English Plus Podcast

TOL | The Dance, The Drift, and The Handle: How We survive the Morning After

19 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We have reached the end of the year. The bells have stopped ringing, the wrapping paper is in the bin, and we are standing on the threshold of the "Mo...

When the Bells Stop Ringing | A Prayer for the Day After

18 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

And finally, we look to the day after. The bells have stopped ringing, the guests have gone, and the wax has hardened on the table. We often treat the...

When the Bells Stop Ringing 15 | The Water at The Well

17 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the drought-stricken lands of Turkana County, the sun is a hammer and water is more precious than gold. Zola, a young woman from the Turkana tribe,...

When the Bells Stop Ringing 14 | The River of Stars

16 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Amazon River at night is a cacophony of jungle sounds and pitch-black water. Thiago, a boat pilot, knows the dangers of the current, but when his ...

When the Bells Stop Ringing 13 | The Midnight Tango

15 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The heat in Buenos Aires presses against the windows of the nursing home, where Valeria sits in her wheelchair, her dancing days long behind her. To t...

TOL | The Waiting Room of the World: Finding Harmony in the Halt

12 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We spend our lives waiting for the "real" moment to start. We wait for the apology, the warm bed, the recovery, or the flight announcement. But what i...

When the Bells Stop Ringing 12 | The Layover

11 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Frankfurt Airport is a cathedral of efficiency, designed to move millions without a hitch. But on Christmas Eve, a massive snowstorm has stopped the c...

When the Bells Stop Ringing 11 | Noche Buena

10 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Manila is usually a symphony of noise—firecrackers, karaoke, and celebration. But inside the Public General Hospital, the air is sterile and silent....

When the Bells Stop Ringing 10 | A Guardian in the Ice

09 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The cold in Moscow is a living entity, prowling the streets for any weakness. Ivan, a homeless veteran, sits on a steam grate behind a metro station, ...

When the Bells Stop Ringing 9 | The Longest Ring

08 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Stockholm, the winter darkness arrives just after lunch, settling over the city like a heavy blanket. Astrid sits by her window, watching a candle ...

TOL | The Empty Chair and the Orange Crate: Why We Must Break the Seal

05 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We spend so much of our lives protecting things. We protect our privacy, our inventory, our traditions, and even our sadness. But what if safety is ac...

When the Bells Stop Ringing 8 | The Spice of Memory

04 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Berlin in December is gray, damp, and smells of wet wool. For Fatima, a refugee from Aleppo, the city feels impossibly cold and distant. Desperate for...

When the Bells Stop Ringing 7 | The Snowbound Station

03 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A blizzard has erased the highways of Hokkaido, trapping a diverse group of travelers in a roadside station on Christmas Eve. There is a businessman w...

When the Bells Stop Ringing 6 | The Candle Carrier

02 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Beirut, the darkness doesn't fall gently; it seizes the city. On Christmas Eve, the power grid fails, leaving twelve-year-old Nour and her neighbor...

When the Bells Stop Ringing 5 | The Pub on the Corner

01 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Dublin, the rain drifts rather than falls, turning the streetlights of Temple Bar into blurred halos. Cillian sits alone in a pub, avoiding the dea...

TOL | The Invisible Walls We Build: Finding Dignity in the Cold

28 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It is easier to be charitable than it is to be kind. Charity requires a coin; kindness requires a piece of ourselves. In this episode of Thinking Out ...

When the Bells Stop Ringing 4 | The Indigo Scarf

27 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Seoul is a city of neon miracles and heated benches, but for Min-ji, a seventy-year-old cardboard collector, it is a place of relentless cold. She mov...

When the Bells Stop Ringing 3 | The Mountain Pass

26 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

High in the Caucasus Mountains, the wind screams across a frozen ridge known as No Man’s Land. Levan, a soldier on guard duty, stares through his sc...

When the Bells Stop Ringing 2 | Strings in the Metro

25 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the depths of the Prague metro station, amidst the screech of brakes and the rush of commuters desperate to get home, an old man named Karel plays ...

When the Bells Stop Ringing 1 | The Pâtisserie Window

24 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today is the first of our final series for this year, When the Bells Stop Ringing to celebrate the season of light together. Our first story is The Pâ...

