The EI Podcast
377 episodes — Page 7 of 8
EI Weekly Listen — The Joint Intelligence Committee: Reading the Russian mindset by Michael Goodman
During the Cold War, the British Joint Intelligence Committee was charged with forecasting the actions of states behind the Iron Curtain and the rest of the world. Its record was patchy – the Brits were repeatedly taken by surprise throughout the 20th century. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-joint-intelligence-committee-reading-the-russian-mindset/ Credit: The Central Intelligence Agency via Wikipedia Commons
EI Weekly Listen — Democracy in crisis: Lessons from Ancient Athens by Erica Benner
Demagogues thrive if moderate politicians flatter citizens into an unrealistic sense of their own greatness. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/democratic-crisis-lessons-from-ancient-athens-4/Credit: The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock Photo
EI Weekly Listen — Tribal bias from the wild to the laboratory by Cory J Clark
It is not just politics that is beset by tribalism. The social sciences are also vulnerable to in-group bias. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/tribal-bias-from-the-wild-to-the-laboratory-5/Credit: melita / Alamy Stock Photo
EI Weekly Listen — Love as Religion by Simon May
Love has become widely seen as a democracy of salvation open to all. The reality is more complex. Is our religion of love doing more harm than good? Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/is-our-religion-of-love-doing-more-harm-than-good/Credit: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images
EI Weekly Listen — The Gospel of Thomas: casting a new light on Early Christianity by Elaine Pagels
While there may have been striking similarities between the Gospel of Thomas and those of the four Evangelists, closer examination reveals a subtle yet crucially different perspective on salvation. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-gospel-of-thomas-casting-a-new-light-on-early-christianity/Credit: REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo
Worldview — The battle for energy resources
In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by Professor Helen Thompson, Tim Marshall and Daniel Yergin to discuss the global energy market. The fallout of Putin's invasion of Ukraine has overthrown energy norms in Europe. However, over the past decade the energy market has been far from stable. With concerns surrounding climate change and the discovery of new resources, we are on the brink of an energy revolution which will overhaul the geopolitical map as we know it. Image description: Oil pumps and refinery in oil field. Credit: Cultural RM / Alamy Stock Photo.
EI Weekly Listen — Why 16 billion cortical neurons are not enough by Suzana Herculano-Houzel
Humanity has come quite some way in the past 200,000 years but are we really anything more than primates with a few million more neurons than our closest relatives? Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/why-16-billion-cortical-neurons-are-not-enough/Credit: Martin Harvey via Getty Images
Worldview — Leadership in war
What's a war without its leaders? In this week's Worldview, Adam Boulton speaks to leading historians Margaret MacMillan and Andrew Roberts on how leadership shapes both conflicts and their resolutions.Image description: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stands for a moment of silence during a ceremony to award medals to service members to celebrate the Day of Defenders of Ukraine in the courtyard of the Mariinskyi Palace, October 14, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Credit: Ukraine Presidents Office / Alamy Stock Photo.
EI Weekly Listen — Modern France and the ghosts of the past by Peter Ricketts
France, like all countries, is haunted by events and mistakes of times past. These ghosts will guide modern policy until they are overridden and laid to rest. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/modern-france-and-the-ghosts-of-the-past/Credit: Guillaume Louyot / Alamy Stock Photo protests
EI Weekly Listen — Lawrence of Arabia on war: How the past haunts the present by Rob Johnson
The Lawrence legend continues to win new devotees while his pragmatic contribution to warfare is neglected. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/lawrence-of-arabia-on-war-how-the-past-haunts-the-present/Credit: Science History Images / Alamy Stock Photo
EI Weekly Listen — The importance of the individual in history by Vernon Bogdanor
Throughout the ages, oracles, journalists and political scientists have attempted to guess the course fate may take. But should they fail to take the specifics, particularly specific individuals, into account, they are doomed to fail. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-importance-of-the-individual-in-history/Credit: CBW / Alamy Stock Photo
Worldview — Conflict in space
In our latest episode of Worldview hosted by Adam Boulton we consider the role outer space will play in the future of conflict. How soon will conflicts on Earth spill out into space? What form might these conflicts take and how can we regulate them? Adam speaks to Jacob Geer, Dr Stuart Eves and Professor von der Dunk to find out. Image description: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Credit: UPI / Alamy Stock Photo.
