The EI Podcast

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the worlds of art, manufacturing, medicine, even the language we use, at a bewildering speed. Should we fear or welcome it? What are its risks and rewards? And could it ever come to outpace the human mind?  In our latest episode of Worldview, host Adam Boulton is joined by Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis of New York University, and Susan Schneider, Directo...

For the United States, geopolitics has always been about national identity, even in an era of globalisation. Perhaps it always will be. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image description:  The Marine Corps War Memorial, also known as Iwo Jima Memorial. Credit: DeAgostini/Getty Images

Navigating politico-religious disagreements in a spirit of civility is nigh-on impossible in eras in which the meaning of civility itself is contested. How do we speak to each other civilly in a time of incivility?  Read by Leighton Pugh.  Image description: Girolamo Savonarola's execution on the Piazza della Signoria in Florence in 1498. Credit:  Heritage Image Partnership Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo...

In the Cold War the Kremlin tried to convince foreign audiences its disinformation campaigns were real, today the aim seems to be different. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image description: Soviet poster of a tank on Red Square. Credit: Alamy Stock Photo.

The crusades, jihad, and wars in defence of intangible ideals all have their origins in a short-lived conflict in the 6th century BC. Read by Leighton Pugh. Stone relief from the palace of Ashurbanipal, A detail from the battle of Til Tuba. Teumman the Elamite king is trying to escape but his chariot crashes. His horses panic, while he is trying to escape with an arrow in his back, supported by hi...

Globalisation may appear to be a cornerstone of modernity but humans have always both craved and feared connection, be it social, commercial, spiritual or scientific. Read by Leighton Pugh.  A 15th Century illustration from a Turkish manuscript depicting a surgical operation. Medical understanding was an important element of the exchange of knowledge between the Islamic world and Europe. Credit: W...

Garibaldi’s retreat to his home in Caprera spawned a liberal-nationalist ideal of statesmanship that would live long in the European imagination. Read by Leighton Pugh.  Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) in his signature red shirt, gazing towards his beloved Italy from a cliff edge on the island of Caprera off the coast of Sicily. Illustration c1920. Credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Images...

The Holy Roman Empire was neither a nation state nor indeed a conventional empire. Instead, its inhabitants were unified through a web of legal rights. Read by Leighton Pugh. A miniature of the Treaty of Verdun, 843. Emperor Louis I (right) blessing the division of the Frankish Empire in 843 into West Francia, Middle Francia, and East Francia. Credit: Wikimedia commons.

Westphalia’s legacy of compromise and conditional sovereignty shows the way to peace in the Middle East. Read by Leighton Pugh.  The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster, 1648. Found in the collection of the National Gallery, London. Credit: Fine art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images

While critical theory is not without its uses, it is time that we take a more constructive approach to social issues. ‘Mistake theory’ can offer a useful lens. Read by Leighton Pugh Students graduating from Birmingham University, England. Credit: Malcolm McDougall Photography / Alamy Stock Photo.

It is now clear that genetically editing human beings is not only possible, but increasingly simple. The ethical considerations of this development on the other hand remain complex. To discuss the mapping and editing of the human genome, Adam Boulton is joined by Dr George Church, the 'father of genomics', and Kevin Davies, science author, journalist and the executive editor of the CRISPR journal....

East Asia, especially China's, economic rise in the latter half of the twentieth century was sudden and impressive but now, growth is stalling. This, combined with the rivalry between the US and China and sovereignty disputes has destabilised the region. Read by Leighton Pugh. This essay was first published in 2016. High-rise buildings replace old residences in  Zhejiang, China. Credit: Charles O....

For thousands of years, India and China had relatively little contact, but following China's annexation of Tibet and the end of European colonialism, the two Asian Giants became neighbours. Today, their relationship is increasingly tense. In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by Peter Frankopan, Tanvi Madan and Rana Mitter to put Sino-Indian relations under the microscope. Image des...

Rather than protecting individual data privacy, the fate of democracy in our networked age might depend on establishing a new, radically transparent contract of trust between government and citizens. Estonia is leading the way. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Churches, other landmarks and old buildings at the Old Town in Tallinn, Estonia. Credit: Tuomas Lehtinen / Alamy Stock Photo

In around 1440 AD, a goldsmith called Johannes Gutenberg began assembling the apparatus that would eventually become known as the first Western printing press. Thirty years later, this invention had transformed Europe, spiritually, economically and politically. In this episode of Worldview Adam Boulton is joined by Professor Alexander Lee and Professor Emma Smith to chart the history of the book,...

A history of the nineteenth century tells not just of newly-formed nations, but of newly-developing nationalism. Read by Leighton Pugh.  Image: Carving Up The World A satirical cartoon by James Gillray, showing British Prime Minister William Pitt and the French leader Napoleon Bonaparte, carving up the world between them. Entitled 'The Plumb Pudding in Danger' - pub. 26th February 1805

The West must have an adaptable power grid to meet the challenges of this geopolitical energy crisis.  In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by Margarita Balmaceda, Magnus Henrekson, Olamide Oguntoye and Ariana Kiran Singh to discuss generating and transmitting power in the face of growing geopolitical and environmental concerns.  Image description: Electricity pylon. Credit: David...

The crucifixion lodged suffering at the heart of Christianity: to suffer was to be like Christ. This reframing of suffering had far-reaching consequences for world history. Read by Leighton Pugh.  Image:  Jesus Christ on the Cross with St. Mary and St John, painted by Albrecht Altdorfer, circa 1512. Credit: Niday Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo.

There are currently around 13,000 nuclear warheads worldwide, with Russia possessing the largest nuclear arsenal.  And yet, nuclear weapons have not been deployed in combat since the US bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima seventy-seven years ago.  So, how and why has the nuclear taboo remained intact and what may jeopardise it in the future?  In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by Profe...

With forces such as identity politics and supra-national bodies gaining traction across Europe, the concept of the nation state has never been more important. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image:  A painting of the Dutch envoy Adriaan Pauw entering Münster around 1646 for the peace negotiations, painted by Gerard ter Borch. Credit: Wikipedia Commons/Stadtmuseum Münster

When the pioneers of computer engineering created the first integrated circuits in the 1950s they could not have envisaged how this technology would infiltrate all elements of our daily lives. The production of microchips is now rapidly becoming the defining force in geopolitics and will play a fundamental role in the conflicts of the future.  In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined b...

Geography and politics are closely intertwined, although that no more means that all geography is political than that all politics is geographical. Read by Leighton Pugh.  Image: An American map of the West Coast of Africa from Sierra Leone to Cape Palmas, 'including the colony of Liberia'. Credit: Everett Collection Historical / Alamy Stock Photo

The Romans burnt Carthage’s books and buildings – but ‘Punic’ identity remained influential throughout Antiquity. Read by Leighton Pugh. Image: Print of ancient Carthage. Source: Wiki Creative Commons

The era in world history that began with the fall of the Soviet Union is drawing to its close. The post-Cold War Eurasian settlement that the United States and its allies imposed after 1990 has three big challengers - Russia, China and Iran. Read by Leighton Pugh.  Image:  A symbol of American power, the National Capitol in Washington, DC. Credit: Christian Offenberg / Alamy Stock Photo.

The West, more specifically the United States, with its major allies alongside it, has been chasing the 'fun wars' for forty years and serially coming up empty. Read by Leighton Pugh.  Image:  British Prime Minister Tony Blair greets an ethnic Albanian by holding up his hand in central Pristina, Yugoslavia during a one-day visit Saturday July 31, 1999. It was Blair's first visit to Kosovo since NA...