Overthink

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PHILOSOPHY
EVERY TWO WEEKS

The best of all possible podcasts, Leibniz would say. Putting big ideas in dialogue with the everyday, Overthink offers accessible and fresh takes on philosophy from enthusiastic experts. Hosted by professors Ellie Anderson (Pomona College) and David M. Peña-Guzmán (San Francisco State University).

12 HR AGO

Theft

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 critique the lack of legal repercussions for tech companies that steal information to train new AI models. Finally, they look at representations of theft and capital in film and television. What does the move from heist films to grift docudramas say about 21st century capitalism? And why do we love to take the side of thieves? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts discuss the ethics of stealing from large corporations. Works Discussed: Elaine Abelson, When Ladies Go A-Thieving: Middle-Class Shoplifters in the Victorian Department Store Anna Kornbluh “Falling Heists, Rising Grift: Filming Capital in the Already Long Twenty-First Century” Robert Nichols, Theft Is Property! Dispossession and Critical Theory Enjoy our work? Support Overthink via tax-deductible donation: https://www.givecampus.com/fj0w3v Join our Substack for ad-free versions of both audio and video episodes, extended episodes, exclusive live chats, and more: https://overthinkpod.substack.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

56 min
12 HR AGO · BONUS

You Might Also Like: The Story of Money

Introducing When money went rogue: banking in 19th-century frontier America from The Story of Money. Follow the show: The Story of Money In 19th-century America almost anyone could print their own money – and many did. One of the most notable figures to take this up was a man named James Brown, a charismatic conman who built a fortune producing fake banknotes. In this episode of The Story of Money, Stephen Mihm, a professor of history at the University of Georgia, introduces hosts Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth to “the hardest working man in counterfeiting”. They discuss the parallels between banking in the Wild West and the advent of cryptocurrencies today, and the role trust plays in all financial systems. Further reading: A Nation of Counterfeiters: Capitalists, Con Men, and the Making of the United States, by Stephen Mihm (2007) The Square and Tower: Networks, Hierarchies and the Struggle for Global Power, by Niall Ferguson (2018) To enjoy future episodes, be sure to subscribe to The Story of Money wherever you get your podcasts, and also follow the show's dedicated YouTube channel here. Learn more at ft.com/tsom Hosts: Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth Guest: Stephen Mihm Producer: Lulu Smyth Senior Producer: Michela Tindera and Laurence Knight Executive Producers: Flo Phillips and Manuela Saragosa Original music: Breen Turner Broadcast engineers: Bianca Wakeman and Petros Giuompasis Podcast Development: Laura Clarke FT Global Head of Audio: Cheryl Brumley Video editor: Kristen Kenyon at Podcast Discovery Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to team@podroll.fm.
5 MAY

Closer Look: Fanon, Wretched of the Earth

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 question what the subjectivity of colonized people looks like given colonialism’s psycho-affective effects. What does violence do for the colonized? Who gets liberation movements off the ground? And what are the challenges that a newly independent nation might face once a colonial power has been overthrown? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts talk about Fanon’s critique of Africanism and some of the clinical cases Fanon incorporates into this important work. Works Discussed: Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of The Earth Concerning Violence (2014) Enjoy our work? Support Overthink via tax-deductible donation: https://www.givecampus.com/fj0w3v Join our Substack for ad-free versions of both audio and video episodes, extended episodes, exclusive live chats, and more: https://overthinkpod.substack.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

59 min
28 APR

Butts

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 the music industry helped normalize bigger butts, and how the exploitation of Sara Baartman in the 19th century is part of a larger story about the sexualization of black women. In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts talk about Marquis de Sade’s discussion of anal sex and appeals to nature in justifications of human sexual practices. Works Discussed: Georges Bataille, “The Solar Anus” Leo Bersani, “Is the Rectum a Grave?” Janell Hobson, “Venus in the Dark: Blackness and Beauty in Popular Culture” Dinah Holtzman, “Ass You Lick It: Bey and Jay Eat Cake” Sadiah Qureshi, “Displaying Sara Baartman, the ‘Hottentot Venus’.” Heather Radke, Butts: A Backstory Christopher Wallner et al, “Interethnic Influencing Factors Regarding Buttocks Body Image in Women from Nigeria, Germany, USA and Japan” Enjoy our work? Support Overthink via tax-deductible donation: https://www.givecampus.com/fj0w3v Join our Substack for ad-free versions of both audio and video episodes, extended episodes, exclusive live chats, and more: https://overthinkpod.substack.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

