The History of Bad Ideas: TaxonomyFor the latest episode in our series about the hold of bad ideas, we welcome... more

Today’s bad idea is one with a very long history: David talks to the historian Christopher Clark about antisemitism and the reasons... more

In today’s episode about seemingly good ideas gone badly wrong David talks to the philosopher and journalist Kathleen Stock about... more

In the second episode in our series on bad ideas David talks to the political economist Helen Thompson about the gold standard,... more

For the first episode in our new series about the hold of bad ideas David talks to the geneticist and... more

In our final episode David and Lea discuss liberation movements, from post-colonial liberation to women’s liberation, gay liberation and animal... more

In the penultimate episode in this series David and Lea discuss two twentieth-century philosophies of freedom and the human psyche. What... more

In our series about different ideas of freedom David and Lea have reached anarchism and nihilism. What is the positive vision of human... more

In the latest episode of our series about different ideas of freedom David and Lea explore what makes the free... more

In this episode in our series about ideas of freedom David and Lea explore Immanuel Kant’s vision of rational freedom and perpetual... more

History of Freedom w/ Lea Ypi: Machiavelli and Political LibertyFor the third episode in our series about ideas of freedom David and Lea... more

In episode two of our new series David and Lea explore some ancient ideas of freedom and ask what they... more

In the first episode of our new series about the history of freedom, David and Lea discuss what the idea... more

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... more

For our final episode in this series, David and Gary discuss the election of 2008, which saw Barack Obama’s extraordinary... more

Our series on the Ideas Behind American Elections has reached 1980 and the election of Ronald Reagan. David and Gary discuss... more

The election of 1936 saw FDR re-elected in a landslide. It was also an election in which fundamental questions about the... more

We’ve reached the twentieth century and today’s episode is about the decisive election of 1912. David and Gary discuss the year when the... more

This episode in our series on the Ideas Behind American Elections looks at 1896, when a single speech nearly upended... more

In the third episode in our series on the Ideas Behind American Elections David and Gary talk about what was... more

For the second episode in our new series on the Ideas Behind American Elections, David and Gary discuss 1828: the... more

In the first episode of our new series on the Ideas Behind American Elections, David and historian Gary Gerstle explore... more

In an extra episode this week David answers your questions about the most recent series of the History of Ideas... more

This week’s Great Political Fiction is Ivan Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons (1862), the definitive novel about the politics – and... more

This week’s Great Political Fiction is Friedrich Schiller’s monumental play Mary Stuart (1800), which lays bare the impossible choices faced... more

This week’s episode on the great political fictions is about Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726) – part adventure story, part satire of... more

In the first episode of our new series on the great political fictions, David talks about Shakespeare’s Coriolanus (1608-9), the... more

This week David talks to Richard Whatmore and Lea Ypi about what caused the loss of faith in the idea... more

This week David talks to Rory Stewart about his life in politics and the history of the ideas behind his... more

This week David talks to the political scientist Mike Kenny about the possible fate of the United Kingdom. What makes the... more

Episode 12 in our series on the great essays is about Ta-Nehisi Coates’s ‘The Case for Reparations’, published in the... more

Episode 11 in our series on the great essays explores Umberto Eco’s ‘Thoughts on Wikileaks’ (2010). Eco writes about what makes... more

Episode 10 in our series on the great essays is about David Foster Wallace’s ‘Up, Simba!’, which describes his experiences... more

Episode 9 in our series on the great essays is about Joan Didion's 'The White Album' (1979), her haunting, impressionistic... more

Episode 8 in our history of the great essays is about Susan Sontag’s ‘Against Interpretation’ (1963). What was interpretation and why... more

Episode 7 in our series on the great essays is about James Baldwin’s ‘Notes of a Native Son’ (1955), an... more

Episode 6 in our series on the great essays is about Simone Weil’s ‘Human Personality’ (1943). Written shortly before her death... more

Episode 5 in our series on the great essays is about George Orwell. His wartime essay ‘The Lion and the... more

Episode 4 in our series on the great essays is about Virginia Woolf’s masterpiece ‘A Room of One’s Own’ (1929). David... more

