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The EI Podcast

Latest episodes

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Apr 24, 2025 • 1h 3min

China vs the WTO: The Inside Story

EI's Alastair Benn and Paul Lay are joined by 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 its contemporary status as the problem child of our globalised world. FURTHER READING: China and America, the great decoupling | Michael Sheridan Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit. This episode of The EI Podcast was hosted by Paul Lay and Alastair Benn, and produced by Caitlin Brown. The sound engineer was Gareth Jones. Image: An electronics recycling facility in Shanghai, China. Credit: Cavan Images / Alamy Stock Photo 
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Apr 17, 2025 • 18min

Madame Bovary and the problem of desire

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 Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit. Image: Isabelle Huppert, Madame Bovary 1991. Credit: Collection Christophel / Alamy Stock Photo
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12 snips
Apr 11, 2025 • 16min

The German key to European liberty

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 Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit. Image: The Congress of Vienna (1814-1815). Napoleon watching the Tsar, the Emperor of Austria and King of Prussia dividing up Europe. Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy 
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8 snips
Apr 10, 2025 • 1h 3min

The making of Trump's worldview

In this discussion, Charlie Laderman, a Senior Lecturer in International History at King's College London, dives into the foundations of Donald Trump's worldview. He unpacks the inconsistencies of Trump's foreign policy and how they echo historical American sentiments. The conversation touches on Trump's erratic behavior, the impact of globalization and demographics on America's identity, and the shift in US foreign policy towards self-interest. Laderman highlights how understanding these themes can reveal opportunities amid global unpredictability.
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Apr 4, 2025 • 34min

How Russia negotiates

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 is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit. Image: Street art in Tbilisi of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin playing chess. Credit: Georg Berg / Alamy Stock Photo
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Mar 28, 2025 • 20min

Liberty under attack

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 Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit. Image: Second world war propaganda poster. Credit: Photo 12 / Alamy Stock Photo
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Mar 27, 2025 • 51min

The uses of comedy

What makes us laugh? And why should it matter? EI's Alastair Benn and Paul Lay are joined by the critic Mathew Lyons to discuss the uses of comedy. FURTHER READING: The subtle art of English comedy | Alastair Benn Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit. EI Talks... is hosted by Paul Lay and Alastair Benn, and produced by Caitlin Brown. The sound engineer is Gareth Jones. Image: Eduard von Grützner's Falstaff, 1873. Credit: INTERFOTO / Alamy Stock Photo 
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Mar 21, 2025 • 18min

Gazing back to see China’s future

We must study the centuries-long history that has forged the DNA of Chinese political thinking and make it part of our conversations about China today. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit. Image: The Great Wall of China. Credit: nagelestock.com / Alamy Stock Photo 
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Mar 14, 2025 • 22min

The myth of Venice

Liberty was central to the idea of Venice, but was remarkably fragile. The republic had to guard it fiercely and expound it as a tangible way of living for flawed human beings. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit. Image: Procession in Piazza San Marco by Gentile Bellini, 1496. Credit: Peter Barritt / Alamy Stock Photo
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Mar 7, 2025 • 20min

Spartacus, history’s nowhere man

Spartacus is a figure who floats between history and allegory. Read by Helen Lloyd. Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit. Image: Promotional poster for the film, Spartacus. 1960. Credit: Allstar Picture Library Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

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