Podcast appearances and mentions of Herbert J Ellison

Though there were differences between Germany’s effort to wipe out Jews (and others) and Japan’s massacres, there was a common ideological basis for these outrages. What lay behind Nazi ideology and Japan’s aggressive militarism, and why were they so vicious? Daniel Chirot, Herbert J. Ellison Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies at the University of Washington, compares the ideologies underlying this violence, as well as looking at other genocides of the 20th century, to show why we cannot rule out the possibility of this kind of violence occurring again. This talk is part of the fall 2020 weekly lecture series "Lessons (Not) Learned from the Holocaust," made possible through the generosity of Steven Baral.

In the BBC Sounds podcast "Thinking Allowed" UW Jackson School Herbert J. Ellison Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies Daniel Chirot is interviewed about his book "You Say You Want a Revolution? Radical Idealism and Its Tragic Consequences" (Princeton University Press, March 2020).

REVOLUTION: Are all radical upheavals in the social, economic and political order destined to fail? Laurie Taylor talks to Daniel Chirot, Herbert J. Ellison Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies at the University of Washington, about his study into why so many of the iconic revolutions of modern times have ended in bloody tragedies. Does radical idealism inevitably have tragic consequences? Also, the Rojava Revolution, how a region in Northeastern Syria, has become the site of extraordinary transformation. The writer and activist, Rahila Gupta, describes an experiment in direct democracy, inter-ethnic co-operation and women's liberation which has taken place against a backdrop of civil war. Producer: Jayne Egerton

REVOLUTION: Are all radical upheavals in the social, economic and political order destined to fail? Laurie Taylor talks to Daniel Chirot, Herbert J. Ellison Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies at the University of Washington, about his study into why so many of the iconic revolutions of modern times have ended in bloody tragedies. Does radical idealism inevitably have tragic consequences? Also, the Rojava Revolution, how a region in Northwestern Syria, has become the site of extraordinary transformation. The writer and activist, Rahila Gupta, describes an experiment in direct democracy, inter-ethnic co-operation and women's liberation which has taken place against a backdrop of civil war. Producer: Jayne Egerton

Why have so many of the iconic revolutions of modern times ended in bloody tragedies? What lessons can be drawn from these failures today, in a world where political extremism is on the rise and rational reform based on moderation and compromise often seems impossible to achieve? In You Say You Want a Revolution?, Daniel Chirot examines a wide range of right- and left-wing revolutions around the world — from the late eighteenth century to today — to provide important new answers to these critical questions. From the French Revolution of the eighteenth century to the Mexican, Russian, German, Chinese, anticolonial, and Iranian revolutions of the twentieth, Chirot finds that moderate solutions to serious social, economic, and political problems were overwhelmed by radical ideologies that promised simpler, drastic remedies. But not all revolutions had this outcome. The American Revolution didn’t, although its failure to resolve the problem of slavery eventually led to the Civil War, and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe was relatively peaceful, except in Yugoslavia. Chirot and Shermer also discuss: why violent radicalism, corruption, and the betrayal of ideals won in so many crucial cases, but why it didn’t in some others Did most Germans really believe in Nazi ideology or did they just go along out of social pressure and political convenience? No Hitler, No Holocaust? How do you get people to commit genocide? Anti-semitism in history and today how the logic of utopian radicalism leads to violence the difference in belief and action between Marx, Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky the difference between the American and French Revolutions We think of the American revolution as liberal, but its chief English defender, Edmund Burke, is the founder of modern conservatism. lessons to learn from centuries of violent vs. nonviolent revolutions. Daniel Chirot is the Herbert J. Ellison Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Henry Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. He is the author of many books, most recently, The Shape of the New: Four Big Ideas and How They Made the Modern World (with Scott L. Montgomery) (Princeton), which was named one of the New York Times Book Review’s 100 Notable Books of the Year. Listen to Science Salon via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn.

Daniel Chirot, the Herbert J. Ellison Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies at the University of Washington’s Henry M. Jackson School, talks about his new book, You Say You Want a Revolution?: Radical Idealism and Its Tragic Consequences.