Philosophy vs. Improv
75 episodes - English - Latest episode: 11 days ago - ★★★★★ - 14 ratingsPhilosophy vs. Improv
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PvI#74: A Psychedelic Embrace with David Peña-Guzmán (Overthink)
April 18, 2024 17:19 - 1 hour - 93.9 MBDavid is co-host of the excellent Overthink podcast, popular among the young people today, and so we have him monologue to children as an anti (?) drug speaker. How can drugs change us, our sense of self, and the ways we see the world? Can some drugs be considered "natural"? Also, legally defensible drug use at work, and Nancy Reagan the Heel. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Suppor...
PvI#73: Family Whêtspät w/ Colleen Doyle
March 26, 2024 18:33 - 57 minutes - 56.4 MBThe co-host of the Those Who Aunt podcast joins Mark and Bill to joke about the family as the fundamental political unit and its special place in ethics. On the flip side, what questions should you ask yourself about your character at the start of a scene? Plus, Jan. 6, Platonic eugenics, transcending physical desire, a story that doesn't quite get started, a military upbringing, and the real Cheff. Papa will give you all the same name and make you listen to every episode of this podcast, be...
PvI#72: Spock Fever w/ Cole Nasrallah and Chris Rathjen
March 12, 2024 17:31 - 1 hour - 66 MBIt's another TEAM PLAY episode, with our returning champions, star of improv stages and podcasts Chris and College of Southern Nevada philosophy prof Cole receiving NOT THE INFORMATION THEY EXPECT and gettin' all rational and such when consoling a friend and wrangling about a math quiz. Luxuriate in the rich characters and philosophy tools! Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support t...
PvI#71: The Cranio-Fascism Exchange
February 19, 2024 19:36 - 52 minutes - 51.8 MBIf people would be uniquely healed by your blood, how much would you charge for it? Would it make a difference if they were wealthy vampires? Bill entices Mark to join a cult. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions, a video version of the podcast, and other bonus stuff. You can watch video for this episode and hear the post-game tal...
PvI#70: Paramilitary Existentialism w/ Jonny Thomson
February 05, 2024 02:33 - 57 minutes - 56.7 MBJonny taught philosophy at Oxford, wrote the international bestseller Mini Philosophy, and now writes for Big Think. We talk Kierkegaard and act out some scenes about scouting and military recruitment. Do we have to live within labels? Does one have to leap to a label, without justification? Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. You'll see there the link to the video version of this. Su...
PvI#69: Alternative Religious Practices w/ Katie Caussin
January 21, 2024 03:56 - 1 hour - 63.2 MBKatie is the co-artistic director of Chicago's IO theater and used to do Comedy Sports improv with Bill. She also took a lot of classes in philosophy and religion, so we talk some about cults, Kierkegaard, tolerance, and more. In our scenes, a family contemplates celebrating Christmas differently this year, and people debate the appropriate gift for a newborn king. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philo...
PvI#68: Mark and Bill Oozing at Christmastime
January 15, 2024 20:45 - 1 hour - 60.6 MBIt's our office holiday party, where we engage in chit-chat then enter into a few holiday scenes. Is there any philosophy content in this one at all? We do talk a bit about status and authority. Was there any particular improv lesson? We forgot to actually lay out our lessons at the end, and (SPOILER) declined to name a winner. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. You'll see there the l...
PvI#67: Consent to Improv w/ Sukaina Hirji
December 20, 2023 16:33 - 1 hour - 63 MBSukaina teaches philosophy at U. of Pennsylvania, combining work from ancient Greek, contemporary moral, and feminist philosophy. She lets Mark and Bill know about critiques by feminist philosophers of the idea of consent. We talk a bit about moral agency, teaching dynamics given these kids today, Aristotelian virtue, and testing personality types by turning them up to 11. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more a...
PvI#66: Legacy Mops w/ Kevin Allison
December 04, 2023 14:50 - 1 hour - 59.3 MBKevin is the creator and host of the storytelling podcast RISK! and is the alphabetically foremost member of the MTV-televised, newly reformed, celebrity-infested sketch comedy troupe The State. But can he improvise? Mark and Bill surprise Kevin into a scene about a suspicious hotel. How does one engineer one's legacy? Will history inevitably either reduce your greatest contributions to mere noise or reinterpret them in light of your final, embarrassing moments? Perhaps the legendary comedy...
