Shows / Intelligence Squared
Intelligence Squared
Ideas shape the world. Intelligence Squared brings you the conversations that explain them. In every episode, we bring together leading thinkers, writers, scientists, policymakers and entrepreneurs, to challenge assumptions, test ideas and debate the questions shaping our future. If you want to think more clearly about the world and where it's heading, you're in the right place. If you’d like to support our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations, as well as ad-free…
Episodes
- Intelligence Squared
Unlocking the Power of Memory, with Charan Ranganath
Charan Ranganath is the Director of the Memory and Plasticity Program and a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of California at Davis…
- Intelligence Squared
Going Nuclear: Could a Catastrophic Conflict Take Place? with Annie Jacobsen
Annie Jacobsen is an investigative journalist and author whose books probe the periphery of what we know about state warcraft and read like unputdownable…
- Intelligence Squared
Finding the Story within Ordinary Human Failings, with Megan Nolan
Megan Nolan is an Irish journalist and author who has made a name for herself by cutting to the quick of the most uncomfortable facets of the human experience…
- Intelligence Squared
Why We Need to Slow Down to Save the Planet, with Kohei Saito
Kohei Saito is the Japanese philosopher and associate professor of philosophy at the University of Tokyo, whose ideas have become highly influential in the…
- Intelligence Squared
A Journey Into Our Geopolitical Future, with Elliot Ackerman
With AI's capabilities now beginning to conjure visions reminiscent of science fiction, it's fiction writers who are pointing the way to where these tools will…
- Intelligence Squared
Are You Free? How Work Relentlessly Eats Up Our Time
In a world increasingly built around convenience, why do we often feel so short of free time? It’s a question that’s been on the minds of authors Nick Srnicek…
- Intelligence Squared
Comedy in Dark Times, with Armando Iannucci and Helen Lewis, Part Two
This is the second instalment of a three-part discussion. Armando Iannucci is one of Britain’s best-loved comedy writers. The creator of hit shows such as The…
- Intelligence Squared
Comedy in Dark Times, with Armando Iannucci and Helen Lewis, Part One
Armando Iannucci is one of Britain’s best-loved comedy writers. The creator of hit shows such as The Thick Of It, Veep and Alan Partridge, Iannucci is renowned…
- Intelligence Squared
Love and Brotherhood in Black Gay Britain, with Jason Okundaye
Jason Okundaye is a writer whose essays and work have been published in titles such as The London Review of Books, the Guardian, British GQ and more. His debut…
- Intelligence Squared
How Technology Has Made Us What We Are, with Tom Chatfield
Tom Chatfield is a tech philosopher whose new book looks at how humans have lived side by side with technology for millennia and offers ideas for how humanity…
- Intelligence Squared
Misogyny and the Middle-Aged Woman, with Victoria Smith, Hadley Freeman and Sonia Sodha, Part Two
This is Part Two of a three-part discussion. Why are middle-aged women these days subject to so much rage and hatred – frequently from people who see…
- Intelligence Squared
Misogyny and the Middle-Aged Woman, with Victoria Smith, Hadley Freeman and Sonia Sodha, Part One
This is Part One of a three-part discussion. Why are middle-aged women these days subject to so much rage and hatred – frequently from people who see…
- Intelligence Squared
The Long Shadow of AI, with Madhumita Murgia
As a writer who focuses on technology and as AI Editor for The Financial Times, Madhumita Murgia has been unable to ignore the increasing reach of AI into the…
- Intelligence Squared
How to Fix the Inequality of Wealth, with Liam Byrne
The Labour MP Liam Byrne is Chair of the House of Commons Business and Trade Select Committee. He also served on the front bench for both prime ministers…
- Intelligence Squared
Page-Turner: A History of the Notebook
Roland Allen is a publisher and author whose new book is a history of that everyday essential, the humble notebook. His book – The Notebook: A History of…
- Intelligence Squared
Reimagining the Life of Mary, Queen of Scots, with Flora Carr
