Shows
Late Night Live - Separate stories podcastDavid Runciman thinks children should have the right to votePolitical philosopher David Runciman sits down with David Marr to discuss why democracy is in such a state of disrepair, and the scintillating idea he has to give our tired old systems a jolt of adrenaline. 2025-06-0922 min
EXPeditions - The living library of knowlegdeDavid Runciman - Young people and democracyDavid Runciman, Professor of Politics at the University of Cambridge, examines the role and representation of young people in democracy.
About David Runciman
"I’m a Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. I explore the history of politics and political ideas, and democracy.
My interest is in the history of politics and political ideas and particularly, democracy. Where does it comes from? How different is our democracy from democracy in the past? What might it become in the future? In parallel to my research, writing an...2025-06-0408 min
EXPeditions - The living library of knowlegdeDavid Runciman - Modern democracy and what we mean by itDavid Runciman, Professor of Politics at Cambridge University, explores the idea of what we call democracy.
About David Runciman
"I’m a Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. I explore the history of politics and political ideas, and democracy.
My interest is in the history of politics and political ideas and particularly, democracy. Where does it comes from? How different is our democracy from democracy in the past? What might it become in the future? In parallel to my research, writing and teaching work, I ho...2025-06-0211 min
EXPeditions - The living library of knowlegdeDavid Runciman - Democracy in the age of social mediaDavid Runciman, Professor of Politics at the University of Cambridge, discusses whether the internet and social media help or harm democracy.
About David Runciman
"I’m a Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. I explore the history of politics and political ideas, and democracy.
My interest is in the history of politics and political ideas and particularly, democracy. Where does it comes from? How different is our democracy from democracy in the past? What might it become in the future? In parallel to my research, writing an...2025-05-3009 min
Festival of Dangerous IdeasDavid Runciman (2024) - Votes for 6 year oldsWhen it comes our most divisive political, economic and social issues there is a fracture between the views of the old and the young. As older generations continue to monopolise wealth and how policy is shaped, younger generations are becoming more and more disenfranchised. The inequality and anger between generations is growing, and it might just be the biggest threat to our democracy. In a world going to be inherited by younger generations, UK academic David Runciman says we hardly ask children about their political views. Perhaps the solution is giving children the right to vote – an auda...2025-05-1545 min
Past Present FutureThe History of Revolutionary Ideas: The Bayesian Revolution w/David SpiegelhalterToday’s revolutionary idea is something a bit different: David talks to statistician David Spiegelhalter about how an eighteenth-century theory of probability emerged from relative obscurity in the twentieth century to reconfigure our understanding of the relationship between past, present and future. What was Thomas Bayes’s original idea about doing probability in reverse: from effect to cause? What happened when this way of thinking passed through the vortex of the French Revolution? How has it come to lie behind recent innovations in political polling, AI, self-driving cars, medical research and so much more? Why does it remain controversial to t...2025-03-161h 01Past Present FutureThe History of Revolutionary Ideas: Slave Uprising: The Haitian RevolutionToday’s episode is about a very different revolution from any we’ve discussed so far: David talks to historian Hank Gonzalez about the Haitian Revolution, which for the first time in history saw a slave revolt result in an independent free state. How did the Haitian Revolution intersect with the American and French Revolutions that preceded it? Why were European powers unable to reverse it despite massive military intervention? What is its legacy for the state of Haiti today?Tickets are still available for PPF Live at the Bath Curious Minds Festival: join us on Saturday 29th M...2025-03-1358 minPast Present FutureThe History of Revolutionary Ideas: The Scientific RevolutionToday’s episode is about a revolution that took centuries to happen if it ever really happened at all: The Scientific Revolution. David talks to historian of science Simon Schaffer about what changed in human understanding – and what didn’t – in the age of Galileo and Newton. Was the new science a revolution of ideas or of practices? What did it mean for the hold of religious and political authority? Who or what were the driving forces behind it? And did the people who lived through it realise what was happening?Out now on PPF+: David’s conversati...2025-02-091h 06Past Present FutureThe History of Revolutionary Ideas: The Reformation (part 1): LutherToday’s revolutionary thinker is Martin Luther, the man who upended the religious, political and intellectual life of Europe, maybe without entirely meaning to. David talks to historian Alec Ryrie about how a German monk took on the entire authority of the Catholic Church and survived the experience. What did he hope to achieve? Who were his principal backers? How did he reimagine the idea of human freedom? And where is his influence most widely felt today?Out tomorrow on PPF+ a new bonus episode: David talks to Alec Ryrie about Calvin, who may ha...2025-02-0657 min
Festival of Dangerous IdeasDemocracy is Not Worth Dying for (2024) - Geraldine Doogue, Masha Gessen, Paul Ham & David RuncimanDemocracy has often been presented as an ideal, where citizens can participate and benefit from a fair society. But as we face growing inequality, political turmoil, and loss of faith in modern life, the price of preserving democracy might be proving too steep. Masha Gessen is an opinion columnist for The New York Times and a Distinguished Professor at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York. They have written extensively on The Russian-Ukrainian war, Israel/Palestine, Vladimir Putin, and Donald Trump. Paul Ham is an author and...2025-02-041h 00Past Present FutureThe History of Revolutionary Ideas: IslamToday’s episode in our history of revolutionary ideas explores the world-altering impact of Islam from the seventh century onwards. David talks to the leading Islamic scholar Tim Winter (Abdal Hakim Murad) about what changed – and what didn’t – with the appearance of Islamic law, Islamic culture and Islamic ideas of community. Was Islam really egalitarian? How could a universalist religion encompass so much variety? Why did it spread so fast? And what caused it to split so soon?Come see PPF recorded live! As part of the Curious Minds festival in Bath David will be in conversati...2025-01-261h 03
