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.Take back your personal data with Inco...
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Notable Guests
Episodes (305)
The Great Political Fictions: Gulliver’s Travels
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The Great Political Fictions: Coriolanus
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The End of Enlightenment
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Rory Stewart: What Does it Mean to be a 21st-Century Tory?
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The End of the UK?
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History of Ideas 12: Ta-Nehisi Coates
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History of Ideas 11: Umberto Eco
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History of Ideas 10: David Foster Wallace
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History of Ideas 9: Joan Didion
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History of Ideas 8: Susan Sontag
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History of Ideas 7: James Baldwin
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History of Ideas 6: Simone Weil
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History of Ideas 5: George Orwell
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History of Ideas 4: Virginia Woolf
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History of Ideas 3: Thoreau
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History of Ideas 2: Hume
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History of Ideas 1: Montaigne
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History of Ideas Q&A
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The Art of the Essay
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Something’s Got to Give
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Democracy Q&A w/ Lea Ypi
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History of Ideas: Ta-Nehisi Coates
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Democracy vs Nationalism w/ Lea Ypi
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Jill Lepore on Trump, Guns and the Red Mirage
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The Leviacene: Defining Our Times
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History of Ideas: Umberto Eco
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Rethinking Democracy w/ Lea Ypi
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Mary Beard on Caesar, Augustus & Zuckerberg
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Zadie Smith on Dickens, Hypocrisy & Justice
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History of Ideas: David Foster Wallace
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Animal Farm and Other Allegories
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The Other 9/11: Chile & Allende
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The Handover
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The Great Essays: Q & A
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History of Ideas: Joan Didion
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History of Ideas: Susan Sontag
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History of Ideas: James Baldwin
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History of Ideas: Simone Weil
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History of Ideas: George Orwell
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History of Ideas: Virginia Woolf
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From Lincoln to Trump: What Happened to the Republican Party?
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History of Ideas: Thoreau
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Whose Space is it Anyway?
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Why J.S. Mill Matters w/ Tara Westover
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Are There Too Many People?
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History of Ideas: Hume
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Rawls, Capitalism & Justice
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Live Special: The American Century w/ David Miliband
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AI: Can the Machines Really Think?
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History of Ideas: Montaigne
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