Maarten van Rossem over grootmachten, grote verhalen en de zin van het leven | De Ongelooflijke #305

Seven years ago, historian Maarten van Rossem was a guest on De Ongelooflijke Podcast, but the world has changed considerably since then. Donald Trump is now back in the White House, China has grown into a major global power, war is raging in Ukraine, and Europe is more dependent on itself than ever. In his book *De 21e eeuw*—which, according to Van Rossem, actually began as early as 1979—he describes the past fifty years as a struggle between major powers. But beneath that power politics often lies something else: faith in the market, in the nation, in America, China, or Europe—and sometimes also faith in dangerous fairy tales. At the same time, Van Rossem calls himself an unbeliever. According to him, life has "no meaning whatsoever." But is that really the case? Does he actually live as if nothing has meaning? And can societies actually exist without grand narratives? In addition, Maarten talks about a mystical experience he once had, and he speaks spontaneously about Jesus and his favorite churches. 🎟️ Tickets for 'This is the Bible' live about hell: https://eo.nl/ditisdebijbel A new episode every Sunday at 8:00 AM on this channel. Subscribe:    / @deongelooflijke   In De Ongelooflijke Podcast (EO / NPO Radio 1), journalist David Boogerd and theologian Stefan Paas have in-depth conversations about our society and the relevance of faith in an increasingly secular Netherlands. With guests Tim Hofman, Rutger Bregman, Stine Jensen, Jan Peter Balkenende, Typhoon, Roxane van Iperen, Maarten van Rossem, Joris Luyendijk, Kajsa Ollongren, Arjen Lubach, and many others. And several times a year, we speak with friend of the show, historian Beatrice de Graaf. Listen to our (300+) episodes: https://www.eo.nl/podcast/de-ongeloof... Want to learn more about our world and culture? Subscribe to the Ongelooflijke Platform: https://deongelooflijke.eo.nl/ Follow De Ongelooflijke on Instagram:   / deongelooflijke   Follow David on LinkedIn:   / davidboogerd   --- Timecodes: 0:00 Intro 1:41 Maarten was once cancelled by the EO 8:40 In 1979, the biggest change of the last 4 decades began 16:22 Does China lead the world now? 25:30 How can an autocratic country be so successful? 43:13 The positive aspects of Europe 50:28 Was the EU founded out of distrust? 1:00:32 Why do we look for big stories? 1:05:17 Does life have meaning? 1:17:58 Maarten's church experiences 1:25:21 Maarten wants to make podcasts forever #maartenvanrossem #history #politics #china #europe #church