We drop a glass, it shatters. A ball hits a window, it breaks. Simple cause and effect—right? Well, not quite. In this episode, we dive into the philosophy of causation, exploring why our everyday intuitions about what “causes” what start to fall apart under closer scrutiny. From counterfactual “what if” scenarios to tricky cases like late pre-emption and even causation by absence, we’ll see why philosophers are still debating what it really means to call something a cause. Along the way, we’ll talk about broken windows, billiard balls, and even the failure to feed a pet. This is part of our series on big philosophical puzzles made accessible for everyday thinking—tune in for a thought experiment you won’t look at the same way again.