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 SquaredTrump, Brexit and the Direction of 2021, with Will Davies and Matt Goodwin
2021 is already set to be a monumental year. On January 1 Britain finally Brexited with a deal. On January 20 Joe Biden will become President of the United…
Intelligence SquaredHow to Make the World Add Up, with Tim Harford
This episode was recorded in September 2020. 'The undercover economist' and Numbers and economics guru Tim Harford takes a deep dive into the world of…
Intelligence SquaredReform and Repression in Saudi Arabia, with Madawi Al-Rasheed and Jeremy Bowen
In 2018 journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi regime operatives, shocking the world and drawing widespread condemnation. Mohammad bin Salman, the…
Intelligence SquaredOtegha Uwagba and Mariel Richards on Navigating Whiteness
In November 2020 author and podcaster Otegha Uwagba came to Intelligence Squared to discuss her new book, Whites: On Race and Other Falsehoods. Containing…
Intelligence SquaredChristmas Special: Dan Goleman on Emotional Intelligence with Manveen Rana
No speaker in the history of Intelligence Squared has generated as many YouTube views as Daniel Goleman. His 2013 talk for us has been viewed 3.2 million…
Intelligence SquaredThe Art of Rest, with Claudia Hammond and Helen Czerski
The pandemic of 2020 has turned our lives upside down. Home working and homeschooling have become the norm for millions of us. And while you might think that…
Intelligence SquaredAlicia Garza on Creating Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter began as a hashtag when Alicia Garza wrote what she calls ‘a love letter to Black people’ on Facebook, after George Zimmerman was acquitted…
Intelligence SquaredBillion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Fall of WeWork
In its earliest days, WeWork promised the impossible: to make the workplace cool. In episode one of Intelligence Squared Business Reeves Wiedeman tells the…
Intelligence SquaredPhilosophy in the Age of Covid-19, with Eric Weiner and Danielle Sands
In this week's episode Eric Weiner speaks to Danielle Sands about what philosophy can teach us in the age of COVID-19. From Socrates and ancient Athens to…
Intelligence SquaredCats vs Dogs, with John Gray and Will Self, Part 1
It’s the issue that’s more polarising than politics. The world is full of animal lovers but we can’t agree on which pet is more worthy of our love – the loyal…
Intelligence SquaredCOVID-19 and The Vaccine: A Shot of Hope and A Return to Normal?
The world had been waiting for the news and on November 9 it finally came: a vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech had proved to be more than 90% effective…
Intelligence SquaredDebate: It’s Time for the West to Get Tough with China
In December 2020 we were joined by British Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, who argued that we need to prevent a Beijing-dominated world, and Singaporean author…
Intelligence SquaredThe Powerful and the Damned, with Lionel Barber and Manveen Rana
Lionel Barber was editor of the Financial Times for the tech boom, the global financial crisis, the continuing rise of China, Brexit, and the established…
Intelligence SquaredTravelling While Black, with Nanjala Nyabola and Yousra Elbagir
At this point in history we are witnessing the highest levels of migration on record. About 258 million people, or one in every 30, were living outside their…
Intelligence SquaredDebate: Joe Biden Won't Fix the Transatlantic Relationship
This week's episode features another debate from our friends at Intelligence Squared Germany, who in partnership with The European Council on Foreign Relations…
Intelligence SquaredAnthony Scaramucci and Danielle Pletka on Trumpism and The Future of The Republican Party
This week Anthony Scaramucci, the former Director of Communications in President Donald Trump’s White House, and Danielle Pletka, former Vice President at the…
Intelligence SquaredBusiness and the Future of Immigration in 2021
In this special podcast brought to you by the Home Office and Intelligence Squared, Director of Border and Immigration Policy at the Home Office Philippa…
Intelligence SquaredMargaret MacMillan and Peter Frankopan on How War Has Shaped Humanity
War - Do we care enough? In this episode, distinguished historian Margaret MacMillan explains why we should care about war and how it’s profoundly impacted our…
Intelligence SquaredRematch Debate: To Stop Climate Collapse, We Must End Capitalism
Last January, before the coronavirus pandemic struck, Intelligence Squared staged a sold-out debate on whether we need a truly radical new economic system to…
Intelligence SquaredMartin Amis on Love, Loss and Christopher Hitchens
Martin Amis is often called the Mick Jagger of the British book world. As famous for his love affairs, his friendships and his complicated family history as…
Intelligence SquaredDanh Vo: Traces of History and The End of Empire
In this week's podcast Design Museum director Tim Marlow, South London Gallery director Margot Heller, academic and critic Shahidha Bari and botanist Roy…
Intelligence SquaredElection Breakdown: Can Trump Still Beat Biden?
