In our series about how twentieth-century philosophy and biography intersect, David talks to philosopher Alex Carter about the life of Albert Camus, novelist, playwright, journalist, celebrity and public intellectual. What makes Camus a philosopher as well? How was he shaped by his Algerian background? Does it make sense to call him an absurdist? How did he try to reconcile the very different parts of his extraordinary life?

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus upcoming events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next time in The Lives of the Philosophers: J. L. Austin

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The second life we explore in our series about the twentieth-century philosophers could not be more different from the first: David talks to philosopher Alex Carter about Simone Weil, who died aged just thirty-four and lived through much political and personal hardship, some of it self-inflicted. How did her asceticism inform her philosophical outlook? Why did she believe she needed to work in a factory and fight in the Spanish civil war to be true to her beliefs? When and how does her philosophy morph into theology? Was she a saint?

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus upcoming events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next time in The Lives of the Philosophers: Albert Camus

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Today we begin a new series exploring twentieth-century philosophy through the lives of the people behind the ideas. First up David talks to philosopher Nikhil Krishnan about A. J. Ayer, the man who helped inspire the rise and fall of logical positivism. What did Ayer discover about the nature of truth when he went to Vienna on his honeymoon? How did he manage to popularise such a technical approach to his subject? What was left of philosophy when he had finished with it? And what does Ayer’s taste for football, sex and celebrity tell us about his attitude to the life of the mind?

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus upcoming events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next time in The Lives of the Philosophers: Simone Weil

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In today’s episode David talks to forensic anthropologist Sue Black about what happens when forensic science and forensic expertise end up on trial in the courtroom. When and how did scientists get involved in the business of criminal prosecution? What changed with the advent of DNA testing? Is the adversarial system the best way of testing scientific evidence? Can a jury distinguish between good science, bad science and junk science? And what might have gone wrong in the case of Lucy Letby?

Sue Black’s An Expert Witness is available now wherever you get your books https://bit.ly/45hcTge

Out now on PPF+: a final bad ideas bonus episode in which geneticist and science writer Adam Rutherford explains what’s wrong with genealogy: why does wanting to know where we come from lead us down so many blind alleys? To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening sign up to PPF+ now https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus upcoming events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next time a brand-new series: The Lives of the Philosophers

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We come to the end of this series of bad ideas with a conversation with neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan about the problems of living in an age of diagnosis, when all medical conditions need a label and new labels appear all the time. What happens when the classification criteria for conditions like autism and ADHD get broader and broader? Are doctors or patients driving this? When does predictive testing do more harm than good? Why does advocacy for sufferers get in the way of good health? Is de-diagnosis achievable?

The Age of Diagnosis by Suzanne O’Sullivan is available now https://bit.ly/3U1ZwOu

Out tomorrow on PPF+: a bad ideas bonus episode in which geneticist and science writer Adam Rutherford explains what’s wrong with genealogy: why does wanting to know where we come from lead us down so many blind alleys? To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening sign up to PPF+ now https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus upcoming events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next Time: Forensics on Trial

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Today’s bad idea is one with a very recent history but also a long backstory: David talks to author and journalist James Marriott about what happens when the written word gets supplanted by video and when videos get shorter and shorter. Did the rot set in with television, with YouTube or with TikTok? Is short-form video a symptom or a cause of our shrinking attention spans? What does it mean to have a TikTok prime minister? And is there any way to get people reading again? 

The New Dark Ages by James Marriott is out next month https://bit.ly/3TJR7zd

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus upcoming events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next time in The History of Bad Ideas: Overdiagnosis

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Today’s bad idea is also one that is very hard to pin down: David talks to writer and literary scholar Ian Ellison about the concept of decadence, which went from explaining the fall of ancient Rome to becoming a label modern artists wanted to claim for themselves. What makes a society decadent? Is it always a bad thing? When does decadence explain what’s happening and when does it distract from what’s happening? Was Weimar Germany the best of decadence or the worst of it? And how decadent are we today?

Out now on PPF+: a bonus episode to accompany this series in which David talks to political historian David Klemperer about the idea of social credit, which promised to save the world in the 1920s and 1930s and ended up doing nothing of the sort. A fascinating story of cranks, conspiracy theorists and crypto-fascists with curious echoes in Silicon Valley today. To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening sign up to PPF+ now https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next Time in The History of Bad Ideas: Short-Form Video

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Today’s bad idea spans literature, film, pop culture and plenty else besides: David talks to literary critic and memoirist Catherine Taylor about what’s wrong with romantic heroes, from Byron and Heathcliff to James Dean and Jack Kerouac to Bridget Jones’s Mr Darcy and Andy Burnham. How did Romanticism give rise to the template for the brooding outsider who gets the girl? Which was the only Bronte sister to see through the myth? Why do romantic heroines get such a raw deal by comparison? And why does this idea lead to so much bad male behaviour?

Out tomorrow on PPF+: a bonus episode to accompany this series in which David talks to political historian David Klemperer about the idea of social credit, which promised to save the world in the 1920s and 1930s and ended up doing nothing of the sort. A fascinating story of cranks, conspiracy theorists and crypto-fascists with curious echoes in Silicon Valley today. To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening sign up to PPF+ now https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next Time in The History of Bad Ideas: Decadence

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Today’s bad idea is one the United States has been stuck with for a long time: David talks to historian of America Adam Smith about the damage done by the idea of the electoral college. Why was it thought necessary by the Founders to have special electors between the voters and their choice of president? What made it a dead letter almost as soon as it was created? How has it served to distort or discredit electoral outcomes? When, if ever, will it be replaced and if so by what?

Out now on PPF+: part two of David’s conversation with Nikhil Krishnan about the political pitfalls of utilitarianism: from what it means for democracy to how it was used to justify colonialism. To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening sign up to PPF+ now https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next Time in The History of Bad Ideas: The Romantic Hero

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Today’s episode in the history of bad ideas is about one of the central ideas in modern philosophy: utilitarianism, or the view that what matters is the greatest happiness of the greatest number. David talks to philosopher Nikhil Krishnan about how something that sounds so intuitively unobjectionable can produce some extremely objectionable outcomes. What is utility and how do we measure it? Does being a utilitarian actually make you happier? Whose pleasure and pain gets to count? And what happens when killing an innocent person will save many others … should we do it?

Out tomorrow on PPF+: part two of this conversation in which David and Nikhil explore some of the political implications of utilitarianism from what it means for democracy to how it was used to justify colonialism. To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening sign up to PPF+ now https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next Time in The History of Bad Ideas: The Electoral College

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Today’s bad idea is a pervasive political myth: the notion that what really matters at election time is political leadership. David talks to political scientist Jane Green about why leaders are less important than they – and we – tend to think. What does shape how people choose to vote? Why do we consistently overstate what leaders can do? Did Blair or Johnson or Starmer really ‘win’ their elections? Can Andy Burnham buck the trend?

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next Time in The History of Bad Ideas: Utilitarianism

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David talks to historian and broadcaster Greg Jenner about the surprising history of the idea of celebrity, from Roman generals to 18th-century child stars to contemporary pop culture icons. How is celebrity different from fame or renown? What makes celebrity so seductive, so pervasive and, sometimes, so dangerous? Why are celebrity culture and commercial culture inextricably linked? And what are the lessons from the celebrity of Michael Jackson?

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next Time in The History of Bad Ideas: Political Leadership is What Counts

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Today’s episode is about a bad idea with a very recent history: David talks to political historian David Klemperer about the dangers of deliverism. When did the view that delivering for the voters is a good idea become so controversial? What does it get right and what does it get wrong about how elections are decided? Has politics become more about telling the right story than about delivering the right benefits? And is Andy Burnham a deliverist, a post-deliverist or something else?

