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The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey
The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast
Latest episode

960 episodes

  • The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

    Ep. 397: Federalist Papers LIVE (Part Two)

    10/08/2026 | 51 mins.
    We now have a free-form discussion in light of what was raised in part one about the Federalist Papers and Frederick Douglass' Fourth of July Speech: What should we do about the problems identified? Is the system broken beyond repair? Was it built with fatal flaws in it? Is it just working as normal, and the pendulum will inevitably swing away from madness as the system reasserts itself?
    We then open it up for a Q&A, which gets us talking about property vs. liberty, the power of corporations, the moral basis of our government, and our outlook on the future.
    Learn about Mark's fall philosophy of mind class at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class.
  • The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

    PEL Presents NEM#258: Dan Montgomery: Direct Communication

    09/08/2026 | 1h 11 mins.
    Dan was Ben Vaughn's sound-man and released his first solo album of Americana rock in 2004. We discuss "Busted" from his eighth album (produced by Vaughn), the just Dan-and-his guitar effort Dispatches from the Desert, then "Beaumont" from Cast-Iron Songs and Torch Ballads (2023), "Favorite Color" from Rosetta, Please (A Love Story) (2006). End song: "Lookin' for a Fight" also from the new album. Intro: "Always" from Man from Out of State (2004). More at danmontgomery.bandcamp.com.
    Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic.
  • The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

    PEL Presents PvI#122: Hello from Iran w/ AmirAli Maleki

    07/08/2026 | 46 mins.
    AmirAli is a philosophy researcher in Iran who tries to make Islamic philosophy speak to and with the West. 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. Persian, Amanah ("sacred trust"), philosophy as empathy, plus the Dream Police and fun with imperialism.
    Hear more at philosophyimprov.com. Support the podcast and listen ad-free at patreon.com/philosophyimprov.
    Sponsor: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code IMPROV at oneskin.co/IMPROV.
  • The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

    Announcement: Mark's "Key Ideas in the Philosophy of Mind" Fall 2026 Class

    07/08/2026 | 1 mins.
    Enrollment is now open for our new online class.
    It will be nine 75 min sessions, running from late Aug. to mid Dec., starting with Aristotle and Descartes but then spending the rest of the time on the most influential texts in this area since 1950: Alan Turing, Thomas Nagel, David Chalmers, John Searle, Hilary Putnam, etc.
    We're offering sections to fit the various time zones and work schedules: Saturday mornings, Monday mid-day, Wednesday evenings, or just purchase the recordings of these sessions to take them in at your own pace.
    Read more about it at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class, or go ahead and sign up via partiallyexaminedlife.com/enrollment.
  • The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

    Ep. 397: Federalist Papers LIVE (Part One)

    03/08/2026 | 1h 3 mins.
    To celebrate our nation's 250th birthday, we gathered in front of a lovely audience near Madison WI to discuss Federalist Papers 70, 78, 39, 54, 10 by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison from 1787-1788, Anti-Federalist Papers 78-80 (aka Brutus 11 and 15), and Frederick Douglass' Fourth of July Speech (1852).
    Is the American experiment working out as planned? We talk about the Founders' arguments regarding the unitary executive, the independence of the judiciary, factionalism, the 3/5 compromise for representing slaves, and finally, whether slavery corrupted the whole thing.
    Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion.
    Sponsors: Every self-made person started somewhere. Yours starts free at shopify.com/pel. Visit functionhealth.com/PEL to get the data you need to take action for your health.
    Learn about Mark's fall philosophy of mind class at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class.
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About The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast
The Partially Examined Life is a podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a short text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don't have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we're talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion. For links to the texts we discuss and other info, check out www.partiallyexaminedlife.com. We also feature episodes from other podcasts by our hosts to round out your partially examined life, including Pretty Much Pop (prettymuchpop.com, covering all media), Nakedly Examined Music (nakedlyexaminedmusic.com, deconstructing songs), Philosophy vs. Improv (philosophyimprov.com, fun with performance skills and philosophical ideas), and (sub)Text (subtextpodcast.com, looking deeply at lit and film). Learn about more network podcasts at partiallyexaminedlife.com.
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