Walking

Overthink

Ellie Anderson, Ph.D. and David Peña-Guzmán, Ph.D.

Philosophy, Society & Culture, Education

4.7 • 549 Ratings

🗓️ 18 January 2022

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Some podcasts only talk the talk, but David and Ellie walk the walk (or talk the walk?) in episode 43 by diving into the philosophy of walking. Walking is a complex sociocultural practice that raises fascinating questions about history, power, and freedom. Why did our ancestors transition from walking on all fours to walking on two legs, and how did this shape our evolution as a species? Why have so many philosophers throughout history (from Aristotle to Rousseau) insisted on incorporating walks into their daily routines? And how do systems of oppression—such as classism, racism, sexism, transphobia, and ableism—mold our experience of walking, determining where and even how we can walk?

*correction: when Ellie says "James DeSilva," she meant "Jeremy DeSilva"! Our apologies to the author of First Steps.

Works Discussed

Charles Baudelaire, “The Painter of Modern Life”
Frédéric Gros, A Philosophy of Walking
Gayle Salamon, The Life and Death of Latisha King: A Critical Phenomenology of Transphobia
Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Jennifer McDuff and Alison Phinney, "Walking With Meaning: Subjective Experiences of Physical Activity in Dementia"
Jeremy DeSilva, First Steps: How Upright Walking Made us Human
Jo Livingstone and Lovia Gyarkye, "Death to the Flâneur"
Lauren Elkin, Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London
Marily Oppezzo and Daniel L. Schwartz, "Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walking on Creative Thinking"
Michel de Certeau, "Walking in the City"
Quill R. Kukla, "City Spaces, Pace Bias, and the Production of Disability"

Support the show

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

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi, I'm David Pena Guzman.
0:08.6	And I'm Ellie Anderson.
0:10.2	Welcome to Overthink.
0:12.0	The podcast were two friends, who are also professors,
0:15.0	put philosophy in dialogue with the everyday.
0:18.6	Because big ideas are within everyone's reach.
0:30.3	This might go without saying, but David and I recommend listening to this episode while
0:35.2	walking.
0:36.0	That said, no need to save it for a walk. You can
0:37.9	always just think about it the next time you're on a walk if you happen to be driving or on the
0:42.0	subway or somewhere else. But I will say that a lot of our listeners have actually said they like to
0:47.0	listen to overthink while walking. It seems to be particularly popular among folks walking their
0:51.5	dogs. Or walking to work, which is how I listen to podcasts.
0:56.7	And, you know, Nietzsche does say that only thoughts that come from walking have any value.
1:04.0	For him, there is a deep connection between philosophical ideas and the practice of walking itself.
1:10.6	It's just that nowadays we do that
1:11.9	through podcasting, of course. Yeah, where we're just like sort of spewing into listeners' ears
1:16.6	what they should be thinking about rather than letting them think for themselves. Very Nietzschean.
1:20.8	I know. I know. I actually do wonder about the way that when so many of us are only taking walks
1:26.4	while listening to podcasts, it might get in the way of some creative thinking.
1:29.8	So maybe actually listen this episode and then go take a walk without having headphones in your ears.
1:35.2	But in terms of this Nietzsche quote, okay, so you said, David, only thoughts that come from walking have any value.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ellie Anderson, Ph.D. and David Peña-Guzmán, Ph.D., and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ellie Anderson, Ph.D. and David Peña-Guzmán, Ph.D. and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.