The Partially Examined Life

Continuing on Kierkegaard's perhaps most famous book, this time focusing largely on "Problem One: Is There a Teleological Suspension of the Ethical?" Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and bonus content including a supporter-exclusive episode of Closereads that connects Kierkegaard to the Sermon on the Mount . Listen to a preview...

To wrap up our coverage of Kierkegaard, we consider his religious stage of development through this 1843 text analyzing the Biblical story of Abraham. Can we understand, much less admire, an attitude whereby you think God has commanded you to kill your son and you gladly go along with it? How does this sort of "greatness" relate to ethics? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexa...

Your hosts Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al explore Jewish comedy with stand-up Daniel , whose film Reconquistador is about his ancestors being kicked out of Spain. What's the connection of Jewish humor to anti-semitism? What's the relation of a creator's identity to the creation? How does comedy relate to politics and philosophy? We touch on Mel Brooks, Larry David, Adam Sandler, Woody Allen, Len...

Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan set ourselves as part of our ongoing Kierkegaard reading to re-listen to our 2010 episode 29 on Kierkegaard's The Sickness Unto Death . This leads us to our personal histories regarding faith and how the idea of faith intersects with our philosophy studies. If you're not hearing the full version of this discussion , sign up via one of the options described at partiallyex...

Concluding our discussion of Either/Or , still this time considering "The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality" on how the ethical helps us to develop a self. What is this ideal self that Kierkegaard wants us to aim for, but yet which is within us as individuals already? How can each of us merge with the universal ethically yet assert our individuality...

After winning a TV reality competition in 2007 to become Sandy in Grease on Broadway, Laura went on to star in shows like South Pacific, Bonnie & Clyde, Anything Goes, and Cinderella. In 2021 she left Broadway and is now a pop-country songwriter. We discuss her 2023 singles "Getaway" and "Enough," and her performance of the Bonnie & Clyde song "How 'Bout a Dance," from Dream a Little Dream...

On the second half of "The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality" from Vol. 2 of Either/Or (1843). How do we "absolutely" form a coherent self by embracing ethical conventions like marriage, friendship, and having a job? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion....

For our annual holiday episode, Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al talk all things Muppets, but in particular the 1992 film The Muppet Christmas Carol . What's the appeal of this puppet act? Is its humor post-funny ironic? Should it still exist and can it still have the magic with a new generation behind the felt? For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content at patreon.com/prettymuchpop or...

Mark and Wes talk in more details about the "stages of despair" Kierkegaard lays out in “The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality” from Vol. 2 of Either/Or . If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support .

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. Mark philosophizes at...

Continuing on "The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality," with a critique of (Hegelian) philosophy and concrete advice for how to build yourself in an optimal way. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and bonus content including  a supporter-exclusive part three to this discussion. List...

Jason plays bass for Bob Mould's band, is a touring member of Superchunk, and has been making the promo rounds as he tours as guitarist with actor Michael Shannon to play R.E.M.'s debut Murmur live for its 40th anniversary. He's a singer-songwriter who played as Verbow in the 90s, and more recently as Split Single. We discuss two Split Single tunes: "Bitten by the Sound" from Amplificado (2021), "...

Part 5 of Wes & Erin's discussion of Shakespeare’s "The Winter’s Tale." Thanks to our sponsor for this episode, St. John's College. Learn more about undergraduate--and graduate--Great Books programs at St. John's in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Annapolis, Maryland at sjc.edu/subtext .

Part 4 of Wes & Erin's discussion of Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale." Thanks to our sponsor for this episode, HelloFresh. Go to HelloFresh.com/subtextfree and use code subtextfree for free breakfast for life.

On "The Balance Between the Esthetic and the Ethical in the Development of the Personality" from Vol. 2 of Soren Kierkegaard's Either/Or (1843). What is choice? Kierkegaard's character Judge William criticizes the aesthete from our previous episode on the earlier part of this book: The aesthete doesn't make any authentic choices and so doesn't develop a coherent self. Get more at partiallyexamined...

Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, Al and special guest Vi Burlew talk about the new film The Marvels as well as more generally what's been coming out in film and TV from the Marvel folks in the latest "phase." Does Marvel have a consistent tone at this point)? What explains the box office poison of the new film?  Subscribe directly at prettymuchpop.com or search Pretty Much Pop on your desired podcast app...

Mark, Wes, and Seth read through more of Kierkegaard's Diapsalmata, translated as "Refrains," which are the aphorisms that begin the book and demonstrate the aesthetic point of view.  If you're not hearing the full version of this part of the discussion , sign up via one of the options described at partiallyexaminedlife.com/support .  

Continuing on "Diapsalmata" and "Rotation of Crops" from the "Either" portion of Kierkegaard's pseudonymous book.  We talk through more of K's aphorisms, his narrator's solution to boredom, and we take the critique personally: Is this Romantic view described one that we held as younger people (or now)? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free e...

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 . 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 nois...

Eric Goulden has recorded 29 albums since 1978, typically as Wreckless Eric but also with his wife Amy Rigby or under band names like Captains of Industry and The Len Bright Combo.  We discuss "Standing Sunday Morning" from Leisureland (2023), "Another Drive-In Saturday" by Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby from their self-titled debut (2008), and "Depression" by Le Beat Group Electrique from their s...

On the aphorisms ("Diapsalmata") that begin Soren Kierkegaard's Either/Or (1843), plus the essay also in the first volume, "Rotation of Crops." What is it to live your life as if it were a work of art? K thinks such a life is unserious and unsatisfying. Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion. Sponsors: Ge...

When King Leontes accuses his pregnant wife of adultery, the nobleman Antigonus assumes that Leontes has been “abused and by some putter-on”—in other words, some Iago-like villain has been putting malevolent ideas into his head. In fact, Leontes is the father of his own misconceptions, just as he is the father of his wife’s children. But unlike his children, his ideas might be said to have no moth...

Mark and Wes Closeread the conclusion to Soren Kierkegaard's On the Concept of Irony (1841), "Irony as a Controlled Element, the Truth of Irony." The discussion starts with the role of irony in good art, and then moves on to discuss the proper role of irony as an existential strategy in a well-grounded, thoughtful life. To get all Part Three PEL episodes, plus paywalled vintage episodes, Nightcaps...

We discuss the loose mishmash adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe stories that makes up Mike Flanagan's Netflix show, The Fall of the House of Usher . Mark, Lawrence, Sarahlyn, and Al talk about the various creative choices, moral responsibility in the show, the relation between gothic and camp, Poe's continued standing as horror icon, and more. Subscribe directly at prettymuchpop.com or search Pretty M...

Continuing with On the Concept of Irony , defined as "infinite absolute negativity." K criticizes his Romantic peers of taking irony too far. So what is healthy, well-grounded irony? Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com . Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and bonus content including a third part to this episode (coming soon). Sponsors: Learn about St. John's College...