Today’s revolutionary thinker is Martin Luther, the man who upended the religious, political and intellectual life of Europe, maybe without entirely meaning to. David talks to historian Alec Ryrie about how a German monk took on the entire authority of the Catholic Church and survived the experience. What did he hope to achieve? Who were his principal backers? How did he reimagine the idea of human freedom? And where is his influence most widely felt today?

Out tomorrow on PPF+ a new bonus episode: David talks to Alec Ryrie about Calvin, who may have been the Reformation’s true revolutionary. What was Calvinism and how did it change the world? 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 available now for PPF Live at the Bath Curious Minds Festival: on Saturday March 29th David will be in conversation with Robert Saunders about the legacy of Winston Churchill: The Politician with Nine Lives https://bit.ly/42GPp3X

Next up in The History of Revolutionary Ideas: The Scientific Revolution

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Today’s episode in our history of revolutionary ideas is about a medieval movement that used the ancient past to rethink and reimagine the present and the future. David talks to historian Eric Nelson about humanism and its enormous impact on the history of ideas. How did humanism emerge out of catastrophe? What did it do to the hold of Church and Empire on the medieval mind? Was humanist politics really revolutionary politics? And where is the ‘human’ in humanism?

As part of our Great Political Films series we are hosting a special screening of Network (1976) at the Regent Street Cinema in London on 18th March, followed by a live podcast recording with David and Helen Lewis. Aaron Sorkin said: ‘No predictor of the future – not even Orwell – has ever been as right as Network.’ Come see why! Tickets now available https://www.ppfideas.com/event-list

Next up in The History of Revolutionary Ideas: The Reformation 1: Luther

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Today’s episode in our history of revolutionary ideas is about a medieval document that is sometimes thought to contain a ground-breaking promise of basic political rights. David talks to historian Nick Vincent about Magna Carta (1215) and what it did and didn’t actually say. Why did the warring parties agree to it? Was it a constitutional charter or a peace treaty? What happened when its terms were broken? And how did it come to acquire the totemic significance it has today?

Sign up now to get our free fortnightly newsletter out tomorrow – with writing, clips, links and more to accompany this series https://www.ppfideas.com/newsletters

Come to see PPF recorded live! As part of the Curious Minds festival in Bath David will be in conversation with regular PPF contributor Robert Saunders about the legacy of Winston Churchill: The Politician With Nine Lives. It’s happening at the Komedia in Bath at 11am on Saturday 29th March. Tickets now available https://www.ppfideas.com/event-list

Next up in The History of Revolutionary Ideas: Humanism

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Today’s episode in our history of revolutionary ideas explores the world-altering impact of Islam from the seventh century onwards. David talks to the leading Islamic scholar Tim Winter (Abdal Hakim Murad) about what changed – and what didn’t – with the appearance of Islamic law, Islamic culture and Islamic ideas of community. Was Islam really egalitarian? How could a universalist religion encompass so much variety? Why did it spread so fast? And what caused it to split so soon?

Come see PPF recorded live! As part of the Curious Minds festival in Bath David will be in conversation with regular PPF contributor Robert Saunders about the legacy of Winston Churchill: The Politician With Nine Lives. It’s happening at the Komedia in Bath at 11am on Saturday 29th March. Priority booking for PPF listeners opens at 9am on Tuesday 28th January – just go to our website for more info and to get your tickets: https://www.ppfideas.com/event-list

Out now on PPF+: the second part of David’s conversation with Agnes Callard about Socrates, exploring politics, AI, therapy and death. Sign up now for £5 per month or £50 for a whole year to get this and all our bonus episodes (21 and counting!) plus ad-free listening https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

Next up in The History of Revolutionary Ideas: Magna Carta

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Today’s episode in our series on revolutionary ideas is a conversation covering two millennia with the historian Tom Holland exploring the never-ending upending of human understanding brought about by Christianity. How can weakness be the ultimate strength? How can political order be built out of the glorification of suffering? How can a universal religion create so much hierarchical division? And in a Christian world, is it ever possible to escape the charge of hypocrisy?

Out now on PPF+: the second part of David’s conversation with Agnes Callard about Socrates, exploring politics, AI, therapy and death. Sign up now for £5 per month or £50 for a whole year to get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

Next up in The History of Revolutionary Ideas: Islam w/Tim Winter

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To begin our history of revolutionary ideas in earnest, David talks to the philosopher Agnes Callard about Socrates, the philosopher who changed – and can still change – everything. Just what is so radical about the Socratic method? How does it open up new ways of thinking about the meaning of life? Can anyone do it? And where does it leave 2000+ years of intervening philosophy?

Out tomorrow on PPF+: the second part of David’s conversation with Agnes Callard about Socrates, exploring politics, AI, therapy and death. Sign up now for £5 per month or £50 for a whole year to get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life by Agnes Callard is available now https://bit.ly/4h0pZmg

Next up in The History of Revolutionary Ideas: Christianity w/Tom Holland

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To kick off our new series on revolutionary ideas past, present and future David talks to two regular PPF contributors – the philosopher Lea Ypi and the scientist Adam Rutherford – about what makes an idea truly revolutionary. Do revolutionary ideas change the world? Can the world be changed without them? Can bad ideas ever be revolutionary ideas? And where should we be looking for revolutionary ideas today?

Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter to get more ideas, clips, reading suggestions and extra insights to accompany this and all our series. Join our mailing list now: https://www.ppfideas.com/newsletters

Next Time: The History of Revolutionary Ideas: Socrates w/Agnes Callard

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The final episode in our great political films series explores Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest (2023), his haunting take on the home life of the man who ran Auschwitz. This is a film like nothing else. It is not about the banality of evil or the proximity of innocence to horror. Instead it takes us inside a nightmare world from which there is no escape: the grimmest fairy story of them all.

Out now: a new bonus episodes on PPF+ exploring the joys of Armando Iannucci’s In The Loop, not just one of the smartest films about contemporary politics but also the funniest. Sign up now for £5 per month or £50 for a whole year to get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

Coming next: we begin our new series on The History of Revolutionary Ideas

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The penultimate episode in our great political films series explores Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty (2012), her controversial take on the War on Terror. Tracking the CIA’s years-long pursuit of Osama Bin Laden, it’s part spy procedural, part story of a female outsider in a man’s world, and part a complex disquisition on political violence. Where does bureaucracy end and killing begin? Can torture ever be justified? And whose judgment is ultimately the one that counts?

Out now: a new bonus episodes on PPF+ exploring the joys of Armando Iannucci’s In The Loop, not just one of the smartest films about contemporary politics but also the funniest. Sign up now for £5 per month or £50 for a whole year to get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

Next time: The Zone of Interest

Coming soon: a new series on The History of Revolutionary Ideas

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The second David Fincher film in our series (after Fight Club) is The Social Network (2010), the Aaron Sorkin-scripted take on how Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook and the price paid by everyone else. A tale of power and privilege, innocence and cynicism, it is also about how exploitation can be sold as exclusivity. What is left when we have given away our control over who we are in order to decide who counts as a friend?

Out later this week: a new bonus episodes on PPF+ exploring the joys of Armando Iannucci’s In The Loop, not just one of the smartest films about contemporary politics but also the funniest. Sign up now for £5 per month or £50 for a whole year to get this and all our bonus episodes plus ad-free listening https://www.ppfideas.com/join-ppf-plus

Next time: Zero Dark Thirty

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