PvI#65: Pop Spice
November 15, 2023 17:50 - 53 minutes - 52.8 MBRecorded on 9/11 (a date not known primarily for its improv activities), only now making its way to you, this discussion between Mark and Bill talk child deification, pop philosophy vs. pop improv, foreign accents, and guns in schools in the hands of improvisers. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.
PvI#64: TEAM PLAY GENERALS with Linda Orr and Andrew Lavin
November 06, 2023 14:22 - 1 hour - 73 MBReturning freedom fighters Andrew and Linda and join Bill and Mark to talk about philosophical liberalism: Its rationales and varieties. Plus, preschool orientation, and Greek gods creating a new world. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff. This episode includes the post-game to give you a sample. Sponsor: V...
PvI#63: Virtual Socrates w/ David Chalmers
October 13, 2023 14:16 - 58 minutes - 57.2 MBThe New York University Prof and author of many influential books including the new Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy joins Mark and Bill to simulate debates about AI, cybersex, actor vs. character, and keeping children safe from reality. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Take a class this fall from him at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to...
PvI#62: Cutting Every Edge w/ Jeremy Richards
September 26, 2023 19:33 - 57 minutes - 56.4 MBThe author of The Accomplished Creative, a sort of anti-self-help book based around Jeremy's improv experience and what he learned as a philosophy major, joins Mark and Bill to talk impostor syndrome and benign violations, get real meta about Die Hard scenarios, and have a cheese intervention. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Take a class this fall from him at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more and get the l...
PvI#61: TEAM PLAY CIRCUS with Adal Rifai and Jenny Hansen
September 15, 2023 18:57 - 1 hour - 67.9 MBIt's St. Lawrence University philosophy prof Jenny in the ring with UIC instructor/Podcaster with Hey Riddle Riddle and Hello From the Magic Tavern Adal, along with Mark and Bill, of course. And the Bullshot is flying! Who will be hit? Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Take a class this fall from him at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game di...
PvI#60: Elu-Sedations w/ Matt Teichman
August 29, 2023 19:25 - 55 minutes - 54.4 MBPhilosopher Matt, host of the Elucidations podcast and frequent PEL guest, finally gets in on Philosophy vs. Improv in this, our Season Two Finale. And many is he a de dicto. Or is he a de re? Slowly learn the difference as we make things personal through scenes of shit-talking and crime reporting. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Take a class this fall from him at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philo...
PvI#59: Yes, and Technological Dystopia w/ Anthony LeBlanc
August 17, 2023 14:46 - 1 hour - 62.2 MBHow does new technology affect ethics? Anthony (who is on strike, but that doesn't apply to improv) is an improviser with a computer science degree who now coaches kid TV actors. We talk personal identity, transhumanism, genetic engineering, AI, organizational ethics, Black Mirror, Beastars, and transporter virginity. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Take a class this fall from him at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com....
PvI#58: Avant Garde Accounting
August 03, 2023 23:16 - 51 minutes - 50.9 MBThe guests are away, and so Billy and Markaroony will play. This fast-paced, sweet-moving discussion covers the genius individual artist and how that might or might not allow collaboration, genres and definitions, strife, and more. Mark just can't WAIT for a canoe, and getting CRAZY at the salad bar. Oops, we forgot to determine a winner, so YOU decide. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Take a class this fall from him at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class. Bill improvises (and ...
PvI#57: Happier Cancer w/ Monica McCarthy
July 18, 2023 22:50 - 1 hour - 59.4 MBMonica is an actor and writer who ran a live-on-stage philosophy podcast called The Happier Hour, and so naturally we talk about happiness, or flourishing (eudaimonia). You can watch this episode in its unedited video form. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Take a class this fall from him at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions a...
PvI#56: Interpreting the Monkey Man w/ Chris George
July 06, 2023 18:47 - 57 minutes - 56.4 MBChris has an act called "I Am the Show" where he improvises to a film that he hasn't seen that's playing silently, making up all the dialogue and sound effects. Mark and Bill talk to Chris about being a spectator or critic of art: To understand a work, is it good or necessary to try to divine the artist's intentions, or is meaning in art something that happens after a work becomes an objective thing, such that the artist's intentions are not really relevant, and in fact the author might not...
