Intelligence Squared

Intelligence Squared is the home of lively debate and deep-dive discussion. Follow Intelligence Squared wherever you get your podcasts and enjoy four regular episodes per week taking you to the heart of the issues that matter in the company of the world’s great minds. We’d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on and what our future debates should be. Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to podcasts@intelligencesquared.com or Tweet us @intelligence2. 

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Society & Culture
Arts
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1001
Conquerors and Liberators: War Leaders Who Shap...
Managing a successful Premier League football team or a major company takes extraordinary fortitude and foresight. But try leading a nation of millions – and then persuading them to follow you into war, with all the pain and sacrifice that entails. Tha...
56 min
1002
Ken Clarke: The Big Beast of British Politics
After 49 years as a Conservative MP, Ken Clarke will be stepping down at the UK general election on December 12. In this episode of the Intelligence Squared podcast – staged just ten days before the election – Clarke came to the Intelligence Squared st...
82 min
1003
Yanis Varoufakis and Brian Eno on Money, Power ...
The liberal order is under threat. Increasing inequality, the rise of far-right nationalism and the climate emergency pose unprecedented challenges. It’s time for some radical thinking.In November 2019 Intelligence Squared brought to its stage two o...
62 min
1004
Richard Branson: How I Found My Voice
This is an episode from the second series of How I Found My Voice, a podcast from Intelligence Squared. Presented by the prominent BBC journalist Samira Ahmed, the podcast explores how some of the world's greatest artists and thi...
42 min
1005
P.J. O’Rourke and Lionel Shriver on the Battle ...
This episode was from one of our live Intelligence Squared events, featuring satirist P. J. O’Rourke and bestselling author Lionel Shriver. They joined us for a night of withering satire, relentless ridicule and sharp political insight in a discussion ...
61 min
1006
Naomi Klein on Climate Change, Extinction Rebel...
In this episode Samira speaks to the journalist, social activist and New York Times best-selling author Naomi Klein about growing up in a politically active family, being at the forefront of protest movements, the case for a Green New Deal and her views on Extinction Rebellion. Subscribe to How I Found My Voice and listen to more episodes
41 min
1007
Intelligent Times: Dean Baquet and Simon Schama...
Earlier this week we were joined by executive editor of The New York Times Dean Baquet and historian Sir Simon Schama for an examination of the role of the media in today’s increasingly polarised politics. Baquet is the first African-American editor of...
77 min
1008
The Survival of Democracy in Eastern Europe, wi...
In November 1989, 30 years ago this month, the collapse of the Berlin Wall ushered in a new era of democracy in Eastern Europe. But today, with populist strongmen like Orban in Hungary and Kaczyński in Poland on the rise, the future of democracy in the...
45 min
1009
The Poetry Pharmacy Returns with William Siegha...
William Sieghart’s The Poetry Pharmacy: Tried-and-True Prescriptions for the Heart, Mind and Soul was one of the publishing sensations of the past few years. Anyone who came to the event Intelligence Squared built around it – when Jea...
79 min
1010
How I Found My Voice: Michael Palin
This is an episode from the second series of How I Found My Voice, a podcast from Intelligence Squared. Presented by the prominent BBC journalist Samira Ahmed, the podcast explores how some of the world's greatest artists and thinkers bec...
58 min
1011
Intelligent Times: Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey...
Intelligent Times is a live event series collaboration between The New York Times and Intelligence Squared, bringing together leading New York Times journalists and thought leaders to discuss the key issues facing the globe today.On October 5th 2017...
91 min
1012
The Gendered Brain Myth, with Daphna Joel and R...
In this episode of the Intelligence Squared podcast we were joined by the Israeli neuroscientist Daphna Joel, author of Gender Mosaic: Beyond the Myth of the Male and Female Brain. In conversation with Ros Urwin of T...
33 min
1013
John Humphrys: The Terrier of Today, in convers...
Earlier this month, as John Humphrys stepped down after 32 years at Today and published a long-awaited memoir, A Day Like Today, he came to the Intelligence Squared stage to give an exclusive, behind-the-scenes account of his extraordinary car...
59 min
1014
The Battle Over Gender, Race and Identity with ...
In this episode we were joined by the conservative thinker Douglas Murray, whose new book The Madness of Crowds examines this century's most divisive issues: sexuality, gender, technology and race. He w...
51 min
1015
Trailblazers: Women Leading the Way
The first of a series of events produced in partnership with gal-dem, an award-winning media platform that spotlights the creative work of women of colour and non-binary people of colour.
90 min
1016
The Underworld of the High Seas, with Ian Urbin...
In this episode of the Intelligence Squared podcast we were joined by the renowned investigative journalist Ian Urbina, who has a new book titled The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier. In a conv...
37 min
1017
Speeches and Letters That Changed The World, Wi...
At the 2019 Cliveden Literary Festival, Intelligence Squared brought together historian Simon Sebag Montefiore and novelist Kate Mosse to discuss some of the speeches and letters in Sebag’s latest b...
60 min
1018
The Social Media Addiction-Machine, with Richar...
In this week's episode we were joined by Richard Seymour, the Marxist intellectual and author of The Twittering Machine, a book which uses psychoanalytic reflection and insights from users, developers, and security experts to exa...
55 min
1019
The West Should Pay Reparations For Slavery
This week's podcast was a live debate on the motion 'The West Should Pay Reparations For Slavery'. Should there be a broad programme of reparations – not just financial compensation, but acknowledgement of the crimes committed and the...
64 min
1020
Satire, Boris and Brexit with Ian McEwan and Ra...
In this week’s episode of the Intelligence Squared podcast we were joined by the acclaimed novelist Ian McEwan. He was interviewed by the BBC’s Razia Iqbal to discuss his new satirical novella The Cockroach, in which a man wakes up one morning...
47 min
1021
Parliament’s War of Words: Women in Power, with...
With tensions running high this week in the U.K. Houses of Parliament over Brexit and allegations about PM Boris Johnson's use of inflammatory language, Intelligence Squared staged an event with Labour MP Rachel Reeves, Conservative member of the ...
87 min
1022
How I Found My Voice: Benjamin Zephaniah
This is an episode from a new podcast strand launched by Intelligence Squared called How I Found My Voice. Presented by the prominent BBC journalist Samira Ahmed, the podcast explores how some of the world...
45 min
1023
The Mindfulness Myth, with Ronald Purser and He...
Mindfulness – the psychological practice of bringing one's attention to the present moment through meditation – has gone mainstream. It has been enthusiastically co-opted by Silicon Valley and other large corporations as well as schools, governmen...
32 min
1024
How I Found My Voice: Elif Shafak
This is an episode from a new podcast strand launched by Intelligence Squared called How I Found My Voice. Presented by the prominent BBC journalist Samira Ahmed, the podcast explores how some of the world...
42 min
1025
An Evening With Salman Rushdie
Salman Rushdie is one of the world’s greatest storytellers. He came to the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss his career, his life and his new novel Quichotte with the BBC’s Razia Iqbal. The book is a wild ride through mod...
62 min