Philosophy vs. Improv (Mark Linsenmayer)

An epic journey begins. Which path will produce the most profound profundity? The wisest wisdom? Bill Arnett eases us into first gear, but Mark Linsenmayer pulls the wheel toward murder.

For more about Mark and Bill, respectfully see partiallyexaminedlife.com and chicagoimprovstudio.com respectively.

Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

Mark Linsenmayer asks what is real? Bill Arnett accommodates and highlights as appropriate. A flawless performance by all, despite the judges' feedback.

Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com.

Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com.

Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

Our first improvised scene! We get real high on self-esteem.

Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com.

Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com.

Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

Is death something to be feared? What's next? What are the DETAILS? Do not adjust your listening device; that sound you hear is improvisation.

Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com.

Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com.

Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

Two scenes reveal our underlying definitions. How will we overcome the lag between our words? How many beats in an heirloom beet if an heirloom hair-looms beets?

Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com.

Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com.

Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

We try to be boring. Bill tries to make a discovery amidst the canards. Mark tries to be a good meta-dupe. With our first celebrity guest, the final judge is unveiled!

Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com.

Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com.

Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

What is Philosophy vs. Improv? Hear about the new podcast by Mark Linsenmayer (The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast) and Bill Arnett (Chicago Improv Studio, The Complete Improviser author).

Thanks to our announcer, Erica Spyres.

Get more episodes than are now publicly available plus supporter-only content at patreon.com/philosophyimprov. This new project needs your support to get off the ground!

Does it make sense to try to have everyone get what they "deserve"? We act out the desert machine but yet get no predictable cake.

Judgebot 5000 enters our lives. Is this our first really good episode? Maybe.

Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff and good karma!

Mark and Bill do impressions of people you don't know. The is-ought distinction is bravely explored. Does pretending to be cavemen help? Magic business is afoot. Childhood speaks.

Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com.

Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com.

Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get bonus stuff (including the "post-game" portion of this discussion.

Why is lying wrong? Scene conceptions clash. It is hard to lie in a pretend scene, because the pretending is already a lie. You can lie inside-out or outside-in.

Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com.

Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com.

Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to our post-game discussion and other bonus stuff.

Turkeys speculate in a game scene. Are they reasonable and/or jive turkeys? Then, geometry is subject to ad hominem attack in an instructive relationship scene.

Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com.

Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com.

Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get our post-game discussion and other bonus stuff.

Bill gets to have the power of live and death, with a bit of moral luck. Is he enthused?

Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com.

Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com.

Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get our post-game discussion and other bonus stuff.

Sponsor: Learn about St. John's college at sjc.edu/improv.

Bill gets really real, with his unlogical emotions. When we feel things, do we know why? Is there a why?

Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com.

Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com.

Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get our post-game discussion and other bonus stuff.

Beauty is cool, but is art always aiming at beauty? Generations disagree about their music. Snakes disagree about how much they should worry.

Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com.

Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com.

Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get our post-game discussion and other bonus stuff.

Are so-called "material objects" really just a scam? These two cut-ups (Bill and Mark) cut up the world in various ways, showing you how to teach, how to act, and how to haggle.

Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com.

Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com.

Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get our post-game discussion and other bonus stuff.

Who stole Carmine's lunch? I think you know. Are there only a certain number of "logical" directions from one idea to another? Are there no mistakes, or are there mistakes that know?

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.

Do you believe in miracles? If doctors believed in miracles, would they just let surgeries finish themselves? Do assumptions of a logical universe make it not just unjustified by psychologically impossible for us to really believe in miracles?

Read about our VERY FIRST guest, Tim Sniffen at timsniffen.com.

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.

Sponsors: Visit betterhelp.com/improv to be matched with a licensed, professional therapist. Learn about St. John's College at sjc.edu/improv.

Riffing on resemblance. Eventually invoking the spirit of a toaster. Mark is wrong: the God Emperor of Dune can't drink water at all, just dried food.

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.

Sponsors: Visit betterhelp.com/improv to be matched with a licensed, professional therapist. Learn about St. John's College at sjc.edu/improv.

Featuring TWO guest improvisers, Jill, co-founder of HUGE Theater and her friend Michelle, owner of Improv MKE.

Bill and our guests each start a scene to explore something of what utopia might amount to, and of course how it will inevitably go bad. Could there be some single utopia for everyone?

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.

Sponsors: Visit betterhelp.com/improv to be matched with a licensed, professional therapist. Learn about St. John's College at sjc.edu/improv.

Let's all lose our jobs and talk instead about fundamental ontology and social dynamics. 

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.

Sponsors: Visit betterhelp.com/improv to be matched with a licensed, professional therapist. Learn about St. John's College at sjc.edu/improv.

What is "othering"? Why did Bill get such a bad grade? Is it because of his feather quill pen? Our first real philosophy professor guest joins us for some office hours and anti-vaxxer drama.

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.

Sponsors: Visit betterhelp.com/improv to be matched with a licensed, professional therapist. Learn about St. John's College at sjc.edu/improv.

The scene is its own entity. What else might be its own entity? Can a machine that passes the Turing test know what it's like to be a bat? We bring in emotions from irrelevant contexts, and we keep hearing them long after they're gone.

