I first came across the Partially Examined Life podcast when I was beginning my Masters in Systematic Theology at King’s College London. The core module on the Masters course was called ‘Revelation and Reason’ and the material chronicled the twists and turns that academic theology had taken from the dawn of modernity to the present day. A lot of the figures we studied were either new to me or at best peripherally known from my training in evangelical church settings. Partially Examined Life (or PEL) was a really helpful resource in gaining an understanding of the philosophers and theologians that I was reading. I listened to helpful episodes on figures such as Schleiermacher and Heidegger, and from there delved into dozens of others.
The premise and format of the PEL podcast is a lot of fun; a group of old university friends interact enthusiastically with a set text and argue vigourously – and very homourously too – in a way that old friends are able to. In their tagline they state that they ‘once considered doing philosophy professionally but thought better of it’, and this is reflected in both the intellectual level and the joviality of their conversations. Their core team is often augmented by other guests and experts and although the subject matter can sometimes feel quite abstract or demanding, I don’t think that I’ve heard a boring episode.
