Margaret MacMillan on How War Has Shaped Humanity

War - Do we care enough? In this episode, distinguished historian Margaret MacMillan explains why we should care about war and how it’s profoundly impacted our societies, political institutions, values, language and some of our greatest cultural treasures. In conversation with bestselling author and historian Peter Frankopan, MacMillan examines questions such as why warriors are typically men, what role women play, why there are wars with no clear objective or ending, and how non-state actors influence outcomes. Drawing on the themes of MacMillan’s book, 'War: How Conflict Shaped Us', the two also discuss the benefits of war, including votes for women, penicillin, and (arguably) nuclear power. Listen now to discover how war has shaped our past and will continue to shape our future. This event was recorded in November 2020 and produced by Senior Producer Conor Boyle with editing by Daisy Moll — We’d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on and what our future debates should be about. Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to podcasts@intelligencesquared.com.  At Intelligence Squared we’ve got our own online streaming platform, Intelligence Squared+ and we’d love you to give it a go. It’s packed with more than 20 years’ worth of video debates and conversations on the world’s most important topics as well as exclusive podcast content. Tune in to live events, ask your questions or watch on-demand, totally ad-free with hours of discussion to dive into. Visit intelligencesquaredplus.com to start watching today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices