Overthink

This one's going to rock your world. In episode 132 of Overthink, Ellie and David dig into the earth for the third part of their four-part series on the elements. They discuss everything from earthworms and carbon dating to the “solidity” of the earth. They look to Foucault, Freud, and Husserl for insights about how the earth can act as a metaphor for the mind and for the past. They also wonder: Is the earth inert matter or a living being? And why do so many creation myths present humans as “made” of earth/clay/mud? So, what is it that we actually mean when we talk about earth as an element? In the bonus, your hosts talk think through Heidegger's notion of ground and horizon, and the Western association of land with earth.Works Discussed: Michel Foucault, The Archeology of KnowledgeMartin Heidegger, “ The Origin of the Work of Art”Edmund Husserl, Crisis of the European SciencesDavid Macauley, Elemental Philosophy: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water as Environmental Ideas Thomas Nail, Theory of the EarthJames Lovelock, Gaia hypothesisDorian Sagan and Lynn Margulis, “God, Gaia, and Biophilia”Support the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

Oceans, baths, ponds, and amniotic sacs? In episode 131 of Overthink, David and Ellie take a deep dive into the topic of water as part of their four-part series on the elements. They discuss how all life begins in water, and the conceptual features of water, such as its fluidity and shapelessness. What did Thales of Miletus mean by ‘all is water'? How is water used as a metaphor for the Dao? And at what point does being in water go from feeling like Moana to feeling like Jaws? In the Patreon bonus segment, they talk about water as a symbol of purification, the significance of plate tectonics, and the relationship between AI and water usage. Works Discussed: Aristotle, On the Heavens Francis Bacon, Novum OrganumJamie Linton, What Is Water? The History of a Modern AbstractionDavid Macauley, Elemental Philosophy: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water as Environmental Ideas Anna Secor, “Spacetimeunconscious”Neil Shubin, Your Inner FishLao Tzu, Dao De Jing Peter Godfrey Smith, MetazoaSupport the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

Are all fires inherently bad? In episode 130 of Overthink, David and Ellie launch a four-part series on the elements, starting off hot with fire. They look at the role of fire in Greek mythology (focusing on the myth of Prometheus), the evolution of humans' relationship with fire, and fire's role as the universal metaphor. Why did Prometheus steal fire from the Olympians and give it  to humans? Why does Bachelard believe that fire is “the” philosophical element par excellence? How did Western culture turn fire from friend to foe? And what would a non-antagonistic relationship to fire look like? In the bonus, your hosts give their fiery takes on arson and pyromania.Works Discussed: Gaston Bachelard, The Psychoanalysis of FireStephen J. Pyne, The PyroceneStephen J. Pyne, “Fire in the mind: changing understandings of fire in Western civilization.”Support the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

What value might there be in having fewer rules? In episode 129 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk to philosopher and host of Hi-Phi Nation Barry Lam about his book, Fewer Rules, Better People: The Case for Discretion. They discuss the problems with legalism and bureaucracy and the importance of discretion, as well as how the emergence of AI affects decision-making, and the negative impact of too many rules on our criminal justice system. Are we obliged to follow government rulings? Why is the ‘by the book bureaucrat' the biggest villain of all? And how can we train people to make better discretionary decisions? In the bonus, your hosts consider the effects of decisions based on private morality and whether there are cultural differences in discretion.Works Discussed:Ronald Dworkin, Taking Rights SeriouslyBarry Lam,  Fewer Rules, Better People: The Case for DiscretionPlato, CritoSupport the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

Episode 128 – CleanlinessHow often should you shower to remain ‘clean'? How many times can you re-wear your jeans before they are considered ‘dirty'? In episode 128 of Overthink, Ellie and David take a look at cleanliness. They get into how humans have turned cleanliness into an art, and maybe even an obsession. Why are we so bothered by dirt? What is dirt, anyways? How are notions of dirtiness and cleanliness even into our symbolic systems, including language and religion? And what is up with TikTok's obsession with the Clean Girl Aesthetic? As they tackle these questions, your hosts also explore the historical weaponisation of the concept of cleanliness against marginalised groups, such as queer people and people of color. In the bonus, Ellie and David discuss cleanliness as a social construct, the link between it and isolation, and Michel Serres's ‘excremental theory' of private property.Works Discussed:Bruce Bagemihl, Biological ExuberanceDana Berthold, “Tidy Whiteness: A Genealogy of Race, Purity, and Hygiene”L'Oreal Blackett, “In The “Hygiene Olympics” Black Folks Always Win — But Aren't We Tired?”Mary Douglas, Purity and DangerVirginia Smith, Clean: A History of Personal Hygiene and PuritySupport the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

Is Trump's presidential reign turning the US into an oligarchy? Or did the US fall into oligarchic rule many years ago? In episode 127 of Overthink, David and Ellie dive into what an oligarchy looks like, the dangers of a country's power being in the hands of the wealthy few, and whether or not oligarchic rule is new for the US. They look to the ancient Greeks for ideas on which form of government is conducive to the good life and explore how Aristotle's notion of pleonexia relates to the current state of the US. Your hosts investigate how oligarchy morphs into tyranny, and try to answer the question, “How can we resist an oligarchy?” In the bonus, Ellie and David look at the four different types of oligarchy discussed by Jeffrey Winters.Works Discussed: Aristotle, PoliticsGordon Arlen, “Aristotle and the problem of oligarchic harm: Insights for democracy”Thom Hartmann, The Hidden History of American OligarchyPlato, Republic Luke Winslow, Oligarchy in America Jeffrey Winters, Oligarchy  Support the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

Lasers, fog machines, silent prayers…and don't forget the ecstasy! In episode 126 of Overthink, Ellie and David dive into the experience of ecstasy. They look at interpretations of ecstasy in the tradition of mysticism, where ecstasy has been figured as a loss of self. How common are experiences of ecstasy? Are they limited to religious contexts, or are there alternate avenues for entering ecstatic states? And what about MDMA and its relation to rave culture? In the bonus, they explore how well ecstasy fits into William James' framework for mystical states, and consider the relationship between ecstasy, reason, and age.Works Discussed:St. Teresa of Avila, The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus Simon Critchley, On Mysticism: The Experience of Ecstasy James Landau, “The Flesh of Raving” Marghanita Laski, Everyday Ecstasy Wilhelm Mayer-Gross, “The Phenomenology of Abnormal Emotions of Happiness” Simon Reynolds, Generation Ecstasy Summer Heights High (2007)Support the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

