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Urgent History

Urgent History

By: Australian National University
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About this listen

Hosted by Dr Filip Slaveski, Senior Lecturer in Russian, Soviet and East European History, Urgent History brings together leading historians to apply their knowledge of the past to some of the most pressing questions of the present. From the fate of face-to-face lectures and the crisis in Australian universities, to the roots of political populism, climate activism, and the cost-of-living squeeze, each conversation explores how the past continues to shape our present.


Unscripted and uncut, the series is designed to feel like a conversation at the dinner table between historians - thoughtful, sharp, and sometimes provocative. Whether you’re a student, historian, or simply curious about the world, this podcast invites you to see how history helps us make sense of the challenges we face today.

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

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Episodes
  • Who needs History anyway?

    Who needs History anyway?
    Aug 26 2025
    In this podcast, we try to make sense of some universities’ attempts to do away with face-to-face lectures – the most ancient and enduring form of teaching. We explore how this trend might impact humanities courses, history especially, in tertiary education, and what it means for the value of education in our time.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    46 mins
  • The Roots of Political Populism

    The Roots of Political Populism
    Aug 26 2025
    In this podcast we ask how the philosophers of the 18th century got it so wrong, that is how their hopes of the Enlightenment leading to peace and prosperity, instead, led to fanaticism and bloodshed. Can we trace the roots of today’s political extremism among western democracies, from Trump’s America to Orban’s Hungary, to this juncture?

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    43 mins
  • Getting out of our cost-of-living crisis

    Getting out of our cost-of-living crisis
    Aug 26 2025
    In this podcast we examine the historical roots of the contemporary cost-of-living crisis, particularly in Australia, but also more broadly in the West. We ask where the decline in real living standards of Australian workers and the corresponding growth of poverty and inequality in Australia came from. Was it only from COVID? What about the last financial crisis in 2008? Or later developments? Are these things connected and how doe get out of this crisis?

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