The Shakespeare and Company InterviewDavid Runciman: “The history of ideas is about letting people believe in things that they hadn't previously thought possible…”In a world overwhelmed by complex political challenges and endless commentary, where can we turn for insight into how we got here—and where we might go next? From the survival of democracy to the rise of AI, from confronting inequality to resisting surveillance, today's problems demand deep thinking.In his latest book The History of Ideas, David Runciman explores how the rich history of political thought offers fresh perspectives on contemporary issues. What can the creator of the Panopticon teach us about resisting surveillance? How do the ideas of a former slave and a French Ex...2024-12-191h 11The Shakespeare and Company InterviewDavid Runciman: “The history of ideas is about letting people believe in things that they hadn't previously thought possible…”In a world overwhelmed by complex political challenges and endless commentary, where can we turn for insight into how we got here—and where we might go next? From the survival of democracy to the rise of AI, from confronting inequality to resisting surveillance, today's problems demand deep thinking.In his latest book The History of Ideas, David Runciman explores how the rich history of political thought offers fresh perspectives on contemporary issues. What can the creator of the Panopticon teach us about resisting surveillance? How do the ideas of a former slave and a French Ex...2024-12-191h 11Past Present FutureThe History of Bad Ideas: The End of HistoryToday’s bad idea concerns history itself: David talks to world historian Ayse Zarakol about the temptations and the pitfalls of the idea of The End of History. Francis Fukuyama popularised the phrase in 1989 at the end of the Cold War. What did his vision of the triumph of liberal democracy miss? Was it a Western fantasy or a modern fantasy or both? How has history exacted its revenge? And if history doesn’t end, does it repeat?Coming on Saturday a bonus bad idea to accompany this series: David talks to Lucia Rubinelli about what’s gone wro...2024-11-2856 minPast Present FutureThe History of Bad Ideas: Modernisation!For today’s bad idea David talks to political philosopher Alan Finlayson about what goes wrong when politicians get their hands on the concept of modernisation. Why does it leave them so in thrall to new technology? What does it miss about how change really happens? And where does the modernisation project end?Looking for Christmas presents? We have a special Xmas gift offer: give a subscription to PPF+ and your recipient will also receive a personally inscribed copy of David’s new book The History of Ideas. Find out more https://www.ppfideas.com/giftsNext...2024-11-2458 minPast Present FutureThe History of Bad Ideas: The Marketplace of IdeasToday’s bad idea is about how ideas get adopted, argued over and rejected: David talks to political philosopher Alan Finlayson about what’s wrong with seeing this as a competitive marketplace. From St. Paul to Citizens United, from John Stuart Mill to Jordan Peterson, what happens when ideas get turned into commodities? Who wins and who loses? And what is an ‘ideological entrepreneur’?Looking for Christmas presents? We have a special Xmas gift offer: give a subscription to PPF+ and your recipient will also receive a personally inscribed copy of David’s new book The History of Ideas. F...2024-11-211h 01
Past Present FutureThe History of Bad Ideas: Nobel PrizesFor our latest bad idea with an interesting history David talks to the geneticist and science writer Adam Rutherford about what’s wrong with Nobel Prizes. Why do we revere the winners of the science prizes when we know how contrived the other prizes are? What makes us so attached to this relic of an outmoded idea of scientific progress? And what happens when someone is struck down with ‘Nobelitis’?Looking for Christmas presents? We have a special Xmas gift offer: give a subscription to PPF+ and your recipient will also receive a personally inscribed copy of David’s...2024-11-1752 minPast Present FutureThe History of Bad Ideas: Nobel PrizesFor our latest bad idea with an interesting history David talks to the geneticist and science writer Adam Rutherford about what’s wrong with Nobel Prizes. Why do we revere the winners of the science prizes when we know how contrived the other prizes are? What makes us so attached to this relic of an outmoded idea of scientific progress? And what happens when someone is struck down with ‘Nobelitis’?Looking for Christmas presents? We have a special Xmas gift offer: give a subscription to PPF+ and your recipient will also receive a personally inscribed copy of David’s...2024-11-1756 minPast Present FutureThe History of Bad Ideas: The Silent MajorityTo kick off our new series on the history of bad ideas David talks to historian Sophie Scott-Brown about the idea of ‘the silent majority’, beloved by American presidents from Nixon to Trump. Where does this idea come from? Is it conservative or revolutionary? If the majority are actually silent, how can anyone know what they are thinking? And aren’t the silent majority really the dead?Looking for Christmas presents? We have a special Xmas gift offer: give a subscription to PPF+ and your recipient will also receive a personally inscribed copy of David’s new book The...2024-11-1458 minPast Present FutureThe History of Bad Ideas: The Silent MajorityTo kick off our new series on the history of bad ideas David talks to historian Sophie Scott-Brown about the idea of ‘the silent majority’, beloved by American presidents from Nixon to Trump. Where does this idea come from? Is it conservative or revolutionary? If the majority are actually silent, how can anyone know what they are thinking? And aren’t the silent majority really the dead?Looking for Christmas presents? We have a special Xmas gift offer: give a subscription to PPF+ and your recipient will also receive a personally inscribed copy of David’s new book The...2024-11-1454 min
Past Present FutureAmerican Elections: 2024: The Meaning of Trump’s TriumphFor the final (extended) episode in our American Elections series David talks to Gary Gerstle about the historical significance of Donald Trump’s decisive victory this week. Was this election and its outcome unprecedented in American history or are there parallels to guide us? Can Trump be both an existential threat to American democracy and a politician it’s possible for his opponents to work with? What is the likely shape of the new political order that his administration represents? And will democracy itself survive the experience?Out now: a new bonus episode to accompany our Great Poli...2024-11-091h 24
Past Present FutureThe Great Political Films: The Battle of AlgiersFor the last episode in this season of great political films David explores Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers (1966), which changed the face of political movie-making forever. Filmed to look like archive footage, featuring actual participants in the events it describes, and showing both sides of the vicious contest between insurgents and counter-insurgents, it humanises a horrifying conflict. It also raises the question: where is the line between realism and rage?Coming on Saturday: a new bonus episode to accompany this series in which David talks to Helen Thompson about Apocalypse Now, the ultimate film about war an...2024-11-0757 min
Past Present FutureThe Great Political Films: Dr Strangelove & Fail Safe w/ Jill LeporeThis episode is about two great films on the same dark theme: David talks to American historian Jill Lepore about Stanley Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove and Sidney Lumet’s Fail Safe, which appeared within a few months of each other in 1964. Both films explore what might happen if America’s nuclear defence system went rogue. One is grimly hilarious; the other is utterly terrifying. Which packs the biggest punch today?Looking for Christmas presents? We have a special Xmas gift offer: give a subscription to PPF+ and your recipient will also receive a personally inscribed copy of David’s n...2024-11-0354 min
Past Present FutureThe Great Political Films: The Leopard w/ Lucia RubinelliFor today’s great political film David discusses Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard (1963) with the Italian historian of ideas Lucia Rubinelli. How did a communist aristocrat from Milan come to make a film about a Sicilian prince? How did Burt Lancaster get cast in the leading role? Is this a political film or a film against politics? And what is the real meaning of the celebrated line: ‘If we want things to stay as they are, things must change…’?Looking for Christmas presents? We have a special Christmas gift offer: give a subscription to PPF+ and your recipient wi...2024-10-3157 min
Past Present FutureThe Great Political Films: The Life and Death of Colonel BlimpIn today’s episode David discusses Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), a great patriotic anti-war film made in the depths of WWII. Why did Churchill want the film’s production stopped and was he right to suspect it was about him? What does the film say about the politics of nostalgia and the illusions of heroism? And how is Blimp’s moustache like Kane’s Rosebud?A new bonus episode to accompany this series is out on Saturday: David explores why so many American presidents choose High Noon as their favour...2024-10-2454 min
Past Present FutureMichael Lewis on Sam Bankman-Fried and Effective AltruismDavid talks to author Michael Lewis about SBF and EA: about the man he got to know before, during and after his spectacular fall and about the philosophy with which he was associated. What did Sam Bankman-Fried believe was the purpose of making so much money? How did he manage to get so side-tracked from doing good? Why when it all went wrong did he fail to save himself? A conversation about utilitarianism, risk and human weakness.Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon by Michael Lewis is out now in paperback with a new...2024-10-101h 00
Past Present FutureAmerican Elections: 2024: Is Anyone Winning?David checks in with Gary Gerstle one more time before November to explore where things now stand with the US presidential election. In a conversation recorded in the immediate aftermath of the Walz/Vance debate, they discuss dead cats, October headwinds, comparisons with 2016 and a president missing in action. Plus, if the result really is too close to call, can the American Republic survive the fallout?There is another bonus episode out now to accompany our recent series on Thinking Machines: David and Shannon Vallor talk about where AI is really taking us, sorting the reality from th...2024-10-0659 min
Past Present FutureThinking About Thinking Machines: Monk & RobotFor episode four of our series on the history of thinking about thinking machines, David and Shannon discuss a very different sci-fi sensibility: Becky Chambers’ Monk & Robot series (A Psalm for the Wild-Built (2021) and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (2022)). What would it mean for robots to ‘wake up’? How might robots teach humans about the nature of care and about the care of nature? And where do robots fit into a neurodiverse world? Plus: robots vs octopi. There is another bonus episode to accompany this series available from Saturday on PPF+: David and Shannon talk about where AI is really...2024-10-031h 00
Past Present FutureWhat if… Scotland Had Voted for Independence?For our last episode in this series of historical counterfactuals, David talks to the historian Ben Jackson about what might have happened if the 2014 Scottish Independence referendum had gone the other way. How close was the vote and what could have swung it differently? Were the dark warnings about the consequences of independence likely to have been borne out? And what would an independent Scotland mean for the world today?To hear the second part of David’s conversation with Chris Clark about the fateful origins of the First World War sign up now to PPF+ and get a...2024-09-191h 01
Past Present FutureWhat if… The Berlin Wall Hadn’t Fallen?Our counterfactuals series moves forward to 1989: David talks to Lea Ypi about what might have happened if the Berlin Wall hadn’t fallen when it did. Was the night it came down really just one big accident? How long could the East German regime have lasted? And what does the fate of non-European communist states tell us about how it could have gone very differently? To hear the second part of David’s conversation with Chris Clark about the fateful origins of the First World War sign up now to PPF+ and get ad-free listening and all our...2024-09-1557 min