How should we make sense of the Trump administration's assault on Trans rights? In episode 125 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk to philosopher Talia Mae Bettcher about her new book Beyond Personhood: An Essay in Trans Philosophy, where she discusses everything from “genderphoria” to her notion of “reality enforcement” (a mechanism of transphobic oppression). In the interview, Dr. Bettcher expresses concerns about certain received views about trans identity, such as the “the wrong body” and “beyond the binary” views, which don't capture the complexity of trans experiences. How can we move toward a more inclusive culture when it comes to trans identity? And, do we need to reject fundamental philosophical notions such as “person,” “self,” and “subject” in order to combat transphoria? In the bonus, Ellie and David dive deeper into the idea of the interpersonal object and question whether or not the notion of the self is too far plagued by philosophical baggage and needs to be discarded.Works Discussed:Talia Mae Bettcher, Beyond Personhood: An Essay in Trans PhilosophyTalia Mae Bettcher, “Evil Deceivers and Make-Believers: On Transphobic Violence and the Politics of Illusion”Jennifer Finney Boylan, “I'm a Transgender Woman. This Is Not the Metamorphosis I Was Expecting”Dean Spade, Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of LawPerry Zurn, Andrea J. Pitts, Talia Mae Bettcher and PJ DiPietro, Trans Philosophy Support the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

Our intuitions are never wrong… right? In episode 124 of Overthink, Ellie and David wonder what intuition actually is. Is it a gut feeling, a rational insight, or just a generalization from past experience? They talk about the role intuition has played in early modern philosophy (in the works of Descartes, Hume, and Mill), in phenomenology (in the philosophies of Husserl and Nishida), and in the philosophy of science (in the writings of Bachelard). They also call into question the use of intuitions in contemporary analytic philosophy while also highlighting analytic critiques of the use of intuition in philosophical discourse. So, the question is: Can we trust our intuitions or not? Are they reliable sources of knowledge, or do they just reveal our implicit biases and cultural stereotypes? Plus, in the bonus, they dive into the limits of intuition. They take a look at John Stuart Mill's rebellion against intuition, the ableism involved in many analytic intuitions, and Foucault's concept of historical epistemes.Works Discussed:Maria Rosa Antognazza and Marco Segala, “Intuition in the history of philosophy (what's in it for philosophers today?)”Gaston Bachelard, Rational MaterialismGaston Bachelard, The Philosophy of NoGaston Bachelard, The Rationalist CompromiseImmanuel Kant, The Critique of Pure ReasonJohn Stuart Mill, A System of LogicMoti Mizrahi, “Your Appeals to Intuition Have No Power Here!”Nishida Kitaro, Intuition and Reflection in Self-ConsciousnessSupport the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

It's not you, it's me… In episode 123 of Overthink, Ellie and David get into the highs and lows of breakups. What, if anything, is valuable about breakups? Does society's emphasis on monogamy affect how we conceptualize the end of relationships? And what do you do if your ex still has your Netflix password? Your hosts discuss everything from breakups in the age of social media and chemical solutions to heartache to what the laws against domestic abuse and stalking can tell us about how society views breakups.  Plus, in the bonus, they take a look at Kierkegaard's love life and discuss whether it's ever truly possible to breakup with someone for purely altruistic reasons. Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works Discussed: Brian D Earp et. al, “If I Could Just Stop Loving You: Anti-Love Biotechnology and the Ethics of a Chemical Breakup”Kelli María Korducki, Hard To Do: The Surprising, Feminist History of Breaking UpPilar Lopez-Cantero, “The Break-Up Check: Exploring Romantic Love through Relationship Terminations”Ovid, Remedia Amoris Deborah Tuerkheimer, “Breakups”Jennifer Wilson, “The New Business of Breakups” Support the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

You might want to jot down some notes on this one! In episode 122, Ellie and David explore where writing began, the value of writing, and our reasons for writing. Is the widespread use of generative AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, a threat to creative and academic writing? How did writing originate in cuneiform, and how does Derrida's deconstruction of logocentrism encourage us to reconsider the privileging of speech over writing? Listen to it all write here, write now! Plus, in the bonus, they get into some of our most pernicious myths and misconceptions about writing. They talk about the tortured writer trope, the solitary nature of writing, and the connection of writing to class. Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works Discussed:David Abram, The Spell of the SensuousGeoffrey Bennington and Jacques Derrida, Jacques DerridaJacques Derrida, “Freud and the Scene of Writing”Jacques Derrida, Of GrammatologyJacques Derrida, “Signature Event Context”Jacques Derrida, Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human SciencesJoan Didion, “Why I write”Walter Ong, Orality and LiteracyGeorge Orwell, “Why I write”Plato, The PhaedrusAlva Noë, The Entanglement, How Art and Philosophy Make Us Who We ArePeter Salmon, An Event, Perhaps: A Biography of Jacques DerridaAndrew Robinson, The Story of WritingSupport the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

In a world that has developed a collective fear of the dark, how can we navigate the not-so-positive feelings that we experience? In episode 121 of Overthink, Ellie and David chat with philosopher Mariana Alessandri about her book, Dark Moods. They talk about how the obsession with light fuels toxic positivity, the ways shame amplifies dark moods, and the harmful effects of associating light with good and darkness with bad. Why does society disregard negative emotions? Does the medical field pathologize grief for good reason? And should we strive to make people feel better when they're experiencing a dark mood? Plus, in the Patreon bonus, they consider the difficulties of experiencing emotions that lie in a gray area, different types of anger, and whether we need to move away from metaphors of light and darkness entirely.Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works Discussed:Mariana Alessandri, Night Vision, Seeing Ourselves Through Dark MoodsGloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New MestizaWilliam James, The Varieties of Religious ExperiencePlato, The RepublicMiguel de Unamuno, The Tragic Sense of LifeSupport the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

From the holiday dinner table to the Twitter fandom wars, disagreements are inescapable. In episode 120 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk through different types of disagreement (e.g. disagreements online vs philosophical disagreements) and consider why we have such a tough time dealing with those who don't see things as we do. Is the format of social media platforms to blame for the bad faith disagreements that occur on them? What role do confidence and conviction play in disagreement? Can we have a world without disagreement, or is disagreement an inevitable feature of our social lives? And how can we navigate the “shitstorm” when others refuse to agree with us? Prepare to turn on disagreement mode as you listen to two doctors of disagreement reason their way through it all. Plus, in the bonus, they discuss ways of overcoming disagreement, the failure of our education system, and the importance of community in online disagreement. Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works Discussed: Byung-Chul Han, In the Swarm Catherine Elgin, “Persistent Disagreement” Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism Kathleen Kennedy, “When Disagreement Gets Ugly, Perceptions of Bias and the Escalation of Conflict” Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Alex J. Novikoff, The Medieval Culture of DisputationBrian Ribeiro, “Philosophy and Disagreement” Ludwig Wittgenstein, On CertaintySupport the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

