Episoder
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Lorraine teaches at Middlebury college and has recently written The Art of the Interesting: What We Miss in Our Pursuit of the Good Life and How to Cultivate It. How does "the interesting" fit into human flourishing? How do we know when some attractive stimulation is really in our interest and really good?
Can we find something interesting even the most tedious, repetitive tasks? Is it interesting to start an improv scene by declaring that your scene-mates are dealing with alcoholism and divorce? Certainly it is rude. Also, Happiness 12 Step Programs.
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Welcome to the beginning of a new round of shenanigans on Philosophy vs. Improv. Let the senior slump begin!
Your hosts Mark Linsenmayer and Bill Arnett here talk a blazin' stream of consciousness and then have a pretty long improv scene. Are we already always philosophizing?
Watch the proceedings unedited on YouTube.
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Mangler du episoder?
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Chicago's iO Theater was graced on August 21 by Mark, Bill, and special guest theater educator James Whittington, who spoke about embodiment (see Maurice Merleau-Ponty), the possible disconnect between meaning and tone, and being in the physical presence of greatness. They acted out scenes (while still sitting!) about an unsuccessful party and Experiences-R-Us.
Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast at philosophyimprov.com/support. You may choose to watch the proceedings live on stage.
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Our long lost episode. Consider it a mystery box.
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Internationally best-selling author David wrote a book (and made a film) called How We Got Here, which traces the gradual path in the history of ideas from the ancients through various forms of perspectivism, relativism, and post-modernism to the post-truth discourse that authoritarians and wanna-be authoritarians engage in.
David's book is in a very terse style, in line with his overall career emphasis on brevity, so we talk about this choice and how it means in most cases not actually explaining any of the ideas involved much less arguing for his interpretation of them. Instead, a series of quotations and short explanations prompt readers to see the lines of influence themselves. This is not a dismissal of post-modernism due to its deleterious consequences, as he sees the current liberal absolutist reaction (there IS objective truth and morality and Trump and his ilk are ignoring) as foolishly antiquated.
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Danny was in a sketch troupe called Maximum Party Zone back in the day with your improv host Bill, and they've now revived that trio to create the MPZ Listening Party podcast, which workshops sketch ideas in real time as a fun form of conversation. So we try out some of their tricks, such as combining two properties (in this case nominally The Apprentice and Argyle to create a pretentious reality show) and brainstorming about serial killer branding and palliative quantum leaping.
Plus, intent vs. impact, your legacy, auditioning for a mystery reality show, fake Roman names, you would be just as bad as Biden at debating, and infinitely more.
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Tamler teaches philosophy at The University of Houston and hosts the Very Bad Wizards podcast. He joins Mark and Bill to talk about personal identity and whether the “self” is necessarily co-extensive with a particular body. Plus: meditation, Daniel Day Improv’s method acting, All of Me vs. Regarding Henry, what does “metaphysics” mean to YOU, dreams as improv, unstuck-in-time Grandma the last slaveholder, and more.
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The actor/writer/comedian joins us to talk about the philosophy of fashion, from the ancients to the present: Is clothing a mode of self-expression or something more (or less)? What does retro fashion say about the current state of culture? Should you wear clothes that you have to be sewn into? If you only had one little piece of cloth to wear, where would you put it? Are philosophers anti-fashion, and is that sexist? What color wedding dress is best for an arranged marriage? Are improv scenes like tissues?
Follow Sheri at @SheriFlanders and @sheriflanders.
For a more elaborate treatment of this topic, see Partially Examined Life #245.
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The philosopher and entertainment journalist direct from Mark’s Pretty Much Pop podcast joins PvI for an hour of merriment. We talk parenthood, philosophy of race, the RULES of improv (or the singular answer to a philosophy question), old 9th graders, one black Peggy, using racy improv in a classroom setting, and more.
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The Hitchhikers and Appetizers co-host joins Mark and Bill to talk about cultural relativism. We talk about foreign-ness, what parts of ethics seem to apply to all cultures, the Museum of Soup, pushing back tactfully in a scene, and more. In my culture, listening to this episode while in a work meeting is polite.
Everything you want to know about the torturer droid.
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David 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.
Follow David @DrPenaGuzman1.
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The 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, because he loves you.
Follow Colleen @AnyangHello.
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It’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!
Cole photographs nature (her Insta is @super_coleider). Follow Chris @classicrathjen.
Listen to PEL on Marcel to make sense of what Mark tries to say about him.
Spock gets high.
This week’s excellent Spock image was ripped from Flickr.
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If 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.
You can watch video for this episode, including all our post-game chatting, all ad-free, just by visiting our Patreon page; you need not subscribe.
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Jonny 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?
For much more Kierkegaard, see our series on The Partially Examined Life.
Watch Jonny do mini philosophy on YouTube. Follow him @philosophyminis and @philosophyminis. His 2023 book is called Mini Big Ideas: A Little Book of Big Innovations.
You may choose to watch the unedited video of this episode and WAIT while Mark loses audio for a minute near the end.
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Katie 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.
Follow @KatieCaussin and @katiecaussin.
Watch the proceedings unedited, if you dare.
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It’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.
Our Post-Game discussion is a mere 2.5 minutes long, so we’ve thrown it into your listening bargain. It’s oozing with holiday good will that you probably need given that the holidays are now weeks behind us.
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Sukaina 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. Also, did our last episode involve improv against the someone’s will?
Follow Sukaina on Twitter and Instagram. Check out her work at sukaina-hirji.com.
The paper Sukaina refers to at the beginning is “That’s What She Said: The Language of Sexual Negotiation” by Quill Kukla.
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Kevin 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. He tells us he was also the creative director of an improv troupe for a year, but it’s not his primary jam, so we talk about that before launching into a scene about a suspicious hotel.
How does one engineer one’s legacy? Can you, or will history inevitably either reduce your greatest contributions to mere noise or reinterpret them in light of, for instance, your final, embarrassing moments? Perhaps the legendary comedy team of Ricky and Lester can serve as a scenic example; let’s let them say a little about who they are and how their career reached its current nadir.
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Keep up with The State at the-state.com. Listen to Mark interview Kevin about RISK! on Pretty Much Pop. Follow Kevin @TheKevinAllison and @thekevinallison.
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Recorded 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.
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