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
Robert Peston on How to Save Democracy
In the second part of our special Christmas episode in association Tortoise, Intelligence Squared welcomes Robert Peston to the Tabernacle Theatre in London to…
- Intelligence Squared
Best of 2023: David Baddiel and Succession VS The White Lotus
The Intelligence Squared team look back across 2023 in the third of our staff picks episodes. Senior Producer Tom Hall joins Associate Producer Layla Ishmail…
- Intelligence Squared
Best of 2023: Bernie Sanders and Russell Kane
The Intelligence Squared team continue their look back across 2023 to pick their favourite moments from all of the podcasts we've produced over the past 12…
- Intelligence Squared
Best of 2023: Jude Law, Christina Lamb and Simon Reeve
The Intelligence Squared team look back across 2023 to pick their favourite moments from all of the podcasts we've produced over the past 12 months. First up…
- Intelligence Squared
Holiday Reads: Michael Lewis, Victoria Smith and Ravinder Bhogal
For the third and final instalment of Intelligence Squared's Holiday Reads selection looking back at some of the best books of the year, Conor Boyle and Feyi…
- Intelligence Squared
What was the Biggest Story of 2023? With James Harding, Robert Peston and The News Meeting
In this special Christmas episode in association Tortoise, Intelligence Squared welcomes the team from Tortoise Media's The News Meeting podcast to a live…
- Intelligence Squared
Nick Cave on Faith, Hope and Carnage
As leader of the Bad Seeds, musician Nick Cave is well known for his dark take on the songwriting craft but in recent years the performer and author has also…
- Intelligence Squared
Holiday Reads: Mary Beard, Rory Stewart, Tomiwa Owolade and Tania Branigan
For the second instalment of Intelligence Squared's Holiday Reads selection looking back at some of the best books of the year, Conor Boyle and Feyi Adegbite…
- Intelligence Squared
Stuffed: Pen Vogler on Britain's Food History
Pen Vogler is the acclaimed food historian whose recent book, Stuffed, tells the history of food in Britain and how what we eat has shaped society over the…
- Intelligence Squared
Holiday Reads: Naomi Klein, Mehdi Hasan and Mustafa Suleyman
Intelligence Squared's Feyi Adegbite and Conor Boyle compile a selection of stocking fillers while enjoying a look back at some of the year's best chats from…
- Intelligence Squared
Unlock Your Potential, with Adam Grant And Andrew McAfee
Organisational psychologist Adam Grant and IT research scientist Andrew McAfee discuss how we can all learn to unlock a bit more of our own potential with…
- Intelligence Squared
Is Capitalism Racist?
Arun Kundnani is a writer on issues such as race, culture and empire. His most recent book is: What Is Antiracism? And Why It Means Anticapitalism. Kundnani…
- Intelligence Squared
The Power of Poetry: Words to Heal and Inspire
For this episode we’re heading back to the Poetry Pharmacy – a health-check for both mind and spirit – brought to you by poetry publisher, advocate and founder…
- Intelligence Squared
Remembering Benjamin Zephaniah
The poet, writer and activist Benjamin Zephaniah sadly passed away this week, aged 65. In this archive discussion from 2019, journalist Samira Ahmed speaks…
- Intelligence Squared
Michael Pollan and Xand Van Tulleken on the Science of Psychedelics
In this episode from the Intelligence Squared archive, we jump back to 2019 for a discussion with the acclaimed food writer Michael Pollan, whose book How To…
- Intelligence Squared
For What it's Worth: The Importance of Recognition and Being Seen
Michele Lamont is a Professor of Sociology and African and African American Studies at Harvard University, and a pioneer of cultural and comparative sociology…
- Intelligence Squared
Extremely Online: Taylor Lorenz on the Rise of the Creator Economy
Taylor Lorenz is a writer, tech journalist and columnist for the Washington Post. Her new book is is Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence and…
- Intelligence Squared
A Death in Malta: Paul Caruana Galizia on the Legacy of Daphne Caruana Galizia
Paul Caruana Galizia is an award-winning journalist and now author. His new book is A Death in Malta, which tells the story of the life and death of his…
- Intelligence Squared
The Saudi Project, Part Three: Football Mad
For episode three of Intelligence Squared's new podcast exploring Saudi Arabia's pursuit of global influence, award winning author and journalist James…
- Intelligence Squared
The Patriarchs: Angela Saini on the Roots of Gendered Oppression