Have you ever wanted to go on a road trip with the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan? After listening to this episode, you certainly won't! In episode 119 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk about the experience of driving and the moral and social dilemmas involved with it. How does driving alter our relationship with time and space? What is the “long distance truck driver problem”, and what does it have to do with animal consciousness? And how should we respond to the rise in self-driving cars? Buckle in and get ready for this ride into the philosophy of driving. Plus, in the bonus they dive deeper into the ethics of self-driving cars, exploring the repercussions hacking could have on self-driving cars. What moral philosophy should be programmed into the self-driving vehicles of the future? And who gets to decide?Works Discussed:David Armstrong, A Materialist Theory of The MindKenneth Jackson's, The Crabgrass FrontierStatamatis Karnouskos, “Self-Driving Car Acceptance and the Rule of Ethics”Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of PerceptionCatherine Millot, Life with LacanLynne Pearce, DrivetimeWilliam Ratoff, “Self-driving Cars and the Right to Drive”Mark Rowlands, Animal Rights: Moral Theory and PracticePaul Virilio, Speed and Politics: An Essay on DromologyJamieson Webster, “Riding in Cars with Jacques Lacan”Andreas Wolkenstein, “What has the Trolley Dilemma ever done for us (and what will it do in the future)? On some recent debates about the ethics of self- driving cars”Support the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

Get comfy as you listen to this episode! In episode 118 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss all things comfortable…and uncomfortable. They talk through the conflation of comfort and luxury, modern architecture's prioritization of comfort, and whether our need for comfort is the reason for our burning planet. With everything from Maslow's hierarchy of needs to “the comfort-industrial complex,” this episode will have you questioning what it takes for us to lead a full and happy life. Plus, in the bonus they get into the meaning of the phrase ‘too close for comfort', alcohol as a destructive form of comfort, and the importance of attachment theory.Works Discussed:Daniel Barber, “After Comfort” J L Bottorff et al., “The phenomenology of comfort”Matt Haig, The Comfort Book Ryan Heavy Head, “Blackfoot Influence on Abraham Maslow, Presented by Narcisse Kainai and Ryan Heavy Head at the University of Montana”Lynnette Leeseberg Stamler and Ann Malinowski, “Comfort: exploration of the concept in nursing.”A. H. Maslow, A Theory of Human MotivationTeju Ravilochan, “The Blackfoot Wisdom that Inspired Maslow's Hierarchy”. Peter Sloterdijk, Spheres trilogyChögyam Trungpa, Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior Support the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

Do you need black skin to be Black? How might concepts such as white privilege be limiting our understanding of how racism works? In Episode 117 of Overthink, Ellie and David chat with philosopher Lewis Gordon about his book, Fear of Black Consciousness. They talk through the history of anti-Black racism, the existential concept of bad faith, why Rachel Dolezal might have Black consciousness, and Frantz Fanon's experience of being called a racial slur by a white child on a train. From the American Blues to the Caribbean movement of Negritude, this episode is full of insight into Black liberation and White centeredness. In the bonus, Ellie and David go into greater detail about how Black liberation is connected to love.Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works Discussed: Steve Bantu Biko, I Write What I LikeW.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black FolkFrantz Fanon, Black Skin, White MasksEdouard Glissant, Introduction à une Poétique du DiversJane Anna Gordon, “Legitimacy from Modernity's Underside: Potentiated Double Consciousness”Lewis Gordon, Bad Faith and Antiblack racismLewis Gordon, Fear of Black ConsciousnessRebecca Tuvel, “In Defense of Transracialism”Modem FuturaModem Futura is your guide to the bold frontiers of tomorrow, where technology,...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

Dinosaurs, mammoths, ibexes, frogs: a great deal of animals have gone the way of the dodo. Are we next? And would the world be better off without us? In Episode 116 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk about extinction, from Christian eschatology, to the perils of Anthropocene, to cutting-edge de-extinction technology. They turn to animal ethics and scientific dilemmas in search of the ethical approaches that might equip us to think about the extinction of animals, and perhaps even our own. Plus, in the bonus, they talk love, cyborgs, tech bros, and the ethics of the future.Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedThom Van Dooren, Flight Ways: Life and Loss at the Edge of ExtinctionElizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural HistoryTodd May, Should We Go Extinct?Jacob Sherkow and Henry Greely, “What if Extinction is not Forever?”Émile Torres, Human Extinction: A History of the Science and Ethics of AnnihilationChildren of Men (2006) dir. Alfonso CuarónEpisode 46. Anti-NatalismSupport the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

It's the one you've been hoping for. In episode 115 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss the meaning of hope, from casual travel plans, to electoral optimism, to theological liberation. They discuss how hope motivates action, and how its rosy tint might be paralyzing. They explore Kant's ambitions for perpetual peace, and discuss the Marxian imperative to transform the world. They ask, is it rational to hope? How does hoping relate to desire and expectation? And should we hope for what seems realistic, or reach for impossible utopias? Plus, in the bonus, they discuss chivalry, the future, agency, tenure, burritos, and capitalist realism.Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedAugustine, Enchiridion on Faith, Hope and LoveErnst Bloch, The Principle of HopeJoseph J. Godfrey, A Philosophy of Human HopeImmanuel Kant, Critique of Practical Reason, Religion Within The Limits of Reason Alone, Perpetual PeaceJonathan Lear, Radical Hope: Ethics in the Face of Cultural DevastationJohn Lysaker, Hope, Trust, and Forgiveness: Essays in FinitudeAdrienne Martin, How We Hope: A Moral PsychologyKarl Marx, Theses on FeuerbachAnthony Steinbock, Moral Emotions: Reclaiming the Evidence of the HeartBaruch Spinoza, Short TreatiseKatja Vogt, “Imagining Good Future States: Hope and Truth in Plato's Philebus”Support the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

Even with endless social scripts around romance, we hardly know what it means to be a good friend. In episode 114 of Overthink, Ellie and David reflect on the highs and lows of friendship, from their own bond to Montaigne's intimate connection to Étienne de La Boétie. From Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics to today's loneliness epidemic, they question what friends do, how they hold each other accountable, and the deep ways in which our vices and virtues are shaped by our friends. Plus, in the bonus, they talk Ralph Waldo Emerson, intimacy, dyadic relationships, high school friends, and… pluralectics?Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedAristotle, Nichomachean EthicsFrancis Bacon, “Of Friendship”Lydia Denworth, Friendship: The Evolution, Biology, and Extraordinary Power of Life's Fundamental BondElijah Milgram, “Aristotle on Making Other Selves”Michel de Montaigne, “Of Friendship”Lawrence Thomas, “The Character of Friendship”Support the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

Clogged toilets, odious jokes, difficult condolences… awkward moments are everywhere you look. In episode 113 of Overthink, Ellie and David invite philosopher Alexandra Plakias to talk through her research on awkwardness. They discuss everything from hasty clean-ups to snap decisions, from oversharing online to uncomfortable silences, as they explore the ways that awkwardness is bound up with power, morality, and the core scripts of our social expectations. Where does cringe end and awkwardness begin? Are we living through especially awkward times? Who gets to decide what is awkward? And, what if awkward people… don't exist at all? Plus, in the bonus, they discuss The Office, weddings, weird eye contact, and more.Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedSara Ahmed, The Promise of HappinessAdam Kotsko, AwkwardnessAlexandra Plakias, Awkwardness: A Theory & “Awkward? We'd Better Own it”Thomas J. Spiegel, “Cringe”YouGov poll, "Awkwardness"Support the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