PvI#55: Oversouled Behavior w/ Genevieve Joy
June 23, 2023 19:31 - 54 minutes - 54.1 MBGenevieve is a comedian, podcaster, and she was a philosophy major who's studying for her doctorate in Divinity. We talk about the idea that "we are all one" (and thus we are all God, if you want to call the sum of all things by that name) that's in various traditions. Ralph Waldo Emerson called this the "oversoul." We spend the rest of the discussion under the bleachers not making out, getting bored at the Grand Canyon, being nervous before the big show, and considering everyone's food al...
PvI#54: Do You Want to Be Here? w/ Brain in a Vat
June 10, 2023 12:43 - 55 minutes - 54.7 MBMark Oppenheimer and Jason Werbeloff of the Brain in a Vat podcast join Bill and Mark L. (aka Alf) to talk about rationality, broadly construed, while not moving a couch and not giving each other Christmas presents. Does "reason" by itself tell us what to do and what to believe? Is trypophobia really just bigotry? (It is not.) What's the rationale for making negative comments on a podcast? Are bigots bigger than bigamists? Was Ayn Rand a cannibal? Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlif...
PvI#53: XTREME BEEF Quicheticles w/ Zach Thompson
May 27, 2023 16:28 - 52 minutes - 51.6 MBZach is an improvisor who's written for MST3K, been a commentator for Resistance Pro Wrestling, and has been a recurring guest on Hello From the Magic Tavern. He joins Mark and Bill to discuss competitiveness in all its forms. Is strife part of utopia, or would all conflict be removed in an ideal political situation? Is the controlled competitiveness of sports or improv games fundamentally different than mere aggression? Also, we chase a dog. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com...
PvI#52: Elegant Stoicism w/ Tanner Campbell
May 05, 2023 18:58 - 1 hour - 75.7 MBTanner runs the popular daily podcast Practical Stoicism, so of course we brought him on to talk about on-board flight services and attitudes among retail service workers. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions, video versions of recent episodes, and other bonus stuff. Sponsor: Listen to The Psychology Podcast with Scott Barry Kau...
PvI#51: All Croutons
April 10, 2023 16:07 - 49 minutes - 48.7 MBMark and Bill engage in a wide-ranging discussion (with scenes, of course) covering the categorization of things, paradigm components and essences of things, historical advertisements, what goes in a museum, irresponsible loans, using the tools of convenience, diner culture, obsolete storage media, undefined locations, self-serve oil change, and a surprise ending whereby you learn that we've been painting the fence all along! Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises...
PvI#50: Pro Tips w/ Marla Cáceres
March 26, 2023 17:13 - 54 minutes - 53.6 MBMarla is an improviser from the Whirled News Tonight iO Theater show. We talk about obeying proper forms of behavior and drawing improv inspiration from outside sources. Plus, a thruple blind date and BBQ chain of custody. And introducing a new character, Lil' Confucius. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions, video versions of rec...
PvI#49: Ferrets in Uniform with Cole Nasrallah
March 09, 2023 00:01 - 48 minutes - 47.9 MBWe talk transcendental idealism and Schopenhauer with Cole, who teaches philosophy at the College of Southern Nevada. Also, the least effective confidential informant! Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions, video versions of recent episodes, and other bonus stuff.
PvI#48: Debates in the Orthaganon
February 18, 2023 16:37 - 50 minutes - 50 MBMark and Bill act out a couple of scenes of a person trying to convince a stubborn person of something. But there's a twist in the characterization! Also, before you were born, the world did not exist. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions, video versions of recent episodes, and other bonus stuff. Sponsor: Check out the Self Este...
PvI#47: What’s in the Chili? w/ Rachael Mason
January 31, 2023 22:43 - 52 minutes - 51.8 MBRachael was a mentor of Bill's and works with him at the newly reopened iO Theater. So it's like we have TWO improv instructors here. We run some scenes, talk a bit too much about chili, and touch on functionalism, idealism, napism, and other isms. Jump into the marzipan! Brucie and Frucie are waiting for you! Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our pos...
PvI#46: Seize the Day How Exactly? w/ Nick Riggle
January 18, 2023 23:16 - 55 minutes - 54.5 MBWhat does the shortness of our lives and the beauty of the world actually entail in terms of behavior and philosophy? Nick is a former pro skater who teaches philosophy at U. of San Diego and has written This Beauty about this question. Mark and Bill engage Nick via car wash planning, the appearance of Bill's imaginary friend, Groundhog Day, and other invitations to awesomeness. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hea...
