- alle zwei WochenErscheinungsrhythmus
- 25 mintypische Länge
- 23. Okt.letzte Folge
Are you looking for a more interesting way to learn English?
English Learning for Curious Minds is an English podcast for intermediate and advanced English learners who want to improve their English listening while learning weird and wonderful things about the world.
If you want to learn English naturally, improve your English listening skills, and discover fascinating ideas at the same time, this podcast is for you.
Every episode helps you improve your English through interesting stories, history, psychology, business, culture, science, and strange-but-true events from around the world. Instead of textbook exercises or boring grammar drills, you’ll learn English through ideas worth talking about.
This is an English-learning podcast for curious adults — people who want to build confidence in English, improve listening comprehension, expand vocabulary in context, and enjoy the process of learning.
This podcast is spoken in clear, British English.
Whether you want English listening practice, vocabulary in context, or simply a way to learn through ideas worth talking about, you'll find episodes designed for intermediate to advanced learners and spoken at a speed you can understand.
Every episode comes with:
* Interactive transcripts
* Subtitles
* Key vocabulary explanations
* Bonus learning materials
* PDF study packs
You’ll hear episodes about history, psychology, language, business, habits, strange stories, culture, communication, and the ideas that shape how people think and behave — all designed to help you improve your English naturally.
Questions we help listeners answer include:
* How can I improve my English listening?
* How can I learn English without boring textbooks?
* What is the best English podcast for intermediate learners?
* How can I build vocabulary in context?
* How can I stay motivated while learning English?
Join listeners in 189 countries and discover a more interesting way to learn English.
Find bonus episodes, interactive transcripts, subtitles, vocabulary explanations, and more at www.leonardoenglish.com
Folgen
#639 | What’s Wrong With Italy’s Economy?
Italy builds Ferraris and Lamborghinis, welcomes millions of tourists, and produces food, fashion and design admired around the world. Yet beneath all that beauty, its economy has spent decades running without going anywhere. What went wron
#636 | Victor Lustig: The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower
In 1925, Victor Lustig convinced a Paris scrap-metal dealer that the French government was selling the Eiffel Tower. His secret was a mixture of official papers, careful acting, and victims too embarrassed to report him. He later returned t
#634 | Nuclear Power's Unlikely Comeback
Nuclear power was meant to disappear in much of Europe, but Germany, Belgium and Italy are changing their minds. Rising energy demand, climate concerns and artificial intelligence are making old reactors and new designs attractive again. •
#631 | The Dark Side of Psychology | The Milgram Experiment
In 1961, psychologist Stanley Milgram tested how far ordinary Americans would go when an authority figure told them to hurt someone. His disturbing experiment revealed the power of obedience and raised frightening questions about how easily
#629 | “Please, Sir, I Want Some More": The Truth About Victorian Workhouses
Charles Dickens made the Victorian workhouse famous, but the reality behind Oliver Twist was even worse than fiction. This episode tells how workhouses treated Britain’s poorest people, and how pensions and the welfare state finally replace
#626 | The Strange Story of Punch and Judy
He wears a red hat, carries a stick, and laughs as he beats almost everyone he meets. This episode tells the odd, violent story of Punch and Judy, the puppet show that began in Italy and became a British seaside symbol. It looks at how Mr P
#624 | George III: The Real Story of the “Mad King”
In 1788, King George III began speaking without pause, talking to trees, and frightening his court. He is often remembered as the “Mad King” who lost America, but his life was far more complex and tragic. This episode looks at the devoted f
#622 | A Short History of Fire
A million years ago, in a cave in South Africa, our ancestors did something no other animal has ever done: they controlled fire. Fire cooked our food, shrank our guts, grew our brains, and gave us the deep sleep and fireside stories that ma
#619 | Wyatt Earp | The Man Behind the Legend (English Listening Practice)
In 1881, a 30-second gunfight in Tombstone, Arizona made Wyatt Earp a legend of the Wild West. Earp was a gambler, a lawman, a fugitive, and later a showman who told his own legend for cash. So who fired first at the OK Corral, and how did
#617 | Bob Denard: The Mercenary Who Ruled the Comoros (English Listening Practice)
In 1975, a French mercenary landed in the Comoros, a chain of small islands off East Africa, and decided he was going to run the place. Bob Denard staged four coups, converted to Islam, built a farm, and controlled the country from the shad
#614 | The Conquest of Ireland: How England Never Left (English Listening Practice)
How did a small band of Norman soldiers in 1170 begin 800 years of English control over Ireland? It started as a deal between rival Irish kings. It ended in plantation, dispossession, and a divided island. This is the story of how a short-t
#612 | Should Britain Abolish Jury Trials? (English Listening Practice)