Episode three in our series about the great political essays is about Thoreau’s ‘Civil Disobedience’ (1849), a ringing call to... more

Episode two in our series on the great essays is about David Hume. How can eighteenth-century arguments about the national... more

Episode one in our series on the great essays is about Montaigne, the man who invented a whole new way... more

For our last episode before Christmas David answers some of your questions about the History of Ideas series – What... more

As we wrap up our History of Ideas series David discusses what makes a great essay and whether the best... more

This week David talks to the economists Dieter Helm and Diane Coyle about the challenges of building sustainability into the... more

This week David and Lea answer your questions about democracy. When does democratic freedom shade over into anarchy? What’s the... more

In the penultimate episode in our series on the great essays, David talks about Ta-Nehisi Coates’s ‘The Case for Reparations’,... more

In the latest instalment of David’s ongoing conversation with Lea Ypi about the past, present and future of democracy they... more

This week David talks to the historian and essayist Jill Lepore about where the chaotic last decade of American politics... more

This week David explores a different way of thinking about the current epoch: what if this isn’t the Anthropocene but... more

This week’s episode in our series on the great essays and great essayists explores Umberto Eco’s ‘Thoughts on Wikileaks’ (2010). Eco... more

This week David and Lea resume their conversation – and their differences of opinion – about how to understand politics... more

This week David asks Mary Beard what the Roman Empire can tell us about the nature of unaccountable power, then... more

This week David talks to the novelist Zadie Smith about Charles Dickens: what he means to her, why we still... more

This week’s episode in our series on the great political essays is about David Foster Wallace’s ‘Up, Simba!’, which describes... more

This week David talks to novelists Adam Biles and John Lanchester about the timeless appeal of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Why... more

This week is the fiftieth anniversary of the coup in Chile that ended the life of Salvador Allende and marked... more

This week Lea Ypi joins David to talk about some of the ideas in his new book, The Handover: How... more

In this bonus episode David answers some of your questions about our series on the great political essays and essayists,... more

For the last episode in our summer season on the great twentieth-century essays and essayists, David discusses Joan Didion's 'The... more

This episode in our history of the great essays and great essayists is about Susan Sontag’s ‘Against Interpretation’ (1963). What was... more

This week David discusses James Baldwin’s ‘Notes of a Native Son’ (1955), an essay that combines autobiography with a searing... more

This week’s episode in our series on the great essays and great essayists is about Simone Weil’s ‘Human Personality’ (1943). Written... more

This week David discusses George Orwell’s ‘The Lion and the Unicorn’ (1941), his great wartime essay about what it does... more

This week our history of the great essays and great essayists reaches the twentieth century and Virginia Woolf’s masterpiece ‘A... more

This week David talks to American historian Gary Gerstle about the shape-shifting journey of the US Republican Party, from the... more

For the third episode in this series about the great political essays, David explores Thoreau’s ‘Civil Disobedience’ (1849), a ringing... more

This week we talk to astrophysicist Chris Lintott and writer Tom Stevenson about the threat from outer space: is it... more

This week David talks to Tara Westover and the philosopher Clare Chambers about the enduring legacy of John Stuart Mill. Reading... more

This week David talks to science writer Meehan Crist about Thomas Malthus and the perennial question of overpopulation. Malthus wrote... more

For the second episode in this season of History of Ideas, David discusses the Scottish philosopher David Hume and explores... more

This week Daniel Chandler and Lea Ypi join David to talk about the legacy of the great American political philosopher... more

This week’s episode was recorded live at the Hay Festival, where David was joined on stage by David Miliband and... more

Gary Marcus and John Lanchester join David to discuss all things AI, from ChatGPT to the Turing test. Why is the... more

For the first episode in the new series of History of Ideas – on the great essays and the great... more

This week David talks to Katja Hoyer and Lea Ypi about life under communism. East Germany was the most successful of... more

This week David talks to Helen Thompson about Dallas and the end of oil. How did the world’s most popular soap opera come... more

David talks to Ian McEwan about Italo Calvino’s The Watcher (1963), one of the greatest of all works of political fiction. Challenging, disturbing,... more

Past Present Future is a new weekly podcast with David Runciman, host and creator of Talking Politics, exploring the history... more