This episode is an absolute scorcher! The most significant events of the last 2,000 years of Western History, the ones that changed everything, took hold on the outskirts of mainstream thought and led to seismic upheaval. In his new book, DISRUPTION: WHY THINGS CHANGE (Oxford University Press; June 3, 2021), University of Michigan professor David Potter asks what it is that makes society-transforming change possible. How did the teachings of a shepherd become the official religion of the Roman Empire hundreds of years after his death? How did scandalous ideas born in Europe regarding the social contract between rulers and their subjects lead to the birth of America an ocean away and more than a century later? What ties together the rise of Muhammad, Martin Luther, and Marx? And more importantly for our future, what needs to exist for history-shifting change to occur, and are we at one of those crossroads right now?

David Potter is Francis W. Kelsey Collegiate Professor of Greek and Roman History and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor at the University of Michigan. His previous books include The Origin of Empire: Rome from the Republic to Hadrian, Constantine the Emperor, The Victor's Crown: A History of Ancient Sport from Homer to Byzantium, and Theodora: Actress, Empress, Saint.

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