This book is based on an in-depth conversation between Howard Burton and Josiah Ober, Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis Professor in Honor of Constantine Mitsotakis Professor of Political Science and Classics at Stanford University. This extensive conversation includes topics such as the serendipitous factors that led him to study the classical world, the insights that examining rhetoric provide about ancient Athenian society, and how social media might help us fruitfully recreate aspects of the past. Through an engaging dialogue format Josiah Ober discusses his insights that the ancient Athenians didn't just happen to stumble upon the idea of democracy-they somehow managed to make it work in practice for the better part of 200 years, all the while facing many of the same divisive societal pressures that we are currently grappling with. This carefully-edited book includes an introduction, Back to the Future, and questions for discussion at the end of each chapter:I. Cutting One's Wisdom Teeth - How a girlfriend's dental work leads to ThucydidesII. Digging Deeper - Contrasting wars and lurking contradictions III. Battling Iron Laws - Athenian democracy as a counterexampleIV. Feet to the Fire? - Using new and old media to keep politicians on pointV. Why Athens? - Addressing elite capture and economic and political equalityVI. Dissent - Critiquing our system or our valuesVII. Enter Aristotle - The perils of being a cat in a boxVIII. Increasing Eudaimonia - Improving democracyIX. Dignity - An essential ingredient of a flourishing democracyX. Keeping It Real - Engaging the general public with scholarly insightsAbout Ideas Roadshow Conversations Series: Presented in an accessible, conversational format, Ideas Roadshow books not only explore frontline academic research featuring world-leading researchers but also reveal the inspirations and personal journeys behind the research.

This book is based on an in-depth conversation between Howard Burton and Josiah Ober, Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis Professor in Honor of Constantine Mitsotakis Professor of Political Science and Classics at Stanford University. This extensive conversation includes topics such as the serendipitous factors that led him to study the classical world, the insights that examining rhetoric provide about ancient Athenian society, and how social media might help us fruitfully recreate aspects of the past. Through an engaging dialogue format Josiah Ober discusses his insights that the ancient Athenians didn't just happen to stumble upon the idea of democracy-they somehow managed to make it work in practice for the better part of 200 years, all the while facing many of the same divisive societal pressures that we are currently grappling with. This carefully-edited book includes an introduction, Back to the Future, and questions for discussion at the end of each chapter:I. Cutting One's Wisdom Teeth - How a girlfriend's dental work leads to ThucydidesII. Digging Deeper - Contrasting wars and lurking contradictions III. Battling Iron Laws - Athenian democracy as a counterexampleIV. Feet to the Fire? - Using new and old media to keep politicians on pointV. Why Athens? - Addressing elite capture and economic and political equalityVI. Dissent - Critiquing our system or our valuesVII. Enter Aristotle - The perils of being a cat in a boxVIII. Increasing Eudaimonia - Improving democracyIX. Dignity - An essential ingredient of a flourishing democracyX. Keeping It Real - Engaging the general public with scholarly insightsAbout Ideas Roadshow Conversations Series: Presented in an accessible, conversational format, Ideas Roadshow books not only explore frontline academic research featuring world-leading researchers but also reveal the inspirations and personal journeys behind the research.