What Rhymes With Now?
What Rhymes With Now? is a history podcast hosted by Patrick Cook and produced by Louis Walsh. Each episode features an interview with a leading historian about a historical period that illuminates a current issue. The show seeks to provide historical perspective on today's biggest challenges by drawing parallels between the past and the present. It's aimed at listeners looking for a deeper understanding of current events through the lens of history.
Episodes
The dramatic history of the English language with Frederick Atkinson
Patrick is joined by Frederick Atkinson to discuss the history and development of the English language, some of the great writers in English history and how social media and AI is changing the way we engage with language.Frederick Atkinson is writer and presenter focussing on English history, mythology and literature. Patrick Cook is the host of the What Rhymes With Now? podcast, which looks at hi
What would Plato say today? With Angie Hobbs
Fake news. Money and politics. Demagogues who tell the crowd exactly what it wants to hear. And the oldest question of all — what does a good life actually look like? Plato was turning these questions over 2,400 years ago, and his conclusions are as strange and as sharp as ever.In this episode I'm joined by Professor Angie Hobbs — Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the Univ
UK nuclear energy and infrastructure with Simon Taylor
Why does it feel like the UK (and the West in general) can't build anything anymore? Why is nuclear so hotly debated by environmentalists and policy makers? What can we do to get clean, cheap energy and infrastructure?Patrick speaks with Professor Simon Taylor about the history and financing of nuclear power in Britain — from the early ambitions of the civil nuclear programme to the cost overr
Global order and disorder with Ayse Zarakol
Ayşe Zarakol is Professor of International Relations at the University of Cambridge and a Politics Fellow at Emmanuel College. She is the author of Before the West: The Rise and Fall of Eastern World Orders, which argues that the sovereign, universalist world orders we associate with the modern West have older precedents in the great Eastern empires — and that understanding how those orders rose a
Andy Beckett Bonus Clip
An additional clip from Patrick's discussion with Andy Beckett.16/04/2026
How our beliefs shape society with Ryan Avent
Why does Western civilization feel lost? What are the underlying beliefs behind our society, and how did they emerge? How will social media and AI impact the way we live? What can we do about it? I’m speaking about all of this with Ryan Avent, author of the new book, In Good Faith: How the Nature of Belief Shapes the Fate of Societies.
The future of dollar dominance with Paul Blustein
How did the dollar become the dominant global currency? What impact does that have on the US and the global economy? How might this change with the emergence of new global powers, geopolitical uncertainty and technological innovation? To find out more, I spoke with the author Paul Blustein about his latest book King Dollar.
Britain, England, and the Anglo Saxons with Nicholas J. Higham
Why is Great Britain divided into England, Scotland and Wales? The answer lies nearly two thousand years ago, in the collapse of Roman rule and the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons — a story of migration, cultural replacement and identity that resonates with debates we're having today. Patrick speaks with historian Nicholas J. Higham, author of the new book How England Began: From Roman Britain to
Trailer: What Rhymes With Now?
History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes. What Rhymes With Now? is a podcast, produced by Louis Walsh, that puts today's biggest challenges in historical perspective. Each episode, host Patrick Cook interviews a leading historian about a period that illuminates something urgent about the present. If you're looking for the bigger picture, this is your show.
The Politics of the French Revolution with John Hardman
You may have heard that inequality today has reached levels not seen since the French Revolution. But what actually happened after 1789 — and what does it teach us about the fragility of political institutions, and populist politics? Patrick speaks with John Hardman, author of The French Revolution: A Political History, about how a group of radical lawyers wrestled control from a king, how revolut
The Great Depression and the New Deal with Robert McElvaine
Why didn't America turn to fascism during the worst economic crisis in modern history? If AI causes mass unemployment in the coming years, what can the 1930s teach us about replacing the social role of work? Patrick speaks with Robert S. McElvaine, historian, political commentator and author of The Great Depression: America 1929–1941, about the wealth inequality and debt-fuelled consumption that c
Stagflation and Politics in the 70's with Andy Beckett
We are in an era of stagflation. What happened last time? And why do the 1970s cast such a long shadow over British politics? Patrick speaks with Andy Beckett, journalist and author of When the Lights Went Out: Britain in the Seventies, about the three-day week, the collapse of the post-war consensus, the rise of Thatcherism, and why a country that was more egalitarian than it had ever been still
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