Beyond the Text: The Intellectual Historian's Podcast

Samuel Woodall and Jack Thomson
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Welcome to Beyond the Text, a podcast series dedicated to delving into intellectual history with depth and context. In a world saturated with quick takes, Beyond the Text goes the extra mile. Paying homage to Skinner's insights on the importance of context, this podcast unveils overlooked aspects of historical and intellectual narratives. Co-hosted by Samuel Woodall and Jack Thomson, Beyond the Text explores the profound impact of thought and ideas throughout human history—forces that have driven change, shaped societies, and sparked revolutions. Beyond the mere words on the page, this podcast unravels the layers surrounding pivotal concepts and moments. Each episode meticulously examines the connections, influences, and societal currents that contribute to their evolution. Join us on this journey to grasp the true significance of intellectual history. Whether you're an enthusiast, a curious mind, or someone intrigued by the myriad forces shaping our world, Beyond the Text provides a space for nuanced exploration. Tune in and venture beyond the surface to understand the rich tapestry of our intellectual heritage. Samuel Woodall is a PhD candidate in Intellectual History at the University of Buckingham. He previously earned an MLitt in Intellectual History from the University of St. Andrews and a BA (Hons) in History and Politics from the University of Exeter. Jack Thomson holds an MA in Philosophy from the University of Buckingham and brings a philosophical lens to the exploration of ideas, ensuring each discussion is both rigorous and thought-provoking.

  1. 1d ago

    Can society have a common interest? With Professor Jacob Sider Jost

    Send us Fan Mail Can society have a common interest when everyone has interests of their own? Samuel Woodall and Jack Thomson welcome Professor Jacob Sider Jost, Professor and Chair of English at Dickinson College, for an audio-only conversation about the many meanings of interest in eighteenth-century life. Beginning with Robinson Crusoe, we explore how a single word connected money, storytelling, political allegiance, friendship and patronage. Lord Hervey's memoirs reveal a world of personal networks, while Olaudah Equiano's Interesting Narrative brings emotional involvement, financial independence and the abolitionist cause into conversation. We ask when connections become exclusion, whose interests count as the common good, and whether self-interest must be selfish. The discussion closes with Adam Smith, sociability and the desire to be worthy of other people's approval. Hosted by Samuel Woodall and Jack Thomson. Guest: Professor Jacob Sider Jost. JACOB'S BOOK Jacob Sider Jost, Interest and Connection in the Eighteenth Century: Hervey, Johnson, Smith, Equiano (University of Virginia Press, 2020). https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/5566/ FURTHER READING DISCUSSED Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1719). Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789). J. A. W. Gunn, Politics and the Public Interest in the Seventeenth Century (1969). Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and The Wealth of Nations (1776). Explore Beyond the Text: https://beyondthetext.co.uk The Intellectual Historian: https://theintellectualhistorian.com CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome and the question of common interest 01:21 Robinson Crusoe and two kinds of interest 05:21 Interest across eighteenth-century life 10:14 Method, selfishness and self-interest 17:33 Lord Hervey, patronage and networks 23:29 Human scale, merit and life writing 29:04 Equiano's Interesting Narrative 34:26 Groups, loyalty and nationalism 39:41 Whose interests count as the common good? 47:49 Adam Smith, sociability and recognition 49:53 Closing thanks Support the show

    Can society have a common interest? With Professor Jacob Sider Jost

  2. 2d ago

    The World in Fall: Foreign Interference and the Defence of Liberal Europe

    Send us Fan Mail When does political disagreement become a struggle to destroy the conditions that make disagreement possible? Samuel Woodall explores The World in Fall, bringing intellectual history into conversation with international relations. Following his work on Britain, Russia and Ukraine, he examines how domestic extremism and authoritarian interference can reinforce one another, and why the distinction between party and faction still matters. The episode considers Russian influence operations and financial relationships, the US intelligence assessment of Iranian intervention around Gaza protests, reporting on China-linked networks, and scholarship on authoritarian power. It distinguishes documented connections from allegations and inference: convergence does not require common command, and foreign amplification does not establish that a state organised a protest. The conclusion argues for a liberal, democratic Europe and for keeping alive the freedoms of inquiry, toleration and restraints on arbitrary power to which the Enlightenment gave enduring force. Read the paper and full references: https://theintellectualhistorian.com/2026/10/22/the-world-in-fall/ Beyond the Text | Samuel Woodall https://beyondthetext.co.uk https://theintellectualhistorian.com Music: Queens Arrival — Red Planet (TakeTones). Support the show

    The World in Fall: Foreign Interference and the Defence of Liberal Europe

  3. 4d ago

    What Can We Really Know? Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason

