Thou shalt not miss this episode! In episode 173 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk about theft. They discuss the lack of legal repercussions for tech companies stealing information to train new AI models, how feudalism and capitalism produced the conditions for stealing land with the creation of private property, and what the historic association between kleptomania and women demonstrates about the gendered dimension of theft. What does the move from heist films to grift docudramas say about 21st century capitalism? Can you steal land if it’s not already property? And why do we sometimes take the side of thieves? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts discuss the ethics of stealing from large corporations.

Works Discussed:

Elaine Abelson, When Ladies Go A-Thieving: Middle-Class Shoplifters in the Victorian Department Store

Anna Kornbluh “Falling Heists, Rising Grift: Filming Capital in the Already Long Twenty-First Century”

Robert Nichols, Theft Is Property! Dispossession and Critical Theory

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Does decolonization require violence? In episode 172 of Overthink, Ellie and David take a closer look at Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth, “the bible of decolonization.” They discuss Fanon’s bold stance on violence, his condemnation of rituals and dance, and some potential criticisms. They also question what the subjectivity of colonized people looks like given colonialism’s psycho-affective effects. What does violence do for the colonized? Who gets liberation movements off the ground? And what are the challenges that a newly independent nation might face once a colonial power has been overthrown? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts talk about Fanon’s critique of Africanism and some of the clinical cases Fanon incorporates into this important work.

Works Discussed:

Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of The Earth

Concerning Violence (2014)

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Bottom, rump, booty, fanny, tush, and derriere! In episode 171 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk about butts. Why do humans have bigger rear ends than other animals? Why are butts often seen as a site of aversion? And is anal sex a metaphor for the universe? They discuss the evolutionary history of butts, how the music industry helped normalize bigger butts, and how the exploitation of Sara Baartman in the 19th century is part of a larger story about the sexualization of black women. In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts talk about Marquis de Sade’s discussion of anal sex and appeals to nature in justifications of human sexual practices.

Works Discussed:

Georges Bataille, “The Solar Anus”

Leo Bersani, “Is the Rectum a Grave?”

Janell Hobson, “Venus in the Dark: Blackness and Beauty in Popular Culture”

Dinah Holtzman, “Ass You Lick It: Bey and Jay Eat Cake”

Sadiah Qureshi, “Displaying Sara Baartman, the ‘Hottentot Venus’.”

Heather Radke, Butts: A Backstory

Christopher Wallner et al, “Interethnic Influencing Factors Regarding Buttocks Body Image in Women from Nigeria, Germany, USA and Japan”

Enjoy our work? Support Overthink via tax-deductible donation: https://www.givecampus.com/fj0w3v

Join our Substack for ad-free versions of both audio and video episodes, extended episodes, exclusive live chats, and more: https://overthinkpod.substack.com/

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.