Overthink

Hang loose! In episode 149 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk about all things surfing. They explore the long history of wave-riding across the globe, from Peru to West Africa, and consider how surfing helps us to reimagine social issues and what surfing reveals about the connection between flow and freedom. Is surfing the pinnacle of human life? How has the sportification of surfing directly contravened surfing’s anti-capitalist ethos? Why is the average surfer an image of white masculinity? And how is this image tied to indigenous erasure? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts discuss the similarities between surfing and skating, surfing as an art, and the existential risk of surfing.Works DiscussedDaniel Brennan, Surfing and the Philosophy of SportKevin Dawson, Undercurrents of Power: Aquatic Culture in the African DiasporaWilliam Finnegan, Barbarian Days: A Surfing LifeAaron James, Surfing with Sartre: An Aquatic Inquiry Into a Life of MeaningPeter Kreeft, I Surf, Therefore I Am: A Philosophy of SurfingAileen Moreton Robinson, “Bodies That Matter: Performing White Possession on the Beach”Peter J. Westwick and Peter Neushul, The World in the Curl: An Unconventional History of SurfingWade in the Water: A Journey Into Black Surfing and Aquatic Culture (2023)Enjoy our work? Support Overthink via tax-deductible donation: https://www.givecampus.com/fj0w3vJoin 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.

How can we explain the rise of loneliness in our world? In episode 148 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss the difference between loneliness and solitude, how loneliness could help explain the rise of fascism in the US, and the public health implications of loneliness. What is the male loneliness epidemic, and does it truly exist? Does the state have a moral obligation to address the loneliness of its citizens? And do we have a fundamental human right to connection? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts get into the etymology of loneliness and discuss the type of companionship that animals offer humans.Works Discussed:Hannah Arendt, The Origins of TotalitarianismKimberley Brownlee, Being Sure of Each Other: An Essay on Social Rights and FreedomsBouke de Vries and Sarah A. Rezaieh. “Political Philosophy and Loneliness”Bouke de Vries, “State Responsibilities to Protect us from Loneliness During Lockdown”Samantha Rose Hill, "Where loneliness can lead"Zohar Lederman, “Loneliness as Lack of Solidarity: The Case of Palestinians Standing Alone”Emmanuel Levinas, Otherwise than BeingDavid M. Peña-Guzmán and Rebekah Spera, Professional Philosophy and Its MythsFriedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science Jill Stauffer, Ethical Loneliness: The Injustice of Not Being HeardLars Svendsen, A Philosophy of LonelinessEnjoy our work? Support Overthink via tax-deductible donation: https://www.givecampus.com/fj0w3vJoin 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.

Don’t shy away from this one! In episode 147 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss confidence. Modernity has created a crisis of confidence, leading to the demand that we all maximize our confidence. But what is confidence? Is it a personality trait or a relational concept? What causes under- and over-confidence? And is instilling confidence an equity issue? Your hosts think through Charles Pépin’s pillars of confidence, Don A. Moore's formula for calibrating your confidence, and the gendered nature of confidence through bodily expressions. In the Substack bonus segment, Ellie tells an embarrassing story which reveals the situational nature of confidence, and they discuss the relationship between confidence and nature.Works discussed:Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”Don A. Moore, Perfectly Confident: How to Calibrate Your Decisions WiselyCharles Pépin, Self-Confidence: A PhilosophyIris Marion Young, “Throwing Like a Girl: A Phenomenology of Feminine Body”Enjoy our work? Support Overthink via tax-deductible donation: https://www.givecampus.com/fj0w3vJoin 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.

Can we ever be truly alone? In episode 146 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk with philosopher Dan Zahavi about his book, Being We: Phenomenological Contributions to Social Ontology. They discuss how the increase in communication through screens has shifted what it means to be together, the decline of social bonds in political life, and what phenomenological understandings of empathy tell us about being together. How do dyadic relationships such as romantic love and friendship shape our identities? Does there need to be a conception of the self that precedes sociality? What are the different types of "we"? In the Substack bonus segment, Ellie and David get into some juicy stories about their own experiences of togetherness in the beautiful city of Madrid. Works discussed:Alison Gopnik, The Philosophical Baby: What Children's Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of LifeIvan Leudar and Philip Thomas, Voices of Reason, Voices of InsanitySherry Turkle, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each OtherGerda Walther, Toward an Ontology of Social CommunitiesDan Zahavi, Being We: Phenomenological Contributions to Social OntologyEnjoy our work? Support Overthink via tax-deductible donation: https://www.givecampus.com/fj0w3vJoin 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.