Debut novelist Flora Carr's new book, The Tower, looks at the life Scotland's 16th-century monarch Mary, Queen of Scots. In this tale of desire and friendship…
- Intelligence Squared
The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook with Martin Wolf
2024 is set to be a seismic year. A win by Donald Trump in the US presidential election could upend the world economy, ongoing military conflicts could…
- Intelligence Squared
Can You Put a Price Tag on a Life? with Jenny Kleeman
It’s often said that you can’t put a price on a life but in the name of business many organisations do it everyday. Drawing from the themes of her latest book…
- Intelligence Squared
The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler, with Peter Pomerantsev
Peter Pomerantsev is the journalist, author and academic who specialises in disinformation and the more covert mass communication techniques of our…
- Intelligence Squared
Debate: Save Our Private Schools – VAT Should Not Be Charged On Private School Fees, Part Two
This is the second instalment of our live debate with an expert panel deciding whether the UK's private schools should continue to enjoy their tax advantages…
- Intelligence Squared
Debate: Save Our Private Schools – VAT Should Not Be Charged On Private School Fees, Part One
In this live debate, our expert panel decides whether the UK's private schools should continue to enjoy their tax advantages. The UK has an education system…
- Intelligence Squared
Fluke: How Chance and Chaos Shapes Our Existence, with Brian Klaas
In a world of chaos and disaster where many of us already feel powerless, it can be humbling to consider the idea of chance and fate having a big hand in all…
- Intelligence Squared
Tim Marshall: How Geography Explains Our World, Part Two
This is the second instalment of our two-part discussion. Tim Marshall is one of the world’s most successful authors on foreign affairs. He’s the writer who…
- Intelligence Squared
Tim Marshall: How Geography Explains Our World, Part One
Tim Marshall is one of the world’s most successful authors on foreign affairs. He’s the writer who put the ‘geo’ into geopolitics with his multi-million…
- Intelligence Squared
Sotheby's Talks: Impressionism and its Legacy
In this episode, Helen Newman, Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe is joined by Paul Signac’s great granddaughter Charlotte Hellman, artist Erik Madigan Heck, and the…
- Intelligence Squared
Archive: The Joy of Science, with Jim Al-Khalili
In this archive listen from 2022, Professor Jim Al-Khalili is the physicist who makes science look easy. He’s the author of several books including The Joy of…
- Intelligence Squared
Stuck in the Middle? Sociologist Corey Keyes on the Condition of Languishing
Corey Keyes is a sociologist and a professor at Emory University in Georgia who studies positive wellbeing: how humans thrive and flourish. He coined the term…
- Intelligence Squared
Head of TED Chris Anderson and Jon Ronson on Translating Optimism Into Action, Part Two
In Part Two of our double episode discussion, we're once again joined by head of TED, Chris Anderson. He has had a ringside view of the world’s most…
- Intelligence Squared
Head of TED Chris Anderson and Jon Ronson on Translating Optimism Into Action, Part One
As head of TED, Chris Anderson has had a ringside view of the world’s most influential thinkers in action. TED’s annual conference in Vancouver sees thousands…
- Intelligence Squared
Archive: Killer in the Kremlin, with John Sweeney
The recent death of Russian anti-corruption activist, opposition leader and political prisoner Alexei Navalny while serving a decades-long sentence in a remote…
- Intelligence Squared
Six Centuries of Feminist Writing, with Hannah Dawson and Merve Emre
How has feminist thought evolved throughout the ages? Beginning in the fifteenth century with Christine de Pizan, who imagined a City of Ladies that would…
- Intelligence Squared
Material World: How Six Crucial Substances Shape the Global Economy
There are six crucial substances in human history, according to writer and broadcaster Ed Conway: sand, iron, salt, oil, copper and lithium. They took us from…
- Intelligence Squared
Energised: How Do We Create A Green Jobs Revolution?
