On Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). Writing after the revolution but before the terror, Burke was alarmed at intellectual fads in England that paid homage to the principles driving what happened in France: the right of people to choose their own government, to elect their leaders, and depose those that violate citizens' rights. So, given that these principles Continue Reading …
Episode 151: Edmund Burke’s Conservatism
PEL Special: Bill Bruford on Nakedly Examined Music #25
NEM now features jazz, hip-hop, classical, folk, and more. Check out all the episodes at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com, where you can subscribe and follow on Facebook. Bill played with all of your top three '70s prog bands, as the original drummer for Yes, a default member of King Crimson, and even briefly played live with Genesis. His near-final foray into pop stardom was with Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #7 “The Call of Cthulhu” by H. P. Lovecraft
Get ready for the frightening, the horrifying, the sublime—the (in)famous Cthulhu! It’s time for H.P. Lovecraft! Join us as we read the tome of this scandalous mythos, this perturbing unrealism—The Call of Cthulhu. Lovecraft opens his work about the green, gelatinous, multi-dimensional creature with fear for all us human sycophants: The most merciful thing in the world, I Continue Reading …
NEM #27: Peter Knight (Steeleye Span): Free Fiddlin’ in the Face of Death
Steeleye Span rocked up traditional British folk songs in the '70s, and Peter's fiery violin was a key part of the sound. Starting with Sails of Silver (1980), they added folky-sounding originals to the mix, and Peter's (often piano-based) compositions (like the hit "Let Her Go Down") were among the group's most heartfelt. His current unit is the trio Peter Knight's Gigspanner, Continue Reading …
Episode 150: Guest Peter Singer on Famine, Affluence, and Morality
Mark and Wes interview perhaps the world's most influential living philosopher for an hour, then the full PEL foursome discusses. Our focus is the newly reissued/repackaged 1971 essay "Famine, Affluence, and Morality," which argues that just as we would regard it as unethical to fail to save a drowning child because you don't want to ruin your expensive shoes, so it's Continue Reading …
NEM #26: Pat Doty: Tubas Unite!
This orchestral tubist and pop songwriter has merged his two worlds to compose fun new additions to the solo tuba repertoire and classically influenced piano-vocal songs (with scores!). We discuss two selections from Pat's 2015 debut album released with his singing wife Bridgid, Dare to Entertain: The tuba duet "Mendota" (performed with Jacob Grewe) and the vocal tune "Love Continue Reading …
Episode 149: Plato’s “Crito”: A Performance and Discussion
Broadway bigwigs Walter Bobbie and Bill Youmans perform Plato's dialogue in which Socrates awaits his execution after being convicted by an Athenian jury of corrupting the youth and dissing the gods. Given that the verdict was clearly unjust, should Socrates take up Crito's offer to help him escape the city? Socrates says no: given that he's lived his whole life benefitting by Continue Reading …
Episode 148: Aristotle on Friendship and Happiness
On the final books 8–10 of Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics. What does friendship have to do with ethics? Aristotle thinks that friends are necessary for the good life (i.e., eudaimonia or happiness, which is the goal of ethics), and that the only true friends, as opposed to those who merely entertain us or are useful to us, are virtuous people. They're the only ones who Continue Reading …
NEM #25: Bill Bruford: Drumming Matters
Bill played with all of your top three '70s prog bands, as the original drummer for Yes, a default member of King Crimson, and even briefly played live with Genesis. His near-final foray into pop stardom was with U.K. in the late '70s, but most of his output has been with his own jazz-inflected bands Earthworks and Bruford, as rock proved too confining for his rhythmic and Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #6 “The Beast in the Jungle” by Henry James
"There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness." So said dear Nietzsche, and seemingly on his heels, the sentiment was reiterated by Henry James. Our discussion of the short story The Beast in the Jungle pushes the question of madness and love to the limit. Mary and Laura exclaim over the remarkable narcissism of the character John Continue Reading …
NEM #24: Tyler Hislop (Sacrifice): Copious Rhymes
Tyler can rap endlessly, and has filled up ten lengthy albums full of his machine-gunned musings on life and politics, usually over his own soundscapes, but sometimes using sampled or preexisting backgrounds, usually alone but often with another rapper or two. This is an exceptionally clear, insightful introduction to indie hip-hop to those like me that have seldom listened to Continue Reading …
Episode 147: Aristotle on Wisdom and Incontinence
On the Nichomachean Ethics (ca. 350 BCE), books 6–7. Is intelligence just one thing? Aristotle picks out a number of distinct faculties, some of which are relevant to ethics, and he uses these to explain Plato's puzzle of how someone can clearly see what the good for him is, and yet fail to pursue it due to weakness of the will. This episode continues our discussion from Continue Reading …
NEM #23: Sean Beeson’s Two-Minute Hi-Tech Symphonies
Sean writes music for video games. He uses five computers linked together, with memory-hogging, massively realistic orchestra sounds, and he performs every part, usually with a breath controller, to allow for dynamics and expression. These are nearly always two minutes long and loop. We discuss three pieces from the last couple of years: "Beyond the Desert" (from Empires Continue Reading …
Episode 146: Emmanuel Levinas on Overcoming Solitude
More Levinas, working this time through Time and the Other (1948). What is it for a person to exist? What individuates one person from another, making us into selves instead of just part of the causal net of events? Why would someone possibly think that these are real, non-obvious questions that need to be addressed? Levinas gives us a phenomenological progression from the Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #5 “Pale Fire” by Vladimir Nabokov
So, you think Lolita was Nabokov’s best? We humbly submit a solid contender. Cezary, in his wisdom, suggested the book for this episode: Pale Fire. 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…” Join us as Cezary kicks it off with an Continue Reading …
Episode 145: Emmanuel Levinas: Why Be Ethical?
On "Ethics as First Philosophy" (1984). More existentialist ethics, with a Jewish twist this time! Seth rejoins Mark and Wes to discuss this difficult essay, with a bit of "Time and the Other" (1948) and "There Is: Existence Without Existents" (1946) thrown in, too. Levinas thinks that the whole train of Western thought with the advance of science and all has left us too Continue Reading …
NEM #22: Jon Langford (Mekons) on “Natural” Art
Jon has been a key member of art collective The Mekons since 1977, injecting country/folk/reggae/etc. influences into a seminal punk band to create an inimitable melange that has put out 19 albums, plus he puts out solo albums and is involved with many side projects including the country-punk Waco Brothers. His formula, whether dealing with his own songwriting, with how his Continue Reading …
NEM #21: Trey Gunn and the Discipline of Tap Guitar
Trey is one of a small group of masters of a many-stringed type of guitar/bass that you play by tapping with both hands at the same time, sort of like a keyboard. His mentor was Robert Fripp, with whom he played in the '90s and '00s lineups of the seminal progressive rock band King Crimson. He has also released over a dozen exploratory solo albums and numerous collaborations Continue Reading …
Episode 144: Guest Martha Nussbaum on Anger
On Anger and Forgiveness: Resentment, Generosity, Justice (2016). What role should we allow anger to play in our public life? Should systems of punishment be strictly impartial, or should they be retributive, i.e., expressive of public anger? Nussbaum thinks that anger necessarily involves the desire for payback, and that this is nearly always unhelpful. We should instead use Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #4 “Grendel” by John Gardner
What’s with these self-aware monsters anyway? Both Frankenstein and Grendel bemoan their fates as the necessary evils in this world—so that goodness may exist, perhaps? Listen as we join their struggle, and Mary calms Laura’s frantic worry about Gardner’s use of the “other” to make his philosophical point while the guys argue about who is the real monster here: Grendel or Continue Reading …
NEM #20: Dave Nachmanoff Crafts Specific Yet Universal Stories