Chat GPT, Gemini, Meta AI, and Grok. In episode 145 of Overthink, David and Ellie talk about AI chatbots. Are relationships between humans and AI valuable? Or should we shame people for using LLMs?  And what are we doing when we use these technologies: expanding or outsourcing our cognition? They explore the dangers of using chatbots as romantic partners and therapists, considering how the how the principle of ‘Yes, And…’ at the core of LLMs can lead to delusion and even what’s now called “AI psychosis.” They discuss the fatigue surrounding the predominance of AI in our everyday lives and the negative environmental effects of it. In the bonus, your hosts dive deeper into the history of AI, its benefits and drawbacks, and the relationship between AI and embodiment.Works Discussed:Andrea Klonschinski and Michael Kühler, “Romantic Love Between Humans and AIs: A Feminist Ethical Critique”Gavin Mueller, Breaking Things at Work: The Luddites Are Right About Why You Hate Your JobMatteo Pasquinelli, The Eye of the Master: A Social History of Artificial IntelligenceMichael Wooldridge, A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence: What It Is, Where We Are, and Where We Are GoingN+1 Editors, “Large Language Muddle”Enjoy our work? Support Overthink via tax-deductible donation: https://www.givecampus.com/fj0w3vJoin 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.

Why does falling for someone so often feel like a painful obsession? In episode 144 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss the unspoken difficulties of limerence, or the state of falling in love. What is the difference between love and limerence, and why do we confuse them so frequently? How does social media fuel limerent reactions? And is limerence inherently selfish? They discuss how limerence can be formative to our personal identities, whether a limerent object has ethical obligations to those who obsess over them, and how modern dating norms might direct us all towards limerence rather than love. In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts get into the relationship between self-worth and limerence and whether it’s possible to have reciprocal limerence.Works Discussed:Tom Bellamy, Smitten: Romantic obsession, the neuroscience of limerence, and how to make love lastStendhal, On LoveDorothy Tennov, Love and Limerence: The Experience of Being in LoveCrazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015-2019)Enjoy our work? Support Overthink via tax-deductible donation: https://www.givecampus.com/fj0w3vJoin 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.

Which industries should cease to exist immediately? And what ‘bullshit jobs’ should they take with them? In episode 143 of Overthink, Ellie and David explore the academic and social movement of ‘Degrowth.’ They discuss the imperial mode of living that has become normalized in the Global North, explain how it relates to the ‘iron law’ of capitalism, and detail how the degrowth movement seeks to build a communist future. In particular, they explore the pillars Kohei Saito’s degrowth communism. Why are degrowth scholars such as Saito so critical of the Green New Deal? Was Karl Marx himself a ‘degrower’? And what exactly does it mean to degrow the economy? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts continue their discussion of the pillars of degrowth, thinking about the benefits abandoning the current division of labor and shortening work hours. Works Discussed:Ulrich Brand and Markus Wissen, The Imperial Mode of Living: Everyday Life and the Ecological Crisis of CapitalismJohn Bellamy Foster, Marx’s Ecology: Materialism and NatureJason Hickel, Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the WorldMatthew Huber, Climate Change as Class War: Building Socialism on a Warming PlanetKarl Marx, Capital: A Critique of Political EconomyKohei Saito, Slow Down: The Degrowth ManifestoAaron Vansintjan, Andrea Vetter, and Matthias Schmelzer, The Future is Degrowth: A Guide to a World Beyond CapitalismEnjoy our work? Support Overthink via tax-deductible donation: https://www.givecampus.com/fj0w3vJoin 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.