In this election special we were joined by Danielle Pletka, the Washington Post commentator and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and Josh…
Intelligence SquaredElection Day Special: What's at Stake in Trump vs Biden?
In this U.S election special we were joined by historian Sarah Churchwell and Jonathan Freedland to speak about how Biden and Trump have performed in the final…
Intelligence SquaredElection Day Special, with Danielle Pletka, Emily Tamkin and Manveen Rana
In this week's episode we were joined by Danielle Pletka, Washington Post commentator and senior fellow at the American Enterprise; and Emily Tamkin, U.S…
Intelligence SquaredBONUS: Ilhan Omar on the State of American Politics
Rep. Ilhan Omar, the groundbreaking Somali-American community organizer from Minnesota, speaks to public intellectuals Dr Cornel West and Professor Tricia…
Intelligence SquaredJohn Bolton and Emily Maitlis on Trump, Biden and the Election
John Bolton knows a thing or two about Donald Trump. So many things, in fact, that he’s now being investigated by the US Justice Department for potentially…
Intelligence SquaredWake Up Call: Why The Pandemic Exposes The Weakness of the West
Fear is on the march. All over the world citizens have surrendered basic freedoms to the state in order to be protected from Covid-19. Good government has…
Intelligence SquaredThe Life and Legacy of Malcolm X. with Tamara Payne and Yassmin Abdel-Magied
Les Payne, the renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, embarked in 1990 on a nearly thirty-year-long quest to interview anyone he could find…
Intelligence SquaredThe Seduction of Autocracy, with Anne Applebaum and Jonathan Freedland
In the years just before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, people from across the political spectrum in Europe and America celebrated a great achievement…
Intelligence SquaredThe European Green Deal is Not Fit For Purpose
This week's podcast is from our friends at Intelligence Squared Germany who hosted a live debate in Berlin last week on whether the EU's 'Green Deal', a plan…
Intelligence SquaredThe Ideological Roots of 'Wokeness'. with Helen Pluckrose and Helen Joyce
In this week's episode Helen Pluckrose documents the evolution of the ideas that inform today's radical social justice activism, from its coarse origins in…
Intelligence SquaredThomas Friedman and Robert Peston on the Final Days of the Presidential Race
Thomas Friedman has been called ‘the most influential columnist in America’. The Financial Times has described him as a ‘global star’ and he has won the…
Intelligence SquaredKim Jong Un and The Bomb: is North Korea Really a Threat?
North Korea shocked the world in September 2017 by exploding the most powerful nuclear device tested anywhere in 25 years. Months earlier, it had conducted the…
Intelligence SquaredBONUS: Clive Woodward on No Bullsh*t Leadership in partnership with Havas
In this bonus episode we preview a new podcast created by Intelligence Squared called No Bullsh*t Leadership hosted by Chris Hirst, CEO of advertising group…
Intelligence SquaredIncels and the Men Radicalised to Hate Women, with Laura Bates and Sonia Sodha
According to Laura Bates a vast network of incels and other men who hate women are able to operate, virtually undetected online. These extremists commit…
Intelligence SquaredHow to Lead a Sustainable Business with Clover Hogan and Alannah Weston
How can we mobilise mindsets to turn anxiety about the climate crisis into action? This week Intelligence Squared Recommends an episode from the How To Lead a…
Intelligence SquaredHow Covid-19 Will Shape the Next Decade, with Philip Rowley and Carl Miller
This week we were joined by Philip Rowley Media Futurist & Futures Director at Omnicom to explore how Covid-19 will shape the next decade of culture, politics…
Intelligence SquaredDebate: Cancel Culture is Threatening Our Freedoms
JK Rowling, Scarlett Johansson, Kanye West. All have been ‘cancelled’ – denounced on social media for doing or saying something considered wrong or offensive…
Intelligence SquaredChina's Good War, with Rana Mitter and Gideon Rachman
For most of its history, the People’s Republic of China limited public discussion of the war against Japan. It was an experience of victimization—and one that…
Intelligence SquaredA Secret History of Stars, with Jo Marchant and Helen Czerski
Jo Marchant and Helen Czerski take us on a journey through humanity’s relationship with the heavens. The stars have shaped who we are - our religious beliefs…
Intelligence SquaredThe Spies Fighting Communism During the Cold War, with Scott Anderson and Hugo Lindgren
At the end of World War II, the United States dominated the world militarily, economically, and in moral standing – seen as the victor over tyranny and a…
