The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

948 episodes

PEL Presents NEM#256: Bruce Soord (Pineapple Thief): Heartbreaking Prog by Ear
2026/07/17 | 1h 9 mins.
Bruce started as guitarist for the '90s for Vulgar Unicorn and started Pineapple Thief as a solo project in 1999, though it quickly became a full band. He's released 16 studio albums with Pineapple Thief and four solo albums. More at brucesoord.com and pineapplethief.com.
We discuss "Pillars" from Ghosts in the Park (his 2026 solo album) and some Pineapple Thief tracks: the title track from It Leads to This (2024), "Clapham" from 10 Stories Down (2005), remixed for 3000 Days (2008), plus to conclude "Alone at Sea" from Magnolia (2014). Intro: "Private Paradise" by from Abducted at Birth (1999, originally called Abducting the Unicorn).
Hear more Nakedly Examined Music at nakedlyexaminedmusic.com. Support us at patreon.com/nakedlyexaminedmusic, which will get you access to a bonus episode with Bruce from 2018.
Ep. 395: C.S. Lewis Argues for Christianity (Part Two)
2026/07/13 | 54 mins.
Continuing on Mere Christianity (1952). We discuss his take on the problem of evil, how happiness is impossible without Christ, our potential to evolve from bios (biological nature) vs. zoe (spiritual nature), sexual morality, pride, and more.
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.
PEL Presents Closereads: Hegel on Faith vs. The Enlightenment (aka PEL#394 pt. 3)
2026/07/12 | 56 mins.
On Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, sec. 551-559, which are sections assigned for but not actually covered on PEL #394.
We get more info on how The Enlightenment supposedly mischaracterizes faith, but also how faith sees The Enlightenment and what Hegel considers to be good points coming out of The Enlightenment's critique.
PEL Presents PMP#225: Survivor the Constant (with Wes!)
2026/07/11 | 54 mins.
Survivor has remained a top-rated show since its debut in 2000, and some of us (Sarahlyn and our guest Wes Alwan) have stuck with it throughout, Mark just watched when it came out and had to catch up, and some of us (Lawrence and Al) had not previously been on board at all.
We talk through the evolution of the show, from torture exhibitionism to now lore-drenched soap-operatic beach games. Is this show designed to be watched in the background? What makes for a good player? What criteria to the jury members use to vote for a winner? What is the target audience for the show? Are the games well designed? How does the show deal with racism?
Get more at prettymuchpop.com. Get an ad-free experience, plus bonus talking for nearly every episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop.
Ep. 395: C.S. Lewis Argues for Christianity (Part One)
2026/07/06 | 47 mins.
On Mere Christianity (1952), where Lewis presents the moral argument for the existence of God and present Christianity as uniquely solving the human conundrum that our moral phenomenology presents, i.e. that the moral law is real in us yet we can never fulfill it. Once you're on board with that reasoning, faith is a matter of sticking to your realization even though Christianity's moral rules are extremely stringent.
Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion.
Don't miss the PEL Live show in Madison, WI on Saturday afternoon, July 11. See partiallyexaminedlife.com/live for details.
Sponsor: Every self-made person started somewhere. Yours starts free at shopify.com/pel.

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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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