Best Simone Hardy Podcasts (2024)

1
EI Portraits — James Barr on George McGhee, American father to Britain’s Suez Crisis 13:19

2h ago13:19

13:19

James Barr profiles the debonair and open-faced diplomat, George McGhee, whose shuttle diplomacy helped accelerate Britain's decline as a player in the Middle East. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: President John F. Kennedy (left, in rocking chair) meets the newly-appointed US Ambassador to West Germany, George McGhee. Credit: Gibson Moss / Alamy St…

1
Brian Tracy, Lessons on Goals, High Productivity, Power of Your Subconscious Mind and Beliefs, Work Habits, Timeless Success Principles, Plus Lightening Round of Q & A and more with Jim Rohn International ... 1:20:31

21h ago1:20:31

1:20:31

Jim Rohn International Founder, Kyle Wilson has an in-depth conversation with 33 year friend and mentor, the iconic speaker and author, Brian Tracy. Brian Tracy shares powerful lessons on goal and goal setting, high productivity and results, the power of your subconscious mind and beliefs, timeless success principles, plus lightening round of Q & A…

1
EI Weekly Listen — Philip Bobbitt on the decay and renewal of the US constitutional order 34:00

22m ago34:00

34:00

A new constitutional order is coming. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: The Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Credit: Lane Erickson / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Talks... the history of democracy with Erica Benner 55:43

6d ago55:43

55:43

Erica Benner applies ancient wisdom to modern problems in her new book Adventures in Democracy: The Turbulent World of People Power. She shares her insights with EI's Deputy Editor, Alastair Benn. Image: Gathering of the Areopagus, a deliberative court that met in the open air in ancient Athens. Credit: North Wind Picture Archives / Alamy Stock Pho…

1
EI Weekly Listen — Lars Trägårdh on the origins of Swedish democracy 34:50

5d ago34:50

34:50

‘Democracy’ is in Sweden built on a basis fundamentally different from the one associated with the development of liberal democracy in the West. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Midsummer Dance by Swedish artist Anders Zorn (1860-1920) painted in 1897. A classic of Swedish art history showing traditional folk dancing in the Dalarna countryside in the …

1
EI Portraits — Dominic Sandbrook on Jesse Ventura, the wrestling governor who blazed a trail for Trump 14:47

8d ago14:47

14:47

Dominic Sandbrook profiles Jesse Ventura, the former Navy SEAL and WWE champion who won Minnesota’s governorship in 1999 on an anti-elite ticket. His transition from showbiz to politics was a precursor of the age of Trump – but ’the Body’ was no ordinary populist. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura yells to the crowd a…

1
EI Weekly Listen — Josef Joffe on the future of the European Union 17:51

14d ago17:51

17:51

What is the future of the European Union? The EU is sui generis. It certainly cannot be a nation state. Nor is it destined to turn into a Staatsnation or willed nation. Then what? Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: European Union flags. Credit: Brian Lawrence / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Talks... the age of upheaval 45:13

1h ago45:13

45:13

EI's Paul Lay and Alastair Benn ask: do we really live in an age of upheaval? Image: Turner's Vesuvius in Eruption. Credit: Artefact / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Weekly Listen — Simon Mayall on the history of the modern Middle East 22:58

3h ago22:58

22:58

The current violence and turmoil in the Middle East is expressive of a conflict between rival ideas, between the modern nation state and an old, historical concept of an Islamic caliphate. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Abdel Nasser at a rally after the rupture of relations with Syria. Credit: colaimages / Alamy Stock Photo…

1
EI Portraits — James Hardie on Heinrich Biber, composer of rapture and ravings 10:09

22d ago10:09

10:09

James Hardie on the violinist-composer who mixed the sacred and profane in his fantastical music, a lost genius of the 17th century. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: A print of Heinrich Biber. Credit: The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Weekly Listen — Lawrence James on the invention of jingoism 33:43

3d ago33:43

33:43

Jingoism was a natural offshoot of late Victorian imperialism. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Poster for a British imperial railway company. Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Talks... Caravaggio 36:35

28d ago36:35

36:35

A small but riveting exhibition at London's National Gallery tells the dramatic story of the troubled Renaissance master's 'last' painting. Image: The Martyrdom of St Ursula, 1610. Credit: incamerastock / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Weekly Listen — Steven Grosby on the persistence of nationhood 22:15

