The EI Podcast

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The EI Podcast episodes

January 08 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
48 min
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
1 hr 2 min
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
1 hr 2 min
December 11, 2025 The end of Pax Britannica
Graeme Thompson on the fall of a liberal world order. Read by Leighton Pugh.
Read the original essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-end-of-pax-britannica/.
Image: 'Taming the British Lion'. Puck magazine, 1888. Credit: Historical Images Archive
30 min
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.
Read the original essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-classical-key-to-the-ai-revolution/.
Image: Rudolph Müller, View of the Acropolis from the Pynx (1863). Credit: Eraza Collection
22 min
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.
Read the original here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-risorgimento-myth/.
Image: A painting displaying the splendour of the Neapolitan fleet. Credit: The Picture Art Collection
23 min
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
44 min
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.
Read the original essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-double-agent-who-introduced-japan-to-the-west/.
Image: Lafcadio Hearn photographed with his wife, Setsuko Koizumi, and their son. Credit: GRANGER - Historical Picture Archive / Alamy Stock Photo
20 min
November 05, 2025 Lessons from the Wall Street Crash
Bestselling author Andrew Ross Sorkin discusses his new book, 1929: The Inside Story of The Greatest Crash in Wall Street History, with EI's Iain Martin.

Image: The Wall Street financial crash of 1929, with a city businessman speculator trying to sell his car for $100 cash, having lost all on the stock market. Credit: Alamy/ Shawshots.
33 min
October 30, 2025 1821 and the invention of world order
Historian Damian Valdez on international order's 19th-century origins. Read by Leighton Pugh.
Read the original essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/1821-and-the-invention-of-world-order/.
Image: Mexican general Agustín de Iturbide rides through a ceremonial arch to welcoming officials in Mexico City on September 27, 1821, after decisively winning independence for Mexico. Credit: Album / Alamy Stock Photo
21 min

About The EI Podcast

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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.