The EI Podcast
The EI Podcast brings you weekly conversations and audio essays from leading writers, thinkers and historians. Hosted by Alastair Benn and Paul Lay. Find the EI Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or search The EI Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
Latest episodes
Nov 10, 2023 • 44min
EI Talks... The Beatles
Paul Lay, Alastair Benn and Iain Martin discuss the cultural legacy of the Fab Four and why the Beatles story continues to fascinate sixty years on.
Image: The Beatles showing their MBE Insignias after receiving them from the Queen. Credit: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo
Nov 3, 2023 • 29min
EI Weekly Listen — Benedetta Berti on the legacy of the Arab Awakening of 2010
The Middle East and North Africa's transition from authoritarianism to democracy has been slow and painful, with both hopeful gains as well as worrisome setbacks. Read by Leighton Pugh.
Image: Crowds cheer joyfully in central Cairo, Egypt. Credit: Jake Lyell / Alamy Stock Photo
Nov 2, 2023 • 35min
EI Talks... Tecumseh and the Shawnee Confederacy
Paul Lay is joined by Kori Schake to examine the rise and fall of the inspirational Shawnee leader Tecumseh who used strategy to defy America's westward expansion.
Image: Shawnee chief Tecumseh confronting William Henry Harrison in Indiana. Credit: North Wind Picture Archives / Alamy Stock Photo
Oct 27, 2023 • 46min
EI Weekly Listen — Armin W. Geertz on the pre-historical roots of religious belief
The history and evolution of (proto) religious behaviour is ancient. Read by Leighton Pugh.
Image: Print of early humans making fire. Credit: Science History Images / Alamy Stock Photo
Oct 27, 2023 • 47min
EI Talks... a deep history of Gaza
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by James Barr, historian of the Middle East, to discuss Gaza's long and complex history and how it continues to be felt in the present day.
Image: A print of Gaza around 1880. Credit: Holy Land Art / Alamy Stock Photo
Oct 20, 2023 • 22min
EI Weekly Listen — David Goodhart on bridging the value divide
Finding a new settlement between the Anywheres and the Somewheres is now the central task of modern politics. Read by Leighton Pugh.
Image: Poverty in London, 1919. Credit: Classic Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo
Oct 20, 2023 • 41min
EI Talks... The Iliad
A new translation of the Iliad is an opportunity to reassess the first great work of European literature.
Image: Achilles and Memnon fighting in Greek pottery dating to 300 BC. Credit: Peter Horree / Alamy Stock Photo
Oct 13, 2023 • 21min
EI Weekly Listen — Jonathan Fenby on the challenge for a totalitarian China
The need to buttress control is the bottom line for Xi.
Image: Portrait of Mao on the street. Credit: Chuck Nacke / Alamy Stock Photo
Oct 13, 2023 • 52min
EI Talks... Israel’s harrowing week and the consequences for the Middle East
Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Suzanne Raine, national security and counter-terrorism expert, and Michael Goldfarb, author and broadcaster, to discuss Hamas' terrorist outrage and the uncertain future that follows for the region.
Image: Members of the Hamas Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo
Oct 6, 2023 • 19min
EI Weekly Listen — Kjell Nordström on the future of capitalism
The proletarianisation of knowledge promises a bumpy ride for both us and capitalism as we know it. Read by Leighton Pugh.
The New York Stock Exchange. Credit: Sergi Reboredo / Alamy Stock Photo
