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PODCAST

Past Present Future

Past Present Future is a bi-weekly History of Ideas podcast with David Runciman, host and creator of Talking Politics, exploring the history of ideas from politics to philosophy, culture to technology. David talks to historians, novelists, scientists and many others about where the most interesting ideas come from, what they mean, and why they matter. Ideas from the past, questions about the present, shaping the future. New episodes every Wednesday and Sunday.

history politics

All Episodes

50:14

The History of Freedom w/Lea Ypi: Anarchism and Nihilism

Past Present Future ·

2024/04/14

In our series about different ideas of freedomDavidand Lea have reached anarchism and nihilism.What is the positive vision of human freedom behind the anarchist rejection of the established order?What can nineteenth-century anarchists teach us about freedom in the twenty-first century?And if nihilists are against everything, what are they for?Sign up to PPF+ to get ad-free listening and two bonus episodes a month – just go toppfideas.comComing up next:Davidand Lea discuss existentialism and

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50:29

The History of Freedom w/Lea Ypi: What is the Free...

Past Present Future ·

2024/04/11

In the latest episode of our series about different ideas of freedom David and Lea explore what makes the free market free – and where it fails.How does buying and selling stuff advance human freedom?What does the free market free us from?And is it really possible to be free in a world dominated by credit and debt?Sign up now for PPF+ to get bonusepisodesand ad-free listeningwww.ppfideas.comNext on the History of Freedom: Anarchism and Nihilism Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more

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53:57

The History of Freedom w/Lea Ypi: Kant, Enlightenment...

Past Present Future ·

2024/04/07

In thisepisodein our series about ideas of freedom David and Lea explore Immanuel Kant’s vision of rational freedom and perpetual peace.Why was Kant so sure that human reason would produce enlightened progress?Was he right?What are the obstacles likely to derail the advance of peace, then and now?How well do his arguments about free speech and free expression hold up in the age of the internet?Sign up now for PPF+ to get bonusepisodesand ad-free listeningwww.ppfideas.comComing up next on the History

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49:45

The History of Freedom w/ Lea Ypi: Machiavelli and...

Past Present Future ·

2024/04/04

History of Freedom w/ Lea Ypi:Machiavelli and Political LibertyFor the thirdepisodein our series about ideas of freedom David and Lea discuss Machiavelli, republicanism and what it means to live in a free state.What are the institutions that can protect people from domination and exploitation?How can political elites be held to account?Where are human beings most likely to find themselves at the mercy of others – and what can be done to help them escape?Sign up now for PPF+ to get bonusepisodesand

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53:51

The History of Freedom w/Lea Ypi: The Ancients -...

Past Present Future ·

2024/03/31

In episode two of our new series David and Lea explore some ancient ideas of freedom and ask what they mean today.What can Socrates teach us about the nature of free inquiry and the pitfalls of democratic freedom?Is Stoicism a guide to emancipation from desire or an exercise in selfishness?And how did Christianity upend the notion of freedom by annexing it to ideas of salvation and love?A conversation about dissent, self-knowledge and faith.Sign up now for PPF+ to get ad-free listening and bonus

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55:51

The History of Freedom w/Lea Ypi: Why Does It Matter?

Past Present Future ·

2024/03/28

In the first episode of our new series about the history of freedom, David and Lea discuss what the idea means to them and why it matters so much.What did freedom mean to Lea growing up in communist Albania?Is it possible to know true freedom without also having experienced oppression?And how is being free different from being lucky?Subscribe now to PPF+ to get bonus episodes and ad-free listening for this and all future series. Just go to www.ppfideas.com.Coming up next on the History of Freedom:

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1:38

Introducing PPF+

Past Present Future ·

2024/03/27

Sign up now for bonus episodes and ad-free listening – and help support the podcast.www.ppfideas.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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57:13

American Elections: 2008

Past Present Future ·

2024/03/24

For our final episode in this series, David and Gary discuss the election of 2008, which saw Barack Obama’s extraordinary ascent to the presidency.How did he outthink and outmanoeuvre Hilary Clinton?What role did the financial crisis play in his path to the White House?And was it really the vice-presidential candidates in this election who pointed the way to America’s political future?To sign up for our free fortnightly newsletter to accompany this and future series, just click on the top link in

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48:42

American Elections: 1980

Past Present Future ·

2024/03/21

Our series on the Ideas Behind American Elections has reached 1980 and the election of Ronald Reagan.David and Gary discuss whether Jimmy Carter was always doomed, what made Reaganomics different and how Reagan succeeded in being an optimist and a scaremonger at the same time.Did this election really inaugurate a new era in American politics – and if so, are we still living in it?To sign up for our free fortnightly newsletter to accompany this and future series, just click on the top link in our

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48:12

American Election: 1936

Past Present Future ·

2024/03/17

The election of 1936 saw FDR re-elected in a landslide.It was also an election in which fundamental questions about the future direction of America were at stake.David and Gary discuss what made it a turning point for American democracy and ultimately for the wider world.Could the power of the Supreme Court be tamed?What was the true nature of economic freedom?And what threatened the New Deal - dissent at home or looming dangers abroad?To sign up for our free fortnightly newsletter to accompany this

