David is a recovering academic and fully committed podcaster. He worked at Cambridge University for nearly 25 years, winding up as Professor of Politics. He has written books on many different subjects, from the history of democracy to the value of hypocrisy. His most recent book is The History of Ideas: Equality, Justice and Revolution, which is based on an earlier podcast series about the ideas that shaped modern politics. He writes regularly for the London Review of Books, where he is a contributing editor, and The Guardian, including recent pieces on Elon Musk, Liz Truss and Donald Trump. He is the host of Past Present Future, he comes up with the ideas, and writes some (but definitely not all) of the newsletter.

Until she gave it all up to work full-time on Past Present Future, Helen spent almost 20 years as a UKCP-registered existential psychotherapist, including a decade as the on-staff counsellor at Trinity College, Cambridge. Before that she trained in Stage Management & Technical Theatre at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and spent several years working as a Stage Manager on plays, operas and West End musicals. She has now returned to those roots in production and currently produces, edits and mixes every episode of PPF, manages the social media, the business and the finances, and proofreads everything. She runs the show!

Ella graduated with a degree in History and Politics from Cambridge, where she was an avid follower of David’s previous podcast, Talking Politics and, from its launch in 2023, Past Present Future became the soundtrack to her university studies. In her final year Ella joined PPF as an intern, contributing to the launch of our newsletter. With an artistic background - including experience as an events artist and as the founder of a student drawing society - her role evolved in a creative direction, helping to shape the look and format of the newsletter. She became so indispensable that she was offered a job on the team and we simply couldn’t do without her!

As part of our original interns team, Joshua helped found the newsletter in a past life as a History and Politics undergrad. Following a year spent travelling and writing, during which he came runner-up in the Orwell Young Journalist Award and worked as a freelance researcher, he’s now back in Cambridge doing an MPhil in Intellectual History and Political Thought and we’re delighted that he’s returned to us as a member of the newsletter writing team.

Like Ella and Joshua, Gabriel started life with us as an intern, and he is now the newest member of the PPF team. He is a History and Politics graduate fresh out of Clare College, Cambridge and it was his commitment and eye for a quiz and a quirky fact that led to us inviting him to join the newsletter writing team. He is eager to support the podcast whilst he embarks on an MA in Politics and Contemporary History at Kings College London.

Ben is a podcast producer at the London Review of Books and was the original producer of Past Present Future. He most recently worked as a producer on The Belgrano Diary, a six-part series about the Falklands war, hosted by the novelist Andrew O’Hagan, and is now working on a follow up series. Before moving into audio, he was an editorial assistant at the LRB and writes for the paper on a range of subjects, with recent pieces on VAR, ASMR and NFTs. We now keep him on hand for technical emergencies and moral support. We don't need to call on him often, but when we do he's a life-saver!