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
The future of AI
In the first episode of the Engelsberg Ideas editorial podcast, EI Talks..., Iain Martin, Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss Artificial Intelligence and how it might shape the future for better... or worse. Image: Programmable humanoid robot NAQ. Credit: Lilyana Vynogradova (https://www.alamy.com/search/imageresults.aspx?pseudoid=%7b01D89B5F-AB95-46BC-84C3-CCD941AEF14A%7d&name=Lilyana%2bVynogr...
29m May 25, 2023
29m
The geopolitics and grand strategy of Alfred Thayer Mahan by John H. Maurer
Alfred Thayer Mahan's writings on naval warfare have overshadowed his contributions to geopolitics. His theories, however, are clearly playing out today. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: A print of a First World War Imperial German Navy battlecruiser, the SMS Goeben. Credit: Troy GB images / Alamy Stock Photo
36m May 25, 2023
36m
The cultural conversation of mankind by Christopher Coker
Isolationist thinking and exceptionalism is on the rise and our global culture is the poorer for it. Our civilisations thrive when in conversation with each other: ideas are exchanged and self-reflection is promoted. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: An American Mercantile Building in Yokohama, 1861. Credit: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo.
31m May 19, 2023
31m
Epic news
What are myths for? More than entertainment alone, these epic tales helped the Ancients follow current affairs. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo
45m May 12, 2023
45m
A Sacred Coronation for a Secular Nation
Adam Boulton is joined by Paul Lay, Senior Editor of Engelsberg Ideas, Agnès Poirier, journalist and author, and Royal biographer Hugo Vickers, to reflect on the deep meaning and symbolism of Britain's Coronation. Image: King Charles III views a wooden carving at St. Laurence's Church in Ludlow, Shropshire. Credit: Michelle Jones (https://www.alamy.com/search/imageresults.aspx?pseudoid=%7b2625...
30m May 05, 2023
30m
The other side of the hill
In war, we are, like the Duke of Wellington, still trying to guess what is on the other side of the hill, we just have more tools to help us do so. Read by Leighton Pugh Image: The Left Wing of the British army in Action at the Battle of Waterloo, June 18th 1815. Credit: Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images
20m May 05, 2023
20m
In search of Lebensraum
Hitler's conviction that a new Eurasian order should be constructed with Germany at its zenith had its ideological roots in the early science of geopolitics. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: This map of Russia and surrounding countries highlights Hitler's campaign in Russia and how it went wrong. Credit: Bettmann
25m Apr 28, 2023
25m
The crusader of goodwill
While no longer a state power, the Catholic Church remains a powerful political force in modern diplomacy. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Pope Francis with his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square, Vatican City, in 2018. Credit: Massimo Wallichia / Getty Images.
26m Apr 21, 2023
26m
Where does esotericism belong in modern academia?
Scholars of esotericism are often asked to justify their field of research and its place in modern society. However, esotericism provides fertile ground for radical thinking and is a useful means of considering the limitations of standard western thought. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image:The Flammarion Wood engraving. The image is often used as a metaphorical illustration of either the scientific ...
36m Apr 14, 2023
36m
Welcome to the fifth age of the city
Changing technology, climate change, and transformations in global finance mean another new era for cities is dawning: the fifth, or digital, age. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Ecological skyscraper in Milan. Credit: Paolo Bona / Alamy Stock Photo.
33m Apr 06, 2023
33m
The power of central banks
Central banks have held the financial world in their grip for much of the twentieth century, but is their reign coming to an end? In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by the former governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, along with journalist and author Merryn Somerset Webb, Iain Martin, Editor-in-Chief of Engelsberg Ideas, and economic historian, Samuel Gregg. Image: Cu...
38m Apr 06, 2023
38m
How the individual invented the modern West
The European Middle Ages have been deemed an era of regression but this couldn't be further from the truth. In this period, the foundations were laid to establish a liberal West centred around the rights of the individual. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Construction of highway, eighteenth century France Engineers on horseback inspecting the work, a painting Claude-Joseph Vernet, 1775. Credit: L...
27m Mar 31, 2023
27m
Worldview — The Return of Applied History
How can the lessons of history be applied to the present? What are the benefits of taking the long view? In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by the scholars Robert Crowcroft, editor of Applied History and Contemporary Policymaking: School of Statecraft, Phillip Bobbitt of the University of Texas, Iskander Rehman, an Ax:son Johnson Fellow at the Kissinger Center for Global Affa...
36m Mar 28, 2023
36m
Katja Hoyer on East Germany
In our latest episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus is joined by author, historian and journalist Katja Hoyer to discuss her new book Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949-1990. Together, they discuss the GDR and its legacy today. Image: East German pioneers and musicians depicted in the porcelain frieze 'Building of the Republic' designed by German artist Max Lingner (1952–1953) on the b...
45m Mar 27, 2023
45m
Bringing beauty back to the city
Cities have been reduced to centres of soulless materialism and their citizens to non-stop consumers. If we hope to create beautiful surroundings, a rethink is required. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: The Vessel at Hudson Yards, New York City. Credit: robertharding / Alamy Stock Photo.
