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 SquaredThe Sunday Debate: Is Labour Unelectable?
The Labour Party has been out of power for over a decade. And after a historic electoral defeat in the 2019 general election, the party looks to be in real…
Intelligence SquaredCOP26: How Women Can Save the Planet, with Anne Karpf
As the COP26 global climate summit takes place, many are asking who is really responsible for the climate emergency and who might be able to prevent it? Dr…
Intelligence SquaredHow to fix a country, with James Plunkett
James Plunkett's new book, End State: 9 Ways Society is Broken, draws on his years working in both public policy and at the top tiers of government. A former…
Intelligence SquaredBusiness Weekly: Scary Smart with Mo Gawdat
Mo Gawdat was Chief Business Officer of Google X, the experimental development arm of the internet behemoth. He's since written books on how to find happiness…
Intelligence SquaredThe Sunday Debate: Is COP26 a turning point for the planet?
This debate, recorded on Thursday 28th October 2021, was part of Energised, a debate series from Intelligence Squared in partnership with Iberdrola, a leading…
Intelligence SquaredCOP26: Everything you need to know
With the devastating effects of the climate emergency becoming more urgent by the day, the COP26 summit in Glasgow now represents a pivotal moment in global…
Intelligence SquaredMary Beard on Images of Power from the Ancient to the Modern World
What does the face of power look like? Who gets commemorated in art and why? And how do we react to statues of figures we deplore? In October 2021 Mary Beard…
Intelligence SquaredBusiness Weekly: Richard Branson on a Life of Entrepreneurship
In this week's Business Weekly, Samira Ahmed speaks to business mogul Sir Richard Branson about becoming a serial entrepreneur developing the Virgin brand…
Intelligence SquaredThe Sunday Debate: Should the West pay Reparations for Slavery?
Should there be a broad programme of reparations – not just financial compensation, but acknowledgement of the crimes committed and the lasting damage caused…
Intelligence SquaredThe Untold Story of African Europeans, with Olivette Otele
The history of Africans in Europe may seem recent – a result of migration in the 20th and 21st centuries – but in her new book, African Europeans, historian…
Intelligence SquaredEmpire of Pain: Sacklers, Opioids and the Sickening of America
How did one family become associated with an epidemic of drug addiction that has caused the death of almost half a million people? In this episode…
Intelligence SquaredBusiness Weekly: No Bullsh*t Leadership with Jimmy Wales
Chris Hirst, Global CEO of advertising group Havas Creative, cuts through the bullshit and gets to the heart of modern leadership in this straight-talking…
Intelligence SquaredThe Sunday Debate: China, friend or foe?
Is China an enemy that needs to be reined in, or a potential partner with whom the West should engage? Hear the arguments and decide for yourself. Speakers…
Intelligence SquaredCovid by Numbers with David Spiegelhalter
With data on the Covid-19 pandemic changing shape with every new outbreak and new mutation, it's a complex task to make sense of where the story of the virus…
Intelligence SquaredCan We Fix Capitalism? Yanis Varoufakis vs Gillian Tett
Should capitalism be reformed or replaced? Former Greek Finance Minister and economist Yanis Varoufakis and Gillian Tett US editor at large at the Financial…
Intelligence SquaredBusiness Weekly: No Bullsh*t Leadership with Kwame Kwei-Armah
Chris Hirst, Global CEO of advertising group Havas Creative, cuts through the bullshit and gets to the heart of modern leadership in this straight-talking…
Intelligence SquaredThe Sunday Debate: The Battle Over Free Speech: Are Trigger Warnings, Safe Spaces and No-Platforming Harming Young Minds?
