In this PPF+ bonus episode to accompany our series about nuclear war and nuclear weapons, David explores the definitive piece of reportage on the experiences of the people of Hiroshima on 6th August 1945 and afterwards. How did John Hersey manage to capture the horror of the attack through tales of its survivors? What do their stories tell us about the aftereffects of the use of these weapons? Did anyone truly understand what had happened? Can we make sense of it today?

David talks to Paul Sagar about how individual experiences do so much to shape all of our political and philosophical outlooks. How much of what we believe about questions of principle is down to who we happen to be? Where does luck come in? Does good luck or bad luck change how we might feel about politics? And what really matters?

Today’s bonus episode is part two of David’s conversation with Glen Rangwala about the trial and execution of Saddam Hussein. How did Saddam’s execution turn into such a grisly spectacle? Who or what ended up deciding his fate? What is Saddam’s legacy in the region today? And what has been the long-term impact of the Iraq War and its failures on contemporary global politics?

Today’s bonus episode is the second part of David’s conversation with historian Robert Saunders about how the question of Irish Home Rule blew up British politics. What happened when Gladstone made a final attempt to secure parliamentary support for Home Rule? How did the House of Lords become the flashpoint for the political fight? Who ended up militarising the struggle? And what kept Britain from falling into the abyss of civil war in 1914? Plus: more Brexit analogies!

David talks to film historian Harrison Whitaker about Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life (1946), a Christmas tearjerker that also manages to be an exploration of personal identity, social justice, moral individualism and free will. Is George Bailey secretly a Sartrean? Is this really a film about the political theory of non-domination? What does it have to say about capitalism? And what’s the meaning of a wonderful life anyway?

In this PPF+ bonus to accompany our episode on the Lady Chatterley’s Lover trial, David explores the book at the heart of the case. Does the focus on sex miss the central theme of the relationship between Clifford Chatterley, Constance Chatterley and Oliver Mellors? How does Lawrence think that sex relates to class? Is there any real chance this story could end happily ever after? And what is it with the red trousers?