Dave is a consummate craftsman in the acoustic singer-songwriter vein, painting vivid, audience-involving lyrical pictures. As an added bonus, he's an amazing guitar player, who for 15 years or so has acted as sideman for '70s Brit-legend Al Stewart, i.e., filling in the entirety of the musical palette apart from Al's singing and strumming. Plus, Dave has a philosophy Ph.D., Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #3 Frankenstein (PEL Crossover Special)
PEL welcomes a new podcast to our fledgling network: Phi Fic, which grew out of our Not School Philosophical Fiction group, featuring Nathan Hanks (who you'll likely recognize from our Not School anouncments, Mary Claire (who helps edit the PEL blog), Daniel St. Pierre, Laura Davis, and Cezary Baraniecki. This time they discuss Mary Shelley's classic novel, and are joined by Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #3 “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley
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. Learn from me... how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the Continue Reading …
Episode 143: Plato’s “Sophist” on Lies, Categorization, and Non-Being
On the later Platonic dialogue (ca. 360 BC). What is a sophist? Historically, these were foreign teachers in Ancient Greece who taught young people the tools of philosophy and rhetoric, among other things, and espeically they claimed to teach virtue. In this dialogue, "the Eleatic Stranger" (i.e., not Socrates, who is present but wholly silent after the first couple of Continue Reading …
NEM #19: Chad Clark (Beauty Pill): Smart Went Electro-Soundscapey
Chad's 2015 album Beauty Pill Describes Things As They Are has received heaps of nice reviews, with its carefully crafted, groove-oriented soundscapes and cinematic lyrics. We discuss "Afrikaner Barista" and "Steven & Tiwonge," and then go back to Beauty Pill's first release with "The Idiot Heart" from the The Cigarette Girl Of The Future EP (2001). We close by listening to Continue Reading …
NEM#18: Jill Sobule Takes America Back
Jill is a big personality, rivaling Elvis Costello in the creation of acerbic, stylistically varied singer-songwriter material, and she's been putting out tuneful, story-laden albums since 1990. We discuss "Jetpack" from Underdog Victorious (2004) and get to meet her frequent co-writer Robin Eaton, then "Empty Glass" (co-written with playwright Elise Thoron) from California Continue Reading …
Episode 142: Plato’s “Phaedrus” on Love and Speechmaking
Socrates hangs out in the country flirting with his buddy Phaedrus. And what is this "Platonic" love you've all heard about? Well, you use the enticement of desire not to rush toward fulfillment, but to get all excited about talking philosophy. Phaedrus starts off reading a speech by renowned orator Lysias (actually Plato's invention parodying the style of this real guy) Continue Reading …
Episode 141: Beauvoir’s Existentialism: Moral and Political Dilemmas
More on Simone de Beauvoir's The Ethics of Ambiguity (1947), this time on part III. For Wes Alwan's summary of this book, go here. In ep. 140, we described de B's picture of our "ambiguous" existential situation and how proper recognition of our freedom means willing the freedom of others, but what does that actually mean for how we're supposed to act? De Beauvoir is well Continue Reading …
NEM#17: Carrie Akre’s Different Ways of Fronting
Carrie fronted Seattle grunge favorite Hammerbox in the early '90s, then moved to the more poppy guitar rock band Goodness for the latter part of the decade, and released three solo albums in the '00s. The overall movement is from harsh exuberance to quiet reflectivity, and Carrie's role evolved with her starting off as new newbie to rock bands singing over already-composed Continue Reading …
Episode 140: Beauvoir on the Ambiguous Human Condition
On Simone De Beauvoir's The Ethics of Ambiguity (1947), parts I and II. For Wes Alwan's summary of this book, go here. We return to existentialism! Instead of describing our predicament as "absurd," de Beauvoir prefers "ambiguous": We are a biological organism in the world, yet we're also free consciousness transcending the given situation. Truly coming to terms with this Continue Reading …
PEL News and Previews: Plato’s “Crito” and the Hegel’s Logic Aftershow
