LECTURES 2

History of Human Thought

Connecting The Present

Becoming "Modern"

Myths of the Month

PodCats

I detta avsnitt har vi äran att välkomna Tommy Andersson, en framstående expert på algoritmer och professor i nationalekonomi vid Lunds Universitet. Tommy är även aktiv som styrelseledamot i både Society for Economic Design och Society for Social Choice and Welfare. Genom sitt ideella arbete med bl.a. beslutsalgoritmer har han bidragit till att spara ett skattekapital på mellan 400 och 1000 miljoner kronor. Men hur gick detta till, och vad innebär algoritmer egentligen?

Under avsnittets gång kommer vi att utforska den otroliga kraften som algoritmer har inom våra politiska och ekonomiska system, och hur de kan bidra till att skapa rättvisa, minska segregation, skapa bättre valsystem och spara samhället miljarder i skattepengar. Vi kommer att ta upp konkreta exempel som Tommy har arbetat med, såsom STEP – Sveriges och Skandinaviens första njurbytesprogram – och den första algoritmen i världen som har använts för att geografiskt placera kvotflyktingar.

Gå inte miste om detta fascinerande avsnitt av "Utanför boxen, innanför ramarna", där vi utforskar hur matematik, ekonomi och system kan revolutionera samhället och bidra till en bättre värld. Välkomna!

11. Algoritmer, Nationalekonomi, Rättvisa, Skolsystem, Valsystem & Integration

The news tends to focus on the antagonism between India and Pakistan. A distinguished panel of academics – Dr Kamal Munir, Dr Ornit Shani, Dr  Bhaskar Vira and Professor Joya Chatterji –
look at the common ground between the two countries. 


India-Pakistan: the common ground at Hay Festival

Ideas about states of emergency go back to Ancient Rome in which it was said that necessity knows no law. This idea took on different meanings during the early modern period and was employed again in 1848 to justify emergency rule in Paris. The idea was inverted by Marx. It was no longer emergency that justified dictatorship—dictatorship was posited as a desirable outcome in a transition to new forms of society.

The genesis of 20th C political authoritarianism by Prof Gareth Stedman Jones

In 1815, two large armies faced each other at Waterloo. Unknown either to Napoleon or Wellington, the battle would be decided by a small, ordinary group of British and German troops.

Did the Germans win the battle of Waterloo? by Professor Brendan Simms

In the age of Charlemagne, Rome was not just associated with the glory of classical and late antique empire, but above all with an authentic Christianity. North of the Alps, rulers and aristocrats created a virtual Rome by importing relics as well as liturgical practices that were thought of as typically Roman.

Charlemagne, Rome and the management of sacred space by Professor Rosamond McKitterick

Despite recent assertions to the contrary, Prof Matthew Kramer argues that there can never be any moral justification for torture.

Torture, morality and law by Professor Matthew Kramer

We examine how medieval scholars battled over the meanings of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy and of the Christian religion, while illiterate artisans made breakthroughs in architecture, engineering, metallurgy, and alchemy.  The vast body of medieval scholarship came under attack during the Renaissance as so many "metaphysical obscurities," while today we stand on the precipice of a true Dark Age of ignorance.
Become a patron to hear the next installment -- Middle Ages 10: Sex and Sexuality in the Middle Ages -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/11878439

Middle Ages 9: Knowledge and Ignorance in the Middle Ages (and Today)

We cap off the series of lectures on the Middle Ages by piecing together how the people of the high and late Middle Ages understood their place in the cosmos.  From the lowliest peasants to popes and emperors, medievals believed they formed the limbs of a living, breathing social body, and that body or tree was part of a Great Chain of Being connecting rocks and dirt to stars and planets and ultimately to God.  Through these metaphors we can understand why medievals disapproved of commerce and abhorred high finance.  We end with a commentary on the great, crowning statement of the late medieval mind, the prologue to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
Please support these lectures, at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Middle Ages 11: The Pulsating Body -- The Medieval World View

We examine the enigmatic and elusive figure of Columbus, from his likely Jewish background, to his bizarre and hairbrained scheme of sailing to Asia, his brutal and chaotic invasion of the West Indies, his struggle to defend his honors and titles, and finally his apocalyptic vision of his own role in the End Times.  We consider how Columbus, a fairly obscure and rejected figure after his death, came to be held up as a symbol of both the best and the worst of the American psyche.
Please support these lectures to keep them coming! -- https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Columbus -- The Tragedy and the Enigma

Exactly five centuries ago this month, Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on a church door in Wittenberg, thus sparking the Protestant Reformation.  He was concerned not with freedom of thought nor with abuse of power by the Pope, as moderns might like to think, but with exposing the false doctrine that a person’s good actions can earn them a place in Heaven.  Wracked by guilt and fear of going to hell, Luther had found relief only in the idea of a free, unmerited salvation.  We consider Luther’s tactics in his war to reform the church, from his obsession with excrement to his attacks on Jews, all of which stemmed from his fundamental belief that he was engaged in a war for the soul of the Church against Satan and the Anti-Christ.  [Contains adult language]
Please sign on as a patron in order to hear the next installment in this series on "The Century of Splintering: The Reformation in its Swiss and Radical Phases, 1519-1619" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/18658722

