Shows / The EI Podcast
The EI Podcast
The EI Podcast brings you weekly conversations with leading writers, thinkers and historians. Hosted by Alastair Benn, Jack Dickens and Paul Lay. Produced by Max Mitchell.
Episodes
The EI PodcastJosef Joffe on Germany, the engine that couldn't
Celebrated as predestined shepherd in the glory days of Angela Merkel, Germany in the 2020s is an uncertain giant who has defied expectations, good or bad…
The EI PodcastWomen of the ancient world with Daisy Dunn
The leading classicist Daisy Dunn joins EI's Paul Lay to discuss her new book, The Missing Thread: A New History of the Ancient World Through the Women Who…
The EI PodcastMaurizio Viroli on how we can learn from history
We cannot afford not to rediscover the fine art, nowadays almost forgotten, of learning from history. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: 16th Century engraving by…
The EI PodcastJames Barr on George McGhee, American father to Britain’s Suez Crisis
James Barr profiles the debonair and open-faced diplomat, George McGhee, whose shuttle diplomacy helped accelerate Britain's decline as a player in the Middle…
The EI PodcastPhilip Bobbitt on the decay and renewal of the US constitutional order
A new constitutional order is coming. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: The Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Credit: Lane Erickson / Alamy Stock Photo
The EI PodcastThe history of democracy with Erica Benner
Erica Benner applies ancient wisdom to modern problems in her new book Adventures in Democracy: The Turbulent World of People Power. She shares her insights…
The EI PodcastLars Trägårdh on the origins of Swedish democracy
‘Democracy’ is in Sweden built on a basis fundamentally different from the one associated with the development of liberal democracy in the West. Read by…
The EI PodcastDominic Sandbrook on Jesse Ventura, the wrestling governor who blazed a trail for Trump
Dominic Sandbrook profiles Jesse Ventura, the former Navy SEAL and WWE champion who won Minnesota’s governorship in 1999 on an anti-elite ticket. His…
The EI PodcastJosef Joffe on the future of the European Union
What is the future of the European Union? The EU is sui generis. It certainly cannot be a nation state. Nor is it destined to turn into a Staatsnation or…
The EI PodcastThe age of upheaval
EI's Paul Lay and Alastair Benn ask: do we really live in an age of upheaval? Image: Turner's Vesuvius in Eruption. Credit: Artefact / Alamy Stock Photo
The EI PodcastSimon Mayall on the history of the modern Middle East
The current violence and turmoil in the Middle East is expressive of a conflict between rival ideas, between the modern nation state and an old, historical…
The EI PodcastJames Hardie on Heinrich Biber, composer of rapture and ravings
James Hardie on the violinist-composer who mixed the sacred and profane in his fantastical music, a lost genius of the 17th century. Read by Sebastian Brown…
The EI PodcastLawrence James on the invention of jingoism
Jingoism was a natural offshoot of late Victorian imperialism. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Poster for a British imperial railway company. Credit: Pictorial…
The EI PodcastCaravaggio’s ‘last’ painting
A small but riveting exhibition at London's National Gallery tells the dramatic story of the troubled Renaissance master's 'last' painting. Image: The…
The EI PodcastSteven Grosby on the persistence of nationhood
What is a nation, what is its significance, and to what problems of life is its persistence a response? Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Lucas Cranach's The…
The EI PodcastVanessa Harding on Nehemiah Wallington, Puritan chronicler who had far less fun than Pepys
Vanessa Harding on the God-fearing diarist Nehemiah Wallington whose personality was far removed from the cosmopolitanism of Samuel Pepys, his fast-living…
The EI PodcastAdrian Wooldridge on meritocracy
The biggest division in modern society is between the meritocracy and the people, the cognitive elite and the masses, the exam-passers and the exam-flunkers…
The EI PodcastThe Entente Cordiale with T.G. Otte
Self-interest, imperial competition and new threats in Europe - T.G. Otte examines the complex 120-year long history of the Entente Cordiale with EI's senior…
The EI PodcastMariano Sigman on how language has shaped human consciousness
How did our ancestors think? Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: A play is performed in an ancient Greek theatre. Credit: Classic Image / Alamy Stock Photo