For this week's episode of The Sunday Debate, we revisit our event from 2018. Many would argue that these are the fundamental goals of a good education. So why…
Intelligence SquaredThe Pandora Paper trail with Jeffrey Sachs
The recent publication of The Pandora Papers, a trove of 12 million financial documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists…
Intelligence SquaredConnectivity and conflict, with Mark Leonard
A more interconnected world was supposed to bring us closer together, but Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, says the…
Intelligence SquaredBusiness Weekly: Dame Vivian Hunt on Stakeholder Capitalism and the Value of a Diverse Workforce
Today's episode comes from the How To Lead a Sustainable Business podcast, brought to you by Selfridges Group and Intelligence Squared. In the podcast, Alannah…
Intelligence SquaredThe Sunday Debate: Let Them Eat Meat
This event took place on the 31st of October at the Royal Institution in London. CHAIR: Afua Hirsch - Writer and broadcaster SPEAKERS FOR THE MOTION: AA Gill -…
Intelligence SquaredHow I Built This, with Guy Raz
Great ideas often come from a simple spark: A soccer player on the New Zealand national team notices all the unused wool his country produces and figures out a…
Intelligence SquaredHow I Disrupted an Industry, with CEO of Starling Bank Anne Boden
In this week's episode Anne Boden CEO of Starling Bank speaks to Linda Yueh about setting up her own bank. In her remarkable story Boden reveals how she broke…
Intelligence SquaredBusiness Weekly: Exponential, with Azeem Azhar
We are entering the Exponential Age. Between faster computers, better software and bigger data, ours is the first era in human history in which technology is…
Intelligence SquaredThe Sunday Debate: Identity Politics is Tearing Society Apart
Is identity politics tearing society apart or is it a call for social justice for everyone? That's the theme of this week's Sunday Debate. For the motion were…
Intelligence SquaredAI 2041: Why the Future is Already Here, with Kai-Fu Lee
Kai-Fu Lee is one of the world’s leading AI experts and a bestselling author. He founded Microsoft Asia’s research lab that has trained CTOs and AI heads at…
Intelligence SquaredShould Black Americans Move to the South?
In this week's episode Charles Blow speaks to journalist Dele Olojede about the arguments in his new book The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto. He…
Intelligence SquaredBusiness Weekly: What is Economic Growth?
In this week's episode we're featuring a podcast produced by Intelligence Squared called 'It’s The Economy' in which host Nicola Walton breaks down the complex…
Intelligence SquaredThe Sunday Debate: Break Up The Tech Giants
With so much data and power centralised in the hands of a few West Coast companies, the tech giants have become a serious threat to our basic freedoms and must…
Intelligence SquaredThe Status Game, with Will Storr
Does owning a big house and supporting ‘correct’ social causes not just make you feel good about yourself but actually make you healthier and live longer? The…
Intelligence SquaredSalman Rushdie: Touchstones with Razia Iqbal
Acclaimed novelist Salman Rushdie joins journalist Razia Iqbal to take us back in time and discuss three influential touchstones of his life: a silver ingot…
Intelligence SquaredBusiness Weekly: Can Crypto Bank the Unbanked?
On Monday September 7th El Salvador became the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender. Businesses in the country will be obliged where possible to…
Intelligence SquaredDebate: Michael Sandel vs Adrian Wooldridge on Meritocracy
Meritocracy has long been an article of faith in the modern Western world. Get an education, work hard and the rewards of success will be yours, regardless of…
Intelligence SquaredNegotiating Survival: Civilian Relations with the Taliban
While the Taliban have the power of violence on their side in Afghanistan, they nonetheless need civilians to comply with their authority. Both strategically…
Intelligence SquaredBusiness Weekly: No Bullsh*t Leadership with Reckitt CEO Laxman Narasimhan
In this episode Chris Hirst speaks to Laxman Narasimhan, CEO of Reckitt, about his approach to leadership and how to connect with staff in a global company…
Intelligence SquaredDickens vs Tolstoy: The Battle Of The Great 19th-century Novelists PART 1
Dickens. Tolstoy. Their names and reputations shake the ground – and so do their books, if you drop one. But whose legacy is more enduring? Whose vision truer…
Intelligence SquaredHow to Lead a Sustainable Business and the Future of Fashion
Today's episode comes from the How To Lead a Sustainable Business, brought to you by Selfridges Group and Intelligence Squared. In the podcast, Alannah Weston…
Intelligence SquaredDebate: Crypto vs The Environment
Debate: Crypto vs The Environment It is estimated that the global Bitcoin network currently consumes about 133 terawatt-hours of electricity annually - roughly…
Intelligence SquaredThe Sunday Debate: The West Should Cut Ties with Saudi Arabia
In this week's episode of the Sunday debate we go back to 2019. In the aftermath of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul we…
Intelligence SquaredThey: What Muslims and Non-Muslims Get Wrong About Each Other, Sarfraz Manzoor and Ros Urwin
In this week's episode Sarfraz Manzoor speaks to Ros Urwin about his investigative journey across Britain in search of the roots of division - from the fear…
Intelligence SquaredDebate: Bitcoin vs Gold with Anthony Scaramucci and Peter Schiff
Since the world economy was plunged into crisis as a result of COVID-19 many economists have predicted a period of great instability. In normal times investors…
Intelligence SquaredThe Sunday Debate: The War on Terror was the right response to 9/11
Have the West’s efforts to eradicate Al-Qaeda around the world simply been fuelling the flames of hatred and violence? Or would we have suffered even more…
Intelligence SquaredAfghanistan: What Next?
