Tom Holland

speaker

53,183 appearances 201 recordings 9 series first heard Sep 2024 last heard 3d ago

Tom Holland’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 92 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 11.

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The Rest Is History · 708. The Terror: The Reign of Robespierre (Part 2) · 23 Sep 2026 podcast

And so he writes, question, what is our aim? matched

Answer, to provide governance for the benefit of the people. matched

And the people, of course, for Robespierre are the great embodiment of virtue. matched

And this is a principle that he's absorbed from Rousseau and which he will never abandon. matched

This assumption that the poor are intrinsically good, they can do no wrong. matched

But there is a problem, which is that France is facing massive popular insurrections in the provinces. matched

And so this requires Robespierre to answer an obvious question. matched

If the people are intrinsically good, why are they behaving in such a way? matched

Why are they refusing to behave in a kind of the selfless and patriotic manner that they probably should be if they are intrinsically virtuous? matched

And Robespierre's answer to this puzzle is that they are being kept in ignorance and poverty by the rich and the corrupt. matched

And specifically of the poor. matched

So he's saying, you know, who are the chief obstacles to the enlightenment of the poor? matched

The paid journalists who mislead them every day by shameless distortions. matched

I'm very familiar with that argument, I have to say. matched

That is very familiar. matched

So in other words, if only people weren't reading awful columnists in the Daily Mail, everything would be perfect. matched

That's absolutely Robespierre's vibe. matched

Robespierre also blames turncoat generals like Lafayette and du Maurier, both of whom have defected from the revolution to foreign enemies. matched

The British, who Robespierre describes as an insolent and vile people, and particularly their prime minister, William Pitt, who is seen as flooding France with gold. matched

And the temptation to blame everything that is happening on France on Pitt's gold is a very strong one. matched

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