Stay ConnectedPast 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.
Copyright: © Past Present Future
This week David talks to Helen Thompson about Dallas and the end of oil. How did the world’s most popular soap opera come to explain the energy crisis and the future of a world hooked on fossil fuels? Is the fate of the Ewing family – fire and ruin – going to be the fate of America? And did J.R. Ewing really pave the way for President Donald Trump? Plus David and Helen discuss ‘oil fictions’, from Isaac Asimov to Italo Calvino.
Watch the moment when ‘Miss Ellie Saves the Day’.
Helen Thompson on ’the cosmic stakes of the age of oil’.
Isaac Asimov’s imaginary report on a world without oil.
Italo Calvino’s short story, ’The Petrol Pump’.
Past Present Future is brought to you in partnership with the London Review of Books.
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David talks to Ian McEwan about Italo Calvino’s The Watcher (1963), one of the greatest of all works of political fiction. Challenging, disturbing, redemptive: this is a book about who gets to count and who doesn’t, and what identity politics really means. David and Ian also discuss how political fiction works - and why the climate change novel is so hard to write. Plus they argue about whether children should be allowed to vote.
Next week: Helen Thompson on Dallas and the end of oil.
Ian McEwan’s latest novel is Lessons, available now.
To read more about Calvino, here is a recent appreciation of his later writings in the New Yorker.
On the children’s focus groups, here is the report.
For more links and info about future episodes, follow Past Present Future on Twitter @PPFIdeas
Past Present Future is brought to you in partnership with the London Review of Books.
Sign up to LRB Close Readings:
Directly in Apple: https://apple.co/3pJoFPq
In other podcast apps: lrb.supportingcast.fm
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Past Present Future is a new weekly 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.
Brought to you in partnership with the London Review of Books.
New episodes every Thursday.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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