The EI PodcastPeter Frankopan on Anna Komnene, the princess who chronicled Byzantium’s changing fortunes
Peter Frankopan on the Byzantine princess Anna Komnene who, banished to a convent for her political ambition, devoted her gifts of observation to charting the…
The EI PodcastNathan Shachar on ideology in science
There is no linear, moral progress in knowledge and science. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Triple-microscope made by the optician Camille Sebastien Nachet in…
The EI PodcastThe evolution of terrorist threat
EI's Deputy Editor Alastair Benn speaks to Suzanne Raine, visiting professor in the Department of War Studies at King's College London, about the evolution of…
The EI PodcastGregory Feifer on the mirage of Russian power
The mistake many Western countries make is to take Russia largely at face value. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Nesting Russian dolls showing former leaders…
The EI PodcastGillian Clark on the many ways of seeing Saint Monica
Gillian Clark on Saint Monica, mother to Augustine of Hippo and lionized by the Latin Church, a women of many names and many more mysteries. Read by Sebastian…
The EI PodcastPeter Heather on empire and development in first millennium Europe
The story of first millennium Europe is one of remarkable economic change and demographic upheaval; a precocious analogue to the modern era of globalisation…
The EI PodcastWill AI revolutionise education?
Daisy Christodoulou punctures the hype around the applications of Large language models (LLMs) and chatbots to the field of learning. Will AI really…
The EI PodcastBarry Strauss on Ancient Greek geopolitics
The Greeks invented the notion of the interrelationship of geography and politics; indeed, they elaborated it in myriad ways. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI PodcastJenny McCartney on Jean Denis, Comte Lanjuinais, fearless opponent of The Terror
Jenny McCartney on Comte Lanjuinais, who risked his life by defying the Jacobins. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: Comte Lanjuinais speaks at a febrile meeting…
The EI PodcastJosef Joffe on the end of 'the end of history'
We equated a brief respite from history with the dawn of a new age. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Fall of the Berlin Wall. Credit: Agencja Fotograficzna Caro /…
The EI PodcastWerner Herzog
Geoff Andrew, the BFI's programmer-at-large, and film critic Muriel Zagha sit down with EI's Deputy Editor Alastair Benn to discuss the varied, visionary and…
The EI PodcastMichael Broers on how Napoleon built a continent
Napoleonic geopolitics didn't make much impression on Europe's maps, but its influence was wide-ranging. Read by Leighton Pugh. Napoleonic Europe: how the…
The EI PodcastAspasia of Miletus: queen of the Athenian salon
Armand D'Angour on Aspasia of Miletus, wife of Pericles and friend to philosophers. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: 19th Century lithograph of Aspasia of…
The EI PodcastNorman Stone on the 1860s
In the 1860s, commentators might have been justified in forecasting 'the end of history' and lauding universal progress. History was to return with a…
The EI PodcastUkraine, two years on
Two years on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a solution, military or diplomatic, seems as far away as ever. On Worldview, leading historians and…
The EI PodcastDavid Frum on how empire-states are changing the game
From the Engelsberg Ideas Archive. States are back and they're out to challenge the international order. Image: Vladimir Putin captured from screen. Credit…
The EI PodcastHorace’s vast and complex legacy
Llewelyn Morgan, author of Horace: A Very Short Introduction, joins EI's Paul Lay to explore the Augustan poet's vast and complex legacy. Image: Bust of…
The EI PodcastElisabeth Kendall on Jihadist poetry as propaganda
Al-Qaeda's success in Yemen can in part be explained by the group's adept use of poetry as propaganda. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: An al-Qaeda logo is seen…
The EI PodcastThe Edwardians: the calm before the storm
Alwyn Turner, author of Little Englanders: Britain in the Edwardian Era, speaks to Paul Lay about the early 20th century, an age of anxiety. Image: Street…
The EI PodcastMalise Ruthven on the appeal of ISIS
From the Engelsberg Ideas Archive. The organisation that emerged under the name ISIS is not simply a terrorist group. It is a hybrid organisation comprised of…
The EI PodcastCan Israel win the peace?
