The Trial at 100: revisiting Kafka’s prophetic masterpiece
This year marks the centenary of the publication of Franz Kafka’s novel, The Trial - a seminal work that continues to captivate and unsettle its readers. EI’s Alastair Benn (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/alastair-benn/) and Paul Lay (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/paul-lay/) are joined by Karolina Watroba (https://www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/people/karolina-watroba) , author of Metamorphose...
57m Jul 10, 2025
57m
How the Knights Templars conquered Christendom
Historian Nicholas Morton (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/nicholas-morton/) explores how a miracle of marketing brought the Knights Templars to prominence. Read by Leighton Pugh. FURTHER READING: The Knights Templars and the pursuit of Christendom | Nicholas Morton (https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-knights-templars-and-the-pursuit-of-christendom/) Image: A Victorian illustration of...
21m Jul 03, 2025
21m
The lost art of chorography
The writer Josh Mcloughlin (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/josh-mcloughlin/) reflects on the art of chorography, one of English literature’s most eccentric and mercurial forms. Read by Leighton Pugh. FURTHER READING: The lost art of chorography | Josh Mcloughlin (https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-lost-art-of-chorography/) Image: Renaissance map of Europe showing England. Credit: Wor...
24m Jun 26, 2025
24m
1975, the year that made the modern world
Historian Damian Valdez (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/damian-valdez/) reflects on the meaning of 1975, a fateful year for the international order. Read by Leighton Pugh. FURTHER READING: 1975, the year that made the modern world | Damian Valdez (https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/1975-the-year-that-made-the-modern-world/) Image: A helicopter is pushed off the overcrowded deck of the ai...
19m Jun 19, 2025
19m
How Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin fought Hitler – and each other
EI’s Paul Lay joins historian Tim Bouverie (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/tim-bouverie/) to discuss ‘Allies at War’, his gripping new book on how Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin’s uneasy alliance led to the end of the Second World War – and reshaped the global order in ways that are still felt today. Image: Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at Yalta. Credit: Niday Picture Library / Alamy S...
42m Jun 12, 2025
42m
What happened to the politician’s moustache?
Writer Luka Ivan Jukic (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/luka-ivan-jukic/) laments the all-but-total disappearance of facial hair from politics. Read by Leighton Pugh. FURTHER READING: What happened to the politician’s moustache? | Luka Ivan Jukic (https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/what-happened-to-the-politicians-moustache/) Image: A double portrait of Mozaffar al-Din Shah, the fifth Qaj...
19m Jun 05, 2025
19m
The strange death of squalor
Journalist and author Jenny McCartney (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/jenny-mccartney/) celebrates the magic of squalor, and explores how generations of artists have seen the sublime in slime. Read by Leighton Pugh. FURTHER READING: On squalor | Jenny McCartney (https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/on-squalor/) Image: Walter Sickert's Easter Monday. Credit: Logic Images / Alamy Stock Photo
21m May 29, 2025
21m
Why Finns joined the fight
Geopolitical analyst Charly Salonius-Pasternak (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/charly-salonius-pasternak/) examines Finland's long journey to full membership of the Western alliance, and explores how the Nordic nation could play a leading role in its future. FURTHER READING: Why Finns joined the fight | Charly Salonius-Pasternak (https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/why-finns-joined-the-fig...
22m May 22, 2025
22m
The West’s lust for liberty
The late Christopher Coker (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/christopher-coker/) , Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics for almost 40 years, explains why, although the love of liberty is not unique to the West, the lust for liberty is. Read by Helen Lloyd. FURTHER READING: The West’s lust for liberty | Christopher Coker (https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/t...
14m May 15, 2025
14m
Christianity and the creation of England
In this episode of The EI Podcast, the historian Bijan Omrani (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/bijan-omrani/) is joined by EI's Paul Lay (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/paul-lay/) to explore the indelible mark Christianity has left on England’s identity and culture. FURTHER READING: The tragic decline of Christian rituals | Bijan Omrani (https://engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the-tragic-...
59m May 08, 2025
59m
How the liberation of France shaped the modern world
Agnès Poirier (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/agnes-poirier/) , journalist and broadcaster, examines how the liberation of France in 1944 opened the way for Paris to become a laboratory of ideas. Read by Helen Lloyd. FURTHER READING: The liberation of France made the modern world | Agnès Poirier (https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-liberation-of-france-made-the-modern-world/) Engelsbe...
