Past Present Future
David Runciman
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.
Take back your personal data with Incogni! Use code ppf at the link below and get 60% off annual plans: https://incogni.com/ppf
Ideas from the past, questions about the present, shaping the future.
New episodes every Wednesday and Sunday.
Take back your personal data with Incogni! Use code ppf at the link below and get 60% off annual plans: https://incogni.com/ppf
Episodes
Mentioned books
May 13, 2026 • 1h 2min
Where Are We Going? The Future Of Work
Sarah O’Connor, Financial Times journalist and author of We Are Not Machines, explores how work became identity and security. She traces industrial timekeeping, Taylorism and Fordism, and shows how AI and automation fragment jobs and even monetise human expertise. They discuss modern tech firms, shifting labor power, ageing workforces and the uncertain landscape of skills and careers.
May 10, 2026 • 57min
Live Film Special: The Third Man w/Misha Glenny
Misha Glenny, writer and broadcaster with deep knowledge of Cold War Europe, unpacks The Third Man and postwar Vienna. He explores Vienna’s divided, spy-haunted atmosphere. They delve into espionage connections around the film’s production. Conversation touches on casting, Orson Welles’ memorable presence, the zither theme’s odd fame, and debates over who shaped the movie’s tone.
12 snips
May 6, 2026 • 1h 2min
Now & Then with Robert Saunders: The General Strike @100 Part 2
Robert Saunders, historian of modern British political and labour history, reflects on the 1926 General Strike at its centenary. He traces how the strike ended, the political costs for Baldwin, and the miners’ isolation. They jump to the 1970s and 1980s coal disputes and compare tactics. Finally, Saunders considers what a general strike might look like today, including wider forms of mobilisation and the role of unpaid and female labour.
35 snips
May 3, 2026 • 60min
Now & Then with Robert Saunders: The General Strike @100
Robert Saunders, historian of modern British politics and labour movements, revisits Britain’s 1926 general strike on its centenary. He sets the strike in a revolutionary postwar moment. He contrasts British and continental strike traditions. He unpacks the TUC’s dilemma, the coal dispute, government preparations, propaganda battles, and why the crisis stayed restrained rather than erupting into revolution.
15 snips
Apr 29, 2026 • 1h 9min
Live Film Special: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut w/Beeban Kidron
Paul Sagar, philosopher offering a grand theory linking pop spectacle to politics. Beeban Kidron, film director and online-safety campaigner. They explore South Park: satire of censorship and moral panic. They trace its uncanny prediction of tech-driven attention economies and discuss politics-as-entertainment, distraction tactics, and how speech debates shifted in the internet age.
33 snips
Apr 26, 2026 • 57min
Talking … Peter Mandelson and New Labour w/Helen Thompson
Helen Thompson, political economist who studies New Labour and its leaders. She unpacks the Mandelson–Blair–Brown triangle, scenes of betrayal like Granita, and Mandelson’s rises, falls and returns. Short, dramatic vignettes cover resignations, policy fights over Europe and the euro, the Iraq split, and later revelations that darken Mandelson’s influence.
Apr 24, 2026 • 1h
PPF+: A Taste Of What You’ve Been Missing (Taster 2)
Alec Ryrie, historian of Christianity, links Calvinism and Puritanism to political developments like apartheid. Shannon Vallor, philosopher of tech, frames AI as a mirror of our past and its societal risks. Robert Saunders, historian and political scientist, teases Brexit’s lasting structural shock to British politics. They explore politics, culture and technology in short, sharp conversations.
Apr 23, 2026 • 55min
PPF+: A Taste Of What You’ve Been Missing (Taster 1)
Helen Thompson, academic and commentator on international politics, discusses Apocalypse Now and American culture. Conversation touches on the film as a critique of American decadence and rock culture. They explore Kurtz’s origins, corporate motifs and Manson echoes. Other highlights include readings of Frankenstein, Futurism’s links to fascism, Lanzmann’s Shoah, and 1848’s legacy for liberal politics.
6 snips
Apr 22, 2026 • 1h
PPF+: A Taste Of What You’ve Been Missing (Taster 3)
Hannah White, a researcher on public administration, explains why Britain’s central government struggles and suggests fixes like clearer missions and a stronger PM office. Paul Sagar, a philosopher and writer, recounts a climbing accident and how luck shaped his recovery and views on justice. They also touch on coordination, accountability, and contingency in public life.
58 snips
Apr 19, 2026 • 57min
Orwell’s War: Frozen In Time (1942-43)
A brisk tour of George Orwell’s reactions to 1942–43, from wartime diary bursts to fears of sudden political turnarounds. Discusses British defeats, the rise and fall of hope in Stafford Cripps, and American cultural influence. Traces early images and anxieties that later fed into Animal Farm and the origins of 1984.