Martin Luther: Shout at the Devil

The first part of an examination and discussion of Douglas Murray's controversial book, "The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam" (Bloomsbury, 2017), and its dire warning that a wave of migrants with beliefs and customs inimical to the West are on the verge of changing Europe forever.  We weigh his careful debunking of elite mythology about immigration against his own falsehoods and manipulations of the facts.  Finally, we consider his harrowing portrayal of a continent adrift without a sense of purpose, history, or belonging, and the truly difficult questions that it raises.
Please sign on as a patron to hear the second part of this review! -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/16314679

Book Review: "The Strange Death of Europe" -- Part 1

The early modern era – from the 1400s through the 1700s – is the monarchical age par excellence, with  royal courts presiding over consolidated realms and monstrous armies capable of crushing smaller neighbors and internal rivals.  The map of Europe transformed, and the reasons were, firstly, technological: the printing press broke through previous barriers to the creation of texts, allowing for the rapid spread of new ideas and propaganda, while new infantry tactics and gunpowder allowed royal governments to batter down the power of mounted knights and castles.  Society became ever more centered on royal power and patronage, leaving behind a vestigial nobility to seek out a new role in the world or give way to nostalgia, as dramatized in the first great psychological novel, Don Quixote.  We conclude by considering Cervantes’ novel as a touchstone of the shift from the medieval world, where reality is defined by social relationships, to the modern, where reality is defined by the senses.
Please sign on as a patron in order to hear the next lecture in the series -- on "Making the Modern State: Spain, Portugal, and the Inquisition"! -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/16827184

The Print and Gunpowder Revolutions, 1300-1700

We trace how Portugal and Spain, two previously marginal European kingdoms, rapidly and unexpectedly exploded onto the world scene, building a chain of fortified colonies stretching from North Africa to China, and conquering the larger and richer empires of Mexico and Peru.  The early Iberian colonizers sought to continue the tradition of the Crusades and the Reconquista, and saw their foreign conquests as steps towards retaking Jerusalem; the benefited not only from superior weaponry and navigation, but from cataclysmic disease epidemics that brought the Pre-Columbian empires to their knees.
Please contribute what you can in the spirit of knowledge and inquiry! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632
Suggested further reading:  Russell: "Prince Henry 'The Navigator': A Life";  Restall, "Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest";  Brading, "The First America."

Spanish and Portuguese Expansion and the Conquest of the Americas

All of history is, to one degree or another, mythology -- the weaving of a coherent, usable narrative out of the chaos of people's lives.  We consider how societies all over the world, since before the beginning of civilization, have developed myths to explain the world that they experience.  We also trace some of the major schools of academic history, which have tried to fashion overarching storylines to give meaning to human struggles -- from Biblical providential history to Marxism to postmodernism.  We begin by examining the most central myth of the origins of American society: the "first Thanksgiving."
Suggested further reading:  Giambattista Vico, "The New Science";  Marc Bloch, "The Historian's Craft";  Hayden White, "Metahistory"
Please sign on as a patron to hear the first "Myth of the Month" lecture -- on "The Enlightenment" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/17538756

The Myths We Make: Using the past as an ideological tool

We trace how a small group of scholars, obsessed with classical antiquity, mastered the more ancient form of Latin, thus unlocking the worlds of Roman and Greek politics.  Seeing themselves as the peers and equals of the ancient statesmen, the "humanists" called for a new form of learning aimed towards action and ambition.  Machiavelli sketched out the path to princely power, Erasmus excavated the original meanings of the Bible, and Michelangelo captured the subtle powers of the human body.  The humanists invented the idea of a "modern" era distinct from the "Dark Ages," and furthered the transformation of Europeans' grasp of reality -- from a realm defined by social relationships to one defined by the senses.

Please become a patron of this podcast in order to hear the next lecture in this series -- on: "The Life of the Commoners -- Adaptation and Rebellion, 1400-1600" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/18094403

Suggested further reading:  Jacob Burckhardt, "The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy";  JGA Pocock, "The Machiavellian Moment";  Pamela Smith, "The Body of the Artisan"

Renaissance Humanism

Writer Roy Scranton looks at the signs of this doomed civilization - a collapsing political system, massive environmental degradation and a future of inevtiable, irreversible climate change - and explains why the thrilling and terrifying task required of us is to let go of this world and create a new one, together, while there's still time.

Roy is author of "We're Doomed. Now What? Essays on War and Climate Change" from Soho Press: https://sohopress.com/books/were-doomed-now-what/

Learning to live on a dying planet.

Writer Victor Wallis presents a socialist framework for ecological revolution - as global capitalism pushes the planet and everyone on it closer to crisis, only a transformative, working-class lead re-ordering of political and economic structures can deliver a safe, secure and healthy world for the future.

