Alastair Benn explores an attention dilemma that has haunted western thought for centuries. Read by Leighton Pugh.
Image: Detail from Echo and Narcissus by John William Waterhouse, 1903. Credit: SuperStock / Alamy Stock Photo
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14:00
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14:00
How the state can do more for less
Historian David Cowan explains how radical reform can reshape the state. Read by Leighton Pugh.
Image: A political caricature, 'Political Dreams, Visions of Peace, Perspective Horrors', by James Gillray of Pitt the Younger. Credit: INTERFOTO / Alamy Stock Photo
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15:36
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15:36
The espionage revolution
David Omand, ex-head of GCHQ, the British government's world-renowned cyber agency, explores how intelligence officers exploit the latest technological advances.
Image: Digital espionage is on the rise. Credit: Stu Gray / Alamy Stock Photo
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16:23
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16:23
Graham Greene's Vietnam
EI's Alastair Benn and Paul Lay are joined by Jonathan Esty, of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, to discuss Graham Greene’s The Quiet American, published 70 years ago, a gripping novel that captures the passing of the baton from the old colonial powers to the new masters in South-East Asia.
Image: French paratroops at the beginning of the First Indochina War. Credit: Keystone Press
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59:30
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59:30
How the Nazis weaponised Charlemagne
Samuel Rubinstein explores how Nazi historiographers sought to present Adolf Hitler as the heir to Charlemagne. Read by Leighton Pugh.
Image: A large Sèvres presentation plate celebrating Nazism's alleged debt to Charlemagne. Credit: INTERFOTO / Alamy Stock Photo
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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