AMSTERDAM: A HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S MOST LIBERAL CITY

Learning something about the extraordinary history of Amsterdam can make one fall in love with this marvelous city even if they’ve never visited. For those who know Amsterdam even a little, the effect is even stronger. In the 1600s, when Amsterdam bestrode the world, its complex dynamics made the city not only the major center of global trade, but also the cradle of liberalism, in both the classical and the modern senses.

Political and economic freedoms were championed by a culture that also tolerated free thinking and free love. Our conversations will touch on trade in herring, coffee, gems, wine, tulips, and ideas. We’ll discuss Anabaptists parading naked, philosophers seeking refuge from the Inquisition, and pilgrims bound for the New World.

Along the way, we’ll learn something about the roots and the modern culture of Amsterdam’s daughter city, New Amsterdam / New York. Finally, we'll explore the recent rise of the far right in Dutch politics and Amsterdam's heartening resistance to that trend.