Past Present Future

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.

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328 episodes
Updated Sunday

Episodes328

Newest first

March 22 · 1 hr
Live Special: Another American Civil War?
In today’s episode, which was recorded in front of students, parents and teachers from three schools in Oxford, David talks to historian of America Adam Smith about whether the US might be drifting into another civil war. Are the circumstances of today in any way comparable to the 1860s? What are the faultlines in 2026 that might see America tear itself apart? If division doesn’t lead to widespread violence, how else might the federal government fail? What would it mean for the rest of us?
March 18 · 1 hr 13 min
Live Special: Is This How Democracy Ends? w/Lyse Doucet, Chris Clark & Thant Myint-U
Today’s episode was recorded last Wednesday in front of a live audience at Friends’ House in London, where David was joined by the BBC’s Lyse Doucet, historian Chris Clark and diplomat and writer Thant Myint-U to discuss the fate of democracy in the long run and in the short term. What does the current war mean for democracy in Iran, democracy in America and democracy in the wider world? If we are at the end of an era, what is it exactly that is coming to an end? Who gets to decide what might co
March 15 · 1 hr 2 min
Now & Then with Robert Saunders: The Twists and Turns of the Special Relationship
Today’s episode looks backwards and forwards from 1946 to explore the different ways the UK has imagined the US over time, as friend and as foe, as inspiration and as warning, as threat and as salvation. David and Robert examine how America has both illuminated and confused Britain’s view of itself for more than two hundred years, from Andrew Jackson to Donald Trump. Is there a common thread? Is there a version to be relied on? Or are we still making it up as we go along?
March 11 · 1 hr 5 min
Now & Then with Robert Saunders: Churchill’s ‘Iron Curtain’ Speech @80
Today’s episode sees the return of our occasional series with historian Robert Saunders looking at significant political anniversaries: this time it’s the 80th anniversary of Winston Churchill’s ‘Sinews of Peace’ speech given at Fulton, Missouri in March 1946. The speech is best known for introducing the idea of the ‘Iron Curtain’. What was Churchill trying to achieve? Why was his message so controversial in the United States? How did he help inaugurate the Cold War? And where was he right and w
March 8 · 1 hr 4 min
Where Are We Going? Societal Collapse – The Future
In the fourth and final conversation in this series David talks to Luke Kemp, author of Goliath’s Curse, about where we might be heading. Where does the greatest risk of global collapse lie? Who is ultimately responsible for our fate? What makes states and corporations the agents of doom? How can we humans fight back?
March 4 · 1 hr 4 min
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 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?
March 1 · 1 hr 10 min
Where Are We Going? Societal Collapse – The Modern Age
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?
February 25 · 1 hr 6 min
Where Are We Going? Societal Collapse – Origins
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 ow
February 22 · 55 min
Where Are We Going? Nuclear War Part 3
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?
February 18 · 1 hr 2 min
Where Are We Going? Nuclear War Part 2
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?
February 15 · 59 min
Where Are We Going? Nuclear War Part 1
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?
February 11 · 1 hr 9 min
What’s Wrong with Political Philosophy? Learning from Bernard Williams and Judith Shklar
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 sta
February 8 · 1 hr 4 min
What’s Wrong with Political Philosophy? Learning from Max Weber
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
February 4 · 1 hr
What’s Wrong with Political Philosophy? Learning from Adam Smith
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
February 1 · 1 hr 12 min
What’s Wrong with Political Philosophy? Learning from Aristotle
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?
January 28 · 58 min
Talking Geopolitics with Helen Thompson: The Weirdness of American Power Part 2
Today’s episode is the second part of David’s conversation with Helen Thompson about what makes living in a world dominated by the United States so strange. What has changed about American power in the twenty-first century? Is Trump a deviation from the norm or is he simply an extension of it? Why does Greenland matter? And what is at stake as the contest between the US and China ramps up to the next level?
January 25 · 57 min
Talking Geopolitics with Helen Thompson: The Weirdness of American Power
The first of a two-part conversation in which David talks to Helen Thompson about how to understand the extraordinary and unlikely power of the United States, from its origins to its current incarnation. How strange would it once have seemed to live in a world dominated by a state from the Western hemisphere? When did the US overcome its natural disadvantages to achieve superpower potential? What does the rest of the world get wrong about how American power actually operates? And what might come
January 21 · 57 min
Politics on Trial: The Trial and Execution of Saddam Hussein
For the final episode in this series David talks to historian and political scientist Glen Rangwala about the trial and execution of Saddam Hussein in 2006. What plans did the Americans have for Saddam before the Iraq war began? How was it decided what to charge him with once he had been captured? Did his trial exacerbate rather than overcome the sectarian divisions tearing Iraq apart? Was justice served?
January 18 · 1 hr 18 min
Politics on Trial: O. J. Simpson vs the Evidence
For the penultimate episode in this series David examines the criminal trial of O. J. Simpson in 1995 to ask what it reveals about how power really works in America. How did the prosecution fail to grasp what was really happening in the courtroom? Did jury selection decide the outcome of the case before it had even begun? Why was the massive volume of evidence against Simpson something that worked in his favour? And how does the legacy of the Simpson trial help explain the arrival of Donald Trum
January 14 · 1 hr 1 min
Politics on Trial: The Gang of Four vs the New China
In today’s episode David explores the trial that gripped China at the end of 1980: the case against the three men and one woman accused of being responsible for the worst excesses of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). How did the court try to hold Mao’s followers responsible for the catastrophe while exculpating Mao himself? How did Mao’s widow Jiang Qing fight back? Who were the others in the dock and what were they doing there? And what made the trial emblematic of the new direction China was