Brian Wilson's Not School Intro Readings in Philosophy Group discussed Plato on why you should obey the state and other musings from a condemned Socrates; you can be part of the group's next discussion on Sun. 6/4 5pm EDT. Just become a PEL Citizen, join the Intro group, and RSVP here. Citizens can also hear the entire "Crito" recording, featuring Steve Kurtz, Stacey Morris, Continue Reading …
NEM#16. Narada Michael Walden Funks the Moment
Narada started as a fusion drummer in the '70s (with Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jeff Beck, Weather Report, Santana, etc.) then released numerous solo albums and produced and wrote for artists like Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, and many more. He believes in working fast: creating a mood and getting the most out of it. We discuss "Freedom" (written by Richie Continue Reading …
NEM#15. Craig Wedren’s Non-Linear Clarity
Craig led Shudder to Think from 1986 to 1998 and has since had a solo career and done soundtrack work, often for members of the comedy team The State like childhood friend David Wain. Shudder to Think was a band that started as part of Washington DC's "hardcore" scene, but challenged musical conventions to try to achieve U2-level success with Captain-Beefheart-level Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #2 “The Moviegoer” by Walker Percy
Looking for the meaning of life? You and me both, my friend. And so is Binx Bolling, protagonist in The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. Join us as Mary and Daniel praise this story for its examination of the existential crisis presented in beautiful language and Southern charm, and as Nathan salutes Bolling’s view of life's preciousness. So step away from the dishes to be washed and Continue Reading …
Episode 139: bell hooks on Racism/Sexism
On Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism (1981) and Black Looks: Race and Representation (1992, Intro, Ch. 3, 11). How do these pernicious forces interact? bell hooks (aka Gloria Watkins) describes black women as having been excluded both from mainstream historical feminism (which was led by white women who didn't want to alienate Southern whites) and black civil rights Continue Reading …
NEM#14. Jonathan Donahue (Mercury Rev): Mountain Man of Subtlety
After serving a stint with the Flaming Lips, Jonathan has been putting out albums with Mercury Rev since 1991. Over time, their music has shifted from noisy alternative rock to symphonic, soundtrack pop songs... still psychedelic, but now with an unapologetically Disneyesque influence, with the magic of nature swirling out through harp glissandos and french horns, all standing Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #1 “In the Penal Colony” by Franz Kafka
Are we guilty from the first moment of life? Is the machine Franz Kafka devised not merely a metaphor for how we live our lives, but “actually here, all around…”? That’s what Kafka Tamura says in Kafka On the Shore by Haruki Murakami, and what Daniel says here in our discussion on In The Penal Colony by Franz Kafka when he cites our failing bodies, our internal machines, that Continue Reading …
Phi Fic #0 “Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy
We talk about the novel Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy with Nathan Hanks, Jordan Payne, and special guest Dylan Casey from the Partially Examined Life Podcast. This origin/zero-episode is taken from an older (2013) recording of the Philosophical Fiction group, before our current group of readers got together. Worth Mentioning: No Country for Old Men/The Crossing/Cities of Continue Reading …
Episode 138: Guest John Searle on Perception
We interview John about Seeing Things as They Are: A Theory of Perception (2015). What is perception? Searle says that it's not a matter of seeing a representation, which is then somehow related to things in the real world. We see the actual objects, with no mediation. But then how can there be illusions? Well, we see things under an aspect: a presentation of the thing. And Continue Reading …
NEM#13. Beth Kille Rocks and Leads Others to Rock
Beth started doing band-type things in grad school, fronted Clear Blue Betty from 2000–2007, then starting in 2009, became a solo artist, co-founding Madison's Girl's Rock camp and letting music consume all of her professional activities. She's a classic singer-songwriter of the write-chords-and-good-lyrics-on-acoustic variety, and her mission is to help others (ladies of all Continue Reading …