17m May 01, 2025
17m
China vs the WTO: The Inside Story
EI's Alastair Benn (https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-subtle-art-of-english-comedy/) and Paul Lay (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/paul-lay/) are joined by Michael Sheridan (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/michael-sheridan/) , author of two books on China and a foreign correspondent for 40 years, to discuss China’s rise, its subsequent entry into the international trading system, and...
1hr 2m Apr 24, 2025
1hr 2m
Madame Bovary and the problem of desire
Marie Daouda (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/marie-daouda/) , lecturer in French language and literature at the University of Oxford, shows how the pursuit of apparently 'real' desires comes at the expense of collective truth. The consequences can be disastrous. Read by Helen Lloyd. FURTHER READING: The truth shall set us free | Marie Daouda (https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-truth-s...
18m Apr 17, 2025
18m
The German key to European liberty
Brendan Simms (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/brendan-simms/) , founder and Director of the Centre for Geopolitics at the University of Cambridge, illustrates why contemporary Germany struggles to muster a serious military response to the Russian challenge. Read by Helen Lloyd. FURTHER READING: The German key to European liberty | Brendan Simms (https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-germ...
16m Apr 11, 2025
16m
The making of Trump's worldview
What are the deep roots of Trump's worldview? Can we learn to read Trump’s behaviour? And are there opportunities to be had for those who can? EI's Alastair Benn (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/alastair-benn/) and Paul Lay (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/paul-lay/) are joined by Charlie Laderman (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/charlie-laderman/) , Senior Lecturer in International H...
1hr 2m Apr 10, 2025
1hr 2m
How Russia negotiates
Iuliia Osmolovska (https://www.globsec.org/who-we-are/our-people/iuliia-osmolovska) , head of the GLOBSEC Kyiv Office, argues that Ukrainians are better placed than their Western partners to decode the Russian negotiating style. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas (https://engelsbergideas.com/) is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit (https://axsonjohn...
34m Apr 04, 2025
34m
Liberty under attack
Juliet Samuel (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/juliet-samuel/) , columnist for The Times newspaper, highlights that a belief in liberty is not self-evident and its expansion is not inevitable. Read by Helen Lloyd. FURTHER READING: Liberty under attack from enemies within | Juliet Samuel (https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/liberty-under-attack-from-enemies-within/) Engelsberg Ideas (https:...
20m Mar 28, 2025
20m
The uses of comedy
What makes us laugh? And why should it matter? EI's Alastair Benn (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/alastair-benn/) and Paul Lay (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/paul-lay/) are joined by the critic Mathew Lyons (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/mathew-lyons/) to discuss the uses of comedy. FURTHER READING: The subtle art of English comedy | Alastair Benn (https://engelsbergideas.com/e...
51m Mar 27, 2025
51m
Gazing back to see China’s future
Roel Sterckx (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/roel-sterckx/) , the Joseph Needham Professor of Chinese History, Science, and Civilization at Cambridge University, makes the case for studying China's centuries-long history. Read by Helen Lloyd. FURTHER READING: Gazing back to see China’s future | Roel Sterckx (https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/gazing-back-to-see-chinas-future/) Engelsberg...
18m Mar 21, 2025
18m
The myth of Venice
Alexander Lee (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/alexander-lee/) , author of Machiavelli: His Life and Times, argues that liberty was central to the idea of Venice. Read by Helen Lloyd. FURTHER READING: Liberty and the myth of Venice | Alexander Lee (https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/liberty-and-the-myth-of-venice/) Engelsberg Ideas (https://engelsbergideas.com/) is funded by the Axel and ...
22m Mar 14, 2025
22m
Spartacus, history’s nowhere man
Richard Miles (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/richard-miles/) , historian and archaeologist, profiles Spartacus, a figure who floats between history and allegory. Read by Helen Lloyd. FURTHER READING: Spartacus, history’s nowhere man | Richard Miles (https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/spartacus-historys-nowhere-man/) Engelsberg Ideas (https://engelsbergideas.com/) is funded by the Axel a...
20m Mar 07, 2025
20m
How a Second Cold War could have been averted
The choice to enlarge NATO was a justifiable response to the geopolitics of the 1990s. The problem was how it happened.
21m Feb 28, 2025
21m
The case for Classical music
What makes Classical music special among the arts? And where did it come from? To reckon with the inexhaustible complexity of the western musical tradition, its long history and the roots of its contemporary crises, EI's Alastair Benn (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/alastair-benn/) is joined by Richard Bratby (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/richard-bratby/) , the chief classical music ...
