ALARM IN THE IVIES: 3/8: The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern World, by Adrian Wooldridge
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 17 December 2023
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
https://www.amazon.com/Aristocracy-Talent-Meritocracy-Modern-World/dp/1510768610/ref=sr_1_2?qid=1658009977&refinements=p_27%3AAdrian+Wooldridge&s=books&sr=1-2
The Times (UK) book of the year! Meritocracy: the idea that people should be advanced according to their talents rather than their birth. While this initially seemed like a novel concept, by the end of the twentieth century it had become the world's ruling ideology. How did this happen, and why is meritocracy now under attack from both right and left?
In The Aristocracy of Talent, the esteemed journalist and historian Adrian Wooldridge traces the history of meritocracy forged by the politicians and officials who introduced the revolutionary principle of open competition, the psychologists who devised methods for measuring natural mental abilities, and the educationalists who built ladders of educational opportunity. He looks outside western cultures and shows what transformative effects it has had everywhere it has been adopted, especially once women were brought into the meritocratic system.
1920 Harvard Yard
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is an |
| 0:05.0 | CVS I in the world. I'm John Bachelor and Adrian Waldridge who was badget at the |
| 0:09.8 | economist is the author Adrian Waldridge of of the aristocracy of talent, how meritocracy |
| 0:15.1 | made the world. |
| 0:16.6 | And we've moved through 2,500 years of history right up to the 19th century now. |
| 0:22.0 | I do not want to leave out Plato however I didn't have a |
| 0:24.9 | moment to include him but Plato writes a republic and in the republic there are |
| 0:30.9 | doubts about democracy doubts about whether you can trust people |
| 0:35.2 | to know what's best for them because after all they're working very hard and they live short lives. |
| 0:40.8 | Doubts also about whether democracy chooses the best leader. |
| 0:44.0 | Doubts also about whether you're ever going to follow a course of action that is rewarded |
| 0:51.2 | anywhere in this lifetime. That is in the minds of the men and women of the |
| 0:56.7 | 19th century as we come to not the French Revolution but the British interpretation of the French Revolution, and Adrian identifies two schools |
| 1:06.6 | of thought in Britain, in the United Kingdom, in the 19th century that are important to explore because they inform |
| 1:14.6 | how the United States responds as well to the search for brains, for talent. |
| 1:20.4 | One is the school of utilitarian, the greatest number for the greatest good |
| 1:24.7 | the other is the school of economists which is self-interest |
| 1:30.0 | Adrian i can't choose between them and I don't think Britain did either. |
| 1:34.1 | Is that correct? |
| 1:35.1 | Oh, absolutely. |
| 1:37.1 | In some ways they sort of supplement each other because the people like Adam Smith |
| 1:41.4 | and the great founders of modern economics are sort of utilitarian |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Batchelor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of John Batchelor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.