Francis Fukuyama's essay “The End of History?” was published in the summer of 1989, a few months before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The essay's argument — that liberal democracy would not only defeat communism, but that its partisans might, in victory, miss the “courage, imagination, and idealism” that defined the ideological battle — lives on as one of the most cited pieces of political theory in the last three decades. In his new memoir, In the Realm of the Last Man, he revisits “The End of History?” and for today's episode he talks to us about how his essay's argument has evolved in a world now defined by the intense technological change brought on by AI and by the many electoral defeats liberal democracy has suffered as of late. We also talk about how the Internet and social media are helping fuel the listlessness that “The End of History” brought about, how he uses AI, and what, if anything, will come after liberalism.

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Francis Fukuyama's essay &ldquo;The End of History?&rdquo; was published in the summer of 1989, a few months before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The essay's argument &mdash; that liberal democracy would not only defeat communism, but that its partisans might, in victory, miss the &ldquo;courage, imagination, and idealism&rdquo; that defined the ideological battle &mdash; lives on as one of the most cited pieces of political theory in the last three decades. In his new memoir, In the Realm of the Last Man, he revisits &ldquo;The End of History?&rdquo; and for today's episode he talks to us about how his essay's argument has evolved in a world now defined by the intense technological change brought on by AI and by the many electoral defeats liberal democracy has suffered as of late. We also talk about how the Internet and social media are helping fuel the listlessness that &ldquo;The End of History&rdquo; brought about, how he uses AI, and what, if anything, will come after liberalism.
Read more: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-09/trump-s-2026-midterm-strategy-puts-himself-at-center-of-gop-campaign?utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=odd_lots&amp;utm_content=article" data-renderer-mark="true" data-is-router-link="false" data-testid="link-with-safety">Trump&rsquo;s Midterm Plan Centers on Tax Cuts, MAHA and Himself</a> <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-09/iran-ready-for-more-intense-war-and-won-t-relent-official-says?srnd=phx-india?utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=odd_lots&amp;utm_content=article" data-renderer-mark="true" data-is-router-link="false" data-testid="link-with-safety">Iran Ready to Escalate War Trump Says Will End After US Election</a>
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Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway explore the most interesting topics in finance, markets and economics. Join the conversation every Monday, Thursday, and Friday

Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway explore the most interesting topics in finance, markets and economics. Join the conversation every Monday, Thursday, and Friday

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Odd Lots

On Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway explore the most interesting topics in finance, markets, and economics. Join the conversation every Monday, Thursday, and Friday.

On Bloomberg&rsquo;s Odd Lots podcast Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway explore the most interesting topics in finance, markets, and economics. Join the conversation every Monday, Thursday, and Friday.

What Francis Fukuyama Is Seeing at 'The End of History'

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/ae8e06da-4095-4c0f-8fdb-b4c0013c37f4/transcript