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 episode 88, we explore the philosophy of food, discussing everything from Glaucon’s speech in Plato’s Republic, to the link between cultural identity and culinary taste. They welcome food critic and philosophy professor Shanti Chu for conversation on the gendering of meals, the ethics of food systems (lab-grown meat, anyone?), the future of restaurants, and much more. Bon appetit!

What does it mean to live in a world? Animal spirit masters in Labrador to the foundations of climate science, they investigate concepts of nature, culture, and the idyllic nurturing earth with Hannah Arendt and Arturo Escobar. Do animals have worlds? And what is a world where many worlds fit?

Trees tower over us and communicate via fungal networks beneath us, but all too often are overlooked. Why was Socrates wrong to say we can’t learn anything from trees? And was Nietzsche right to say it’s a tree-eat-tree world out there?