Best Philipp Blom Podcasts (2025)

1
[46] Gerd Schwerhoff — Die Bauernkriege, ein Wendepunkt? 1:05:10

9d ago1:05:10

1:05:10

Im frühen 16. Jahrhundert erhoben sich im süddeutschen Raum tausende von Bauern, Bergwerksknappen und Bürgern gegen ihre adeligen oder kirchlichen Herren. Sie stürmten Burgen und Klöster und forderten mehr Rechte, weniger Frondienste, weniger Steuern und die freie Ernennung von Priestern. Gerd Schwerhoff hat diese Welle von Rebellionen, durch die i…

1
[45] Laura Spinney — The First Human Language and How We Think 1:02:13

16d ago1:02:13

1:02:13

Once more a dive into deep history, this time into the question how languages developed, and how it is possible to reconstruct the history and genesis of languages, and with them of abstract thinking and civilisation. Laura Spinney is a distinguished and bestselling science writer. In her new book Proto she looks at the world of languages before th…

1
[44] Ian Buruma — Where Did the West Begin? 55:56

23d ago55:56

55:56

Ian Buruma is a historian, biographer, memorialist and essayist between “East” and “West" whose insights and intellectual precision make him a joy to discuss with. In his recent biography of Spinoza he argues that the great Enlightenment philosopher has a message that is more urgent today than ever. The idea of a West, of a realm of rational rule a…

1
[43] Julian Baggini — What happened to the Enlightenment? 1:01:30

1M ago1:01:30

1:01:30

Julian Baggini is one of the most insightful writers on philosophy in general and the Enlightenment in particular I know. We talk about the Enlightenment, and in how far it was the radical turning point as which it is often seen, or whether it does not mask great continuities under the guise of dramatic change. Has the Enlightenment released a vast…

1
[42] Misha Glenny — Highways and Byways of History 47:35

1M ago47:35

47:35

A historian and journalist, Misha Glenny has written about the history of the Balkans the wars in Yugoslavia, about cybercrime, and about international organised crime in “McMafia” which also became a TV series. In this free-ranging conversation we not only revisit his fascination with history and with accelerating change, but we also discuss what …

1
[41] Luuk van Middelaar — Can Europe do Power? 53:07

1M ago53:07

53:07

Luuk van Middelaar is head of the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics, as he points out an ironic name, because until very recently Brussels and geopolitics rarely occurred in the same sentence. But things have changed, and in a new world in which Russia is invading Ukraine and the USA are, as Luuk put it, “the sun leaving the solar system” Europe w…

1
[40] Julia Fischer — Wann wurden Primaten zu Menschen? 55:13

2M ago55:13

55:13

In dieser Folge gehe ich zurück zum frühesten aller Wendepunkte der menschlichen Geschichte. Die Primatologin Julia Fischer studiert Paviane und besucht seit vielen Jahren dieselbe Gruppe von Tieren, um ihre Kommunikation und ihr Sozialverhalten besser zu verstehen. Obwohl andere Pavian-Arten brutal und hierarchisch sind, sind diese Tiere anders, s…

1
[39] Ulrich Schmid — von der Oktoberrevolution in die Gegenwart 1:01:08

2M ago1:01:08

1:01:08

Ulrich Schmid ist Slawist und unterrichtet an der Universität Sankt Gallen. Sein Wendepunkt ist die Revolution 1917 und besonders die Rolle von Lenin dabei. Einmal mehr stellt sich die Frage, ob Revolutionen wirklich radikale Umbrüche sind, oder ob sie nicht auch viele Kontinuitäten kaschieren. Die Art der Machtausübung und das Verständnis davon, w…

1
[38] Bas van Bavel — How Markets Captured Societies 54:19

2M ago54:19

54:19

The “Golden Age” during the seventeenth century was a period of unparalleled power, wealth, and splendour in the Netherlands. It was made possible by the maritime trade with Asia and the economic growth the East India Company brought to the country. But it carried the seed of its downfall. As the rich grew richer they not only speculated with tulip…

1
[37] Padraic Scanian — What the Irish Potato Famine Tells us About Markets and Merit 1:03:21

