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 PodcastMaking sense of the Yemen War by Elisabeth Kendall
If a peace deal is not reached, all the key ingredients are present for Yemen to become a failed state. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI PodcastThe dark side to loving a group by Harvey Whitehouse
Acts of extreme self-sacrifice – such as suicide bombing – are not aberrations. They tell us something about our deepest instincts for group loyalty. Read by…
The EI PodcastThe fake history of civilisational states by Christopher Coker
So-called civilisational states, including Russia, China and India, invoke fake histories to justify and buttress their contemporary political settlements. But…
The EI PodcastThe flag wars are here to stay by Tim Marshall
Flags have become synonymous with nationhood, character, spirit, and power. In an age of renewed nationalism, their power should not be underestimated…
The EI PodcastDisinformation in the information age by Gill Bennett
The line between disinformation, propaganda and fake news is often blurred. This is especially the case when it is unclear whether these untruths or half…
The EI PodcastRoman geopolitics, an exercise in myth-making by Richard Miles
Once established, Roman exceptionalism and empire needed to be justified and maintained. The practical application of mythology was one way in which this was…
The EI PodcastHow US policy failure post-9/11 undermined international order by Emma Sky
The US once enjoyed the esteemed position of being the 'city on the hill', a beacon of hope and an example to the rest of the world. Post-9/11, however, the…
The EI PodcastUruk and the origins of the sacred economy by Daniel T. Potts
Peering into the hearts and minds those living four thousand years ago is an impossible task. However, when it comes to the worship of the Mesopotamian goddess…
The EI PodcastCapitalism, Socialism and Democracy revisited by Niall Ferguson
While at one point in time the idea that socialist economies would ultimately prevail over capitalism was quite a widespread view the fate of socialist states…
The EI PodcastCool war by Noah Feldman
While the US remains the sole reigning super power, the rise of China adds complexity to the current world order. Geostrategic conflict is inevitable, but…
The EI PodcastRussia and geopolitics by Anna-Lena Laurén
As the largest country in the world, Russia's might past and present has an inherent link to its geopolitics. But since the decline of the Soviet Union…
The EI PodcastFantasy in Middle Eastern nation-making by Nathan Shachar
There is frequently no real reason why one person has more claim to live or even rule over a piece of land than another. A reason, however must be provided and…
The EI PodcastYou are not as clever as you think by Mark Pagel
Why do humans accumulate ideas, knowledge and technologies while other animals are seemingly stick doing the same thing over and over never getting better?…
The EI PodcastAdrian Wooldridge on the return of religion
Voltaire predicted that religion would be defunct in fifty year's time. Karl Marx called it the opium of the masses and Nietzsche declared that God is dead…
The EI PodcastMartina Winkelhofer-Thyri on whether Austria is a nation, state or an empire
Studying the evolution of Austria in the 20th century offers deep insight into essential Western political categories. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI PodcastTom Holland on Æthelstan and the forging of a United Kingdom of England
The story of how, over the course of three generations, the royal dynasty of Wessex went from near oblivion to fashioning a kingdom that still endures today is…
The EI PodcastMaurizio Viroli on the virtues of the city-state
The early modern Italian republics are often portrayed as models of bad government. But the fusion of civic humanism and Christianity they championed endures…
The EI PodcastRobin Lane Fox on nationalism in the classical world
Nationalism is often thought of as a modern development - but its traces can be found in antiquity. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI PodcastHew Strachan on the cost of the 1918-19 pandemic
The influenza pandemic behaved much like the conflict itself - picking out the young and fit before their time. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI PodcastAlexander Lee on Machiavelli and civil strife
Niccolo Machiavelli, Renaissance statesman and political theorist, saw factional politics as essential to the prosperity of the Roman Empire and his native…
The EI PodcastAdrian Wooldridge on why the West needs Plato more than ever
The Victorians saw Plato's Republic as an indispensable guide to reform of the public sphere - we should follow their lead. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI PodcastRichard Whatmore on why revolutions are a disaster
Karl Marx was wrong about revolutions - in practice, they beget Caesars and Napoleons. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI Podcast36: Andrew Graham-Dixon on crisis and great art
Social upheaval has often been a catalyst for artistic change - the Renaissance was no exception. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI Podcast35: Tom Holland on the empty metropolis
Empty city London had its harbingers in literature and history. How will it emerge from its isolation? Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI Podcast34: Donald Sassoon on a world of nations and states
Despite globalisation, the nation state retains its privileged position in world politics. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI Podcast33: Jonathan Fenby on China's great uncoupling
