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
Is Nvidia the most important company in the world? With Stephen Witt
In June 2024, Nvidia became the most valuable corporation on Earth. In Stephen Witt’s new book ‘The Thinking Machine’ he chronicles the astonishing story of…
- Intelligence Squared
An Evening with Adam Buxton and Caitlin Moran (Part Two)
*** Click here to see the photograph referred to in the podcast introduction: https://www.intelligencesquared.com/events/an-evening-with-adam-buxton *** ---…
- Intelligence Squared
An Evening with Adam Buxton and Caitlin Moran (Part One)
*** Click here to see the photograph referred to in the podcast introduction: https://www.intelligencesquared.com/events/an-evening-with-adam-buxton *** ---…
- Intelligence Squared
How has resistance shaped Britain? With Steve McQueen (Part Two)
Steve McQueen is one of Britain’s most acclaimed filmmakers and artists. He is the recipient of the Academy Award for Best Picture, two BAFTA Awards, the…
- Intelligence Squared
How has resistance shaped Britain? With Steve McQueen (Part One)
Steve McQueen is one of Britain’s most acclaimed filmmakers and artists. He is the recipient of the Academy Award for Best Picture, two BAFTA Awards, the…
- Intelligence Squared
Understanding Xi: Is China’s President a Threat to the World? (Part Two)
This event is part of our Age of the Strongman series. Click here to see the other events in the series. President Xi Jinping has ruled China for more than…
- Intelligence Squared
Understanding Xi: Is China’s President a Threat to the World? (Part One)
This event is part of our Age of the Strongman series. Click here to see the other events in the series. President Xi Jinping has ruled China for more than a…
- Intelligence Squared
How To Cure Your Algorithm, with Jamie Bartlett
This event is part of Critical Conversations, a new series on the age of misinformation by Intelligence Squared and Sage & Jester, hosted by Sophia Smith…
- Intelligence Squared
Truth Hurts: From Conflict to Connection, with Dr Julia Ebner
This event is part of Critical Conversations, a new series on the age of misinformation by Intelligence Squared and Sage & Jester, hosted by Sophia Smith…
- Intelligence Squared
Tricks, Trolls, and LOLs: Comedy’s Crash Course in Spotting Lies, with Rachel Parris
This event was part of Critical Conversations, a new series on the age of misinformation by Intelligence Squared and Sage & Jester, hosted by Sophia Smith…
- Intelligence Squared
Can we have prosperity without growth? With Tim Jackson
Is prosperity possible without growth? And in an age of environmental crisis and rising inequality, is our obsession with economic expansion doing more harm…
- Intelligence Squared
Is Your Phone Controlling Your Life? With Kaitlyn Regehr (Part Two)
The ‘Smartphone-free Childhood’ movement has alerted many of us to the dangers inherent in our – and our kids’ – use of devices. But while we can shield…
- Intelligence Squared
Is Your Phone Controlling Your Life? With Kaitlyn Regehr (Part One)
The ‘Smartphone-free Childhood’ movement has alerted many of us to the dangers inherent in our – and our kids’ – use of devices. But while we can shield…
- Intelligence Squared
Tariff Special: The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook with Helen Thompson (Part Two)
‘The world as we knew it is gone’ – UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s response to Trump’s tariffs President Donald Trump recently announced a 90-day pause…
- Intelligence Squared
Tariff Special: The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook with Helen Thompson (Part One)
‘The world as we knew it is gone’ – UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s response to Trump’s tariffs President Donald Trump recently announced a 90-day pause…
- Intelligence Squared
Can Mathematics Fuel Creativity? With Marcus du Sautoy (Part Two)
From the earliest stone circles to Mozart’s obsession with numbers to the radically modern architecture of Zaha Hadid, maths and creativity are interwoven…
- Intelligence Squared
Can Mathematics Fuel Creativity? With Marcus du Sautoy (Part One)
From the earliest stone circles to Mozart’s obsession with numbers to the radically modern architecture of Zaha Hadid, maths and creativity are interwoven…
- Intelligence Squared
What Can Ancient Civilisations Teach Us About Survival? With Lizzie Wade
What if apocalypse isn’t the end of the world - but a chance to remake it? On today’s episode we’re joined by science journalist Lizzie Wade to explore…
- Intelligence Squared
What Can The Stoics Teach Us About Capitalism?
