Engelsberg Ideas Podcast

The films of John Hughes updated the American Dream for a new generation, and his complex legacy helps us understand what went so wrong. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Forget the seduction of grand theories and presentist moral judgments. To learn the lessons of the past, the great foreign policy analysts of our age must rediscover the art of historical discernment. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Mattias Hessérus is in conversation with Margaret Macmillan on how conflict has shaped human society, politics and psychology.

The Romans have so much to teach us about what it means to live in a society in crisis. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Covid-19 heralds the end of our interconnected world. We'll need wise leaders to navigate what comes next. Read by Leighton Pugh.

Niall Ferguson, Helen Thompson and Rana Mitter join Iain Martin to explore what happened to China in the nineties, and what created the conditions for China's spectacular rise in the new millennium.

Mattias Hessérus is in conversation with John Preston, author of 'The Dig', on his new biography of British media baron Robert Maxwell.

Iain Martin with guests Sir Nigel Sheinwald, Professor Joseph Nye, Karin von Hippel and Tom McTague on the foreign policy change facing the Biden administration

Mattias Hessérus is in conversation with John Ferris, the historian 'behind the enigma' of Britain's signals intelligence agency.

Mattias Hessérus is in conversation with Helen Fry on the ingenious exploits of MI9 – the secret service for escape and evasion.

Mattias Hessérus is in conversation with David Omand, former director of GCHQ, on how we can all learn to think like a spy.

Over 40,000 books have been written on JFK since his assassination, yet none have succeeded in getting behind the myth of Camelot. Join Mattias Hessérus in discussion with Fredrik Logevall on the making of the man who enchanted America.

Iain Martin with guests Adrian Wooldridge and Vernon Bogdanor discuss the covid crisis and the long-term impact that it might have on the development of the West.

In this episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hesserus is joined by Alexander Lee to discuss Machiavelli’s life and works. Was he always an adept politician?  Was he as immoral as is often claimed?

In this episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hesserus and Jessica Frazier are in conversation about the differences between Eastern and Western philosophies of crisis. Is the desire for a return to ’normal’ inherently western? What can we learn from narratives of rebirth? And, was the global lockdown a mass-participation yogic experiment?

How did the West land in, what we might politely call, a 'sub-optimal' condition? And is a revival of the West feasible? To discuss these questions Iain Martin is joined by Peter Frankopan and David Frum. This is an Engeslberg Ideas podcast.

On this episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus is joined by the historian and author Andrew Roberts to look through the careers of great figures like Napoleon Bonaparte, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher (as well as some of history's great villains, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin) and see how they handled the pressure of a crisis.

History Lessons is an Engelsberg Ideas podcast.

Hosted by Mattias Hessérus.
With Andrew Roberts.
Produced by Nick Hilton for Podot.

On this episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus speaks to the maritime historian Lincoln Paine, author of The Sea and Civilization, about the history of quarantine, how pandemics have affected trade and travel in the past, and whether globalisation can survive the current moment.

Hosted by Mattias Hessérus.
With Lincoln Paine.
Produced by Nick Hilton for Podot.

On this, the first episode of History Lessons, Mattias Hessérus speaks to the historian Tom Holland about the relationship between reality and art in the age of a pandemic.

Hosted by Mattias Hessérus.
With Tom Holland.
Produced by Nick Hilton for Podot.