Yu Jie on the deep historical roots of China's global ambition
China projects its power and secures its national interests in three ways: exercising might, spending money and expressing its own mindset. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: CCP propaganda printed in rice fields. Credit: Fabio Nodari / Alamy Stock Photo
25m Dec 08, 2023
25m
A new world of intelligence
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Matthew Hefler, post-doctoral fellow at the Ax:son Johnson Institute for Statecraft and Diplomacy, to discuss the changing role of intelligence services in an era of intense geopolitical competition. Image: The MI6 building in Vauxhall, London. Credit: Alex Segre / Alamy Stock Photo
25m Dec 07, 2023
25m
Andrew Monaghan on how the past shapes Russian grand strategy
Putin uses history not only to fit a narrative that Russia is strong when it stands together, but also to seek legitimacy. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Russian Second World War propaganda poster. Credit: Shawshots / Alamy Stock Photo
23m Dec 01, 2023
23m
The challenges of counter-insurgency
What went wrong for the western alliance in Afghanistan? Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by John Ferris, author of Behind the Enigma: The Authorised History of GCHQ, Britain's Secret Cyber-Intelligence Agency, to discuss whether liberal states can still carry out effective counter-insurgency operations. Image: U.S. Marines search a compound in Afghanistan. Credit: Stocktrek Images, Inc. ...
20m Nov 30, 2023
20m
Pär Stenbäck on religion and politics in the Middle East
Religion is often ignored as a political factor; in the Middle East, this is not possible. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Supporters of the pro-Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah group wave the party flags in front of a poster of late Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini during a ceremony in Beirut. Credit: dpa picture alliance / Alamy Stock Photo
19m Nov 24, 2023
19m
The promise and perils of declassifying intelligence
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Calder Walton, author of Spies: The epic intelligence war between East and West, to discuss how governments can use covertly acquired intelligence as a powerful tool to influence debate — and how easily it can all go wrong. Image: US Ambassador to the United Nations, Adlai Stevenson, second from right, confronts Soviet delegate Valerian Zorin, first on ...
21m Nov 24, 2023
21m
Wolfgang Palaver on the complex relationship between violence and religion
Wherever we insist on truth in order to win over our adversaries, we awaken a spirit of violence that endangers our living-together in the world. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: The Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre by Francois Dubois. Credit: Niday Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo
48m Nov 17, 2023
48m
Recovering the women of Augustine's Confessions
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Kate Cooper, author of Queens of a Fallen World, to discuss the women who shaped the life of Augustine of Hippo. Image: A 17th century painting of Saint Augustine and Saint Monica. Credit: The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock Photo
56m Nov 15, 2023
56m
Gary Lachman on the sources of mystical experience
Mystical experience is the missing link in modern accounts of how human beings came to be conscious. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Trasverberazione di Santa Teresa d’Avila (1640). Credit: jozef sedmak / Alamy Stock Photo
42m Nov 10, 2023
42m
The Beatles’ cultural legacy
Paul Lay, Alastair Benn and Iain Martin discuss the cultural legacy of the Fab Four and why the Beatles story continues to fascinate sixty years on. Image: The Beatles showing their MBE Insignias after receiving them from the Queen. Credit: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo
44m Nov 10, 2023
44m
Benedetta Berti on the legacy of the Arab Awakening of 2010
The Middle East and North Africa's transition from authoritarianism to democracy has been slow and painful, with both hopeful gains as well as worrisome setbacks. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Crowds cheer joyfully in central Cairo, Egypt. Credit: Jake Lyell / Alamy Stock Photo
29m Nov 03, 2023
29m
Tecumseh and the Shawnee Confederacy
Paul Lay is joined by Kori Schake to examine the rise and fall of the inspirational Shawnee leader Tecumseh who used strategy to defy America's westward expansion. Image: Shawnee chief Tecumseh confronting William Henry Harrison in Indiana. Credit: North Wind Picture Archives / Alamy Stock Photo
35m Nov 02, 2023
35m
Armin W. Geertz on the pre-historical roots of religious belief
The history and evolution of (proto) religious behaviour is ancient. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Print of early humans making fire. Credit: Science History Images / Alamy Stock Photo
46m Oct 27, 2023
46m
A deep history of Gaza
