The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast
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The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast
The Partially Examined Life is a podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a short text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don't have to know any philosophy, or even to have...
Πρόσφατα Επεισόδια
914 επεισόδια
Ep. 390: Diderot Debates a Cynic (Part One)
On Denis Diderot's Rameau's Nephew, a dialogue written in the 1760s. Is virtue necessary for happiness, or in the real world, is vice necessary to get...
NEM#251: Dr. Alan Williams (Birdsong at Morning)
Alan released two albums with folk-rock band Knots and Crosses in the early 90s, put out one solo album, then became a recording engineer and earned a...
Ep. 389: Hegel on Wealth and Power (Part Two)
Concluding on "Culture and its Realm of Actuality," in Hegel's Phenomenology via sections 519-526.
We get into some of the ironic psychology her...
PEL Presents PvI#116: Full Bird Mode w/ BJ Lange
BJ is an LA improviser/actor/TV host (who teaches wounded warriors among others), and he chats with Mark and Mary about migratory patterns, TV shows t...
PEL Presents PMP#219: Weir-ed Sci Fi: Hail Mary and The Martian
We discuss the hard sci-fi film Project Hail Mary, which along with The Martian (2015) was based on a novel by Andy Weir and adapted by Drew Goddard....
Ep. 389: Hegel on Wealth and Power (Part One)
Continuing on Hegel's Phenomenology, "Spirit" chapter, now up to sections 511-526, which finishes off the sub-section of "Self-Alienated Spirit" calle...
PEL Presents NEM#250: Bill Pritchard the Tourist
Bill is a singer/songwriter who recorded five albums of catchy tunes between 1989 and 1991, then retired but came back a vengeance in 2014. He's now j...
PEL Presents Closereads: Kierkegaard on Subjective Knowledge
On an excerpt from Soren Kierkegaard's Concluding Unscientific Postscript (1846) that critiques Hegel's idea of logic (dialectic) and then argues for...
Ep. 388: Hegel on Culture (Part Two)
Continuing on the "Spirit" chapter (more specifically. "Culture and its realm of actuality") in Hegel's Phenomenology, now covering sec. 490-510. How...
PEL Presents PvI#115: Mary and Mark Astro-Logically
In this pitched, high-stakes battle, your hosts have it out about astrological biases, doing offensive accents, letting go of control in an improv sce...
PEL Presents: PMP#218: All the "Scream"-ing
We talk about the Scream meta-slasher film franchise, from the original Wes Craven /Kevin Williamson 1996 debut starring Neve Campbell, and Courtney C...
Ep. 388: Hegel on Culture (Part One)
Continuing on Hegel's Phenomenology, "Spirit" chapter, now up to sections 484-510, which is the first part of "Self-Alienated Spirit. Culture."
...
PEL Presents NEM#249: Kavus Torabi Now Leads Gong
Kavus began in dual-guitar London math-rock bands in the '90s, joined The Cardiacs for their final lineup. His band Knifeworld released the first of i...
Ep. 387: Hegel on Law (Part Two)
Continuing on on sec. 469-483 of Hegel's Phenomenology, finishing the analysis of Antigone and bringing in Oedipus to say why the conflict between typ...
PEL Presents PvI#114: Earning Crazy Town w/ Jenny Hansen
St. Lawrence philosophy prof Jennifer L. Hansen, one of the most frequent guest on Mark's podcasts and expert in feminist philosophy, here hits it off...
PEL Presents PMP#217: Mel Brooks' Old Comedy
In light of Judd Apatow's HBO documentary The 99-Year-Old Man, we discuss the films of Mel Brooks, which were to varying degrees formative on us (i.e....
Ep. 387: Hegel on Law (Part One)
Continuing on Hegel's Phenomenology, "Spirit" chapter, now up to sections 464-483, which are under the sub-headings "Ethical Action. Human and Divine...
PREMIUM-Ep. 386: Hegel on Society (Part Three)
On sec. 451-463 of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. We get into more detail on these passages about the way the two types of law (human and divine) in...
PEL Presents NEM#248: Lande Hekt: Lucky to Be Indie
Lande started in the 2010's in the British punk-pop group Muncie Girls, with six releases (mostly EPs), and began her solo career in 2019. We discuss...
