Philosophy vs. Improv

Mark, Mary, and Anthony (Leblanc, no longer quite a guest, yet not quite a co-host) continue to chat in the wake of Ch. 1 of the Noose-BOMB (i.e. Martha Nussbaum’s The Therapy of Desire ). Those mushmouths (e.g. South Park’s Kenny , King of the Hill’s Boomhauer , or Fat Albert’s Mushmouth ) sure could use some linguistic therapy, but are the Hellenistic “philosophy as...

Mark, Mary, and Jenny are joined by improviser Anthony to restore us to a 2 X 2 Team Play balance, again reading part of Martha Nussbaum’s The Therapy of Desire as a way of exploring ancient yet still popular traditions by which one might use philosophy for self-improvement. In the course of introducing Nussbaum’s ideas, we act out and/or discuss vacation portal polyamory, voluntarily...

Mark, Mary, and now new co-host Jus’ Jenny begin our new endeavor that includes reading Martha Nussbaum’s book The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics (1994). We read the introduction of that for this session, but YOU certainly don’t have to read it. (Though we encourage this; if you just search the web for the title and “pdf,” I’m betti...

In between seasons here, we’ve got some business, which is that not too long after our Redacted episode , I did a follow-up episode with that same acting coach, whom I can now reveal to be my old high-school classmate David L. Epstein, who runs Actor Class off of Times Square, after many years acting, directing, and writing plays. He was also the lead in the Partially Examined Life reading o...

We wrap up Mary’s first year with the podcast, and changes are afoot for our upcoming season, but why? Let’s explore to the point of physical discomfort! We act out an odd annual employee review, a dramatic pitch for a new play, and the navel-gazing club. We talk about celebrating and escalating, high points of season 5, how comedy is never a matter of “trying to be funny”...

Future co-host philosophy Jenny joins past co-host improviser Bill along with the usual rabble (Mark and Mary) for some tag-team mud swimming, hot takes about The Odyssey (we recorded this on July 23), and discussion and play about Bill’s return to school, Maslow’s hierarchy, gamified syllabi, some dweeby math stuff, and academic dishonesty. Our shared conversation space shall now be r...

AmirAli is a philosophy researcher who runs the Persian-language philosophy blog Praxis Publication and tries to make Islamic philosophy speak to and with the West. In this, his first international podcast appearance, we hear about doing philosophy in the “Islamic Republic of Iran,” life during wartime, the relationship between play and philosophy, Islamic philosophy in Arabic vs. Pers...

The LA-based clown, multimedia performance artist, and doll stylist (see maddiemutations.com ; she also goes by the name Maddie Forrest) joins Mary and Mark to talk about her Doll Court show, clown types and the role of the fool, failing on stage, cities as women, silly villains, and more. Will Carol overcome her anxiety to go into the big meeting? Will Maddie keep all the nice dolls to herself? W...

Your wise and authoritative hosts explore forms of respectful address, what counts as good philosophy, the holodeck full-contact Fantasy Island experience, status in economic transactions, Trek not War, default improv scenarios, fear of playfulness, philosophy or improv as education vs. doing philosophy or improv, and more. The potential future textbook I suggested at the end is Martha Nussbaum&#8...

What would PvI be with zero masculine energy? This episode features your usual co-host Mary Hynes and our frequent guest Jennifer Hansen ( philosopher at St. Lawrence University ). They have a one-on-one chat about being hot in a hostile world, interacting with AI, fighting with parrots, and they act out scenes involving the f*cks store and the actress who is too perfect. There is a lot of reclaim...

Mark and Mary are joined by Andrea, an Italian teacher with a broad performing background who’s written a book of philosophical, poetic aphorisms called Think Town : self-help reflections and directives about fear, ego, happiness, etc. There’s a long history of aphorisms in philosophy (Nietzsche, Heraclitus, Confucius, Laozi), and philosophy invented the self-help genre (the Stoics amo...