Why is there a Parthenon… in Nashville? Jean Baudrillard might have the answer. In Episode 112 of Overthink, Ellie and David pick apart hyperreality: the provocative suggestion that our reality today is so inundated by signs that the gap between reality and simulation has all but broken down. Your hosts talk through the history and experience of hyperreality, from its presence in Superman and Bridgerton to its uncanny role in legitimizing presidential power. And they wonder: does the idea of hyperreality motivate political action, or does it slide into complacent provincialism?Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedJean Baudrillard, AmericaJean Baudrillard, Simulacra and SimulationDaniel Boorstin, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in AmericaDon DeLillo, White NoiseUmberto Eco, Travels in HyperrealitySusan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of OthersSadie Plant, The Most Radical GestureGuy Debord, The Society of the SpectacleAn American Family (1973)Superman (1978)Love Island (2023)Bridgerton (2005)Support the showPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

Why are you so obsessed with me!? In episode 111 of Overthink, Ellie and David untangle envy, jealousy, and admiration, in everything from Sigmund Freud to Regina George. They think through the role of envy in social media and status regulation alongside Sara Protasi's The Philosophy of Envy, and investigate the philosophical lineage of this maligned emotion. Does the barrage of others' achievements on social media lead to ill-will or competitive self-improvement? Why do we seek to deny our own envies? And how might Freud's questionable theory of 'penis envy' betray the politics of how we assign and deflect desire?Works DiscussedAristotle, RhetoricBasil of Caesarea, On EnvyChristine de Pizan, City of LadiesJustin D'arms, Envy in the Philosophical TraditionSigmund Freud, Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, “Analysis Terminable and Interminable”Luce Irigaray, This Sex Which is Not OnePlato, PhilebusPlutarch, Moralia, “Of Envy and Hatred”Sara Protasi, The Philosophy of EnvyMax Scheler, RessentimentGenesis 4, Exodus 20Snow White (1937)Mean Girls (2004)Overthink epiosdes60. Influencers82. Regret98. ReputationSupport the Show.Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

What do skydiving, guitar-playing teenagers, and deep-seated psychic states have in common? They're all intense! In episode 110 of Overthink, Ellie and David untangle the role of intensity in shaping our aspirations, cultural tropes, and political goals. They trace the concept's history from its tricky roots in Aristotle's theory of change, passing through medieval science and princely romanticism, to the thrills of skydiving and breathwork today. They turn to Henri Bergson and Gilles Deleuze's accounts of consciousness and emotion to explore how intensity looks beyond the scientistic impulse to categorize and quantify, and question if intensity is of any help in addressing capitalist acceleration today.Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedAristotle, CategoriesZygmunt Bauman, Liquid LifeHenri Bergson, Time and Free WillGilles Deleuze, Difference and RepetitionGustav Theodor Fechner, Elements of PsychophysicsTristan Garcia, The Life Intense: A Modern ObsessionMary Beth Mader, “Whence Intensity? Deleuze and the Revival of a Concept”Benjamin Noys, The Persistence of the NegativeNick Srnicek & Alex Williams, “#Accelerate: Manifesto for an Accelerationist Politics”The BacheloretteInside Out 2 (2024)Mentioned Overthink episodes61 - Self Knowledge32 - Paradox107 - OrganismsSupport the Show.Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

Phantom phone buzzes? Painless mosquito bites? Toy masks flipped inside-out? It might be your brain bringing order to its complex world. In episode 109 of Overthink, Ellie and David interview cognitive philosopher Andy Clark, whose cutting edge work on perception builds off theories of computation to offer an intriguing new model of mind and experience. He explains why the predictive processing model promises a healthier relation to neurodiversity, and they all explore its real-world applications across placebos, road safety, chronic pain, anxiety, and even the accidental success of ‘positive thinking.' Plus, in the bonus, Ellie and David discuss depression, plasticity, qualia, zombies, and what phenomenologists can bring to the cognitive table.Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works Discussed:Thomas Bayes, An Essay Towards Solving a Problem in the Doctrine of ChancesAnjali Bhat, et al., "Immunoceptive inference: why are psychiatric disorders and immune responses intertwined?"Andy Clark, The Experience Machine: How Our Minds Predict and Shape RealitySarah Garfinkel, et al., "Knowing your own heart: distinguishing interoceptive accuracy from interoceptive awareness"Hermann von Helmholtz, Treatise on Physiological OpticsDavid Hume, A Treatise of Human NatureAlva Nöe, Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain, and Other Lessons from the Biology of ConsciousnessAnil Seth, Being YouThis Might Hurt (2019)Support the Show.Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast

Cooked, slayed, delivered, ate. In episode 108 of Overthink, Ellie and David break down what it means to succeed, and why this sneaky word pervades our society today - in everything from the ambitions of classic American stage figures, to the refined effortlessness in Zhuangzi's tales, to the corporate world of buzzwords. Your hosts discuss party planning, tenure tracks, inspirational quotes, haters, why science seems so successful, and the pitfalls of thinking we've got it all figured out. Plus, in the Patreon bonus, they reflect on the interpersonal tensions of sharing successes, and making the best of our mishaps.Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedSimone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of AmbiguityHenri Bergson, Matter and MemoryWilliam Desmond, “Philosophy and Failure”Ralph Waldo Emerson, What is Success?Arthur Miller, Death of a SalesmanHilary Putnam, Mathematics, Matter and MethodThomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific RevolutionsArthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and RepresentationTim Wu, “In Praise of Mediocrity”Zhuangzi, “The Secret of Caring for Life”Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the Show.

In episode 107 of Overthink, David and Ellie take up a philosophical perspective on biology's squirmiest concept: the organism. From Kant's distinction between organisms and mechanisms, to Deleuze and Guattari's infamous call for ‘bodies without organs,' they uncover and question the ontological and metaphorical baggage behind the concept. Their exploration takes them from the bottom of Sea of Naples to the heights of Romantic Idealism, passing through the tensions of contemporary genetics. Plus, in the Patreon bonus, they discuss the unexpected relations between organisms, politics, and reason through the thought of Lukács and Canguilhem.Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedGeorges Canguillhem, Knowledge of LifeGilles Deleuze, Difference and RepetitionDeleuze & Guattari, A Thousand PlateausImmanuel Kant, Critique of the Power of JudgmentGeorg Lukács, The Destruction of ReasonJennifer Mensch, Kant's Organicism: Epigenesis and the Development of Critical PhilosophyFriedrich Schelling, First Outline of a System of the Philosophy of NatureLewis Thomas, The Medusa and the SnailD. M. Walsh, Organisms, Agency, and EvolutionPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.com Instagram & Twitter | @overthink_pod Email |  dearoverthink@gmail.com YouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the Show.

