
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

Oct 25, 2024 • 13min
EI Weekly Listen — Alina Polyakova on Ukraine and the future of US global leadership
If Russia is allowed to walk away with any of its ill-gotten gains in Ukraine, the deterrent power of the United States and the transatlantic alliance will be lost. Read by Helen Lloyd.
Image: The flags of the United States and Ukraine flying side by side. Credit: Todd Bannor / Alamy Stock Photo

Oct 24, 2024 • 14min
EI Portraits — Adrian Wooldridge on Philippa Fawcett, wrangler extraordinaire
Adrian Wooldridge profiles Philippa Fawcett, the first female Senior Wrangler at Cambridge University and a trailblazer for women's achievement in a nascent meritocratic society. Read by Sebastian Brown.
Engelsberg Ideas is funded by the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit.
Image: 1890 engraving of Philippa Fawcett, the first female Senior Wrangler. Credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Oct 18, 2024 • 21min
EI Weekly Listen — Philip Zelikow on the study of statecraft
The study of statecraft would profit by spending less time on ‘should’ and more time on ‘how’. Read by Helen Lloyd.
Image: Woodrow Wilson delivering a Christmas address to soldiers of the A.E.F. Langres, Haute Marne, France, December 1918. Credit: Hum Images / Alamy Stock Photo

Oct 17, 2024 • 29min
EI Talks... how to win Cold War II with Dmitri Alperovitch
EI's Paul Lay is joined by Dmitri Alperovitch, leading geopolitical analyst, entrepreneur, and co-founder and chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, to discuss the parallels between US-Soviet rivalry and that of the US and China.
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. The sound engineer is Gareth Jones.
Image: The US and Chinese flags on stacked containers. Credit: Christian Ohde / Alamy Stock Photo

Oct 11, 2024 • 17min
EI Weekly Listen — Kristin Ven Bruusgaard on the paradox of nuclear strategy
The vision of nuclear strategy as a means to prevent war remains a powerful but contested idea in international politics. As global rivalries intensify and nuclear arsenals expand, the risk of conflict seems more pronounced than ever. Read by Helen Lloyd.
Image: A photograph of nuclear testing at Pacific Island test sites. Credit: EMU history / Alamy Stock Photo

Oct 10, 2024 • 16min
EI Portraits — Graham Stewart on Joseph Galloway, the forgotten Founding Father
Was the revolution that created the United States of America inevitable? The life of Joseph Galloway shows what might have been. Read by Sebastian Brown.
Image: An illustration of Joseph Galloway by Thomas Emmett, 1885. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Oct 4, 2024 • 16min
EI Weekly Listen — Benedetta Berti on the past, present and future of the transatlantic alliance
Over the last decade, NATO has embarked on a significant process of military and political adaptation to ensure it can effectively enable the collective defence of allies in a competitive, contested and unpredictable world. Read by Helen Lloyd.
Image: NATO flag waving in the wind. Credit: Zoonar GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

Oct 3, 2024 • 45min
EI Talks... the attention dilemma
EI's Paul Lay and Alastair Benn discuss an attention dilemma that has haunted western thought for centuries.
READING LIST
Our attention dilemma is age-old | Alastair Benn
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium | Seneca
The Essays of Michel de Montaigne
Don Quixote | Miguel de Cervantes
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. The sound engineer is Gareth Jones.
Image: Detail from Echo and Narcissus by John William Waterhouse, 1903. Credit: SuperStock / Alamy Stock Photo

Sep 27, 2024 • 17min
EI Weekly Listen — Fredrik Logevall on JFK's abiding legacy
Through his visionary leadership, inspired rhetoric, and willingness to compromise, John F. Kennedy summoned the narrative of American hope, his most powerful and enduring legacy. Read by Helen Lloyd.
Image: Senator John F. Kennedy at Hyannis Port. Credit: Phillip Harrington / Alamy Stock Photo

Sep 26, 2024 • 14min
EI Portraits — Jessica Frazier on Akbar the Great, the ultimate Renaissance ruler
One of the few leaders on whom history has bestowed the title ‘the Great’, Akbar was a noted connoisseur of cultures and architect of political pluralism. Read by Sebastian Brown.
Image: Akbar the Great hunting. Mughal Scool, 1590. British Museum. Artist Unknown. Credit: CM Dixon/Heritage Images/Getty Images