{"podcast":{"title":"The EI Podcast","slug":"the-ei-podcast-916386","podcast_index_feed_id":916386,"rss_url":"https://audioboom.com/channels/5029938.rss","website_url":"https://audioboom.com/channels/5029938","image_url":"https://audioboom.com/i/43466427.png","author":"Engelsberg Ideas","episode_count":391,"summary":"The EI Podcast brings you weekly conversations and audio essays from leading writers, thinkers and historians. Hosted by Alastair Benn and Paul Lay. Find the EI Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or search The EI Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-03T06:20:05.427508+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ei-podcast-916386"},"episode":{"title":"Putin, the once and future Chekist","slug":"putin-the-once-and-future-chekist","published_at":"2026-02-26T10:28:58+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ei-podcast-916386/putin-the-once-and-future-chekist","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ei-podcast-916386","url":"https://audioboom.com/posts/8866469","audio_url":"https://audioboom.com/posts/8866469.mp3?modified=1776858888&sid=5029938&source=rss","summary":"Gordon Corera contends that to truly understand Vladimir Putin, you have to understand the phenomenon of Chekism. Read by Leighton Pugh. Read the original essay here: https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/putin-the-once-and-future-chekist/ . Image: Vladimir Putin's East German Stasi identification card issued while he worked as a KGB agent in Dresden in 1985. Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd","meta_description":"Gordon Corera contends that to truly understand Vladimir Putin, you have to understand the phenomenon of Chekism. Read by Leighton Pugh. Read the original…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1020,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-ei-podcast-916386/episodes/putin-the-once-and-future-chekist/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ei-podcast-916386/putin-the-once-and-future-chekist.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}