#DeleteMonday with Talking Politics: History of Ideas 2

by Samyuktha Varma

Now that the existential threat feeling is starting to lift, how about some Sartre?

This week I am recommending “Talking Politics: History of Ideas 2” Podcast which I think is as good if not better than a Masterclass (I’ve never taken a Masterclass). The show is hosted by Cambridge Professor and London Review of Books contributor David Runciman, who hosts Talking Politics, which is a great, serious interview show about politics. This spinoff series is for when you’re feeling extra nerdy and thinking about how it might be the right time to fill some of the “gaps” in your education from the lectures you skipped to go drink beer.

It’s Monday morning, so I’m not going to waste your time — here are three reasons why it’s great: First, David Runciman has an extraordinary voice and his presentation style makes you feel like he wrote up a talk just for you. The series has no music, no distractions, no archival audio, and makes no attempt to entertain, it’s just Prof Runciman talking, and you will listen because he wrote this so that you — lazy college drunk — can get another chance to finally learn something. Second, the episodes are standalone, each devoted to an important work of an important political thinker, so while helpful, you don’t have to go in order.

There is no episode on Jean-Paul Sartre (yet), and right now I’m enjoying “Rousseau on Inequality” in which he talks about Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s discourse on Inequality. Third, like all great professors he takes all your muddled feelings about the world and boils them down to fundamental questions: in this one, it is “How did we end up with these idiots in charge?”. Who wouldn’t want to know the answer!

Listen to this episode of Talking Politics History of Ideas 2 on Spotify here.