Past Present FutureWhat if… The 1919 Paris Peace Conference Had Actually Kept the Peace?David talks to historian Margaret MacMillan, author of the prize-winning Peacemakers, about whether the 1919 Paris Peace Conference deserves its reputation as a missed opportunity and the harbinger of another war. Could the peace have been fairer to the Germans? Could the League of Nations have been given real teeth? Could the Bolsheviks have been involved? Or did the peacemakers make the best of a bad job?To hear the second part of David’s conversation with Chris Clark about the fateful origins of the First World War, sign up now to PPF+ and get ad-free listening and all...2024-09-1259 min
Past Present FutureWhat If… The Russian Revolution Hadn’t Been Bolshevik?Today’s episode is another big early twentieth-century counterfactual: David talks to the historian of Russia Edward Acton about how the Russian Revolution might have unfolded if the Left SRs and not the Bolsheviks had come out on top. Could Lenin have been sidelined? Might the Terror have been avoided? And what would it have meant to the wider world if revolutionary socialism had been liberated from Marxist communism?To hear the second part of David’s conversation with Chris Clark about the fateful origins of the First World War sign up now to PPF+ and get ad...2024-09-0859 min
Past Present FutureWhat If… Franz Ferdinand Had Survived Sarajevo?We return to our series on historical counterfactuals with the big one: how might WWI have been avoided? David talks to Chris Clark, author of The Sleepwalkers, the definitive history of the July crisis of 1914, to explore how it might have turned out differently. What would have happened if Franz Ferdinand had survived the assassination attempt in Sarajevo? Why did his death spark the greatest European conflict of them all?To hear the second part of this conversation – where David and Chris discuss how the great powers responded to the assassination – sign up now to PPF+ and get...2024-09-0555 minLate Night Live — Full program podcastDavid Runciman on saving democracy, and the resilience of island ecosystemsHow did we come to live in a world ruled by - mostly - idiots? And can we fix our struggling democracies by enfranchising children as young as six? Political philosopher David Runciman attempts to pump some adrenaline into our limp and languishing systems. Plus, the staggering beauty and fragility of island ecosystems. 2024-08-2254 min
Intelligence SquaredExploring the History of Ideas, with David RuncimanThe spectres of political disillusionment and apathy have weighed heavily on this year of momentous elections but can we take inspiration from the past to reinvigorate our political imagination going forward? In this episode, Cambridge Professor and host of the Past Present Future podcast David Runciman discusses his new book, The History of Ideas: Equality, Justice and Revolution, which looks back on how big thinkers have tried to reimagine the way we do politics. Speaking to Dr Sophie Scott-Brown, lecturer in philosophy at the University of East Anglia, he discusses what thinkers from Rousseau to Rawls, Nietzsche to de...2024-07-0751 min
Langsomme samtalerDavid Runciman: Modernitet er historien om maskiner og monstre. Men vi har behov for dem for at være frieDavid Runciman er ven af huset her på Information, og d. 26. april udkommer hans bog “Overdragelsen - Hvordan vi gav magten til stater, selskaber og kunstig intelligens” på Informations forlag. Det er netop den bog, der er omdrejningspunkt for denne uges langsomme samtale.
David Runciman er professor ved Cambridge University og har en helt unik evne til at kombinere sin historiske idéer med sin forståelse af samtiden. I sin nye store idébog forsøger han at tage filosoffen Thomas Hobbes’ tanker og overføre dem til nutiden med budskabet: mennesker kan ikke blive frie uden tænkende...2024-04-2451 min
Past Present FutureThe History of Freedom w/Lea Ypi: Liberation MovementsIn our final episode David and Lea discuss liberation movements, from post-colonial liberation to women’s liberation, gay liberation and animal liberation. What, if anything, do these movements have in common? Is liberation about equality or is it about difference? And who needs liberating next – children?You can hear our bonus episodes for this series by signing up to PPF+ www.ppfideas.com In the first bonus episode – available now – David and Lea answer listeners’ questions about AI, technology, online surveillance and brains-in-a-vat: what happens to freedom if we’re living in a computer simulation?Coming next...2024-04-2159 min
Past Present FutureThe History of Freedom w/Lea Ypi: Anarchism and NihilismIn our series about different ideas of freedom David and 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 to ppfideas.comComing up next: David and Lea discuss existentialism and psychoanalysis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more i...2024-04-1453 min
Past Present FutureAmerican Elections: 1800In 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. A free, fortnightly guide to recent episodes, jam-packed with further reading, more to watch and listen to, plus extras from David. Starting with the Gr...2024-02-2958 minIntelligence SquaredIs Democracy Future-proof? with Jonathan White and David Runciman2024 is set to be the biggest election year in history but what happens to politics when it’s always about the next election? We lose our sense of perspective, says Professor of Politics at London School of Economics, Jonathan White — and to our peril. The erosion of medium to long-term political thinking and the decaying of our political attention span has not only warped our political priorities, but has, he argues, endangered a pivotal idea central to democracy: the future. In conversation with host of the Past, Present, Future podcast, David Runciman, White draws from his recent book, In the...2024-02-1154 min
The MachinistPower Grab: David Runciman on the Reach of Corporations, States and AI Podcast: Intelligence Squared (LS 60 · TOP 0.1% what is this?)Episode: Power Grab: David Runciman on the Reach of Corporations, States and AIPub date: 2024-01-08Get Podcast Transcript →powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarizationDavid Runciman is Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and the author of books including The Politics of Good Intentions, Political Hypocrisy and The Confidence Trap. He also hosts the popular Past Present Future podcast. His latest book is The Handover: How We Gave Control of Our Lives to Corporations, States and AIs. The boo...2024-01-1759 minIntelligence SquaredPower Grab: David Runciman on the Reach of Corporations, States and AIDavid Runciman is Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and the author of books including The Politics of Good Intentions, Political Hypocrisy and The Confidence Trap. He also hosts the popular Past Present Future podcast. His latest book is The Handover: How We Gave Control of Our Lives to Corporations, States and AIs. The book argues that states and corporations are the immensely powerful artificial entities that now rule our world, with AI a third frontier about to join an already well established model. Joining Runciman in conversation for this episode is Adam McCauley, Senior Policy Advisor at the...2024-01-0859 min