57m Feb 27, 2025
57m
Ukraine's rich history of resistance
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was slowed down because of determined, courageous resistance. That success also owed much to Western intelligence on the nature of the Russian attack. External support will remain crucial to the success of the Ukrainian war effort.
32m Feb 21, 2025
32m
The global threat to liberty
Non-western elites are redefining freedom on their own terms, as sovereignty, state security and stability. But the world becoming a lot less free should concern us all.
19m Feb 14, 2025
19m
The myth and magic of spy fiction
Are we living through a golden age of espionage drama? And what do spy stories tell us about the true nature of the secret world?
56m Feb 13, 2025
56m
How the GDR fell in love with the West
Citizens of the GDR were exposed to an idealised version of western freedoms made up of luxury shopping, blue jeans and cowboy flicks. Read by Helen Lloyd.
19m Feb 07, 2025
19m
Pittacus, the good tyrant
After unpromising beginnings and innumerable controversies, Pittacus, seventh-century ruler of Mytilene on Lesbos, should be remembered as one of the great leaders of his age. Read by Sebastian Brown.
12m Feb 06, 2025
12m
The power of shareholder democracy
The limited liability company remains the best vehicle for capitalistic endeavour. Read by Helen Lloyd.
17m Jan 31, 2025
17m
The dawn of the post-literate society
Is the era of mass literacy over? And what might a post-literate society look like?
47m Jan 30, 2025
47m
Sergey Radchenko on what drives Vladimir Putin
Putin’s justifications for invading Ukraine uncannily reflect the motivations of one of Russian literature’s most famous antiheroes, Dostoevsky's Rodion Raskolnikov. Read by Helen Lloyd.
18m Jan 24, 2025
18m
Tim Marshall on Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, rocket man
The Russian recluse, a scientific self-starter who left school at 14, developed pioneering theories of space travel that anticipated the great feats of the Space Race fifty years later. Read by Sebastian Brown. Engelsberg Ideas (https://engelsbergideas.com/) is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit (https://axsonjohnsonfoundation.org/) . Image: Soviet p...
14m Jan 23, 2025
14m
Liberty in the shadow of Bonaparte
Benjamin Constant’s considered response not only to the mass murder inflicted by the French Revolution, but to the attempt to reduce the whole French population to the condition of willing slaves under Bonaparte’s First Empire, provides a diagnosis of the character of many subsequent totalitarian regimes. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas (https://engelsbergideas.com/) is funded by the Axe...
19m Jan 17, 2025
19m
The case for Classics
Is the study of Latin in peril? And what does the future hold for the ancient inheritance? EI's Alastair Benn (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/alastair-benn/) is joined by Daisy Dunn (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/daisy-dunn/) , classicist and author, Armand D’Angour (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/armand-dangour/) , Professor of Classics at Oxford University, and Paul Lay (https://...
43m Jan 16, 2025
43m
How 1970s California created the modern world
What happened in California in the 1970s played an outsized role in creating the world we live in today – both in the United States and in large parts of the globe – for better or worse. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas (https://engelsbergideas.com/) is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit (https://axsonjohnsonfoundation.org/) . Image: 1970s commer...
22m Jan 10, 2025
22m
Guittone d’Arezzo, Dante’s forgotten muse
At a time of moral and political crisis, the medieval poet pioneered a daring and emotive vernacular style which inspired generations of Italian literature. Read by Sebastian Brown. Engelsberg Ideas (https://engelsbergideas.com/) is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit (https://axsonjohnsonfoundation.org/) . Image: A sketch of Guittone d'Arezzo from the...
18m Jan 09, 2025
18m
The writer's right to speak freely
While we may think we have moved beyond the censorship of the past, writers' artistic freedoms are still constrained. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas (https://engelsbergideas.com/) is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit (https://axsonjohnsonfoundation.org/) . Image: Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence was the subject of a watershed obscenity...
18m Dec 20, 2024
18m
Fredrik Logevall on the Vietnam War
EI's Angus Reilly (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/angus-reilly/) discusses the history and legacy of the Vietnam War with Fredrik Logevall (https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/jfks-abiding-legacy/) , author of Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America’s Vietnam. Engelsberg Ideas (https://engelsbergideas.com/) is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation ...
32m Dec 19, 2024
32m
Kori Schake on the price of freedom
The arc of history only bends towards justice when people of goodwill grab hold of it and wrench it in the direction of justice. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas (https://engelsbergideas.com/) is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit (https://axsonjohnsonfoundation.org/) . Image: The Freedom is Our Religion banner in Maidan Square, Kyiv. Credit: Ali...
