The EI Podcast

Historian Kathleen Burk speaks to Max Mitchell about the long history of humanity's relationship with wine, taking us on a journey from the ancient Near East to modern France.
Image: A vineyard near the Temple of Zeus at Ancient Nemea, Korinthia, Greece. Credit: Alamy

Saudi Arabia’s expensive investment in its future has come with a concurrent focus on its archaeological past but its ambitions risk eradicating the remnants of pre-Islamic history. Read by Leighton Pugh. 
Read the essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-struggle-for-saudi-arabias-buried-past/.
Image: The Qasr Al Farid tomb in Saudi Arabia. Credit: Alamy

Peter Ricketts, Britain’s former ambassador to France, speaks with Paul Lay about a golden age of diplomacy. 
Image: Archibald Clark Kerr (Britain’s Ambassador to the Soviet Union) and Alexander Cadogan (Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs) at the Potsdam Conference, 1945. Credit: Alamy.

In war and diplomacy, personal relationships between leaders can shape the course of events in unpredictable ways. Read by Leighton Pugh. 
Read the essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the-political-power-of-knowing-your-enemy/.
Image: Cartoon from Punch showing from Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. Credit: Alamy

Brendan Simms talks to EI’s Jack Dickens about a new age of geopolitical rivalry.
Image: Xi Jinping and Donald Trump. Credit: Alamy