The French Revolution to the Jan 6th riot – The real history of political uprisings

The Bunker

Podmasters

News, Politics, Society & Culture, Government

4.6 • 984 Ratings

🗓️ 4 June 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

From memes demanding we “eat the rich” to real-world insurrections, the language of revolution is everywhere. But what does it really mean to call for one today? Zing Tsjeng is joined by Dan Edelstein, professor of political science and history at Stanford University and author of The Revolution to Come, to explore our relationship with revolutionary thought, from Ancient Greece, to the French revolution, through to the January 6th riots – and ask whether we need a revolution today. Buy The Revolution to Come: A History of an Idea from Thucydides to Lenin through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small commission for every sale. https://bookshop.org/’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social Written and presented by Zing Tsjeng. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editor: Robin Leeburn. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:03.0	Hello. Hello and welcome back to The Bunker, your daily dose of news and politics explainers. I'm Zing Sing.
1:09.7	As one famous Liverpoolian band once sang, you say you want a revolution, well, you know, we all want to change the world.
1:11.3	From internet memes about eating the rich to the January 6th insurrection and Trump's subsequent victory at the ballot box,
1:16.5	the idea of revolutionary activity has never felt more relevant. Now, revolutions were once feared by
1:22.0	the ancient Greeks. Then the 18th century came around and with the American and French revolutions
1:26.8	turned that awe on its head.
1:29.2	As the 21st century grows more unstable and chaotic than ever, how should we feel about the idea of revolution?
1:34.9	Dan Edelstein is the William H. Bonsor, a professor of French and professor of political science and history at Stanford University,
1:41.3	and he's put out a new book that offers a panoramic view of revolutions
1:44.8	from antiquity to beyond. The revolution to come, a history of an idea from Thucydides to
1:50.2	Lenin, explores how one very simple idea can dominate intellectual and political history.
	...

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