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The EI Podcast

The EI Podcast

Engelsberg Ideas 383 Episodes Jul 23, 2026

The EI Podcast features weekly conversations and audio essays from leading writers, thinkers and historians. Hosted by Alastair Benn and Paul Lay, it covers a range of intellectual and historical topics. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other platforms.

Episodes

How wine made the modern world
How wine made the modern world Jul 23, 2026 2317 Historian Kathleen Burk speaks to Max Mitchell about the long history of humanity's relationship with wine, taking us on a journey from the ancient Near East to modern France.Image: A vineyard near the Temple of Zeus at Ancient Nemea, Korinthia, Greece. Credit: Alamy 
The struggle for Saudi Arabia’s buried past
The struggle for Saudi Arabia’s buried past Jul 20, 2026 1167 Saudi Arabia’s expensive investment in its future has come with a concurrent focus on its archaeological past but its ambitions risk eradicating the remnants of pre-Islamic history. Read by Leighton Pugh. Read the essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-struggle-for-saudi-arabias-buried-past/.Image: The Qasr Al Farid tomb in Saudi Arabia. Credit: Alamy
The diplomats who defeated Hitler
The diplomats who defeated Hitler Jul 16, 2026 2156 Peter Ricketts, Britain’s former ambassador to France, speaks with Paul Lay about a golden age of diplomacy. Image: Archibald Clark Kerr (Britain’s Ambassador to the Soviet Union) and Alexander Cadogan (Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs) at the Potsdam Conference, 1945. Credit: Alamy.
The political power of knowing your enemy
The political power of knowing your enemy Jul 13, 2026 936 In war and diplomacy, personal relationships between leaders can shape the course of events in unpredictable ways. Read by Leighton Pugh. Read the essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the-political-power-of-knowing-your-enemy/.Image: Cartoon from Punch showing from Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. Credit: Alamy
The return of the Great Powers
The return of the Great Powers Jul 9, 2026 3806 Brendan Simms talks to EI’s Jack Dickens about a new age of geopolitical rivalry.Image: Xi Jinping and Donald Trump. Credit: Alamy
Germany’s new old nuclear dilemma
Germany’s new old nuclear dilemma Jul 6, 2026 1208 When it comes to nuclear weapons, the concerns that West Germany’s first chancellor wrestled with during the Cold War have not disappeared. In this audio essay, Marina E. Henke suggests that they have simply re-emerged in new forms. Read by Leighton Pugh. Read it here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/germanys-new-old-nuclear-dilemma/Image: A nuclear power plant in Bavaria, circa 1985. Credit:
250 years of the American experiment
250 years of the American experiment Jul 2, 2026 2770 Paul Lay speaks to Phil Tinline, author of Ghosts of Iron Mountain: The Hoax that Duped America and its Sinister Legacy, about the variety and violence of a country built on high ideals and low conspiracies.Image: The interior of the United States Capitol. Credit: Alamy
Where is Russia’s place in the world?
Where is Russia’s place in the world? Jun 29, 2026 2566 Russia is a Near Eastern country now subordinated to East Asia. But Stephen Kotkin argues that historically it has prospered most when tied closely to Europe.Read the original essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/where-is-russias-place-in-the-world/.Image: Map of Russia, 1562. Credit: Alamy
Christianity’s debt to Rome
Christianity’s debt to Rome Jun 25, 2026 2760 What does Christ’s Kingdom owe to the culture of the Roman Empire? Tim Whitmarsh speaks to EI’s Alastair Benn about his new book, Rome’s Age of Revolution: Augustus, Empire and the Making of Christianity.Image: A statue of Augustus Caesar in Turin. Credit: Alamy
Jean Eustache: the outsider who reshaped French cinema
Jean Eustache: the outsider who reshaped French cinema Jun 22, 2026 1008 The filmmaker Jean Eustache’s interest in rural France and his sardonic scepticism about the May ’68 ideologues mark him out from his Nouvelle Vague contemporaries. Read by Leighton Pugh.Read the original essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/portraits/jean-eustache-the-outsider-who-reshaped-french-cinema/. Image: The film director Jean Eustache. Credit: Alamy
How to end a war
How to end a war Jun 18, 2026 2613 Margaret MacMillan speaks to EI’s Jack Dickens about how wars – and attempts to bring about peace – have shaped every era of human history. Image: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Conference, 1945. Credit: Alamy
Testament to doomed media
Testament to doomed media Jun 15, 2026 1029 The old media has failed to rise to the challenge of tech, but we'll miss it when it's gone.Read the original essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/testament-to-doomed-media/. Image: Woman reading a newspaper. Credit: Alamy

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