Now and Then

The transcript discusses the challenges historians face in maintaining objectivity due to their cultural and societal influences. It emphasizes the importance of understanding both past and present contexts to avoid biases. The speaker highlights how historical perspectives evolve, using British history as an example, and encourages historians to engage with current events to enrich their research. Curiosity is deemed essential for historians to make sense of the past, which is inherently incoherent, and to impose order on historical events.

What does the speaker suggest about the relationship between historians and their own society?

How has the focus of British history changed from the 1950s and 60s to the present?

What personal experience does the speaker share to illustrate the interaction of past and present?

According to the speaker, what qualities should historians possess to make sense of the past?

What does the speaker mean by saying that historians impose their own order on a random series of events?