Front Porch Philosophy

Garrett and Mike return from spring break to discuss Chapter 5 of "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" by Leo Tolstoy. The lesson from this episode: Watch the movie Puss In Boots: The Last Wish.

Garrett and Mike discuss Chapter 4 of "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" by Leo Tolstoy. Things start to turn for Ivan. But not for anyone else.

Garrett and Mike break down Chapter 3 of the novella "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" by Leo Tolstoy. In this chapter, "Everything was as it should be."

Garrett and Mike continue their discussion of the novella "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" by Leo Tolstoy. Respice finem listeners.

Garrett and Mike begin their chapter by chapter discussion of the novella "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" by Leo Tolstoy. They encourage you to pick up a copy and read along. It will change your life. Or your death.

Garrett talks about the different sorts of rules that our lives ask us to play by and Mike provides some wisdom.Video referenced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfN_8RVtZVYJ. Krishnamurti Essay: https://jkrishnamurti.org/content/if-i-depend-my-existence-entertainment-i’m-not-human-being-i’m-just/Entertainment%20

Garrett and Mike talk about our need for mental clarity and how true clarity comes from awareness of what is.The Gamification of Public Discourse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LpbGW3qLVgChapter 27: To live with clarity is not a valuehttps://jkrishnamurti.org/content/chapter-27-live-clarity-not-value/Clarity

Garrett and Mike discuss their notion of freedom as they get over another crushing Buffalo Bills playoff loss.Link to J. Krishnamurti reading:Chapter 2 - Freedom is essential for the beauty of goodness | J. Krishnamurti

Garrett and Mike continue to try and discuss time, more specifically our experience of it. They turn to the Bible, Henri Bergson, and Dante for inspiration.

Garrett and Mike celebrate the season by discussing some of their takeaways from reading Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".Hermitix Podcast Episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hermitix/id1437997652?i=1000739997500

Garrett and Mike talk about the elusive concept of Now. What it means for the self, what it is, and if it's really here at all.

Garrett and Mike take on the difficult task of attempting to talk about I am.

In this episode, Garrett and Mike discuss fear. They read some original poetry and ask the question, does the bud fear the flower?

Garrett and Mike once again return to a discussion that centers around The Dream of a Ridiculous Man by Fyodor Dostoevsky. They talk about feeling ridiculous, the medium of the dream, truth, love and all the rest.

Garrett and Mike discuss Marshall McLuhan and his concept of "The Medium is the Message." They explore how the mediums and technologies that make up our environment change our perceptions and modes of being even more than the actual content of those mediums and technologies.

Garrett and Mike discuss minimalism and some of their takeaways from the book Goodbye Things by Fumio Sasaki.Book Link: https://www.amazon.com/Goodbye-Things-New-Japanese-Minimalism/dp/0393609030

Garrett has recently started practicing Muay Thai and it has got him thinking about stuff like commitment, time, and grabbing onto things. He and Mike discuss some of their ideas around these topics and how some principles of combat sports extend into everyday life.

Garrett and Mike return to the topic of hospitality to discuss how Eckhart Tolle's thoughts on talking to flowers can help teach us about the relationship between attention and hospitality.Peace Lily: Spathiphyllum wallisii

50th episode celebration! If this is the first episode you're listening to or if it's your 50th, thank you! To celebrate the occasion, Garrett and Mike discuss the virtue of hospitality while sitting on the front porch for the first time in 2025.

Mike airs his grievances about Daylight Saving Time and he and Garrett talk about how setting our clocks forward an hour presents a great opportunity to reexaime our relationship to time.

Inspired once again by the show Severance, Garrett and Mike discuss "The Death of Ivan Ilyich", a novella by Leo Tolstoy, and how it shows us what it means to live a full life.

Mike asks Garrett a few questions about technology today, the nature of time, and what love might be.

Garrett and Mike discuss the hit Apple TV show Severance and some of the philosophical questions that it raises about the Self.

Today, Garrett and Mike drink some new whiskey and think about the impact that the idea of becoming has on their previous discussion of Be, Do, Have.

Garrett and Mike return to The Dream of a Ridiculous Man to see what it may tell us about how experience can lead us to simple truth.

