The EI Podcast

By Engelsberg Ideas

The EI Podcast brings you weekly conversations and audio essays from leading writers, thinkers and historians. Hosted by Alastair Benn and Paul Lay. Find the EI Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotif... more

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FAQs about The EI Podcast:

How many episodes does The EI Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 376 episodes available.

The EI Podcast episodes:

January 22, 2026 Inside the world of medieval espionage
Jonathan Sumption surveys the last generation of spies before the creation of Europe's professional intelligence services. Read by Leighton Pugh.
Image: King Charles VI of France prepares for war. Credit: Science History Images / Alamy Stock Photo
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17min
January 15, 2026 The Monroe Doctrine: The United States’ hemispheric strategy explained
EI's Jack Dickens is joined by Charlie Laderman, associate professor at the University of Florida’s Hamilton Center, to discuss how the United States’ hemispheric ambitions emerged from great-power competition – and why the Monroe Doctrine still matters.
Image: A satirical cartoon lampooning the expansion of the Monroe Doctrine. Credit: Photo 12
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58min
January 08, 2026 The strange case of Robert Louis Stevenson
Alastair Benn is joined by Leo Damrosch, author of Storyteller: The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson, to explore the life and legacy of the celebrated Scottish writer, including one of his most enduring literary achievements, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Image: 'Robert Louis Stevenson' by John Singer Sargent, 1885. Credit: IanDagnall Computing
...more
48min
December 29, 2025 The instability of a multipolar era
EI's Paul Lay is joined by Helen Thompson to discuss US–China rivalry, the growing importance of the Western Hemisphere in geopolitics, and the inherent instability of a multipolar world.

Image: Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Victory Parade marking the 70th anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany in the Second World War. Credit: Associated Press
...more
1h 2min
December 18, 2025 Why the brain is the ultimate weapon of war
EI's Paul Lay is joined by neuroscientist Nicholas Wright to discuss how the brain shapes war, and how war shapes the brain.

Image: The brain as a weapon of war. Credit: fStop Images GmbH
...more
1h 2min
December 11, 2025 The end of Pax Britannica
Graeme Thompson on the fall of a liberal world order. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: 'Taming the British Lion'. Puck magazine, 1888. Credit: Historical Images Archive
...more
30min
December 04, 2025 The classical key to the AI revolution
John Tasioulas examines how a classical conception of democracy – distinct from liberal democracy – may offer the resources needed to meet the challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Rudolph Müller, View of the Acropolis from the Pynx (1863). Credit: Eraza Collection
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22min
November 27, 2025 The Risorgimento myth
Gerald Warner on the origins of a 'black legend' designed to discredit the once-flourishing Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: A painting displaying the splendour of the Neapolitan fleet. Credit: The Picture Art Collection
...more
23min
November 20, 2025 China's quest to engineer the future
EI's Paul Lay is joined by technology analyst Dan Wang to discuss how China has engineered its way to global power status.

Image: New high-rise buildings in China. Credit: ton koene
...more
44min
November 13, 2025 The double agent who introduced Japan to the West
Bill Emmott profiles Lafcadio Hearn, the Anglo-Irish-Greek foreign correspondent who made Japan his home. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Lafcadio Hearn photographed with his wife, Setsuko Koizumi, and their son. Credit: GRANGER - Historical Picture Archive / Alamy Stock Photo
...more
20min

FAQs about The EI Podcast:

How many episodes does The EI Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 376 episodes available.

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