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David Runciman

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.

Take back your personal data with Incogni! Use code ppf at the link below and get 60% off annual plans: https://incogni.com/ppf

Past Present Future

In today’s episode David talks to Luke Kemp, author of Goliath’s Curse, about the prospects for societal collapse in the 21st century. Are we living in a global Goliath? Is there any escape in an age when personal data has become the primary lootable resource? Does interconnectedness mean we are more vulnerable to collapse than ever? And what can we learn from the fate of Somalia?

Join us on 11th March for a joint LRB/PPF event: The Slow Death of Democracy, with Lyse Doucet, Christopher Clark and Thant Myint-U. Tickets are available now https://www.tickettailor.com/events/londonreviewofbooks/2062789

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of our episodes and PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Luke Kemp’s Goliath’s Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse is available now https://bit.ly/4aFczds

Next Time: Societal Collapse – The Future
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Where Are We Going? Societal Collapse – The Present Day

In today’s episode David talks to Luke Kemp, author of Goliath’s Curse, about the strengths and weaknesses of modern states and modern structures of authority. Are modern states any different from the criminal enterprises of coercion that preceded them? Does democracy change the dynamic of societal collapse? What are the lootable resources of the modern age? And why are all states essentially empires?

Tickets are on sale now for our new film season at the Regent Street Cinema in London – starting on 19th March with James Marriott talking to David about Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan. Details of all our film events are here https://www.ppfideas.com/events

Join us on 11th March for a joint LRB/PPF event: The Slow Death of Democracy, with Lyse Doucet, Christopher Clark and Thant Myint-U. Tickets are available now https://www.tickettailor.com/events/londonreviewofbooks/2062789

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of our episodes and PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Luke Kemp’s Goliath’s Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse is available now https://bit.ly/4aFczds

Next Time: Societal Collapse – The Present Day
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Where Are We Going? Societal Collapse – The Modern Age

Today’s episode is the first in a series of conversations about what causes human societies to fall apart and what might come next. David talks to Luke Kemp, author of Goliath’s Curse, about how we build our structures of authority and how they can fail. How were human societies organised before we had governments? What drove the creation of the first hierarchies of domination? Why did rising inequality so often lead to societal collapse? What does this teach us about the vulnerability of our own societies?

Out now on PPF+: a bonus episode to accompany our recent exploration of the past, present and future of nuclear warfare in which David discusses John Hersey’s Hiroshima (1946), the definitive account of what it’s actually like to be on the receiving end of a nuclear attack. To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening sign up to PPF+ https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

Join us on 11th March for a joint LRB/PPF event: The Slow Death of Democracy, with Lyse Doucet, Christopher Clark and Thant Myint-U. Tickets are available now https://www.tickettailor.com/events/londonreviewofbooks/2062789

Tickets are on sale now for our new film season at the Regent Street Cinema in London – starting on 19th March with James Marriott talking to David about Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan. Details of all our film events are here https://www.ppfideas.com/events

Sign up now for our free fortnightly newsletter and you'll receive our 50th edition straight to your inbox https://www.ppfideas.com/newsletters

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of our episodes and PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Luke Kemp’s Goliath’s Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse is available now https://bit.ly/4aFczds

Next Time: Societal Collapse – The Modern Age 
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Where Are We Going? Societal Collapse – Origins

Today’s episode is the third and final of David’s conversations with S. M. Amadae about nuclear weapons and nuclear war, this time looking to the future. What are the prospects for nuclear disarmament in the 21st century? How does the risk of nuclear war intersect with other existential risks, from climate change to AI? Is the world more dangerous than it has ever been? What are the grounds for hope we might still get out of this alive?