Past Present FutureHistory of Ideas 10: David Foster WallaceEpisode 10 in our series on the great essays is about David Foster Wallace’s ‘Up, Simba!’, which describes his experiences following the doomed campaign of John McCain for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000. Wallace believed that McCain’s distinctive political style revealed some hard truths about American democracy. Was he right? What did he miss? And how do those truths look now in the age of Trump?More on David Foster Wallace from the LRB:Jenny Turner on Wallace and his moment‘The risk Wallace takes is to guess he is not the only "obsc...2024-01-0355 min
Past Present FutureHistory of Ideas 4: Virginia WoolfEpisode 4 in our series on the great essays is about Virginia Woolf’s masterpiece ‘A Room of One’s Own’ (1929). David discusses how an essay on the conditions for women writing fiction ends up being about so much else besides: anger, power, sex, modernity, independence and transcendence. And how, despite all that, it still manages to be as fresh and funny as anything written since.Read more on Virginia Woolf in the LRB:Jacqueline Rose on Woolf and madness‘It is, one might say, a central paradox of modern family life that its members...2023-12-2853 min
Past Present FutureHistory of Ideas 2: HumeEpisode two in our series on the great essays is about David Hume. How can eighteenth-century arguments about the national debt help make sense of American politics today? When does public borrowing become a recipe for national disaster? Who is really in charge of the public finances: the government or the bankers, Washington, D.C. or Wall Street? And what has all this got to do with Hume’s arguments for the morality of suicide?Read Hume’s original essay ‘Of Public Credit’ here.For more on Hume from the archive of the LRB:Jonathan R...2023-12-261h 01
Past Present FutureThe Art of the EssayAs we wrap up our History of Ideas series David discusses what makes a great essay and whether the best contemporary writing is as good as what went before. The answer is yes, as shown by Jiayang Fan’s brilliant 2020 essay ‘How My Mother and I Became Chinese Propaganda’. David explores why this is such a remarkable example of what can be done with the form and why the art of the essay is alive and well.Read Jiayang Fan’s essay here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. 2023-12-1454 min
Enjoy This Vivid Full Audiobook And Feel The Difference.The Handover by David RuncimanPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/2/audible/16338to listen full audiobooks.
Title: The Handover
Author: David Runciman
Narrator: David Runciman
Format: mp3
Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
Release date: 11-14-23
Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 stars, 7 ratings
Genres: Computer Science
Publisher's Summary:
Much has been written about the arrival of artificial intelligence, but according to political philosopher David Runciman, we've been living with AI for 300 years—because states and corporations are robots, too. In this mind-bending work, Runciman explains the modern world through the history of the "artificial agents" we created to rescue us from our all-too-human limitations. The Handover will forever change ho...2023-11-1410h 25Unlock This Heart-Pounding Full Audiobook — Perfect On A Rainy Day.The Handover by David RuncimanPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/2/audible/16338to listen full audiobooks.
Title: The Handover
Author: David Runciman
Narrator: David Runciman
Format: mp3
Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
Release date: 11-14-23
Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 stars, 7 ratings
Genres: Computer Science
Publisher's Summary:
Much has been written about the arrival of artificial intelligence, but according to political philosopher David Runciman, we've been living with AI for 300 years—because states and corporations are robots, too. In this mind-bending work, Runciman explains the modern world through the history of the "artificial agents" we created to rescue us from our all-too-human limitations. The Handover will forever change ho...2023-11-1410h 25
Past Present FutureThe Leviacene: Defining Our TimesThis week David explores a different way of thinking about the current epoch: what if this isn’t the Anthropocene but the Leviacene? Who or what is really driving planetary destruction? Can human nature explain it? Or should we be looking at the political and economic superpowers that are leaving their marks all over the natural world?For more on these themes, David’s new book The Handover is available now, including as an audiobook. Listen to our earlier podcast with historian of science Meehan Crist on Malthus and Malthusianism. Hosted on Acast. See...2023-11-0256 min
Past Present FutureRethinking Democracy w/ Lea YpiThis week David and Lea resume their conversation – and their differences of opinion – about how to understand politics in the modern world. What is it reasonable to expect of democracy? Are its failures because of bad design or bad faith? And why don’t we have more democracy at the international level where it’s really needed? This is the start of a series of monthly conversations between David and Lea about rethinking the ideas that made the modern world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices...2023-10-1955 min
Past Present FutureHistory of Ideas: David Foster WallaceThis week’s episode in our series on the great political essays is about David Foster Wallace’s ‘Up, Simba!’, which describes his experiences following the doomed campaign of John McCain for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000. Wallace believed that McCain’s distinctive political style revealed some hard truths about American democracy. Was he right? What did he miss? And how do those truths look now in the age of Trump?More on David Foster Wallace from the LRB:Jenny Turner on Wallace and his moment‘The risk Wallace takes is to guess he is not...2023-09-2856 minIntelligence SquaredJohn Gray and David Runciman on Finding Meaning in a Post-Liberal WorldJohn Gray is one of the UK’s most important and influential political thinkers. Sceptical of ideas about progress and the perfectibility of human nature, he is an arch critic of liberalism, believing that history moves in cycles rather than inexorably towards a better future. For this episode of Intelligence Squared he is joined by David Runciman, a political scientist known for his clear analysis of modern political complexities. Together they explore the themes of Gray’s new book The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism, which looks at the world of the 2020s through the prism of the great 17th-c...2023-09-2236 min