Ahron Bregman, author of Cursed Victory: A History of Israel and the Occupied Territories, outlines his vision for a lasting peace between Israel, Palestinians…
The EI PodcastAndrew Preston on the invention of American national security
By the time Kennedy and Johnson held the presidency in the 1960s, the definition of US national security had been stretched and expanded in previously…
The EI PodcastThe Soviet Union's bid for Africa
Daniela Richterova, Senior Lecturer in Intelligence Studies at the Department for War Studies, King's College London, reflects on the efforts the Soviet Union…
The EI PodcastCharly Salonius-Pasternak on how Nordic and Baltic countries are preparing for war
Thinking about 'war in our time' and our region is no longer an activity restricted to historians or military planners. Politicians and citizens in the…
The EI PodcastThe life and work of Mayazaki Hayao
Alastair Benn is joined by Christopher Harding, cultural historian of Japan and author of The Light of Asia: A History of Western Fascination with the East, to…
The EI PodcastKimberly Kagan on the United States and the new way of war
The United States, still the dominant military power in the world, is immersed in a new era of warfare that it has not yet recognised as endemic and enduring…
The EI PodcastA month that shook the world
In December 1941, the Japanese military attacked Pearl Harbor, making the Second World War a truly global conflict. Paul Lay is joined by Charlie Laderman to…
The EI PodcastPascal Vennesson on the rise of transnational war-making
Political success for the global insurgents can arise not only from a military victory on the ground, but from a military stalemate and even a military defeat…
The EI PodcastRolf Ekéus on how to end wars
There is only one way out of total destruction and collapse, which is creative diplomacy. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Dutch envoy Cornelis Calkoen received…
The EI PodcastPhilip Bobbitt on the new global disorder
We cannot understand what is going wrong in the international order without first understanding what is going wrong in the constitutional order of states. Read…
The EI PodcastSetting 2023 in perspective
What is the deep meaning of 2023? Alastair Benn is joined by Paul Lay and Iain Martin to set a dramatic year in perspective. Image: A woman lights a candle to…
The EI PodcastYu Jie on the deep historical roots of China's global ambition
China projects its power and secures its national interests in three ways: exercising might, spending money and expressing its own mindset. Read by Leighton…
The EI PodcastA new world of intelligence
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Matthew Hefler, post-doctoral fellow at the Ax:son Johnson Institute for Statecraft and Diplomacy, to discuss the…
The EI PodcastAndrew Monaghan on how the past shapes Russian grand strategy
Putin uses history not only to fit a narrative that Russia is strong when it stands together, but also to seek legitimacy. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image…
The EI PodcastThe challenges of counter-insurgency
What went wrong for the western alliance in Afghanistan? Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by John Ferris, author of Behind the Enigma: The Authorised…
The EI PodcastPär Stenbäck on religion and politics in the Middle East
Religion is often ignored as a political factor; in the Middle East, this is not possible. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Supporters of the pro-Iranian Lebanese…
The EI PodcastThe promise and perils of declassifying intelligence
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Calder Walton, author of Spies: The epic intelligence war between East and West, to discuss how governments can use…
The EI PodcastWolfgang Palaver on the complex relationship between violence and religion
Wherever we insist on truth in order to win over our adversaries, we awaken a spirit of violence that endangers our living-together in the world. Read by…
The EI PodcastRecovering the women of Augustine's Confessions
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Kate Cooper, author of Queens of a Fallen World, to discuss the women who shaped the life of Augustine of Hippo…
The EI PodcastGary Lachman on the sources of mystical experience
Mystical experience is the missing link in modern accounts of how human beings came to be conscious. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Trasverberazione di Santa…
The EI PodcastThe Beatles’ cultural legacy
Paul Lay, Alastair Benn and Iain Martin discuss the cultural legacy of the Fab Four and why the Beatles story continues to fascinate sixty years on. Image: The…