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Introduction In our fragmented, unstable, and often bewildering century, it is tempting to imagine that the challenges we face—rising authoritarianism, disinformation, inequality, and division—are uniquely modern problems. Yet over two thousand years ago, Plato wrestled with questions of truth, justice, power, and the fragility of democracy that remain startlingly relevant today. His great dialogue The Republic is not simply a philosophical blueprint for an ideal city; it is also a warning about the vulnerabilities of human societies and the ease with which they can collapse into tyranny. In a recent conversation for the Explaining History podcast, I spoke with Professor…
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Introduction The term neoliberalism emerged in the mid-20th century as an effort to revive and revise classical liberalism in the face of economic crises and totalitarian regimes. Early neoliberals sought a “third way” between laissez-faire capitalism and state socialism, combining belief in free markets with a framework of legal and social institutions. A seminal moment came at the 1938 Walter Lippmann Colloquium in Paris, where German economist Alexander Rüstow and others coined “neoliberalism” to signify an active, rule-based market economy (rather than the old laissez-faire model) . In practice this meant free trade and private enterprise, but with a role…