Paul Lay
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paullay.bsky.social
Paul Lay
@paullay.bsky.social
480 followers 250 following 23 posts
Senior Editor, Engelsberg Ideas, author of Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of Cromwell’s Protectorate. Opera tragic. Formerly WBCU-C. Who/He.
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Reposted by Paul Lay
engelsbergideas.bsky.social
A 1987 performance by the great Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter reveals Haydn's exquisite, often overlooked piano sonatas.

The profound elegance of Haydn’s piano sonatas | @paullay.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The profound elegance of Haydn’s piano sonatas
A 1987 performance by the great Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter reveals Haydn's exquisite, often overlooked piano sonatas.
engelsbergideas.com
August 12, 2026 at 3:42 PM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Epigrams – the last defence against algorithmic prose | @paullay.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/epi...
Epigrams – the last defence against algorithmic prose
In the age of AI, aspiring writers should turn to masters of the epigram such as Luca Turin, Ian Nairn and David Thomson, whose writing relishes precision, personality and inimitable wit.
engelsbergideas.com
August 17, 2026 at 9:52 AM
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philtinline.bsky.social
Really enjoyed this conversation with @paullay.bsky.social of @engelsbergideas.bsky.social about 250 years of what Philip Roth called the American Berserk:

audioboom.com/posts/892352...
250 years of the American experiment
Paul Lay speaks to Phil Tinline (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/phil-tinline/) , author of Ghosts of Iron Mountain: The Hoax that Duped America and its Sinister Legacy, about the variety and viole...
audioboom.com
July 3, 2026 at 8:16 AM
paullay.bsky.social
There is much bleakness in our world, so we should all be grateful for the joy offered by the SNP.
June 2, 2026 at 9:44 PM
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jackfdickens.bsky.social
I am delighted to announce that my chapter on espionage in Central Asia and the Great Game has been published as part of this wonderful collection, ‘Spies in History’.

It will be up on @engelsbergideas.bsky.social soon. A big thank you to @paullay.bsky.social and Lars Molin for the opportunity.
November 14, 2025 at 2:43 PM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
The key to grand strategy | @wdjames.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-k...
The key to grand strategy
A close examination of the history of statecraft reveals that grand strategy works best when competing ideas collide, and rigorous processes challenge prevailing orthodoxies.
engelsbergideas.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:22 AM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Joseph Wright’s age of enlightenment | @paullay.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/reviews/jose...
Joseph Wright’s age of enlightenment
The English painter captured an emerging world of industry and innovation, discovery and dissemination, against the background of the Industrial Revolution.
engelsbergideas.com
November 5, 2025 at 1:48 PM
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wdjames.bsky.social
I've written a piece for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social on the sources of grand strategic ideas. Best enjoyed over the weekend with a brew ☕

Thanks to @jackfdickens.bsky.social, @paullay.bsky.social, and the EI team for publishing.
November 7, 2025 at 10:53 AM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
How the Oslo Accords unravelled | Colin Shindler

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/how...
How the Oslo Accords unravelled
The assassination in 1995 of Yitzhak Rabin was a watershed moment in the gradual disintegration of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, paving the way for greater bloodshed in the Middle East.
engelsbergideas.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:20 AM
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rokewood.bsky.social
I am very keen to read this book of @georgiosvarouxakis.bsky.social, because as I discussed some months ago with @paullay.bsky.social, it’s up against a tide of fashionable academic critique (of which I am deeply sceptical)—including 1 of David Graeber’s (who I did greatly admire) last essays—
September 7, 2025 at 5:36 PM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
The Blitz club’s influence on eighties fashion proved to be far greater than its influence on music.

Blitz, the victory of style over substance | @paullay.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/reviews/blit...
Blitz, the victory of style over substance
The Blitz club’s influence on eighties fashion proved to be far greater than its influence on music.
engelsbergideas.com
September 25, 2025 at 11:13 AM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
The 18th-century philosopher Thomas Day, a fanatical believer in the virtues of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's educational methods, tested his theories to destruction.

