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

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

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

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

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

Thomas de Waal joins EI’s Jack Dickens to discuss how the recent elections in Armenia could reshape geopolitics in the Caucasus and beyond.

Image: Armenian flag with Mount Ararat in background. Credit: Alamy

The late Len Deighton produced novels that were packed with excitement and suspense but also infused with moral complexity and psychological insight. Read by Leighton Pugh. 

Read the essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/len-deightons-spycraft/.

Image: Michael Caine in The Ipcress File. Credit: Allstar Picture Library Ltd 

George Magnus speaks to EI’s Jack Dickens about the geopolitical logic behind China’s economic strategy.

Image: A container ship from China. Credit: Rudmer Zwerver

The largest Jewish community in the world is defined by its deep integration into America's national story, its liberal traditions and scepticism towards Israeli governments. Read by Leighton Pugh. 

Read the essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/a-jewish-american-dream/

Image: A member of the American Jewish Congress participating in the 1965 Montgomery March, advocating for civil rights. Credit: Image Bank