The Story I Never Told: A New Future for English Plus

13 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is different. For the first time, I'm sharing my personal story—the journey that explains everything about who I am and why I'm making ...

MagTalk | Beyond the Scramble: Overcoming Artificial Borders Through 21st-Century Cooperation

11 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We're all familiar with the "Scramble for Africa" and the Sykes-Picot agreement—arbitrary lines drawn by colonial powers that have caused a century ...

The Long Shadow 1 | The Philosophy of Empires: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

10 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How do you pull off the biggest, most violent smash-and-grab in human history? You can't just say that's what you're doing. You need a story. You need...

MagTalk | The Missing Pieces: How Cultural Repatriation Is Building a New Future

03 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We've all seen the headlines about museums "returning" artifacts, often after acrimonious debates. But this conversation is usually stuck in a loop of...

Am I a "Westernized" Version of Myself? (Or Just a "Modern" One?

03 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do you ever feel caught between cultures? Like your playlist, your bookshelf, and your beliefs are a global mashup? I get it. In this personal monolog...

The Shadow of Colonialism 1 | Beyond the Flags: How "Neo-Colonialism" Still Runs the World Economy

27 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is Episode 1 of our new series, "Are We Still Living in the Shadow of Colonialism?" This episode calmly decodes the complex economic systems—li...

Forging Our Own Future: Beyond the Shadow of Colonialism

27 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Are we still living in the shadow of colonialism? This week, English Plus Podcast moves beyond simple blame to ask a more powerful question: How do we...

TOL | The Empathy Gap: We've Learned All This. Now What?

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve spent this week dissecting the mechanics of poverty—the bandwidth tax, the language of judgment, the theft of the future. So… now what? Th...

MagTalk | The Selfish Reason to End Poverty: An Economic Case for a Better World

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We're often told to fight poverty because it's the "right" thing to do. It is. But what if it's also the "smartest" thing to do for our own economic f...

The Scarcity Trap 5 | Designing for Dignity: A Blueprint for a Better World

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the final chapter of The Scarcity Trap, we ask the most important question: Now that we know the psychology, what do we do? Host Danny argues that ...

TOL | The Luxury of Tomorrow: How Poverty Steals Your Future

23 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For many of us, the future is a place we plan for. But what if you couldn't afford to even think about it? This episode dives deep into the profound l...

MagTalk | The Brain on Poverty: How Scarcity Taxes Our Mental Bandwidth

23 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ever felt so stressed about money that you couldn't think straight? Science shows that's not just a feeling—it's a measurable reality. New research ...

The Scarcity Trap 4 | Forging a Path Out: The Psychology of Resilience

23 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After three episodes examining the mechanics of the scarcity trap, we make a deliberate turn toward the light. This episode is not about what poverty ...

TOL | Beyond the Bottom Line: What Do We Truly Owe Each Other?

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We know that reducing poverty is good for the economy. But is that the real reason we should care? In this episode, we're setting aside the spreadshee...

TOL | The Myth of the Starving Artist: Does Scarcity Fuel Creativity, or Kill It?

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is suffering really a prerequisite for great art? We've all heard the stories of broke geniuses creating masterpieces in drafty attics. But is the sta...

MagTalk | Innovating Our Way Out: The Unconventional Tools Fighting Poverty

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For decades, fighting poverty meant one thing: charity. But what if there's a better way? What if instead of just giving aid, we invest in people's po...

MagTalk | The Hidden Blueprint: How Global Systems Keep Nations Poor

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We often think of poverty as a local problem. But what if the biggest obstacles are invisible rules written into the global system? Imagine a race whe...

The Scarcity Trap 3 | The Weight of the Gaze: Shame, Stigma, and the Biology of Stress

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

So far, we've focused on what scarcity does to the mind. Now, we explore what it does to the heart. Host Danny investigates the profound emotional bur...

The Scarcity Trap 2 | The Tunnel: A Day in a Mind Under Siege

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Building on the concept of the "bandwidth tax" from our last episode, we now move from the scientific study into the lived, daily experience of a mind...

