There’s an interesting article in the US newspaper “Austin American Statesman” for 5 May 2014 on Seth Paskin from the Partially Examined Life podcast. There is a brief mention of Lucy in the article about taking part in the PEL podcast.


“We try to come up with a concept or an issue or something we can treat philosophically in a discrete chunk,” Paskin says. “Like: Why is there something rather than nothing? What is the best form of government? Why should you act ethically?”

The part-time philosophers don’t try to cover everything about the subjects, which they discuss with some degree of seriousness or irreverence. They try to refine tremendously complicated arguments.

“What is the insight?” Paskin asks. “And can we cash it out with our real-world experiences?”

They’ve recorded more than 90 episodes and have crossed the 5 million-download mark. They attract an average of 100,000 hits a month and offer a members’ area for discussion groups.

“We did an episode on Cormac McCarthy’s ‘No Country for Old Men,’ ” Paskin says. “And one on fame with Lucy Lawless, who’s actually a fan of the podcast. She’s going back to school to get a degree in philosophy or political theory.”


Image635350030317722134LISTEN OR READ TRANSCRIPT OF THE PODCAST

The following was originally posted on AUSXIP Lucy Lawless on 10 December 2012

Back in October (Oct 7) The Partially Examined Life site released a 2 hour podcast they did with Lucy on the subject of fame. This was such an interesting podcast. It was unfortunate for non English speaking fans that some could not understand all of the podcast. I was asked by several fans if a transcript existed. I contacted the guys from Partially Examined Life and asked. Unfortunately there wasn't a transcript. I received a very cool email this afternoon from Seth from the Partially Examined Life site to say they did have an transcript that I could share with the fans! Many thanks to Seth and the team at Partially Examined Life for this wonderful transcript!

It's in PDF format and quite lengthy.

READ THE TRANSCRIPT

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

On Fame: What the Classics Tell Us About Our Cult of Celebrity by Tom Payne (2010).

What’s the deal with our f’ed up relationship with celebrities? Payne says that celebrities serve a social need that’s equal parts religion and and aggression. TV’s Lucy Lawless (Xena, Spartacus, Battlestar Galactica) joins us to discuss the accuracy of this thesis, along with her obsession with philosophy (and our podcast), the relation between fandom and mental illness, the drive for fame, sacrificial heroes, celebrity encounters, fame for fame’s sake, infamy, celebrity philosophers, mentally ill philosophers, and what Nietzsche’s will to power has to do with all of this.






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