How did one of history's greatest moral crimes come to be seen as legitimate?

In this episode, I speak with historian John Samuel Harpham about his remarkable new book The Intellectual Origins of American Slavery. Rather than focusing on plantations or nineteenth-century defenses of slavery, Harpham takes us back to sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England to uncover the ideas that made slavery thinkable long before it became central to the American economy.

We discuss:

• Why an intellectual history of slavery matters
• Roman law and the rejection of Aristotle's theory of natural slavery
• The paradox of English liberty and the rise of the slave trade
• How seventeenth-century English writers viewed Africa
• Whether racism preceded slavery—or developed alongside it
• What this history tells us about moral blind spots in every society

Whether you're interested in American history, political thought, intellectual history, or the history of ideas, this conversation offers a fresh perspective on one of the defining institutions of the modern world.

John Samuel Harpham is the author of The Intellectual Origins of American Slavery: English Ideas in the Early Modern Atlantic World.

If you enjoy conversations on history, economics, political theory, and the history of ideas, consider subscribing to the channel.

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Javier Mejia is a Stanford University lecturer who specializes in the intersection of social networks and economic history. His research interests also include entrepreneurship and political economy, with a particular focus on Latin America and the Middle East. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Los Andes University. Mejia has previously been a Postdoctoral Associate and Lecturer at New York University-Abu Dhabi and a Visiting Scholar at the University of Bordeaux. He is also a frequent contributor to various news outlets, currently serving as an op-ed columnist for Forbes Magazine.

Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/JavierMejiaC

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Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-economic-and-political-history-podcast/id1708348817

Interview with Dan Edelstein, author of 'The Revolution to Come: A History of an Idea from Thucydides to Lenin' (Princeton University Press)

Rather than telling the story of revolutions themselves, Edelstein traces the evolution of the idea of revolution—from ancient fears of political instability to the modern belief in revolution as a force for progress.

We explore how Enlightenment thinkers transformed the meaning of revolution, why modern revolutions often turn against pluralism, and how these ideas shaped events like the French and Bolshevik Revolutions.

Topics include:

-What is a revolution (and how it differs from revolt or rebellion)

-Ancient vs modern understandings of political change

-The Enlightenment and the idea of progress

-The French Revolution as a turning point

-Why revolutions often become anti-pluralist

-The “Red Leviathan” and revolutionary authority

-The legacy of revolutionary thinking today

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Javier Mejia is a Stanford University lecturer who specializes in the intersection of social networks and economic history. His research interests also include entrepreneurship and political economy, with a particular focus on Latin America and the Middle East. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Los Andes University. Mejia has previously been a Postdoctoral Associate and Lecturer at New York University-Abu Dhabi and a Visiting Scholar at the University of Bordeaux. He is also a frequent contributor to various news outlets, currently serving as an op-ed columnist for Forbes Magazine.

Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/JavierMejiaC

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/javier_mejia_c/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javier-mejia-cubillos-64504562/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3WqEZXavqg3qstoLKwtllF?si=589f4216d414448f

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-economic-and-political-history-podcast/id1708348817

Interview with Sophia Rosenfeld, author of 'The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life' (Princeton University Press)

What does it mean to be free?

Today we tend to think freedom means having more choices—more products to buy, more careers to pursue, more partners to date, more opinions to hold. But this idea is surprisingly new.

In this episode, historian Sophia Rosenfeld joins the podcast to discuss her book The Age of Choice, which traces how modern societies came to equate freedom with individual choice.

We explore how everyday practices—shopping, reading, dating, and voting—helped create the modern idea of the “choosing self.” Along the way, we discuss the promises and limits of choice, the role of women in the history of modern freedom, and why the ideal of choice may now be reaching its limits.

Topics include:- How consumer culture helped create the idea of personal choice- The history of choosing beliefs and opinions- Why romantic relationships reveal the limits of freedom-as-choice- How voting became a form of individual selection- The role of psychology and economics in defining the “rational chooser”- Whether modern societies have too much choiceThis conversation explores one of the most powerful ideas shaping modern life: that freedom means choosing for yourself.

------Javier Mejia is a Stanford University lecturer who specializes in the intersection of social networks and economic history. His research interests also include entrepreneurship and political economy, with a particular focus on Latin America and the Middle East. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Los Andes University. Mejia has previously been a Postdoctoral Associate and Lecturer at New York University-Abu Dhabi and a Visiting Scholar at the University of Bordeaux. He is also a frequent contributor to various news outlets, currently serving as an op-ed columnist for Forbes Magazine.

Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/JavierMejiaC

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/javier_mejia_c/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javier-mejia-cubillos-64504562/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3WqEZXavqg3qstoLKwtllF?si=589f4216d414448f

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-economic-and-political-history-podcast/id1708348817