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
What did it mean to belong to the Holy Roman Empire? by Peter Wilson
The Holy Roman Empire was neither a nation state nor indeed a conventional empire. Instead, its inhabitants were unified through a web of legal rights. Read by Leighton Pugh. A miniature of the Treaty of Verdun, 843. Emperor Louis I (right) blessing the division of the Frankish Empire in 843 into West Francia, Middle Francia, and East Francia. Credit: Wikimedia commons.
38m Jan 13, 2023
38m
Towards a Westphalia for the Middle East by Brendan Simms
Westphalia’s legacy of compromise and conditional sovereignty shows the way to peace in the Middle East. Read by Leighton Pugh. The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster, 1648. Found in the collection of the National Gallery, London. Credit: Fine art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images
39m Jan 06, 2023
39m
What is mistake theory and can it save the humanities? By Claire Lehmann
While critical theory is not without its uses, it is time that we take a more constructive approach to social issues. ‘Mistake theory’ can offer a useful lens. Read by Leighton Pugh Students graduating from Birmingham University, England. Credit: Malcolm McDougall Photography / Alamy Stock Photo.
21m Dec 22, 2022
21m
Worldview — Genome, the dangers and potential of gene editing
It is now clear that genetically editing human beings is not only possible, but increasingly simple. The ethical considerations of this development on the other hand remain complex. To discuss the mapping and editing of the human genome, Adam Boulton is joined by Dr George Church, the 'father of genomics', and Kevin Davies, science author, journalist and the executive editor of the CRISPR journ...
41m Dec 16, 2022
41m
The Case of East Asia by Jonathan Fenby
East Asia, especially China's, economic rise in the latter half of the twentieth century was sudden and impressive but now, growth is stalling. This, combined with the rivalry between the US and China and sovereignty disputes has destabilised the region. Read by Leighton Pugh. This essay was first published in 2016. High-rise buildings replace old residences in  Zhejiang, China. Credit: Charl...
27m Dec 16, 2022
27m
Worldview — China and India: a new struggle for dominance
For thousands of years, India and China had relatively little contact, but following China's annexation of Tibet and the end of European colonialism, the two Asian Giants became neighbours. Today, their relationship is increasingly tense. In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by Peter Frankopan, Tanvi Madan and Rana Mitter to put Sino-Indian relations under the microscope. Image...
58m Dec 09, 2022
58m
How to fix the future, Estonian style by Andrew Keen
Rather than protecting individual data privacy, the fate of democracy in our networked age might depend on establishing a new, radically transparent contract of trust between government and citizens. Estonia is leading the way. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Churches, other landmarks and old buildings at the Old Town in Tallinn, Estonia. Credit: Tuomas Lehtinen / Alamy Stock Photo
25m Dec 08, 2022
25m
Worldview — Revolution and evolution: the history of the book
In around 1440 AD, a goldsmith called Johannes Gutenberg began assembling the apparatus that would eventually become known as the first Western printing press. Thirty years later, this invention had transformed Europe, spiritually, economically and politically. In this episode of Worldview Adam Boulton is joined by Professor Alexander Lee and Professor Emma Smith to chart the history of the boo...
44m Dec 02, 2022
44m
Why the nation beat the empire in the battle of nineteenth century ideas by Jeremy Jennings
A history of the nineteenth century tells not just of newly-formed nations, but of newly-developing nationalism. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Carving Up The World A satirical cartoon by James Gillray, showing British Prime Minister William Pitt and the French leader Napoleon Bonaparte, carving up the world between them. Entitled 'The Plumb Pudding in Danger' - pub. 26th February 1805
24m Dec 02, 2022
24m
Worldview — Pressure on the power network
The West must have an adaptable power grid to meet the challenges of this geopolitical energy crisis. In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by Margarita Balmaceda, Magnus Henrekson, Olamide Oguntoye and Ariana Kiran Singh to discuss generating and transmitting power in the face of growing geopolitical and environmental concerns. Image description: Electricity pylon. Credit: Dav...