Even philosophers need downtime. In episode 106 of Overthink, Ellie and David take a break and chase down fun's place in today's world — from its aesthetic opposition to the highbrow realm of beauty, to its peculiar absence from philosophical discourse. What role does fun play in the good life? How does fun relate to art, play, and ritual? Can you really have fun by yourself? And what happens when the lines blur between the fun and the political?Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedTheodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of EnlightenmentRey Chow, The Age of the World TargetErna Fergusson, Dancing GodsMichel Foucault, The History of MadnessPierre Hadot, Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Plato to FoucaultJohan Huizinga, Homo LudensImmanuel Kant, Critique of the Power of JudgmentLawrence W. Levine, Highbrow/LowbrowAlan McKee, Fun!: What Entertainment Tells Us About Living a Good LifeDavid Peña-Guzmán and Rebekah Spera, "The philosophical personality"Jen D'Angelo & Mariana Uribe, Mamma Mia! But DifferentPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.com Instagram & Twitter | @overthink_pod Email |  dearoverthink@gmail.com YouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the Show.

Do political subjects have a default obligation to obey the law? In episode 105 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss civil disobedience in the present context of university activism for divestment from genocide in Gaza. They chart the genealogy of the concept of disobedience in political theory, from Thoreau and MLK through to today. Together with guest Noëlle McAfee, Chair of the Philosophy Department at Emory University, they reflect on the relationship between legal protest, civil disobedience, and political dialogue, and think about why activism must be part of any healthy democracy. Focusing on the psychoanalytic concept of ‘breakdown', McAfee discusses the disproportionate administrative and militarized crackdown on student organizing that we are witnessing across American campuses today.Check out the episode's extended cut here!Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail Julia Kristeva, Powers of HorrorNoëlle McAfee, Fear of Breakdown: Politics and Psychoanalysis Noëlle McAfee, Democracy and the Political Unconscious John Rawls, A Theory of Justice Henry David Thoreau, Resistance to Civil Government Donald Winnicott, “Fear of Breakdown” Iris Marion Young, “Activist Challenges to Deliberative Democracy”Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.com Instagram & Twitter | @overthink_pod Email |  dearoverthink@gmail.com YouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the Show.

This is one for the books. In episode 104 of Overthink, Ellie and David consider what makes reading so rewarding, and, for many people today, so challenging! How did society shift toward inward silent reading and away from reading aloud in the Middle Ages? How have changes in teaching phonics and factors of classism, accessibility, and educational justice made it harder for the young to read? Why is reading philosophy so hard, and how can we increase our reading stamina?Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedMarcel Proust, Journée des LecteursSimone de Beauvoir, Memoirs of a Dutiful DaughterJulie Andrews, MandyAdam Kotsko, “The Loss of Things I Took for Granted,” SlateAlberto Manguel, A History of ReadingDavid Abram, The Spell of the SensuousMaryanne Wolf, Proust and the SquidPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the Show.

We're taking it easy! In episode 103 of Overthink, Ellie and David take a leisurely dive into laziness, discussing everything from couchrotting to the biology of energy conservation. They explore Devon Price's idea of the ‘laziness lie' in today's hyperproductive society and search for alternatives to work through Paul Lefargue's 19th century campaign for ‘the right to be lazy.' They also look into the racialization of laziness in Ibn Khaldun and Montesquieu's ideas on the idle tropics, and think through how the Protestant work ethic punishes laziness, even when technology could take care of the work.Patreon | ptreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast Works DiscussedDevon Price, Laziness Does Not ExistBarthes, “Let us dare to be lazy”Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal ExperienceJared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and SteelChristine Jeske, The Laziness MythIbn Khaldun, MuqaddimahPaul Lefargue, The Right to be LazyKarl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist ManifestoMontesquieu, The Spirit of the LawsMax Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of CapitalismSupport the Show.

In episode 102 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss diverse ideas of racial mixedness, from family-oriented models of mixed race to José Vasconcelos' and Gloria Anzaldua's idea of the ‘mestizo' heritage of Mexican people. They work through phenomenological accounts of cultural hybridity and selfhood, wondering how being multiracial pushes beyond the traditional Cartesian philosophical subject. Is mestizaje or mixed-race an identity in its own right? What are its connections to the history of colonialism and contemporary demographic trends? And, how can different relations to a mixed heritage lead to flourishing outside of white supremacist categories?Check out the episode's extended cut here! Works DiscussedLinda Martín Alcoff, Visible Identities: Race, Gender, and the Self Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera Rosie Braidotti, Nomadic Subjects: Embodiment and Sexual Difference in Contemporary Feminist Theory Elisa Lipsky-Karasz, “Naomi Osaka on Fighting for No. 1 at the U.S. Open”Mariana Ortega, In-Between: Latina Feminist Phenomenology, Multiplicity, and the SelfNaomi Osaka, “Naomi Osaka reflects on challenges of being black and Japanese”Octavio Paz, The Labyrinth of Solitude Adrian Piper, “Passing for White, Passing for Black” Carlin Romano, “A Challenge for Philosophy”José Vasconcelos, La Raza Cósmica Naomi Zack, Race and Mixed Race Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the show

Welcome your robot overlords! In episode 101 of Overthink, Ellie and David speak with Dr. Shazeda Ahmed, specialist in AI Safety, to dive into the philosophy guiding artificial intelligence. With the rise of LLMs like ChatGPT, the lofty utilitarian principles of Effective Altruism have taken the tech-world spotlight by storm. Many who work on AI safety and ethics worry about the dangers of AI, from how automation might put entire categories of workers out of a job to how future forms of AI might pose a catastrophic “existential risk” for humanity as a whole. And yet, optimistic CEOs portray AI as the beginning of an easy, technology-assisted utopia. Who is right about AI: the doomers or the utopians? And whose voices are part of the conversation in the first place? Is AI risk talk spearheaded by well-meaning experts or investor billionaires? And, can philosophy guide discussions about AI toward the right thing to do?Check out the episode's extended cut here!Nick Bostrom, SuperintelligenceAdrian Daub, What Tech Calls ThinkingVirginia Eubanks, Automating InequalityMollie Gleiberman, “Effective Altruism and the strategic ambiguity of ‘doing good'”Matthew Jones and Chris Wiggins, How Data HappenedWilliam MacAskill, What We Owe the FutureToby Ord, The PrecipiceInioluwa Deborah Raji et al., “The Fallacy of AI Functionality”Inioluwa Deborah Raji and Roel Dobbe, “Concrete Problems in AI Safety, Revisted”Peter Singer, Animal LiberationAmia Srinivisan, “Stop The Robot Apocalypse” Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the show