The Scarcity Trap 1 | The Myth of Bad Choices: How Scarcity Steals Your IQ

20 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the first episode of The Scarcity Trap, host Danny challenges the comfortable but dangerous myth that poverty is a personal failing. We begin by di...

MagTalk | The Many Faces of Poverty: Why Income Is Only Half the Story

20 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We think we know what poverty looks like, but what if the number in a person's bank account is one of the least important parts of the story? A family...

TOL | The Grammar of Judgment: How We Build Poverty's Walls with Words

20 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What's the real difference between a "handout" and a "lifeline"? Between an "entitlement" and an "investment"? It’s more than just semantics. In thi...

Poverty | Theme of the Week

20 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Learn about what we're going to talk about this week and our special theme for this week, poverty.

Critical Thinking 5 | Critical Thinking in the Age of AI: Partner or Adversary?

10 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Artificial Intelligence has gone from science fiction to a daily utility. It writes our emails, assists our research, and answers our questions. But w...

TOL | The Freedom of Saying "I Don't Know"

09 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When did "I don't know" become the three scariest words in the English language? In a culture that rewards hot takes and absolute certainty, this epis...

Critical Thinking 4 | The Enemy Within: How Cognitive Biases Hijack Your Thinking

09 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why do smart people believe irrational things? Why do we cling to our beliefs even in the face of overwhelming evidence? The biggest obstacle to criti...

TOL | The Ghost of My Former Opinions

08 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is a personal one. We’re going to talk about the ghosts that haunt us—not the spooky kind, but the ghosts of our former opinions. I'm sharing...

Critical Thinking 3 | Your Critical Thinking Toolkit: 5 Mental Models for Better Problem-Solving

08 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Knowing how to spot a bad argument is one thing, but how do you build a good one? What practical tools can you use to solve stubborn problems, generat...

TOL | How to Be Right All the Time (Without Ever Having to Think) — Satire

07 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Are you exhausted by the tedious process of forming well-reasoned opinions? Do facts get in the way of your triumphant declarations? Then this episode...

Critical Thinking 2 | Intellectual Self-Defense: A Field Guide to Logical Fallacies

07 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever listened to an argument and felt that something was wrong, but you couldn't quite put your finger on it? You're not alone. Persuasive rh...

TOL | The Beautiful, Terrible Burden of a Questioning Mind

06 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever wished you could just "unsee" the flaw in an argument and enjoy a conversation? This episode is a deep, reflective monologue on the para...

MagTalk | From Socrates to the Scientific Method: A History of Critical Thinking

06 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ever wonder why asking "How do you know?" is one of the most powerful things a person can do? Our latest article takes a deep dive into the history of...

Critical Thinking 1 | The Critical Thinking Renaissance: How to Think Clearly in a Chaotic World

06 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do you ever feel like you're lost in a digital funhouse, bombarded by conflicting headlines, biased sources, and endless rabbit holes? In an age of in...

Critical Thinking | A Theme of the Week Overview

06 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In a world overflowing with information, opinions, and "hot takes," how do you separate the signal from the noise? Welcome to Critical Thinking Week o...

The Story of Literature EP10 | The Global Bookshelf: Migration, Identity, and the 21st-Century Story

05 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In our final episode, we look at the state of literature in our interconnected world. We explore how themes of migration, diaspora, and hybrid identit...

The Story of Literature EP9 | The Griot's Legacy: Oral Traditions and Post-Colonial Voices of Africa

05 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode celebrates the immense diversity of African literature, from the ancient oral storytelling traditions of the Griots to the powerful emerg...

The Story of Literature EP8 | Magic and Memory: The Boom of Latin American Literature

04 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We explore the vibrant and revolutionary literature of Latin America in the 20th century. This episode discusses how a generation of writers like Borg...

The Story of Literature EP7 | The Soul of the Steppe: The Great Russian Psychological Novel

04 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode focuses on the monumental contribution of 19th-century Russia to world literature. We delve into the minds of masters like Dostoevsky, To...

The Story of Literature EP6 | Forging a Continent: From Beowulf to the Enlightenment

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We trace the evolution of European literature as it emerged from the medieval period. This episode covers the heroic sagas of the Anglo-Saxons and Nor...

