulhu” by H. P. Lovecraft

November 1, 2016 by Nathan Hanks 5 Comments

“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.” —H.P. Lovecraft

Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.

Phi Fic #6 “The Beast in the Jungle” by Henry James

October 1, 2016 by Nathan Hanks Leave a Comment

Join the Phi Fic group for a discussion of The Beast in the Jungle by Henry James.

Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.

Phi Fic #5 “Pale Fire” by Vladimir Nabokov

September 1, 2016 by Nathan Hanks 8 Comments

So, you think Lolita was Nabokov’s best? We humbly submit a solid contender. Structured as a 999-line poem followed by an extensive afterword and index, Pale Fire has been described by the critic Harold Bloom as “the surest demonstration of [Nabokov’s] genius…”

Check out more episodes and be sure to subscribe at phificpodcast.com.

Phi Fic #4 “Grendel” by John Gardner

August 1, 2016 by Nathan Hanks Leave a Comment

The group discusses the novel Grendel by John Gardner. Nathan Hanks is joined by Cezary Baraniecki, Daniel St. Pierre, Laura Davis, and Mary Claire.

Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.

Phi Fic #3 “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley

July 13, 2016 by Nathan Hanks 8 Comments

We talk about the novel by Mary Shelly, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. Nathan Hanks hosts fellow readers Cezary Baraniecki, Daniel St. Pierre, Laura Davis, Mary Claire, and special guest Wes Alwan from the Partially Examined Life.

Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.

Phi Fic #2 “The Moviegoer” by Walker Percy

May 13, 2016 by Nathan Hanks 8 Comments

We talk about the novel The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. Nathan Hanks is joined by Cezary Baraniecki, Daniel St. Pierre, Laura Davis, and Mary Claire.

Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.

Phi Fic #1 “In the Penal Colony” by Franz Kafka

April 30, 2016 by Nathan Hanks 8 Comments

The first “official” episode of the new Phi Fic podcast! (What used to be the Not School Philosophical Fiction group, now gone public.) We talk about the short story In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka. The crew: Nathan Hanks, Cezary Baraniecki, Daniel St. Pierre, Laura Davis, and Mary Claire.

Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.

Phi Fic #0 “Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy

April 29, 2016 by Nathan Hanks 4 Comments

In which we talk about the novel Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. This origin/zero-episode is taken from an older (2013) recording of the Philosophical Fiction group, before our current group of readers got together. Included in this crew is Nathan Hanks, Jordan Payne, and special guest Dylan Casey from the Partially Examined Life Podcast.

Hear more Phi Fic discussions at PhiFicPodcast.com.

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