The EI Podcast

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The rise of the mega-influencer Mar 05, 2026

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Mega-influencers shape the public imagination. Phillip Dolitsky and Luke Moon explore a world where narrative matters more than fact. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Image: Still from a film version of George Orwell's 1984. Credit: Allstar Picture Library Limited

Putin, the once and future Chekist Feb 26, 2026

Show notes

Gordon Corera contends that to truly understand Vladimir Putin, you have to understand the phenomenon of Chekism. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Read the original essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/putin-the-once-and-future-chekist/.

Image: Vladimir Putin's East German Stasi identification card issued while he worked as a KGB agent in Dresden in 1985. Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd

When Edo became Tokyo Feb 19, 2026

Show notes

Christopher Harding on the birth of Tokyo. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Read the essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/when-edo-became-tokyo/.

Image: A woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige. From One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, 1856. Credit: incamerastock / Alamy Stock Photo

Hamlet unravelled Feb 12, 2026

Show notes

Emma Smith, Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Oxford University, explores Hamlet and its rich critical history with EI’s Alastair Benn and Paul Lay.

Image: Laurence Olivier plays Hamlet in 1948. Credit: Masheter Movie Archive

The making of Xi Jinping's worldview Feb 05, 2026

Show notes

Rana Mitter explores Xi Jinping’s personal and ideological mindset in conversation with EI’s Jack Dickens.

Image: Then Vice President Xi Jinping makes an address in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. Credit: Imago

Nietzsche’s manifesto for reading Jan 29, 2026

Show notes

Ioannes Chountis de Fabbri on reading as an antidote to the restless spirit of the industrial age. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Read the original essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/notebook/nietzsches-manifesto-for-reading/.

Image: Edvard Munch's painting of Friedrich Nietzsche. Credit: Darling Archive / Alamy Stock Photo

Inside the world of medieval espionage Jan 22, 2026

Show notes

Jonathan Sumption surveys the last generation of spies before the creation of Europe's professional intelligence services. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Read the original essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/inside-the-world-of-medieval-espionage/.

Image: King Charles VI of France prepares for war. Credit: Science History Images / Alamy Stock Photo

The Monroe Doctrine: The United States’ hemispheric strategy explained Jan 15, 2026

Show notes

EI's Jack Dickens is joined by Charlie Laderman, associate professor at the University of Florida’s Hamilton Center, to discuss how the United States’ hemispheric ambitions emerged from great-power competition – and why the Monroe Doctrine still matters.

Image: A satirical cartoon lampooning the expansion of the Monroe Doctrine. Credit: Photo 12

The strange case of Robert Louis Stevenson Jan 08, 2026

Show notes

Alastair Benn is joined by Leo Damrosch, author of Storyteller: The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson, to explore the life and legacy of the celebrated Scottish writer, including one of his most enduring literary achievements, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Image: 'Robert Louis Stevenson' by John Singer Sargent, 1885. Credit: IanDagnall Computing

The instability of a multipolar era Dec 29, 2025

Show notes

EI's Paul Lay is joined by Helen Thompson to discuss US–China rivalry, the growing importance of the Western Hemisphere in geopolitics, and the inherent instability of a multipolar world.
Image: Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Victory Parade marking the 70th anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany in the Second World War. Credit: Associated Press

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