Changed My Mind

Georg Baumert, head of the German Borderland Museum's environmental education division, discusses the impact of the Greenbelt, a stretch of unspoiled nature along the former East-West German border, on teaching history. He emphasizes the importance of authentic, emotional connections to historical events, especially for young children and how learning from them has changed his own mind. Baumert shares how the museum's approach, which includes oral history and outdoor learning, has evolved to better engage visitors. He highlights the ecological consequences of the border, such as the creation of unique biotopes, and the museum's role in connecting past and present events, including the refugee crisis and the importance of understanding historical dictatorships. The conversation also touches on the need for more museums to adopt similar educational methods and the potential for international collaboration.This series of Changed My Mind is supported by 1014

The latest episode of Changed My Mind features Fernande Raine, CEO of the History Collab. We discussed the disillusionment of young people with democracy, emphasizing the need to make history engaging and relevant. She highlighted the failure of current history education to connect past events to contemporary challenges, leading to a lack of civic engagement. Raine shared her experience in Russia, where she observed a shift towards imperialism and a resistance to democratic change. She stressed the importance of intergenerational dialogue and the need for a systemic overhaul in education to foster civic skills. Raine also reflected on the challenges of changing one's mind and the necessity of collective action to safeguard democracy.This series of Changed My Mind is supported by 1014

World-renowned behavioural economist Cass Sunstein on why dismissing his friends' fears about democracy being at risk in the US was wrong.

Former advisor to the Foreign Secretary at the time of the Iraq War, Ed Owen, on why he now feels differently about the decision to go to war in Iraq. 

The Authors of Union: a Search for Common Ground on how an American road trip woke them up to the failings in the criminal justice system and the limitations of beloved media outlets.

Danny Finkelstein, associate editor of the Times and Conservative peer, talks to us about why being able to clearly see both sides of an argument is important but can also feel debilitating in a world that craves certainty. He shares his lessons from switching parties and why it is critical to reduce the cost of people changing their minds.

Peter Geoghegan, author of Democracy for Sale and investigative journalist, left Ireland as a young man desperate to get away but has returned in lockdown to find a country much changed. He tells us why, from his childhood bedroom, and explains the need to dig deeper into unaccountable money in politics, in the UK as well as the US.

Helen Lewis, a journalist at the Atlantic and author of Difficult Women: the History of Feminism in 11 Fights, talks about how she came to question her previous liberal beliefs on prostitution, a former Labour MP who cried after receiving an apology for being deselected when she came out in the 70s, the limits of unconscious bias training, and more.