2M ago1:03:21

1:03:21

The so-called Irish Potato Famine between 1845 and 1852 killed up to one million people and led to the emigration of hundreds of thousands of others. It left a deep imprint on Irish, European and American history and memory. But this was not a natural catastrophe, argues economic historian Padraic Scanian. He sees the famine as a result of globalis…

1
[36] Jörg Baberowski — Macht und Herrschaft in Russland und Europa 58:55

3M ago58:55

58:55

Die russische Geschichte ist voller dramatischer Wendepunkte — von Peter dem Großen und Katharina II. bis zur Revolution und dem Fall der Sowjetunion — aber hinter den Ereignissen steht eine große Kontinuität von Macht, davon, wie sie funktioniert und worauf sie sich gründet. Macht in Russland hat schon seit Jahrhunderten anders funktioniert als im…

1
[35] Trevor Jackson — Capitalism and the Impunity of the Elites 1:01:07

3M ago1:01:07

1:01:07

Trevor Jackson is an economic historian teaching at Berkeley. I talk to him about the current political situation of the universities and the science, and about his own research area, the history of capitalism, which has always been prone to crashes and other crises. The development of a capitalist economy is also the story of the elites learning t…

1
[34] Kwame Anthony Appiah — On Tribalism and Cosmopolitanism 1:14:12

3M ago1:14:12

1:14:12

In a life lived between Ghana, Britain and the USA, Kwame Anthony Appiah has had ample opportunity to reflect on identities and difference, as well as what binds us together. Our conversation starts with the struggles of decolonisation and moves towards trying to understand the role and importance a liberal education for functioning democracies. Ar…

1
[33] Sunil Amrith — The Burning Earth 56:28

4M ago56:28

56:28

The current crisis of democracy and governance goes back a long way, and has a lot in common with the development of capitalism, says my guest Sunil Amrith, professor of history at Yale University. The logic of profit and exploitation not only damaged natural systems, it profoundly changed societies and their ways of organising themselves and under…

1
[32] The Collapse of the West and European Futures 1:00:32

4M ago1:00:32

1:00:32

The first episode in this new series of the BlomCast looks at a truly historic event: the end of the “West”. With the new US administration, the transatlantic alliance has practically collapsed leaving Europe exposed to a dictator on its eastern flank whose war has already cost some one million lives. Whither Europe? Will it become a collection of …

1
[31] Danilo Brozovic — How Societies Collapse 1:22:18

5M ago1:22:18

1:22:18

Societal collapse is a topic hotly debated not only among climate scientists and activists. But why do formerly prosperous and powerful societies break down? And what makes them resilient? Are the reasons the same for ancient Rome and the empire of the Incas, for the Chinese Tang dynasty and the culture of Rapanui (Easter Islands)? Danilo Brozovic …

1
[30] Raoul Schrott — Der Sternenhimmel oder, wie Homo sapiens die Welt eroberte 1:34:46

6M ago1:34:46

1:34:46

Alle Kulturen sehen dieselben Sterne (wenn auch auf beiden Hemisphären unterschiedlich), erzählen sich aber ganz unterschiedliche Geschichten darüber. Tatsächlich gibt es überraschende Ähnlichkeiten zwischen den Sternbildern der Australischen Ureinwohner und der Mesopotamier, der Buschleute und der Maya, die nur schwer zu erklären sind, sagt Raoul …

1
[29] Richard Cockett — Vienna, City of Ideas 1:07:44

8M ago1:07:44

1:07:44

Modernity is a Viennese phenomenon, says historian Richard Cockett, who is currently working as senior editor at The Economist. The cauldron of Vienna ca. 1900 with its dynamism, its migrants and its cultural new beginnings and especially the political and intellectual energies after the First World War created panoply of new approaches which revol…

1
[28] Musa Al-Gharbi — Symbolic Capitalism and the Pitfalls of Moral Righteousness 1:23:47

8M ago1:23:47

1:23:47

"We Have Never Been Woke" is the title of Musa Al-Gharbi’s brilliantly polemic analysis of an educational and social elite that believes it has all the answers. He calls this professional class symbolic capitalists — people who make their living from manipulating the symbols of our societies, i.e. journalists, academics, creative professions, the m…

