Episode

#498 - The Invention of Yesterday: A Dialogue with Tamim Ansary

Podcast
Converging Dialogues
Published
Jun 28, 2026
Duration seconds
5040
Processing state
not_requested
Canonical source
https://convergingdialogues.substack.com/p/498-the-invention-of-yesterday-a
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Summary

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Tamim Ansary about a global history of humans through time. They discuss the main theme of interconnectedness, language, symbols, and culture, origins and nomadic peoples, early trading, rise of city states, religion and belief systems, the Crusades, Mongol Empire, Ottoman Empire, colonialism, empires and nation states, and many more topics. Tamim Ansary is the author of many books, including Destiny Disrupted and The Invention of Yesterday . He has published essays and commentary in the San Francisco Chronicle , Salon , the Los Angeles Times , and more. Born in Afghanistan in 1948, he moved to the US in 1964. He lives in San Francisco. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe