The Fragility of Civilization and the Lessons of History

Niall Ferguson is a historian at Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is the author of 16 books on the history of money, war, power, and catastrophe. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
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University of Austin: https://uaustin.org/
Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe (book): https://amzn.to/3wt7AI8
Kissinger: The Idealist (book): https://amzn.to/3CVXvGc
The Ascent of Money (book): https://amzn.to/3kCK0Ev
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The Age of AI (book): https://amzn.to/3BUgTSH

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OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(09:14) – University of Austin (UATX)
(42:09) – Sam Harris
(1:00:36) – Elon Musk
(1:08:55) – Money
(1:18:50) – Hyperinflation
(1:24:15) – Bitcoin
(1:40:57) – Ethereum and smart contracts
(1:49:43) – Worst disasters in human history
(2:11:41) – How history will remember the current pandemic
(2:25:16) – Hope for the future
(2:33:46) – Love
(2:40:24) – Meaning of life