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.

Sponsor: Learn about St. John's College at sjc.edu/improv.

There's trouble at the work site! There are secret shifts of emotion going on. Do they make sense? Later, a guy's car is blocking a driveway. Does he deserve the electric chair, or a beer? It depends on your theory of punishment.

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.

Can we have an entertaining discussion inspired by Aristotle's most boring book? Bill leads Mark and our guest Tommy through some let's-describe-what's-in-an-imaginary-room exercises. 

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.

Sponsor: Learn about St. John's College at sjc.edu/improv.

The philosopher of games joins us for a frustration game. What is a game, anyway? We ask dumb questions on a museum tour. 

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.

Guest 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 stuff.

Is 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.

We 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.

Today'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 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.

Sponsor: Get 15% off premium earbuds at BuyRaycon.com/pvi.

Panpsycast 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 post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.

Sponsor: Get 15% off premium earbuds at BuyRaycon.com/pvi.

...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 post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.

Contemplate 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.

Babette 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.

Bill 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 stuff.

Barry 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-game discussions and other bonus stuff.

We 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.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.

Skye 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 more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.

It'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 philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.

Jay 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.

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.

Mark 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 discussions and other bonus stuff.

Stephen 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.

What 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 podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.

The 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 originally infections diseases? No question is off the table!

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.

Mark 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 film review podcast at totesrecall.com.

As 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 bonus stuff.

Sponsor: Check out the A Pastor and a Philosopher Walk Into a Bar podcast.

Voice 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 Killed to Death, an improvised true crime podcast.

What 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.

Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.

Sponsor: Check out Spencer Wants to Know.

Rachael 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 post-game discussions, video versions of recent episodes, and other bonus stuff.

Sponsor: Check out the History Cache Podcast.

Mark 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 Esteem Party podcast on TheSonarNetwork.com.

We 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.

Marla 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 recent episodes, and other bonus stuff.

Mark 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 (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.

Tanner 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 Kaufman.

Zach 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.

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.

Sponsors: Get 16 free meals and free shipping via HelloFresh.Com/improv16 (code improv16). Check out the Skeptoid podcast at skeptoid.com.

Mark 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 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 Banned Camp comedy podcast.

Genevieve 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 allergies.

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 most recent episodes (not this one!), and other bonus stuff.

Sponsors: Get 16 free meals and free shipping via HelloFresh.Com/improv16 (code improv16). Check out the Skeptoid podcast at skeptoid.com.

Chris 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 have any better idea than you do of its meaning?

This spurs us for some reason to enact some scenes initiated by pantomime, i.e. silence. Darts, anyone? You can watch the unedited video of this episode for free.

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 most recent episodes, and other bonus stuff.

Monica 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 and other bonus stuff.

Sponsors: Get 16 free meals and free shipping via HelloFresh.Com/improv16 (code improv16). Visit Twit.tv/apple for three great podcasts about all things Apple.

The 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 teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com.

Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.

If you like our podcast, check out another show: Articles of Interest.

How 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.

Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.

If you like our podcast, check out another show: Articles of Interest.

Philosopher 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 philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.

Sponsor: Check out The Good Life Method by Meghan Sullivan and Paul Blaschko.

It'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 discussions and other bonus stuff.

Sponsor: Visit FactorMeals.com/improv50 (code improv50) to get 50% off America's #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Kit

The 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 link to the video for this episode at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.

The 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 get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.

Sponsor: Visit FactorMeals.com/improv50 (code improv50) to get 50% off America's #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Kit.

Returning 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: Visit FactorMeals.com/improv50 (code improv50) to get 50% off America's #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Kit.

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.

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.

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 noise or reinterpret them in light of 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.

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. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.

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 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. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff, including a special holiday video (which is free to all viewers)

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.

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. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.

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. 

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. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions and other bonus stuff.

Sponsors: Get a meal for $1.49 plus $1 steaks at EveryPlate.com/podcast, code 49improv. Get a weekly dose of Internet comedy at CanYouDontPodcast.com.

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?

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. Support the podcast to get all our post-game discussions, a video version of the podcast, and other bonus stuff.

Sponsor: If you enjoy our podcast, check out Historical Blindness.

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.

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 talking gratis just by visiting our Patreon page.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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? Are philosophers anti-fashion, and is that sexist? What color wedding dress is best for an arranged marriage? Are improv scenes like tissues?

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.

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.

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.

Danny was in a sketch troupe called Maximum Party Zone 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 their shtick, combining two properties (The Apprentice and Argyle) and brainstorming about serial killer branding.

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.

Sponsor: Try online therapy at betterhelp.com/improv.

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. Some improv scenes are inserted awkwardly into the discussion.

Mark philosophizes at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Bill improvises (and teaches) at chicagoimprovstudio.com. See us live Wed. 8/21, 6pm at iO Theater, Chicago.

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.

Sponsor: Try online therapy at betterhelp.com/improv.

Our long lost episode. Consider it a mystery box.

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.