What are the true origins of gendered oppression? Why does gender inequality persist despite efforts for change? What part do we all play in keeping…
- Intelligence Squared
The Poetry Pharmacy Returns with William Sieghart
For this episode, we’re revisiting one of our favourite events from the past few years, The Poetry Pharmacy Returns. Back in 2019, we gathered a stellar…
- Intelligence Squared
Know Your Place: Does Class Still Rule Britain? With Dr Faiza Shaheen
In summer 2023, academic and politician Faiza Shaheen came to Intelligence Squared to argue that social mobility is collapsing in Britain and the government’s…
- Intelligence Squared
The Futureverse: The Tools of Success, with Dave Evans and Dr. Grace Lorden
In this episode, Kamal Ahmed is joined by two bestselling authors: a life designer and a behavioural scientist to discuss the tools and insights that we can…
- Intelligence Squared
The Saudi Project, Part Two: The Dubai Model
In this excerpt from Intelligence Squared's new podcast, The Saudi Project, Quinn Slobodian, author of Crack-Up Capitalism and Professor of History at…
- Intelligence Squared
The Saudi Project, Part One: The Birth of a Nation
For the first episode of Intelligence Squared's new podcast, The Saudi Project, Saudi Arabian professor of social anthropology and author of Salman's Legacy…
- Intelligence Squared
Mary Beard And Rory Stewart On Power And Politics, Part Two
This is Part Two of a three-episode discussion. Who gets to win power and how do they keep it – and lose it? These are the questions that Mary Beard and Rory…
- Intelligence Squared
Mary Beard And Rory Stewart On Power And Politics, Part One
Who gets to win power and how do they keep it – and lose it? These are the questions that Mary Beard and Rory Stewart addressed when they came to Intelligence…
- Intelligence Squared
How Jane Austen Changed My Life
Helen Fielding, creator of the Bridget Jones novels and films, and Gill Hornby, author of the bestseller Miss Austen, join Sotheby’s books specialist Kalika…
- Intelligence Squared
The Epic Reach of Homer's Iliad
Robin Lane Fox, the classicist, ancient historian and also green-fingered gardening writer, discusses his most recent book: Homer and His Iliad. The Iliad, and…
- Intelligence Squared
The Identity Trap of Modern Politics
For this episode, Yascha Mounk, the writer and political scientist discusses his recent book The Identity Trap, which explores what Mounk refers to as the…
- Intelligence Squared
Monsters and Masterpieces: Art in the Age of #MeToo
Can we love the art of monstrous men? Can we truly separate the art from the artist? To answer these questions author and critic Claire Dederer came to…
- Intelligence Squared
Tides of Transformation: Regulating Oil
The Government has introduced new legislation requiring annual rounds of oil and gas licensing in the North Sea. What is the relationship between licensing…
- Intelligence Squared
Power Trip, Part Five: AI and the Future of Humanity
In the final instalment of POWER TRIP, Carl Miller is looking towards the future and asking: will it be as dystopian as many fear? The difference between a…
- Intelligence Squared
The Psychosis of Whiteness
Academic, activist and author Kehinde Andrews is Professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University. His books include Back to Black: Retelling Black…
- Intelligence Squared
Return or Retain? The Parthenon Marbles Debate, with Ed Vaizey and Noel Malcolm
For almost 40 years, the Parthenon Marbles, or Elgin Marbles as they are also known, have been at the centre of the great restitution debate. Taken from Greece…
- Intelligence Squared
China’s Quest for Global Influence
Is China’s ascendance to world leadership an unstoppable force or a challenge we can overcome? Axios reporter Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian's recent book, Beijing…
- Intelligence Squared
Power Trip, Part Four: AI and Governance
Can AI be controlled? In this episode Carl Miller discovers what governments and governing bodies are doing to ensure AI is evolving in a way that can benefit…
- Intelligence Squared
Gillian Tett on the Year Ahead
Gillian Tett is one of the world’s most in-demand economists. An acclaimed columnist and author at the Financial Times, she has long used her training as an…
- Intelligence Squared
What exactly is Black British culture today? | IQ2 Opinion
As Black History Month in the UK draws to a close, Intelligence Squared's Feyi Adegbite reflects on how the Black identity in the UK has changed over the years…
- Intelligence Squared
Michael Lewis on The Rise and Fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, Part Two
