Overthink

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com As Overthink comes to a close, why not take a look back? In Episode 182, Ellie and David tackle the concept of reflection and explain why it is so central to philosophy. What is the value of reflection, and what are its drawbacks? How does philosophy go astray when it treats the self as a product of reflection,...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com Nothing can devastate us more than the loss of a loved one. In this episode of Overthink, David and Ellie talk about mourning. What kinds of losses hurl us into a state of mourning? Are there healthy and unhealthy ways of mourning? Or does this distinction not apply in cases when we are dealing with irreparable...

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue! In this episode, Ellie and David talk about weddings. What kind of celebration is a wedding? And what social function do these festivities serve? Do weddings necessarily legitimize the institution of marriage? Or can weddings be dissociated from this legal institution and its problematic history? As they ponder these issues, your ho...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com After a BIG announcement (!!!), your hosts David and Ellie get into the economic and psychological features of the state no one wants to be stuck in: unemployment. How does capitalism structurally construct “wageless life” while nonetheless treating it as a personal failure or unhappy accident? What’s the conne...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com Beauty is big business, and the rise of looksmaxxing and increasingly invasive treatments is raising the alarm on the ways that our looks matter in our personal and social lives. Ellie and David speak with philosopher Heather Widdows about how the emphasis on beauty in the present day constitutes a real shift f...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com Is it easier to cheat now than ever? In episode 177 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk about cheating. From micro-cheating on your girlfriend to doping in sports, cheating appears to have escalated in various domains. Your hosts explain the relationship between cheating and rule-breaking, then question norms su...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com Are you paying attention when you scroll online? In episode 176 of Overthink, Ellie and David draw your attention to attention. They explain why attention is so hard to define and debate the extent to which it should be equated with consciousness. Is attention the same thing as consciousness? Or are there impor...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com Play it cool and play this episode. In episode 175 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk about what it means to be cool. From swag gap relationships to Mark Zuckerberg and the manosphere’s failed attempts at being cool, your hosts examine coolness’s ties to youth and subversion and its opposition to displays of we...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com What resources do Indigenous studies provide for addressing the crisis of human-made climate change? And how is the climate crisis linked to settler colonialism? In episode 174 of Overthink, Ellie and David chat with Indigenous philosopher and activist Kyle Whyte about his work on climate action. They discuss h...

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit overthinkpod.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com Thou shalt not miss this episode! In episode 173 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk about theft. They discuss our moral intuitions around theft, how feudalism and capitalism may be founded upon an original (and large scale) act that of theft, and the gendered association between kleptomania and women. They also...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com Does decolonization require violence? In episode 172 of Overthink, Ellie and David take a closer look at Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth, “ the bible of decolonization.” They discuss Fanon’s bold stance on violence, his condemnation of rituals and dance, and some potential criticisms. They also questio...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com Bottom, rump, booty, fanny, tush, and derriere! In episode 171 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk about butts. Why do humans have bigger rear ends than other animals? Why are butts often seen as a site of aversion? And is anal sex a metaphor for the universe? They discuss the evolutionary history of butts, how...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com The discourse around today's crisis of care responds to the shredding of America's social safety net, but leaves out the most vulnerable almost entirely. In episode 170 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss how this works with Premilla Nadasen, author of Care: The Highest Stage of Capitalism . They discuss how...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com With the rise of hustle culture, the grind, and capitalist productivity, we often associate discipline with toxicity. But is there still value in disciplining oneself? In episode 169 of Overthink, Ellie and David take a disciplined approach to this question and more! They discuss modern culture’s rejection of d...

You often hear people say “everything is political” and political disagreements feel like a fight. But what if our obsession with debate and rational argumentation is actually making polarization worse? Drawing on Sarah Stein Lubrano's Don't Talk About Politics: How to Change 21st-Century Minds , David explains how endless social media debates cause people to dig their heels in and what we need to...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com Why do we seek to escape from ourselves? In episode 168 of Overthink, Ellie and David take a closer look at Emmanuel Levinas’s article “On Escape.” They discuss Levinas’s claim that escape is central to the human condition and explore what exactly we try to escape from and escape to. They explain how this aspec...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com Are some people born evil, or are we all capable of evil acts? In episode 167 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk about all things evil. They think through the characterization of evil in Disney films, Leibniz’s best of all possible worlds theory, the conflation of evil with badness, and Hannah Arendt’s concept...

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit overthinkpod.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com Content warning: this episode involves discussion of sexual violence and sexual assault. Can pornography be liberating or does it just promote the hatred of women? In episode 165 of Overthink Ellie and David discuss pornography. They talk about the feminist ‘sex wars’ and the pro-porn and anti-porn views that e...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com Hello Overthinkers! In honor of it almost being spring we will be offering paid subscriptions 20% off until March 20th! Redeem here :) Is the way we interact with technology moving us towards a cyborg future? In episode 164 of Overthink, Ellie and David take a closer look at Donna Haraway’s seminal essay, “A Cy...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com Can Buzzfeed quizzes, Myers-Briggs Types, and Enneagrams tell us anything valid about who we are? In episode 163 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss personality. They talk through the Big Five personality test and its legitimacy, the history of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test (MBTI), and how the concept...

Hello Overthinkers! Happy Friday :) David gave us some insight into his course load this semester at San Francisco State University. Which course sounds the most interesting to you? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit overthinkpod.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com What does it mean to be spontaneous? In episode 161 of Overthink, Ellie and David get spontaneous. They look at Aristotle’s theory of spontaneous generation, at spontaneity’s role in politics, and at the dark side of spontaneity. How do different cultures and physical spaces enable or inhibit spontaneity? What...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit overthinkpod.substack.com Hello Overthinkers! We hope you enjoy another episode in our Closer Look format. We’d love to hear your thoughts about the episode and any questions or comments you have for Ellie and David :) What does it mean to say that the good life is a life of pleasure? Although you might think of champagne and caviar, He...