This episode, two ridiculous men, Garrett and Mike, discuss the short story "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Link to the story online: https://gustavus.edu/threecrowns/files/The%20Dream%20of%20a%20Ridiculous%20Man,%20Fyodor%20Dostoevsky.pdf

Garrett and Mike discuss a little Nietzsche and what he thinks about thinking for yourself. You could listen to him. Or not. He'd maybe prefer it that way. Podcast Mentioned: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/philosophize-this/id659155419?i=1000670317546

Garrett and Mike discuss the idea of bare life from Byung-Chul Han's essay "The Agony of Eros" and how thinking about the concept can help us reexamine our "why." Books Mentioned: The Agony of Eros by Byung-Chul Han The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy Movies Mentioned: The Jungle Book

Garrett and Mike talk about how some new golf lessons can apply to everyday life. Speedgolfrob on Instagram His book

Garrett and Mike talk about time. They promise it's not a waste of your time!

Garrett and Mike wrap up their conversation about the idea of "Be, Do, Have." Is it interesting? Yes! Do they provide a concrete solution about how to solve the problem? No! Is that what makes it fun? Yes!

Garrett and Mike embark on part three of their series on the idea of "be, do, have." This time, they talk about why this idea matters through the lens of "On the Shortness of Life" by Seneca.

Garrett and Mike continue to talk about the idea of living a "Be, Do, Have" life, this time with the help of the work of Byung-Chul Hun. Philosophize This! Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/philosophize-this/id659155419?i=1000627026347 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/philosophize-this/id659155419?i=1000630100135

In this episode, Garrett and Mike explore what it may mean to live in a way that follows the flow of "being, doing, having" instead of "having, doing, being." Book link: https://www.amazon.com/Karma-Yogis-Guide-Crafting-Destiny-ebook/dp/B08F4GYK9P/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1696957093&sr=8-1 Article link: https://apple.news/A_jrf4IQdTga9g5lxBriwPA

Garrett and Mike continue their discussion of the show "The Big Door Prize" and the concept of your life's potential.

In this episode, Garrett and Mike discuss a letter Garrett received from a familiar stranger; himself five years ago.

After watching the Apple TV show "The Big Door Prize", Mike asks Garrett that if given the opportunity, would he want to know what his life's potential is.

In this episode, Garrett and Mike talk about their experience doing a three day water fast. Video on fasting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuOvn4UqznU

Garrett and Mike discuss the article "Navigating the Mysteries" by Martin Shaw and how myths and stories are a useful way to reframe our thinking in what many see as an uncertain world. Article Link: https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/navigating-the-mysteries/

Garrett and Mike continue to talk about entanglement and what it might mean for how we interact with the world.

In this episode, Garrett and Mike start talking about the idea of quantum entanglement and what it might mean for philosophy and how we see the world. Nobel Prize Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/04/science/nobel-prize-physics-winner.html

Garrett and Mike spend some time on the newly chilly front porch to discuss how best to serve yourself and others and whether or not those are different things at all.

Garrett and Mike return to the Front Porch to discuss rewording the question "What do I want to be?" and instead thinking of it as "Why have I come?" and other lovely things.

In a long overdue return to the front porch, Mike and Garrett talk all about the idea and creative power of distance.

Garrett and Mike are back before the end of 2021 to talk about the philosophical questions surrounding the "Metaverse" Peterson Ted Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOgSqHtTtHY

Garrett and Mike convene on the front porch to talk about Mike's dream about espresso and what it might mean about giving.

Garrett and Mike discuss the nature of repentance as discussed by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah. Link to Maimonides writing: https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah%2C_Repentance.2?lang=bi

Garrett and Mike discuss a CS Lewis quote from the Screwtape Letters and their conception of the future. 

Garrett and Mike reunite on the Front Porch to discuss a new theory of consciousness. Article Link: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a36329671/is-the-universe-conscious/

Garrett and Mike talk about The Lonely Man of Faith by Rabbi Joseph B. Solveitchick and how it relates to the way we live our lives. TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/david_brooks_should_you_live_for_your_resume_or_your_eulogy/up-next?language=zh