Out tomorrow on PPF+: a bonus episode to accompany this series of conversations in which David explores John Hersey’s Hiroshima (1946), the definitive account of what it’s actually like to be on the receiving end of a nuclear attack. To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening sign up to PPF+ now https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

Tickets are on sale now for our new film season at the Regent Street Cinema in London – starting on 19th March with James Marriott talking to David about Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan. All the details are here https://www.ppfideas.com/events

Join us on 11th March for a joint LRB/PPF event: The Slow Death of Democracy - with Lyse Doucet, Christopher Clark and Thant Myint-U. Tickets are available now https://www.tickettailor.com/events/londonreviewofbooks/2062789

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of our episodes and PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next Time: Where Are We Going? Societal Collapse
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Where Are We Going? Nuclear War Part 3

In today’s episode David talks to S. M. Amadae about what happened when the nuclear age turned into an all-consuming arms race. What is the supposed logic and the terrifying illogic behind the idea of Mutually Assured Destruction? What is the difference between M.A.D. and N.U.T.S.? Do we really believe that our leaders would press the button? And how have we managed to survive to this point – rationality, luck or merely a stay of execution?

Tickets are on sale now for our new film season at the Regent Street Cinema in London – starting on 19th March with James Marriott talking to David about Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan. All the details are here https://www.ppfideas.com/events

Next Time: How Will the Nuclear Age End?

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of our episodes and PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Where Are We Going? Nuclear War Part 2

For the first in a new series of conversations exploring the future that faces us all, David talks to S. M. Amadae about what nuclear weapons and the prospect of nuclear war have done to the human condition. Was 1945 the decisive watershed in the history of humanity? What made the possibility of nuclear conflict different from previous ideas of catastrophe? How did we reconcile ourselves to the horrifying consequences of what we had built?

Out now on PPF+: a bonus episode to accompany our recent series What’s Wrong With Political Philosophy? in which David and Paul talk about how personal experience shapes our political and philosophical outlook – a conversation exploring luck, accidents, human frailty and human connection. To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening sign up to PPF+ now https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

Next Time: M.A.D. and N.U.T.S.

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of our episodes and PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Where Are We Going? Nuclear War Part 1

Today’s episode explores the ideas of two late-twentieth-century thinkers who argued that political philosophy needs to be concerned with more than just justice. David talks to Paul Sagar about why Bernard Williams thought we should focus on questions about legitimacy and why Judith Shklar believed we should spend more time worrying about cruelty. Is the fundamental political question about how to achieve the best or is it about how to avoid the worst? And if it’s the second, where should we start?

Out tomorrow on PPF+: a bonus episode to accompany this series in which David and Paul talk about how personal experience shapes our political and philosophical outlook – a conversation exploring luck, accidents, human frailty and human connection. To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening for £5 a month or £50 for the year, sign up to PPF+ now https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

Paul Sagar’s Substack is called Diary of a Punter – it is highly recommended https://substack.com/@diaryofapunter

Next Time: Where Are We Going? Nuclear Weapons

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of our episodes and PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What’s Wrong with Political Philosophy? Learning from Bernard Williams and Judith Shklar

In the third part of our series David and Paul Sagar explore what the German writer and sociologist Max Weber can teach us about the pitfalls of political life and political philosophy. Why is doing politics so hard? Why is it so hard to know what to do for the best when all the options are bad ones? How can we still do our best when the only means at our disposal is violence? And where does all this leave the prospects for lasting political change?

Next Time: Learning from Bernard Williams and Judith Shklar

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of our episodes and PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What’s Wrong with Political Philosophy? Learning from Max Weber

In the second episode in our short series about how the history of ideas can help with the deepest puzzles of politics, David talks to political theorist Paul Sagar about the eighteenth-century polymath Adam Smith. Normally thought of as the original champion of free-market economics, Smith was far more interested in history, human psychology and the problems inherent in all political systems. What does it mean to live in a commercial society? How should we understand the promise and pitfalls of equality? Where does human liberty come from? And why has the Adam Smith Institute made a mockery of his name?

Next time: Learning from Max Weber

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of our episodes and PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What’s Wrong with Political Philosophy? Learning from Adam Smith

Today it’s the first episode in a new series asking why contemporary political philosophy struggles to make sense of the deepest problems of politics and exploring how the history of ideas might help. David talks to political theorist Paul Sagar about why looking for justice might be the wrong place to start. Instead, Paul suggests we start with Aristotle, for whom the search for justice was the problem not the solution. So what should we do instead?

To keep up with what’s coming next and for more news about the podcast do follow us on Bluesky: @ppfideas.bsky.social

Next time: Learning from Adam Smith
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Where Are We Going? Societal Collapse – The Modern Age

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