In this week's episode we examine the unfolding situation in Afghanistan and what it means for the Afghan people and the world. In Part 1 Shabnam Nasimi…
Intelligence SquaredChina's Alternative Vision for the Internet, with James Griffiths and Carl Miller
Once little more than a pornography filter, China’s ‘Great Firewall’ has evolved into the most sophisticated system of online censorship in the world. As the…
Intelligence SquaredThe Sunday Debate: To Stop Climate Collapse, We Must End Capitalism
Capitalism is driving us to disaster. Our planet is heading for a terrifying environmental cataclysm – and our economic system is responsible. The defining…
Intelligence SquaredThe Country of Others, with Leïla Slimani and Shahidha Bari
In conversation with writer and cultural historian Shahidha Bari, Slimani shared her insights into the impact of colonialism and the ways in which women in…
Intelligence SquaredStop Pretending We Can Save the Planet, with Jonathan Franzen
Let’s face it, argues Jonathan Franzen: the climate apocalypse is coming. We’ve already messed up the planet. The polar bears are running out of ice to stand…
Intelligence SquaredThe Sunday Debate: Parenting Doesn’t Matter
How important is parenting? The multibillion-pound parenting industry tells us we can all shape our children to be joyful, resilient and successful. But what…
Intelligence SquaredThe Right to Sex, with Amia Srinivasan and Merve Emre
How should we talk about sex? It is a thing we have and also a thing we do; a supposedly private act laden with public meaning; a personal preference shaped by…
Intelligence SquaredThe Power of Giving Away Power with Matthew Barzun and Kamal Ahmed
How did Dee Hock of Visa transform the way we pay for things? How did Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, create the biggest knowledge transfer engine the world…
Intelligence SquaredThe Sunday Debate: Napoleon the Great? With Andrew Roberts, Adam Zamoyski and Jeremy Paxman
How should we remember Napoleon, the man of obscure Corsican birth who rose to become emperor of the French and briefly master of Europe? In 2014, as the 200th…
Intelligence SquaredTestosterone: Debunking the Myths of the Misunderstood Hormone with Carole Hooven
Testosterone – a hormone that has been mythologised, maligned and misunderstood. It is frequently cited as the basis of male aggression and sexual violence…
Intelligence SquaredMichael Pollan: This Is Your Mind on Plants
When you start your day with a cup of tea or coffee you are ingesting a consciousness-altering drug, which you are quite likely to be addicted to. That drug of…
Intelligence SquaredThe Sunday Debate: Brave New World vs 1984
Both these novels imagined extraordinary futures, but which better captures our present and offers the keener warning about where we may be heading? In this…
Intelligence SquaredDebate: Abolish Billionaires
As billionaires jet off to space should we abolish them here on earth? In this week's debate professor Linsey McGoey of Essex University and Ryan Bourne of the…
Intelligence SquaredInside Facebook's Battle for Domination, with Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang
"My goal was never to just create a company. I wanted to build something that actually makes a really big change in the world.” – Mark Zuckerberg How did it…
Intelligence SquaredThe Sunday Debate: Anti-Zionism is Anti-Semitism
For this week's episode of The Sunday Debate, we revisit our debate "Anti-Zionism is Anti-Semitism" from 2019. Is there a country in the world that attracts so…
Intelligence SquaredIs Mass Migration Making the World a Better Place?
To some, the very word ‘migration’ generates fear, suspicion and even hatred. But according to Felix Marquardt, author of the acclaimed The New Nomads, we need…
Intelligence SquaredThe Truth about Fake News, with Marcus Gilroy-Ware and Richard Seymour
We are supposed to have more information at our disposal now than at any time in history. So why, in a world of rising sea levels, populist leaders and a…
Intelligence SquaredThe Ever-Changing Brain with David Eagleman and Brian Eno
What does drug withdrawal have in common with a broken heart? Why is the enemy of memory not time, but other memories? How can a blind person learn to see with…