We are REELING from our REDACTED episode , and so we talk about the lessons we learned from that and start thinking about what it is to be out of one’s comfort zone: How do fear and ego issues interact? Is playfulness a lack of professionalism? Are both arrogance and humility products of fear? Plus, cutting-edge surgery reality shows, Schrödinger’s hostile cat and Dr. Brenda’s se...

Every PvI recording is an experiment, and in this case, our guest (a bigwig acting coach in NYC whom I went to high school with) didn’t feel great about the episode, so I offered to paywall it. Here you get to hear what you’re missing, along with a little pitch about why you should support the show. To respond affirmatively to this pitch and hear (and see!) the whole episode, visit pat...

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 that date you, how to draw in students, the realness of birds, and playing unsafe characters. Scenes include a forced-Fargo college experience, improv class on the roof, spying on birds, and keyboard warriors. Plus Marge and Larry. Why did Mary have a...

In this pitched, high-stakes battle, your hosts have it out about astrological biases, doing offensive accents, letting go of control in an improv scene, and group-based restrictions on who you feel you date. OK, actually, it’s not a battle, but an illustration of how the dynamics of changing one’s mind works: Despite what you might be reading or who might be lecturing at you or demons...

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 with our new host Mary. We act out vegan jerky time, snacktime at the all-girls clubhouse, and two gals getting pulled over by a cop. Does the “come debate me” style of philosophy include unnecessarily masculine tropes? How does t...

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, curiosity about bellicose Twitter, respect vs. reverence, rationality and religion, dealing with QAnon believers, family Thanksgiving, giving someone else a name, vegetarianism, and the angel of philosophy. Here’s that Steve Harvey show...

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 function of art, plus songs for pets, a support group for people who sing all the time, and more. Jerome sticks around for the post-game, which is normally restricted to supporters, but which you get to hear as a sample this time. We demonstrate why col...

Elijah is a philosophy prof (and PhD theologian) in Vancouver who was a die-hard, evangelical Christian but gradually became liberal and then atheist. In light of his latest book that collects all your favorite arguments for and against the existence of God, called UnBelieving God: A Skeptic’s Guide , Mark and Mary chat with him about his journey and about the degree to which we should care...

To kick off the Year of Our Lord 2026, Mark and Mary talk about memory: memory care for the elderly, the relation between things and memories, what professional activities are worth preserving (improv performances?), being the tchotchke, womb nostalgia, puppets and percussion, plus a visit from the future. You can choose to watch the main part of this discussion on unedited video . Sponsor: Visit...

Rich runs the Dare to Fail improv school and is author of Improv Made Easier . He joins Mark and Mary to discuss contexts of failure, failing to meet your goals vs. “objective failure,” how to react in an improv scene to some topic that’s too offensive for you, graveyard humor vs. reverence. Featuring Steaks You Deserve, Robo-Carson, cancer torture, interactive cemetery, Sounds o...

Philosopher/writer/critic/podcaster Lawrence Ware returns to the show to meet Mary and talk about how Mark is his own personal Leroy Jesus. We act out and/or discuss orphan greeting cards, face-to-face instruction vs. writing books, imaginary friends, laugh trumpets, black ice, and is aesthetic judgment (especially of yourself) a mistake? Sponsors: Get the holiday deal (up to 50% off!) at MasterCl...

Is argumentation essential to philosophy? Should you always be open to arguments challenging your beliefs? An actual argument would not be just two abstract positions being measured against each other, but two people with some stakes in the issue, and of course the most interesting philosophical issues have to do with how we live our lives, and so what could be more personal and potentially insult...

Seth is an improviser and aspiring professional “muse,” which is a type of life coach that hangs out with you to see where you could be more in touch with your humanity so that you can then work out a coherent plan for your adult life. He discusses with Mary and Mark the conflict between authentic individual humans and a social structure filled with oppressive systems. Should we &#8220...

Scott , until lately a philosophy professor at Oklahoma State University , joins Mark and Mary to tout his new book, Thinking Ethically: A Handbook for Making Moral Choices . The point is to provide some helpful tips in our age of non-communication for how we can explore and debate varying positions on hot button social issues. So how does debate role-playing jibe with improv comedy? Scott is also...