120 | Francis Fukuyama

David talks to the author of The End of History about his new book, Identity.  Can 'identity politics' really make sense of everything from populism to #MeToo?  Why are liberal democracies struggling to meet their citizens' desire for recognition?  And what happened to the end of history anyway?  Plus we discuss the Kavanaugh hearings, 'getting to Denmark' and the challenge of an ageing population. 

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116 | Dan Snow

We talk with the host of Dan Snow's History Hit, the no. 1 history podcast, about some of our favourite subjects.  Does history help us understand the present state of politics, and which history?  Are we closer to the 1890s, the 1930s, or the 1980s? How should we commemorate the aftermath of WWI? Plus we talk about whether Chinese politicians are really able to take the long view. With Helen Thompson. 

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113 | Crashed

Helen and David talk to historian Adam Tooze about his epic new book Crashed: How A Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World. Why did the crash of 2008 take so many people by surprise? How did it spread from the US around the world? Why was Europe so vulnerable? And how do the answers to these questions help explain Brexit, Trump and what's now going on in places from Hungary to China? Plus, as we approach the 10-year anniversary of the event the triggered the crisis, we explore what might have happened if Lehman Brothers had been saved.

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104 Trump Blows Through

After another extraordinary week, we try to make sense of what Trump has been up to on his European travels. From Chequers to Brussels to Helsinki, what was he doing and why was he doing it?  Is he really Putin's puppet?  Has he helped or hurt May's chances of survival?  Plus we catch up with the other side of the Trump presidency: the remaking of the US Supreme Court.  How will the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh impact on some of the most contentious issues in American politics, above all the deep divisive question of abortion?  With Helen Thompson and Gary Gerstle, Mellon Professor of American History at Cambridge.