Ep. 386: Hegel on Society (Part Two)
Continuing on the "Spirit" section of The Phenomenology of Spirit, giving a sort of social metaphysics, wherein the ethical life of a society is analy...
PEL Presents PvI#113: Mary and Mark Pick Their Battles
What is it worth raising an objection over, and how hard do you fight? We hear (and act out) Mary's roommate-searching trauma, plus Mary for President...
PEL Presents PMP#216: Oscars So Black?
In light of the now-completed black history month and the upcoming Oscars, we consider the "Oscars So White" issue that was a hot topic about a decade...
Ep. 386: Hegel on Society (Part One)
On. G.W.F. Hegel's The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), sec. 438-463. What constitutes society?
We're beginning a multi-episode arc here on the...
PEL Presents NEM#247: John S. Hall (King Missile): Daily Poet
John has released at least fifteen albums, more than half of these under the name King Missile, but even this name covers three different bands, since...
Ep. 385: Guest Graham Harman on Object vs. Continuum (Part Two)
In our continuing Q&A with Graham, we engage him about Kantian Things-In-Themselves, complex things (that if divided, must be cut at the joints) vs. m...
PEL Presents PvI#112: Musical Zoom w/ Jerome Kurtenbach
Jerome is an LA composer/director/screenwriter who is involved in a lot of musical improv, so Mary and Mark interview him about that and about the fun...
PEL Presents PMP#215: Hamnet Dramatizes Shakespeare
When we don't know much about some genius playwright's life, why not make up some things based on the contents of his plays? Maybe put Shakespearean d...
Ep. 385: Guest Graham Harman on Object vs. Continuum (Part One)
An interview with Graham in light of his new book, Waves and Stones: On the Ultimate Nature of Reality, which elaborates and adds to issues that the g...
NEM#246: Robert Deeble in His Talking Voice
Folky singer/songwriter and psychotherapist Robert started in the '80s but considers 1994 his professional debut and has now released his seventh albu...
Ep. 384: Graham Harman's Object-Oriented Ontology (Part Three)
We consider chapter 2, "Aesthetics Is the Root of All Philosophy," where Harman describes how art can help us see behind the veil to things-in-themsel...
PEL Presents PvI#111: God Smites Elijah Dann
Vancouver philosophy prof Elijah was an evangelical Christian who turned liberal and then atheistic, and his latest book, "Unbelieving God: A Skeptics...
PEL Presents PMP#214: South Park Resurgence
We're discussing Trey Parker and Matt Stone's Comedy Central show that premiered in 1997 and has just finished its politically relevant 28th season, f...
Ep. 384: Graham Harman's Object-Oriented Ontology (Part Two)
Continuing on Object-Oriented Ontology: A New Theory of Everything (2018), finishing up ch. 1 (discussing what's so bad about reductionism) and moving...
PEL Presents Closereads: Hegel's "Unhappy Consciousness"
We're within the Self-Consciousness chapter of The Phenomenology of Spirit, specifically starting at sec. 206 on the Unhappy Consciousness. This comes...
Ep. 384: Graham Harman's Object-Oriented Ontology (Part One)
On Harman's Object-Oriented Ontology: A New Theory of Everything (2018). What counts as an entity in the world? Harman includes not just physical obje...
PEL Presents PvI#110: Memories of 2026 w/ Mark and Mary
To kick off 2026, Mark and Mary talk about memory: memory care for the elderly, the relation between things and memories, what professional activities...
Ep. 383: Freud on Love and the Primal Horde (Part Two)
Finishing up Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego, finally now turning to Freud's anthropological account of group membership.
Get more...
NEM#245: Darren Michael Boyd's Guitar Instrumentals Beyond Metal
Ontario guitarist Darren has released six albums of concise instrumentals since 2019, often using metal guitar tones and tropes, but with a great rang...
PEL Presents PMP#213: Stranger Things Grown Familiar
The Netflix sci-fi/horror/teen series by the Duffer Brothers that started in 2016 has now finished with its sixth season, attempting to be both epic a...
Ep. 383: Freud on Love and the Primal Horde (Part One)
On the second half of Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego. We talk about the dual origins of group membership for Freud in personal love and...