Intelligence SquaredJourneys to Freedom After the Holocaust, with Rosie Whitehouse and Edward Lucas
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared ------ One summer’s night in 1946, over 1,000 European Jews waited silently on an Italian…
Intelligence SquaredClive, Capitalism and The East India Company, with William Dalrymple and Kavita Puri
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared ------ We still talk about the British conquering India, but that phrase disguises a more…
Intelligence SquaredTaming Covid and Preventing the Next Pandemic, with Mark Honigsbaum and Sir David King
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared ------ In this week's episode we brought together two of Britain’s most esteemed experts on…
Intelligence SquaredPower, Control and Domestic Abuse, with Jess Hill and Ros Urwin
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared ------ Every week in England and Wales, two women are killed by a current or former partner…
Intelligence SquaredBONUS EPISODE: Shinzo Abe's Life and Legacy
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared ------ As Japan's longest serving premier, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, steps down due to health…
Intelligence SquaredRutger Bregman on Human Kindness in a Frightened World with Helen Lewis
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared ------ Human beings, we’re taught, are by nature selfish and governed by self-interest. From…
Intelligence SquaredDark Money and Dirty Politics, with Peter Geoghegan and Nick Cohen
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared ------ Democracy is in crisis, and unaccountable and untraceable flows of money are helping to…
Intelligence SquaredThe Hidden Power of Caste, with Isabel Wilkerson and Yassmin Abdel-Magied
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. -------- Race, class, gender. These are the categories that are commonly thought to define…
Intelligence SquaredGhost Ships and Geopolitics, with Ian Urbina and Ros Urwin
Ian Urbina, investigative reporter of The New York Times for 17 years returns to the podcast to discuss a new investigation, which he believes to uncover the…
Intelligence SquaredPartition Voices, with Kavita Puri and Rajini Vaidyanathan
The division of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 into India and Pakistan saw millions uprooted and resulted in unspeakable violence. It happened far away, but…
Intelligence SquaredCan business deliver social good after Covid-19? With Warren Valdmanis and Michelle Meagher
As Covid-19 continues to suspend normal life across much of the globe, many commentators have argued the present moment offers a unique opening to re-imagine…
Intelligence SquaredDeepfakes and the Infocalypse with Nina Schick and Carl Miller
In this week's podcast Nina Schick speaks to Carl Miller about the rise of Deepfakes and what she believes is an impending 'Infocalypse'. Advances in AI mean…
Intelligence SquaredNiall Ferguson On What History Can Teach Us About Covid-19
There are few big thinkers better placed to explain the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic than historian Niall Ferguson. In addition to his profound…
Intelligence SquaredAn Artificial Revolution, with Ivana Bartoletti and Yassmin Abdel-Magied
In this week's episode world-leading privacy expert Ivana Bartoletti speaks about the reality behind the AI revolution, from the low-paid workers who train…
Intelligence SquaredSlavoj Žižek and Shahidha Bari on Hegel in a Wired Brain
In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of G.W.F. Hegel, Slavoj Žižek speaks to Shahidha Bari about the philosophical giant that changed our way…
Intelligence SquaredTony Blair and Andrew Adonis on Ernest Bevin, Britain’s Forgotten Political Giant
In this rare public appearance together, chaired by the BBC’s Rajini Vaidyanathan, the former Labour prime minister Tony Blair and cabinet minister Andrew…
Intelligence SquaredScience Fictions, with Stuart Ritchie and Tom Whipple
Medicine, education, health, parenting – wherever it really matters, we look to science for guidance and answers. In this episode Stuart Ritchie discusses his…
Intelligence SquaredSex Robots & Vegan Meat, with Jenny Kleeman and Carl Miller
Award-winning journalist and documentary-maker Jenny Kleeman takes us on a journey into the world of the people who are changing what it means to be human…
Intelligence SquaredAngrynomics: Why The World is So Angry, with Mark Byth, Eric Lonergan and Linda Yueh
Why are measures of stress and anxiety on the rise, when economists and politicians tell us we have never had it so good? While statistics tell us that the…