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 Being
Hannu Ruonavaara, “The Anatomy of Neighbour Relations”
Anna Strhan, “And Who is My Neighbour? Levinas and the Commandment to Love Re-examined”

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Substack | https://overthinkpod.substack.com/
Website | overthinkpodcast.com
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Email | dearoverthink@gmail.com
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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

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Substack | https://overthinkpod.substack.com/
Website | overthinkpodcast.com
Instagram & Twitter | @overthink_pod
Email | dearoverthink@gmail.com
YouTube | Overthink podcast

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 Condition
Lee 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 gezichten

Support the show

Substack | https://overthinkpod.substack.com/
Website | overthinkpodcast.com
Instagram & Twitter | @overthink_pod
Email | dearoverthink@gmail.com
YouTube | Overthink podcast