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David Runciman

The History of Ideas Podcast
with David Runciman

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A bi-weekly podcast exploring the history of ideas from politics to philosophy, science to fiction.

Latest episode

The History of Bad Ideas: Televised Leadership Debates

8 December 2024

00:00 / 01:04

To finish this series of bad ideas, David tries to persuade Gary Gerstle of the futility of televised leadership debates. From Nixon vs Kennedy to Harris vs Trump, do the voters really learn anything from these supposed exchanges of ideas? Are they ever much more than a competition to avoid gaffes? And what did British politics gain when it introduced prime ministerial election debates (apart from a brief attack of Cleggmania)?

A new bonus bad idea is available to accompany this series: David talks to Lucia Rubinelli about what’s wrong with the idea of sovereignty. To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening sign up now to PPF+ https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

To find out about our gift offerings for Christmas and beyond visit the gift page on our website https://www.ppfideas.com/gifts

The latest edition of the PPF newsletter is out now - sign up to get it every fortnight https://www.ppfideas.com/newsletters 

Next time: The Great Political Films resumes with Z (1969)

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More episodes

The History of Bad Ideas: Party Members Choosing Leaders

5 December 2024

00:00 / 01:04

The History of Bad Ideas: Steady State Theory

1 December 2024

00:00 / 01:04

The History of Bad Ideas: The End of History

28 November 2024

00:00 / 01:04

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