1
[27] Franz Essl — Über Wendepunkte reden 1:09:26

8M ago1:09:26

1:09:26

Die Artenvielfalt bricht weltweit so rasend schnell zusammen, dass die Naturwissenschaft schon von einem Sechsten Artensterben sprechen. In Europa sind beispielsweise die Insekten um bis zu 80% zurückgegangen, die der Singvögel um etwa 50%. Franz Essl ist Biodiversitätsforscher an der Universität Wien. Seine Wahl zum Wissenschaftler des Jahres 2023…

1
[26] Samuel Moyn — Has the Liberal Dream Collapsed 1:00:44

10M ago1:00:44

1:00:44

In this fascinating conversation we explore the history of liberal ideas from Alexis de Tocqueville and John Stuart Mills until today. Samuel Moyn is particularly interested in liberalism during the Cold War and the changes these ideas were subjected to during the battle of the ideologies. But we also explore how important theological traditions ar…

1
[25] Philipp Blom — Zerrissene Jahre 26:43

10M ago26:43

26:43

Warum sind so viele Menschen der Meinung, dass ihre Gesellschaften zerrissen sind, dass die Demokratie am Ende ist, dass sie überwältigt werden durch Fremdheit, durch Migration, dass sie in einer Welt leben, die sie nicht mehr verstehen? Das hat mehrere Gründe, glaube ich, aber zwei scheinen mir besonders wichtig: Demographie und Technologie. In al…

1
[24] Roman Krznaric – History for Tomorrow 1:09:14

11M ago1:09:14

1:09:14

It is an age-old question: can we learn from history? Yes! says distinguished political scientist Roman Krznaric in his new book, which looks at the past for inspiration for building a better future. From striking low-caste women in Kerala to Suffragettes in Great Britain, from the first explosion of capitalism in 17-century Amsterdam to the rise o…

1
[23] Gaia Vince – Climate and a World in Motion 57:05

11M ago57:05

57:05

Celebrated science writer Gaia Vince takes us into a future that is strangely familiar and yet quite different. The future will be determined by managing the immense and irresistible forces of climate change and global migration, and that can only become possible by embracing radical change and making courageous choices. There is no way forward wit…

1
[22] Richard Whatmore – The End of Enlightenment? 58:49

12M ago58:49

58:49

Richard Whatmore reads the late eighteenth century very much as a warning to the present. Some of the greatest Enlightenment thinkers were despairing of the fact that their fight against prejudice and fanaticism, against the power or princes and priests, had led to a mercantile state living in a perpetual state of war, and a society whose fanaticis…

1
[21] Katy Hessel — The Story of Art without Men 59:34

12M ago59:34

59:34

In this episode I talk about the amazing history of women artists, and of who is written into history, and who isn’t. Katy Hessel writes not only about female artists, but also about ways of seeing, of telling stories, and of telling the story of humanity. Why were women, even if they had been hugely successful artists in their own time, written ou…

1
[20] Olivier Roy — the Crisis of Culture 1:05:06

1+ y ago1:05:06

1:05:06

Four great forces have changed human cultures, says Olivier Roy distinguished political scientist and expert on radical Islam: a change in sexual mores since 1968, the internet, the liberalisation of global finance, and the free movement of people. the result is a flattened world, in which old hierarchies count for little and implicit culture is be…

1
[19] Maja Göpel — wie man eine Zukunft baut 51:40

1+ y ago51:40

51:40

Maja Göpel ist nicht nur die wohl bekannteste Zukunftsforscherin Deutschlands, sie ist auch eine anregende Gesprächspartnerin und Analystin. Die Energiewende und die Stärkung der Demokratie sind Themen, die sie besonders umtreiben. Wir sprechen über Klima, Superreiche, wie Demokratien ticken und was nötig ist, um für eine sinnvolle, lebenswerte Zuk…

1
[18] From the Invention of Race and to Identity Politics 1:14:15

1+ y ago1:14:15

1:14:15

Kenan Malik is simply one of the most nuanced and profound thinkers about race and cultural identity I know. You may have seen his columns in the Observer or his books The Quest for a Moral Compass or Not So Black And White. Here we talk about when and why the idea of different races was invented to justify slavery and turn people against one anoth…