Solar panel installers, architects, environmental scientists, recycling coordinators, wind turbine engineers, geologists, project managers, electric vehicle…
- Intelligence Squared
Novelist Helen Oyeyemi on Why the City of Prague has Main Character Energy
The latest book from critically acclaimed writer Helen Oyeyemi, Parasol Against the Axe, is a novel set among the city of Prague’s streets. It’s often said…
- Intelligence Squared
Why the Political World's a Stage
Richard Sennett is a sociologist and the Centennial Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics, whose work has given particular focus to areas…
- Intelligence Squared
Is Democracy Future-proof? with Jonathan White and David Runciman
2024 is set to be the biggest election year in history but what happens to politics when it’s always about the next election? We lose our sense of perspective…
- Intelligence Squared
Alastair Campbell on Starmer, Sunak, and Saving Britain From Itself, Part Two
This is the second instalment of a three-part discussion. Often described as the second most powerful figure in Britain during the Blair governments, Alastair…
- Intelligence Squared
Alastair Campbell on Starmer, Sunak, and Saving Britain From Itself, Part One
Often described as the second most powerful figure in Britain during the Blair governments, Alastair Campbell was pivotal as a strategist in leading New Labour…
- Intelligence Squared
A History of Magic and Astrology
In uncertain times, people look to the stars and otherworldly influences for guidance. It has always been so, says Professor of History at Princeton…
- Intelligence Squared
The Lost Stories of the Last Captives of the Atlantic Slave Trade
Hannah Durkin is a historian whose new book, Survivors: The Lost Stories of the Last Captives of the Atlantic Slave Trade, shines a light on the final years of…
- Intelligence Squared
The Showman: How Volodymyr Zelensky Shines on the World Stage
Simon Shuster is senior correspondent for Time. As a journalist working in both Russia and Ukraine for nearly two decades, he has watched and reported on the…
- Intelligence Squared
How to Prevent Dementia, with Richard Restak
According to the WHO, Alzheimer’s ranks as the seventh leading cause of death globally. By 2050 or earlier in the absence of a breakthrough, the number of…
- Intelligence Squared
How to be a Supercommunicator, with Charles Duhigg
Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer prize-winning reporter and the celebrated author of bestselling book, The Power of Habit. The writer for the New Yorker returns…
- Intelligence Squared
Adam Grant and Tim Harford on Achieving Greatness, Part Two
This is the second instalment of our thee-part conversation with organisational psychologist and bestselling author Adam Grant. He is one of the most…
- Intelligence Squared
Adam Grant and Tim Harford on Achieving Greatness, Part One
Adam Grant is one of the most sought-after organisational psychologists in the world. He has provided expert advice to many of the world’s greatest business…
- Intelligence Squared
Fame, Women and the Toxic Noughties
Columnist and writer Sarah Ditum is the author of Toxic, which explores how internet culture changed the face of celebrity forever during the early 2000s. The…
- Intelligence Squared
Adventures in Philosophy with Daniel Dennett and Richard Dawkins
Two formidable minds explore the worlds of philosophy, science and the places where those two disciplines meet for this episode. Daniel Dennett is the American…
- Intelligence Squared
Life Lessons from the Early Greeks with Adam Nicolson
Adam Nicolson is the writer and author whose past books have explored immersive and at times weighty topics such as our understanding of the Bible and the work…
- Intelligence Squared
The Mend is Nigh: Hannah Ritchie on How to Build a Sustainable Planet
Hannah Ritchie is the influential data scientist and researcher whose new book adds a rare glimpse of optimism to the conversation surrounding the future…
- Intelligence Squared
Daniel Goleman on How to Reach the Optimal Mindset
The psychologist, writer and journalist Daniel Goleman is the author the bestselling book Emotional Intelligence and many more popular titles exploring the…
- Intelligence Squared
Another Side of the Moon: How the Lunar Landscape Inspires Imagination
Rebecca Boyle is an award-winning science writer whose words have appeared in titles such as The Atlantic, New Scientist and the New York Times. Her new book…
- Intelligence Squared
The Political Thought of Xi Jinping
China’s President Xi Jinping is a figure of extraordinary influence around the world but it in the West the nuances and intricacies of his political agenda are…
- Intelligence Squared
Sotheby’s Talks: Munch, with Tracey Emin
This is an episode of Sotheby's Talks, the podcast that celebrates art, culture, and collecting. Edvard Munch pioneered Expressionism and embraced life’s most…
- Intelligence Squared
How The Female Body Has Driven Evolution
Cat Bohannon is a researcher and author with a PhD from Columbia University in the evolution of narrative and cognition. Her essays and poems have appeared in…
- Intelligence Squared
Power Grab: David Runciman on the Reach of Corporations, States and AI
David Runciman is Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and the author of books including The Politics of Good Intentions, Political Hypocrisy and The…
- Intelligence Squared
All Talk: How Dialects and Diversity Enrich the Culture of the UK
Rob Drummond is Professor of Sociolinguistics at Manchester Metropolitan University. His recent book You’re All Talk explores the enormous diversity in our…
- Intelligence Squared
Fixing France: Nabila Ramdani on How to Repair a Broken Republic
Nabila Ramdani is a French-Algerian writer, broadcaster and academic, whose recent book is Fixing France: How to Repair a Broken Republic. Historically, France…
- Intelligence Squared
Blazing Ambition: the Life of Margaret Cavendish
Born near Colchester, England in 1623, Margaret Cavendish was a writer blazing a trail for women during a time when the world was dominated by men. Her writing…
- Intelligence Squared
Debate: Free Will is an Illusion
We’re all making life choices at this time of year – perhaps a few new years' resolutions are in the mix – either way, you’ll have a stake in a tussle of big…
- Intelligence Squared
Best of 2023: James Comey, Armando Iannucci and Bach vs Beethoven
In the fourth and final part of our staff picks episodes the Intelligence Squared team continue their look back across 2023 to pick their favourite moments…