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Intelligence Squared

Intelligence Squared

300 episodes

Ideas shape the world. Intelligence Squared brings you the conversations that explain them.

More about the show

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 podcasts, exclusive bonus content, early access and much more, become a supporter of Intelligence Squared today. Just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more.

Episodes page 1 of 6

  1. Marina Hyde and Jesse Armstrong, Live in Brighton

    · 1 h 29 min · S1 E3531

    Described by Phoebe Waller-Bridge as “the most lethal, vital, screamingly funny truth-teller of our time”, Marina Hyde has become one of Britain’s most popular columnists and podcasters. A Sunday Times bestselling…

  2. Were Castles the Original Military-Industrial Complex? With Dan Jones

    · 48 min · S1 E3531

    For more than 3,000 years, castles and fortifications have shaped the landscapes around them. They defended cities, controlled trade and provided refuge in times of war. But they were also monuments to the ambition of…

  3. Archive: Is Mark Zuckerberg Damaging Society?

    · 1 h 05 min · S1 E3530

    With the release of Aaron Sorkin's new film The Social Reckoning, Mark Zuckerberg and the dark side of Facebook are back in the spotlight. In 2019, Intelligence Squared put Zuckerberg on trial, asking whether Facebook…

  4. Has America Abandoned Ukraine? With Michael McFaul

    · 27 min · S1 E3529

    Donald Trump’s growing accommodation of Vladimir Putin has raised a stark question: has the US abandoned Ukraine? Conor Boyle speaks to Michael McFaul, former US ambassador to Russia and author of Autocrats vs.…

  5. What Must Burnham Sacrifice To Make Britain Grow? With Michael Gove

    · 1 h 33 min

    Few figures in modern British politics have operated as close to the centre of power as Michael Gove. Over more than a decade in government, he has held some of the most senior offices of state – including Education…

  6. Why Are People Having Fewer Children Than They Want? With Camilla Cavendish

    · 45 min · S1 E3527

    In England and Wales, the total fertility rate fell to 1.39 children per woman in 2025. More than half of the world’s countries and areas are now below the level at which a population replaces itself without migration.…

  7. Archive: Can the Arts Drive Social Change? With Idris Elba, Kwame Kwei-Armah and Yassmin Abdel-Magied

    · 1 h 02 min · S1 E3526

    In the summer of 2020, as Black Lives Matter protests swept the world, the arts and creative industries faced urgent questions about racism, representation and their role in driving meaningful change. In this episode…

  8. How One Family Remade Britain: Thomas and Oliver Cromwell, with Miranda Malins

    · 58 min · S1 E3525

    Thomas Cromwell helped Henry VIII break with Rome, reshape government and establish the Church of England. A century later, his distant relative Oliver Cromwell helped defeat a king, establish a republic and became…

  9. Can Europe Defend Itself? Timothy Garton Ash on Europe's Future

    · 35 min · S1 E3524

    Europe’s past is not past. The borders of vanished empires still surface in election results. The European Union and Nato face a world in which Russia is aggressive, America is less dependable and Europe’s own ability…

  10. Can Pigs Really Appreciate Bach? Katherine Rundell Live

    · 1 h 24 min · S1 E3523

    Katherine Rundell has dazzled millions of readers globally with her writing on fantastical beasts. In her bestselling book The Golden Mole, she profiled some of the world’s most extraordinary endangered animals,…

  11. Archive: What Are the Chances We Exist at All? With Brian Cox and Alice Roberts

    · 1 h 04 min · S1 E3522

    Who are we? Why are we here? Are we alone in the universe? How did we become the creatures that we are? How might we further evolve? These are some of the big questions that Brian Cox and Alice Roberts tackled when…

  12. What James Baldwin Can Teach Us About the World Today

    · 1 h 18 min · S1 E3521

    On the 70th anniversary of the publication of Giovanni’s Room, James Baldwin’s seminal novel about sexuality, race and myth in America, Booker Prize-winning writer Ben Okri joined us to reflect on the life, literature…

  13. The Age of Change with Jeremy Hunt, in Partnership with IBM

    · 44 min · S1 E3520

    In this episode, Kamal was joined by Jeremy Hunt, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lawrence Tallon, Chief Executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), and Dr. Angela Spatharou, Senior…

  14. Carlo Rovelli Live: Why Numbers Don’t Exist

    · 1 h 33 min · S1 E3519

    Carlo Rovelli is an award-winning theoretical physicist and writer with a gift for making complex ideas feel real and accessible. Whether exploring black holes, quantum mechanics, philosophy, or history, he inspires…

  15. Anthony Scaramucci Tour Highlights

    · 38 min · Explicit

    With the US midterm elections one month away, we revisit highlights from Anthony Scaramucci’s recent Intelligence Squared tour across the UK. The former White House communications director recalls how he discovered he…

  16. Harlan Coben and Bill Nighy on the Art of the Plot Twist

    · 1 h 32 min · S1 E3517

    The bestselling author of more than 36 novels, including Fool Me Once, Tell No One and the Myron Bolitar series, Coben is renowned for his ability to build tension, wrong-foot his readers and create intricately plotted…

  17. Introducing: Intelligence Squared Live

    · 3:05 · Trailer

    This podcast has always brought together two kinds of conversation. Original episodes recorded in the studio, and live events from the Intelligence Squared stage. Now, we’re giving each a home of its own, making it…

  18. Britain’s War in Palestine, with Sebastian Faulks

    · 1 h 09 min · S1 E3516

    Sebastian Faulks is one of the country’s best loved novelists, known for books such as Birdsong, Human Traces, Engleby and Charlotte Gray. His writing is renowned for its masterful storytelling and bringing historical…