PvI#45: Meaningful Road Trips w/ Dee Bradley Baker
January 04, 2023 20:49 - 52 minutes - 51.5 MBVoice actor Dee, who has a background in both improv and stand-up, talks to Mark and Bill about the meaning of life and engages in THREE scenes all about a parent trying to get some kids into a vehicle and on the road. Also, does COVID cause ennui? Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff. Sponsor: Check out Ki...
PvI#44: Stand-Up vs. Improv w/ Matty Goldberg
December 22, 2022 19:12 - 58 minutes - 57.8 MBAs our first stand-up comedian (albeit one on sabbatical) guest, Matty has inspired us to largely ignore the philosophy on this one and instead look at these two different ways of producing comedy. Do the motivations of improv folks and comics differ? Which group is more annoying? Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bo...
PvI#43: Return Policy Violations
December 07, 2022 17:45 - 50 minutes - 50.4 MBMark and Bill talk about the lost art of prank phone calls and act out some "customer service nightmares" with an eye to the foundations of law and creativity that defies artistic rules. The scenes are longer and riskier than normal. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff. Sponsor: Check out the Totes Recall ...
PvI#42: The Worth of a Human Life w/ Carneades the YouTube Star
November 17, 2022 18:46 - 55 minutes - 54.6 MBThe anonymous policy wonk who runs the Carneades.org YouTube channel joins Mark and Bill to discuss the core concept of his new book, Are All Lives Equal?: Why Cost-Benefit Analysis Values Rich Lives More and How Philosophy Can Fix It. Should economics really be measuring the value of life at all? Can it do this in any principled way? Can economists really understand how much joy cat videos really bring us? What should parasitic micro-organisms value? Were all the world's religions original...
PvI#41: Situatedness in Three Persons w/ Sarah Shockey
November 01, 2022 03:54 - 58 minutes - 57 MBWhat is personhood? How can a group best collaboratively invent a scene? Sarah is a host of Marty and Sarah Love Wrestling and a repeat guest on Hello From the Magic Tavern. We fit in THREE scenes, some discussion of the various layers of what it is for something to be (or not be) person, and some musings about the weather and such. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podc...
PvI#40: Rules and Voices with Stephen West (Philosophize This!)
October 14, 2022 17:01 - 51 minutes - 50.6 MBStephen West from the juggernaut Philosophize This! podcast joins Mark and Bill to learn to say no and talk about reason vs. emotion in grounding ethics. What do the voices in your head (or at your lunch table) say to you? Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.
PvI#39: Cutting Edge Post-Patternation
October 04, 2022 17:07 - 49 minutes - 49.5 MBMark and Bill break former patterns by each bringing in not a lesson but a question, which we knew about beforehand, and those questions are about pattern-breaking and about what current philosophers worry about. With special surprising scenes conveying cutting-edge podcasting/instructional techniques. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game di...
PvI#38: The Bones of Tragedy with Jay O. Sanders
September 15, 2022 19:34 - 1 hour - 62.5 MBJay Sanders, famed not only for his appearances on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and The Day After Tomorrow and many many other screens and stages, joins us to talk tragedy, how he's applied the lessons of improv to his scripted acting, and more. Jump into the improv maelstrom with us! In the post-game, which just this once, we're sharing with the general public, we more about Jay's projects and getting recognized on the street for things. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. B...
PvI#37: Season One Final Round
August 27, 2022 14:16 - 56 minutes - 55.4 MBIt's all down to this. Which discipline, which host will prevail? All stakes are on the table, and if this thinking isn't critical enough, if these scenes aren't congruent enough, if we fail the big scan-tron test that is life, then it's all been for nothing. Tune in for this, the most exciting single podcast episode you've ever heard in your whole goddamned life. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at phil...
PvI#36: Authentic Authenticity w/ Skye Cleary
August 12, 2022 12:44 - 55 minutes - 54.7 MBSkye teaches and Columbia and the City University of New York, and she recently published How to Be Authentic: Simone de Beauvoir and the Quest for Fulfillment (which is very good, and NOT snake oil). She joins Mark and Bill to talk about what authenticity might mean for an existentialist, how it relates to truth, responsibility, and picking a theme for your birthday party. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear mor...
PvI#35: Submarine Observations w/ Chris Rathjen
July 23, 2022 15:59 - 55 minutes - 55.1 MBWe talk about observations and how they relate to theories and other types of preconception. Is there such a thing as pure observation? We tour a submarine and plan a party. There is no Chumbawamba in either case. Improver Chris starred in the Improvised Star Trek podcast and has been a recurrent guest and now an editor on Hello From the Magic Tavern. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov...
