For the first episode in a new series about the ideas that could help democracy work better David talks to David Klemperer of the Constitution Society about proportional representation. How did nineteenth-century advocates of PR think it could improve democratic representation? Why did PR get adopted in some places but not in others during the twentieth century? What are the advantages of proportional systems? And when will we get serious electoral reform in the UK?
The 2nd film in our autumn season of Films of Ideas at the Regent Street cinema is coming up on Thursday 25th September: a screening of My Dinner with Andre, followed by a live recording of PPF with playwright and screenwriter Lee Hall, creator of Billy Elliot. Tickets are available now https://bit.ly/4fWDa7V
Next Up in Fixing Democracy: Parliamentary Reform
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Indignity w/Lea Ypi
David talks to Lea Ypi about her new book Indignity: A Life Reimagined, which tells the story of her grandmother’s extraordinary life and in doing so uncovers the hidden history of mid-twentieth-century Europe. But it is also a book about the different philosophies of dignity and how those ideas can shape, make and break individual human lives. A conversation about death and displacement, identity and betrayal, secrecy and salvation.
Indignity: A Life Reimagined by Lea Ypi is out now – get it wherever you get your books. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/458930/indignity-by-ypi-lea/9780241661925
The 2nd film in our autumn season of Films of Ideas at the Regent Street cinema is coming up on Thursday 25th September: a screening of My Dinner with Andre, followed by a live recording of PPF with playwright and screenwriter Lee Hall, creator of Billy Elliot. Tickets are available now https://bit.ly/4fWDa7V
Next up, the start of a new series: Fixing Democracy
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Dignity and Indignity w/Lea Ypi
Today’s episode is the first in a three-part conversation with philosopher and writer Lea Ypi about the idea of dignity and its role in the history of ideas and in the story of our lives. What is the difference between dignity and dignitas? How does our conception of dignity shape the ways that we think about death? And why is Kant so important for showing what the idea of dignity is capable of?
Out tomorrow on PPF+: Part 2 of this conversation, in which David and Lea explore the role of dignity in human rights and in identity politics and ask how much it matters that our politics has become so undignified. To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening sign up now to PPF+ https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus
Lea Ypi’s new book is Indignity: A Life Reimagined – get it wherever you get your books. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/458930/indignity-by-ypi-lea/9780241661925
Tickets are available now for a special recording of PPF Live at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on Wednesday 15th October: Who Rules The World? Trump, Tech and the Fight for the Future. David will be talking to writer, philosopher and ex-politician Bruno Macaes plus a special guest to be announced about where the power really lies. Get your tickets now https://www.cheltenhamfestivals.org/events/who-rules-the-world-trump-tech-and-the-fight-for-the-future
Next time: Lea Ypi talks about her remarkable new book Indignity: A Life Reimagined
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PPF+: More of What You’ve Been Missing!
In today’s episode some more highlights from the PPF+ archive of 35 bonus episodes and counting: here are a few more excerpts we think you might enjoy.
In this episode you’ll hear David talking about In the Loop and the question of why politicians do and don’t resign; Robert Saunders on the legacy of Brexit for politics in 2025; Shannon Vallor on why AI is a vision not of the future but of the past; David on the appeal of High Noon for American presidents; and Alec Ryrie on the relationship between Calvinism, Puritanism and the rise and fall of apartheid South Africa.
To get all these episodes along with the whole of our PPF+ archive, two new bonus episodes every month, plus ad-free listening and automatic sign up for our fortnightly newsletter, join PPF+ now. It’s £5 per month or £50 per year – and every subscription really helps support this podcast https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus
If you would like to gift a PPF+ subscription to someone you know who is starting college or university or a new school or who you think might be interested in what we do for whatever reason, it’s easy: sign them up here https://ppf.supportingcast.fm/gifts
Next time in Politics on Trial: Hitler vs Weimar
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Politics on Trial: Hitler vs Weimar
Today’s epic political trial is the one that should have been the end of Adolf Hitler but ended up being the making of him: his treason trial in 1924 for the so-called Beer Hall Putsch. How close did Hitler’s attempted coup come to succeeding? Why was he allowed to turn the court that tried him into a platform for his poisonous politics? What were the missed opportunities to silence him once and for all?
Out now on PPF+: Part 2 of David’s conversation with Fintan O’Toole about the Easter Rising trials of 1916 – here they explore the treason trial of Sir Roger Casement and the question of what makes a traitor. To get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening sign up now to PPF+ https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus
Tickets are still available for the first screening in our autumn Films of Ideas season at the Regent Street Cinema in London on 5th September: Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope followed by a live recording of PPF with special guests Nicci Gerrard and Sean French, aka the best-selling husband-and-wife crime-writing due Nicci French. Get your tickets here https://bit.ly/4fOp2xx
Next Up: Lea Ypi on Dignity
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Past Present Future is a bi-weekly History of Ideas podcast with David Runciman, host and creator of Talking Politics, exploring the history of ideas from politics to philosophy, culture to technology. David talks to historians, novelists, scientists and many others about where the most interesting ideas come from, what they mean, and why they matter.
Ideas from the past, questions about the present, shaping the future.
New episodes every Wednesday and Sunday.
Australia