Beijing wants to foster a world where Chinese standards replace those of the post-1945 US-led system. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI Podcast31: David Seedhouse: Covid-19 and the moral case for personal judgement
The tension between independence and compliance is everywhere in society – but in medicine, reason must come before rules. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI Podcast30: Matthew Goodwin: Meet the Zoomer generation
This period of turbulence could turn today's twenty-somethings into the leaders of a new liberal revolution. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI Podcast29: Tim Marshall: New Turkey's old politics
As a result of President Erdogan's embrace of two interlinked geopolitical concepts, 'Strategic Depth' and 'Blue Homeland', Turkey faces international…
The EI Podcast28: Graham Stewart on Thatcher's rescue from historical cliché
To argue that Margaret Thatcher attacked the post-war dream is to caricature, not illuminate, her importance to British history. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI Podcast27: Mark Honigsbaum: Challenging the 'Great Reset' theory of pandemics
Thucydides saw plague as an opportunity to improve the health of society. But history shows that pandemics have a way of disrupting medical and social…
The EI Podcast25: Clive Aslet: The changing fate of the English country house
Amid the tumult of the 1970s, it appeared the traditional country house had gone into irreversible decline - but it was too early to write it off. Read by…
The EI Podcast23: Helen Thompson: Geopolitics of a pandemic
The Covid-19 crisis has accentuated all the geopolitical fault lines of the past decade. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI Podcast21: Philip Bobbitt: A government of laws
The constitutional order is changing as citizens become alienated and demand more say. Americans must take care that their habits of law are not swept away…
The EI Podcast20: Vanessa Harding: Remembering London's last Great Plague
London's response to its last plague epidemic involved close collaboration between crown, City and parish. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI Podcast19: Johan Hakelius: John Hughes and the making and unmaking of the American Dream
The films of John Hughes updated the American Dream for a new generation, and his complex legacy helps us understand what went so wrong. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI Podcast18: Iskander Rehman: Why applied history matters
Forget the seduction of grand theories and presentist moral judgments. To learn the lessons of the past, the great foreign policy analysts of our age must…
The EI Podcast16: Gillian Clark: Survival lessons from Ancient Rome
The Romans have so much to teach us about what it means to live in a society in crisis. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI Podcast15: Peter Frankopan: This crisis has the capacity to be apocalyptic
Covid-19 heralds the end of our interconnected world. We'll need wise leaders to navigate what comes next. Read by Leighton Pugh…
The EI Podcast12: Can America lead again?
Iain Martin with guests Sir Nigel Sheinwald, Professor Joseph Nye, Karin von Hippel and Tom McTague on the foreign policy change facing the Biden administration
The EI Podcast11: GCHQ – John Ferris on the official history
Mattias Hessérus is in conversation with John Ferris, the historian 'behind the enigma' of Britain's signals intelligence agency.
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10: MI9 – Helen Fry on wartime escape
Mattias Hessérus is in conversation with Helen Fry on the ingenious exploits of MI9 – the secret service for escape and evasion.
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9: David Omand on what it takes to think like a secret agent
Mattias Hessérus is in conversation with David Omand, former director of GCHQ, on how we can all learn to think like a spy.
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8: Fredrik Logevall on JFK
Over 40,000 books have been written on JFK since his assassination, yet none have succeeded in getting behind the myth of Camelot. Join Mattias Hessérus in…
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7: Covid and reform: can the West fix its governing systems?
Iain Martin with guests Adrian Wooldridge and Vernon Bogdanor discusses the covid crisis and the long-term impact that it might have on the development of the…
The EI Podcast6: Alexander Lee on Machiavelli
In this episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hesserus is joined by Alexander Lee to discuss Machiavelli’s life and works. Was he always an adept politician? Was…
The EI Podcast5: Asian Philosophies of Rebirth with Jessica Frazier
In this episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hesserus and Jessica Frazier are in conversation about the differences between Eastern and Western philosophies of…
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4: Can the West be revived?
How did the West land in, what we might politely call, a 'sub-optimal' condition? And is a revival of the West feasible? To discuss these questions Iain Martin…
The EI Podcast3: Leadership in a Crisis with Andrew Roberts
On this episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus is joined by the historian and author Andrew Roberts to look through the careers of great figures like…
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2: The History of Quarantine with Lincoln Paine
On this episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus speaks to the maritime historian Lincoln Paine, author of The Sea and Civilization, about the history of…
The EI PodcastArt, History and Pandemics with Tom Holland
On this, the first episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus speaks to the historian Tom Holland about the relationship between reality and art in the age…