    Send us Fan Mail What can we really know—and where must reason recognise its limits? In the second episode of our Kant series, Samuel Woodall and Jack Thomson explore the Critique of Pure Reason: Hume’s challenge, synthetic a priori knowledge, Kant’s Copernican turn, space and time, phenomena and things in themselves, and the antinomies of reason. We finish by asking how the limits of theoretical knowledge lead towards freedom and moral responsibility. Kant · Episode 2 of 3 Next: freedom, moral duty and the Critique of Practical Reason. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 00:25 Science and the crisis of metaphysics 01:27 Synthetic a priori knowledge and Hume 05:09 Kant’s Copernican turn 06:35 Concepts, intuitions and the soul 10:17 Appearances, things in themselves and antinomies 18:19 The limits of reason and moral freedom 20:07 Next: freedom and moral duty READING Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason (1781; revised 1787), especially the second-edition Preface and A51/B75. Kant, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics (1783). https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-hume-causality/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-transcendental-idealism/ EDITORIAL CLARIFICATIONS Kant’s appearances are empirically real, rather than false pictures hiding reality. The discussion’s wording at that point is a slip: the distinction concerns objects as experienced and considered independently of our mode of cognition. Hume’s problem of causal necessity is distinct from the is–ought problem in moral reasoning. See the reading links above. Explore Beyond the Text: https://beyondthetext.co.uk Essays: https://theintellectualhistorian.com Reading and discussion: https://thehistoryofideasclub.co.uk Support the show

  4. 6d ago

    Who Was Kant, and What Is Enlightenment?

    Send us Fan Mail What does it mean to think for yourself? In the opening episode of our Kant series, Samuel Woodall and Jack Thomson explore the life of Immanuel Kant and the challenge at the heart of his question: What is Enlightenment? From his upbringing in Königsberg to his appointment as professor of logic and metaphysics, we follow Kant into the debates about science, sensation and reason that shaped his philosophy. We discuss the ambition of the Critique of Pure Reason, his call to dare to know, and the tension between intellectual freedom and the limits of human understanding. Along the way: Descartes, Leibniz, Kant’s famously regular habits, his sociable lunches, and the question of whether knowledge alone can express human dignity. This is the first of three conversations on Kant. Next time, we turn more closely to the Critique of Pure Reason. Explore more: https://beyondthetext.co.uk Support the show

  5. Oct 18

    Can outsiders understand divided societies? With Dr Michaël Green

    Send us Fan Mail Can an outsider understand a divided political culture better than those inside it? Samuel Woodall and Jack Thomson are joined by Dr Michaël Green, University Professor at the University of Łódź and Director of its Centre for Self-Narratives, for a special audio-only conversation. Through letters, diaries and memoirs, we explore what personal accounts reveal about early modern lives, privacy, exile and belonging. Paul de Rapin de Thoyras and Henry Bentinck, Viscount Woodstock, take us into Huguenot experience, education and the Grand Tour. Jean Rou and Jewish life writing offer contrasting accounts of integration, gratitude and home. Does distance make a historian more perceptive or more impartial? What changes when a tutor becomes regarded as a spy? And is being treated with dignity the same as being accepted? Hosted by Samuel Woodall and Jack Thomson. Guest: Dr Michaël Green. Explore Beyond the Text: https://beyondthetext.co.uk The Intellectual Historian: https://theintellectualhistorian.com Chapters 00:00 Welcome, outsiders and egodocuments 08:17 Privacy and public selves 12:51 Rapin's exile and Woodstock 24:36 Grand Tour education and belonging 33:33 Jean Rou, Jewish lives and belonging 39:07 Gratitude, outsiders and impartiality 42:31 Political division and patronage 45:55 The Grand Tour traveller 49:19 Dignity rather than acceptance 49:40 Farewell Support the show

    Can outsiders understand divided societies? With Dr Michaël Green

  6. Oct 16

    Can Education Save Us from Society?

    Send us Fan Mail Can education protect us from the society that forms us? In the final episode of our Rousseau series, Samuel Woodall and Jack Thomson turn to Émile (1762), childhood and the difficult task of learning to be free. Rousseau wants children to learn through nature and experience rather than arbitrary commands. Yet his tutor quietly arranges the world around the pupil. Samuel and Jack ask whether this hidden control nurtures freedom, how moral judgement grows through pity and experience, and what Rousseau’s treatment of his own children means for our reading of his educational philosophy. The conversation moves through the Savoyard Vicar, natural religion, the condemnation of Émile, and the sharply unequal education Rousseau proposes for women. Across the series, one question remains: can human beings shape one another without making one another less free? Beyond the Text: https://beyondthetext.co.uk The Intellectual Historian: https://theintellectualhistorian.com The History of Ideas Club: https://thehistoryofideasclub.co.uk Read Émile free (Barbara Foxley translation, 1911): https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5427 Editorial notes: Sophie is Émile’s intended wife; Julie is the heroine of Rousseau’s separate novel Julie, or the New Heloise (1761). The discussion occasionally slips between their names. The Book IV quotation reads “but we need not feel them” in Foxley’s translation. CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome and the question of formation 00:25 Émile, 1762: education and nature 01:57 The tutor’s hidden control 02:39 Rousseau’s children and the biographical contradiction 04:59 Childhood and three sources of education 06:53 Learning through natural consequences 08:55 Can arranged freedom be real freedom? 10:00 Hobbes, boundaries and experience 10:53 Pity, adolescence and moral education 11:54 The Savoyard Vicar and condemnation 12:57 Freedom, constraint and the end of education 14:18 Montaigne and the formation of judgement 15:21 Sophie, Julie and the education of women 18:10 Responsibility, criticism and moral support 19:22 The series question: shaping others without domination 20:00 Rousseau’s originality and the problem of evil 21:24 Bonus episode and next series Music: “Queens Arrival” by Red Planet, TakeTones. Support the show

    Can Education Save Us from Society?