EI Weekly Listen — Geopolitics, geoeconomics and Russian revisionism by Mikael Wigell
Traditional geopolitical solutions (accommodation or military containment) are unlikely to work with Putin’s Russia. Instead the West should pursue a unified geo-economic strategy. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-carrot-and-the-stick-geo-economics-and-russian-revisionism/Credit: Klaus Oskar Bromberg / Alamy Stock Photo
Worldview — The Battlefield
How does the war in Ukraine look on the ground? What does the future of the battlefield hold? In this week's episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton speaks to Professor Hew Strachan and Dr Rob Johnson to discuss these issues and more. Image description: A drone operator from field medicine division, Ukraine. Credit: Mykhailo Palinchak / Alamy Stock Photo.
Worldview — The Russia Problem
Our new series of Worldview, presented by Adam Boulton is considering the future of warfare and geopolitics in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In this week's episode, Adam Boulton is in conversation with Vladislav Zubok and Sir Roderic Lyne, the former British Ambassador to Moscow. While both were horrified by the invasion of Ukraine last February, they offer varying views on how this new age of hostility came about. Image description: The Kremlin, in Moscow. Credit: Manuele Cecconi / Alamy Stock Photo.
EI Weekly Listen — Containing and deterring Russia: can Europe act strategically? by Janne Haaland Matlary
The condemnation of the annexation of the Crimea was unified and strong, but the sanctions that followed lacked any real bite. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/containing-and-deterring-russia-can-europe-act-strategically/Credit: Nikolay Vinokurov / Alamy Stock Photo
Worldview — The World Remade
Our new series of Worldview, presented by Adam Boulton is considering the future of warfare and geopolitics in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In this week's episode, Adam Boulton is in conversation with Beatrice Heuser, Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones and Frank Gavin discussing the roles of NATO, the EU and the UN today. How can these twentieth-century institutions tackle the challenges of the twenty-first century? Image description: The flags of the NATO member states are hoisted during the ceremonial handover of the new NATO headquarters in Brussels. Credit: dpa picture alliance / Alamy Stock Photo.
EI Weekly Listen — The long peace and nuclear deterrence by Lawrence Freedman
For the past sixty years, the use of nuclear weapons has become unthinkable. But with every conflict there comes a point where the unthinkable becomes possible. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/can-nuclear-deterrence-preserve-the-long-peace-between-major-powers/Credit: RBM Vintage Images / Alamy Stock Photo
EI Weekly Listen — Variety in Judaism by Martin Goodman
In a religious system which presupposed a covenant not just between God and the individual Jew, but between God and Israel as a nation, the sense of communal solidarity had an abiding impact, regardless of the differences between denominations. Read by Leighton Pugh.Credit: Maraike Hofer / Alamy Stock Photo
EI Weekly Listen — America's problem with unconventional warfare by Frederick Kagan
For more than thirty years, the US has sought to avoid deploying ground forces into protracted conflict. It has nevertheless done so in almost every single one of those years. Perhaps it is time to accept reality. Read by Leighton Pughhttps://engelsbergideas.com/essays/americas-problem-with-unconventional-warfare/Credit: Bumble Dee / Alamy Stock Photo
EI Weekly Listen — Suffering, the price of being alive: an Islamic perspective by Mona Siddiqui
Islam — unlike Christianity — may not have a central motif of pain, sin and suffering, but it reveals so much about what it means to live with adversity. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/suffering-the-price-of-being-alive-an-islamic-perspective/Credit: Dmitrii Melnikov / Alamy Stock Photo
EI Weekly Listen — Reassessing Christian history by Diarmaid Macculloch
While Christianity may strive to sing in a single voice, no one modern denomination ought to claim a monopoly on the truth. The region's history is in fact far more eclectic. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/reassessing-christian-history/Credit: Yogi Black / Alamy Stock Photo
EI Weekly Listen — The gods in love by Jessica Frazier
The Hindu tradition of Radha and Krishna calls us to see passion as the kernel of all religion. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-gods-in-love/Credit: Heritage Arts/Heritage Images via Getty Images
EI Weekly Listen — The story of the Jesuits: how the Society of Jesus charted the world by M.Antoni J. Ucerler, S.J.
