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 PodcastBenedetta Berti on the legacy of the Arab Awakening of 2010
The Middle East and North Africa's transition from authoritarianism to democracy has been slow and painful, with both hopeful gains as well as worrisome…
The EI PodcastTecumseh and the Shawnee Confederacy
Paul Lay is joined by Kori Schake to examine the rise and fall of the inspirational Shawnee leader Tecumseh who used strategy to defy America's westward…
The EI PodcastArmin W. Geertz on the pre-historical roots of religious belief
The history and evolution of (proto) religious behaviour is ancient. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Print of early humans making fire. Credit: Science History…
The EI PodcastA deep history of Gaza
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by James Barr, historian of the Middle East, to discuss Gaza's long and complex history and how it continues to be felt…
The EI PodcastDavid Goodhart on bridging the value divide
Finding a new settlement between the Anywheres and the Somewheres is now the central task of modern politics. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Poverty in London…
The EI PodcastA new translation of the Iliad
A new translation of the Iliad is an opportunity to reassess the first great work of European literature. Image: Achilles and Memnon fighting in Greek pottery…
The EI PodcastJonathan Fenby on the challenge for a totalitarian China
The need to buttress control is the bottom line for Xi. Image: Portrait of Mao on the street. Credit: Chuck Nacke / Alamy Stock Photo
The EI PodcastIsrael’s harrowing week and the consequences for the Middle East
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Suzanne Raine, national security and counter-terrorism expert, and Michael Goldfarb, author and broadcaster, to…
The EI PodcastKjell Nordström on the future of capitalism
The proletarianisation of knowledge promises a bumpy ride for both us and capitalism as we know it. Read by Leighton Pugh. The New York Stock Exchange. Credit…
The EI PodcastThe cultural resonances of Autumn
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss the idea of Autumn, a season peculiarly rich in cultural resonances. Image: Autumn on the Seine, Claude Monet (1840-1926)…
The EI PodcastMaurizio Viroli on the city as a political order and urban space
A good political community can only live and flourish in cities that speak to the soul of the citizens and inspire the love of order. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI PodcastThe problems and perils of nuclear strategy
Paul Lay is joined by Francis J. Gavin, Director of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS, to discuss nuclear statecraft past…
The EI PodcastGudrun Persson on rewriting Russian history
In modern Russia, the past is being rewritten to suit Vladimir Putin's script. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: People carry portraits of their relatives -…
The EI PodcastThe conduct and practice of war
Paul Lay is joined by the historian Sir Hew Strachan to discuss On War, the military theorist Carl von Clausewitz's seminal text, and the indispensable guide…
The EI PodcastFraser Nelson on the Intellectual Dark Web
The intellectual dark web will, most likely, be a flicker in history, a reminder of when the West’s conversation was at its most shrill, and when free-thinking…
The EI PodcastKennedy’s enduring status
JFK biographer Fredrik Logevall, in conversation with EI's Paul Lay and Iain Martin, discusses Kennedy's enduring and 'iconic' status, his claims to greatness…
The EI PodcastChristopher Coker on the changing meaning of patriotism in war
Dying to defend territory is an ancient human need - but war in the 21st century may not follow the script. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: English propaganda…
The EI PodcastA guide to Rugby Union
In the latest episode of EI Talks... Paul Lay and Alastair Benn put together an idiot's guide to Rugby Union. The World Cup, the sport's showcase competition…
The EI PodcastRemaking the moral case for capitalism by Iain Martin
A defence of capitalism will have to rest first and foremost on an appeal to ethics, obligation, and duty. Read by Leighton Pugh.
The EI PodcastSpoken history: the modern importance of indigenous cultures by John Hemming
Our information-rich civilisation is not superior or inferior to the pre-literate world of Brazil's indigenous peoples, just different. Read by Leighton Pugh.
The EI PodcastEI Weekly Listen — Mark Plotkin on the price of deforestation
The destruction of rainforests threatens valuable cultures and reams of possible medical innovations. Read by Leighton Pugh. Credit: Dennis Frates / Alamy…
The EI PodcastEI Weekly Listen — On the good society by David Goodhart
A good society is one with a proper balance between the aptitudes of ‘head’, ‘hand’ and ‘heart’. The modern knowledge economy, however, has delivered higher…
The EI PodcastEI Weekly Listen — Time to regulate the development of AI by Maria Borelius
The risks we now face are vast, as is the potential upside of the technology. Read by Leighton Pugh. Art installation on the theme of AI. Credit: Michele…
The EI PodcastMick Jagger at 80
As the Rolling Stones frontman enters his ninth decade, EI asks whether there is a future for ageing rockers. Image: Mick Jagger in 1975. Credit: Pictorial…
The EI PodcastWhat the Silicon Valley idealists got wrong
The internet and social media were supposed to democratise knowledge and unite the world. Things didn't quite turn out that way. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image…
The EI PodcastThe future of tourism
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss the explosion of tourism in the modern era and what might come next. Image: Travel poster encouraging tourists to visit…
The EI PodcastWealth and poverty in Renaissance Florence by Antony Molho
This celebration of wealth, its frequent elevation to an almost religious level, and its justification not only in terms of its social utility but also, and…
The EI PodcastThe uses and misuses of anger
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn calmly discuss the uses and misuses of anger. Image: Thai mural in the temple of the Emerald Buddha, Bangkok. Credit: Sabena Jane…
The EI PodcastThe public realm and the language of architecture by John Simpson
We must rescue our cities from a culture of ugliness. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Sol House, Northampton. Credit: Paul Hanson / Alamy Stock Photo
The EI PodcastSully, Richelieu, and Mazarin
Paul Lay and Iskander Rehman discuss masters of early modern statecraft: the Duke of Sully, Cardinal Richelieu, and Cardinal Mazarin. Image: Cardinal Richelieu…
The EI PodcastCan warfare ever be considered modern?