Past Present FutureHistory of Ideas: George OrwellThis week David discusses George Orwell’s ‘The Lion and the Unicorn’ (1941), his great wartime essay about what it does – and doesn’t – mean to be English. How did the English manage to resist fascism? How are the English going to defeat fascism? These were two different questions with two very different answers: hypocrisy and socialism. David takes the story from there to Brexit and back again.For more on Orwell from the LRB:Samuel Hynes on Orwell and politics‘He was not, in fact, really a political thinker at all: he had no ideology, h...2023-08-0355 min
Past Present FutureHistory of Ideas: Virginia WoolfThis week our history of the great essays and great essayists reaches the twentieth century and Virginia Woolf’s masterpiece ‘A Room of One’s Own’ (1929). David discusses how an essay on the conditions for women writing fiction ends up being about so much else besides: anger, power, sex, modernity, independence and transcendence. And how, despite all that, it still manages to be as fresh and funny as anything written since.Read more on Virginia Woolf in the LRB:Jacqueline Rose on Woolf and madness‘It is, one might say, a central paradox of m...2023-07-2755 minIntelligence SquaredSteven Pinker and David Runciman on Optimism, Enlightenment and Progress PART 2For the second part of our conversation between cognitive psychologist and bestselling author Steven Pinker and academic and podcaster David Runciman, who teaches politics and history at Cambridge University, we rejoin the discussion with the two looking at the roots of skepticism. This interview first appeared on Intelligence Squared in early 2019 at the time of the publication of Pinker's book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.We’d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on and what our future debates should be...2023-07-2128 min
Past Present FutureFrom Lincoln to Trump: What Happened to the Republican Party?This week David talks to American historian Gary Gerstle about the shape-shifting journey of the US Republican Party, from the Civil War to the battles of today. How did the party of the North become the party of the South? When did the war party lose its appetite for war? Why does an organisation born out of anti-Catholicism now see its mission as to get Catholics onto the Supreme Court? And what could finally break the party apart?Gary Gerstle’s latest book is The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order.For more on the Gr...2023-07-201h 01Intelligence SquaredSteven Pinker and David Runciman on Optimism, Enlightenment and Progress PART 1For this edition, Intelligence Squared revisits a compelling discussion from 2019 with one of the world's foremost cognitive psychologists, Steven Pinker, whose work often focuses on language, the mind, and human nature. He was joined in conversation by David Runciman, the academic and podcaster who teaches politics and history at Cambridge University, to discuss the themes of Pinker’s book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. This is the first half of a two-part conversation. Join us for part two in the following episode.We’d love to hear your feedback and what you thin...2023-07-2025 min
Past Present FutureHistory of Ideas: HumeFor the second episode in this season of History of Ideas, David discusses the Scottish philosopher David Hume and explores how eighteenth-century arguments about the national debt can help make sense of American politics today. When does public borrowing become a recipe for national disaster? Who is really in charge of the public finances: the government or the bankers, Washington, D.C. or Wall Street? And what has all this got to do with Hume’s arguments for the morality of suicide?Read Hume’s original essay ‘Of Public Credit’ here: https://davidhume.org/texts/pld/pcFor mor...2023-06-151h 02
Past Present FutureRawls, Capitalism & JusticeThis week Daniel Chandler and Lea Ypi join David to talk about the legacy of the great American political philosopher John Rawls and his theory of justice. Did Rawls provide a prescription for the only fair way of doing capitalism? Or did he really show why capitalism and justice will never be reconciled? What can Rawls teach us about how to treat each other as equals? And does it even make sense to talk about justice in Britain or America when the world as a whole remains so fundamentally unequal?Daniel Chandler’s new book is Free an...2023-06-081h 01
Past Present FutureLive Special: The American Century w/ David MilibandThis week’s episode was recorded live at the Hay Festival, where David was joined on stage by David Miliband and Helen Thompson to discuss the past, present and future of American power. What explains American global dominance? Can it be justified? How will it be replaced? They discuss the fall-out of the Ukraine war, the threat posed by China, the challenge of climate change and the possibility of a second Trump presidency and ask – is the American century over?David Miliband writes about the consequences of the Ukraine war in Foreign Affairs.Hear more from...2023-06-0157 min
Past Present FutureHow Dallas Saw the FutureThis week David talks to Helen Thompson about Dallas and the end of oil. How did the world’s most popular soap opera come to explain the energy crisis and the future of a world hooked on fossil fuels? Is the fate of the Ewing family – fire and ruin – going to be the fate of America? And did J.R. Ewing really pave the way for President Donald Trump? Plus David and Helen discuss ‘oil fictions’, from Isaac Asimov to Italo Calvino.Watch the moment when ‘Miss Ellie Saves the Day’.Helen Thompson on ’the cosmic stakes of t...2023-05-0454 min
Past Present FutureThe Novel that Unravels DemocracyDavid talks to Ian McEwan about Italo Calvino’s The Watcher (1963), one of the greatest of all works of political fiction. Challenging, disturbing, redemptive: this is a book about who gets to count and who doesn’t, and what identity politics really means. David and Ian also discuss how political fiction works - and why the climate change novel is so hard to write. Plus they argue about whether children should be allowed to vote. Next week: Helen Thompson on Dallas and the end of oil.Ian McEwan’s latest novel is Lessons, available now.To r...2023-04-2756 min
