The EI Podcast

Alastair Benn, Jack Dickens, Paul Lay

Booking Overview

A weekly interview and audio-essay show focused on history, politics, philosophy, literature, and major cultural ideas, typically featuring established writers, scholars, historians, critics, and public intellectuals. Credible pitches include published authors, distinguished academics, historians, classicists, political thinkers, and senior cultural commentators with substantial expertise or a timely book; booking difficulty is high.

Metrics

Episodes: 401

Frequency: Weekly

Rating: 4.6/5.0

Estimated listeners: 1k-10k

Gender skew: Male

Location: United Kingdom

Contact Information

Publicly listed emails

editors@engelsbergideas.com

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Host

Alastair Benn - Host and editor associated with Engelsberg Ideas.

Jack Dickens - Host and editor associated with Engelsberg Ideas.

Paul Lay - Host and editor associated with Engelsberg Ideas.

Booking Intelligence

Booking Requirements

high

Typical Credentials:

Published authors, historians, classicists, film critics, academics, and other recognized writers or thinkers with deep subject expertise and a substantive perspective on history, politics, philosophy, literature, or culture.

Required Achievements:

Published books, Recognized scholarly or critical expertise, Established writing, research, or academic careers

Recent Guest Discussions

Stephen Bowd - Niccolò Machiavelli And His Continuing Importance As A Political Philosopher

David Thomson - The History Of Cinema And His Book A Sudden Flicker Of Light: A Revisionist History Of The Movies

Michael Auslin - The History And Legacy Of The United States Declaration Of Independence

Orlando Gibbs - Homer’s Odyssey, Christopher Nolan’s Adaptation, And The Classical World

Kathleen Burk - The History Of Wine And Its Role In Shaping The Modern World

Recent Topics

History, Politics, Philosophy, Classics, Literature

Episodes

Here's the recent few episodes on

The EI Podcast

Machiavelli still matters

August 20, 2026

Stephen Bowd speaks to Paul Lay about why, 500 years after his death, Niccolò Machiavelli remains one of the world’s most vital political philosophers.Image: Portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli (1570). Credit: Alamy

The entire history of cinema in one shot

August 13, 2026

Film critic David Thomson speaks to Paul Lay about his new book, ‘A Sudden Flicker of Light: A Revisionist History of the Movies’. Image: A sign advertises the opening of the Hollywoodland housing development in the hills overlooking Los Angeles. Credit: Alamy

America’s universal document: a curious history

August 06, 2026

Marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, Michael Auslin speaks to Paul Lay about the document’s powerful yet often strange afterlife. From Philadelphia in 1776, through the Civil War, the Gilded Age, both World Wars and the Cold War, America’s founding document has been a perennial symbol of hope. Image: An illustration from ‘Columbia's Courtship: A Picture History of the United States in Twelve Emblematic Designs in Color with Accompanying Verses’ by Walter Crane (1983). Cred...

Publicly listed emails

editors@engelsbergideas.com

Looking for the right person? Join Podseeker to find direct host and producer contacts and manage your podcast outreach.

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