The Story of Literature EP5 | The Courtyard of a Thousand Tales: The Golden Age of Arabic and Persian Literature

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode journeys into the vibrant world of the Islamic Golden Age. We'll explore the profound influence of the Quran as a literary text, the epi...

MagTalk | The Author's Shadow: Why a Writer's Life Unlocks Their Masterpieces

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ever finish a great book and immediately Google the author? There's a powerful reason for that. While some critics argue for "The Death of the Author,...

The Story of Literature EP4 | The Brush and the Sword: Poetry and Philosophy in East Asia

02 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Focusing on the interconnected traditions of China, Japan, and Korea, this episode explores a literature where poetry, philosophy, and governance are ...

The Story of Literature EP3 | The Ocean of Stories: Epics and Wisdom of South Asia

02 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode dives into the immensely rich and ancient literary traditions of the Indian subcontinent. We explore the spiritual depth of the Vedas and...

TOL | The Storybook Origins of Your Smartphone

02 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What do your earbuds, your tablet, and the submarine have in common? They were all dreamed up in the pages of a book long before they existed in reali...

MagTalk | The Ghost in the Machine: Can AI Write a Novel That Makes You Cry?

02 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An AI can write a sonnet in five seconds. It can generate a short story in the style of your favorite author. But can it create true literature? Can a...

Literature and Us 4 | Reading the World: A Literary Passport to Our Global Mosaic

02 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s time to step outside your literary neighborhood! This episode is a celebration of the human spirit as seen through the lens of world literature...

The Story of Literature EP2 | Echoes of Olympus: The Greek and Roman Foundations

01 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We journey to ancient Greece and Rome to uncover the cornerstones of Western literature. From the epic poems of Homer and the tragedies of Sophocles t...

The Story of Literature EP1 | The First Scribes: Tales from the Fertile Crescent

01 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode travels back to the dawn of writing in Mesopotamia. We explore the world's first known literary work, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and discuss ...

TOL | The Narrative Thread: Are You the Author or the Character?

01 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever looked back on your life and tried to make sense of it, to connect the dots into a coherent story? In this episode, we're treating our l...

MagTalk | Is Your Favorite TV Show Literature? Redefining Storytelling in the 21st Century

01 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What if the most important "novels" of our generation aren't books at all? We're in a golden age of storytelling, but much of it isn't happening on th...

Literature & Us 3 | Beyond "It Was Good": How to Talk About Books Like You've Always Wanted To

01 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We've all been there: you finish a book buzzing with thoughts, but when someone asks what you thought, you can only muster, "Uh... it was good." This ...

TOL | The Question a Story Leaves in Its Wake

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever finished a book, closed the cover, and just… sat there, feeling like the world tilted slightly on its axis? You're not just processing...

MagTalk | Reading Between the Lines of Your Own Life: The Cognitive Benefits of Literature

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ever feel like you're a different person after finishing a great book? Turns out, you actually are. Neuroscience shows that reading complex fiction is...

Literature & Us 2 | Cracking the Story Code: The Universal Blueprint of Every Narrative

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever felt that literature is an exclusive club with secret rules you don't understand? In this episode, Danny pulls back the curtain to revea...

TOL | The Unwritten Epic of You

29 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever read a book or watched a movie and thought, "My life is so boring in comparison"? We’re here to challenge that. This episode is a deep...

MagTalk | The Pen as a Lever: How Great Books Sparked Real-World Revolutions

29 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Can a book really start a war? It sounds like an exaggeration, but the story of Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" suggests it might just be ...

Literature & Us 1 | The Human Algorithm: Why Books Beat Bots in the Age of AI

29 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to "Literature and Us"! In our foundational episode, host Danny tackles a huge question: with AI that can write, summarize, and create, do we ...

This Week's Theme: Literature and Us

29 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Explore this week's theme, "Literature and Us" , with new podcasts, articles , and quizzes that reveal why stories are essential in the age of AI. Plu...

MagTalk | The Psychology of Peace — Understanding the Human Side of Conflict

26 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

At its heart, peace starts in the nervous system. This feature explores the psychology of conflict and reconciliation—how empathy, forgiveness, trus...

MagTalk | The Economics of Peace — Why Stability Pays Off

26 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

War makes noise; peace makes payroll. In this feature we unpack why stability pays—through predictable trade, lower financing costs, healthier worke...