Past Present FutureIntroducing Past Present FuturePast Present Future is a new weekly 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. Brought to you in partnership with the London Review of Books.New episodes every Thursday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....2023-04-1204 min
Irish Times Inside PoliticsDavid Runciman on Brexit's 'phoney war' and the urgent need to tame states and corporationsThe political debate around the impact of Brexit on the United Kingdom and its future economic relationship with Europe is 'just on hold at the moment' according to one of the UK's leading political scientists, Professor David Runciman.He talks to Hugh about UK politics today, including Keir Starmer's cautious leadership of the Labour Party, Rishi Sunak's unpopularity, and what he calls a 'phoney war' as populist and Brexit issues lie dormant - but haven't gone away. He also talks about his lecture at UCC last week, where he argued that it is s...2023-02-1542 minInside Politics with Hugh LinehanDavid Runciman on Brexit's 'phoney war' and the urgent need to tame states and corporationsThe political debate around the impact of Brexit on the United Kingdom and its future economic relationship with Europe is 'just on hold at the moment' according to one of the UK's leading political scientists, Professor David Runciman.He talks to Hugh about UK politics today, including Keir Starmer's cautious leadership of the Labour Party, Rishi Sunak's unpopularity, and what he calls a 'phoney war' as populist and Brexit issues lie dormant - but haven't gone away. He also talks about his lecture at UCC last week, where he argued that it is s...2023-02-1542 min
Politics UnpackedDavid RuncimanMatt Chorley speaks to political podcast enthusiast David Runciman to dissect the last six years of Talking Politics and why more Prime Ministers are from Oxford rather than Cambridge.PLUS Dorothy Byrne and Abigail Rabbett discuss the day's news. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.2022-04-0639 min
The Anti-Dystopians‘Corporations are Robots’: David Runciman on AI, states and the first singularityDavid Runciman is a professor of Politics at Cambridge University and the host of the critically acclaimed podcast Talking Politics. In this episode of the Anti-Dystopians, he speaks to Alina Utrata about why corporations are robots, how singularity might have already come about, why we should think seriously about the political philosophy of Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs, and what technologies he worries about in the future.You can follow, Alina Utrata on Twitter @alinautrata and the Anti-Dystopians podcast on @AntiDystopians. Sign up for the Anti-Dystopians email newsletter at bit.ly/3kuGM5XAll epi...2022-04-0554 min
Reasons RevisitedDAVID RUNCIMAN: TALKING ‘TALKING POLITICS’, POLITICSHello! This week we’re joined by podcasting royalty, as David Runciman, host of Talking Politics, joins Ed and Geoff for his victory lap. After 6 years, David and co-host Helen Thompson are hanging up their headphones on one of the smartest political podcast of our time. Ed and Geoff find out why they’re stopping in the middle of arguably one of the most important political moments of a generation, who David’s favourite interview was, and why his love for audio means this is far from the last we’ll hear from him. Plus, Geoff can’t get...2022-03-0747 min
Livros e um pouco maisComo a Democracia Chega ao Fim- David RuncimanComo a Democracia Chega ao Fim- David Runciman 2021-12-1500 min
The Shakespeare and Company InterviewDavid Runciman on Confronting LeviathanThis week Adam Biles is joined by David Runciman, Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and the presenter of the hugely popular Talking Politics podcast. David's new book Confronting Leviathan is a compelling and accessible introduction to some of the most important and radical thinkers (Wolstonecraft, Constant, De Tocqueville, Marx and Engels, Hayek, MacKinnon, Fukuyama and more…) whose ideas have shaped our understanding of the modern state.Buy Confronting Leviathan here: https://shakespeareandcompany.com/I/9781788167826/confronting-leviathan-a-history-of-ideasBrowse our online store here: https://shakespeareandcompany.com/15/online-store/16/bookstoreBecome a Friend of S&Co here: https:/.friendsofshakespeareandcompany.com*Based on the History Of Ideas po...2021-10-211h 08The Shakespeare and Company InterviewDavid Runciman on Confronting LeviathanThis week Adam Biles is joined by David Runciman, Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and the presenter of the hugely popular Talking Politics podcast. David's new book Confronting Leviathan is a compelling and accessible introduction to some of the most important and radical thinkers (Wolstonecraft, Constant, De Tocqueville, Marx and Engels, Hayek, MacKinnon, Fukuyama and more…) whose ideas have shaped our understanding of the modern state.Buy Confronting Leviathan here: https://shakespeareandcompany.com/I/9781788167826/confronting-leviathan-a-history-of-ideasBrowse our online store here: https://shakespeareandcompany.com/15/online-store/16/bookstoreBecome a Friend of S&Co here: https:/.friendsofshakespeareandcompany.com*Based on the History Of Ideas po...2021-10-211h 08
London Review Bookshop PodcastDavid Runciman and Pankaj Mishra: Histories of IdeasTalking Politics: History of Ideas, David Runciman’s podcast introductions to the most important thinkers and theories behind modern politics, has been one of the few saving graces of a year of lockdowns, helping to make sense of our predicament through the revelatory ideas of Hobbes and Hayek, Fanon and Fukuyama, Bentham and De Beauvoir.To mark the conclusion of the second series, David was joined by Pankaj Mishra, author of Age of Anger and Bland Fanatics, among other books, for a conversation about those subjects of David’s that Pankaj has also written about extensively – including...2021-06-301h 04
Better KnownDavid RuncimanDavid Runciman discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. This episode was recorded the day before the local elections.
Professor David Runciman was Head of the University of Cambridge's Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) from 2014 to 2018. His research interests are in twentieth century political thought, particularly ideas of democracy and crisis, and the role of technology in contemporary politics. David's new book is How Democracy Ends, published by Profile. David also writes regularly about politics for the London Review of Books. He presents the Talking Politics podcast.
