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.
Latest episodes
Showing 20 · updated from the feed
The History of Transhumanism: Origins
Today it’s the first episode in a new series about the weird and wonderful world of transhumanism: the idea that human beings can be transformed by technology and machine
Oct 7 1 h 01 min
An Ageing World: Simone de Beauvoir on Old Age
For the final episode in our series on living in an ageing world David talks to Lyndsey Stonebridge about one of the most interesting and challenging of all writers on th
Oct 4 54 min
An Ageing World: The Problem of Gerontocracy
In today’s episode for our series about living in ageing societies, David talks to historian and legal scholar Samuel Moyn about the problem of gerontocracy, aka the rule
Sep 30 59 min
An Ageing World: The Meaning of Death
In today’s episode of our series about the significance of longer human lives David talks to the doctor and writer Richard Coker about the meaning of the event that comes
Sep 27 57 min
An Ageing World: Lifespan vs Healthspan
To start our new series about what it means to live in a world of ageing populations, David talks to geneticist Adam Rutherford about the benefits and pitfalls of increas
Sep 23 56 min
The Lives of the Philosophers: Iris Murdoch
Today is the final episode in our series about the relationship between twentieth-century biography and philosophy. David talks to Nikhil Krishnan about the life and thou
Sep 20 1 h 04 min
The Lives of the Philosophers: Hannah Arendt
In today’s episode about the intersection between twentieth century philosophy and biography David talks to the historian and literary critic Lyndsey Stonebridge about th
Sep 16 53 min
The Lives of the Philosophers: Elizabeth Anscombe
Today’s episode in our series about twentieth-century philosophy and biography explores the life and thought of Elizabeth Anscombe (G. E. M. Anscombe), a remarkable and r
Sep 13 1 h 01 min
Now & Then with Robert Saunders: Gladstone vs Disraeli Part 2 (Burnham vs Badenoch)
In the second part of David’s conversation with historian Robert Saunders about the impact of the Bulgarian crisis of 1876 on the course of British politics, they discuss
Sep 9 55 min
Now & Then with Robert Saunders: Gladstone vs Disraeli – The Bulgarian Horrors
In our occasional series with historian Robert Saunders about significant political anniversaries, we remember the appearance of a pamphlet exactly 150 years ago that cha
Sep 6 56 min
The Lives of the Philosophers: Jean-Paul Sartre
In today’s episode exploring how twentieth-century philosophy and biography intersect David talks to philosopher and biographer Kate Kirkpatrick about Jean-Paul Sartre, a
Sep 2 54 min
The Lives of the Philosophers: J. L. Austin
David talks to philosopher and author Nikhil Krishnan about the life and times of a little known but highly influential twentieth-century philosopher: J. L. Austin, who b
Aug 30 1 h 01 min
The Lives of the Philosophers: Camus
In our series about how twentieth-century philosophy and biography intersect, David talks to philosopher Alex Carter about the life of Albert Camus, novelist, playwright,
Aug 26 58 min
The Lives of the Philosophers: Simone Weil
The second life we explore in our series about the twentieth-century philosophers could not be more different from the first: David talks to philosopher Alex Carter about
Aug 23 1 h 02 min
The Lives of the Philosophers: A. J. Ayer
Today we begin a new series exploring twentieth-century philosophy through the lives of the people behind the ideas. First up David talks to philosopher Nikhil Krishnan a
Aug 19 1 h 03 min
Forensics on Trial
In today’s episode David talks to forensic anthropologist Sue Black about what happens when forensic science and forensic expertise end up on trial in the courtroom. When
Aug 16 1 h 00 min
The History of Bad Ideas: Overdiagnosis
We come to the end of this series of bad ideas with a conversation with neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan about the problems of living in an age of diagnosis, when all medic
Aug 12 59 min
The History of Bad Ideas: Short-Form Video
Today’s bad idea is one with a very recent history but also a long backstory: David talks to author and journalist James Marriott about what happens when the written word
Aug 9 1 h 00 min
The History of Bad Ideas: Decadence
Today’s bad idea is also one that is very hard to pin down: David talks to writer and literary scholar Ian Ellison about the concept of decadence, which went from explain
Aug 5 56 min
The History of Bad Ideas: The Romantic Hero
Today’s bad idea spans literature, film, pop culture and plenty else besides: David talks to literary critic and memoirist Catherine Taylor about what’s wrong with romant
Aug 2 56 min
Chart trend
Position in the History chart (US), last 90 days.
#1#101#200JulAugSepOct
#53
all-time peak
25
days in the top 100 since Nov 2024
Chart positions
Where Past Present Future ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Oct 9, 2026).
A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.
This is a fantastic show, interesting and highly educational. I’m amazed at how prolific David is, and with uniformly high quality.
tridongo · Aug 2026
I’m constantly at awe at how deep, knowledgeable and accessible David Runciman is, thank you so much for this treasure of a podcast.
Listener OL · Dec 2025
Amazing guests and intriguing topics. David is an excellent interviewer, moderator, interlocutor, and occasional adversary. Cannot recommend enough!
M. 001 · Dec 2024
Thoughtful, careful analysis of current and past events, ideas, movies, and novels and things that should concern anybody who wants to understand the world around them.
Jeff Salzman · Dec 2024
I listened to most of the episode on deliverism, which was a tangled and confusing mess. The host and guest discussed deliverism for awhile but, at least as far as I got, never stated why it was a “bad idea,” and also failed to acknowledge that a huge part of left populism is delivering concrete promises—as in the “sewer socialism” of Mamdani (which so far has been quite successful, and so contradicts their idea of deliverism as “bad.”). Also, they fail to give an accurate historical definition of “populism, which has many different forms, treating it like a monolithic blob synonymous with right-wing authoritarianism. Seems to me that “deliverism” can come in many different forms and ca. be fused with many different approaches (neoliberalism versus socialism). Doesn’t make sense to isolate it as its own phenomenon.
AmeliaInTheForest · Jul 2026
Great topics but the ads are horrible and there is no warning music to let the listener know that they are coming. Such a shame you ruined the listener experience! Please respect the listener and your guests and add some way to alert a listener to the upcoming ads. Take a clue from Ezra Klein on this.
A Turned-off Listener · Jan 2026
We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.
Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of Past Present Future, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.
