“Plato and the Tyrant” with author James Romm

“Plato and the Tyrant” with author James Romm

In 388 BCE, Plato, at the age of about forty and in the midst of writing The Republic, visited for the first time the then-Greek city state of Syracuse, on the eastern shores of Sicily. Syracuse was ruled by a tyrant, Dionysius, who on death was followed by his son, also a tyrant. Over the course of his three separate visits to Syracuse over the years, encountering both father and son, Plato arrived at the model for tyranny laid out in The Republic. That’s the argument of James Romm’s splendid book, Plato and the Tyrant: The Fall of Greece’s Greatest Dynasty and the Making of a Philosophic Masterpiece (W.W. Norton, 2025). In our conversation, Romm renders, not the familiar “marble Plato” of his God-like dialogues, but an altogether human figure grappling with his own personal vulnerabilities. We discuss, too, the parallels to today’s times, in which tyrants and would-be tyrants continue to plague the world. The tyrant, as Romm ably shows, is an archetype for all time. James Romm is the James H. Ottaway Jr. Professor of Classics at Bard College and editor of the Ancient Lives biography series from Yale University Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Avsnitt(1000)

Claire Pierson, "Women's Troubles: Gender and Feminist Politics in Post-Agreement Northern Ireland" (Manchester University Press, 2025)

Claire Pierson, "Women's Troubles: Gender and Feminist Politics in Post-Agreement Northern Ireland" (Manchester University Press, 2025)

How do feminist movements develop and organise in ethno-nationally divided societies? How does this challenge our understandings of contemporary fourth wave feminism? Women's Troubles: Gender and Femi...

21 Juni 202555min

Emmanuel Akyeampong, "Independent Africa: The First Generation of Nation Builders" (Indiana UP, 2023)

Emmanuel Akyeampong, "Independent Africa: The First Generation of Nation Builders" (Indiana UP, 2023)

Independent Africa: The First Generation of Nation Builders (Indiana UP, 2023)explores Africa's political economy in the first two full decades of independence through the joint projects of nation-bui...

19 Juni 20251h 21min

Ioana Emy Matesan, "The Violence Pendulum: Tactical Change in Islamist Groups in Egypt and Indonesia" (Oxford UP, 2020)

Ioana Emy Matesan, "The Violence Pendulum: Tactical Change in Islamist Groups in Egypt and Indonesia" (Oxford UP, 2020)

Research shows that repression can lead to both radicalization and deradicalization. When does it drive groups to pick up arms, and under what conditions does it foster disengagement from violence? To...

15 Juni 202540min

Ethnic minorities are good for democracy – Here is why

Ethnic minorities are good for democracy – Here is why

Democracy scholars often assume that ethnic homogeneity is good for democracy. Politically mobilised ethnic minorities, the assumption goes, stoke divisions and can destabilise democracy. In his lates...

12 Juni 202532min

Marlene Laruelle, "Ideology and Meaning-Making Under the Putin Regime" (Stanford UP, 2025)

Marlene Laruelle, "Ideology and Meaning-Making Under the Putin Regime" (Stanford UP, 2025)

Much has been written to try to understand the ideological characteristics of the current Russian government, as well as what is happening inside the mind of Vladimir Putin. Refusing pundits' clichés ...

12 Juni 202548min

Elizabeth N. Saunders, "The Insiders' Game: How Elites Make War and Peace" (Princeton UP, 2024)

Elizabeth N. Saunders, "The Insiders' Game: How Elites Make War and Peace" (Princeton UP, 2024)

One of the most widely held views of democratic leaders is that they are cautious about using military force because voters can hold them accountable, ultimately making democracies more peaceful. How,...

9 Juni 202547min

Ulf Laessing, "Understanding Libya Since Gaddafi" (Hurst, 2020)

Ulf Laessing, "Understanding Libya Since Gaddafi" (Hurst, 2020)

Why has Libya fallen apart since 2011? The world has largely given up trying to understand how the revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi has left the country a failed state and a major security head...

8 Juni 20251h 5min

NATO, the Indo-Pacific, and the Future of Burden-Sharing: A Conversation with Brian Blankenship

NATO, the Indo-Pacific, and the Future of Burden-Sharing: A Conversation with Brian Blankenship

Professor Brian Blankenship comes back to the New Books Network to talk about what his book, The Burden-Sharing Dilemma: Coercive Diplomacy in US Alliance Politics (Cornell University Press, 2023), mi...

7 Juni 202545min

Populärt inom Vetenskap

dumma-manniskor
p3-dystopia
allt-du-velat-veta
svd-nyhetsartiklar
kapitalet-en-podd-om-ekonomi
sexet
halsorevolutionen
hacka-livet
medicinvetarna
dumforklarat
rss-ufo-bortom-rimligt-tvivel-2
paranormalt-med-caroline-giertz
ufo-sverige
det-morka-psyket
rss-vetenskapsradion
rss-vetenskapsradion-2
rss-spraket
bildningspodden
rss-ronden
rss-geopodden-2