It’s A Wonderful Life in Some (not all that) Close Possible World!

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In this episode, we take a philosophical look at holiday movies. It’s that wonderful time of year when we celebrate all the good things in life by imagining how great things would be if magic were real, we could have everything we wanted, and if woodland creatures could talk.

Music in this episode: “Attack of the Mole Men” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Fat Cartoon Jazz https://www.purple-planet.com
Christmas Fairy https://www.purple-planet.com

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True Crime and Punishment

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In this episode, we take a philosophical look at the whole true crime phenomenon (podcasts, radio programs, television shows, etc.). Time permitting, we might even investigate a few philosophical crimes, such as the Kripke/ Marcus affair, Wittgenstein’s poker, that time my friend from grad school told a bunch of people that a famous philosopher plagiarized his work, the hit job Bertrand Russell did on all of philosophy in his A History of Western Philosophy, that sham of a trial involving Socrates, and the murder of Hypatia.

Music in this episode:
“Attack of the Mole Men” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Fat Cartoon Jazz https://www.purple-planet.com
The Getaway https://www.purple-planet.com

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Something Wicked My Way Comes!

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In our annual Halloween episode (sometimes there are more than one!) we talk about a staple of the modern horror genre: the evil things one does following one around forever. On the face of it this seems like a good thing (although perhaps not so much for the one being followed). Upon closer inspection, it’s not so clear.

Music in this episode: “Attack of the Mole Men” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Fat Cartoon Jazz https://www.purple-planet.com Possession https://www.purple-planet.com

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The Calamari Ring of Gyges

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In this episode we discuss a variety of philosophical topics related to the Netflix series Squid Game. Along the way we complain about rich people and offer some interesting rankings and comparisons.

“Attack of the Mole Men” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Fat Cartoon Jazz https://www.purple-planet.com
Cat and Mouse https://www.purple-planet.com

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Old MacDonald Told a Joke

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In this episode we mourn the passing of comedian Norm MacDonald as we discuss the philosophy of comedy. Plato and Camus walk into a bar…

Music in this episode: “Attack of the Mole Men” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Fat Cartoon Jazz https://www.purple-planet.com
Plucky Comedy https://www.purple-planet.com

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Am I Losing Me?

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In this episode we discuss philosophical issues at the intersection of personal identity and death. As Billy Joel is want to say “Don’t go changing.”
The papers we allude to in the episode can be found in Exploring the Philosophy of Death and Dying edited by Michael Cholbi and Travis Timmerman.

Music in this episode: “Attack of the Mole Men” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Fat Cartoon Jazz https://www.purple-planet.com
Sense of Loss https://www.purple-planet.com

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Hell is Other Rich People

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In this first episode of Season 8 we take a look at some of the more noteworthy philosophical themes found in a couple of recent television limited series: The White Lotus and Nine Perfect Strangers. This episode promises to be so intense that you will need two spa days and an afternoon on a yacht to recover.

Music in this episode: “Attack of the Mole Men” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Fat Cartoon Jazz https://www.purple-planet.com
Ethereal Eternity https://www.purple-planet.com

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To Boldly Go Where No Franchise Has Gone Before

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In this episode we do a season wrap-up where we reflect on the past year’s events and look at some philosophical models of what the future might look like. We are also coming “live” from the 2021 meeting of the Popular Culture Association (this is the fourth installment of a multi-episode series). We talk to David LoConto about some of his favorite points of intersection between philosophy and pop culture. We discuss (among other things) the latest installment in the Star Trek franchise—Discovery, which was most likely named after the ELO album of the same name.

Music in this episode: “Attack of the Mole Men” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Fat Cartoon Jazz https://www.purple-planet.com

Doomed Romance https://www.purple-planet.com

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From the PCA: Oh To Be Virtually Influential!

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In this episode we are coming “live” from the 2021 meeting of the Popular Culture Association (this is the third installment of a multi-episode series). We talk to a couple of prominent scholars, Gwendolyn Dolske and Randy Jensen, about some of their favorite points of intersection between philosophy and pop culture. We discuss (among other things) social media, the good life, and living in a virtual world.

Music in this episode:
“Attack of the Mole Men” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Fat Cartoon Jazz https://www.purple-planet.com
Doomed Romance https://www.purple-planet.com

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From the PCA: The Pumpkin King’s Gambit!

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In this episode we are coming “live” from the 2021 meeting of the Popular Culture Association (this is the second installment of a multi-episode series). We talk to a couple of prominent scholars, Jason Murphy and Siobhain Lash, about some of their favorite points of intersection between philosophy and pop culture. We discuss (among other things) the Queen’s Gambit and the Nightmare Before Christmas.

Music in this episode:
“Attack of the Mole Men” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Fat Cartoon Jazz https://www.purple-planet.com
Doomed Romance https://www.purple-planet.com

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