52 min
21 APR

Care with Premilla Nadasen

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 gender fits into the care industry, the harms of associating care work with emotion, and how the practice of care has been commodified. How is it that we deny the most basic care from those who need it most? What are the harms of framing care workers as family members? And how has racial capitalism produced the explosion of the care economy that we're seeing today? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts think about the distinction between the practice of care and care itself and how labor workers can learn from care workers in their modes of organizing. Works Discussed: Arlie Hochschild, The Managed Heart Premilla Nadasen, Care: The Highest Stage of Capitalism Enjoy our work? Support Overthink via tax-deductible donation: https://www.givecampus.com/fj0w3v Join our Substack for ad-free versions of both audio and video episodes, extended episodes, exclusive live chats, and more: https://overthinkpod.substack.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

49 min
14 APR

Discipline

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 discipline and how this manifests on the left vs the right, the association between discipline and punishment, and Michel Foucault’s seminal ideas on disciplinary power. How can we discipline children without resorting to punishment? And are there models of self-discipline that aren’t rooted in punishment of the self? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts discuss Sandra Bartky’s argument that gender norms are a modern form of disciplinary power. Works Discussed: Joan E. Durrant and Ashley Stewart-Tufescu. “What is “Discipline” in the Age of Children’s Rights?.” Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality Adekunle A. Ibrahim and Philomena A. Ojomo. “Discipline and Punishment in Schools: A Philosophical Appraisal.” Enjoy our work? Support Overthink via tax-deductible donation: https://www.givecampus.com/fj0w3v Join our Substack for ad-free versions of both audio and video episodes, extended episodes, exclusive live chats, and more: https://overthinkpod.substack.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

58 min
7 APR

Closer Look: Levinas, On Escape

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 aspect of human existence is crystallized by our experiences of need, pleasure, and even nausea. Are we condemned to being needy beings? How does Levinas’s view of shame put him at a distance from Sartre? And is Levinas right that to be a human is to never be at peace with oneself? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts discuss why escape is the condition of our time and critique Levinas’s reading of idealism. Works Discussed: Emmanuel Levinas, “On Escape” Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea Enjoy our work? Support Overthink via tax-deductible donation: https://www.givecampus.com/fj0w3v Join our Substack for ad-free versions of both audio and video episodes, extended episodes, exclusive live chats, and more: https://overthinkpod.substack.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

1 hr
31 MAR

Evil

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 of the banality of evil. How does Manichaeism attempt to resolve the problem of evil? Is evil simply the lack of good in the world? And does the concept of evil still have relevance in an age of secular ethics or is the concept too weighed down by its own theological past? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts discuss evil people and how we might categorize them. Works Discussed: Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil Hannah Arendt, “Nightmare and Flight” Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism Paul Formosa, “The Problems with Evil” Paul Formosa, “A Conception of Evil” Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Theodicy Gavin Rae, Evil in the Western Philosophical Tradition Enjoy our work? Support Overthink via tax-deductible donation: https://www.givecampus.com/fj0w3v Join our Substack for ad-free versions of both audio and video episodes, extended episodes, exclusive live chats, and more: https://overthinkpod.substack.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

55 min

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TRAILER

Welcome to Overthink!

Welcome to Overthink. A philosophy podcast you'll actually want to listen to. Smart but cool. Fun but deep. Hosted by professors Ellie Anderson (Pomona College) and David M. Peña-Guzmán (San Francisco State University). Support the show Substack | overthinkpod.substack.com Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

E1

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7 min

Ellie Anderson

Host
David M. Pena-Guzman

Host
Arnoud S. Q. Visser

Guest

The best of all possible podcasts, Leibniz would say. Putting big ideas in dialogue with the everyday, Overthink offers accessible and fresh takes on philosophy from enthusiastic experts. Hosted by professors Ellie Anderson (Pomona College) and David M. Peña-Guzmán (San Francisco State University).