This program provides contextual history behind various conceptions of progress and surfaces testimony regarding these ideas operate in the real world.
Recent Episodes
March 9, 2026
Plato vs. the Sophists: The Allegory of the Cave As His Answer On Progress | Ep. 6 pt 1
In this episode of Notions of Progress — the first of a two-part examination of Plato — we ask what happens to the Sophists’ theory of progress once Plato is done with it. The Sophists had argued that human beings advance thr...
Feb. 23, 2026
The Sophists: Fifth Century Enlightenment? | Ep. 5 Pt.1
About This Episode In this episode of Notions of Progress — the first of a two-part solo series — we ask a deceptively simple question: were the ancient Greek Sophists the original enlightenment-like thinkers of human progres...
Feb. 9, 2026
Five Faces of Progress: The Road to Anti-Progress |Prof. Tyson Retz Pt.2 | Ep. 4
About This Episode In this episode of Notions of Progress - Part Two, we continue exploring the fascinating evolution of progress thinking with Professor Tyson Retz, author of "Progress in the Scale of History" (Cambridge Uni...
Jan. 26, 2026
Five Faces of Progress: A Conceptual Framework for Historical Change |Prof. Tyson Retz | Ep. 3 Pt.1
About This Episode In this episode of Notions of Progress, we explore the fascinating evolution of progress thinking with Professor Tyson Retz, an intellectual historian at the University of Stavanger in Norway and author of ...
Jan. 12, 2026
The Promethean Question: : Greek Views on Technological Progress | Ep. 2
In Episode 2 of Notions of Progress, we explore the "Promethean Question" - examining Greek antiquity's perspectives on technological progress from 700-300 BCE. Did the ancient Greeks view technology as a divine gift or a dan...
Dec. 18, 2025
Show Trailer - The Long Road To Progress | Ep. 1
In "Notions of Progress," host Marshall Madow explores the concept of progress through history, examining technological advancements and philosophical ideas. This trailer delves into themes like AI, transhumanism, and technol...
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Recent Blog Posts
March 10, 2026
Much of our political argument about who should make decisions for the rest of us rests on a prior assumption: can ordinary people be trusted to know enough about justice and the good to govern themselves well? The Sophists, as we traced in Episodes…
Feb. 25, 2026
SummaryThis episode asks questions that the Sophists raised in fifth-century Athens and never fully resolved. When a school of thought is almost entirely known through the writings of its most powerful critic, how much of what we think we know is …
About the Host
Marshall Madow