The EI Podcast

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

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

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

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

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

Despite globalisation, the nation state retains its privileged position in world politics. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/a-world-of-nations-and-states-is-here-to-stay/ Credit: AMA/Corbis via Getty Images

Beijing wants to foster a world where Chinese standards replace those of the post-1945 US-led system. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/chinese-china-the-great-uncoupling/ Credit: Feng Li/Getty Images

The tension between independence and compliance is everywhere in society – but in medicine, reason must come before rules. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/covid-19-and-the-moral-case-for-personal-judgement/ Credit: DeAgostini/Getty Images

This period of turbulence could turn today's twenty-somethings into the leaders of a new liberal revolution. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/meet-the-zoomer-generation/ Credit: Jack Taylor/Getty Images

As a result of President Erdogan's embrace of two interlinked geopolitical concepts, 'Strategic Depth' and 'Blue Homeland', Turkey faces international isolation. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/new-turkeys-old-politics/ Credit: Kerem Uzel/Bloomberg via Getty Images