Philipp Ther erforscht Transformationen in der Geschichte. Der Wittgenstein Preis-Träger und Autor historischer mehrerer Bestseller beschäftigt sich besonders mit Phasen, in denen die Welt sich radikal verändert. Ich frage ihn, ob wir in der Gegenwart in so einer Phase sind, welche transformativen Momente in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten besonders zu unserer gegenwärtigen Situation beigetragen haben und ob das liberale Projekt sich totgelaufen hat. Support the show...
Nov 26, 2023•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 15
For this episode, I am delighted to welcome the distinguished philosopher Michael Sandel, whose Harvard course on moral philosophy has been followed by millions of people online. Michael’s book The Tyranny of Merit trenchantly analyses the perversion of meritocracy and what the rule of the credentialed and of technocrats is doing to our democracies. While the social and political elite claims for itself to rule through merit alone, the idea of merit itself has not only been corrupted by mechanis...
Sep 24, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 14
The idea that humans can dominate nature and rule over it has popped up quite recently in human history and has come to sweep the planet, and to change and degrade its natural systems. But where does this idea come from, how has it influenced human history and what will come after its collapse amid the climate crisis? Support the show
Sep 10, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 13
What part do our collective stories play in historical turning points? Can new narratives change a culture, a society, a political structure, or do narratives react to changes to explain them afterwards? What do narratives inspire, and how are they disseminated? Martin Puchner, professor for comparative literature at Harvard University and author of, among others, The Story of Culture, is the person to ask. We speak about the importance of technologies such as writing and print, but also of crea...
Aug 13, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 12
a conversation with Andrea Wulf Sometimes the world is reinvented and turned upside down not in a glittering metropolis, but in the provinces. This was the case in Jena, a tiny German town, at the end of the eighteenth century, as a gaggle of young and unconventional poets, scientists and philosophers descended on the university there. The result was the kernel of German Romanticism, Andrea Wulf tells me. She has written a stunning group biography on the German romantics, their ideas and their p...
Jul 30, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Do we need a New Enlightenment to cut through a new obscurantism? Or is the Enlightenment part of a bad past of racism, slavery, and exploitation? In many ways, the ideas of the Enlightenment are tarnished by their historical association with historical injustices, dictatorships and utopian experiments that left a bloody trace throughout history, an inhuman rationalism more akin to capitalist excess than to liberté-égalité-fraternité. But this is only one face of Enlightenment thinking, an inven...
Jun 25, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Since Icarus flew too close to the sun, the common story of humans and their machines tells of hopes, fears and ambitions. From Leonardo to industrialisation, the First World War and the nuclear threat, this relationship has had many chapters. People have built machines to imitate their faculties and have recognised themselves in them and developed in parallel with them. With the rise of artificial intelligence — machines that can learn by themselves — the traditional balance could be upset. Are...
May 14, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Seit Ikarus zu nahe an der Sonne flog, spricht die gemeinsame Geschichte von Menschen und Maschinen von Ängsten und Hoffnungen, von menschlichem Ehrgeiz. Von Leonardos Entwürfen über die Industrialisierung, den Ersten Weltkrieg und die Atombombe hat diese Beziehung viele Kapitel gehabt. Menschen haben sich in Maschinen wiedererkannt, haben ihre Fähigkeiten und ihre Intelligenz imitiert, haben vor ihnen Angst gehabt und sich parallel zu ihnen entwickelt. Mit dem Aufstieg der künstlichen Intellige...
May 14, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 9
When the Roman empire was at its zenith it was the largest empire ever seen, an unchallengeable power with mighty legions, an efficient administration, unparalleled economic power and a glittering metropolis at its centre. The fact that it took just a few generations to unravel was intimately connected not only to corruption and decadence, but also to climate change and imported epidemics sweeping the empire, argues Kyle Harper, author of the bestselling: The Fall of Rome. I am excited to speak ...
Apr 19, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Around 1450, the greatest empires and the greatest markets of the world were China, India and the Ottoman empire, while also cultures like the Khmer in Cambodia and the Aztecs in Mesoamerica projected great power and achievements. Europe was a collection of small countries in a constant state of war, a great step back from the civilisation of the Roman empire. 300 years later Europe ruled the world. How was that possible, and how important were viruses and gunpowder, religion and geography? Supp...
Apr 02, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Um 1450 waren die größten und zivilisiertesten Mächte und Märkte in China und Indien, das osmanische Reich, auch Kulturen wie die Khmer in Kambodscha und die Azteken in Mittelamerika projizierten Macht. Europa bestand aus Kleinreichen, die dauernd im Krieg miteinander lagen und die seit dem römischen Reich einen Rückschritt erlebt hatten. Trotzdem war es das kleine, provinzielle Europa, das 300 Jahre später die Welt regierte. Wie konnte es dazu kommen? Wie wichtig waren dabei Viren und Kanonen, ...