PvI#34: Possible Diners w/ Barry Lam
July 10, 2022 20:58 - 49 minutes - 49.2 MBBarry hosts Hi-Phi Nation, and his most recent season had a run on David Lewis, America's foremost philosopher of possible worlds. So we talk about that notion that Hollywood has had so much fun with lately, and then we have fun with it in a couple of variations on a classic diner scene. Cheese salad, anyone? Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-...
PvI#33: Virtuous Garbage Director w/ Jack Newell
June 16, 2022 20:42 - 59 minutes - 57.9 MBBill is a sad but steadfast street sweeper. Mark has secret character traits. Filmmaker Jack C. Newell is our inaugural non-philosopher, non-improviser guest, and his film knowledge leads to us talking about ethics in terms of film tropes plus some meta-historical-reenactment. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus ...
PvI#32: “On the Standard of [Bad] Taste” w/ Babette Babich
May 26, 2022 18:24 - 55 minutes - 54.6 MBBabette teaches at Fordham and recently edited the collection "Reading David Hume's 'On The Standard of Taste,'" which Mark made use of for PEL#289. So, more philosophically beefy than our typical PvI episode, and yet also live and hence unpredictable. Taste it! Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.
PvI#31: Signs, Signs, Ubiquitous Signs w/ Brooke Breit
May 05, 2022 18:25 - 46 minutes - 68 MBContemplate the difference between signs, symbols, and symptoms. Did our improv scene get Zoom-bombed, or is that just real life intruding? THINK OF THE CHILDREN (eating Doritos)! What flavor of chip is Bill trying to teach today? Why is Brooke sad? Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more Philosophy vs. Improv. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.
PvI#30: In Historica Res
April 22, 2022 19:46 - 45 minutes - 45.4 MB...which, as I was saying, is right in the middle of a sentence or scene! How should our personal and family histories shape our behavior, both in real life and in improv scenes? Do these histories, these stories we tell ourselves, nail us down as people? Are we all old before our time? Are those your real parents? Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more Philosophy vs. Improv. Support the podcast to get all our p...
PvI#29: Personal Panpsychism w/ Jack Symes
April 05, 2022 19:16 - 53 minutes - 53.1 MBPanpsycast host Jack brings his promiscuous philosophy of mind to the show, wherein mind is here, there, and everywhere. But what does that mean? Skits about renting a flat for nefarious purposes and designing software for Nozick's experience machine reveal all! But the question remains... So what? You have to care! Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more Philosophy vs. Improv. Support the podcast to get all our ...
PvI#28: Enhanced Interrogation w/ Adal Rifai
March 11, 2022 16:06 - 1 hour - 69.3 MBToday's episode is about questioning: how one might question, what sets the parameters for a proper answer, and how to give those answers in an informative and/or dramatically effective way. Watch out for dream pigs! Also, how to get into the VIP room at Stuckey's. Perhaps a pair of paralegals can help. In the post-game, included JUST THIS ONCE for public enjoyment, we reflect on improv in the real world and some potential spin-off improv podcasts from our episode. Mark philosophizes at pa...
PvI#27: Normaliticitizationism w/ Andrew Lavin
February 26, 2022 16:45 - 46 minutes - 46.7 MBWe are joined by the young purveyor of the Reductio podcast, who wrote his dissertation on normality, which was such a normie thing to do. Can "abnormality" be morally neutral, or is that term cursed? You down with OTPs? How many towels do you need? Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more Philosophy vs. Improv. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.
PvI#26: Monetize Your Syphilitic Storytelling w/ Linda Orr
February 12, 2022 05:33 - 48 minutes - 48.1 MBIs money the root of all evil, or does it save us from needless cabaret bartering? What is money qua social construction? Should we retain the chocolate fountain? Are you ready to run? Did you bring your NFTs to trade for blue powder? Bill is master of the frustration scene. Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more Philosophy vs. Improv. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.
PvI#25: Questionable Causal Practices
January 30, 2022 17:13 - 37 minutes - 38.4 MBGuest free, we discuss topics from hairballs to boogers to color vision among inanimate objects and rules for unicorn play. When the bad-ass, smelly, screaming white ball hits the 5 ball, how does the causality work? Is skepticism about physical forces just conspiracy theory? Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. Hear more Philosophy vs. Improv. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stu...