Episode 109: Predictive Brain with Andy Clark
Ellie and David interview cognitive philosopher Andy Clark, whose cutting edge work on perception offers an intriguing computational model of mind and experience. The predictive processing model promises a healthier relation to neurodiversity, and helps us understand placebos, road safety, chronic pain, anxiety, and even the accidental success of ‘positive thinking.’
Episode 99: Zombies
In episode 99, Ellie and David talk all about zombies and their unfortunate legacy in the thought experiments of academic philosophy. Their portrait as brain-eating and consciousness-lacking mobs is a far cry from their origins in the syncretic sorcery at the margins of Haitian Voodoo. Your hosts probe beyond limits of the tradition when they explore zombification in animals, in reading, in Derrida, and beyond.
Episode 95: Biohacking
Night vision. Superhuman strength. And… kale salad? In episode 95 of Overthink, Ellie and David explore the weird world of biohackers, who leverage science and technology to optimize their bodies. The movement moves from the blurry ethics of self-experimentation to Cartesian dualism. The stakes are political, metaphysical, and ethical — and your hosts are here to make philosophical sense of it all.
Episode 53: Animal Personhood
Episode 53 explains why personhood is a concept broader than humanity, and discusses Peter Singer’s concept of speciesism.
Episode 52: Animal Consciousness
Episode 52 discusses co-host David’s new book When Animals Dream, which makes a fascinating case for the consciousness of animals from octopuses to zebra finches.