Apr 02, 2023•21 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Long before the bible, humans imagined that they could subjugate nature, and even death itself. With Christianity, this interesting illusion was spread throughout the globe. But where did it come from, and what does it mean combined with the 21st-century technologies? Support the show
Mar 19, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Lange vor der Bibel entstand die Idee, Menschen könnten die Natur unterwerfen. Mit dem Christentum wurde sie über den ganzen Globus verbreitet. Aber wo kam sie her und was bedeutet sie verbunden mit den Technologien des 21. Jahrhunderts? Support the show
Mar 19, 2023•24 min•Season 1Ep. 6
History has always been the story of the human past. With the advent of climate science and historical research into climate patterns, a new kind of history has become possible looking at societies as part of a dymanic natural environment. This opens new perspectives on the rise and fall of cultures, from the first cities and the Fall or Rome to the climate catastrophe of today. Support the show
Mar 05, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Geschichte war immer die Untersuchung der Vergangenheit von Menschen. Mit neuen Forschungsmethoden der Klimawissenschaften sind aber ganz neue Zugänge möglich geworden: Die Geschichte menschlicher Gesellschaften in einer dynamischen natürlichen Umgebung. Das öffnet ganz neue Perspektiven auf Aufstieg und Fall ganzer Kulturen, von den ersten Stadtkulturen und dem Fall von Rom bis hin zur Klimakatastrophe der Gegenwart. Support the show...
Mar 05, 2023•23 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Antwort: Grünes Wachstum — die Lösung der Klimakatastrophe? Support the show
Feb 19, 2023•13 min
Enlightened utopias tried to create turning points in history, but the republics of virtue they imagined never materialized. What is it with Enlightened utopias that condemns them to fail? Support the show
Feb 19, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Aufgeklärte Utopien wollten Wendepunkte schaffen, um die Geschichte zum Guten zu wenden und zu überwinden. Aber die Tugendrepubliken, die sie wollten, wurden nie Wirklichkeit? Warum müssen aufgeklärte Utopien scheitern? Support the show
Feb 19, 2023•19 min•Season 1Ep. 4
As nature changed during the Little Ice Age, so did the societies depending on it. Trial and error created successful adaptations as societies learned to cope with colder climates, leading to societies that resemble our own: urbanised, relying on international markets, and increasingly on science and professionals. This is the rise of the middle class, of the Enlightenment, of liberalism, and of imperialism. It also raises the question: can our response to the climate crisis learn from what happ...
Jan 29, 2023•23 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Als die Natur sich während der Kleinen Eiszeit veränderte, mussten die Gesellschaften, die von ihr abhingen, sich anpassen. Dies schuf Gesellschaften, die unseren ähneln: urbanisiert, angewiesen auf internationale Märkte und immer stärker dominiert durch Wissenschaft und eine erstarkende Mittelschicht. Dies ist der Aufstieg des Bürgertums, der Aufklärung, des Liberalismus und des Imperialismus. So entsteht eine Frage: Was, wenn überhaupt, kann die Gegenwart im Hinblick auf die Klimakrise davon l...
Jan 29, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 3
With its long, bitter winters, rainy summers and ruined harvests, the Little Ice Age put European societies under severe pressure during the 16th and 17th centuries. Successful strategies of coping with climate change emerged slowly, but with great effects. Two different responses, from rigidity to transformation, are exemplified by the historical fates of Madrid and Amsterdam. Support the show
Jan 03, 2023•21 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Mit langen, klirrenden Wintern, verregneten Sommern und verdorbenen Ernten setzte die kleine Eiszeit Europas Gesellschaften während des 15. und 17. Jahrhunderts stark unter Druck. Erst langsam entwickelten sich erfolgreiche Strategien der Anpassung an die neuen Bedingungen. Die Schicksale von Madrid und Amsterdam zeigen unterschiedliche Schicksale, von Zusammenbruch bis Transformation. Support the show
Jan 02, 2023•19 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Between ca. 1570 and 1680, temperatures plummeted by two degrees Celsius on average, creating a vast agricultural crisis, famine, and social unrest.Why was the world plunged into winter, what happened in nature and how did societies react — and what do witch trials have to do with it all? Support the show
Dec 29, 2022•18 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Zwischen ca. 1570 und 1680 fielen die Temperaturen weltweit um etwa zwei Grad Celsius. Das verursachte Hungersnöte und Unruhen. Warum wurde es kälter, was passierte und wie reagierten Gesellschaften auf diese Krise, und was hat das alles mit Hexenverbrennungen zu tun? Support the show
Dec 29, 2022•20 min•Season 1Ep. 1