  7. Oct 14

    Can society make us free again?

    Send us Fan Mail If society creates dependence and inequality, can political association also make us free? In the second episode of our Rousseau series, Samuel Woodall and Jack Thomson move from the Discourse on Inequality (1755) to The Social Contract (1762). We distinguish natural differences from inequalities sustained by convention and institutions, consider pity and perfectibility, and explore the tension between amour de soi and amour-propre. From agriculture and property to the general will, the conversation asks how citizens might replace dependence on other people with laws they prescribe together. Along the way, we revisit Hobbes, Diderot and Rousseau's attachment to Geneva, consider Jack's comparison with Kant, and debate the troubling claim that a citizen can be "forced to be free". Episode 3 turns to education, Émile and Julie. Hosted by Samuel Woodall and Jack Thomson. CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome and introduction 00:28 Recap: dependence and Geneva 00:53 Can society make us free again? 01:09 Two contracts and the key dates 02:39 Natural and moral inequality 06:53 Compassion, pity and Hobbes 10:23 Perfectibility 11:51 Amour de soi and amour-propre 12:54 Agriculture, metallurgy and property 15:20 Born free, everywhere in chains 16:03 Diderot at Vincennes 17:06 The general will 19:01 Geneva and the dignity of man 20:06 Rousseau and Kant 21:11 Forced to be free? 24:15 Next episode and farewell READ AND DISCUSS Beyond the Text: https://beyondthetext.co.uk The Intellectual Historian: https://theintellectualhistorian.com Join the discussion: https://thehistoryofideasclub.co.uk FREE READING Rousseau, The Social Contract and Discourses, translated by G. D. H. Cole: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46333 Read the Discourse on Inequality, especially Part II, and The Social Contract, Book I, chapters 1, 6, 7 and 8. EPISODE 1 Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_F2u40m6vQ Listen: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2238237/episodes/19951622 MUSIC Red Planet, "Queens Arrival" (TakeTones), the programme's original theme. ARTWORK Rousseau, Du contrat social (1762), Bibliothèque nationale de France / Gallica. Public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Du_contrat_social_Rousseau_Jean-Jacques.jpg Support the show

    Can society make us free again?

  8. Oct 12

    Who was Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and why did he turn against civilisation?

    Send us Fan Mail In the first of three Beyond the Text episodes on Rousseau, Samuel Woodall explores the life behind the arguments: the Confessions, Geneva, Madame de Warens, Paris and Diderot, the First Discourse, amour-propre, and the troubled relationship with David Hume. Jack Thomson is unwell, so Samuel presents this opening episode solo. The Rousseau series continues on Wednesday. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 01:01 The Confessions 02:51 Geneva and Rousseau's early life 05:25 Apprenticeship 06:49 Madame de Warens 08:43 Les Charmettes 09:59 Paris and Diderot 11:38 Children and contradictions 12:36 The First Discourse 14:39 Civilisation 15:21 Amour-propre 16:34 Exile and David Hume 18:29 Conclusion Explore Beyond the Text: https://beyondthetext.co.uk The Intellectual Historian: https://theintellectualhistorian.com READING Rousseau, Confessions: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3913 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Jean-Jacques Rousseau: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rousseau/ Support the show

    Who was Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and why did he turn against civilisation?
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About

Welcome to Beyond the Text, a podcast series dedicated to delving into intellectual history with depth and context. In a world saturated with quick takes, Beyond the Text goes the extra mile. Paying homage to Skinner's insights on the importance of context, this podcast unveils overlooked aspects of historical and intellectual narratives. Co-hosted by Samuel Woodall and Jack Thomson, Beyond the Text explores the profound impact of thought and ideas throughout human history—forces that have driven change, shaped societies, and sparked revolutions. Beyond the mere words on the page, this podcast unravels the layers surrounding pivotal concepts and moments. Each episode meticulously examines the connections, influences, and societal currents that contribute to their evolution. Join us on this journey to grasp the true significance of intellectual history. Whether you're an enthusiast, a curious mind, or someone intrigued by the myriad forces shaping our world, Beyond the Text provides a space for nuanced exploration. Tune in and venture beyond the surface to understand the rich tapestry of our intellectual heritage. Samuel Woodall is a PhD candidate in Intellectual History at the University of Buckingham. He previously earned an MLitt in Intellectual History from the University of St. Andrews and a BA (Hons) in History and Politics from the University of Exeter. Jack Thomson holds an MA in Philosophy from the University of Buckingham and brings a philosophical lens to the exploration of ideas, ensuring each discussion is both rigorous and thought-provoking.

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