Even with all its data and technology, contemporary conflict fits uneasily with our definitions of modernity. Read by Leighton Pugh Image: Mosul's old city…
The EI PodcastAI and the threat to the arts
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Times columnist James Marriott to discuss whether Artificial Intelligence poses an existential threat to the arts…
The EI PodcastWar and statehood by Philip Bobbitt
Warfare made the early modern state. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Renaissance-era woodcut of King Louis IX of France and his army disembarking at Damietta…
The EI PodcastMachiavelli's foundational contribution to the study of statecraft
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Alexander Lee, biographer of Niccolò Machiavelli, to discuss the Renaissance thinker's foundational contribution to…
The EI PodcastClashing histories and present-day tensions in East Asia by Rana Mitter
As China ramps up its military spending, the government in Beijing plays up its role in the Second World War. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Chinese poster from…
The EI PodcastThe deep meaning of Cricket
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss the deep meaning of Cricket in light of the forthcoming Ashes series between England and Australia, and the recent wider…
The EI PodcastDo we know the truth about the Thirty Years’ War?
Different perspectives and eye-witness accounts reveal historical fallacies and myths about the war. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Gustavus Adolphus II…
The EI PodcastThe problem with Classical music
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss the future of Classical music. Image: String quartet playing in the Saint Nicholas Shopping centre, London. Credit: RayArt…
The EI PodcastStrategy, resilience and defence
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss the London Defence Conference and the return of strategic thinking to the Western alliance. Image: Prime Minister Rishi…
The EI PodcastEach Charter’d Street: Taking the long view on urban planning by Nicholas Boys Smith
For as long as there have been cities they have attracted admiration and fear. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Eighteenth century map of London. Credit…
The EI PodcastThe future of AI
In the first episode of the Engelsberg Ideas editorial podcast, EI Talks..., Iain Martin, Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss Artificial Intelligence and how it…
The EI PodcastThe geopolitics and grand strategy of Alfred Thayer Mahan by John H. Maurer
Alfred Thayer Mahan's writings on naval warfare have overshadowed his contributions to geopolitics. His theories, however, are clearly playing out today. Read…
The EI PodcastThe cultural conversation of mankind by Christopher Coker
Isolationist thinking and exceptionalism is on the rise and our global culture is the poorer for it. Our civilisations thrive when in conversation with each…
The EI PodcastEpic news
What are myths for? More than entertainment alone, these epic tales helped the Ancients follow current affairs. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Heritage Image…
The EI PodcastA Sacred Coronation for a Secular Nation
Adam Boulton is joined by Paul Lay, Senior Editor of Engelsberg Ideas, Agnès Poirier, journalist and author, and Royal biographer Hugo Vickers, to reflect on…
The EI PodcastThe other side of the hill
In war, we are, like the Duke of Wellington, still trying to guess what is on the other side of the hill, we just have more tools to help us do so. Read by…
The EI PodcastIn search of Lebensraum
Hitler's conviction that a new Eurasian order should be constructed with Germany at its zenith had its ideological roots in the early science of geopolitics…
The EI PodcastThe crusader of goodwill
While no longer a state power, the Catholic Church remains a powerful political force in modern diplomacy. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Pope Francis with his…
The EI PodcastWhere does esotericism belong in modern academia?
Scholars of esotericism are often asked to justify their field of research and its place in modern society. However, esotericism provides fertile ground for…
The EI PodcastWelcome to the fifth age of the city
Changing technology, climate change, and transformations in global finance mean another new era for cities is dawning: the fifth, or digital, age. Read by…
The EI PodcastThe power of central banks
Central banks have held the financial world in their grip for much of the twentieth century, but is their reign coming to an end? In this episode of Worldview…
The EI PodcastHow the individual invented the modern West
The European Middle Ages have been deemed an era of regression but this couldn't be further from the truth. In this period, the foundations were laid to…
The EI PodcastWorldview — The Return of Applied History
How can the lessons of history be applied to the present? What are the benefits of taking the long view? In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined…
The EI PodcastKatja Hoyer on East Germany
In our latest episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus is joined by author, historian and journalist Katja Hoyer to discuss her new book Beyond the Wall…
The EI PodcastBringing beauty back to the city
Cities have been reduced to centres of soulless materialism and their citizens to non-stop consumers. If we hope to create beautiful surroundings, a rethink is…
The EI PodcastThe future of the museum
How does an institution in the business of preserving the past prepare itself for the interests and sensibilities of the future? Where do museums fit in the…
The EI PodcastLearning from Asian philosophies of rebirth by Jessica Frazier
Asian literature, with its technologically-adept Chinese emperors, Animist Spirit-negotiators, and Yogic sages, shows us how to live well in troubled times…
The EI PodcastSarah Bakewell on Humanism
In our latest episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus is joined by author Sarah Bakewell to discuss her new book Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of…
The EI PodcastHow to end a war
Where does war end and peace begin? And what role does diplomacy play in that transition? In our latest episode of Worldview, host Adam Boulton is joined by…
The EI PodcastAmerica’s return as the reluctant defender of the liberal order by Kori Schake
The US cultivated a garden that it grew weary of the burdens of sustaining but, once all other alternatives have been exhausted, the US will be pushed back…