OVERTHINK

In episode 102 of Overthink, Ellie and David discuss racial mixedness, from family-oriented models of mixed race to José Vasconcelos’ and Gloria Anzaldua’s idea of the ‘mestizo’ heritage of Mexican people. They work through phenomenological accounts of cultural hybridity and selfhood, wondering how being multiracial pushes beyond the traditional Cartesian philosophical subject.

In episode 101 of Overthink, Ellie and David speak with Dr. Shazeda Ahmed, specialist in AI Safety, to dive into the philosophy guiding artificial intelligence. With the rise of LLMs like ChatGPT, the lofty utilitarian principles of Effective Altruism have taken the tech-world spotlight by storm. Who is right about AI: the doomers or the utopians? And whose voices are part of the conversation in the first place?

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.