Niall Ferguson | What History Can Teach Us

John talks to world-renowned Stanford University Historian Niall Ferguson about the history, standing and trajectory of Western Civilisation, the evils of totalitarianism, the Western academy, social media and more. Niall Ferguson, MA, D.Phil., is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a senior fellow of the Centre for European Studies, Harvard, where he served for twelve years as the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History. He is the author of fifteen books, most recently The Square and the Tower. His previous book, Kissinger, 1923-1968: The Idealist, won the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Prize. He is also an award-winning filmmaker, having won an international Emmy for his PBS series The Ascent of Money. #History #Marxism #Communism #Fascism -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 00:00 Introduction 1:00 Why do you care about history? 5:39 Communism and Fascism: Bedfellows 15:41 The Myth of Utopian Equality 20:50 The Existential Threats to the West 28:28 Why is there pessimism in the West? 32:44 Technological Revolutions 39:00 Censorship, Social Media and Politics -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conversations feature John Anderson, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, interviewing the world's foremost thought leaders about today's pressing social, cultural and political issues. John believes proper, robust dialogue is necessary if we are to maintain our social strength and cohesion. As he puts it; "You cannot get good public policy out of a bad public debate." If you value this discussion and want to see more like it, make sure you subscribe to the channel here:    / @johnandersonmedia   And stay right up to date with all the conversations by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://johnanderson.net.au/contact/ Follow John on Twitter:   / johnandersonac   Follow John on Facebook:   / johnandersonac   Follow John on LinkedIn:   / john-anderson-ao   Support the channel: https://johnanderson.net.au/support/ Website: https://johnanderson.net.au/ Podcast: https://johnanderson.net.au/podcasts/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Niall's website: https://www.niallferguson.com Follow Niall on Twitter:   / nfergus   Follow Niall on Facebook:   / niallcferguson