268. History of Zombies: From Haiti and Voodo...

People love to debate history, especially when it comes to who was first. Last year, I made an episode about the oldest country in the world. I argued that the answer might be San Marino, because it has a long, continuous history as an independent state. And the reaction from lis ...  Show more

Australia is a country that many English learners dream of visiting, studying in, or even working in. Its beaches, culture, and cities are famous all over the world. But how much do you really know about the history of this country? In today’s episode, I want to discuss the devel ...  Show more

Who’s afraid of zombification? Apparently not analytic philosophers. In episode 99 of Overthink, 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 ...

Their ubiquity in pop culture suggests zombies are a recent creation, but the ideas animating these cannibalistic cadavers originated in a 16th century French colony. Enslaved Africans conceived of a soul in unrest, occupying the ether. In Western culture, zombies transformed int ...  Show more

Believed to have emerged in the French Caribbean based on African spirit beliefs, the zombie represents not merely the walking dead, but also a walking embodiment of the region's history and culture. In Haiti today, the zombie serves as an enduring memory of enslavement: it is de ...  Show more

Happy almost Halloween, Everyone! For those of you who have been following my channel since the early days, you might recall that I started off doing much spookier content. I love Halloween and horror, though I tend to veer more spooking and supernatural than gory. Back in 2018 I ...  Show more