Arend Jan Boekestijn over Trump, belangrijke denkers en zijn enige godsbewijs | Ongelooflijke #312

He is one of the most famous foreign affairs commentators in the Netherlands: historian Arend Jan Boekestijn. But he is retiring! A good moment to look back. What lessons has he learned himself? Boekestijn was a Member of Parliament for the VVD and currently advises Volt. Has he become more left-leaning, or has it mainly been the world around him that has become radicalized? In this conversation, you will hear, among other things: – what Donald Trump does understand about power, according to him; – why Boekestijn fears that American democracy is "going to ruin" – what Boekestijn has changed his mind about over the last forty years – and what, according to him, is the only proof of God We go back to his Reformed upbringing in Amstelveen, his great admiration for his father, and the influence of the well-known theologian Harry Kuitert, who regularly visited their home. We also discuss the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, Barack Obama's favorite thinker, and what Niebuhr and Kuitert could teach Donald Trump about power, doubt, and overconfidence. Every Sunday at 8:00 AM, a new episode 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... Listen to our 7-part spin-off 'De Ongelooflijke Geschiedenis': https://www.eo.nl/podcast/de-ongeloof... Want to learn more about our world and culture? Read our articles on De Ongelooflijke Substack: https://deongelooflijke.eo.nl/ Follow De Ongelooflijke on Instagram:   / deongelooflijke   Follow David on LinkedIn:   / davidboogerd   --- Timecodes: 0:00 Intro 0:38 Boekestijn quits, but actually not really 07:23 How Arend-Jan Boekestijn was shaped 17:00 The father who taught him to think 21:35 The theologian who taught him to doubt 28:48 Is morality simply a human convention? 39:39 Why he started looking at Europe radically differently 47:10 Why power only stops through checks and balances 01:01:01 Can a democracy slide back into a dictatorship? 01:17:19 His only proof of God? Bach #trump #geopolitics #history