Intelligence Squared
Episodes
The Pandora Paper trail with Jeffrey Sachs
08 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The recent publication of The Pandora Papers, a trove of 12 million financial documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Jour...
Connectivity and conflict, with Mark Leonard
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A more interconnected world was supposed to bring us closer together, but Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, says ...
Business Weekly: Dame Vivian Hunt on Stakeholder Capitalism and the Value of a Diverse Workforce
04 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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...
The Sunday Debate: Let Them Eat Meat
03 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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: ...
How I Built This, with Guy Raz
01 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 figu...
How I Disrupted an Industry, with CEO of Starling Bank Anne Boden
28 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Business Weekly: Exponential, with Azeem Azhar
27 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We are entering the Exponential Age. Between faster computers, better software and bigger data, ours is the first era in human history in which techno...
The Sunday Debate: Identity Politics is Tearing Society Apart
25 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
AI 2041: Why the Future is Already Here, with Kai-Fu Lee
24 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 A...
Should Black Americans Move to the South?
21 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Business Weekly: What is Economic Growth?
20 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 Sunday Debate: Break Up The Tech Giants
19 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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...
The Status Game, with Will Storr
17 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Salman Rushdie: Touchstones with Razia Iqbal
14 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Acclaimed novelist Salman Rushdie joins journalist Razia Iqbal to take us back in time and discuss three influential touchstones of his life: a silver...
Business Weekly: Can Crypto Bank the Unbanked?
13 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On Monday September 7th El Salvador became the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender. Businesses in the country will be obliged where possib...
Debate: Michael Sandel vs Adrian Wooldridge on Meritocracy
10 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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, regar...
Negotiating Survival: Civilian Relations with the Taliban
07 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
While the Taliban have the power of violence on their side in Afghanistan, they nonetheless need civilians to comply with their authority. Both strate...
Business Weekly: No Bullsh*t Leadership with Reckitt CEO Laxman Narasimhan
06 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 co...
Dickens vs Tolstoy: The Battle Of The Great 19th-century Novelists PART 1
05 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 v...
How to Lead a Sustainable Business and the Future of Fashion
03 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today's episode comes from the How To Lead a Sustainable Business, brought to you by Selfridges Group and Intelligence Squared. In the podcast, Alanna...
Debate: Crypto vs The Environment
31 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Debate: Crypto vs The Environment It is estimated that the global Bitcoin network currently consumes about 133 terawatt-hours of electricity annua...
The Sunday Debate: The West Should Cut Ties with Saudi Arabia
29 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 Is...
They: What Muslims and Non-Muslims Get Wrong About Each Other, Sarfraz Manzoor and Ros Urwin
27 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 th...
Debate: Bitcoin vs Gold with Anthony Scaramucci and Peter Schiff
24 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
The Sunday Debate: The War on Terror was the right response to 9/11
22 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 eve...
Afghanistan: What Next?
20 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 Nasi...
China's Alternative Vision for the Internet, with James Griffiths and Carl Miller
17 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Once little more than a pornography filter, China’s ‘Great Firewall’ has evolved into the most sophisticated system of online censorship in the ...
The Sunday Debate: To Stop Climate Collapse, We Must End Capitalism
15 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Capitalism is driving us to disaster. Our planet is heading for a terrifying environmental cataclysm – and our economic system is responsible. The d...
The Country of Others, with Leïla Slimani and Shahidha Bari
13 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In conversation with writer and cultural historian Shahidha Bari, Slimani shared her insights into the impact of colonialism and the ways in which wom...
Stop Pretending We Can Save the Planet, with Jonathan Franzen
10 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 i...
The Sunday Debate: Parenting Doesn’t Matter
08 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How important is parenting? The multibillion-pound parenting industry tells us we can all shape our children to be joyful, resilient and successful. B...
The Right to Sex, with Amia Srinivasan and Merve Emre
06 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
The Power of Giving Away Power with Matthew Barzun and Kamal Ahmed
03 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 Sunday Debate: Napoleon the Great? With Andrew Roberts, Adam Zamoyski and Jeremy Paxman
01 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Testosterone: Debunking the Myths of the Misunderstood Hormone with Carole Hooven
30 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Testosterone – a hormone that has been mythologised, maligned and misunderstood. It is frequently cited as the basis of male aggression and sexual v...
