John Gray and David Runciman on Finding Meaning in a Post-Liberal World

John Gray and David Runciman on Finding Meaning in a Post-Liberal World

John Gray is one of the UK’s most important and influential political thinkers. Sceptical of ideas about progress and the perfectibility of human nature, he is an arch critic of liberalism, believing that history moves in cycles rather than inexorably towards a better future. For this episode of Intelligence Squared he is joined by David Runciman, a political scientist known for his clear analysis of modern political complexities. Together they explore the themes of Gray’s new book The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism, which looks at the world of the 2020s through the prism of the great 17th-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes, famous for saying that without government, life would be ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. Traversing 20th-century Russia, India and China, and referencing thinkers from Nietzsche and Hegel to Pinker and Fukuyama, Gray shares his realist vision for what the future may hold and explains how, in a world of absurdity, meaning can be found not in grandiose ideas but in more modest ethics. We’d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on and what our future debates should be. Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to podcasts@intelligencesquared.com or Tweet us @intelligence2. And if you’d like to support our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations, as well as ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content, early access and much more, become a supporter of Intelligence Squared. Just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jaksot(1542)

VS Naipaul in Conversation With Geordie Greig

VS Naipaul in Conversation With Geordie Greig

Nobel laureate and giant of Western letters, Trinidad-born V. S. Naipaul has excelled in both fiction and non-fiction. His latest book The Masque of Africa: Glimpses of African Belief is a travelogue ...

12 Kesä 20141h 20min

Stop Poking the Bear: The West Needs to Engage with Putin Not Castigate Him

Stop Poking the Bear: The West Needs to Engage with Putin Not Castigate Him

You don’t have to like Vladimir Putin, or doubt that he’s a nasty piece of work, to recognise that the Russian president’s reaction to the crisis in Ukraine is largely justified. The promise that Russ...

5 Kesä 201448min

How to Think Like a Freak: Learn How to Make Smarter Decisions with the authors of "Freakonomics"

How to Think Like a Freak: Learn How to Make Smarter Decisions with the authors of "Freakonomics"

The books Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics have been worldwide sensations, selling tens of millions of copies. They have come to stand for challenging conventional wisdom using data rather than emot...

29 Touko 20141h 31min

Look West Not East: South America Will be the 21st Century's Superpower

Look West Not East: South America Will be the 21st Century's Superpower

Conventional wisdom tells us that a new star will rise in the East, and all eyes have been looking towards China or India as the 21st century’s new superpower. But remarkable as their recent economic ...

21 Touko 20141h 41min

The Allied Bombing of German Cities in World War Two Was Unjustifiable

The Allied Bombing of German Cities in World War Two Was Unjustifiable

No one doubts the bravery of the thousands of men who flew and died in Bomber Command. The death rate was an appalling 44%. And yet until the opening of a monument in Green Park this year they have re...

12 Touko 20141h 29min

Calm Down Dears: State Snooping Is A Price Worth Paying For Our Security

Calm Down Dears: State Snooping Is A Price Worth Paying For Our Security

So now we know: our spooks and their spooks are hoovering up and exchanging massive amounts of data on our private lives: not just whom we phone and email but the actual content of our communications;...

7 Touko 20141h 35min

Western Parents Don't Know How to Bring Up Their Children

Western Parents Don't Know How to Bring Up Their Children

Why are there so many Chinese maths and music prodigies? Because Chinese mothers believe schoolwork and music practice come first, that an A-minus is a bad grade, that sleepovers, TV and computer game...

1 Touko 20141h 31min

The Making Of The Modern Middle East: Lawrence of Arabia and King Faisal I

The Making Of The Modern Middle East: Lawrence of Arabia and King Faisal I

How much blame for the current troubles in the Middle East lies with the decisions made by the West in 1919 – when the Ottoman Empire was carved up arbitrarily into the modern states we know today? Is...

24 Huhti 20141h 30min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

uutiscast
aikalisa
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
politiikan-puskaradio
tervo-halme
rss-podme-livebox
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
otetaan-yhdet
the-ulkopolitist
rss-asiastudio
rikosmyytit
aihe
rss-merja-mahkan-rahat
rss-kaikki-uusiksi
rss-hyvaa-huomenta-bryssel
rss-aijat-hopottaa-podcast
rss-sanna-ukkola-show-verkkouutiset
rss-vain-talouselamaa