In today’s episode about seemingly good ideas gone badly wrong David talks to the philosopher and journalist Kathleen Stock about Facebook Friends, something that was meant to make us happier and better connected but really didn’t. How did online friendship become so performative? Does its failings say more about Facebook and its business models or does it say more about us? And why are academics so susceptible to the madness of social media?

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Next time on The History of Bad Ideas: historian Christopher Clark on Antisemitism

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In the second episode in our series on bad ideas David talks to the political economist Helen Thompson about the gold standard, which was meant to anchor the world economy until it all fell apart a hundred years ago. Why does gold so often appear like a stable basis for money in an unstable world – and why not silver? What made the gold standard a source of instability instead? How can money work if it has no material basis? And is quantitative easing a bad idea as well?

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Next time on The History of Bad Ideas: Kathleen Stock on Facebook Friends

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For the first episode in our new series about the hold of bad ideas David talks to the geneticist and science broadcaster Adam Rutherford about eugenics: from its origins in the 19th century through its heyday in the 20th century to its continuing legacy today. Is eugenics bad science, bad morality, bad politics – or all three? What are the fears that keep drawing people back to trying to control the consequences of human reproduction? And is a new age of consumerist eugenics upon us?

For ad-free listening and bonus episodes – including more bad ideas – subscribe to PPF+ www.ppfideas.com

Next time on The History of Bad Ideas: Helen Thompson on the Gold Standard

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.