Why does much of the history of philosophy neglect the topic of birth? In episode 142 of Overthink, Ellie and David chat with Jennifer Banks about her book Natality: Toward a Philosophy of Birth. They think through the debate between pronatalism and antinatalism, and consider alternatives to these positions. They also discuss Hannah Arendt’s account of natality and what Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein tells us about the relationship between birth and monstrosity. What is birth, and why does it seem to defy so many of our concepts and categories? What’s the difference between being-born and giving-birth? And how would our view of ourselves change if we saw ourselves through the lens of a “philosophy of birth” (as opposed to, say, “a philosophy of death”)? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts dive further into Hannah Arendt’s works, focusing on the link between her concept of natality and her ideas about the public/private distinction.Works Discussed:Hannah Arendt, The Human ConditionJennifer Banks, Natality: Toward a Philosophy of BirthAlison Stone, Being Born: Birth and PhilosophyDean Spears and Michael Geruso, After the Spike: Population, Progress, and the Case for PeopleMarjolein Oele, “The Dissolution of the Pregnant City: A Philosophical Account of Early Pregnancy Loss and Enigmatic Grief”See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tradwives, the divine feminine, and “that girl” on social media. In episode 141 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss femininity. They look to Simone de Beauvoir’s famous claim that one is not born but rather becomes a woman, and discuss how the process of feminization is crucial to this becoming. They explore the association between femininity, mystery, and docility. Is the return to traditional gender roles an attempt to move away from capitalism? How do contemporary beauty standards shape women’s self-understanding. And is there such thing as “feminine writing”? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts discuss 90s cultural feminism and spirituality, and question whether it is possible to find liberation through the divine feminine image. Works Discussed:Sandra Bartky, “ Foucault, Femininity, and the Modernization of Patriarchal Power”Pierre Bourdieu, La domination masculineSimone de Beauvoir, The Second SexHélène Cixous, “The Laugh of the Medusa”Manon Garcia, We Are Not Born SubmissiveSupport the showSubstack | overthinkpod.substack.comWebsite | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Performative males, hustle bros, sissies, and manfluencers. In episode 140 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss masculinity. What does it mean to be a man, and how has the concept of masculinity changed over time? They look at the male loneliness epidemic, the current influx of male influencers spreading right-wing rhetoric on the manosphere, and some of the main features of masculinity. Is masculinity rooted in violence and homophobia, or is it possible to have a healthy model of masculinity? In the Substack bonus, your hosts get into the mythopoetic men's movement and the connection between haircuts and masculinity.Works Discussed:Robert Brannon and Deborah Sarah David, The Forty-nine Percent Majority: The Male Sex RolePierre Bourdieu, La domination masculineR.W. Connell, Gender and Powerbell hooks, The Will To ChangeJames W. Messerschmidt, Hegemonic MasculinityJoseph Pleck, The Myth of MasculinityTodd W. Reeser, Moderating Masculinity in Early Modern CultureFrans de Waal, Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among ApesSupport the showSubstack | overthinkpod.substack.com Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What does it mean to love thy neighbor? And who counts as a neighbor in the first place? In episode 139 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk about neighbors. They think through the parasocial relationships that hold between us and those who live near us, how the values of our neighbors affect our lives, and how neighborly relations blur the public/private distinction. They use the French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas’s philosophy of the neighbor as “the Other” to think about the experience of moral responsibility. And they consider how our relationships with neighbors differ from other relationships? To what extent do we choose our neighbors? How do wealth and class shape our experience of living-with-others? And what actually makes a neighbor a neighbor? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts question whether we have specific ethical obligations to our neighbors and discuss cultural differences in how people view their neighbors.Works Discussed: Mark Granovetter, “The Strength of Weak Ties” Emmanuel Levinas, Otherwise than BeingHannu Ruonavaara, “The Anatomy of Neighbour Relations”Anna Strhan, “And Who is My Neighbour? Levinas and the Commandment to Love Re-examined”Support the showSubstack | overthinkpod.substack.com Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How did Black Women become magical? In episode 138, Ellie and David talk to Lindsey Stewart about her book, The Conjuring of America: Mojos, Mermaids, Medicine, and 400 Years of Black Women's Magic. They talk about how the concept of ‘conjure’ shifted from its origin in the West African tradition to how it manifests in African American communities today. They discuss how Yoruba religion traveled to the US with slavery, as well as exploring the impact of historical images like the Mammy and the Voodoo Queen. What are the dangers of rhetoric of Black women being magical? How has Christianity influenced the ignorance that many Americans have around conjure? Is Beyonce magical? And does her album Cowboy Carter invoke the West African concept of Sankofa? In the Substack bonus segment, Ellie and David talk about magic on a larger scale, and parse out the differences between magic, religion and science. Works Discussed: Keisha L. Bentley-Edwards and Valerie N. Adams, “I am not (your) superwoman, Black girl magic, or beautiful struggle: Rethinking the resilience of Black women and girls”  Kim R. Harris, “Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ embraces country music, Black history and religious imagery” Lindsey Stewart, The Conjuring of America: Mojos, Mermaids, Medicine, and 400 Years of Black Women's Magic Support the showSubstack | overthinkpod.substack.com Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

