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 polit...
Today’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 conversation with regular PPF contributor Robert Saunders about the legacy of Winston Churchill: The Politician With Nine Lives. It’s happening at the Komedia in Bath at 11am on Saturday 29th March. Priority booking for PPF listeners opens at 9am on Tuesday 28th January – just go to our website for more info and to get your tickets: https://www.ppfideas.com/event-list
Out now on PPF+: the second part of David’s conversation with Agnes Callard about Socrates, exploring politics, AI, therapy and death. Sign up now for £5 per month or £50 for a whole year to get this and all our bonus episodes (21 and counting!) plus ad-free listening https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus
Next up in The History of Revolutionary Ideas: Magna Carta
Past Present Future is part of the Airwave Podcast Network
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1:03:07
The History of Revolutionary Ideas: Christianity w/Tom Holland
Today’s episode in our series on revolutionary ideas is a conversation covering two millennia with the historian Tom Holland exploring the never-ending upending of human understanding brought about by Christianity. How can weakness be the ultimate strength? How can political order be built out of the glorification of suffering? How can a universal religion create so much hierarchical division? And in a Christian world, is it ever possible to escape the charge of hypocrisy?
Out now on PPF+: the second part of David’s conversation with Agnes Callard about Socrates, exploring politics, AI, therapy and death. Sign up now for £5 per month or £50 for a whole year to get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus
Next up in The History of Revolutionary Ideas: Islam w/Tim Winter
Past Present Future is part of the Airwave Podcast Network
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57:44
The History of Revolutionary Ideas: Socrates w/Agnes Callard
To begin our history of revolutionary ideas in earnest, David talks to the philosopher Agnes Callard about Socrates, the philosopher who changed – and can still change – everything. Just what is so radical about the Socratic method? How does it open up new ways of thinking about the meaning of life? Can anyone do it? And where does it leave 2000+ years of intervening philosophy?
Out tomorrow on PPF+: the second part of David’s conversation with Agnes Callard about Socrates, exploring politics, AI, therapy and death. Sign up now for £5 per month or £50 for a whole year to get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus
Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life by Agnes Callard is available now https://bit.ly/4h0pZmg
Next up in The History of Revolutionary Ideas: Christianity w/Tom Holland
Past Present Future is part of the Airwave Podcast Network
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54:30
The History of Revolutionary Ideas: What Makes a Revolutionary Idea?
To kick off our new series on revolutionary ideas past, present and future David talks to two regular PPF contributors – the philosopher Lea Ypi and the scientist Adam Rutherford – about what makes an idea truly revolutionary. Do revolutionary ideas change the world? Can the world be changed without them? Can bad ideas ever be revolutionary ideas? And where should we be looking for revolutionary ideas today?
Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter to get more ideas, clips, reading suggestions and extra insights to accompany this and all our series. Join our mailing list now: https://www.ppfideas.com/newsletters
Next Time: The History of Revolutionary Ideas: Socrates w/Agnes Callard
Past Present Future is part of the Airwave Podcast Network
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55:44
The Great Political Films: The Zone of Interest
The final episode in our great political films series explores Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest (2023), his haunting take on the home life of the man who ran Auschwitz. This is a film like nothing else. It is not about the banality of evil or the proximity of innocence to horror. Instead it takes us inside a nightmare world from which there is no escape: the grimmest fairy story of them all.
Out now: a new bonus episodes on PPF+ exploring the joys of Armando Iannucci’s In The Loop, not just one of the smartest films about contemporary politics but also the funniest. Sign up now for £5 per month or £50 for a whole year to get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus
Coming next: we begin our new series on The History of Revolutionary Ideas
Past Present Future is part of the Airwave Podcast Network
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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. Brought to you in partnership with the London Review of Books.
New episodes every Thursday and Sunday.