David talks to geneticist and science writer Adam Rutherford about the book that fundamentally altered our understanding of just about... more

Today’s revolutionary ideas come from China: David talks to historian Julia Lovell about the Taiping Revolution, another massive mid-19th-century upheaval... more

In our second of three episodes on the revolutions that swept through Europe in 1848 David and Chris Clark explore... more

In the first of three episodes about the revolutions that swept through Europe in 1848 David is joined by historian... more

Today’s revolutionary idea is something a bit different: David talks to statistician David Spiegelhalter about how an eighteenth-century theory of... more

Today’s episode is about a very different revolution from any we’ve discussed so far: David talks to historian Hank Gonzalez... more

For our third episode on the ideas behind the French Revolution, David talks to Richard Whatmore about the ubiquitous Thomas... more

For our second episode on the people and ideas behind the French Revolution David talks to historian and biographer Ruth... more

In the first of three episodes about the people and ideas behind the French Revolution, David talks to Lucia Rubinelli... more

In the second of our two episodes about the American Revolution David talks to historian Eric Nelson about the ideas... more

Today it’s the first of two episodes about one of the most significant revolutions of all: the American Revolution. David... more

Today’s episode is about a revolution that started 250 years ago and is still going on (in the form of... more

In the second of our episodes with historian Clare Jackson on the English revolutions of the 17th century we discuss the... more

Today’s episode in our history of revolutionary ideas is about the event that is sometimes – but not always –... more

Today’s episode is about a revolution that took centuries to happen if it ever really happened at all: The Scientific... more

Today’s revolutionary thinker is Martin Luther, the man who upended the religious, political and intellectual life of Europe, maybe without... more

Today’s episode in our history of revolutionary ideas is about a medieval movement that used the ancient past to rethink... more

Today’s episode in our history of revolutionary ideas is about a medieval document that is sometimes thought to contain a... more

Today’s episode in our history of revolutionary ideas explores the world-altering impact of Islam from the seventh century onwards. David talks... more

Today’s episode in our series on revolutionary ideas is a conversation covering two millennia with the historian Tom Holland exploring... more

To begin our history of revolutionary ideas in earnest, David talks to the philosopher Agnes Callard about Socrates, the philosopher... more

To kick off our new series on revolutionary ideas past, present and future David talks to two regular PPF contributors... more

The final episode in our great political films series explores Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest (2023), his haunting take... more

The penultimate episode in our great political films series explores Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty (2012), her controversial take on... more

The second David Fincher film in our series (after Fight Club) is The Social Network (2010), the Aaron Sorkin-scripted take... more

Our great political films series reaches the twenty-first century with Paul Thomas Anderson’s unforgettable There Will Be Blood (2007), starring... more

David talks to writer and journalist Helen Lewis about David Fincher’s Fight Club (1999), the film that launched a thousand... more

Our political films season has reached the late 1980s with Do The Right Thing (1989), Spike Lee’s searing take on... more

Today’s great political film is Akira Kurosawa’s epic of war and deception Kagemusha (1980). Set in late sixteenth-century Japan it... more

Today’s great political film is Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975), voted the greatest film... more

Today’s episode is a conversation between David and the former politician Chris Smith (long-time MP and Secretary of State for... more

We resume our series on the great political films with Costa-Gavras’s Z (1969), the quintessential late 60s movie about assassination, conspiracy, street... more

To finish this series of bad ideas, David tries to persuade Gary Gerstle of the futility of televised leadership debates. From... more

For our penultimate bad idea in this series, David talks to Robert Saunders about what’s gone wrong with British politics... more

Today’s bad idea is a theory of the universe: David talks to astrophysicist Chris Lintott about Steady State Theory, the... more

Today’s bad idea concerns history itself: David talks to world historian Ayse Zarakol about the temptations and the pitfalls of... more

For today’s bad idea David talks to political philosopher Alan Finlayson about what goes wrong when politicians get their hands... more

Today’s bad idea is about how ideas get adopted, argued over and rejected: David talks to political philosopher Alan Finlayson... more

For our latest bad idea with an interesting history David talks to the geneticist and science writer Adam Rutherford about... more

To kick off our new series on the history of bad ideas David talks to historian Sophie Scott-Brown about the... more

For the final (extended) episode in our American Elections series David talks to Gary Gerstle about the historical significance of... more

For the last episode in this season of great political films David explores Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers (1966), which changed... more

This episode is about two great films on the same dark theme: David talks to American historian Jill Lepore about... more

For today’s great political film David discusses Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard (1963) with the Italian historian of ideas Lucia Rubinelli. How did... more

Today’s great political film is John Frankenheimer’s masterpiece of Cold War paranoia The Manchurian Candidate (1962), which came out the week of... more

In today’s episode David discusses Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), a great... more

Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane (1941) is many people’s favourite film of all time, including Donald Trump’s. Why does Trump love it... more

Today’s great political film is Frank Capra’s Mr Smith Goes to Washington (1939), a much-loved tale of the little guy... more

For the first episode in our new series David explores Jean Renoir’s La Grande Illusion (1937), a great anti-war film that is... more

David talks to author Michael Lewis about SBF and EA: about the man he got to know before, during and... more

David checks in with Gary Gerstle one more time before November to explore where things now stand with the US... more

Today’s episode in our series on the history of thinking about thinking machines explores the novel that inspired Blade Runner: Philip... more

In today’s episode in our series on the history of thinking about thinking machines, David and Shannon discuss Isaac Asimov’s... more

For the first episode in our new series on the history of thinking about thinking machines, David talks to philosopher... more

For our last episode in this series of historical counterfactuals, David talks to the historian Ben Jackson about what might... more

Our counterfactuals series moves forward to 1989: David talks to Lea Ypi about what might have happened if the Berlin... more

David talks to historian Margaret MacMillan, author of the prize-winning Peacemakers, about whether the 1919 Paris Peace Conference deserves its reputation... more

Today’s episode is another big early twentieth-century counterfactual: David talks to the historian of Russia Edward Acton about how the... more

We return to our series on historical counterfactuals with the big one: how might WWI have been avoided? David talks to... more