Alastair Benn

My entry:

Who remembers Henry J. Kaiser? The industrialist Henry J. Kaiser played a pivotal role in the lightning mobilisation of American industry that took place after Pearl Harbor, a contribution that deserves wider recognition.

The industrialist Henry J. Kaiser played a pivotal role in the lightning mobilisation of American industry that took place after Pearl Harbor, a contribution that deserves wider recognition.

Who remembers Henry J. Kaiser? | Gordon F. Sander

engelsbergideas.com/portraits/wh...

A paean to the Paris Métro Unveiled 125 years ago, the Métropolitan marked Paris’s leap into modernity at the turn of the century, with Guimard’s once-controversial station entrances now enduring emblems of the city's spirit.

A paean to the Paris Métro | @agnescpoirier.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/a-p...

The Trial at 100: revisiting Kafka’s prophetic masterpiece This year marks the centenary of the publication of Franz Kafka’s novel, The Trial - a seminal work that continues to captivate and unsettle its readers. EI’s Alastair Benn (https://engelsbergideas.co...

I very much enjoyed interviewing the excellent Karolina Watroba about Kafka's The Trial on the latest EI Podcast:

audioboom.com/posts/874688...

Wrote a little something for Mann’s 150th birthday, which is today. Alles Gute, Tommy!

Thomas Mann's cathedrals in prose One of the greatest European writers, Thomas Mann, born 150 years ago, dedicated his life to the pursuit of literary form. He left a monumental legacy.

One of the greatest European writers, Thomas Mann, born 150 years ago, dedicated his life to the pursuit of literary form. He left a monumental legacy.

Thomas Mann’s cathedrals in prose | @mortenhoijensen.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/tho...

For the evening crowd.

The times and tides of the wild River Thames A fascinating exhibition at the London Museum Docklands shows vividly how the River Thames has always been a wild place at the heart of urban civilisation. Its tides are constantly revealing fragments...

The times and tides of the wild River Thames | @mathewlyons.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/reviews/the-...

The art of Siena: a question of perspective The National Gallery's Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300 ‒1350 captures key developments, in elegantly curated snapshots, of the early textures of Western Europe’s artistic vitality.

💯 Essay by @alastairbenn.bsky.social for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social

"Siena's art...is still capable, so many centuries on, of kindling a bright flame of inspiration, power, and self-knowledge in any mind receptive to its message."

🗃️ #arthistory #medievalsky

engelsbergideas.com/reviews/the-...

I explore the art of Siena in my latest essay for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social:

The art of Siena: a question of perspective The National Gallery's Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300 ‒1350 captures key developments, in elegantly curated snapshots, of the early textures of Western Europe’s artistic vitality.

The National Gallery's Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300 ‒1350 captures key developments, in elegantly curated snapshots, of the early textures of Western Europe’s artistic vitality.

The art of Siena: a question of perspective | @alastairbenn.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/reviews/the-...

The Church of the Almost Believers Caught between scepticism and spiritual hunger, the ‘crypto-religious’ are seeking something to believe in outside the parameters of organised religion.

Caught between scepticism and spiritual hunger, the ‘crypto-religious’ are seeking something to believe in outside the parameters of organised religion.

The Church of the Almost Believers | Guy Stagg

engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-c...

Kashmir's forgotten war goes global Indian strikes on locations in Pakistan used by Kashmiri Jihadi organisations underline the enduring nature of the conflict, which has special risks for the UK.

"Until a resolution is found, Kashmir will continue to inspire and foster terrorist acts and remain one of the core grievances in the Islamist narrative."

@suzanneraine.bsky.social on how Kashmir’s forgotten war has gone global

engelsbergideas.com/essays/kashm...

The art of the hedgerow The hedgerow is never truly permanent. The hedge in art reflects the hedge in reality, a shifting entity, a feature that is sometimes lost and sometimes replaced.

The art of the hedgerow | @troopersnooks.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...

Pleasure!

America's republic of bookstores The classic bookstore is a potent if endangered symbol of what America was meant to be – a republic of small traders and independent thinking.

I thought it was time for an upbeat piece for once - so I wrote a little love letter to America's independent bookstores for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social - with thanks to @alastairbenn.bsky.social for commissioning it, as always:

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/ame...

Mental health's expanding empire Greater well-being comes not from expanding medical categories but from adjusting our expectations of normal human experience, with all its inevitable discomforts, challenges, and variations.

Mental health’s expanding empire | @tiffanyjenkins.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/reviews/ment...

How the Young Turks became tyrants The course of a late-Ottoman revolution warns us that liberators can easily turn into tyrants, and that new political dawns can be deceptive.

How the Young Turks became tyrants | @jackfdickens.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/how...

The ballad of John and Paul An imaginative account of the unique friendship between The Beatles' two creative geniuses provides an intriguing reinterpretation of their personal bond, but too often strays into speculative psychol...

I really enjoyed the opportunity to review Paul & John: A Love Story in Songs for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social engelsbergideas.com/reviews/the-...

EI Talks... the uses of comedy Podcast Episode · Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts · 27/03/2025 · 51m

Really enjoyed doing this for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social. Many thanks to @alastairbenn.bsky.social and @paullay.bsky.social for the invite! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/e...

Gatsby, still great at 100 In an age of rising inequality and economic disaffection, Fitzgerald's slender satire of American East Coast society, with its evocation of the conflict between the old world and new money, still reso...

In an age of rising inequality and economic disaffection, Fitzgerald's slender satire of American East Coast society, with its evocation of the conflict between the old world and new money, still resonates.

Gatsby, still great at 100 | Guy Stagg

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/gat...

Reading the map of love A relic of the salons of 17th-century France, Mademoiselle de Scudéry's Carte de Tendre tells a universal story about the tensions between desire and civilised behaviour.

A relic of the salons of 17th-century France, Mademoiselle de Scudéry's Carte de Tendre tells a universal story about the tensions between desire and civilised behaviour.

Reading the map of love | @murielzagha.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/rea...

Henry Fuseli knew about nightmares The painter Henry Fuseli traded in the unconscious, the weird, and the fantastical. A forceful, aggressive artist, for whom darkness was always a more congenial medium than light, his body of work con...

Henry Fuseli knew about nightmares | Alexander Lee

engelsbergideas.com/reviews/henr...

The subtle art of English comedy English comedy is alchemical, a tradition that can absorb and ameliorate contemporary debates over social class and national identity. It even promises the renewal of mystery amid the humdrum of the e...

English comedy is alchemical, a tradition that can absorb and ameliorate contemporary debates over social class and national identity. It even promises the renewal of mystery amid the humdrum of the everyday.

My latest essay for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social:

engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-s...

Interest rates, mankind’s greatest invention Interest rates perform a huge variety of roles that are essential to the operation of a market economy. A world of continuously manipulated interest rates puts the achievements of market forces at gra...

Interest rates, mankind’s greatest invention | Edward Chancellor

engelsbergideas.com/essays/inter...

The subtle art of English comedy English comedy is alchemical, a tradition that can absorb and ameliorate contemporary debates over social class and national identity. It even promises the renewal of mystery amid the humdrum of the e...

Lovely essay engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-s...

Thanks Chris!

My journey to a defiant Ukraine Even now, on the third anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainians remain valiant and defiant. But with Washington withdrawing its support for their struggle, Europe remains ill pr...

"We have been lucky in them, I reflected as we crossed the border back into Poland, but they have been unlucky in us", writes Professor Brendan Simms for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social engelsbergideas.com/notebook/my-...

Thanks Tony!