BlomCast
Philipp Blom
The BlomCast looks at turning points in history, which have always fascinated me. My name is Philipp Blom, I am a historian and broadcaster and author of many books about the Enlightenment, the story of modernity and climate history. The climate catastrophe places us at the greatest historical turning point hin human history. What, if anything, can we learn from moments in the past in which a model of life seemed to change, or had to change, in which whole societies were transformed?If you want to support my work:https://buymeacoffee.com/blomcasthttps://www.buzzsprout.com/2104173/supporthttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOowcMCQ_oJtdJeZu3oK6og/joinhttps://www.patreon.com/user?u=75561076&utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 25, 2023 • 32min
[10] A New Enlightenment?
Do we need a New Enlightenment to cut through a new obscurantism? Or is the Enlightenment part of a bad past of racism, slavery, and exploitation? In many ways, the ideas of the Enlightenment are tarnished by their historical association with historical injustices, dictatorships and utopian experiments that left a bloody trace throughout history, an inhuman rationalism more akin to capitalist excess than to liberté-égalité-fraternité. But this is only one face of Enlightenment thinking, an invention of later historians. Behind this sanitised facade lies a landscape of hair-raising debates, doubts and discussions that have lost nothing of their power to astonish and to question the status quo and the lies societies like to tell themselves.Support the show
May 14, 2023 • 25min
[09] Artificial Intelligence — The Turning Point in the Story of Humanity and Machines?
Since Icarus flew too close to the sun, the common story of humans and their machines tells of hopes, fears and ambitions. From Leonardo to industrialisation, the First World War and the nuclear threat, this relationship has had many chapters. People have built machines to imitate their faculties and have recognised themselves in them and developed in parallel with them. With the rise of artificial intelligence — machines that can learn by themselves — the traditional balance could be upset. Are human beings merely carbon-based prototypes of a more complex machine intelligence?Support the show
May 14, 2023 • 22min
[09] Künstliche Intelligenz — der Wendepunkt für Mensch und Maschine?
Seit Ikarus zu nahe an der Sonne flog, spricht die gemeinsame Geschichte von Menschen und Maschinen von Ängsten und Hoffnungen, von menschlichem Ehrgeiz. Von Leonardos Entwürfen über die Industrialisierung, den Ersten Weltkrieg und die Atombombe hat diese Beziehung viele Kapitel gehabt. Menschen haben sich in Maschinen wiedererkannt, haben ihre Fähigkeiten und ihre Intelligenz imitiert, haben vor ihnen Angst gehabt und sich parallel zu ihnen entwickelt. Mit dem Aufstieg der künstlichen Intelligenz — einer Maschine, die selbst lernt — könnte dieses Gleichgewicht kippen. Sind Menschen nur Prototypen einer komplexeren Maschinen-Intelligenz?Support the show
Apr 19, 2023 • 1h 1min
[08] The Fall of Rome — Was it Decadence, Plague, or Climate Change?
When the Roman empire was at its zenith it was the largest empire ever seen, an unchallengeable power with mighty legions, an efficient administration, unparalleled economic power and a glittering metropolis at its centre. The fact that it took just a few generations to unravel was intimately connected not only to corruption and decadence, but also to climate change and imported epidemics sweeping the empire, argues Kyle Harper, author of the bestselling: The Fall of Rome. I am excited to speak to Kyle about the many reasons of the Fall of Rome, and the lessons its epic collapse might hold for our future.Support the show
Apr 2, 2023 • 21min
[07] Warum Europa?
Um 1450 waren die größten und zivilisiertesten Mächte und Märkte in China und Indien, das osmanische Reich, auch Kulturen wie die Khmer in Kambodscha und die Azteken in Mittelamerika projizierten Macht. Europa bestand aus Kleinreichen, die dauernd im Krieg miteinander lagen und die seit dem römischen Reich einen Rückschritt erlebt hatten. Trotzdem war es das kleine, provinzielle Europa, das 300 Jahre später die Welt regierte. Wie konnte es dazu kommen? Wie wichtig waren dabei Viren und Kanonen, Religion und Geographie?Support the show
Apr 2, 2023 • 27min
[07] Why Europe
Around 1450, the greatest empires and the greatest markets of the world were China, India and the Ottoman empire, while also cultures like the Khmer in Cambodia and the Aztecs in Mesoamerica projected great power and achievements. Europe was a collection of small countries in a constant state of war, a great step back from the civilisation of the Roman empire. 300 years later Europe ruled the world. How was that possible, and how important were viruses and gunpowder, religion and geography?Support the show
Mar 19, 2023 • 31min
[06] “Subdue the Earth” — How the Idea of Dominating Nature was Born
Long before the bible, humans imagined that they could subjugate nature, and even death itself. With Christianity, this interesting illusion was spread throughout the globe. But where did it come from, and what does it mean combined with the 21st-century technologies?Support the show
Mar 19, 2023 • 24min
[06] "Macht Euch die Erde untertan" — woher kommt die Idee der Naturbeherrschung?
Lange vor der Bibel entstand die Idee, Menschen könnten die Natur unterwerfen. Mit dem Christentum wurde sie über den ganzen Globus verbreitet. Aber wo kam sie her und was bedeutet sie verbunden mit den Technologien des 21. Jahrhunderts?Support the show
Mar 5, 2023 • 23min
[05] Kultur zwischen Eis und Feuer
Geschichte war immer die Untersuchung der Vergangenheit von Menschen. Mit neuen Forschungsmethoden der Klimawissenschaften sind aber ganz neue Zugänge möglich geworden: Die Geschichte menschlicher Gesellschaften in einer dynamischen natürlichen Umgebung. Das öffnet ganz neue Perspektiven auf Aufstieg und Fall ganzer Kulturen, von den ersten Stadtkulturen und dem Fall von Rom bis hin zur Klimakatastrophe der Gegenwart.Support the show
Mar 5, 2023 • 25min
[05] Culture Between Ice and Fire
History has always been the story of the human past. With the advent of climate science and historical research into climate patterns, a new kind of history has become possible looking at societies as part of a dymanic natural environment. This opens new perspectives on the rise and fall of cultures, from the first cities and the Fall or Rome to the climate catastrophe of today.Support the show
