Philosophy vs. Improv

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. Here’s an excerpt from the essay Lawrence refers to by philosophy George Yancy on the film White Chicks. The image was swiped from here. Is it a spiritual representation of Lawrence? You decide! Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You’ll get all of our post-game discussions and other exclusive bonus content. You can choose to watch the proceedings unedited on YouTube.

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. Everything you want to know about the torturer droid. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You’ll get all of our post-game discussions and other exclusive bonus content. You can also choose to watch this as video.

David Peña-Guzmán, co-host of the popular Overthink podcast, explores the intriguing effects of drugs on our sense of self. He humorously navigates the concept of ''natural'' substances and their potential role in workplace settings. The discussion delves into how psychedelics can lead to profound shifts in identity and creativity, especially among young people. With personal anecdotes, David also critiques societal norms around drug classification and consumerism, all while advocating for a more authentic self-perception.

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. Follow Colleen @AnyangHello. You can choose to watch this on video: Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You’ll get all of our post-game discussions and other exclusive bonus content.

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! Cole photographs nature (her Insta is @super_coleider). Follow Chris @classicrathjen. Listen to PEL on Marcel to make sense of what Mark tries to say about him. Spock gets high. This week’s excellent Spock image was ripped from Flickr. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You can choose to watch this as video:

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. You can watch video for this episode, including all our post-game chatting, all ad-free, just by visiting our Patreon page; you need not subscribe. The episode image was snatched from here. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast!

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? For much more Kierkegaard, see our series on The Partially Examined Life. Watch Jonny do mini philosophy on YouTube. Follow him @philosophyminis and @philosophyminis. His 2023 book is called Mini Big Ideas: A Little Book of Big Innovations. Sponsor: If you enjoy our podcast, check out Historical Blindness. You may choose to watch the unedited video of this episode and WAIT while Mark loses audio for a minute near the end. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You’ll get all of our post-game discussions and other exclusive bonus content. The image is by a girl scout, showing apparently the overcoming of existential isolation via doughnut transfer, was snatched from this page. Audio editing by Daniel Thabet of podcastdoctors.com.

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. Follow @KatieCaussin and @katiecaussin. 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. Watch the proceedings unedited, if you dare. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You’ll get all of our post-game discussions and other exclusive bonus content. Audio editing by Daniel Thabet of podcastdoctors.com. The image was delivered by by Google from a St. Mary’s Church, but its context of reference seems to have been removed from the Internet. Suspicious!

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. Our Post-Game discussion is a mere 2.5 minutes long, so we’ve thrown it into your listening bargain. It’s oozing with holiday good will that you probably need given that the holidays are now weeks behind us. The holiday image is by someone named Ava who was a child in 2005 when this was posted. If you’d prefer to watch this as video, do so. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast to get all of those post-game segments, typically much longer than this one.

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. Also, did our last episode involve improv against the someone’s will? Follow Sukaina on Twitter and Instagram. Check out her work at sukaina-hirji.com. The paper Sukaina refers to at the beginning is “That’s What She Said: The Language of Sexual Negotiation” by Quill Kukla. The image, of course, by Raphael, but is the version created by Mark’s character in our first scene. Have we earned an ‘A’ yet? Watch the interrogation unedited. Hear more PvI. Support the podcast! You’ll get all of our post-game discussions and other exclusive bonus content. Just for visiting patreon.com/philosophyimprov you can see a special full-length holiday episode. Audio editing by Tyler Hislop.