26m Mar 24, 2023
26m
The future of the museum
How does an institution in the business of preserving the past prepare itself for the interests and sensibilities of the future? Where do museums fit in the national psyche? In our latest episode of Worldview, host Adam Boulton is joined by director of the V&A Tristram Hunt, Professor Armand D'Angour and Dr. Tiffany Jenkins to discuss what the future might hold for museums. Image: Renaissance...
36m Mar 21, 2023
36m
Learning from Asian philosophies of rebirth by Jessica Frazier
Asian literature, with its technologically-adept Chinese emperors, Animist Spirit-negotiators, and Yogic sages, shows us how to live well in troubled times. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Ma Yuan's The Yellow River Breaches its Course, from a series of paintings of water.
28m Mar 17, 2023
28m
Sarah Bakewell on Humanism
In our latest episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus is joined by author Sarah Bakewell to discuss her new book Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Enquiry and Hope. Together they chart the history of the Humanist movement and its relevance to this secular age. Image: The six Tuscan poets. Credit: Giorgio Morara (https://www.alamy.com/search/imageresults.aspx?...
37m Mar 17, 2023
37m
How to end a war
Where does war end and peace begin? And what role does diplomacy play in that transition? In our latest episode of Worldview, host Adam Boulton is joined by historians Margaret MacMillan, Andrew Ehrhardt and Frank Gavin, as well as former European Commission High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton. Image: Satirical cartoon of the Congress of Vienna. Credit: The Granger Colle...
36m Mar 15, 2023
36m
America’s return as the reluctant defender of the liberal order by Kori Schake
The US cultivated a garden that it grew weary of the burdens of sustaining but, once all other alternatives have been exhausted, the US will be pushed back into defending its liberal world order. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: 'Young America rescues Europe!', declares a French cartoon from 1918. Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo.
21m Mar 10, 2023
21m
Worldview — People power: dealing with demography
Is demography destiny? Shifting patterns in population have marked history, drive political change and sharpen cultural divides. In our latest episode of Worldview, host Adam Boulton is joined by Paul Morland, the UK's leading demographer, Bill Emmott, former editor of the Economist and author of Japan's Far More Female Future, and Richard Assheton, the Times' and Sunday Times' West Africa cor...
32m Mar 07, 2023
32m
The City of God: on Augustine’s vision of Empire
Augustine’s seminal book was written in the context of the Roman Empire, but it remains ever-relevant. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image description: St Augustine / Wiki Public domain.
23m Mar 03, 2023
23m
Worldview — The risks and the rewards of AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the worlds of art, manufacturing, medicine, even the language we use, at a bewildering speed. Should we fear or welcome it? What are its risks and rewards? And could it ever come to outpace the human mind? In our latest episode of Worldview, host Adam Boulton is joined by Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis of New York University, and Susan Schneider, Dire...
39m Feb 28, 2023
39m
Geopolitics never went away for the United States
For the United States, geopolitics has always been about national identity, even in an era of globalisation. Perhaps it always will be. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image description: The Marine Corps War Memorial, also known as Iwo Jima Memorial. Credit: DeAgostini/Getty Images
29m Feb 24, 2023
29m
On Civility by Erica Benner
Navigating politico-religious disagreements in a spirit of civility is nigh-on impossible in eras in which the meaning of civility itself is contested. How do we speak to each other civilly in a time of incivility? Read by Leighton Pugh. Image description: Girolamo Savonarola's execution on the Piazza della Signoria in Florence in 1498. Credit: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd (https://www.alam...
41m Feb 17, 2023
41m
Information war does not exist by Peter Pomerantsev
In the Cold War the Kremlin tried to convince foreign audiences its disinformation campaigns were real, today the aim seems to be different. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image description: Soviet poster of a tank on Red Square. Credit: Alamy Stock Photo.
26m Feb 10, 2023
26m
The ancient roots of the modern holy war by Tom Holland
The crusades, jihad, and wars in defence of intangible ideals all have their origins in a short-lived conflict in the 6th century BC. Read by Leighton Pugh. Stone relief from the palace of Ashurbanipal, A detail from the battle of Til Tuba. Teumman the Elamite king is trying to escape but his chariot crashes. His horses panic, while he is trying to escape with an arrow in his back, supported b...
23m Feb 03, 2023
23m
From the Silk Road to the information superhighway by Peter Frankopan
Globalisation may appear to be a cornerstone of modernity but humans have always both craved and feared connection, be it social, commercial, spiritual or scientific. Read by Leighton Pugh. A 15th Century illustration from a Turkish manuscript depicting a surgical operation. Medical understanding was an important element of the exchange of knowledge between the Islamic world and Europe. Credit...
28m Jan 27, 2023
28m
Finding Garibaldi by Lucy Riall
Garibaldi’s retreat to his home in Caprera spawned a liberal-nationalist ideal of statesmanship that would live long in the European imagination. Read by Leighton Pugh. Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) in his signature red shirt, gazing towards his beloved Italy from a cliff edge on the island of Caprera off the coast of Sicily. Illustration c1920. Credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Ima...
31m Jan 20, 2023
31m