Overthink

Astrology. Dangerous pseudoscience? Comforting salve in a cold capitalist world? Subjugated knowledge? It's all fun and games when you're looking up your Co-Star horoscope, but according to philosopher Theodor Adorno, even a playful belief in astrology encourages submission to the status quo--and promotes fascist thinking. In this can't-miss episode 32, Ellie and David discuss the psychological appeal of astrology, which is experiencing a huge resurgence today. They also dive deep into the history and science behind the practice. Did you know Johannes Kepler was an astrologer? Or that your star sign is...probably not actually your sign? The episode also gets into the Barnum Effect, and some surprising similarities between astrology, weather forecasts, and personality tests. 

Works discussed:

Theodor Adorno, The Stars Down to Earth
Nicholas Campion, History of Western Astrology
Roger Beck, A Brief History of Ancient Astrology
Thomas Kuhn, The Copernican Revolution
Alexander Boxer, A Scheme of Heaven: The History of Astrology and the Search for our Destiny in Data
Silvia Federici, Caliban and the Witch
Colin Koopman, How We Became Our Data
Bertram Forer, "The fallacy of personal validation: A classroom demonstration of gullibility"

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From 23andMe to prenatal testing, genetic testing is everywhere these days! The use of these tests raises important concerns about "velvet eugenics" and the value of human life. In episode 31, Ellie and David address the ethics and politics of genomics. They talk with ethicist Dr. Joel Michael Reynolds, an expert on disability studies and genomics, about why your zip code is a much better indicator of  health outcomes than your genome. Plus, Joel unpacks why genetic sequencing can cause anxiety for new parents and further social inequities.

Works discussed:
Joel Michael Reynolds, "Health for Whom? Bioethics and the Challenge of Justice for Genomic Medicine"
Joel Michael Reynolds, "Genopower: On Genomics, Disability, and Impairment"
Sivan Tamir, "Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing: Ethical-Legal Perspectives and Practical Considerations"
Jenny Reardon, The Postgenomic Condition
Rosemarie Garland Thomson, "Welcoming The Unexpected," in Human Flourishing in an Age of Gene Editing, ed. Erik Parens and Josephine Johnson
National Human Genome Research Institute, "Human Genome Project FAQ"
Guy Standing, The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class

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Have you considered that you might be a brain in a vat of liquid floating in a laboratory somewhere? How can you know that the world around you is real, not just a simulation being piped directly to your brain? In episode 30, Ellie and David unpack one of philosophy's favorite thought experiments: the brain in a vat.  They also analyze our cultural obsession with the brain, common criticisms of this thought experiment from consciousness studies, and precursors in Descartes and science fiction. Also--what's with the Italian neuroscientist who keeps trying to do head transplants?

Works discussed:
Daniel Dennett, "Where Am I?"
Gilbert Harman, Thought
Alva Noë, Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain
Evan Thompson and Diego Cosmelli, "Brain in a Vat or Body in a World? Brainbound Versus Enactive Views of Experience"
Shaun Gallagher and Dan Zahavi, The Phenomenological Mind
Bronwyn Parry, "Technologies of Immortality: The Brain on Ice"
John Desmond Bernal, The World, the Flesh and the Devil
Raymond Roussel, Locus Solus
John Tresch, "In a solitary place: Raymond Roussel’s brain and the French cult of unreason"
Harry Smit and Peter M. S. Hacker, "Seven Misconceptions About the Mereological Fallacy: A Compilation for the Perplexed"
Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score

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Do you fear the Sunday Scaries and Thank God It's Friday? You might be suffering from a case of what Karl Marx called "alienation." In episode 29 of Overthink, David and Ellie break down this key but often misunderstood concept for the modern workplace. After explaining Marx's four forms of alienation using the example of making Teva sandals, they discuss the gig economy and "bullshit jobs." Plus: in today's society, are even poets and Netflix viewers alienated? Or does Marx's concept only apply to an outdated model of industrial work under capitalism?

Works discussed:
Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
Rahel Jaeggi, Alienation
David Graeber, Bullshit Jobs
Byung-Chul Han, In the swarm: Digital prospects
Herbert Marcuse, One Dimensional Man
Guy Debord, Society of the Spectacle
Emmanuel Renault, From Fordism to Post-Fordism: Beyond or Back to Alienation
Louis Althusser, Reading Capital

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In episode 28 of Overthink, Ellie and David explore cancel culture. Is it a thing--and if so, what are its merits and dangers? They unpack the origins of cancel culture in Black Twitter and debate whether "canceling" people is a tactic of neoliberalism.  Should we be canceling Chrissy Teigen, J.K. Rowling, Nick Cannon, and Matt and Rachel from The Bachelor? Also discussed: carceral logic, restorative justice, and forgiveness.

