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.
Kevin was in the infamous sketch comedy group The State but has since channeled his energies into giving, curating, and coaching personal stories via his stage show and podcast RISK! He joins your hosts Mark, Erica, and Brian to discuss this idiosyncratic form: Do the stories have to be funny? Can you change things? What’s the relation to autobiographical, humorous essays a la Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #3: CONFORM w/ Yakov Smirnoff
Mark's new culture podcast continues, with our first celebrity guest! (We'd tried to get him on PEL earlier.) Get the episodes in advance of when you see them here and learn more abut the new podcast at prettymuchpop.com. Is media trying to brainwash us into being ALL THE SAME? Are the excesses of the mob scaring us into conformity? And does this in turn keep us from being Continue Reading …
“Lysistrata” w/ Lucy Lawless, Emily Perkins, Erica Spyres, Bill Youmans & Aaron David Gleason
The PEL Players return to perform Aristophanes's comedy (first performed in 411 BCE) about using a sex strike to stop war, using Jeffrey Henderson's 1988 translation. Mark (old men's chorus leader), Wes (old men's chorus and Athenian), Dylan (old men's chorus), and Seth (Spartan sentry) are joined once again by TV's Lucy Lawless (Xena Warrior Princess, Ash vs. Evil Dead, Continue Reading …
“Lysistrata” w/ Lucy Lawless, Emily Perkins, Erica Spyres, Bill Youmans & Aaron David Gleason
The PEL Players return to perform Aristophanes's comedy (first performed in 411 BCE) about using a sex strike to stop war, using Jeffrey Henderson's 1988 translation. Mark (old men's chorus leader), Wes (old men's chorus and Athenian), Dylan (old men's chorus), and Seth (Spartan sentry) are joined once again by TV's Lucy Lawless (Xena Warrior Princess, Ash vs. Evil Dead, Continue Reading …
Lucian: the Well of Laughter
I was … concerned … to strike a blow for Epicurus, that great man whose holiness and divinity of nature were not shams, who alone had and imparted true insight into the good, and who brought deliverance to all that consorted with him. –Lucian, in Alexander the Oracle Monger Lucian of Samosata (c. 125–180 CE) was a Greek-speaking Assyrian satirist. He’s particularly relevant Continue Reading …
And now for something completely serious
Humor seems to be the Flavor of the Month here at PEL. We've had a couple of excellent posts about comedy recently (here and here), and another one is coming very soon. But in the midst of this, we shouldn't entirely lose sight of the inherent seriousness of philosophy; with that goal, I want to call attention in this post to a neglected classic, one of the foundational texts Continue Reading …
Philosophy and Comedy
“Philosophy, beginning in wonder, as Plato and Aristotle said, is able to fancy everything different from what it is. It sees the familiar as if it were strange, and the strange as if it were familiar. It can take things up and lay them down again. It rouses us from our native dogmatic slumber and breaks up our caked prejudices.” ― William James, Some Problems of Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Episode 57: Henri Bergson on Humor
This is a short preview of the full episode. Buy Now Purchase this episode for $2.99. Or become a PEL Citizen for $5 a month, and get access to this and all other paywalled episodes, including 68 back catalogue episodes; exclusive Part 2's for episodes published after September, 2020; and our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat more Continue Reading …
Episode 57: Henri Bergson on Humor (Citizens Only)
On Bergson's Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic (1900). What is humor? Bergson says that, fundamentally, we laugh as a form of social corrective when others are slow to adapt to society's demands. Other types of humor are derivative from this: just as the clown falls on his face because of a (pretended) physical flaw, as if he's a machine that doesn't work and so Continue Reading …