10d ago22:15

22:15

What is a nation, what is its significance, and to what problems of life is its persistence a response? Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Lucas Cranach's The Crossing of the Red Sea, 1530. Credit: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Portraits — Vanessa Harding on Nehemiah Wallington, Puritan chronicler who had far less fun than Pepys 13:09

1M ago13:09

13:09

Vanessa Harding on the God-fearing diarist Nehemiah Wallington whose personality was far removed from the cosmopolitanism of Samuel Pepys, his fast-living contemporary. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: An excerpt from Nehemiah Wallington's diary, dated 1654. Credit: Folger Shakespeare Library.By Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Weekly Listen — Adrian Wooldridge on meritocracy 29:45

1M ago29:45

29:45

The biggest division in modern society is between the meritocracy and the people, the cognitive elite and the masses, the exam-passers and the exam-flunkers. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Caricature of a Cambridge University library in the Georgian era. Credit: Thomas Rowlandson / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Talks... the Entente Cordiale with T.G. Otte 36:13

1M ago36:13

36:13

Self-interest, imperial competition and new threats in Europe - T.G. Otte examines the complex 120-year long history of the Entente Cordiale with EI's senior editor, Paul Lay. Image: First prize winner at the Covent Garden fancy dress ball in 1905, a lady dressed in an elaborate costume as the Entente Cordiale. Credit: Chronicle / Alamy Stock Photo…

1
EI Weekly Listen — Mariano Sigman on how language has shaped human consciousness 13:30

24d ago13:30

13:30

How did our ancestors think? Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: A play is performed in an ancient Greek theatre. Credit: Classic Image / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Portraits — Peter Frankopan on Anna Komnene, the princess who chronicled Byzantium’s changing fortunes 13:08

2M ago13:08

13:08

Peter Frankopan on the Byzantine princess Anna Komnene who, banished to a convent for her political ambition, devoted her gifts of observation to charting the fortunes of her father's empire – etching her legacy as Europe's first female historian. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: Anna Komnene, a Byzantine princess and scholar. Credit: history_docu_p…

1
EI Weekly Listen — Nathan Shachar on ideology in science 20:04

1M ago20:04

20:04

There is no linear, moral progress in knowledge and science. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Triple-microscope made by the optician Camille Sebastien Nachet in Paris. Credit: gameover / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Talks... terrorism with Suzanne Raine 37:18

2M ago37:18

37:18

EI's Deputy Editor Alastair Benn speaks to Suzanne Raine, visiting professor in the Department of War Studies at King's College London, about the evolution of the terrorist threat and its long history. Image: Anarchist outrage at the Liceo theatre in Barcelona, 1893. Credit: Photo 12 / Alamy Stock Photo…

1
EI Weekly Listen — Gregory Feifer on the mirage of Russian power 16:30

2M ago16:30

16:30

The mistake many Western countries make is to take Russia largely at face value. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Nesting Russian dolls showing former leaders. Credit: Mr Standfast / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Portraits — Gillian Clark on the many ways of seeing Saint Monica 14:20

2M ago14:20

14:20

Gillian Clark on Saint Monica, mother to Augustine of Hippo and lionized by the Latin Church, a women of many names and many more mysteries. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: Saint Augustine and his mother, Saint Monica. Credit:: Carlo Bollo / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Weekly Listen — Peter Heather on empire and development in first millennium Europe 36:35

2M ago36:35

36:35

The story of first millennium Europe is one of remarkable economic change and demographic upheaval; a precocious analogue to the modern era of globalisation. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Charlemagne. Credit: The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Talks... AI and education with Daisy Christodoulou 39:31

2M ago39:31

39:31

Daisy Christodoulou punctures the hype around the applications of Large language models (LLMs) and chatbots to the field of learning. Will AI really revolutionise education? Image: Mechanical brain. Credit: Sibani Das / Alamy Stock VectorBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Weekly Listen — Barry Strauss on Ancient Greek geopolitics 27:31

3M ago27:31

27:31

The Greeks invented the notion of the interrelationship of geography and politics; indeed, they elaborated it in myriad ways. Read by Leighton Pugh. https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/duality-determinism-and-demography-the-greeks-on-geopolitics/ Image: The Athenian fleet. Credit: INTERFOTO \ Alamy Stock Photo…

