Scotland The Brave
29 October 2024 - 44 minsI'm up in Glasgow and we're devoting this podcast to all things Scottish, kkicking off with the amazing Scottish Enlightenment. Why did 18th-century Scotland emerge as a crucible for radical ideas, drawing intellectuals, inventors, and innovators alike? The Scottish Enlightenment marked an era where thinkers like David Hume and Adam Smith thrived amidst newfound economic growth, sparked by an influx of wealth from trade routes and ventures (like Scotland's ill-fated attempt to build a canal in Panama). But unlike France, where revolutionary fervor overthrew established order, Scotland’s intellectual revolution developed under the stability of the British Empire, with Scots integrating into i...
Series Episodes
World Cup Series: Haiti
Haiti just qualified for its first World Cup in 50 years, and they come from the poorest country in the Americas, a place where gangs run the capital and the average person earns $45 a month. We trace how the world's first successful slave revolution ended up here: French gunboats, a 120-year debt, ecological collapse, and an island where one half (the Dominican Republic) is racing ahead while the other is forgotten. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
44 mins
18 June Finished
Could Canada Have A Brexit Moment?
Mark Carney is being hailed as the new leader of the free world. While he's facing down Trump abroad, his real headache is at home, Alberta, Canada's Texas, is gearing up for a referendum that could split the country in two. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
42 mins
16 June Finished
Inside the World Cup's Narco State
We head down Mexico way to unpack the country hosting the World Cup, a $1.8 trillion economy living side by side with one of the most powerful criminal networks on earth. Drugs, guns, avocados, and the politics tying Trump and Sheinbaum together whether they like it or not. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
40 mins
11 June Finished
Why Social Democracies Win World Cups
The FT's Simon Kuper joins us to kick off our World Cup series, on why tiny social democracies keep producing the best football teams, why FIFA is laundering reputations for dictators, and why this tournament will say more about geopolitics than any leaders' summit this year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
40 mins
9 June Finished
Why Social Democracies Win World Cups
The FT's Simon Kuper joins us to kick off our World Cup series, on why tiny social democracies keep producing the best football teams, why FIFA is laundering reputations for dictators, and why this tournament will say more about geopolitics than any leaders' summit this year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
40 mins
9 June Finished
The Coming Water Crisis
Forget oil. The real fight is over the world's most precious and least understood commodity; water. We're joined by Paul O'Callaghan of BlueTech Research to explain why two billion people still can't get safe drinking water, why Saudi Arabia is quietly draining Colorado, and why Ireland's biggest strategic advantage might just be the rain we love to complain about. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
29 mins
4 June Finished