With conspiracy theories, fake news, and anti-science rhetoric everywhere, we are living in an age of post-truth. In episode 137 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss the meaning of truth in our contemporary political and social landscape and how post-truth has increased in the recent years. How do phenomena like opinion overload, news fatigue, and information overload contribute to the spread of post truth? And are we really “post” truth, or do we simply live in an age of “many” truths? Ellie and David explore different conceptions of truth, the differences between misinformation and disinformation, and between lying and bullshitting. And what’s the connection between post-truth and postmodernism? Have so-called “pomo professors” contributed to the rise of political dishonesty and deception? In the bonus, your hosts talk about Michael Hannon’s article “The Politics of Post-Truth” and consider whether “post-truth” is even the right word for the crisis we’re facing.Works Discussed: Max Black, “The Prevalence of Humbug”Harry Frankfurt, “On Bullshit”Ralph Keyes, The Post-Truth Era Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern ConditionLee McIntyre, Post-Truth David M. Peña-Guzmán and Rebekah Spera, “The anatomy of a philosophical hoax: The politics of delegitimation in contemporary philosophy”Simon Truwant, De waarheid heeft vier gezichtenSupport the showSubstack | overthinkpod.substack.com Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What makes burnout different from exhaustion or fatigue? In episode 136 of Overthink, Ellie and David look at the history of the term burnout and its surprising connection to social justice. They also explore Byung-Chul Han’s reading of burnout as a natural consequence of “achievement culture.”  How does our mindless scrolling on TikTok and Instagram reveal our inability to be bored and meditate? And how does this  contribute to our personal and collective run-ins with burnout? Why do so many people, academics included, fail to recognize their own burnout? And is it even possible to escape burnout in a capitalist society? In the bonus, your hosts talk about the shame surrounding burnout, errand paralysis, and the relationship between burnout and compulsive buying.Works Discussed:Herbert J. Freudenberger, “Staff Burn-Out”Byung-Chul Han, The Burnout Society Emily and Amelia Nagoski, Burnout, the Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle David M. Peña-Guzmán and Rebekah Spera, Professional Philosophy and Its MythsAnne Helen Peterson, Can’t Even: How Millennials became the Burnout GenerationHannah Proctor, BurnoutSupport the showSubstack | overthinkpod.substack.com Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Aperol spritzes, ‘Euro summers’, and aesthetic beach pics. In episode 135 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss all things travel. They discuss the differences how travel changes our relationship to the place where we're from, the difference between travel and tourism, and the place of travel in the history of philosophy. They go from Plato’s views that young people shouldn’t travel to Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s belief that travel is essential for turning boys into men. They also explore the question, why do humans love to travel so much? In the bonus, your hosts debate over their relationships to phones and taking photos while travelling and dive deeper into what it’s like to experience culture shock. Works Discussed: Francis Bacon, “On Travel”Agnes Callard, “Against Travel”Paul Fussell, AbroadMichel de Montaigne, “On Cannibals”Plato, The RepublicJean-Jacques Rousseau, EmileGeorge Santayana, “The Philosophy of Travel”Joseph Shaules, The Intercultural Mind: Connecting Culture, Cognition, and Global LivingEmily Thomas, The Meaning of Travel: Philosophers AbroadSupport the showSubstack | overthinkpod.substack.com Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