Works discussed:
Meredith D. Clark, "DRAG THEM: A brief etymology of so-called 'cancel culture'"
Kimberly Foster of For Harriett, "We Can't Cancel Everyone" (YouTube)
Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism's Stealth Revolution
Zygmunt Bauman, Liquid Life
Ellie Anderson, Cynthia Willett, and Diana Meyers, "Feminist Perspectives on the Self" in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought

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In episode 27 of Overthink, Ellie and David speak with feminist philosopher and author Dr. Amelia Hruby about fat feminism, intersectionality, alternatives to the male gaze, and her project #selfiesforselflove. Before the interview, Ellie and David discuss their issues with the "body positivity" movement using phenomenology, and suggest why Sonya Renee Taylor's account of radical self-love is a better alternative. The episode closes with a deep dive into the racist history of the thin ideal using the work of Sabrina Strings.

Works discussed:
Sabrina Strings, Fearing the Black Body
Virgie Tovar, You Have the Right to Remain Fat
Sonya Renee Taylor, The Body is Not an Apology
Alexandra Sastre, "Towards a radical body positive: Reading the online 'body positive movement'"
Amelia Hruby, Fifty Feminist Mantras
Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Phenomenology of Perception
Kimberlé Crenshaw, "Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color"
Patricia Hill Collins, "Controlling Images"
John Berger, Ways of Seeing

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In episode 26 of Overthink, Ellie and David explore cohabitation during Covid. They use philosopher Henri Bergson's theory of rhythm and the Africana philosophy concept of Ubuntu to better understand how we have had to re-negotiate and re-engage with space this year. Also discussed: Ellie's early Covid board games, David's living room, moving during covid, and lots more!

Works Discussed:
Taylor Trudon, Teenage Angst, Revisited in Isolation
Julius Gathogo, African Philosophy as Expressed in the Concepts of Hospitality and Ubuntu
Bhekizizwe Peterson, The Art of Personhood: Kinship and Its Social Challenges
Kai Kresse, Philosophizing in Mombasa
Hannah Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism
Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory
Immanuel Kant, The Critique of Pure Reason
Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

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In episode 25 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss dating during Covid--including their own experiences! With so many Americans getting vaccinated, the dating scene may be heating up again--but what philosophical lessons can we learn from the past year of pandemic dating? Ellie gives a sociological history of dating, and David wonders about how socially distant dating changes class dynamics. Then the two talk about  how pandemic dating involves a "phenomenology of acceleration" and a "phenomenology of failure," as well as what attachment theory shows about dating in social isolation. Also discussed: going on a "first date" many months into dating, mental health, and David's support of "impurity culture."

Works Discussed:
Eva Illouz, Consuming the Romantic Utopia
Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit
Lawrence L. Levine, Highbrow/Lowbrow
Beth L. Bailey, From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in Twentieth-Century America
Moira Weigel, Labor of Love
John Bowlby, The Making and Breaking of Affectional Bonds
Amir Levine and Rachel S.F. Heller, Attached

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On episode 24 of Overthink, Ellie and David tackle friendship during Covid. They begin by discussing their dream day with friends, which includes: brunch, thrift store shopping, and team sports, all of which have been impossible to do during the pandemic. What has social distancing meant for friendship? They bring on special guest, undergraduate Anna Koppelman (Overthink's  production assistant and social media coordinator!), to discuss how Covid has impacted college students' social lives. The three talk Heidegger, Aristotle, and how sad it is to have no fun gossip anymore! Finally, David and Ellie analyze how gender has affected Covid friendships, Epicurus supporting "pods" before it was cool, and more!

Works Discussed:

Lydia Denworth, Friendship: The Evolution, Biology, and Extraordinary Power of Life’s Fundamental Bond
Beverley Fehr, Friendship Processes
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
Immanuel Kant, Metaphysical Principles of Virtue
Octavio Paz, The Labyrinth of Solitude
Samantha Schmidt, The Washington Post, Men find new ways to Bond During the Pandemic
Jeffrey A. Hall, How many hours does it take to make a friend?
Martin Heidegger, What Is Metaphysics?

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In episode 23 of Overthink, Ellie, and David sit down with philosopher Dr. C. Thi Nguyen to discuss his work on games and gamification. They begin by their love for The Sims and the out-of-body experiences video games can trigger. From there, they get into the works of thinkers including  Ortega y Gasset, Nietzsche, Mill, Gadamer, discussing their theories on games and motivation. The trio also jumps into the function of games in community, how British and American drinking games differ, motivational states, Thi’s epic game nights, and more.


Works Discussed:
C. Thi Nguyen, Games: Agency as Art
Roger Callois, Man, Play and Games
Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy
José Ortega y Gasset, Meditations on Hunting
Gordon Burghardt, The Genesis of Animal Play
Matthew Broersma, “US Military Recruits Gamers To Fly Killer Drones”

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