1
[17] Der Zusammenbruch des liberalen Projekts? Teil 2 1:09:32

1+ y ago1:09:32

1:09:32

Ist die Polykrise eine Nebenwirkung des Fortschritts und eines siegreichen Liberalismus? Der Sieg der liberalen Welt transformierte das Leben auf diesem Planeten innerhalb kürzester Zeit auf dramatische Weise. Dabei sind viele der liberalen Grundideen zur Unkenntlichkeit verzerrt worden. Ist das liberale Projekt also Opfer seines eigenen Erfolgs un…

1
[17] The collapse of the liberal project? Part 2 49:06

1+ y ago49:06

49:06

Is the polycrisis a side effect of progress and victorious liberalism? The victory of the liberal world has dramatically transformed life on this planet in a very short space of time. In the process, many of the basic liberal ideas have been distorted beyond recognition. Is the liberal project a victim of its own success and, if so, is it doomed to…

1
[16] Der Zusammenbruch des liberalen Projekts? Teil 1 50:35

1+ y ago50:35

50:35

Vor ziemlich genau einer Generation verkündete der triumphierende Westen den Sieg der liberalen Welt des liberalen Projekts. Von nun an würde es nur noch ein Modell für Gesellschaften geben: liberale Demokratien in einem globalen Markt. Es ist ganz anders gekommen. Die Welt steckt in einer Polykrise und heute kämpfen die Kernideen des liberalen Pro…

1
[16] The collapse of the liberal project? Part 1 49:41

1+ y ago49:41

49:41

Almost exactly a generation ago, the triumphant West proclaimed the victory of the liberal world, of the liberal project. From now on, there would be only one model for societies: liberal democracies in a global market. Things have turned out quite differently. The world is in a polycrisis and today the core ideas of the liberal project - individua…

1
[15] Transformationen — Wenn die Welt eine andere wird 59:31

1+ y ago59:31

59:31

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…

1
[14] The Tyranny of Merit—How Liberal Promises Have Turned Sour 47:49

2y ago47:49

47:49

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…

1
[13] Subjugate the Earth — The Rise and Fall of an Idea 26:25

2y ago26:25

26:25

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…

1
[12] The Story of Culture: a conversation with Martin Puchner 1:01:41

2y ago1:01:41

1:01:41

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 o…

1
[11] Magnificent Rebels — the Romantic Revolution 59:24

2y ago59:24

59:24

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 w…

1
[10] A New Enlightenment? 31:48

2y ago31:48

31:48

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, a…

1
[09] Künstliche Intelligenz — der Wendepunkt für Mensch und Maschine? 21:56

2y ago21:56

21:56

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 Fäh…

1
[09] Artificial Intelligence — The Turning Point in the Story of Humanity and Machines? 24:45

2y ago24:45

24:45

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…

1
[08] The Fall of Rome — Was it Decadence, Plague, or Climate Change? 1:00:45

2+ y ago1:00:45

1:00:45

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…

1
[07] Warum Europa? 20:54

2+ y ago20:54

20:54

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 …

1
[07] Why Europe 27:26

2+ y ago27:26

27:26

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 R…

1
[06] "Macht Euch die Erde untertan" — woher kommt die Idee der Naturbeherrschung? 24:21

2+ y ago24:21

24:21

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 showBy Philipp Blom

1
[06] “Subdue the Earth” — How the Idea of Dominating Nature was Born 30:54

2+ y ago30:54

30:54

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 showBy Philipp Blom

1
[05] Kultur zwischen Eis und Feuer 23:08

2+ y ago23:08

23:08

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 Stadtku…

1
[05] Culture Between Ice and Fire 25:05

2+ y ago25:05

25:05

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 th…

1
[04] Die Feuerpumpe — Warum Utopien scheitern 18:39

2+ y ago18:39

18:39

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 showBy Philipp Blom

1
[04] The Fire Pump — Why Utopias Fail 17:59

2+ y ago17:59

17:59

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 showBy Philipp Blom

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Philipp Blom Podcasts

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