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The EI Podcast

Engelsberg Ideas
The EI Podcast
Latest episode

369 episodes

  • The EI Podcast

    The roots of the West’s identity crisis

    16/04/2026 | 51 mins.
    Marie Kawthar Daouda, author of Not Your Victim: How our Obsession with Race Entraps and Divides Us, speaks to EI’s Alastair Benn about the historical illiteracy of attempts to ‘decolonise’ Western culture. Instead, she argues that the moral complexities of history must be accepted in order to develop a genuine appreciation of the Western tradition. 
    Image: ‘Ruins with an Obelisk in the distance’ by Hubert Robert (1775). Credit: Alamy
  • The EI Podcast

    Iran’s strange Scottish obsession

    13/04/2026 | 10 mins.
    From placard-waving crowds in Yazd to troll farms on social media, the Islamic Republic has long tried to wield Scottish nationalism as a weapon against the UK. This audio essay is read by Leighton Pugh.
    Image: Royal Scots Guards military pipers. Credit: Alamy
  • The EI Podcast

    Washington’s return to Latin America

    09/04/2026 | 55 mins.
    Following the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro earlier this year, President Donald Trump has warned that Cuba is ‘next’. What exactly does he mean by that? Joseph Ledford, Fellow at the Hoover Institution, speaks to EI’s Jack Dickens about a new age of US interventionism in Latin America. 
    Image: Protesters outside the White House following the arrest of Nicolás Maduro, January 2026. Credit: Alamy
  • The EI Podcast

    The Houthis’ forever war

    03/04/2026 | 50 mins.
    Elisabeth Kendall speaks to EI’s Jack Dickens about what motivates the Houthis. Following the outbreak of the war in Iran, the Yemeni militant group now has an outsized ability to disrupt global trade and threaten regional stability in the Middle East. But who are they and what do they really want?
    Image: A protester at a pro-Palestine demonstration in Sanaa, Yemen. Credit: Alamy
  • The EI Podcast

    Can epic poetry revive History?

    30/03/2026 | 14 mins.
    When combined, as the ancients knew, history and poetry offer an incomparable insight into the human condition. Michael Auslin laments the demise of poetry as a form for exploring great moments in history. 
    Image: Hector taking leave of Andromache. Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

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About 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.
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