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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 Discussed Marshall Berman, All That Is Solid Melts Into Air Don T. Deere, “Coloniality and Disciplinary Power: On Spatial Techniques of Ordering” Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth Jane Jacobs, The Life and Death of Great American Cities Quill R. Kukla, City Living Christine de Pizan, City of Ladies Plato, Republic Angel Rama, The Lettered City Georg Simmel, “Metropolis and Mental Life” Iris Marion Young, "City Life and Difference" Blade Runner (1982) Parasite (2019) Barbie (2023) Overthink ep. 32, Astrology Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast  Website | overthinkpodcast.com Instagram & Twitter | @overthink_pod Email |  Dearoverthink@gmail.com YouTube | Overthink podcast Support the show Support 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 Discussed Paul Campos, The Obesity Myth Ancel Keys, et al., “Indices of relative weight and obesity” Adolphe Quetelet, On Man and the Development of His Faculties Sabrina Strings, Fearing the Black Body Audre Lorde, A Piece of Light Thomas Nagel, “Free Will” Kate Manne, Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia Overthink ep 27. From Body Positivity to Fat Feminism (feat. Amelia Hruby) Follow Dr. Kate Manne on Substack! Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast  Website | overthinkpodcast.com Instagram & Twitter | @overthink_pod Email |  Dearoverthink@gmail.com YouTube | Overthink podcast Support 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 Discussed Dave Asprey, Smarter Not Harder Alison Gopnik, The Philosophical Baby Mirjam Grewe-Salfeld, Biohacking, Bodies, and Do-It-Yourself Michel de Montaigne, "Of Experience" Max More, The Transhumanist Reader Joel 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, Ethics Washington 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 Podcast Overthink ep 31. Genomics feat. Joel Michael Reynolds Support 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 Discussed Lauren Berlant, Cruel Optimism Jeffery R. Di Leo, "Corporate Humanities in Higher Education" David Graeber, Debt: The First 5,000 Years Cathy Park Hong, Minor Feelings Geoffery Ingham, The Nature of Money Nietzsche, The Genealogy of Morals Plato, Republic Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice Shatapatha Brahmana Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations HEROES act Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast  Website | overthinkpodcast.com Instagram & Twitter | @overthink_pod Email |  Dearoverthink@gmail.com YouTube | Overthink podcast Support 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 Discussed Aristotle, Poetics & Rhetoric The Beatles, Eleanor Rigby David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature Kristján Kristjánsson, “Pity: A Mitigated Defense” Martha Nussbaum, “Tragedy and Self-Sufficiency: Plato and Aristotle on Fear and Pity” Jean-Paul Sartre, Anti-Semite and Jew Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments Joseph 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 Discrimination Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast  Website | overthinkpodcast.com Instagram & Twitter | @overthink_pod Email |  Dearoverthink@gmail.com YouTube | Overthink podcast Special 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 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. Note: Ellie misspeaks when she mentions that married couples have lower satisfaction levels than unmarried ones. The correct claim, based on this study, is that they have fewer social ties. We apologize for the mistake! Works Discussed Marina Adshade, "The Origins of the Institutions of Marriage" Simone de Beauvoir, She Came to Stay Elizabeth Brake, Minimizing Marriage Justin Clardy, Why It’s OK to Not Be Monogamous Carrie Jenkins, What Love Is Robert Nozick, "Love's Bond" Pages The Reading Group Related Overthink episodes 15. Marriage 16. Monogamy 17. Open Relationships 18. Polyamory Check out the episode's extended cut here! Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast Website | overthinkpodcast.com Instagram & Twitter | @overthink_pod Email |  Dearoverthink@gmail.com YouTube | Overthink podcast Support 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 Discussed Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex and The Ethics of Ambiguity Nancy Chodorow, The Reproduction of Mothering Michelle Dean, "Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter To Be Sick, …" Jacques Derrida, Reflections on the Mother Tongue Sigmund Freud, The Freud Reader Donald Winnicott, The Good Enough Parent Don Jon (2013) MILF Manor (2023) Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast  Website | overthinkpodcast.com Instagram & Twitter | @overthink_pod Email |  Dearoverthink@gmail.com YouTube | Overthink podcast Support 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 Discussed Katherine Angel, Daddy Issues Sigmund Freud, Totem and Taboo, and "A Special Type of Choice of Object made by Men" Carl Jung, A Theory of Psychoanalysis Julia Kristeva, A Father is Being Beaten Jenn Mann, "Think You Have Daddy Issues?" Father of the Bride (1991) The Golden Bachelor (2023) Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast  Website | overthinkpodcast.com Instagram & Twitter | @overthink_pod Email |  Dearoverthink@gmail.com YouTube | Overthink podcast Support 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 Discussed Robin Carhart-Harris, et al. “The Entropic Brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs” Alison Gopnik, The Philosophical Baby Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception Mike 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 Perception Michael Pollan, How to Change Your Mind Anil Seth, Being You: A New Science of Consciousness Dana G. Smith, “What Does Good Psychedelic Therapy Look Like?” Simeon Wade, Foucault in California  Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast  Website | overthinkpodcast.com Instagram & Twitter | @overthink_pod Email |  Dearoverthink@gmail.com YouTube | Overthink podcast Support 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 Discussed Carol J. Adams, The Sexual Politics of Meat Shanti Chu, “Nonviolence through Veganism” and “Public Philosophy and Food: Foodies, Ethics, and Activism” Claude Fischler, "Food, Self, and Identity" A. Breeze Harper, Sistah Vegan Emmanuel Levinas, Totality and Infinity Plato, Republic Eric Scholsser, Fast Food Nation Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast  Website | overthinkpodcast.com Instagram & Twitter | @overthink_pod Email |  Dearoverthink@gmail.com YouTube | Overthink podcast Support 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 Discussed Taylor Carman, "The Concept of Authenticity" Skye Cleary, How to Be Authentic Brit Dawson, “Buying and selling authenticity: a decade of reality TV” Alessandro Ferrara, The Critique of Authenticity Martin Heidegger, Being and Time Hans-Georg Moeller and Paul D’Ambrosio, You and Your Profile Lionel Trilling, Sincerity and Authenticity Charles Taylor, The Ethics of Authenticity Drag Race Spain S2 The Bachelor Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast  Website | overthinkpodcast.com Instagram & Twitter | @overthink_pod Email |  Dearoverthink@gmail.com YouTube | Overthink podcast Support 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 Discussed Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition and The Origins of Totalitarianism Mario Blaser, “Doing and undoing Caribou/Atiku” Dipesh Chakrabarty, “Planetary Humanities” Déborah Danowski and Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, The Ends of the World Arturo Escobar, Pluriversal Politics Martin Heidegger, Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics Travis Holloway, How to Live at the End of the World Bruno Latour, Facing Gaia Timothy Morton, Hyperobjects Conservation International, Mother Nature (2015) Patreon | patreon.com/overthinkpodcast  Website | overthinkpodcast.com Instagram & Twitter | @overthink_pod Email |  Dearoverthink@gmail.com YouTube | Overthink podcast Support the show