46m Nov 25, 2022
46m
The joy of suffering by Candida Moss
The crucifixion lodged suffering at the heart of Christianity: to suffer was to be like Christ. This reframing of suffering had far-reaching consequences for world history. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Jesus Christ on the Cross with St. Mary and St John, painted by Albrecht Altdorfer, circa 1512. Credit: Niday Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo.
23m Nov 25, 2022
23m
Worldview — The nuclear threat today
There are currently around 13,000 nuclear warheads worldwide, with Russia possessing the largest nuclear arsenal. And yet, nuclear weapons have not been deployed in combat since the US bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima seventy-seven years ago. So, how and why has the nuclear taboo remained intact and what may jeopardise it in the future? In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by Pr...
40m Nov 15, 2022
40m
The Revolt of the European Masses: the disintegration of accountability in supra-national politics by Janne Haaland Matlary
With forces such as identity politics and supra-national bodies gaining traction across Europe, the concept of the nation state has never been more important. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: A painting of the Dutch envoy Adriaan Pauw entering Münster around 1646 for the peace negotiations, painted by Gerard ter Borch. Credit: Wikipedia Commons/Stadtmuseum Münster
41m Nov 11, 2022
41m
Worldview — The global struggle for microchip supremacy
When the pioneers of computer engineering created the first integrated circuits in the 1950s they could not have envisaged how this technology would infiltrate all elements of our daily lives. The production of microchips is now rapidly becoming the defining force in geopolitics and will play a fundamental role in the conflicts of the future. In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is join...
50m Nov 09, 2022
50m
Rethinking geopolitics by Jeremy Black
Geography and politics are closely intertwined, although that no more means that all geography is political than that all politics is geographical. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: An American map of the West Coast of Africa from Sierra Leone to Cape Palmas, 'including the colony of Liberia'. Credit: Everett Collection Historical / Alamy Stock Photo
27m Nov 04, 2022
27m
Why the idea of Carthage survived Roman conquest by Richard Miles
The Romans burnt Carthage’s books and buildings – but ‘Punic’ identity remained influential throughout Antiquity. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Print of ancient Carthage. Source: Wiki Creative Commons
22m Oct 28, 2022
22m
EI Weekly Listen — The end of history ends by Walter Russell Mead
The era in world history that began with the fall of the Soviet Union is drawing to its close. The post-Cold War Eurasian settlement that the United States and its allies imposed after 1990 has three big challengers - Russia, China and Iran. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: A symbol of American power, the National Capitol in Washington, DC. Credit: Christian Offenberg / Alamy Stock Photo.
26m Oct 21, 2022
26m
The restless search for the fun wars by David J Betz
The West, more specifically the United States, with its major allies alongside it, has been chasing the 'fun wars' for forty years and serially coming up empty. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: British Prime Minister Tony Blair greets an ethnic Albanian by holding up his hand in central Pristina, Yugoslavia during a one-day visit Saturday July 31, 1999. It was Blair's first visit to Kosovo since ...
28m Oct 14, 2022
28m
The impact of the First World War on strategy by Hew Strachan
The First World War fundamentally altered our understanding of strategy — we should heed the insights of the era's leading thinkers and generals. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: First World War Commanders looking at a battle plan. Painting by Francois Flameng (1856-1923), 1916. Army Museum, Paris. Credit: Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images
46m Oct 07, 2022
46m
The polymath in the age of specialisation by Peter Burke
Crises of knowledge precipitate drives towards specialisation. In our digital age we still need polymaths. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: This chart is taken from the book 'Ars Magna Lucis Et Umbrae' which was published in 1646 by the Jesuit scientist and inventor, Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680). Credit: SSPL/Getty Images
32m Sep 30, 2022
32m
Authority without knowledge by Erica Benner
The worst form of ignorance in politics is an inflated opinion of one’s own wisdom. In matters of moral judgement, authority-dependence carries grave risks. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: French painter David's The Death of Socrates. Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images
21m Sep 23, 2022
21m