All metaphysical theories are…really weird. In episode 134 of Overthink, Ellie and David chat with Eric Schwitzgebel about his book Weirdness of the World. They think through the difference between weirdness and bizarreness, the nonsensical nature of philosophical theories, and whether we should all just agree with Occam’s razor that the simplest explanation is always best.Is the recent theory that we’re all living in a simulation really that strange? Is it stranger than the idealist metaphysics of Plato or the atomism of Lucretius? And why are philosophical theories doomed to weirdness? Are we the weird ones, or do we just live in a weird world? In the bonus your hosts talk about the butterfly effect and the infinitude of the universe, and how neurodivergent traits can be rewarded in philosophy.Works Discussed:Graham Harman, Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy Eric Schwitzgebel, Weirdness of the WorldSupport the showSubstack | overthinkpod.substack.com Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Time to take in a breath of fresh air. In episode 133 of Overthink, Ellie and David close out their four-part series on the elements with air. They consider Anaximenes of Miletus’s belief that all things are made of air, Luce Irigaray’s belief that air is feminine, and the modern use of air as a weapon of battle. What can the TV series The Last of Us tell us about the inescapability of air Why have some philosophers thought the soul is made of air? And how does air allow itself to be forgotten? In the bonus, your hosts dive deeper into Irigaray, the plurality of air, and the idea of the ether.Works Discussed:Gaston Bachelard, Air in Dreams Steven Connor, The Matter of AirLuce Irigaray, The Forgetting of Air in Martin HeideggerElizabeth Povinelli, GeontologiesPeter Sloterdijk, Terror from the AirMax Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, Dialectic of EnlightenmentThe Last of Us (2025)Support the showSubstack | overthinkpod.substack.com Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This one’s going to rock your world. In episode 132 of Overthink, Ellie and David dig into the earth for the third part of their four-part series on the elements. They discuss everything from earthworms and carbon dating to the “solidity” of the earth. They look to Foucault, Freud, and Husserl for insights about how the earth can act as a metaphor for the mind and for the past. They also wonder: Is the earth inert matter or a living being? And why do so many creation myths present humans as “made” of earth/clay/mud? So, what is it that we actually mean when we talk about earth as an element? In the bonus, your hosts talk think through Heidegger’s notion of ground and horizon, and the Western association of land with earth.Works Discussed: Michel Foucault, The Archeology of KnowledgeMartin Heidegger, “ The Origin of the Work of Art”Edmund Husserl, Crisis of the European SciencesDavid Macauley, Elemental Philosophy: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water as Environmental Ideas Thomas Nail, Theory of the EarthJames Lovelock, Gaia hypothesisDorian Sagan and Lynn Margulis, “God, Gaia, and Biophilia”Support the showSubstack | overthinkpod.substack.com Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oceans, baths, ponds, and amniotic sacs? In episode 131 of Overthink, David and Ellie take a deep dive into the topic of water as part of their four-part series on the elements. They discuss how all life begins in water, and the conceptual features of water, such as its fluidity and shapelessness. What did Thales of Miletus mean by ‘all is water’? How is water used as a metaphor for the Dao? And at what point does being in water go from feeling like Moana to feeling like Jaws? In the Patreon bonus segment, they talk about water as a symbol of purification, the significance of plate tectonics, and the relationship between AI and water usage. Works Discussed: Aristotle, On the Heavens Francis Bacon, Novum OrganumJamie Linton, What Is Water? The History of a Modern AbstractionDavid Macauley, Elemental Philosophy: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water as Environmental Ideas Anna Secor, “Spacetimeunconscious”Neil Shubin, Your Inner FishLao Tzu, Dao De Jing Peter Godfrey Smith, MetazoaSupport the showSubstack | overthinkpod.substack.com Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Are all fires inherently bad? In episode 130 of Overthink, David and Ellie launch a four-part series on the elements, starting off hot with fire. They look at the role of fire in Greek mythology (focusing on the myth of Prometheus), the evolution of humans’ relationship with fire, and fire’s role as the universal metaphor. Why did Prometheus steal fire from the Olympians and give it  to humans? Why does Bachelard believe that fire is “the” philosophical element par excellence? How did Western culture turn fire from friend to foe? And what would a non-antagonistic relationship to fire look like? In the bonus, your hosts give their fiery takes on arson and pyromania.Works Discussed: Gaston Bachelard, The Psychoanalysis of FireStephen J. Pyne, The PyroceneStephen J. Pyne, “Fire in the mind: changing understandings of fire in Western civilization.”Support the showSubstack | overthinkpod.substack.com Website | overthinkpodcast.comInstagram & Twitter | @overthink_podEmail | dearoverthink@gmail.comYouTube | Overthink podcastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.