Victor is author of "Red-Green Revolution: The Politics and Technology of Ecosocialism" from Political Animal Press. https://politicalanimalmagazine.com/product/red-green-revolution-the-politics-and-technology-of-ecosocialism/

Saving the planet is a working class job: The case for ecosocialist transformation.

Biophysical economist Paavo Järvensivu and philosopher Tere Vadén explore the near future economics of a world in capital and climate crisis - as an era of cheap energy comes to a close, and the consequences of burning carbon threatens human well-being, the state must lead a transition towards a new energy infrastructure.

Paavo and Tere are co-authors of the report Economic Transition Governance, a background document to a 2019 UN Global Sustainable Development Report.

Understanding the energy economy of the world we have, and the world we need.

We're joined by The LitCrit Guy (@thelitcritguy) to talk about Oli Mould's Against Creativity, a book that argues that capitalism has co-opted art, so of course we talk about whether Slimer is a comrade, the lingering trauma of the tapeworm-man episode of the X-files and cereal cafes.

Music by Body Void: https://bodyvoid.bandcamp.com

And Bliss Signal: https://blisssignal.bandcamp.com/

Against Creativity And Cereal Cafes But Not Slimer

Universities are unique -- a quintessential product of the High Middle Ages that has miraculously survived and even flourished in the modern world. In the first part of the history of universities, we examine the origins of the first universities in the power struggles of Popes and emperors; the ways that medieval students learned, lived, and annoyed their elders; and the ways that universities adapted to and withstood serious challenges from Renaissance humanism and the republic of letters.
Next will be the rise of universities in America, the modern research university, and the current crisis of academia.

Please support Historiansplaining, in the spirit of knowledge and inquiry, and to get patron-only lectures such as part 2 of this history of universities:  https://www.patreon.com/posts/25222358

Suggested further reading:  Walter Ruegg, ed., “A History of the University in Europe,” 4 vols.;  William Clark, “Academic Charisma and the Origins of the Research University”;  Olaf Pedersen, "The FIrst Universities."

Image: "Master and Scholars," illustration from "L'Image du Monde," copybook by Gautier de Metz, 1464, in collection of British Library.

Intro music: Domenico Scarlatti, Sonata in D minor, played on harpsichord by Wanda Landowska.

History of Universities, Part 1:  Flower of the Middle Ages

--In time for Passover, this lecture on the myth of the Exodus from Egypt, which I recorded solely for patrons one year ago, becomes public for all.--

We examine the origins and the political and theological meanings of the myth of the Israelites' exodus from Egypt.  We consider the possible real historical events that might underly the exodus story, including the argument put forward in Richard Elliot Friedman's new book, The Exodus.  Finally, we trace some of the many ways that peoples around the world, from the early Christians to Rastafaris, have adopted the exodus myth and cast themselves as the new Israelites.

Please sign on as a patron in order to hear the next installment in this series – “Myth of the Month 3:  The Exodus” – https://www.patreon.com/posts/18937861

Myth of the Month 2: The Exodus

After one year for patrons only, the fourth Myth of the Month becomes free for the public:

Do societies become more "secular" as they become modern? Do science, technology, or democracy weaken religious belief?  We consider theories of secularization ranging from Max Weber's story of "disenchantment" to Charles Taylor's "A Secular Age."  Current survey data show a dramatic rise in the number of "nones" -- those who do not adhere to any particular religious group, even though most of them still pray, read scriptures, or express belief in God.

Please support this podcast in order to hear all patron-only lectures -- including Myth of the Month #5 -- Capitalism! -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/20915273

Suggested Further Reading:  Charles Taylor, "A Secular Age";  Max Weber, "Science as a Vocation";  Pew Research Center, "In America, Does More Education Equal Less Religion?"

Image of abandoned church courtesy of Emma (https://www.flickr.com/people/27505473@N02) via Flickr.

Myth of the Month 4: Secularization -- or, Send in the Nones!

What did Shakespeare mean when he wrote that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark”?  Why do we call independent countries “states” endowed with “sovereignty”?  Why do historians and philosophers speak of “state formation” and clashes between “church and state”?  How did these concepts come about, and what do they mean in international law and political theory?  The answer runs from absolutist royal courts through the French Revolution and the Weimar republic of Germany; after centuries of struggle and democratization, the concept of “the state” has formed to fill the vacuum left behind by the Crown.

Please become a patron to hear all the Myths of the Month – www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Image:  Christiansborg, the parliamentary palace of Denmark.

Recent NPR segment in which I am quoted – https://www.npr.org/2021/01/26/960631333/covid-19-deaths-draw-comparisons-to-other-tragic-death-tolls

Introductory episode of “God Save America,” on religion in the US – https://soundcloud.com/godsaveamerica/0-introduction

Myth of the Month 15:  "The State"

History lectures by Samuel Biagetti, a historian (and antique dealer) with a Phd in early American history; my dissertation was on Freemasonry in the 1700s. I focus on the historical myths and distortions, from "the Middle Ages" to "Race," that people use to rationalize the world in which we live.   More info at www.historiansplaining.com

Please see my Patreon page, https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632, if you want to keep the lectures coming, and to hear the patron-only materials.