18m Dec 13, 2024
18m
Paul Lay on Thomas Gage, a man of unintended consequences
His intense faith led Thomas Gage to switch his religious allegiance during the tumultuous 17th century - he went on to have an enormous impact on Britain's colonial future. Read by Sebastian Brown. Engelsberg Ideas (https://engelsbergideas.com/) is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit (https://axsonjohnsonfoundation.org/) . Image: Title Page from Thoma...
13m Dec 12, 2024
13m
David Butterfield on Epicurus, Lucretius, and the myth of mythlessness
Myths frame and tailor the past in a way that can ground and stabilise a community, however large or small. By situating them within the fabric of history, myths provide a sense of tradition and belonging to rally around. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas (https://engelsbergideas.com/) is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit (https://axsonjohnsonfoun...
22m Dec 06, 2024
22m
The problem with VAR
EI's Alastair Benn (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/alastair-benn/) discusses how technology is transforming the world of sport with Daisy Christodoulou (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/daisy-christodoulou/) , education expert and author of I Can't Stop Thinking About VAR (https://swiftpress.com/book/i-cant-stop-thinking-about-var/) , an eloquent examination of the use of the video assist...
49m Dec 05, 2024
49m
Elisabeth Braw on the importance of understanding the West's adversaries
With deterrence and compellence becoming more crucial than they have been in over three decades, understanding what makes foreign leaders tick is of the utmost importance. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: Silhouettes of Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Credit: KLYONA / Alamy Stock Photo
19m Nov 29, 2024
19m
Andrew Roberts on Brendan Bracken, ‘more Churchillian than Churchill’
Andrew Roberts (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/andrew-roberts/) profiles Brendan Bracken (https://engelsbergideas.com/portraits/brendan-bracken-more-churchillian-than-churchill/) , Winston Churchill's faithful and most trusted political adviser. Read by Sebastian Brown. Engelsberg Ideas (https://engelsbergideas.com/) is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public B...
11m Nov 29, 2024
11m
Kissinger's century with Thomas A. Schwartz
EI's Angus Reilly (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/angus-reilly/) discusses the life and legacy of Henry Kissinger with Thomas A. Schwartz (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/thomas-schwartz/) , author of Henry Kissinger and American Power: A Political Biography. Engelsberg Ideas (https://engelsbergideas.com/) is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit (...
29m Nov 28, 2024
29m
Henrik Meinander on Gustaf Mannerheim, leader of a free Finland
Gustaf Mannerheim's rise from a troubled youth to Finland's great wartime leader illustrates how leadership is forged by both personal traits and the unpredictable tides of history. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas (https://engelsbergideas.com/) is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit (https://axsonjohnsonfoundation.org/) . Image: Field Marshal Car...
20m Nov 22, 2024
20m
How to deter Russia with Kristjan Prikk and Eitvydas Bajarūnas
EI's Paul Lay discusses how the Baltic states have survived, and thrived, in the shadow of Russian aggression, with Kristjan Prikk (https://washington.mfa.ee/ambassador-2/) , Estonia's Ambassador to the United States and Eitvydas Bajarūnas (https://cepa.org/author/eityvdas-bajarunas/) , a former Lithuanian senior diplomat, who has served as the Ambassador to Sweden, Russia and the UK. Engelsbe...
27m Nov 21, 2024
27m
Rory Medcalf on the Australian way of war and peace
Australia stands at the forefront of democratic resistance against China's expanding influence, reshaping its strategy and alliances to meet the challenges of a contested Indo-Pacific. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas (https://engelsbergideas.com/) is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit (https://axsonjohnsonfoundation.org/) . Image: Two US Air For...
27m Nov 15, 2024
27m
The making of the post-Wall world with Mary Elise Sarotte
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 offered opportunities to reset relations between East and West. EI's Paul Lay discusses how these opportunities were squandered with Mary Elise Sarotte (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/mary-elise-sarotte/) , Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Distinguished Professor of Historical Studies at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs. Engelsberg Ideas (...
25m Nov 14, 2024
25m
Andreas Rödder on Konrad Adenauer and the German realignment
Konrad Adenauer combined Realpolitik and German values and interests with international cooperation. The multilaterally integrated, co-operative nation state he championed was a fundamental innovation in European history. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas (https://engelsbergideas.com/) is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit (https://axsonjohnsonfoun...
17m Nov 08, 2024
17m