NEM#12. John Philip Shenale: String Arranger, Composer, Producer
Phil is the long-time string arranger for Tori Amos and has done a heap more production, arrangement, and keyboard work. He has a very deliberate production style, carefully crafting a very natural-sounding theatrical background using both cutting-edge and very old tools. We talk about "Cross the Channel" from the Brik & Shenale EP (2012), Phil's arrangement and production Continue Reading …
Episode 137: Bourdieu on the Tastes of Social Classes
On Pierre Bourdieu's Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste (1979), introduction, chapter 1 through p. 63, conclusion, and postscript. How do our tastes in music, art, and everything else reflect our social position? This philosophically trained sociologist administered a few detailed questionnaires in 1960s France and used the resulting differences in what Continue Reading …
NEM#11. Bob Manor: No Alt-Country for Old Men
Bob leads the Madison, WI band The Getaway Drivers; he shares the vocal duties with his wife Shiela Shigley. Though Bob has displayed a lot of affection toward old-timey, world-weary music since starting off his major songwriting efforts around 2000 at the ripe age of 28ish, The Getaway Drivers' new album Bellatopia is a conscious attempt to break with that, though Bob still Continue Reading …
Episode 136: Adorno on the Culture Industry
On Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer's "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception" from Dialectic of Enlightenment (1944), plus Adorno's essay "Culture Industry Reconsidered" (1963). How does the entertainment industry affect us? Adorno and Horkheimer (who co-authored the book, but it looks like Adorno mainly wrote the essay we read) are founding figures of the Continue Reading …
NEM#10. Nick Eede (Cutting Crew): Escape from the ’80s
In 1986, Nick van Eede released a song that will be played long after we are all dead. But he's got a lot more going on than that, and on his new album (still under the moniker "Cutting Crew") he's recorded his best songs from the last decade without regard for continuity with the sound that made him famous. We dip back near that time by talking about another of his ballads Continue Reading …
NEM#9. Roderick Romero: Psychedelic Treehouse Poet
Roderick Wolgamott Romero founded and fronted the Seattle 90s space rock band Sky Cries Mary, which created beautiful, collaborative music that was beloved by such "world music" champions as Peter Gabriel and David Byrne. So how does a poet get a band? Is a poet's process different from a typical lyricist's? On this episode of the Nakedly Examined Music podcast, we discuss Continue Reading …
Episode 135: Hegel on the Logic of Basic Metaphysical Concepts
A whole second discussion on G.F.W. Hegel's The Encyclopaedia Logic (1817), hitting sections 78–99 on the dialectic and how it's supposed to generate basic metaphysical categories like Being, Becoming, Quality, and Quantity. We also talk about Understanding vs. Reason: Kant thought that we can't do metaphysics because we can only talk sensibly about abstractions (via the Continue Reading …
NEM#8. Tim Quirk Is the Philosopher-King of Beers
Tim describes himself as not a singer, but a writer with a band, and he shouted at the front of Too Much Joy in the late '80s–'90s and has since recorded now and again with Jay Blumenfeld from Too Much Joy as the techno-tinged Wonderlick. He's also a digital music hot-shot, working with Google Play, Rhapsody, and now Freeform. On this episode of the Nakedly Examined Music Continue Reading …
NEM#7. Gary Lucas on Zen and the Avant Ghetto
Gary is a guitar virtuoso who's put out more than 30 albums, typically by writing guitar instrumentals that then get a melody and words added by a singer/songwriter, the most famous of these being Jeff Buckley in the early '90s, but also Joan Osborne and many others. Gary got his start on Captain Beefheart's final albums in the early '80s, and gained from him an intuitive Continue Reading …
Episode 134: Hegel on Thought & World (or “Logic”)
On G.F.W. Hegel's The Science of Logic (1812–1816), §1–§129 (i.e., the two prefaces and the introduction), plus The Encyclopaedia Logic (1817) §1–§25, which is supposed to dumb it down more so we can understand what's going on. "Logic" for Hegel isn't about symbolic logic; it's about how thought interacts with the world. In short, our thoughts about fundamental metaphysical Continue Reading …