In this twenty-second episode of the Philosophy Bakes Bread radio show and podcast, co-hosts Dr. Eric Thomas Weber and Dr. Anthony Cashio interview Dr. Mariana Alessandri of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) on the topic of "The Little Engine that Couldn't."

Dr. Alessandri is an assistant professor of philosophy at UTRGV. She has published in The New York Times, Times Higher Education, as well as in academic journals. She recently published a piece related to this episode in The New York Times, titled "In Praise of Lost Causes." 

This episode of Philosophy Bakes Bread is followed by not one, but two "breadcrumb" episodes. The first one coming out is a follow-up conversation that we had on the bread-baking metaphor. The second is about what we should tell our kids if we adopt Dr. Alessandri's quixotic pessimism as our outlook. Be sure to check those out when they come out, soon after this episode is released.

 Listen for our “You Tell Me!” questions and for some jokes in one of our concluding segments, called “Philosophunnies.” Reach out to us on Facebook @PhilosophyBakesBread and on Twitter @PhilosophyBB; email us at philosophybakesbread@gmail.com; or call and record a voicemail that we play on the show, at 859.257.1849. Philosophy Bakes Bread is a production of the Society of Philosophers in America (SOPHIA). Check us out online at PhilosophyBakesBread.com and check out SOPHIA at PhilosophersInAmerica.com.