Overthink

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

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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)

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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”

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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

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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.”

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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.