Why Are We Drawn to Dictators?

In 1698, a 6’8” Russian giant went on a bender through an English gentleman’s estate. He trashed portraits, burned furniture and drunkenly rammed wheelbarrows through a prize-winning holly hedge. The giant in question was Peter the Great, and this wasn’t just a royal lads' holida ...  Show more

Ghost stories have haunted conversations since ancient times, from the Mesopotamians to the Romans to the Vikings. The medieval period was particularly awash with ghost stories - after all, it was an era of great plague, piety and corporal punishment. Ghost stories served as usef ...  Show more

Why is democracy worth saving? Sean Illing is joined by Astra Taylor, the author of the new book The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart. They discuss the history and reality of insecurity and how we can fight for more sustainable and meaningful democratic pol ...  Show more

Sam Harris and Anne Applebaum discuss the nature of modern autocracies and how democracies fail. They discuss the power of ideas, why autocracies seek to undermine democracies, cooperation among dictators, how Western financial experts and investors have enabled auto ...

David Runciman is author of "How Democracy Ends" and host of the Talking Politics podcast. We spoke about what the function of democracy is, the significance of the generational divide when voting, the relationship between corporations and government, anarcho-syndacalism & the ri ...  Show more