Are We Going the Way of the Roman Empire?
6/9/202637 min
Historically, societies fall. Civilizations collapse. But is that what’s happening now in the United States? With the help of historians, a former CIA-funded researcher on political instability, and one grumbling dad, Ben Bradford looks at the warning signs that can precede collapse — from polarization and political division to outside shocks and cascading crises. How much of that is visible in America right now? What would collapse actually look like in modern life? And if the alarms are blinking, is there still time to turn back?
Guests:
Ian Morris, historian, archaeologist, Stanford University professor, author: Why the West Rules—For Now.
Monty Marshall, former senior consultant for the U.S. Political Instability Task Force.
Annalee Newitz, science journalist, author: Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age.
Ben's Dad.
Ben's Mom.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Ben Bradford· Host0:19
Pretty much every day, this has happened for years, my father reads the newspaper and comes across some article about the state of the world, and this pronouncement emits from him. I'd say without question we're going the way of the Roman Empire. This is the refrain, "We're going the way of the Roman Empire." He could be reading about a new conflict- We're going the way of the Roman Empire. Or a tax change. Way of the Roman Empire. Someone runs a stop sign. Roman Empire. The refrain is followed inevitably by my mother sighing out her own reply.
Speaker 30:48
I am sick and tired of hearing about the Roman Empire.
Ben Bradford· Host0:52
It sounds like typical mom and dad stuff, but then I was talking to a pretty renowned historian who's written about Rome and a lot of other civilizations. He said something that's been stuck in my head.
Ian Morris· Guest1:04
Every single complex society that has ever existed in the history of the world so far has collapsed. Do we think we're different?
Ben Bradford· Host1:12
Do we think we're different? One of the reasons I wanted to do this show in the first place is that I think there's a pretty pervasive feeling of bleakness, of things falling apart, that the course we're on as a society, or maybe a