Overthink goes meta! In the 100th episode Ellie and David reflect on the podcast's journey and the origins of its (flawless!) title. They take up the question, “What is overthinking?” Is it a kind of fixation on details or an unwanted split in the normal flow of ideas? Then, they turn to psychology to make sense of overthinking's highs and lows, as the distracting voice inside your head and a welcome relief from traumatic memories. Through the philosophies of John Dewey and the Frankfurt School, they look at different ways to understand the role of overthinking in philosophy and the humanities. Is overthinking a damper on good decisions, or perhaps the path to preserving the possibility of social critique?Check out the episode's extended cut here! Works DiscussedJohn Dewey, How We ThinkMax Horkheimer, “The Social Function of Philosophy”Herbert Marcuse, “Remarks on a Redefinition of Culture”Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, “Responses to depression and their effects on the duration of depressive episodes”Charles Orbendorf, “Co-Conscious Mentation”Suzanne Segerstrom et al., “A multidimensional structure for repetitive thought”Stephanie Wong et al., “Rumination as a Transdiagnostic Phenomenon in the 21st Century” Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the show

Who's afraid of zombification? Apparently not analytic philosophers. In episode 99 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk all about zombies and their unfortunate legacy in the thought experiments of academic philosophy. Their portrait as brain-eating and consciousness-lacking mobs is a far cry from their origins in the syncretic sorcery at the margins of Haitian Voodoo. This distance means that the uncanny zombie raises provocative questions about the problematic ways philosophy integrates and appropriates nonwestern culture into its canon. Your hosts probe beyond limits of the tradition when they explore zombification in animals, in reading, in Derrida, and beyond.Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedEllie Anderson, “Derrida and the Zombie”David J. Chalmers, The Conscious MindWade Davis, The Serpent and the RainbowDescartes, MeditationsLeslie Desmangles, The Faces of the GodsDaniel C. Dennett, "The Unimagined Preposterousness of Zombies" & Consciousness ExplainedZora Neale Hurston, Tell my HorseEdgar Allan Poe, “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar”Justin Smith-Ruiu, “The World as a Game” The Last of Us (2023)Night of the Living Dead (1968)Get Out (2017)Overthink, Continental Philosophy: What is it, and why is it a thing? Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the show

They say this one is the real deal. In Episode 98 of Overthink, Ellie and David untangle the philosophy behind the way we compare, judge, and defend our reputations. From Machiavelli's advice to despots looking to stay popular, to disgruntled students venting on their professors online, reputation can glide you to victory or trigger your fall from grace. Exploring concepts like the Matthew effect, the homo comparativus, and informational assymetry, your hosts ask: Why do both Joan Jett and Jean-Jacques Rousseau refuse reputation's fickle pleasures? Does David actually have a good work-life balance, or is everyone else hoodwinked? And, what is the place of quantified reputation in an increasingly digital world?Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedKwame Anthony Appiah, The Honor CodeJoan Jett & The Blackhearts, Bad ReputationNiccolo Machiavelli, The Prince?Louise Matsakis, “How the West Got China's Social Credit System Wrong,” Wired MagazineGloria Origgi, Reputation: What It Is and Why It MattersGloria Origgi, Reputation in Moral Philosophy and EpistemologyJean-Jacques Rousseau, Reveries of the Solitary WalkerJean-Paul Sartre, The Transcendence of the EgoAdam Smith, The Theory of Moral SentimentsJordi Xifra, “Recognition, symbolic capital and reputation in the seventeenth century”Overthink EpisodesEp 28, Cancel CultureEp 19, GeniusPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the show

The village is aglow! In episode 97 of Overthink, Ellie and David guide you through the ideas that make a metropolis tick. From Plato's spotless Republic to Saudi Arabia's futuristic The Line, they talk the foul and the vibrant of what it means to live in a city. Why are there so few public plazas in Brasilia? Why did David lose his wallet in Mexico City? How do gridded street layouts reflect colonial fantasies? And how did a medieval woman writer, Christine de Pizan, beat Greta Gerwig to the punch in imagining a Barbie-like City of Ladies?Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedMarshall Berman, All That Is Solid Melts Into AirDon T. Deere, “Coloniality and Disciplinary Power: On Spatial Techniques of Ordering”Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the EarthJane Jacobs, The Life and Death of Great American CitiesQuill R. Kukla, City LivingChristine de Pizan, City of LadiesPlato, RepublicAngel Rama, The Lettered CityGeorg Simmel, “Metropolis and Mental Life”Iris Marion Young, "City Life and Difference"Blade Runner (1982)Parasite (2019)Barbie (2023)Overthink ep. 32, AstrologyPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the showSupport the show

“They find our bodies repulsive.” On episode 96 of Overthink, Ellie and David bring on Dr. Kate Manne, philosopher and author of Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia. She explains the moral failures and biomedical perils of our fatphobic culture and its misleading imperative to diet. This look at the politics of fat, fatness, and fatphobia in the philosophical canon and beyond to reveal rich links to questions of accessibility, justice, and intimacy. Should we trust the BMI (Body Mass Index) as a measure of health? Is the future in Ozempic? Why are we encouraged to see our body's biological need for nutrition as “food noise”? And what might it take to hear the music of our human bodily diversity?Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedPaul Campos, The Obesity MythAncel Keys, et al., “Indices of relative weight and obesity”Adolphe Quetelet, On Man and the Development of His FacultiesSabrina Strings, Fearing the Black BodyAudre Lorde, A Piece of LightThomas Nagel, “Free Will”Kate Manne, Unshrinking: How to Face FatphobiaOverthink ep 27. From Body Positivity to Fat Feminism (feat. Amelia Hruby)Follow Dr. Kate Manne on Substack!Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the show

Night vision. Superhuman strength. And… kale salad? In episode 95 of Overthink, Ellie and David explore the weird world of biohackers, who leverage science and technology to optimize their bodies. The movement raises rich philosophical questions, from the blurry ethics of self-experimentation, to the consequences of extreme Cartesian dualism, to the awkward tension in our technological nostalgia for a pastoral paradise. If biohacking taps into the basic human desire to experience and investigate, it perhaps also pushes too far toward transcending our bodies. The stakes are political, metaphysical, and ethical — and your hosts are here to make philosophical sense of it all.Works DiscussedDave Asprey, Smarter Not HarderAlison Gopnik, The Philosophical BabyMirjam Grewe-Salfeld, Biohacking, Bodies, and Do-It-YourselfMichel de Montaigne, "Of Experience"Max More, The Transhumanist ReaderJoel Michael Reynolds, "Genopower: On Genomics, Disability, and Impairment"Smithsonian Mag, “200 Frozen Heads and Bodies Await Revival at This Arizona Cryonics Facility”Baruch de Spinoza, EthicsWashington Post, “The Key to Glorifying a Questionable Diet? Be a tech bro and call it ‘biohacking'"Patricia J. Zettler et. al., “Regulating genetic biohacking”Austin Powers (1997)If Books Could Kill PodcastOverthink ep 31. Genomics feat. Joel Michael ReynoldsSupport the show

