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History of Ideas 4: Virginia Woolf
Episode 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 c…
2 years ago
History of Ideas 3: Thoreau
Episode three in our series about the great political essays is about Thoreau’s ‘Civil Disobedience’ (1849), a ringing call to resistance against dem…
2 years ago
History of Ideas 2: Hume
Episode 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 Am…
2 years ago
History of Ideas 1: Montaigne
Episode one in our series on the great essays is about Montaigne, the man who invented a whole new way of writing and being read. From the fear of de…
2 years ago
History of Ideas Q&A
Season 1 Episode 35
For our last episode before Christmas David answers some of your questions about the History of Ideas series – What would Dickens have made of Trump?…
2 years ago
The Art of the Essay
Season 1 Episode 34
As 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 …
2 years ago
Something’s Got to Give
Episode 33
This week David talks to the economists Dieter Helm and Diane Coyle about the challenges of building sustainability into the way we live now. Why is …
2 years, 1 month ago
Democracy Q&A w/ Lea Ypi
Episode 32
This week David and Lea answer your questions about democracy. When does democratic freedom shade over into anarchy? What’s the connection between de…
2 years, 1 month ago
History of Ideas: Ta-Nehisi Coates
Season 1 Episode 31
In the penultimate episode in our series on the great essays, David talks about Ta-Nehisi Coates’s ‘The Case for Reparations’, published in the Atlan…
2 years, 1 month ago
Democracy vs Nationalism w/ Lea Ypi
Episode 30
In the latest instalment of David’s ongoing conversation with Lea Ypi about the past, present and future of democracy they discuss whether democratic…
2 years, 1 month ago