Starcast Join the waitlist
Rear Vision — How History Shaped Today

Rear Vision — How History Shaped Today

How an obsession with time has come to enslave us

Oct 23, 2026 · 30m

Coming soon to iPhone. Already have it? “Listen in Starcast” takes you straight there.

On this episode

About this episode

The English language is dotted with expressions that betray a distrust of time – we talk of “racing against time” or we express a frustration that “time is not on our side”. In this episode of Rear Vision, we look at the history of time as a concept. Why time from the Industrial Revolution onwards became wedded to ideas of progress and productivity. And how at both a personal and societal level time became a means of constraint as much as organisation. Guests: Dr Adrian Bardon – Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest University Dr Emily Thomas – Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy, Durham University Dr Iwan Rhys Morus – Professor of History and Welsh History, Aberystwyth…