This is the second instalment of a three-part discussion. Michael Lewis is the renowned author of bestselling nonfiction hits including Moneyball, The Big…
- Intelligence Squared
Michael Lewis on The Rise and Fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, Part One
Michael Lewis is the renowned author of bestselling nonfiction hits including Moneyball, The Big Short, Flash Boys and Liar’s Poker. His latest is his most…
- Intelligence Squared
James Baldwin: A Man For Our Times with Eddie Glaude
America is at a crossroads. It is a time of moral reckoning, an opportunity for the nation to choose whether it will become a genuinely multiracial democracy…
- Intelligence Squared
Power Trip, Part Three: AI and Society
There isn't one narrative that fits all around AI. In this episode Carl Miller looks at how the future of artificial intelligence will be one beset by bias…
- Intelligence Squared
The Sceptic's Guide to Self Help
Oliver Burkeman is the anti-self-help author that everyone interested in self-help should read. He encourages us to embrace uncertainty and imperfection in a…
- Intelligence Squared
Simon Schama on Pandemics and the Health of Nations, Part Two
This is the second instalment a two-part discussion. Bestselling author, historian and broadcaster Simon Schama discusses Foreign Bodies, his new epic history…
- Intelligence Squared
Simon Schama on Pandemics and the Health of Nations, Part One
For this first episode of a two-part discussion, bestselling author, historian and broadcaster Simon Schama discusses Foreign Bodies, his new epic history of…
- Intelligence Squared
A History of Women in 101 Objects
Annabelle Hirsch’s recent book is A History of Women in 101 Objects; a selective exploration through the past, both ancient and modern, looking at items found…
- Intelligence Squared
Power Trip, Part Two: AI and the Workforce
We revisit POWER TRIP, Intelligence Squared's new podcast investigating the past and future of AI. Carl Miller asks who will win and who will lose, as AI's…
- Intelligence Squared
Fear: An Alternative History of the World
Anyone who follows the news cycle knows that between conflict and pandemics, the looming threat of the climate crisis, powerful AI and not to mention political…
- Intelligence Squared
Wes Streeting on Navigating a Path from Poverty to Politics
The Labour MP Wes Streeting reveals his childhood struggle with poverty and the inspirational figures who set him on the path to university and politics in…
- Intelligence Squared
Oil Today: Beyond Extraction
This is an episode of Tides of Transformation: An Oil Story, a brand new podcast from Intelligence Squared. In this episode, Gavin Bridge from Durham…
- Intelligence Squared
Power Trip: The Age of AI
When did you first hear of GPT, Claude, DALL-E or Bard? Feels like a while ago, right? In barely over a year AI has permeated our conversations, our places of…
- Intelligence Squared
Gillian Tett and Yanis Varoufakis: Can We Fix Capitalism?
We revisit a debate from 2021 between the former Greek finance minister, economist and author Yanis Varoufakis, and Gillian Tett, the Financial Times…
- Intelligence Squared
Debate: We Should All Go Vegan, Part 2
This is the second instalment of our two-part debate, with George Monbiot, Guardian columnist, environmental campaigner and author of Regenesis: Feeding the…
- Intelligence Squared
Debate: We Should All Go Vegan, Part 1
In this two-part debate, George Monbiot, Guardian columnist, environmental campaigner and author of Regenesis: Feeding the World without Devouring the Planet…
- Intelligence Squared
The End of the Murdoch Empire
Until recently, the Murdoch's formed the most powerful media and political force in America. Now their empire is cracking up and crashing down. Michael Wolff…
- Intelligence Squared
What Britain Gets Wrong About Race
Tomiwa Owolade is a rising star of literary and cultural criticism in the UK. His first book is This Is Not America: Why Black Lives in Britain Matter. In this…
- Intelligence Squared
Putin's Shrinking Circle: Russia after Prigozhin
Mark Galeotti is one of the world’s leading experts on modern Russia and is the author of books such as Putin’s Wars: From Chechnya to Ukraine and The…
- Intelligence Squared
Whose Word is 'Woke'?
Philosopher Susan Neiman and cultural critic Thomas Chatterton Williams take part in a challenging conversation on the themes of Neiman’s new book Left is Not…
- Intelligence Squared
The New Science Behind Tackling Depression
Philip Gold is one of the world's leading researchers of depressive illness. Since 1974, he has worked at the National Institute of Health, where he has served…