The madness in Rousseau’s method | Nigel Andrew

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The madness in Rousseau’s method
The 18th-century philosopher Thomas Day, a fanatical believer in the virtues of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's educational methods, tested his theories to destruction.
engelsbergideas.com
October 9, 2025 at 11:55 AM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Josephine Tey's early death denied her a rightful place among the pantheon of crime writers.

The forgotten queen of crime fiction | @alecmarsh.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/portraits/th...
The forgotten queen of crime fiction
Josephine Tey's early death denied her a rightful place among the pantheon of crime writers.
engelsbergideas.com
October 10, 2025 at 10:07 AM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
The West's political institutions should strive to do less, but better.

Why politicians need to show, not tell | Eliot Wilson

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/why...
Why politicians need to show, not tell
The West's political institutions should strive to do less, but better.
engelsbergideas.com
October 3, 2025 at 6:50 AM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Werner Herzog’s truth | Bryan Appleyard

engelsbergideas.com/reviews/wern...
Werner Herzog's truth
All Werner Herzog's works are mysterious; they never quite resolve into a simple idea or conclusion. His latest book explains why.
engelsbergideas.com
October 3, 2025 at 10:00 AM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
From Stalin’s 1941 May Day parade in Moscow to Xi’s Tiananmen Square display, military spectacles have long been used to project power and mask vulnerability.

The politics of a military parade | Peter Caddick-Adams

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The politics of a military parade
From Stalin’s 1941 May Day parade in Moscow to Xi’s Tiananmen Square display, military spectacles have long been used to project power and mask vulnerability.
engelsbergideas.com
September 10, 2025 at 3:40 PM
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sarahoconnorft.ft.com
On time and on budget? Whaaat? Make this man prime minister immediately www.ft.com/content/639a...
September 10, 2025 at 10:57 AM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
The end of Pax Britannica | Graeme Thompson

engelsbergideas.com/essays/the-e...
The end of Pax Britannica
A mercantilist, multipolar geopolitical system appears to be emerging from within the liberal world order, destined to replace it. The experience of Britain's imperial past suggests that this transfor...
engelsbergideas.com
September 10, 2025 at 11:29 AM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Black Ribbon Day, which commemorates the millions of victims who suffered under Nazism and Stalinism, could serve as a poignant reminder of the dangers of totalitarianism.

Black Ribbon Day’s new urgency | Keith Lowe

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/bla...
Black Ribbon Day's new urgency
Black Ribbon Day, which commemorates the millions of victims who suffered under Nazism and Stalinism, acts as a poignant reminder of the dangers of totalitarianism.
engelsbergideas.com
August 23, 2025 at 11:47 AM
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mathewlyons.bsky.social
New on the Writer’s Bookshelf: eight questions about writers, books, and reading with the great @paullay.bsky.social.
The writer's bookshelf: Paul Lay
Eight questions about writers, books, and reading…
open.substack.com
August 11, 2025 at 6:44 AM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
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...
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.
engelsbergideas.com
July 21, 2025 at 10:58 AM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Syria’s Druze have often been caught between their commitment to national independence and a wariness of Sunni domination.

The Druze, no friends but the mountains | @jackfdickens.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The Druze, no friends but the mountains
Syria’s Druze have often been caught between their commitment to national independence and a wariness of Sunni domination.
engelsbergideas.com
July 21, 2025 at 4:47 PM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
A window into Hitler’s soul | Samuel Rubinstein

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/a-w...
A window into Hitler's soul
Reading Mein Kampf, 100 years on from its first appearance, can help us better understand a historical moment which still so profoundly structures our world, as it fades into the distance.
engelsbergideas.com
July 18, 2025 at 9:59 AM
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engelsbergideas.bsky.social
A paean to the Paris Métro | @agnescpoirier.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/a-p...
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.
engelsbergideas.com
July 18, 2025 at 2:32 PM
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pseudo-isidore.bsky.social
Top marks to @paullay.bsky.social for suggesting putting Bede on a bank note.
July 14, 2025 at 6:25 AM