Michael Pollan: This Is Your Mind on Plants
27 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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. Tha...
The Sunday Debate: Brave New World vs 1984
25 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Both these novels imagined extraordinary futures, but which better captures our present and offers the keener warning about where we may be heading? I...
Debate: Abolish Billionaires
23 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 Bour...
Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination, with Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang
20 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"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 ...
The Sunday Debate: Anti-Zionism is Anti-Semitism
18 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Is Mass Migration Making the World a Better Place?
16 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
To some, the very word ‘migration’ generates fear, suspicion and even hatred. But according to Felix Marquardt, author of the acclaimed The New No...
The Truth about Fake News, with Marcus Gilroy-Ware and Richard Seymour
13 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 an...
The Ever-Changing Brain with David Eagleman and Brian Eno
09 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Race and Guns in a Divided America, with Carol Anderson and Mark Mardell
06 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout history, the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States has protected the right to bear arms. For Black Americans, this has ...
The Sunday Debate: The Catholic Church is a Force For Good in the World
04 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Roman Catholic Church is the oldest institution in the western world and has had a pivotal influence on western civilisation, ranging from matters...
Albums that Changed My Life, with Tom Gatti, David Mitchell and Preti Taneja
02 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Our favourite albums are our most faithful companions. We listen to them over and over, we know them far better than any novel or film. These records ...
Emma Dabiri and Alex Renton on Race, Reckoning and What We Can Do Next
29 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Emma Dabiri, Irish-Nigerian academic and broadcaster, and Alex Renton, British-Canadian investigative journalist, have established themselves as impor...
The Devil You Know, with Dr Gwen Adshead and Linda Yueh
25 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Gwen Adshead is one of Britain's leading forensic psychiatrists, and has spent thirty years providing therapy inside secure hospitals and prisons. ...
Surviving Disaster, with Max Brooks and Carl Miller
22 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's podcast we're joined by Max Brooks, global bestselling novelist of cult classic 'World War Z' and Hollywood screenwriter. He speaks to...
While Justice Sleeps, with Stacey Abrams and Tayari Jones
18 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Stacey Abrams is widely considered one of the most prominent political power broker in the United States. She was the first African-American woman to ...
Debate: We Must Stop Big Data's Pandemic Power Grab
17 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's podcast Nani Jansen Reventlow goes up against Rowena Luk to debate whether bringing big tech closer into our lives during the pandemic...
Is Meritocracy a Myth? With Adrian Wooldridge and Mark Mardell
15 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Join the debate and discuss this episode with fellow listeners on our Multytude conversation here: https://multytudelink.page.link/2u9nK2SP7SH7DCyU7 ...
Gillian Tett on a New Way To Understand Business and Life
11 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
To explain the power of anthropology to help us better understand the modern world, Financial Times journalist and bestselling author Gillian Tett j...
Framing: A Guide to Thinking in the 21st Century
08 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An industrialist looks at a rain forest and sees trees to cut down and sell, while an environmentalist sees the ‘lungs of the planet’. To one pers...
Ed Miliband on How To Build a Better World
04 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Is the pandemic a wake-up call to build a better world? Ed Miliband, politician and host of the award-winning Reasons to Be Cheerful podcast, thinks s...
Salman Rushdie on Truth, Language and the Power of Stories
01 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Salman Rushdie, internationally bestselling author and ‘Best of the Booker’ winner, is a storyteller of the highest order, illuminating truths ab...
Carlo Rovelli and Philip Pullman on the Science and Stories That Transform Our World
28 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Carlo Rovelli is the internationally bestselling theoretical physicist whose many fans include Benedict Cumberbatch, Antony Gormley, Neil Gaiman and...
Music in the Age of COVID-19, with David Gray and Rosamund Urwin
25 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode acclaimed singer/songwriter David Gray speaks to Rosamund Urwin about how music and the arts have fared throughout the COVID...
