The Overthinkers

From Grimms fairy tales to 1984 to the Bible itself, humanity has always told dark stories. But why? What purpose do they serve? Joseph Holmes and Nathan Clarkson discuss with film critic, author, and co-host of the "Filmspotting" podcast Josh Larsen.

Websites

The Overthinkers: theoverthinkersjournal.world
Nathan Clarkson: nathanclarkson.me
Joseph Holmes: linktr.ee.com/josephholmes
Josh Larsen: larsenonfilm.com

Why do we love art so much? What purpose does art serve for humans? Or is art useless and maybe that's a good thing? Joseph Holmes and Nathan Clarkson talk to author Dr. Merideth Hite Estevez about her new book "Art is How God Loves Us" on The Overthinkers. 

References and resources

Does art have health benefits? https://iris.who.int/server/api/core/bitstreams/e1cc8536-773d-446f-9822-8ae376f41415/content

Can art express things words can’t? https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/langer/

Is art useless? https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/526851-we-can-forgive-a-man-for-making-a-useful-thing

Is art for therapy? https://www.alaindebotton.com/art/

Website

The Overthinkers: theoverthinkersjournal.world
Nathan Clarkson: nathanclarkson.me
Joseph Holmes: linktr.ee.com/josephholmes

Why is there so much anti-elite sentiment in the world today? Is it the fault of the elites themselves, or cultural trends they can't control? Joseph Holems and Nathan Clarkson talk to culture critic and author Aaron Renn on their latest episode. 

Defining elites: 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/elite

https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-soc-071811-145542?

American trust in institutions at all-time low. https://news.gallup.com/poll/712436/confidence-institutions-remains-near-time-low.aspx

Global trust decreasing from fear to grievance: https://www.edelman.com/trust/2025/trust-barometer

Anti-elite sentiment worldwide: https://www.ipsos.com/en/populism-remains-strong

Christopher Nolan on democracies and greatness: https://singjupost.com/transcript-christopher-nolan-interview-with-podcaster-zhong-shu/

Low trust makes problems harder to solve: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/07/22/how-americans-see-problems-of-trust/

Tyranny of merit hypothesis: https://pitchforkeconomics.com/episode/the-tyranny-of-merit-with-michael-sandel/

Democratization of information hypothesis: https://www.discoursemagazine.com/p/revolt-of-the-public-10-years-on

Elite overproduction hypothesis: https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/the-elite-overproduction-hypothesis-994

Websites

The Overthinkers: theoverthinkersjournal.world
Nathan Clarkson: nathanclarkson.me
Joseph Holmes: linktr.ee.com/josephholmes

Are we addicted to outrage? Why does everyone seem so angry? Is social media making us angrier or making us overperceive our anger? And if we are angrier, is that a good thing because we have so much to be angry about? Nathan Clarkson and Joseph Holmes discuss the theories and science behind outrage culture on the latest episode of The Overthinkers.

References and resources

Do most Americans think politics is worse today? https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/09/19/americans-feelings-about-politics-polarization-and-the-tone-of-political-discourse/

Does negativity drive news consumption? https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01538-4

Does high emotion drive news consumption? https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1509/jmr.10.0353

Does tribal signalling drive engagement? https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8256037

Does moral grandstanding increase status? https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/papa.12075

Does status seeking predict outrage? https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6795490/

Do we overestimate how much outrage there is? https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01582-0?

Does social media amplify outrage? https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8363141/

Is outrage good?: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37000374/

Websites

The Overthinkers: theoverthinkersjournal.world
Nathan Clarkson: nathanclarkson.me
Joseph Holmes: linktr.ee.com/josephholmes

There's a movement to make America's towns and cities more walkable and less car-dependent. But is that actually what's best for the people who live there? Nathan Clarkson and Joseph Holmes discuss.

Walkable cities definition and case:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wai4ub90stQ&t=832s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPbfdcvv0to&t=676s

https://archive.strongtowns.org/journal/2023/2/14/why-so-difficult-build-walkable-places

 

Critiques of the walkable cities movement

https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/debunking-portland-city-doesnt-work

https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/transit-urban-parasite

Websites

The Overthinkers: theoverthinkersjournal.world
Nathan Clarkson: nathanclarkson.me
Joseph Holmes: linktr.ee.com/josephholmes