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by James Barr, historian of the Middle East, to discuss Gaza's long and complex history and how it continues to be felt in the present day. Image: A print of Gaza around 1880. Credit: Holy Land Art / Alamy Stock Photo
47m Oct 27, 2023
47m
David Goodhart on bridging the value divide
Finding a new settlement between the Anywheres and the Somewheres is now the central task of modern politics. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Poverty in London, 1919. Credit: Classic Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo
22m Oct 20, 2023
22m
A new translation of the Iliad
A new translation of the Iliad is an opportunity to reassess the first great work of European literature. Image: Achilles and Memnon fighting in Greek pottery dating to 300 BC. Credit: Peter Horree / Alamy Stock Photo
41m Oct 20, 2023
41m
Jonathan Fenby on the challenge for a totalitarian China
The need to buttress control is the bottom line for Xi. Image: Portrait of Mao on the street. Credit: Chuck Nacke / Alamy Stock Photo
21m Oct 13, 2023
21m
Israel’s harrowing week and the consequences for the Middle East
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Suzanne Raine, national security and counter-terrorism expert, and Michael Goldfarb, author and broadcaster, to discuss Hamas' terrorist outrage and the uncertain future that follows for the region. Image: Members of the Hamas Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo
52m Oct 13, 2023
52m
Kjell Nordström on the future of capitalism
The proletarianisation of knowledge promises a bumpy ride for both us and capitalism as we know it. Read by Leighton Pugh. The New York Stock Exchange. Credit: Sergi Reboredo / Alamy Stock Photo
19m Oct 06, 2023
19m
The cultural resonances of Autumn
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss the idea of Autumn, a season peculiarly rich in cultural resonances. Image: Autumn on the Seine, Claude Monet (1840-1926). Credit: IanDagnall Computing / Alamy Stock Photo
35m Oct 06, 2023
35m
Maurizio Viroli on the city as a political order and urban space
A good political community can only live and flourish in cities that speak to the soul of the citizens and inspire the love of order. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Map of Renaissance Florence. Credit: Pictures Now / Alamy Stock Photo
19m Sep 29, 2023
19m
The problems and perils of nuclear strategy
Paul Lay is joined by Francis J. Gavin, Director of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS, to discuss nuclear statecraft past and present. Image: Still from Stanley Kubrick's 1963 film Dr Strangelove. Credit: TCD/Prod.DB / Alamy Stock Photo
40m Sep 29, 2023
40m
Gudrun Persson on rewriting Russian history
In modern Russia, the past is being rewritten to suit Vladimir Putin's script. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: People carry portraits of their relatives - soldiers of the Second World War - as they take part in the Immortal Regiment march in downtown Moscow. Credit: SOPA Images Limited / Alamy Stock Photo
21m Sep 22, 2023
21m
The conduct and practice of war
Paul Lay is joined by the historian Sir Hew Strachan to discuss On War, the military theorist Carl von Clausewitz's seminal text, and the indispensable guide to the conduct and practice of war. Image: Carl von Clausewitz. Credit: ART Collection / Alamy Stock Photo
40m Sep 22, 2023
40m
Fraser Nelson on the Intellectual Dark Web
The intellectual dark web will, most likely, be a flicker in history, a reminder of when the West’s conversation was at its most shrill, and when free-thinking people had to look to underground clubs for a place to air their thoughts. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Camille Paglia. Credit: Independent / Alamy Stock Photo
23m Sep 15, 2023
23m
Kennedy’s enduring status
JFK biographer Fredrik Logevall, in conversation with EI's Paul Lay and Iain Martin, discusses Kennedy's enduring and 'iconic' status, his claims to greatness, his style, and what his example offers for a divided America. Image: During a campaign trip Senator John F. Kennedy greets a roadside crowd in Indiana. Credit: American Photo Archive / Alamy Stock Photo
39m Sep 14, 2023
39m
Christopher Coker on the changing meaning of patriotism in war
Dying to defend territory is an ancient human need - but war in the 21st century may not follow the script. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: English propaganda poster from the First World War showing a column of soldiers and civilians marching to war. Credit: Photo 12 / Alamy Stock Photo
22m Sep 08, 2023
22m
A guide to Rugby Union
In the latest episode of EI Talks... Paul Lay and Alastair Benn put together an idiot's guide to Rugby Union. The World Cup, the sport's showcase competition, kicks off tonight. The team gives their predictions. Image: French Rugby poster from the 1930s. Credit: Lordprice Collection / Alamy Stock Photo
32m Sep 08, 2023
32m
Remaking the moral case for capitalism by Iain Martin
A defence of capitalism will have to rest first and foremost on an appeal to ethics, obligation, and duty. Read by Leighton Pugh.
