While prepping for my upcoming overnight flight from Phuket to Dubai, I realized I was completely burnt out on my usual rotation of daily news and AI podcasts. And honestly? Staring at a glaring seatback screen to watch another movie at 2 AM just didn’t sound appealing either. I needed a better way to zone out in the dark.
That’s when I stumbled onto the ultimate in-flight hack: an absolutely ideal, completely free online course from Yale University. If you have a YouTube Premium subscription, you can download entire Ivy League lecture series straight to your phone.
It’s, in my opinion, the perfect, screen-dimmed alternative to passively absorb while cruising at 30,000 feet – swapping out the same old news cycle for a world-class education. It can sound a bit boring until you try. Why not for once?
Educational Free Online Course Binge-Watch: Political Philosophy on YouTube
Yesterday night, while sitting at a pub here in Mai Khao (Thailand) and people-watching the hotel guests, I found myself getting lost in some pretty heavy thoughts. I started wondering why people do the things they do – why we keep choosing politicians even when our day-to-day lives don’t really improve. I was thinking about why countries seem to be becoming less and less free, how AI is going to control our future, and what the actual role of a government in society is supposed to be anyway.
Then it hit me: these aren’t just my own random, late-night musings. These exact questions aren’t new; they have been around for thousands of years. The philosophers of the past lived through it all, and maybe some of the answers we are looking for are already out there. I realized it would be a genuinely good idea to refresh my knowledge about politics through the people who originally wrote the playbook.
Watch Political Philosophy Online
If you prefer to absorb your Ivy League education like a gripping podcast, we highly recommend queuing up Yale’s Introduction to Political Philosophy (Course Number: PLSC 114). Taught by the esteemed Professor Steven B. Smith – the Alfred Cowles Professor of Political Science at Yale—this course acts as a masterclass in the major texts and thinkers of the Western political tradition.
Originally recorded on campus in the Fall of 2006, the Yale College course is broken down into easily digestible 50-minute sessions. Across 24 brilliant lectures available completely free on YouTube, Professor Smith guides you through the foundational themes of political life.
You’ll explore the “polis” experience through Plato and Aristotle, the concept of the sovereign state via Machiavelli and Hobbes, and the evolution of constitutional government and democracy through the eyes of Locke, Rousseau, and Tocqueville.
It is the perfect intellectual soundtrack for your next sunset walk, turning profound historical statecraft into an accessible, binge-worthy series that just might help make sense of the modern world.
A good start! Introduction: What is Political Philosophy?
This video is the very first lecture in Professor Smith’s 24-part series on YouTube, allowing you to instantly begin your journey into Yale’s political philosophy course.