You owe this one a listen. In episode 94 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss everything debt, from student loans and bank bailouts to the importance of honoring one's intellectual forebears. Did Shakespeare's Antonio really pay Shylock with “a pound of flesh”? Why does Nietzsche say that the Christian God is a creditor of infinite debt? Who really benefits from bailouts under capitalism today? And might it be time to bring back good old “jubilees,” i.e., sanctioned acts of collective debt cancellation? As they talk through these questions, your hosts explore how debt has structured social, family, and religious bonds across history, from Vedic India, to Plato's Athens, and how the notion of being “indebted” to one's cultural past conditions the experience of immigrants in America today.Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedLauren Berlant, Cruel OptimismJeffery R. Di Leo, "Corporate Humanities in Higher Education"David Graeber, Debt: The First 5,000 YearsCathy Park Hong, Minor FeelingsGeoffery Ingham, The Nature of MoneyNietzsche, The Genealogy of MoralsPlato, RepublicShakespeare, The Merchant of VeniceShatapatha BrahmanaAdam Smith, The Wealth of NationsHEROES actPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the show

Tell us who you pity and we'll tell you who you are! In episode 93 of Overthink, Ellie and David guide you through the philosophy behind this “well-meaning” emotion. From Aristotle's account of pity in theater, to problematic portrayals of disability in British charity telethons, pity has had an outsized role our social and cultural worlds. But who is the object of our pity, and why? Your hosts dissect various archetypes of pity, such as Father Mackenzie (a character in Eleanor Rigby by the Beatles) and the elusive Corn Man (a figure invented by Ellie while in Greece!). Where is the line between pity and compassion? How does pity interact with our social responsibilities and power structures? And, is pity a meaningful part of the good life, or is it an emotion we would all be better off without?Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedAristotle, Poetics & RhetoricThe Beatles, Eleanor RigbyDavid Hume, A Treatise of Human NatureKristján Kristjánsson, “Pity: A Mitigated Defense”Martha Nussbaum, “Tragedy and Self-Sufficiency: Plato and Aristotle on Fear and Pity”Jean-Paul Sartre, Anti-Semite and JewAdam Smith, The Theory of Moral SentimentsJoseph Stramondo, “How an Ideology of Pity is a Social Harm for People With Disabilities”Bernard Whitley, Mary Kite, and Lisa Wagner, Psychology of Prejudice and DiscriminationPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSpecial thanks to Alexandra Peabody for her support in researching this episode!Support the show

Let a thousand flowers bloom! In episode 92 of Overthink, Ellie and David have a a panoramic conversation on love beyond monogamy with philosophy professor, podcaster, and author of Why It's OK To Not be Monogamous, Justin L. Clardy. They envision relations of love and special attachment that aren't bound to the notion of sacrifice. They also turn to personal stories and question the role of marriage in consumer capitalism and its nonstop pressure to find the One and Only. Together, they find in non-monogamous pathways to reimagine agency, identity, and community — and a nudge toward a richer philosophy of our relations with the world around us.Works DiscussedMarina Adshade, "The Origins of the Institutions of Marriage"Simone de Beauvoir, She Came to StayElizabeth Brake, Minimizing MarriageJustin Clardy, Why It's OK to Not Be MonogamousCarrie Jenkins, What Love IsRobert Nozick, "Love's Bond"Pages The Reading GroupRelated Overthink episodes15. Marriage16. Monogamy17. Open Relationships18. PolyamoryCheck out the episode's extended cut here!Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the show

Is mom still doing your laundry!? In episode 91 of Overthink, Ellie and David explore the twisty world of mommy issues, from the OG mother Mary to today's seducing MILFs. They look into psychonalytic theories of the mom-child bond, paying close attention to ways these theories have been challenged and expanded in the 20th century. They also discuss Simone de Beauvoir's critique of maternal devotion by diving into some its most extreme, and problematic, manifestations. Your hosts ask: Is it true that mothers identify more easily with their children of the same gender? Do  macho men and wimpy boys sexualize their mothers in similar ways? And of course: who's the biggest mama's boy of them all?Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedSimone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex and The Ethics of AmbiguityNancy Chodorow, The Reproduction of MotheringMichelle Dean, "Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter To Be Sick, …"Jacques Derrida, Reflections on the Mother TongueSigmund Freud, The Freud ReaderDonald Winnicott, The Good Enough ParentDon Jon (2013)MILF Manor (2023)Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the show

Who's your daddy? Episode 90 is all about daddy issues. Ellie and David investigate father-child relations and the sexual, emotional, and familial worlds they create. From summer zaddies and sexy dad bods to hero feminist dads, your hosts travel from psychoanalysis all the way to theology to explore the expansive world of father figures. Do we all, as Julia Kristeva says, harbor unconscious fantasies of seeing our fathers “beaten”? Could civilization itself, as Freud suggests, be rooted in an archaic act of patricide for which we still feel guilty without realizing it? Ellie and David tackle hard questions about how parenthood, gender, and vulnerability interact. They even wonder whether they might have “daddy issues” of their own!Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedKatherine Angel, Daddy IssuesSigmund Freud, Totem and Taboo, and "A Special Type of Choice of Object made by Men"Carl Jung, A Theory of PsychoanalysisJulia Kristeva, A Father is Being BeatenJenn Mann, "Think You Have Daddy Issues?"Father of the Bride (1991)The Golden Bachelor (2023)Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the show

No, you're not hallucinating! In episode 89 of Overthink, Ellie and David investigate the loopy world of psychedelics. Did you know that after doing psychedelics Jean-Paul Sartre went through a  “lobster phase” during which he hallucinated lobsters everywhere he went? Once paraded as mind-opening gateways to the nature of reality, psychedelics are back in the conversation today as tools of therapy and neuroscience. Your hosts take a crack at the philosophy of these puzzling substances, from their implications for phenomenology and the nature of consciousness, to the ethics of their medicinal use, in light of their risks and long-lasting effects. If a trip can transform our mind and senses, it might be that our everyday perception really is far weirder than we think.Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedRobin Carhart-Harris, et al. “The Entropic Brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs”Alison Gopnik, The Philosophical BabyAldous Huxley, The Doors of PerceptionMike Jay, “Sartre's Bad Trip”Chris Letheby and Jaipreet Mattu, "Philosophy and Classic Psychedelics: A review of some emerging themes"Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of PerceptionMichael Pollan, How to Change Your MindAnil Seth, Being You: A New Science of ConsciousnessDana G. Smith, “What Does Good Psychedelic Therapy Look Like?”Simeon Wade, Foucault in California Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the show

Ellie and David are serving… dinner! In episode 88 of Overthink, your favorite podcasters explore the philosophy of food, discussing everything from Glaucon's plea for fancy meals in the Republic, to the rich ways in which food is intertwined with our individual and cultural identities. They welcome food critic and philosophy professor Shanti Chu for a lively conversation about the gendering of meals, the ethics of food systems (lab-grown meat, anyone?), the future of restaurants, and much more. Bon appetit!Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedCarol J. Adams, The Sexual Politics of MeatShanti Chu, “Nonviolence through Veganism” and “Public Philosophy and Food: Foodies, Ethics, and Activism”Claude Fischler, "Food, Self, and Identity"A. Breeze Harper, Sistah VeganEmmanuel Levinas, Totality and InfinityPlato, RepublicEric Scholsser, Fast Food NationPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the show

