For our last episode in this series David is joined by Helen Lewis to discuss Mesmerism – aka animal magnetism – an eighteenth-century method of hypnosis for which great medical benefits were claimed. Was its originator, Franz Mesmer, a charlatan or a healer? Was his movement science or religion or something in between? And what can it tell us about twenty-first century phenomena from online social contagion to hypnotherapy? To get two bonus Bad Ideas episodes – on Email and VAR – sign up now to PPF+, where you will also get all our past and future bonus episodes plus ad-free listening www.ppfieas.com Coming next: The Great Political Fictions resumes with Middlemarch, the greatest of them all. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For our penultimate episode in this series David talks to Kathleen Stock about Roland Barthes’s idea of the Death of the Author (1967). Once very fashionable, the notion that readers not writers are the arbiters of what a text means has had a long and sometimes painful afterlife. As well as exploring its curious appeal and its persistent blindspots, Kathleen discusses her personal experience of how it can go wrong. Two bonus Bad Ideas episodes for PPF+ subscribers – on Email and VAR – will be available very soon. Sign up now and get ad-free listening too! www.ppfideas.com Coming Next: Helen Lewis on Mesmerism Coming Soon: The Great Political Fictions Part 2, starting with Middlemarch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode of our series on the lingering hold of bad ideas David talks to the writer and broadcaster Helen Lewis about the arguments made at the turn of the last century against giving the vote to women. Why were so many women against female enfranchisement? What did attitudes to women in politics reveal about the failings of men? And where can the echoes of these arguments still be heard today? Helen Lewis’s Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights is available wherever you get your books https://bit.ly/3wp8DNX Sign up now to PPF+ to get ad-free listening and bonus episodes to accompany every series. Coming soon: two bonus bad ideas just for PPF+ subscribers www.ppfideas.com Next time on The History of Bad Ideas: Kathleen Stock discusses The Death of the Author. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The History of Bad Ideas: Taxonomy For the latest episode in our series about the hold of bad ideas, we welcome back the geneticist Adam Rutherford to talk about Linnaean taxonomy, a seemingly innocuous scheme of classification that has had deeply pernicious consequences. From scientific racism to social stratification to search engine optimisation, taxonomy gets everywhere. Can we escape its grip? Sign up now to PPF+ to get ad-free listening and bonus episodes to accompany every series. Coming soon: two bonus bad ideas just for PPF+ subscribers www.ppfideas.com Next time on The History of Bad Ideas: Helen Lewis on women against the enfranchisement of women. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today’s bad idea is one with a very long history: David talks to the historian Christopher Clark about antisemitism and the reasons for its endless recurrence. What has made discrimination against the Jews different from other kinds of violent prejudice over the course of European history? How did the ‘Jewish Question’ become the battleground of German politics? Why do so many Christians have a love-hate relationship with Judaism? And where does the state of Israel fit into this story? For ad-free listening and bonus episodes – including more bad ideas – subscribe to PPF+ www.ppfideas.com Next time on The History of Bad Ideas: Adam Rutherford on Taxonomy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In today’s episode about seemingly good ideas gone badly wrong David talks to the philosopher and journalist Kathleen Stock about Facebook Friends, something that was meant to make us happier and better connected but really didn’t. How did online friendship become so performative? Does its failings say more about Facebook and its business models or does it say more about us? And why are academics so susceptible to the madness of social media? For ad-free listening and bonus episodes – including more bad ideas – subscribe to PPF+ www.ppfideas.com Next time on The History of Bad Ideas: historian Christopher Clark on Antisemitism Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In the second episode in our series on bad ideas David talks to the political economist Helen Thompson about the gold standard, which was meant to anchor the world economy until it all fell apart a hundred years ago. Why does gold so often appear like a stable basis for money in an unstable world – and why not silver? What made the gold standard a source of instability instead? How can money work if it has no material basis? And is quantitative easing a bad idea as well? For ad-free listening and bonus episodes – including more bad ideas – subscribe to PPF+ www.ppfideas.com Next time on The History of Bad Ideas: Kathleen Stock on Facebook Friends Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For the first episode in our new series about the hold of bad ideas David talks to the geneticist and science broadcaster Adam Rutherford about eugenics: from its origins in the 19th century through its heyday in the 20th century to its continuing legacy today. Is eugenics bad science, bad morality, bad politics – or all three? What are the fears that keep drawing people back to trying to control the consequences of human reproduction? And is a new age of consumerist eugenics upon us? For ad-free listening and bonus episodes – including more bad ideas – subscribe to PPF+ www.ppfideas.com Next time on The History of Bad Ideas: Helen Thompson on the Gold Standard Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In our final episode David and Lea discuss liberation movements, from post-colonial liberation to women’s liberation, gay liberation and animal liberation. What, if anything, do these movements have in common? Is liberation about equality or is it about difference? And who needs liberating next – children? You can hear our bonus episodes for this series by signing up to PPF+ www.ppfideas.com In the first bonus episode – available now – David and Lea answer listeners’ questions about AI, technology, online surveillance and brains-in-a-vat: what happens to freedom if we’re living in a computer simulation? Coming next our brand new series: The History of Bad Ideas, beginning with Adam Rutherford on eugenics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In the penultimate episode in this series David and Lea discuss two twentieth-century philosophies of freedom and the human psyche. What can existentialism teach us about the nature of free choice under conditions of despair? Is there any escape from bad faith? And what can individuals – or even entire societies – learn about their freedom from being put on the couch? Sign up to PPF+ to get two bonus episodes to accompany this and all future series along with ad-free listening: www.ppfideas.com Coming next on the History of Freedom: Liberation Movements Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In our series about different ideas of freedom David and Lea have reached anarchism and nihilism. What is the positive vision of human freedom behind the anarchist rejection of the established order? What can nineteenth-century anarchists teach us about freedom in the twenty-first century? And if nihilists are against everything, what are they for? Sign up to PPF+ to get ad-free listening and two bonus episodes a month – just go to ppfideas.com Coming up next: David and Lea discuss existentialism and psychoanalysis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In the latest episode of our series about different ideas of freedom David and Lea explore what makes the free market free – and where it fails. How does buying and selling stuff advance human freedom? What does the free market free us from? And is it really possible to be free in a world dominated by credit and debt? Sign up now for PPF+ to get bonus episodes and ad-free listening www.ppfideas.com Next on the History of Freedom: Anarchism and Nihilism Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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