TOL | Echoes of a Silent Past: What If War Was Never Invented?

25 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ever wonder what humanity would look like if we'd never invented war? It’s a huge 'what if.' In this episode, we're taking a speculative journey int...

MagTalk | Who Benefits From War? Following the Incentives That Keep Peace Out of Reach

25 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

“Everyone wants peace.” True—and incomplete. Conflict pays salaries and wins elections. This feature unpacks who benefits from war—from the de...

Days of Peace 4 | You Can't Stop a War, But You Can Build Peace (Here's How)

25 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After exploring the necessity of peace, the language that builds it, and the heartbreak of its absence, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and ask, “Bu...

TOL | Does World Peace Begin With You?

24 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We all want world peace, but what if the first step is smaller, quieter, and much closer to home? This episode dives into a massive question: Is inner...

MagTalk | Disinformation: The Silent Enemy of Peace

24 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Disinformation isn’t just an online nuisance—it’s a structural threat to peace. We break down how false narratives spread, why they’re so effe...

Days of Peace 3 | The Lovers of No Man's Land

24 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Statistics tell us how many people die in a war. They don't tell us how many dreams die, how many futures are erased, or how many beautiful human conn...

TOL | The Tolerance Tightrope: To Save Paradise, Must We Banish the Snakes?

23 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ever wonder if being too nice, too open, too tolerant can actually backfire? It sounds crazy, but that's the heart of Karl Popper's 'Paradox of Tolera...

MagTalk | When Guns Went Silent: The Rare Pauses That Prove Peace Is Possible

23 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

War is loud. But sometimes, against every expectation, it goes quiet: soldiers share songs, markets reopen for a day, ambulances slip through a tempor...

Days of Peace 2 | Speaking the Language of Peace

23 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Every day, in countless conversations, we stand at a crossroads. The words we choose can act like gasoline on a spark of disagreement, or they can be ...

MagTalk | Can War Ever Bring Peace? History’s False Promises—and What Truly Builds Peace

22 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

“Fight now to have peace later.” We’ve heard the slogan for centuries. But does it hold up? Our new deep-dive traces the promise and pitfalls of...

Days of Peace 1 | Peace: The Ultimate Survival Strategy

22 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We're often taught that peace is a lovely, but ultimately impossible, ideal—the stuff of beauty pageants and utopian fantasies. But what if that’s...

Infodemic 2 | Focus on Speaking and Vocabulary

16 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You've learned how to spot misinformation, but how do you talk about it without starting a fight? This episode is your practical guide to navigating t...

Infodemic 1 | Your Guide to Thinking Critically in a World of Noise

15 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever felt like you're living in a completely different reality from someone else, even when looking at the same event? Welcome to the Infodem...

Mind Matters 5 | The Story of Brain Disorders

12 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the final episode of our "Mind Matters" series, we take an epic journey through time to understand how our perception of brain disorders has evolve...

Mind Matters 4 | Speaking with Compassion

11 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Words have the power to heal or to harm. This practical, skills-based episode of "Mind Matters" is your essential toolkit for speaking about brain dis...

Mind Matters 3 | Understanding Brain Disorders: Types of Brain Disorders

10 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of "Mind Matters," we become cartographers of the mind, providing a clear and accessible map to the major categories of brain disorder...

Mind Matters 2 | EduStory: Sarah's Silence

09 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of "Mind Matters," we move from theory to lived experience with an "Edustory" titled "Sarah's Silence." We follow the story of a talen...

Mind Matters 01: Your Brain is an Organ. Let's Start Treating It Like One.

08 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is the foundational episode for our "Mind Matters" week. We begin by defining what a "brain disorder" is, creating a broad umbrella that includes...

MagTalk | Seeing Isn't Believing: Your Guide to Navigating the Age of AI Deepfakes

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Remember when "pics or it didn't happen" was the ultimate proof? Those days are over. With AI deepfake technology, anyone can create realistic but ent...

The Story of AI | The Human Odyssey Series

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is the story of a dream, perhaps one of humanity's oldest and most audacious: the dream of a thinking machine. It's a tale that begins not with s...