1
EI Portraits — Jenny McCartney on Jean Denis, Comte Lanjuinais, fearless opponent of The Terror 12:33

3M ago12:33

12:33

Jenny McCartney on Comte Lanjuinais, who risked his life by defying the Jacobins. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: Comte Lanjuinais speaks at a febrile meeting of the National Convention, 1793. Credit: Chronicle / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Weekly Listen — Josef Joffe on the end of 'the end of history' 28:12

3M ago28:12

28:12

We equated a brief respite from history with the dawn of a new age. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Fall of the Berlin Wall. Credit: Agencja Fotograficzna Caro / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Talks... Werner Herzog with Geoff Andrew and Muriel Zagha 1:07:17

3M ago1:07:17

1:07:17

Geoff Andrew, the BFI's programmer-at-large, and film critic Muriel Zagha sit down with EI's Deputy Editor Alastair Benn to discuss the varied, visionary and eccentric creations of the German filmmaker Werner Herzog. Credits: The audio clips at 0:07 and 4:13 are taken from Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer, directed by Thomas von Steinaecker. The film…

1
EI Weekly Listen — Michael Broers on how Napoleon built a continent 34:33

3M ago34:33

34:33

Napoleonic geopolitics didn't make much impression on Europe's maps, but its influence was wide-ranging. Read by Leighton Pugh. Napoleonic Europe: how the Emperor built a continent | Michael Broers Image: Napoleon crossing the Alps by Jacques-Louis David. Credit: GL Archive / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Portraits — Aspasia of Miletus: queen of the Athenian salon 16:01

3M ago16:01

16:01

Armand D'Angour on Aspasia of Miletus, wife of Pericles and friend to philosophers. Read by Sebastian Brown. Image: 19th Century lithograph of Aspasia of Miletus. Credit: GRANGER - Historical Picture Archive / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Weekly Listen — Norman Stone on the 1860s 18:41

3M ago18:41

18:41

In the 1860s, commentators might have been justified in forecasting 'the end of history' and lauding universal progress. History was to return with a vengeance. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: A lifeboat rescuing passengers from the ship Alarm in the 1860s. Credit: North Wind Picture Archives / Alamy Stock Photo…

1
Worldview — Ukraine, two years on 1:24:36

4M ago1:24:36

1:24:36

Two years on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a solution, military or diplomatic, seems as far away as ever. On Worldview, leading historians and commentators reflect on a conflict that has altered the state of global geopolitics. Jade McGlynn, author of Russia’s War, calls in from Kyiv (00:56). Shashank Joshi, defence editor of the Economist and…

1
EI Weekly Listen — David Frum on how empire-states are changing the game 16:44

4M ago16:44

16:44

From the Engelsberg Ideas Archive. States are back and they're out to challenge the international order. Image: Vladimir Putin captured from screen. Credit: Anton Dos Ventos / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Talks... Horace 42:51

4M ago42:51

42:51

Llewelyn Morgan, author of Horace: A Very Short Introduction, joins EI's Paul Lay to explore the Augustan poet's vast and complex legacy. Image: Bust of Horace. Credit: Cum Okolo / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Weekly Listen — Elisabeth Kendall on Jihadist poetry as propaganda 21:25

4M ago21:25

21:25

Al-Qaeda's success in Yemen can in part be explained by the group's adept use of poetry as propaganda. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: An al-Qaeda logo is seen on a street sign in the town of Jaar in southern Abyan province, Yemen. Credit: Associated Press / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Talks... the Edwardians: the calm before the storm 51:38

4M ago51:38

51:38

Alwyn Turner, author of Little Englanders: Britain in the Edwardian Era, speaks to Paul Lay about the early 20th century, an age of anxiety. Image: Street musicians in London in the Edwardian era. Credit: KGPA Ltd / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Weekly Listen — Malise Ruthven on the appeal of ISIS 33:53

4M ago33:53

33:53

From the Engelsberg Ideas Archive. The organisation that emerged under the name ISIS is not simply a terrorist group. It is a hybrid organisation comprised of a proto-state, a millenarian cult capable of attracting recruits from far beyond its borders, a network of Salafi jihadist groups, an organised criminal ring and an insurgent army led by high…

1
EI Talks... can Israel win the peace? 40:53

4M ago40:53

40:53

Ahron Bregman, author of Cursed Victory: A History of Israel and the Occupied Territories, outlines his vision for a lasting peace between Israel, Palestinians and the Arabs. Image: An Israeli flag is seen through a dust cloud near the border with the Gaza strip. Credit: Eddie Gerald / Alamy Stock Photo…