As Jesuit missionaries spread further across the globe, the order’s founder wanted to ensure that its members remained connected. The result of this was an unparalleled network of knowledge which superseded religious tensions. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/jesuit/Credit: Wikipedia Commons/ Bibliothèque Universtaire Moretus Plantin
EI Weekly Listen — The Portuguese: Pioneers of globalisation by Roger Crowley
Portugal’s commercial dominance of large swathes of the world lasted little more than a century but the images, transmissions, and trades that it engendered left a significant and long-lasting influence. Read by Leighton Pugh.Credit: Jacques Pavlovsky/Sygma via Getty Images
EI Weekly Listen — Elements of seapower, past and present by Lincoln Paine
Sea power derives from resources, a direct interest in sea-based trade, and pressure exerted by enemies. In the modern age, the importance of these factors in international affairs remains paramount. Read by Leighton Pugh.Credit: Lev FedoseyevTASS via Getty Images
EI Weekly Listen — Making sense of the Yemen War by Elisabeth Kendall
If a peace deal is not reached, all the key ingredients are present for Yemen to become a failed state. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/making-sense-of-the-yemen-war/Credit: MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images
EI Weekly Listen — The dark side to loving a group by Harvey Whitehouse
Acts of extreme self-sacrifice – such as suicide bombing – are not aberrations. They tell us something about our deepest instincts for group loyalty. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-dark-side-to-loving-a-group/ Credit: TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP via Getty Images
EI Weekly Listen — The fake history of civilisational states by Christopher Coker
So-called civilisational states, including Russia, China and India, invoke fake histories to justify and buttress their contemporary political settlements. But those who cannot let go of the past are always at risk of finding themselves imprisoned by it. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-fake-history-of-civilisational-states/Credit: PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP via Getty Images
EI Weekly Listen — The flag wars are here to stay by Tim Marshall
Flags have become synonymous with nationhood, character, spirit, and power. In an age of renewed nationalism, their power should not be underestimated.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-flag-wars-are-here-to-stay/Credit: Anthony WALLACE / AFP via Getty Images
EI Weekly Listen — Disinformation in the information age by Gill Bennett
The line between disinformation, propaganda and fake news is often blurred. This is especially the case when it is unclear whether these untruths or half truths are being disseminated by the 'good' or 'bad' guys. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/disinformation-in-the-information-age/Credit: Franz Aberham via Getty Images
EI Weekly Listen — Roman geopolitics, an exercise in myth-making by Richard Miles
Once established, Roman exceptionalism and empire needed to be justified and maintained. The practical application of mythology was one way in which this was achieved. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/roman-geopolitics-an-exercise-in-myth-making/Credit: Fred de Noyelle via Getty
EI Weekly Listen — How US policy failure post-9/11 undermined international order by Emma Sky
The US once enjoyed the esteemed position of being the 'city on the hill', a beacon of hope and an example to the rest of the world. Post-9/11, however, the superpower's conduct in the Middle East has left its reputation tarnished. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/how-us-policy-failure-post-9-11-undermined-international-order/ Credit: James May/Alamy
EI Weekly Listen—Uruk and the origins of the sacred economy by Daniel T. Potts
Peering into the hearts and minds those living four thousand years ago is an impossible task. However, when it comes to the worship of the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna, it seems clear to be, quite literally, a labour of love and fear.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/uruk-and-the-origins-of-the-sacred-economy/Credit: Print Collector via Getty Images
EI Weekly Listen — Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy revisited by Niall Ferguson
While at one point in time the idea that socialist economies would ultimately prevail over capitalism was quite a widespread view the fate of socialist states over the past hundred years have demonstrated that they enjoy only two possible paths: authoritarianism or anarchy. Credit: Shotshop GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo
EI Weekly Listen—Cool war by Noah Feldman
While the US remains the sole reigning super power, the rise of China adds complexity to the current world order. Geostrategic conflict is inevitable, but mutual economic interdependence can help manage that conflict and keep it from spiralling out of control. Credit: Christian Ohde / Alamy Stock Photo
EI Weekly Listen—Russia and geopolitics by Anna-Lena Laurén
