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Fifteen Fictions for Summer re-release: Gulliver’s Travels
Season 8 · Episode 97

Fifteen Fictions for Summer re-release: Gulliver’s Travels

<p>Today’s episode on the Great Political Fictions is about Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726) – part adventure story, part satire of early-eighteenth-century party politics, but above all a coruscating reflection on the failures of human perspective and self-knowledge. Why do we find it so hard to see ourselves for who we really are? What makes us so vulnerable to mindless feuds and wild conspiracy theories? And what could we learn from the talking horses?</p><br><p>Tomorrow: Friedrich Schiller’s <em>Mary Stuart</em></p><br><p>Find out more about Past Present Future on our new website <a href="http://www.ppfideas.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.ppfideas.com</a> where you can also join PPF+ to get bonus episodes and ad-free listening.</p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Past Present Future · David Runciman

August 19, 202456m 34s

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Show Notes

Today’s episode on the Great Political Fictions is about Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726) – part adventure story, part satire of early-eighteenth-century party politics, but above all a coruscating reflection on the failures of human perspective and self-knowledge. Why do we find it so hard to see ourselves for who we really are? What makes us so vulnerable to mindless feuds and wild conspiracy theories? And what could we learn from the talking horses?


Tomorrow: Friedrich Schiller’s Mary Stuart


Find out more about Past Present Future on our new website www.ppfideas.com where you can also join PPF+ to get bonus episodes and ad-free listening.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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