In this episode of Intelligence Squared, financier, philanthropist, and author Robert Rosenkranz joins host Bill Browder for a thought-provoking conversation…
- Intelligence Squared
Are you morally ambitious? With Rutger Bregman (Part Two)
Moral ambition is the will to make the world a wildly better place. To devote your career to the greatest challenges of our time. To be one of the best, but…
- Intelligence Squared
Are you morally ambitious? With Rutger Bregman (Part One)
Moral ambition is the will to make the world a wildly better place. To devote your career to the greatest challenges of our time. To be one of the best, but…
- Intelligence Squared
Author of Four Thousand Weeks Oliver Burkeman on How To Live Well (Part Two)
Acclaimed author and journalist Oliver Burkeman has captivated readers with his refreshing insights on how to embrace the finiteness of existence and find…
- Intelligence Squared
Author of Four Thousand Weeks Oliver Burkeman on How To Live Well (Part One)
Acclaimed author and journalist Oliver Burkeman has captivated readers with his refreshing insights on how to embrace the finiteness of existence and find…
- Intelligence Squared
Jonathan Haidt on How to Free the Anxious Generation (Part Two)
“This great rewiring of childhood, I argue, is the single largest reason for the tidal wave of adolescent mental illness that began in the early 2010s.” —…
- Intelligence Squared
Jonathan Haidt on How to Free the Anxious Generation (Part One)
“This great rewiring of childhood, I argue, is the single largest reason for the tidal wave of adolescent mental illness that began in the early 2010s.” —…
- Intelligence Squared
A Cultural History of Privacy, with Tiffany Jenkins
What does it mean to have a private life? Our guest today is Tiffany Jenkins, a writer, cultural historian and broadcaster. She is the author of the acclaimed…
- Intelligence Squared
Britain Should Not Have Fought in the First World War
For this week's Sunday Debate, we're dipping back into the archive to 2014, when we gathered a panel of expert historians to debate whether Britain was right…
- Intelligence Squared
The Tree of Life: Mapping Evolution’s Greatest Story, with Max Telford
Understanding how the diversity of life on earth came to be is one of the greatest puzzles in biology. In his new book, The Tree of Life: Solving Science's…
- Intelligence Squared
Ritual, Ancestry, and Cultural History in Modern China, with Alice Mah
What do we owe to the dead? What responsibilities do we inherit from the past, and how do they intersect with the crises of the present? In an era of…
- Intelligence Squared
Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global, with Laura Spinney
What if a single ancient language lay at the root of nearly half of the world’s spoken tongues? In today’s episode, acclaimed science writer and journalist…
- Intelligence Squared
Classic Debate: Austen vs Brontë
Jane Austen created the definitive picture of Georgian England. No writer matches Austen’s sensitive ear for the hypocrisy and irony lurking beneath the…
- Intelligence Squared
An Evening with Elif Shafak and Peter Frankopan
Elif Shafak’s award-winning novels are celebrated globally. Her work has been translated into 58 languages, and her latest, There Are Rivers in the Sky, is a…
- Intelligence Squared
Abundance: A New Blueprint for Liberal Politics, With Derek Thompson
What if the biggest threat to liberal democracy isn’t authoritarianism - but our failure to build? On today’s episode we’re joined by journalist Derek Thompson…
- Intelligence Squared
The Illegals: A Secret History of Soviet Espionage, with Shaun Walker
On today’s episode: the untold history of Russia’s deep cover spy programme. Shaun Walker is an international correspondent for The Guardian. He reported from…
- Intelligence Squared
Who Owns Our Digital Afterlives? With Carl Öhman
These days, so much of our lives takes place online - but what about our afterlives? A recent study by the Oxford Internet Institute predicts that the number…
- Intelligence Squared
Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History, with Moudhy Al-Rashid
On today’s episode, Dr Moudhy Al-Rashid sheds light on the history of Ancient Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, gave…
- Intelligence Squared
The World in 2025 with Robert Kaplan: Finding A Way Through Permanent Crisis (Part Two)
We are entering a new era of global instability. The world is facing an era of war, climate change, great power rivalry and unprecedented technological…
- Intelligence Squared
The World in 2025 with Robert Kaplan: Finding A Way Through Permanent Crisis (Part One)
We are entering a new era of global instability. The world is facing an era of war, climate change, great power rivalry and unprecedented technological…
- Intelligence Squared
Classic Debate: Ian Fleming vs John le Carré
They are the titans of the spy novel, who have elevated thrillers to the level of literary fiction. Much imitated, much adapted by the big and small screens…
- Intelligence Squared
John and Paul: A Beatles Love Story in Songs (Part Two)