As the largest country in the world, Russia's might past and present has an inherent link to its geopolitics. But since the decline of the Soviet Union, Moscow's eyes are constantly straying beyond the national borders. In Russia, expansion is often regarded as a means of self-defence. Credit: Tommy E Trenchard / Alamy Stock Photo
EI Weekly Listen—Fantasy in Middle Eastern nation-making by Nathan Shachar
There is frequently no real reason why one person has more claim to live or even rule over a piece of land than another. A reason, however must be provided and it is often be found in a fantastical interpretation of history.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/fantasy-in-middle-eastern-nation-making/Credit: Adobe Stock
EI Weekly Listen – You are not as clever as you think by Mark Pagel
Why do humans accumulate ideas, knowledge and technologies while other animals are seemingly stick doing the same thing over and over never getting better? Rather than being a question of raw intelligence, it is in fact largely down to luck, trial and error and copying others.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/you-are-not-as-clever-as-you-think/Credit: Buyenlarge/Getty Images
EI Weekly Listen – Adrian Wooldridge on the return of religion
Voltaire predicted that religion would be defunct in fifty year's time. Karl Marx called it the opium of the masses and Nietzsche declared that God is dead. Adrian Wooldridge is now saying that He's back. From the rise of Islamic extremism to American evangelism, the twenty-first century is seeing a religious renaissance. Read by Leighton Pugh.Credit: Tuul & Bruno Morandi via Getty Images
EI Weekly Listen - Martina Winkelhofer-Thyri on whether Austria is a nation, state or an empire
Studying the evolution of Austria in the 20th century offers deep insight into essential Western political categories. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/austria-nation-state-or-empire/Credit: Adobe Stock
EI Weekly Listen - Tom Holland on Æthelstan and the forging of a United Kingdom of England
The story of how, over the course of three generations, the royal dynasty of Wessex went from near oblivion to fashioning a kingdom that still endures today is the most remarkable and momentous in the island's history. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/aethelstan-the-king-who-forged-a-united-kingdom-of-england/Credit: Public domain
EI Weekly Listen - Maurizio Viroli on the virtues of the city-state
The early modern Italian republics are often portrayed as models of bad government. But the fusion of civic humanism and Christianity they championed endures to this day. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/in-defence-of-the-city-state/Credit: Alinari Archives/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
EI Weekly Listen - Robin Lane Fox on nationalism in the classical world
Nationalism is often thought of as a modern development - but its traces can be found in antiquity. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/did-nationalism-exist-in-the-classical-world/Credit: Wiki Creative Commons
EI Weekly Listen - Hew Strachan on the cost of the 1918-19 pandemic
The influenza pandemic behaved much like the conflict itself - picking out the young and fit before their time. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/counting-the-cost-of-the-1918-19-pandemic/Credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
EI Weekly Listen – Alexander Lee on Machiavelli and civil strife
Niccolo Machiavelli, Renaissance statesman and political theorist, saw factional politics as essential to the prosperity of the Roman Empire and his native Florence. Are today's partisan divisions as beneficial? Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/machiavelli-and-the-benefits-of-civil-strife/Credit: Icom Images / Alamy Stock Photo
EI Weekly Listen – Adrian Wooldridge on why the West needs Plato more than ever
The Victorians saw Plato's Republic as an indispensable guide to reform of the public sphere - we should follow their lead. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/leadership-in-crisis-why-the-west-needs-plato-more-than-ever/Credit: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
EI Weekly Listen – Richard Whatmore on why revolutions are a disaster
Karl Marx was wrong about revolutions - in practice, they beget Caesars and Napoleons. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/history-shows-revolutions-are-a-disaster/Credit: Andrew Maclear/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Ep 3636: EI Weekly Listen – Andrew Graham-Dixon on crisis and great art
Social upheaval has often been a catalyst for artistic change - the Renaissance was no exception. Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/crisis-and-the-creation-of-great-art/Credit: Mauro Magliani for Alinari/Alinari Archives, Florence/Alinari via Getty Images
Ep 3535: EI Weekly Listen – Tom Holland on the empty metropolis
Empty city London had its harbingers in literature and history. How will it emerge from its isolation? Read by Leighton Pugh.https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/pandemics-and-the-metropolis-city-lockdown-london/Credit: 1000 Words / Shuttersotck