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Understanding the many crises of today — and the history that got us here.

  1. The real REASON empires fall - and how close WE are to the brink... With Luke Kemp

    FEB 17

    The real REASON empires fall - and how close WE are to the brink... With Luke Kemp

    Luke Kemp, a research affiliate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk researched 324 cases of societies, usually empires (which he called Goliaths) that collapsed - and soon found one thing they all had in common... In this (slightly terrifying) conversation we discuss the main questions featured in Luke's groundbreaking book, Goliath's Curse - questions like why are hierarchical societies always a bad idea, what usually goes wrong first and finally, why we seem to be heading for a collapse of our own.

    1h 22m
  2. The RENAISSANCE: Ideas, Art, Money, libertine Popes, House of Medici and Savonarola. With Prof. Kenneth Bartlett

    FEB 9

    The RENAISSANCE: Ideas, Art, Money, libertine Popes, House of Medici and Savonarola. With Prof. Kenneth Bartlett

    I always wondered whether the Renaissance was a truly groundbreaking historical event - or has it become just a self-referential cliché? Talking to Prof. Kenneth Bartlett (author of The Renaissance in Italy: A History), I finally had a chance to ask... In this illuminating conversation we talk about the movement's main ideas, the timeless art they produced, the political intrigues of Florence, the House of Medici and finally, their creepy adversary, friar Savonarola.

    1h 10m
  3. In the 21st century, (pop) CULTURE has been a complete dumpster fire - WHY is that? With W. David Marx

    JAN 28

    In the 21st century, (pop) CULTURE has been a complete dumpster fire - WHY is that? With W. David Marx

    What do Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Mark Zuckerberg and Donald Trump have in common? As cultural critic W. David Marx argues in his new book Blank Space, they are all generators and representatives of a MONOCULTURE that has taken over the planet. From VICE magazine's domination of the early 2000s and Kanye's forays into high fashion to the rise of the tech bros, we are living through a time in which everything seems to be increasingly turning into mush. But how did we get here? Listen to my convo with David here!

    1h 2m
  4. The old ECONOMIC ORDER is dead - but what is REPLACING it? | With Prof. Branko Milanovic

    JAN 2

    The old ECONOMIC ORDER is dead - but what is REPLACING it? | With Prof. Branko Milanovic

    The era of neoliberal globalisation that has dominated economies 90's and early 2000's is coming to an end. But what comes next? Renowned economist and inequality researcher Branko Milanovic believes the world is entering a much more precarious phase, one in which countries bet on nationalist interests instead of free trade, but also a world in which China is rising and the West if falling. But what are the underlying drivers of this new order? And how will it play out in the real world? More in my conversation with Branko!

    1 hr
  5. From SAMURAI to SHINKANSEN - the Rise, Fall and Stagnation of MODERN JAPAN, with Prof. Christopher Harding

    12/21/2025

    From SAMURAI to SHINKANSEN - the Rise, Fall and Stagnation of MODERN JAPAN, with Prof. Christopher Harding

    As someone who moved to Japan not too long ago I was always fascinated with the country's unique history, particularly with the question of how did a country so completely isolated from the industrial revolution become a global superpower in just a few short decades? How did it manage to totally transform its society, military and culture? And finally, where did it all go wrong? Join me and historian Christopher Harding, author of A History of Modern Japan, as we explore Japan's journey from the Edo period's isolation to the transformative Meiji Restoration, discussing how Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War marked its emergence as a modern power, only to later slide into the shadows of World War II fascism... But also, how the country faces new challenges today, balancing tradition with modernity in a world primarily marked by the rise of China.

    1h 8m
  6. The alluring MYSTERIES of Göbekli Tepe - the OLDEST monumental site in the world, with Jens Notroff

    11/29/2025

    The alluring MYSTERIES of Göbekli Tepe - the OLDEST monumental site in the world, with Jens Notroff

    The old version of the story went something like this - Homo Sapiens appeared in Africa around 2 to 300.00 years ago and for most of that time, we lived in small hunter gatherer communities, competing with other animals, sometimes more, and sometimes less successfully. That was, until one day we had a gnarly idea to start growing crops, build settlements and settle down for good. However, the mind-boggling discovery of the dazzling Gobekkli Teppe, has thrown this attractively simple narrative into question. But how is it possible that such an impressive complex of monuments, built 12.000 years ago (thousands of years before the first cities ever appeared), was put there by "simple" hunter gatherers... and most of all, why? To tackle these question I turn to Jens Notroff, a German archeologist who actually worked on the site for many years.

    1h 1m
  7. We have stopped READING - is it a sign our civilisation is COLLAPSING? With James Marriott

    11/17/2025

    We have stopped READING - is it a sign our civilisation is COLLAPSING? With James Marriott

    In the past 2 decades literacy rates have dropped dramatically... and so have our IQ scores. Writer James Marriott believes these two facts are connected. His Substack article, "The dawn of the post-literate society and the end of civilisation," in which he argues that the absence of reading might signify the end of our civilisation, caused a big stir online... In this conversation we talk about the history of reading, why this immense transfer of knowledge led to the breakdown of feudal society (while making us smarter), but also about how smartphones are fracturing our political systems while robbing us of our most cherished possession - our ability to think.

    1h 6m
  8. Hare Krishna, Russian Jesus and the End of the World - Cultural Chaos during the COLLAPSE of the Soviet Union, with Prof. Joseph Kellner

    11/08/2025

    Hare Krishna, Russian Jesus and the End of the World - Cultural Chaos during the COLLAPSE of the Soviet Union, with Prof. Joseph Kellner

    Joseph Kellner is a historian of Russia and the Soviet Union at the University of Georgia. He's also the author of the recently released book The Spirit of Socialism - Culture and Belief at the Soviet Collapse. Contrary to Western narratives, culture within the USSR wasn't an eternally grey monolith that we used to see in James Bond movies. Quite the opposite - it was a diverse, often flourishing organism. But what happened to it during the brutal dissolution of the Soviet Union? In this conversation, Prof. Kellner and I discuss the decline and the indescribable shock that accompanied the sudden dissolution of the USSR, before turning our attention to an explosion of wild, "exotic" cultural countries springing up in the new country of Russia.

    1h 19m
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About

Understanding the many crises of today — and the history that got us here.

Information

  • Creator
    Zaza
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    79
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Matjaz Juren 2022
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