The New Space Race, with Nicholas Schmidle and Helen Czerski
21 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When Richard Branson founded Virgin Galactic in 2004, the goal was simple: to offer civilian space travel by the end of the decade. Seventeen years, a...
Common Ground: How to Democratise Nature
20 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Spending a mere two hours a week outside is scientifically proven to lower blood pressure, enhance the immune system and reduce anxiety. Yet, for many...
Choices for a Better Now, with Ece Temelkuran and Matthew Taylor
18 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Many of us felt it before but 2020 was the year it became undeniable: the status quo is not working. Political discontent is widespread – and for go...
The Hidden Language of Trees with Suzanne Simard
14 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Trees have memories. They have wisdom. They cooperate in communities of immense complexity, communicating underground through a huge web of fungi, at ...
Niall Ferguson on the Politics of Catastrophe
11 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Why was the response of the UK and US to the coronavirus pandemic so bungled? How can we be better prepared when the next disaster strikes? These are ...
Joe Biden: Moderate or Radical? With Evan Osnos and Mark Mardell
07 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As we pass Joe Biden's first one hundred days in office as President of the United States, we're joined by The New Yorker's Evan Osnos author of the...
Mona Eltahawy on the Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls
04 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Be angry, ambitious, profane, violent, attention-seeking, lustful, and powerful. These are the “seven necessary sins” that Egyptian writer and act...
Getting into the Doughnut, with Kate Raworth and Matthew Taylor
30 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode Kate Raworth, Oxford University economist discusses what she calls Doughnut Economics, an idea she came up with to help human...
The Social Dilemma, with Tristan Harris and Helen Lewis
27 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode Tristan Harris, star of Netflix hit documentary 'The Social Dilemma' speak to Helen Lewis about the the enormous power technolo...
Difficult Women, with Helen Lewis and Rosamund Urwin
23 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Helen Lewis argues that feminism's success is down to complicated, contradictory, imperfect women, who fought each other as well as fighting for equal...
Debate: The West Must Engage not Confront China
22 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week's episode features a debate from Intelligence Squared Germany in partnership with the ECFR. Kerry Brown goes up against Anastasia Lin on the...
Jews Don't Count, with David Baddiel and Armando Iannucci
20 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode comedian and writer David Baddiel discusses his new book, Jews Don’t Count. He argues that the progressive movement which oft...
Gene Editing and the Future of the Human Race, with Walter Isaacson and Dr Guddi Singh
16 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Walter Isaacson is the bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci, Einstein and Steve Jobs. His new book is The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Edit...
Amal Clooney, Geoffrey Robertson and Bill Browder on a Plan B for Human Rights
13 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Geoffrey Robertson QC is one of Britain’s leading human rights champions. Twenty years ago he helped fuel the global justice movement with his groun...
Bonus: The Economy and Markets After Covid-19
12 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this special bonus episode, brought to you in partnership with online trading platform IG, Joshua Mahoney, Senior Markets analyst at IG, speaks to ...
From Bridgerton to Peaky Blinders: Historic Houses in Film & TV with World Monuments Fund Britain
09 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is made in partnership with international heritage charity World Monuments Fund Britain. Together we explore the fascinating world of on-...
The Handshake: A Gripping History
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Friends do it, strangers do it and so do chimpanzees - and it's not just deeply embedded in our history and culture, it may even be written in our DNA...
Debate: Is The West Fundamentally Racist?
02 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The West is rich because the rest is poor. Capitalism is racism. So argues Kehinde Andrews, academic and self-described Black radical, who came to Int...
Was Jesus A Great Moral Teacher? With Julian Baggini and Mark Mardell
30 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Even if we don't believe that Jesus was the son of God, we tend to think he was a great moral teacher. But was he? And how closely do idealised values...
Debate: The Time Is Right for Scottish Independence
26 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Should Scotland be independent? In this week's podcast Alex Massie and Lesley Riddoch go head to head on the question of whether the time has come to ...
A New Vision for Capitalism, with Anne Case, Angus Deaton and Francine Lacqua
23 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Each year hundreds of thousands of Americans die as a result of drug abuse, alcoholism or suicide – and the numbers are rising. This has contributed...