23m Sep 01, 2023
23m
Spoken history: the modern importance of indigenous cultures by John Hemming
Our information-rich civilisation is not superior or inferior to the pre-literate world of Brazil's indigenous peoples, just different. Read by Leighton Pugh.
23m Aug 25, 2023
23m
EI Weekly Listen — Mark Plotkin on the price of deforestation
The destruction of rainforests threatens valuable cultures and reams of possible medical innovations. Read by Leighton Pugh. Credit: Dennis Frates / Alamy Stock Photo
14m Aug 11, 2023
14m
EI Weekly Listen — On the good society by David Goodhart
 A good society is one with a proper balance between the aptitudes of ‘head’, ‘hand’ and ‘heart’. The modern knowledge economy, however, has delivered higher and higher returns to the cognitive elite and reduced the relative pay and status of manual and caring jobs. Read by Leighton Pugh.
25m Aug 04, 2023
25m
EI Weekly Listen — Time to regulate the development of AI by Maria Borelius
The risks we now face are vast, as is the potential upside of the technology. Read by Leighton Pugh. Art installation on the theme of AI. Credit: Michele D'Ottavio / Alamy Stock Photo
24m Jul 28, 2023
24m
Mick Jagger at 80
As the Rolling Stones frontman enters his ninth decade, EI asks whether there is a future for ageing rockers. Image: Mick Jagger in 1975. Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd (https://www.alamy.com/search/imageresults.aspx?cid=C6LUJ5J4D99AJ2U63WH2B7UN766KQ4JGVRQARYWP3CLMDLCRF3XEMH7NWX5ZN9G3&name=Pictorial%2bPress%2bLtd&st=12&mode=0&comp=1) / Alamy Stock Photo
41m Jul 27, 2023
41m
What the Silicon Valley idealists got wrong
The internet and social media were supposed to democratise knowledge and unite the world. Things didn't quite turn out that way. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook. Credit: Kristoffer Tripplaar / Alamy Stock Photo
22m Jul 20, 2023
22m
The future of tourism
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss the explosion of tourism in the modern era and what might come next. Image: Travel poster encouraging tourists to visit Blackpool. Credit JJs / Alamy Stock Photo
39m Jul 20, 2023
39m
Wealth and poverty in Renaissance Florence by Antony Molho
This celebration of wealth, its frequent elevation to an almost religious level, and its justification not only in terms of its social utility but also, and more remarkably, in personal terms, is one of the defining characteristics of the Florentine public culture and private ethos in the fifteenth century and beyond. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: An opulent fresco in Renaissance Florence. Cre...
36m Jul 14, 2023
36m
The uses and misuses of anger
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn calmly discuss the uses and misuses of anger. Image: Thai mural in the temple of the Emerald Buddha, Bangkok. Credit: Sabena Jane Blackbird / Alamy Stock Photo
43m Jul 13, 2023
43m
The public realm and the language of architecture by John Simpson
We must rescue our cities from a culture of ugliness. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Sol House, Northampton. Credit: Paul Hanson / Alamy Stock Photo
19m Jul 06, 2023
19m
Sully, Richelieu, and Mazarin
Paul Lay and Iskander Rehman discuss masters of early modern statecraft: the Duke of Sully, Cardinal Richelieu, and Cardinal Mazarin. Image: Cardinal Richelieu at the Siege of La Rochelle. Credit: Niday Picture Library  /  Alamy Stock Photo
20m Jul 06, 2023
20m
Can warfare ever be considered modern?