Out now on PPF+ a bonus episode to accompany this series: David talks about what’s wrong with the idea of ‘the news’ and how it corrupts us all. To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening sign up to PPF+ now https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next Time in The History of Bad Ideas: Celebrity

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Today’s bad idea is a way of doing history: David talks to historian Alec Ryrie about the seductions and pitfalls of narrative history. Why do we need more Herodotus and less Thucydides? What makes so many historians believe that the meaning of a story is determined by its end? How does narrative history distort our understanding of contemporary events? And how can podcasts do it better?

Out tomorrow on PPF+ a bonus episode to accompany this series: David talks about what’s wrong with the idea of ‘the news’ and how it corrupts us all. To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening sign up to PPF+ now https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next time in The History of Bad Ideas: Deliverism

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For the first in a new set of episodes about bad ideas with interesting histories David talks to the writer and broadcaster Helen Lewis about hysteria, an ancient idea that became a very modern diagnosis. Why was hysteria associated with both madness and saintliness? How did Charcot and then Freud use hysteria to rationalise otherwise baffling female behaviour? What happens when group hysteria takes hold? And why do we still find it so hard to do without these kinds of labels?

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next time in The History of Bad Ideas: Narrative History

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In the second part of their conversation about what has happened to our ideas of the future David and Ivan Krastev explore where the future is going next. Why do our expectations of what comes after us shift as we live longer and our societies age? What changes in the human understanding of the future as humans get displaced by machines? And where might we end up if we continue to fixate on end-of-the-world scenarios? From future utopias to future dystopias and all that lies between.

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next Time in The History of Bad Ideas: Hysteria w/Helen Lewis

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Today’s episode is the first of two with writer and political scientist Ivan Krastev exploring what has happened to our ideas of the future. When did thinking about the future become the way we defined our present? What goes wrong with democracy when we start to lose our faith in the future? Why did the end of history turn out to be an illusion? And how has Trump changed the way we experience political time?

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next Time: The Future of the Future

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Today’s episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the Regent Street Cinema in London: David talks to the geneticist and science writer Adam Rutherford about Mark Romanek’s 2010 film of Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2005 novel Never Let Me Go. A story of cloning and organ donation that explores the meaning of mortality, is it science fiction, speculative fiction or something else entirely? How can a film set in a wholly familiar version of late 20th-century Britain feel so otherworldly? And are we ultimately meant to pity the donors we are watching or to identify with them?

Out now on PPF+: part 2 of David’s conversation with Robert Saunders on the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum exploring how we got from there to here: is the state of British politics today a direct result of what happened in June 2106? To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening sign up to PPF+ now https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next Time In Where Are We Going?: The History and Future of the Future w/Ivan Krastev

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Today’s episode in our occasional series looking at significant political anniversaries explores the causes and consequences of the Brexit Referendum, which took place 10 years ago this week. David talks to historian Robert Saunders about why the referendum was called, how the vote was won and how it was lost, and what made it such a difficult decision to implement. Did the referendum change who we were or did it reveal who we are? And is it too soon to know what it all meant?

Out tomorrow on PPF+: part two of this conversation in which David and Robert explore how we got from there to here, looking at the twists and turns of British politics over the last ten years and asking whether the state of British politics today is a consequence of what happened in June 2016. To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening sign up to PPF+ now https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next time: Live Film Special – Never Let Me Go w/Adam Rutherford

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Today’s episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the Cheltenham Science Festival: David talks to Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales about what we can learn from the astonishing success of an encyclopaedia built by its users. When and how did people realise they could trust Wikipedia? What makes Wikipedia different from Uber, Airbnb and other online businesses that depend on public trust? Are there wider lessons for how we might do democracy differently? And what will happen to Wikipedia in the age of AI?

Jimmy Wales’s book The Seven Rules of Trust is available now https://bit.ly/3Q4KuWT

You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com

Next Time: Now & Then with Robert Saunders – The Brexit Referendum 10 Years On

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