NFT's and Why Blockchain Means Business, with Sheila Warren and Carl Miller
19 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode we discuss the explosive rise of NFT's as well as the long terms trends in blockchain that will change how we do business and l...
The Science of Friendship, with Robin Dunbar and Helen Czerski
16 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Robin Dunbar is the world-renowned psychologist and author who famously discovered Dunbar’s number: how our capacity for friendship is limited to ar...
The Accidental President, with James Fletcher and Mark Mardell
12 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 2016, almost anyone you asked, or any poll you consulted, pointed you to a Hillary Clinton landslide. The Accidental President is a balanced featur...
Intelligence Squared Recommends – Climate Solutions: Is COVID-19 good or bad for the climate?
11 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We have a special bonus episode for you today - we wanted to introduce you to a podcast we think you'll really enjoy, called Climate Solutions, from o...
BONUS: International Women's Day Special with Margaret Atwood, Bernardine Evaristo, Rose McGowan and more
08 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For International Women's Day we bring to you a special bonus episode of our award-winning podcast, How I Found My Voice presented by the BBC journali...
Jon Sopel on Fear and Loathing on the US Campaign Trail
05 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode BBC North America Editor Jon Sopel takes us behind the scenes of perhaps the most extraordinary election campaign ever in Ameri...
Intelligence Squared Recommends – Change Makers, with Yanis Varoufakis
04 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We have a special bonus episode for you today – we wanted to introduce you to a podcast we think you'll really enjoy, called Change Makers. Change M...
The Cyber Weapons Arms Race, with Nicole Perlroth and Josh Glancy
02 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Zero day: a software bug that allows a hacker to break into your devices and move around undetected. One of the most coveted tools in a spy's arsenal,...
BONUS: Kate Winslet on Titanic, Hollywood and Finding Her Voice
28 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This bonus podcast features an episode from another Intelligence Squared podcast called How I Found My Voice. In this episode Hollywood star Kate Wins...
Facebook, Free Speech and the Fight for Digital Democracy, With Marietje Schaake and Carl Miller
26 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode Marietje Schaake International Director of Policy at Stanford University's Cyber Policy Centre speaks to Carl Miller about Face...
The New Climate War, with Michael Mann and Clover Hogan
23 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode renowned climate scientist Michael Mann speaks to Clover Hogan about the thirty-year war to deflect blame and delay action on c...
Debate: Big Tech was Right to Deplatform Trump
19 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Shortly after a pro Trump mob stormed the Capitol on January 6th - Big Tech unplugged the President. For years he’d used social media to communicate...
No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram, with Sarah Frier and Linda Yueh
16 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 2010, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger released a photo-sharing app called Instagram, with one simple but irresistible feature: it would make anythin...
Britain Alone: From Suez to Brexit, with Philip Stephens and Mark Mardell
12 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode Philip Stephens the Financial Times chief political commentator speaks to Mark Mardell about why Britain is a nation struggling...
The Last Untamed Frontier, with Ian Urbina and Helen Czerski
09 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There are few remaining frontiers on our planet. But perhaps the wildest, and least understood, are the world's oceans: too big to police, and under n...
Bellingcat Founder Eliot Higgins on Navalny, Syria and Skripal
05 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat, tells the dramatic story of how he went from college dropout to pioneering a new category...
The Great Decoupling, with Nigel Inkster and Linda Yueh
02 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode Nigel Inkster argues that growing tension between the USA and China could result in the two superpowers decoupling their techno...
Jim Al-Khalili on The World According to Physics
29 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Why does physics matter? What can the study of energy and force, of matter and its motion and behaviour through space and time teach us about the univ...
How to Save The Planet, with Mike Berners Lee and Jenny Kleeman
26 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Climate change, feeding the world, biodiversity, plastics – the list of environmental concerns seems endless. But which of these is the most pressin...
The Power of Ethics, with Susan Liautaud and Josh Lowe
22 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode ethics expert Susan Liautaud speaks to journalist and writer about how we can make sense of ethical dilemmas and be more attu...
Can Joe Biden Heal America?
19 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On January 20 Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. But as the storming of the Capitol on January 6 by supporters of ...