Even with all its data and technology, contemporary conflict fits uneasily with our definitions of modernity. Read by Leighton Pugh Image: Mosul's old city destroyed by bombing. Credit: Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo
41m Jun 30, 2023
41m
AI and the threat to the arts
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Times columnist James Marriott to discuss whether Artificial Intelligence poses an existential threat to the arts. Image: Man as Industrial Palace, a poster commissioned by German physician and author Fritz Kahn in 1926. Credit: JJs / Alamy Stock Photo
37m Jun 29, 2023
37m
War and statehood by Philip Bobbitt
Warfare made the early modern state. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Renaissance-era woodcut of King Louis IX of France and his army disembarking at Damietta, Egypt, in 1249. In a common anachronism, the army and fleet are equipped with cannons. Credit: Florilegius / Alamy Stock Photo
18m Jun 23, 2023
18m
Machiavelli's foundational contribution to the study of statecraft
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Alexander Lee, biographer of Niccolò Machiavelli, to discuss the Renaissance thinker's foundational contribution to the study of statecraft. Image: Niccolò Machiavelli. Credit: GL Archive (https://www.alamy.com/search/imageresults.aspx?pseudoid=%7bA2D2C31C-F584-4312-8234-2095B107FF51%7d&name=GL%2bArchive&st=11&mode=0&comp=1) / Alamy Stock Photo
24m Jun 23, 2023
24m
Clashing histories and present-day tensions in East Asia by Rana Mitter
As China ramps up its military spending, the government in Beijing plays up its role in the Second World War. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Chinese poster from the Sino-Japanese War. Credit: Album / Alamy Stock Photo
16m Jun 16, 2023
16m
The deep meaning of Cricket
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss the deep meaning of Cricket in light of the forthcoming Ashes series between England and Australia, and the recent wider changes the game has undergone. Image: The Ashes urn. Credit: David Bagnall (https://www.alamy.com/search/imageresults.aspx?pseudoid=%7b6493E39E-7F67-4CCF-BD9E-77C4E881E384%7d&name=David%2bBagnall&st=11&mode=0&comp=1) / Alamy Stock Photo
39m Jun 15, 2023
39m
Do we know the truth about the Thirty Years’ War?
Different perspectives and eye-witness accounts reveal historical fallacies and myths about the war. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Gustavus Adolphus II. Credit: Wiki Creative Commons
28m Jun 08, 2023
28m
The problem with Classical music
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss the future of Classical music. Image: String quartet playing in the Saint Nicholas Shopping centre, London. Credit: RayArt Graphics (https://www.alamy.com/search/imageresults.aspx?pseudoid=%7b78492D7E-F338-427F-ADBB-5121ECE91B19%7d&name=RayArt%2bGraphics&st=11&mode=0&comp=1) / Alamy Stock Photo
33m Jun 08, 2023
33m
Strategy, resilience and defence
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss the London Defence Conference and the return of strategic thinking to the Western alliance. Image: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks with the director of the London Defence Conference, Iain Martin. Credit: PA Images (https://www.alamy.com/search/imageresults.aspx?cid=SJWL6R98P7CYWW45RLQZPYU8XQ7FSKGQKZAWVETMSFYJSVQN9ZEZB59579ZXFJCF&name=PA%2bImages&st=12&mode=...
33m Jun 02, 2023
33m
Each Charter’d Street: Taking the long view on urban planning by Nicholas Boys Smith
For as long as there have been cities they have attracted admiration and fear. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Eighteenth century map of London. Credit: Chronicle (https://www.alamy.com/search/imageresults.aspx?cid=9VNYHR94BVGHFMFY8QTWRWKXQS2VQ7ASWQ2REPWJQRFE8CYU9TSDVU9SR8ADBUNQ&name=Chronicle&st=12&mode=0&comp=1) / Alamy Stock Photo
35m Jun 02, 2023
35m