• Episode 46: Sven Beckert, "Capitalism: A Global History" (Part 8/10)
    Jun 23 2026
    In this part of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History I finish chapter 14 and read through chapter 15, exploring the response to the Great Depression and the rise of "insurgent" capitalisms in the colonial world.
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    26 mins
  • Episode 45: Sven Beckert: Capitalism: A Global History (Part 7/10)
    Jun 22 2026
    Part 7 of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History. In this section of the book we explore Beckert's commentary on state expansion and the origins of the Great Depression.
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    31 mins
  • Episode 44: Sven Beckert, "Capitalism: A Global History" (Part 6/10)
    Jun 17 2026

    In part 6 of this 10 part review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History I read the chapters on the "reconstructions" of capital and labor in the later 19th century. It is in these reconstructions that the foundations of modern capitalism were laid

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    43 mins
  • Episode 43: Sven Beckert, "Capitalism: A Global History" (Part 5/10)
    Jun 15 2026

    Wow, we are half done with this massive book. The next part of my review of Capitalism: A Global History by Sven Beckert. This section focuses on the emergence of a capitalist culture and the rebellions that brought the "old regime capitalism" to an end. It is fascinating stuff.

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    37 mins
  • Episode 42: Sven Beckert, "Capitalism: A Global History" (Part 4/10)
    Jun 14 2026

    These chapters of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History explore the revolutions we often lump together as the Industrial Revolution and the growing expansion of capitalism into the hinterland. It is increasingly clear we need to take a hinterland first view of capitalism's spread.

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    34 mins
  • Episode 41: Sven Beckert, "Capitalism: A Global History" (Part 3/10)
    Jun 12 2026

    In this third part of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History I explore chapters 5-6 on the developments in industrial production in the early modern period and their relationships with capitalism, as well as the reasons capitalism broke out from the islands due to a "perfect storm" of feedback loops.

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    34 mins
  • Episode 40: Sven Beckert, Capitalism: A Global History (2/10)
    Jun 8 2026

    Part two of my review of Sven Beckert's brilliant Capitalism: A Global History. This section centers on how the islands of capital became connected and extended their reach in the early modern period.

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    46 mins
  • Episode 39: Sven Beckert, "Capitalism: A Global History" (1/10)
    Jun 3 2026

    For the next 10 episodes I will be reading Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History, which covers the history of capitalism from its earliest origins to the present. It consolidates most of the findings in the recent "history of capitalism" trend in historical scholarship. I am very excited to begin this project.

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    45 mins