In 1957 John Lennon and Paul McCartney were two ordinary teenagers who met in suburban Liverpool and decided to play rock and roll together. Twenty-three years…
- Intelligence Squared
John and Paul: A Beatles Love Story in Songs (Part One)
In 1957 John Lennon and Paul McCartney were two ordinary teenagers who met in suburban Liverpool and decided to play rock and roll together. Twenty-three years…
- Intelligence Squared
Revisiting Wages for Housework, with Emily Callaci
Unpaid domestic labor has long been the invisible backbone of economies worldwide - but what if it were compensated? In this episode, historian Emily Callaci…
- Intelligence Squared
Six Kings and the Making of the English State, with Caroline Burt and Richard Partington
Between 1199 and 1399, English politics was high drama. These two centuries witnessed savage political blood-letting - including civil war, deposition, the…
- Intelligence Squared
LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman on What Could Go Right with Our AI Future (Part Two)
Reid Hoffman is one of the world’s most influential and successful entrepreneurs. The co-founder of LinkedIn, Manas AI, Inflection AI and part of the original…
- Intelligence Squared
LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman on What Could Go Right with Our AI Future (Part One)
Reid Hoffman is one of the world’s most influential and successful entrepreneurs. The co-founder of LinkedIn, Manas AI, Inflection AI and part of the original…
- Intelligence Squared
The Rise of Spotify, with Liz Pelly
Music has become increasingly playlisted, personalized, and autoplayed. But how did we get here, and what does it mean for artists, listeners, and the music…
- Intelligence Squared
Kavita Puri and Sathnam Sanghera on War, Empire and the Untold Story of the Bengal Famine (Part Two)
The Bengal Famine is the forgotten story of the Second World War. Between 1943 and 1944, at least three million Indians, all of whom were British subjects…
- Intelligence Squared
Kavita Puri and Sathnam Sanghera on War, Empire and the Untold Story of the Bengal Famine (Part One)
The Bengal Famine is the forgotten story of the Second World War. Between 1943 and 1944, at least three million Indians, all of whom were British subjects…
- Intelligence Squared
Earthling Ed: How to Argue with a Meat Eater (Part Two)
Ed Winters, known to his millions of online followers as Earthling Ed, has perfected the art of persuasion. During his extensive career as an activist and…
- Intelligence Squared
Earthling Ed: How to Argue with a Meat Eater (Part One)
Ed Winters, known to his millions of online followers as Earthling Ed, has perfected the art of persuasion. During his extensive career as an activist and…
- Intelligence Squared
The Age of the Strongman: Understanding Putin, with Catherine Belton (Part Two)
This event was part of our Age of the Strongman series. Click here to see the other events in the series…
- Intelligence Squared
The Age of the Strongman: Understanding Putin, with Catherine Belton (Part One)
This event was part of our Age of the Strongman series. Click here to see the other events in the series…
- Intelligence Squared
George the Poet on Music, Memory, and the War on Blackness Art & Culture (Part Two)
George Mpanga, known as George the Poet, is seen by many as one of the UK’s most compelling voices in poetry, music, and social commentary. Originally hailing…
- Intelligence Squared
George the Poet on Music, Memory, and the War on Blackness (Part One)
George Mpanga, known as George the Poet, is seen by many as one of the UK’s most compelling voices in poetry, music, and social commentary. Originally hailing…
- Intelligence Squared
Classic Debate: There is Nothing Wrong With Rearing and Killing Animals for Human Consumption
This event took place on the 31st of October 2016 at the Royal Institution in London. CHAIR: Afua Hirsch - Writer and broadcaster SPEAKERS FOR THE MOTION: AA…
- Intelligence Squared
Douglas Stuart on Shuggie Bain, Storytelling, and the Human Condition (Part Two)
This event is part of Conversations at the Kiln, a new event series at Kiln Theatre programmed by Intelligence Squared. For more events with speakers from the…
- Intelligence Squared
Douglas Stuart on Shuggie Bain, Storytelling, and the Human Condition (Part One)
This event is part of Conversations at the Kiln, a new event series at Kiln Theatre programmed by Intelligence Squared. For more events with speakers from the…
- Intelligence Squared
Sam McAlister on Scandals, Scoops, and the Prince Andrew Interview (Part Two)
Sam McAlister is the woman who secured the now infamous Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew, when he claimed to Emily Maitlis that he was in a Pizza Express…
- Intelligence Squared
Sam McAlister on Scandals, Scoops, and the Prince Andrew Interview (Part One)
Sam McAlister is the woman who secured the now infamous Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew, when he claimed to Emily Maitlis that he was in a Pizza Express…
- Intelligence Squared
Justin Webb on The Trump World Order (Part 2)
On February 24, veteran BBC journalist, former North America editor and presenter Justin Webb came to Intelligence Squared to discuss what we all need to know…