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45:53

American Elections: 1912

Past Present Future ·

2024/03/14

We’ve reached the twentieth century and today’s episode is about the decisiveelectionof 1912.David and Gary discuss the year when the Republicans split, the Democrats recaptured the White House after an absence of twenty years, andAmericanpolitics shifted decisively towards progressivism.Who were the real progressives?What was Theodore Roosevelt trying to achieve in setting up a new party?How did Woodrow Wilson mange to win the nomination and the presidency?And was this theelectionthat saw the dawn

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51:47

American Elections: 1896

Past Present Future ·

2024/03/10

American Elections: 1896This episode in our series on the Ideas Behind American Elections looks at 1896, when a single speech nearly upended American politics.The speech was William Jennings Bryan’s ‘Cross of Gold’ address at the Democratic Party convention, which won him the nomination.How did a 36-year old outsider from Nebraska get so close to reaching the White House?What made the issue of silver coinage the driving force behind American populism?And why was 1896 the template for a new kind of

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58:07

American Elections: 1860

Past Present Future ·

2024/03/07

In the third episode in our series on the Ideas Behind American Elections David and Gary talk about what was maybe the most significant election of all: 1860, when Lincoln became president and the country careened into civil war.How did the newly formed Republican Party break the stranglehold of the established parties?Why could the South neither unite against it nor accept its victory?What enabled Lincoln to wrestle the Republican nomination at the party's convention in Chicago and what might have

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51:26

American Elections: 1828

Past Present Future ·

2024/03/03

For the second episode in our new series on the Ideas Behind American Elections, David and Gary discuss 1828: the first great populist election, which saw the arrival of Andrew Jackson and a new style of politics in the White House.What made Jackson different from his predecessors?How did this election reinvent the American party system?And why were Jackson's arguments with Vice-President John Calhoun about economic tariffs so toxic that they brought the country close to civil war?To sign up for our

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55:07

American Elections: 1800

Past Present Future ·

2024/02/29

In the first episode of our new series on the Ideas Behind American Elections, David and historian Gary Gerstle explore the presidential contest of 1800: scurrilous, complicated, game changing.How did it help create the American party system?Was it really democratic?What would have happened if Aaron Burr had won?Plus, just how accurate is the depiction of the election in Hamilton the musical?PLUS sign up now for the new PPF newsletter.Afree, fortnightly guide to recent episodes, jam-packed with

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43:17

Q & A: Shakespeare, Gulliver and Trump

Past Present Future ·

2024/02/25

In an extra episode this week David answers your questions about the most recent series of the History of Ideas - in particular about the political lessons of Gulliver’s Travels, for its own time and for our own.Plus, how is Trump like - and not like - Coriolanus, and where are the female authors for this series? (A: they’re coming!)Starting in our regular slot next week, PPF moves to two episodes a week as we launch our new series on the Ideas Behind American Elections with Gary Gerstle - beginning

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53:54

History of Ideas: Fathers and Sons

Past Present Future ·

2024/02/22

This week’s Great Political Fiction is Ivan Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons (1862), the definitive novel about the politics – and emotions – of intergenerational conflict. How did Turgenev manage to write a wistful novel about nihilism? What made Russian politics in the early 1860s so chock-full of frustration? Why did Turgenev’s book infuriate his contemporaries – including Dostoyevsky?More from the LRB:Pankaj Mishra on the disillusionment of Alexander Herzen'"Emancipation", he concluded, "has finally

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54:46

History of Ideas: Mary Stuart

Past Present Future ·

2024/02/15

This week’s Great Political Fiction is Friedrich Schiller’s monumental play Mary Stuart (1800), which lays bare the impossible choices faced by two queens – Elizabeth I of England and Mary Queen of Scots – in a world of men.Schiller imagines a meeting between them that never took place and unpicks its fearsome consequences.Why does it do such damage to them both?How does the powerless Mary maintain her hold over the imperious Elizabeth?Who suffers most in the end and what is that suffering really

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55:12

History of Ideas: Gulliver’s Travels

Past Present Future ·

2024/02/08

This week’s episode on the great political fictions is about Jonathan Swift’sGulliver’s Travels(1726) – part adventure story, part satire of early-eighteenth-century party politics, but above all a coruscating reflection on the failures of human perspective and self-knowledge.Why do we find it so hard to see ourselves for who we really are?What makes us so vulnerable to mindless feuds and wild conspiracy theories?And what could we learn from the talking horses?More from the LRB:Clare Bucknell on

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57:31

History of Ideas: Coriolanus

Past Present Future ·

2024/02/01

In the first episode of our new series on the great political fictions, David talks about Shakespeare’s Coriolanus (1608-9), the last of his tragedies and perhaps his most politically contentious play.Why has Coriolanus been subject to so many wildly different political interpretations?Is pride really the tragic flaw of the military monster at its heart?What does it say about the struggle between elite power and popular resistance and about the limits of political argument?More from the LRB:Colin

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