What does Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of ‘The Odyssey’ have in common with Homer’s poem? Classicist and actor Orlando Gibbs speaks to Alastair Benn about the strangeness of this ancient epic, which depicts a moral world far removed from Nolan’s secular and post-Christian worldview, and discusses whether its popularity will lead to a renewed interest in the classical world.

Image: Odysseus and the Sirens, represented on an ancient Greek vase. Credit: Alamy

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 

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

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.

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

Brendan Simms talks to EI’s Jack Dickens about a new age of geopolitical rivalry.

Image: Xi Jinping and Donald Trump. Credit: Alamy

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: INTERFOTO

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