“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)

Diana Graizbord, "Indicators of Democracy: The Politics and Promise of Evaluation Expertise in Mexico" (Stanford UP, 2024)

Diana Graizbord, "Indicators of Democracy: The Politics and Promise of Evaluation Expertise in Mexico" (Stanford UP, 2024)

The spread of democracy across the Global South has taken many different forms, but certain features are consistent: implementing a system of elections and an overarching mission of serving the will a...

8 Maj 202550min

Martin Thomas, "The End of Empires and a World Remade: A Global History of Decolonization" (Princeton UP, 2024)

Martin Thomas, "The End of Empires and a World Remade: A Global History of Decolonization" (Princeton UP, 2024)

Empires, until recently, were everywhere. They shaped borders, stirred conflicts, and set the terms of international politics. With the collapse of empire came a fundamental reorganization of our worl...

7 Maj 202546min

Time to Rethink Democracy: Participatory and More-Than-Human Perspectives

Time to Rethink Democracy: Participatory and More-Than-Human Perspectives

This is a special episode that features a conversation between Sonia Bussu and Hans Asenbaum on democracy, capitalism, climate and the practices and prospects of participatory, deliberative and more-t...

6 Maj 202539min

Stephen H. Legomsky, "Reimagining the American Union: The Case for Abolishing State Government" (Cambridge UP, 2024)

Stephen H. Legomsky, "Reimagining the American Union: The Case for Abolishing State Government" (Cambridge UP, 2024)

Since American president Donald Trump was elected to a second term, it is common to hear citizens, journalists, and public officials distinguish between the laws and leaders of their states and the na...

5 Maj 202557min

Jerome Powell: “We don't think you're a straight shooter"

Jerome Powell: “We don't think you're a straight shooter"

More than any one institution, the US Federal Reserve drives global capital markets with its decisions and communications. While its interest rates are set by a committee, for almost a century, the Fe...

4 Maj 202549min

Janet Yellen: “She had a view that the world was on fire”

Janet Yellen: “She had a view that the world was on fire”

More than any other single institution, the US Federal Reserve drives global capital markets with its decisions and communications. While its interest rates are set by a committee, for almost a centur...

3 Maj 202557min

Ben Bernanke: “Like being a paleontologist”

Ben Bernanke: “Like being a paleontologist”

More than any other single institution, the US Federal Reserve drives global capital markets with its decisions and communications. While its interest rates are set by a committee, for almost a centur...

2 Maj 202543min

Nicholas D. Anderson, "Inadvertent Expansion: How Peripheral Agents Shape World Politics" (Cornell UP, 2025)

Nicholas D. Anderson, "Inadvertent Expansion: How Peripheral Agents Shape World Politics" (Cornell UP, 2025)

Territorial expansion is typically understood as a centrally driven and often strategic activity. But Nicholas D. Anderson’s new book, Inadvertent Expansion (Cornell University Press, 2025), shows tha...

1 Maj 202533min

Populärt inom Vetenskap

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