Twitter: @bradcoleharris (followed by 0 philosophers)
Site: www.bradharris.com/context
30 episodes
2018 to 2021
Average episode: 39 minutes
Open in Apple Podcasts • RSS
Categories: Philosophy+/Philosophyish/Ideas/Etc.
Podcaster's summary: What led to the rise of the modern world? How have we made so much progress, and what are its consequences? What are humanity's best ideas? Join award-winning historian Brad Harris as he engages these fundamental questions and interprets the biggest historical forces that shape their answers, from the rise of civilization and the development of modern science to the spread of disease and the growth of globalization.
| Episodes |
| 2021-Jun-01 • 32 minutes Urban Versus Rural There’s a lot that’s dividing Americans right now - lots of divisive narratives that have captivated lots of people. One of those narratives features the apparent widening political divide between urban and rural culture. But, the truth is that... |
| 2021-Apr-26 • 23 minutes Notes On Tribalism By Brad Harris, Historian |
| 2021-Feb-24 • 38 minutes The Fate of Universities Like many others, I’ve begun to worry about the fate of higher education in American society. Having spent most of my professional life in academia, my instinct is to regard the university system as sacred - as , to borrow the historian James... |
| 2021-Jan-25 • 61 minutes Explaining Postmodernism: A Conversation with Stephen Hicks In this episode, I invited the philosopher and author Stephen Hicks on the podcast to chat about his book, . Stephen has been a Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University in Illinois for nearly 20 years, and he's published widely on the... |
| 2020-Dec-21 • 34 minutes Escaping the Cycle of History What’s that line attributed to Mark Twain?... "History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes." As the authors Neil Howe and William Strauss wrote in their best-selling book , published in 1997, “The reward of the historian is to locate... |
| 2020-Oct-26 • 40 minutes Reflections from A Distant Mirror Plague, political upheaval, the looming prospect of another civil war... what century are we in? To retain historical perspective, and to find inspiration in how humanity has recovered from far greater upheavals in the past, we turn to Barbara... |
| 2020-Sep-14 • 27 minutes 2+2=5 I went slightly mad producing this episode. But then, the line between our reality and the fiction of has become far too blurry for my comfort. George Orwell wrote in 1948 - a very different historical context with very different threats. And yet,... |
| 2020-Aug-25 • 31 minutes All Things Being Equal "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it." Lately, it seems like our society is attempting to replace truth with power, forgetting that all other societies that have done this have failed miserably. One of the worst features of our society,... |
| 2020-Jul-08 • 21 minutes Approximating Perfection It's hard to remember how intelligent humanity can be when we are relentlessly bombarded by bad news. Author and mathematician Steven Strogatz helps to remind us with his recent book, . The history of calculus may seem irrelevant to most of our going... |
| 2020-Jun-05 • 21 minutes Science as a Candle in the Dark Carl Sagan was a brilliant popularizer of science. His book, , helps to inspire clear thinking when chaos reigns supreme. Here, I share my thoughts on the important themes of that work. To access bonus episodes and all regular... |
| 2019-Aug-05 • 32 minutes What If Our Ignorance Outgrows Our Potential? By Brad Harris, Historian |
| 2019-Jul-01 • 36 minutes A Battle Against Medieval Barbarism Today, we explore the origin of the modern concept of a fact. We take facts for granted, but they represent an invaluable intellectual technology less than 400 years old, which was forged in a fight between two of history’s brightest thinkers... |
| 2019-Jun-03 • 84 minutes What's True? A Conversation with Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen |
| 2019-May-02 • 66 minutes The Closing of the American Mind, by Allan Bloom Reviewed by Brad Harris, Historian |
| 2019-Apr-04 • 33 minutes Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, by Joseph Ellis Reviewed by Brad Harris, Historian |
| 2019-Mar-07 • 40 minutes Applied Perspective: A Conversation with Niall Ferguson is one of the most influential historians of our generation. His professional effort extends well beyond academia to ensure that policy makers and the public better understand how to apply historical lessons to current issues. Niall and I connected to... |
| 2019-Feb-07 • 38 minutes The Square and the Tower, by Niall Ferguson Reviewed by Brad Harris, Historian |
| 2019-Jan-09 • 90 minutes Why the West Rules - For Now, by Ian Morris Reviewed by Brad Harris, Historian |
| 2018-Dec-12 • 52 minutes The Fall of Rome, and the End of Civilization A conversation with Bryan Ward-Perkins |
| 2018-Nov-21 • 28 minutes The Two Cultures, by C. P. Snow Reviewed by Brad Harris, Historian |
| 2018-Oct-30 • 39 minutes Merchants of Doubt, by Naomi Oreskes & Erik Conway Reviewed by Brad Harris, Historian |
| 2018-Oct-08 • 55 minutes Galileo's Finger: The Ten Great Ideas of Science, by Peter Atkins Reviewed by Brad Harris, Historian |
| 2018-Sep-17 • 28 minutes Evolution's Other Narrative By Brad Harris, Historian |
| 2018-Sep-05 • 42 minutes Plagues and Peoples, by William McNeill Reviewed by Brad Harris, Historian |
| 2018-Aug-20 • 38 minutes 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, by Charles Mann Reviewed by Brad Harris, Historian |
| 2018-Aug-06 • 38 minutes Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, by Jack Weatherford Reviewed by Brad Harris, Historian |
| 2018-Jul-24 • 24 minutes The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas Kuhn Reviewed by Brad Harris, Historian |
| 2018-Jul-10 • 31 minutes Scientific Culture and the Making of the Industrial West, by Margaret Jacob Reviewed by Brad Harris, Historian |
| 2018-Jun-26 • 36 minutes The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, by David Landes Reviewed by Brad Harris, Historian |
| 2018-Jun-06 • 26 minutes Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond Reviewed by Brad Harris, Historian |