In episode 115 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss the meaning of hope, from casual travel plans, to electoral optimism, to theological liberation. They explore Kant’s ambitions for perpetual peace, and discuss the Marxian imperative to transform the world. Should we hope for what seems realistic, or reach for impossible utopias?

Awkward moments are everywhere you look. In episode 113 of Overthink, Ellie and David invite philosopher Alexandra Plakias to talk through her research on awkwardness. They discuss from oversharing online to uncomfortable silences, power, morality, and the core scripts of our social expectations.

In episode 111, Ellie and David untangle envy, jealousy, and admiration, in everything from Sigmund Freud to Regina George. They think through the role of envy in social media and status regulation alongside Sara Protasi's The Philosophy of Envy, and investigate the philosophical lineage of this maligned emotion.

In episode 110 of Overthink, Ellie and David untangle the role of intensity in shaping our aspirations, cultural tropes, and political goals. They trace its roots in Aristotle's theory of change, medieval science and princely romanticism. They turn to Henri Bergson and Gilles Deleuze’s accounts of consciousness and emotion to explore how intensity looks beyond the scientistic impulse to categorize and quantify, and think about its role in capitalist acceleration.

In episode 103 of Overthink, Ellie and David take a leisurely dive into laziness, discussing everything from couchrotting to the biology of energy conservation. They explore Devon Price’s idea of the ‘laziness lie’ in today’s hyperproductive society and look into the racialization of laziness in Ibn Khaldun and Montesquieu’s ideas on the idle tropics, thinking through how the Protestant work ethic punishes laziness, even when technology could take care of the work.

Overthink goes meta! In the 100th episode Ellie and David reflect on the podcast’s journey and use psychology to understand overthinking as the distracting voice inside your head and a welcome relief from traumatic memories. With John Dewey and the Frankfurt School, they look at different ways to understand the role of overthinking in philosophy and the humanities.

In episode 93 of Overthink, Ellie and David guide you through the philosophy of this emotion. From Aristotle to British charity telethons, pity lives in our moral and cultural worlds. But who is the object of our pity, and why? Where is the line between pity and compassion? How does pity interact with our social responsibilities and power structures?

In Overthink’s epsiode 82, David and Ellie dicuss regret, from career decisions to breakups. They talk its usefulness and philsophy from Confucius and Aristotle to today. Can teens and dogs regret? Is regret, remorse, and existential despair rational?

What is boredom? Listen to episode 78 of Overthink as two philosophers and professors, David Peña-Guzmán and Ellie Anderson discuss this “bestial, indefinable affliction.” They discuss the pandemic panic, medieval Monks; they speak of Dostoyevsky, Lars Svendsen, and Kierkegaard.

Emotional labor is a term that many use in popular discourse without really understanding. Two experts explain the concept as originally defined by Arlie Hochschild and in terms of the exploitation of women under patriarchy, including Ellie Anderson’s concept of hermeneutic labor.

Fear of missing out - FOMO - the condition of the self that desires social connection to the point of a phobia of being left out. Why isn’t JOMO - the joy of missing out- a viable alternative?

Curiosity led Pandora to open a box, but what does being curious look like in our everyday lives? Ellie and David talk with the authors of Curious Minds: The Power of Connection, Perry Zurn and Dani S. Bassett, about the philosophy of curiosity.