The World...2021-05-0930 min
Expeditions: The Knowledge PlatformDavid Runciman - Young People and Democracy?David Runciman, Professor of Politics at the University of Cambridge, examines the role and representation of young people in democracy.2021-02-2303 min
The Lock In with Jeremy PaxmanDavid RuncimanJeremy has a pint with David Runciman, host of the Talking Politics podcast, author, and Cambridge Professor. They discuss the waning public faith in democracy and how it might be fixed. Should we let children vote? Should we make people pass a test to vote? Should we at least try something to arrest the alarming trend of people turning away from the system of government meant to be the worst except for all the others?
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.2021-02-1043 min
KL ReadsE-International Relations phỏng vấn David Runciman (2019)Những chủ đề được đề cập trong cuộc phỏng vấn bao gồm: dân chủ, quyền lực, cái nhìn của xã hội về công nghệ theo thời gian, vai trò của Big Tech, AI, thuyết âm mưu, chính trị căn tính. "David Runciman là giảng viên Chính trị tại ĐH Cambridge. Tại đây, ông đảm nhận vị trí trưởng khoa từ tháng 10 2014 đến 10/2018. Ông là người mang đến bài giảng: Political Theory and Real Politics in the Age of the Internet”. Bên cạnh đó, ông mang đến po...2021-01-2716 min
The Philosopher & The NewsDavid Runciman & Political RepresentationOn January the 6th, what started as a Trump rally in Washington DC, ended up in the violent storming of the Capitol, with, members of Congress being rushed to safety. Fuelled by the president’s words, calling the 2020 election results fraudulent, Trump’s followers took over the Capitol, shouting among other things “This is our house!” and “They work for us!” referring to the members of Congress, their representatives. Commenting on the events President-elect Joe Biden, said “The scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not reflect a true America, they do not represent who we are.”2021-01-1852 min
KL ReadsInterview – David Runciman (2019)Professor David Runciman is a Professor of Politics at the University of Cambridge, where he was Head of Department from 10/2014 to 10/2018. He gave his Inaugural Lecture on “Political Theory and Real Politics in the Age of the Internet”. He also hosts the weekly politics podcast, Talking Politics. This interview has been edited from a recorded conversation.
Original on E-International Relations2020-11-1400 min
Patt Morrison AsksAuthor David Runciman: a century of surviving crises leaves democracy too confident-and vulnerablePatt Morrison talks with Professor David Runciman who teaches politics and history at Cambridge University. David talks about his book "How Democracy Ends".
2019-07-1614 min
Under The Skin with Russell Brand#75 Democracy Is Dead. What Now? (with David Runciman)David Runciman is author of "How Democracy Ends" and host of the Talking Politics podcast. We spoke about what the function of democracy is, the significance of the generational divide when voting, the relationship between corporations and government, anarcho-syndacalism & the rise of populism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.2019-04-131h 26
Inside Politics with Hugh LinehanDavid Runciman on Democracy's 21st Century ProblemsWestern democracies are beset by a variety of problems: fractured legislative bodies, the rise of the far right, the erosion of norms and the dangers posed by technology. But we shouldn't confuse those with the problems of the past, according to David Runciman in his book How Democracy Ends. Ahead of his talk at the Mountains to Sea festival on Sunday March 31st, he talks to Hugh about his ideas. And about Brexit too, of course. David Runciman is Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and host of Talking Politics podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...2019-03-1541 minIrish Times Inside PoliticsDavid Runciman on Democracy's 21st Century ProblemsWestern democracies are beset by a variety of problems: fractured legislative bodies, the rise of the far right, the erosion of norms and the dangers posed by technology. But we shouldn't confuse those with the problems of the past, according to David Runciman in his book How Democracy Ends. Ahead of his talk at the Mountains to Sea festival on Sunday March 31st, he talks to Hugh about his ideas. And about Brexit too, of course. David Runciman is Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and host of Talking Politics podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...2019-03-1541 min
The Essentials on State Business TaxationDavid Runciman om demokratiets krise(r)De traditionelle demokratier er ude af stand til at håndtere udfordringer såsom klimaforandringer og den globale opvarmning. Samtidig betyder den teknologiske udvikling, at få mediegiganter som Facebook, Apple og Google kontrollerer store dele af den information, som borgerne er afhængige af. Det fortæller den britiske professor David Runciman, der i denne podcast taler med chefredaktør på Information Rune Lykkeberg.
Følg Den Sorte Diamant på facebook2018-12-061h 26
LIVE fra Det Kongelige BibliotekDavid Runciman om demokratiets krise(r)De traditionelle demokratier er ude af stand til at håndtere udfordringer såsom klimaforandringer og den globale opvarmning. Samtidig betyder den teknologiske udvikling, at få mediegiganter som Facebook, Apple og Google kontrollerer store dele af den information, som borgerne er afhængige af. Det fortæller den britiske professor David Runciman, der i denne podcast taler med chefredaktør på Information Rune Lykkeberg.
Følg Den Sorte Diamant på facebook
2018-12-061h 26
LIVE fra Det Kgl. BibliotekDavid Runciman om demokratiets krise(r)De traditionelle demokratier er ude af stand til at håndtere udfordringer såsom klimaforandringer og den globale opvarmning. Samtidig betyder den teknologiske udvikling, at få mediegiganter som Facebook, Apple og Google kontrollerer store dele af den information, som borgerne er afhængige af. Det fortæller den britiske professor David Runciman, der i denne podcast taler med chefredaktør på Information Rune Lykkeberg.
Følg Den Sorte Diamant på facebook2018-12-061h 26