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New Scientist recommends David Runciman's podcast Past Present Future

The books, TV, games and more that New Scientist staff have enjoyed this week

By Joshua Howgego

12 June 2024

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

I am a podcast addict and my current favourite is Past Present Future, with David Runciman. It is about the history of ideas, and Runciman’s mellifluous tones guide us through an eclectic mix. There is plenty of science, including a recent episode on why taxonomy might have been a bad idea. I was sceptical, but ended up partly persuaded.

My favourite episode looked at Gulliver’s Travels, a book I thought I knew. But I didn’t realise that, as well as visiting Lilliput, Gulliver goes to Balnibarbi, a land where its inventors work on wild projects, like how to extract…

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