Time to be real! In episode 87 of Overthink, Ellie and David go back and forth about authenticity. They explore its deep roots in existentialist philosophy and Romanticism, and grapple with the paradoxes of being authentic in the era of reality TV, social media, and friendly-branded megacorps. They dive into philosophical critiques of authenticity, and explore how Heidegger's writings on “Eigentlichkeit” (often translated as “authenticity” or “actuality”) stand up today. Is authenticity the same thing as sincerity? Can you be authentic and insincere, or sincere and inauthentic? Who do we try to be authentic for: ourselves or other people? And might drag queens be the greatest example of postmodern authenticity?Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedTaylor Carman, "The Concept of Authenticity"Skye Cleary, How to Be AuthenticBrit Dawson, “Buying and selling authenticity: a decade of reality TV”Alessandro Ferrara, The Critique of AuthenticityMartin Heidegger, Being and TimeHans-Georg Moeller and Paul D'Ambrosio, You and Your ProfileLionel Trilling, Sincerity and AuthenticityCharles Taylor, The Ethics of AuthenticityDrag Race Spain S2The BachelorPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the show

Give us a listen, and we'll give you the world! In Episode 86 of Overthink, Ellie and David ask: what does it mean to live in a world? From animal spirit masters in Labrador to the foundations of climate science, they discuss why the concept of "world" is so contentious, and even at the brink of collapse. They  navigate our entangled concepts of nature, culture, and the idyllic nurturing earth through the work of Hannah Arendt and Arturo Escobar. Is the world of animals the same as our own? And, what could it mean to imagine a world where many worlds fit? In times of deep planetary transformation, philosophizing our place in this world has never been more important.This episode was produced by Emilio Esquivel Marquez and Aaron Morgan as part of their Summer Undergraduate Research Program at Pomona College.Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedHannah Arendt, The Human Condition and The Origins of TotalitarianismMario Blaser, “Doing and undoing Caribou/Atiku”Dipesh Chakrabarty, “Planetary Humanities”Déborah Danowski and Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, The Ends of the WorldArturo Escobar, Pluriversal PoliticsMartin Heidegger, Fundamental Concepts of MetaphysicsTravis Holloway, How to Live at the End of the WorldBruno Latour, Facing GaiaTimothy Morton, HyperobjectsConservation International, Mother Nature (2015)Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the show

This episode gets an enthusiastic yes from us. In episode 85 of Overthink, Ellie and David dive into the crux of sexual consent. They work through some of the earliest attempts on the part of American universities at developing a sexual consent policy, before unpacking the fiery debates surrounding consent today — ranging from complex legal cases as well as instances of “gray rape.” They probe the limits of popular understandings of consent with cases involving intense physical pain, and cases which undo the very stability of our idea of consent. (Can one meaningfully consent to one's own murder?) They explore Ellie's own proposal for rethinking our idea of consent. Is consent contractual? Performative? Magic? And, should it really be the central tenet of our sexual ethics?Content warning: this episode contains graphic discussions of sexual violence and bodily harm.Check out the episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedLinda Martín Alcoff, Rape and ResistanceEllie Anderson, “A Phenomenological Approach to Sexual Consent” and “The Limits of Consent in Sexual Ethics”Katherine Angel, Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good AgainAnn Cahill, Rethinking RapeHeidi Hurd, “The Moral Magic of Consent”Jonathan Ichikawa, “Presupposition and Consent”Joseph Fischer, Screw ConsentJoan McGregor, Is it Rape?Caleb Ward and Ellie Anderson, “The Ethical Significance of Being an Erotic Object”Bari Weiss, “Aziz Ansari Is Guilty. Of Not Being a Mind Reader”Is It Date Rape? (1991 SNL Skit)Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | OverthinkSupport the show

What does it mean to be marginalized? Does marginalization give some people more epistemic authority than others? And, if so, what should we all do with this information? In episode 84 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk about standpoint theory, its complex intellectual history, and its relationship to W. E. B. DuBois' concept of double consciousness. They welcome an expert on the subject: Dr. Briana Toole, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Claremont McKenna College. In their conversation, they chat about how standpoint theory makes sense of electoral politics, educational policy, bizarre reality TV, and much more. They also discuss Corrupt the Youth, a philosophy outreach program founded by Dr. Toole that brings philosophy to high schools in the U.S.Check out this episode's extended cut here!Works DiscussedBriana Toole, “On Standpoint Epistemology and Epistemic Peerhood” and “Demarginalizing Standpoint Epistemology”Kate Chopin, The AwakeningW. E. B. DuBois, The Souls of Black FolkJennifer Nash, Black Feminism ReimaginedOlúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò, Elite CaptureDavid Foster Wallace, This Is WaterBlack. White. (2006)Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | OverthinkSupport the show

Western philosophy started… at the gym. In episode 83 of Overthink, Ellie and David tackle the philosophy of workouts, from Plato's days as a wrestler to the modern loneliness of a solitary bench press. As they discuss the role of exercise — which the Greeks called gymnastics — in building bodies and training souls, they consider the ancient Olympics, the cravings for health and beauty that guide us through what David calls the "Protestant work-out ethic," and Jean Baudrillard's thoughts about the Americans' passion for jogging.Works DiscussedJean Baudrillard, AmericaMark Greif, “Against Exercise”Drew Hyland, Philosophy of SportPlato, The Republic, The Laws, and EuthyphroHeather Reid, Introduction to the Philosophy of SportJean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, and “The Government of Poland”Sabrina Strings, Fearing the Black BodyMax Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of CapitalismPatreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the show

Coulda, woulda, shoulda… In Overthink's long-awaited epsiode 82, David and Ellie fret over the meaning of regret, in everything from life-altering career decisions to sloppy teenage breakups. They consider the usefulness of regret — if it has one at all — and explore its relation to a life well lived, investigating its philosophical lineage from Confucius and Aristotle to today. Can 20-year-olds regret? Can dogs? Is regret ever rational? And, when does remorse turn into existential despair?Works DiscussedAristotle, Nichomachean EthicsJohn Danaher, “The Wisdom of Regret and the Fallacy of Regret Minimization”Shai Davidai and Thomas Giolvich, “The Ideal Road Not Taken”Michael Ing, The Vulnerability of Integrity in Early Confucian ThoughtPaddy McQueen, “When Should We Regret?”Michel de Montaigne, “On Repentance”Carolyn Price, “The Many Flavors of Regret”Justin White, “Revelatory Regret and the Standpoint of the Agent”Russian Doll (2019)Sliding Doors (1998)Magnolia (1999)Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail |  Dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSupport the show