Combat and Classics is a series of podcasts and online seminars that explores the nature of man in conflict and cooperation through socratic dialogue and the great books. For more info visit 
Join Lise, Jeff and Brian as they discuss Sophocles’s Ajax, the story of a great Greek warrior who takes his own life on the beach of Troy. For more information, check out this article about the Theater of War project, which puts on productions of Ajax and other plays by Sophocles all over the country. The article also includes powerful videos of veterans reading excerpts Continue Reading …
Playing God: The Rise of the Actor and the Decline of Tragic Art
In The Birth of Tragedy, Friedrich Nietzsche argues that, through his protégé Euripides, Socrates had injected into Greek tragedy the seed of questioning doubt that brought an end to the religious animus of drama, the fire that fueled its creation and sustained it. Thus, cold reason killed tragedy. Although he would later modify this view, it remains a powerful and influential Continue Reading …
Episode 117: Discussing Sophocles’s “Antigone”
About that ancient Greek tragedy (441 BCE)... What can we learn from it? Are its literary tropes and ethical conflicts so far removed from us that the best we can do is marvel at it? Heck, no! Classic literature is great fodder for philosophical discussion, and the doings of the play can be fruitfully related to our modern troubles with ethics and the state. Mark, Wes, and Continue Reading …
Episode 117: Sophocles’s “Antigone” (Citizen Edition)
About that ancient Greek tragedy (441 BCE)... What can we learn from it? Are its literary tropes and ethical conflicts so far removed from us that the best we can do is marvel at it? Heck, no! Classic literature is great fodder for philosophical discussion, and the doings of the play can be fruitfully related to our modern troubles with ethics and the state. Mark, Wes, and Continue Reading …
“Antigone” Read by PEL with Lucy Lawless and Paul Provenza
An unrehearsed, dramatic read-through of the text we'll be discussing on ep. 117, a Greek tragedy written around 441 BCE, telling the myth of the cursed line of Oedipus, mother-f*#king king of Thebes. Featuring Mark, Seth, Wes, and Dylan, plus special guest starts Lucy Lawless as Antigone, Paul Provenza as Creon, Alice Sinclair as Ismene, and John Castro as Haimon. After the Continue Reading …
Topic for #117: Sophocles’s Play “Antigone”
On 5/24, Mark, Wes, and Dylan were joined by John Castro (a drama guy and old St. John's friend of Wes's) to discuss Antigone, a play written by the ancient Greek tragedian Sophocles in around 441 BCE. Prior to that, we brought back the PEL Players (listen to our past productions here and here) to perform an unrehearsed reading through the script, again featuring the wonderful Continue Reading …
Discussion of “Antigone” Now Posted
The Not School Theater group got together via Skype last week to discuss Sophocles's play "Antigone", and members can now find our conversation over in the Free Stuff for Citizens section of the site. The roster on this one consisted of Carlos Franke, Phillip Cherny, Mark Linsenmayer, Michael Rissman and myself. Trying to get a toehold on the play's philosophical aspects, Continue Reading …
Not School Theater Group: “Antigone”
Nearly a year prior to our coverage of the play, the theater group attempts to divulge its philosophical riches. Featuring Daniel Cole, Philip Cherny, Carlos Franke, Mark Linsenmayer, and Michael Rissman. Recorded June 29, 2014. We talked a little about existentialist ethics, the concept of justice, power dynamics between the state and citizens, and about ancient Greece in Continue Reading …
A Wealth of Not School Offerings in June
Summer has arrived, and in case you can't decide whether to take Kant's Critique of Pure Reason or Franz Kafka's The Trial to the beach with you, let me help: take them both and be prepared for Not School in June. Thinking of taking summer classes? Think better of it. That's expensive, and for a measly $5 a month you can gorge yourself on philosophy right here at The Continue Reading …