Who should decide if you are guilty: the state, or a group of 12 ordinary citizens? England is now considering getting rid of jury trials for thousands of cases. It would be the biggest change to the justice system since the Middle Ages. •
#609 | A Short History of Blasphemy in Britain (English Listening Practice)
When Thomas Aikenhead was hanged in 1697 for questioning the Bible, it was the last time someone was executed for blasphemy in Britain. But it didn't mean that debates around blasphemy went away. In this episode, we'll trace the history of
#607 | The Life of JD Vance (English Listening Practice)
JD Vance grew up in a struggling Ohio town, escaped poverty, and wrote a memoir that made him famous across the world. Then, having spent years attacking Donald Trump, he became his most loyal ally — and, in January 2025, Vice President of
#604 | Otto Warmbier: The American Tourist Who Never Came Home (English Listening Practice)
In 2016, a 21-year-old American student was arrested in North Korea after allegedly stealing a political poster. Weeks later, he appeared in a strange public confession and was sentenced to fifteen years of hard labour. Seventeen months on,
#602 | AI & Learning English in 2026 (English Listening Practice)
Ever since ChatGPT was released, people have declared the "death of language learning". It still hasn't happened. Today, we'll look at how AI can help with reading, writing, listening, and speaking in 2026, and where it still falls short. C
#599 | Man's Best Friend: The Remarkable History of Dogs (English Listening Practice)
Why do dogs understand us so well, and how did the "wild" wolf become man's closest companion? This episode tells the remarkable story of how a partnership thousands of years ago changed both species forever. From ancient myths to modern li
#597 | The Global Housing Crisis Explained (English Listening Practice)
House prices have soared across the world, rising far faster than wages and locking many people out of home ownership. This episode looks at why cheap credit, global investors, short-term rentals, and slow building have pushed prices ever h
#594 | Mohammed Bin Salman & The Rise of Saudi Arabia (English Listening Practice)
For decades, Saudi Arabia was ruled by ageing princes, until one young royal began changing the system from within. This episode tells the story of Mohammed bin Salman, and how he rose rapidly to become Saudi Arabia’s most powerful figure.
#592 | A Beginner’s Guide To British Politics (English Listening Practice)
British politics can feel confusing, with a king, a Prime Minister, and noisy debates in an old building. This episode explains how the system works, from Parliament and voting to why two parties have ruled for so long. • Magna Carta and ea
#590 | The Unabomber | The Story of Ted Kaczynski (English Listening Practice)
He was a mathematical genius who vanished into the wilderness... and became one of America’s most notorious terrorists. In this episode, we'll explore the life of the Unabomber, the manifesto that finally exposed him, and the manhunt that l
#587 | The Curious Tradition of Words of the Year (English Listening Practice)
What do “truthiness”, “selfie”, and “goblin mode” have in common? In this episode, we'll see how Words of the Year are chosen, look at some of the most pertinent from history, and explore the winners of this year's prize. • What "Word of th
#585 | Is AI Really Destroying the Planet?
Is AI really a disaster for the environment, or are the fears exaggerated? In this episode, we'll discuss the environmental cost of Artificial Intelligence. From a water controversy in Scotland to the heat of Arizona, we look at how much en
#582 | Piazza Fontana & The Accidental Death of An Anarchist
A deadly bomb. A death in a police station. A secret kept from the public. In 1969, an explosion in Milan killed 17 people. The police accused a group of anarchists, but the story was not that simple. In part one of this three-part mini-ser
#580 | Operation Valkyrie & The Plot To Kill Hitler
On 20 July 1944, a bomb ripped through a meeting room in Hitler’s Wolf’s Lair. This episode tells how Operation Valkyrie *almost* managed to kill Adolf Hitler, and the vicious crackdown that came afterwards. • The Wolf’s Lair meeting on 20
#577 | A Short History Of Universities
In part one of a three-part mini-series on the theme of "university", we go on a whirlwind tour of the history of universities, from medieval student guilds in Bologna to the modern day. • The University of Bologna nears its thousand-year a
#575 | The Science of Happiness: Can It Be Measured?
What does happiness really mean, and can it be measured? In this episode, we move from Aristotle’s eudaimonia to brain scans, surveys, big data, and what truly lifts our mood. It asks why money only helps so much, why social ties matter, an
#572 | Caligula | Psychopath, Sadist, Emperor
In part one of our three-part series on "Tyrants of the Roman Empire," we'll meet Caligula, the notorious Roman emperor known for his cruelty and excess. Once hailed as a promising leader, Caligula's reign quickly devolved into a nightmare,
#570 | DOGE | Elon Musk's Quest to Shrink the US Government
The Department of Governmental Efficiency, otherwise known as DOGE, was a radical plan to cut government waste and reduce spending. Where did the idea come from? How did it work? And crucially, did it do what it set out to do? • Background
#567 | Ross Ulbricht & The Silk Road | Drugs, Bitcoin & Digital Outlaws
Was Ross Ulbricht a visionary pioneer or a dangerous criminal? In part one of our series on "Young American Outlaws", we explore the rise and fall of the Silk Road and how Ulbricht's life sentence, followed by a 2025 presidential pardon, sp
