John Donvan
speaker
2,077 appearances
13 recordings
1 series
first heard Jul 2026
last heard 18 Sep
John Donvan’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 13 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 6.
Appearances
I'm John Donvan.
We'll see you next time on Open to Debate.
Hello, welcome to Open to Debate.
When it comes to parenting, there is no perfect parent, but there is increasing pressure on parents to be perfect.
Books, TikToks, articles, podcasts, a veritable fire hose of contradictory advice to help parents get it right.
But maybe
It doesn't matter as much as we think.
This debate, originally recorded in 2019, is a staff favorite.
And if you are watching this debate, you will notice our old name Intelligence Squared US is in the background, but we are open to debate.
Let's get to it.
The way that we were raised, we are all the product of that one way or the other, but to what extent?
Parents are driven these days to produce the child who is the happiest or the best or the smartest or fill in whatever your superlative is.
And then there's the whole question of free range or helicopter or tiger or what zip code do you choose to live in or can you live in, and what about education, and what about the food you give your child?
It is so much to think about and
Worry about, but what if science is telling mothers and fathers, don't sweat it, it's out of your control more than you think, because DNA is making most of the big decisions for you.
This, since ancient time, has been a persisting quandary, usually called nature versus nurture.
But because of new evidence based on DNA research and on twin studies and on sibling studies, we are reviving.
The controversy that has revived itself because we think it has the makings of a fresh debate.
So let's have it.
Yes or no to this statement: parenting is overrated.
Showing 141–160 of 2,077 · page 8 of 104
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