The EI Podcast
The uses of comedy
What makes us laugh? And why should it matter? EI's Alastair Benn and Paul Lay are join...
March 27, 2025
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.
All episodes
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The EI Podcast
Roel Sterckx on gazing back to see China’s future
We must study the centuries-long history that has forged the DNA of Chinese political thin...
March 21, 2025
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The EI Podcast
Alexander Lee on the myth of Venice
Liberty was central to the idea of Venice, but was remarkably fragile. The republic had to...
March 14, 2025
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The EI Podcast
Richard Miles on Spartacus, history’s nowhere man
Spartacus is a figure who floats between history and allegory. Read by Helen Lloyd.
March 7, 2025
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The EI Podcast
Mary Elise Sarotte on how a Second Cold War could have been averted
The choice to enlarge NATO was a justifiable response to the geopolitics of the 1990s. The...
February 28, 2025
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The EI Podcast
The case for Classical music
What makes Classical music special among the arts? And where did it come from? To recko...
February 27, 2025
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The EI Podcast
Rob Johnson on Ukraine’s rich history of resistance
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was slowed down because of determined courageous resi...
February 21, 2025
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The EI Podcast
Peter Frankopan on the global threat to liberty
Non-western elites are redefining freedom on their own terms, as sovereignty, state securi...
February 14, 2025
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The EI Podcast
The myth and magic of spy fiction
Are we living through a golden age of espionage drama? And what do spy stories tell us abo...
February 13, 2025