1
EI Weekly Listen — Andrew Preston on the invention of American national security 24:54

4M ago24:54

24:54

By the time Kennedy and Johnson held the presidency in the 1960s, the definition of US national security had been stretched and expanded in previously unimaginable ways. It was not unusual for Americans to perceive their security frontiers as global – indeed, it was considered natural. But it hadn’t always been thus. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: P…

1
EI Talks... the Soviet Union's bid for Africa 36:58

4M ago36:58

36:58

Daniela Richterova, Senior Lecturer in Intelligence Studies at the Department for War Studies, King's College London, reflects on the efforts the Soviet Union made to court African states and liberation movements during the Cold War and draws parallels with China and Russia's new scramble for Africa. Image: A monument to Arab-Soviet Friendship at t…

1
EI Weekly Listen — Charly Salonius-Pasternak on how Nordic and Baltic countries are preparing for war 23:06

5M ago23:06

23:06

Thinking about 'war in our time' and our region is no longer an activity restricted to historians or military planners. Politicians and citizens in the countries bordering the Baltic Sea have been forced to accept that it has become necessary to prepare for an unwelcome guest: war. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: A naval operation staged as part of t…

1
EI Talks... Studio Ghibli 37:42

5M ago37:42

37:42

Alastair Benn is joined by Christopher Harding, cultural historian of Japan and author of The Light of Asia: A History of Western Fascination with the East, to discuss the life and work of celebrated animator Mayazaki Hayao, co-founder of Studio Ghibli, and his latest (and last?) film, The Boy and the Heron, a semi-autobiographical exploration of w…

1
EI Weekly Listen — Kimberly Kagan on the United States and the new way of war 19:53

5M ago19:53

19:53

The United States, still the dominant military power in the world, is immersed in a new era of warfare that it has not yet recognised as endemic and enduring. America is losing its wars to less powerful but more adaptable adversaries, while preparing inadequately for future inter-state conflicts. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Posters of slain Irani…

1
EI Talks... December, 1941 40:52

5M ago40:52

40:52

In December 1941, the Japanese military attacked Pearl Harbor, making the Second World War a truly global conflict. Paul Lay is joined by Charlie Laderman to discuss a month that shook the world. Image: Three US battleships stricken during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. Credit: GRANGER - Historical Picture Archive / Alamy Sto…

1
EI Weekly Listen — Pascal Vennesson on the rise of transnational war-making 33:00

5M ago33:00

33:00

Political success for the global insurgents can arise not only from a military victory on the ground, but from a military stalemate and even a military defeat. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Mock Houthi-made drones and missiles are set up in a city square in Yemen. Credit: Zuma Press / Alamy Stock Photo…

1
EI Weekly Listen — Rolf Ekéus on how to end wars 19:57

6M ago19:57

19:57

There is only one way out of total destruction and collapse, which is creative diplomacy. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Dutch envoy Cornelis Calkoen received by the Ottoman grand vizier. Credit: World History Archive / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Weekly Listen — Philip Bobbitt on the new global disorder 20:01

6M ago20:01

20:01

We cannot understand what is going wrong in the international order without first understanding what is going wrong in the constitutional order of states. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: The Statue of Liberty seen through a broken window on Ellis Island. Credit: Associated Press / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Talks... 2023 54:42

6M ago54:42

54:42

What is the deep meaning of 2023? Alastair Benn is joined by Paul Lay and Iain Martin to set a dramatic year in perspective. Image: A woman lights a candle to express solidarity with Israel. Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Weekly Listen — Yu Jie on the deep historical roots of China's global ambition 24:32

6M ago24:32

24:32

China projects its power and secures its national interests in three ways: exercising might, spending money and expressing its own mindset. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: CCP propaganda printed in rice fields. Credit: Fabio Nodari / Alamy Stock PhotoBy Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts

1
EI Talks... a new world of intelligence 25:00

6M ago25:00

25:00

Paul Lay and Alastair Benn are joined by Matthew Hefler, post-doctoral fellow at the Ax:son Johnson Institute for Statecraft and Diplomacy, to discuss the changing role of intelligence services in an era of intense geopolitical competition. Image: The MI6 building in Vauxhall, London. Credit: Alex Segre / Alamy Stock Photo…

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Simone Hardy Podcasts

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