  19. The CIA vs MI6: Allies or Rivals? With David McCloskey

    · 38 min · S1 E3515

    What if the CIA and MI6 began spying on each other? This is the question that David McCloskey, the former CIA analyst and co-host of the Rest is Classified, discusses on this episode with Carl Miller. Together, they…

  20. Is There a Royal Sex Scandal Hidden in the Bayeux Tapestry? With David Musgrove

    · 39 min · S1 E3514

    This September the Bayeux Tapestry went on display at the British Museum to huge crowds of eager patrons. This is the first time it has been displayed in England since it was made almost 1,000 years ago, and the…

  21. Anthony Scaramucci and Marina Hyde: What Comes After Trump? Live from Guildford

    · 1 h 36 min · S1 E3513

    According to Anthony Scaramucci, former White House Communications Director, outspoken Trump critic and co-host of The Rest Is Politics: US, President Trump represents one of the greatest challenges America has ever…

  22. What Lyse Doucet Has Learned from 40 Years Reporting From War Zones, Live

    · 1 h 27 min · S1 E3512

    As the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet has witnessed and reported on some of the most consequential events of our time. She has reported from Iran and Afghanistan since 1988, played a leading role…

  23. Anthony Scaramucci and Tina Brown on How To Fix America, Live in London

    · 1 h 37 min · S1 E3511

    According to Anthony Scaramucci, former White House Communications Director, outspoken Trump critic and co-host of The Rest Is Politics: US, President Trump represents one of the greatest challenges America has ever…

  24. Why Your Plans Will Fail After Five Minutes, and How To Fix Them, with Kevin Fong

    · 51 min · S1 E3510

    Kevin Fong has spent his working life in high-risk, high-performance teams. He flies as a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service doctor, has worked on NASA’s human spaceflight programme, and was part of the UK’s…

  25. Has Tech Lost All Humanity? With Mark Little

    · 42 min · S1 E3509

    The internet was once imagined as a place that would bring us closer together – a shared space for curiosity, creativity and connection. So how did it become a machine for capturing our attention, amplifying division…

  26. Luke Harding and Alastair Campbell: Trump, Putin and the New Age of Conquest (Part Two)

    · 37 min · S1 E3508

    The post-war international order is under increasing strain. The principle that borders cannot be changed by force is being challenged –not only by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but by Donald Trump’s threats to seize…

  27. Luke Harding and Alastair Campbell: Trump, Putin and the New Age of Conquest (Part One)

    · 34 min · S1 E3507

    The post-war international order is under increasing strain. The principle that borders cannot be changed by force is being challenged –not only by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but by Donald Trump’s threats to seize…

  28. Francis Fukuyama on the New World Order (Part Two)

    · 39 min · S1 E3506

    Francis Fukuyama is one of the most influential political thinkers of our time. His famous 1989 essay, The End of History? – written as the Berlin Wall fell and communism collapsed – posed a provocative idea: that…

  29. What Comes After the End of History? with Francis Fukuyama (Part One)

    · 36 min · S1 E3505

    Francis Fukuyama is one of the most influential political thinkers of our time. His famous 1989 essay, The End of History? – written as the Berlin Wall fell and communism collapsed – posed a provocative idea: that…

  30. The New Silencing: Women Versus the Manosphere (Part Two)

    · 34 min · S1 E3504

    When the MeToo movement ignited in 2017, many believed it would be a turning point for women after which positive change would become inevitable. And for a brief time, it felt like the world was finally listening to…

  31. The New Silencing: Women Versus the Manosphere (Part One)

    · 37 min · S1 E3503

    When the MeToo movement ignited in 2017, many believed it would be a turning point for women after which positive change would become inevitable. And for a brief time, it felt like the world was finally listening to…

  32. Why Did the Working Class Abandon the Left? With Nobel Economist Daron Acemoglu

    · 38 min · S1 E3502

    Liberal democracy was once a radical force. It challenged monarchies, expanded political rights and, at its most successful, helped deliver rising wages and shared prosperity. So how did it become associated with an…

  33. How Trade Shapes Our World, With Ed Conway

    · 54 min · S1 E3501

    Trade has shaped human civilisation for thousands of years. From the copper used in Mesopotamian ploughs to the silicon inside our smartphones, vast networks have evolved to move the materials and products on which…

  34. NYT’s Novel of the Century? Marlon James on The Disappearers

    · 50 min · S1 E3500

    In 1988, eight men in Kingston, Jamaica, begin rehearsals for a play. Though strangers to one another, they share an inescapable truth: All of them are gay. And they live in a world that refuses to accept them. One…

  35. The Secret History in Our DNA: Adam Rutherford Meets David Olusoga (Part Two)

    · 38 min · S1 E3499

    Adam Rutherford is a science broadcaster, and author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, which transformed the way we think about human history. By using genetics to uncover the story of our species, it…

  36. The Secret History in Our DNA: Adam Rutherford Meets David Olusoga (Part One)

    · 43 min · S1 E3498

    Adam Rutherford is a science broadcaster, and author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, which transformed the way we think about human history. By using genetics to uncover the story of our species, it…

  37. Can Democracy Survive the Age of AI? With Jill Lepore

    · 42 min · S1 E3497

    We live in the age of data. Over the past century, rapidly evolving technologies have transformed almost every aspect of our society, in ways that can seem both troubling and unstoppable. Political campaigns have been…

  38. What John Berger Saw That We Still Don’t, with Tom Overton

    · 42 min · S1 E3496

    John Berger transformed the way generations thought about art, politics and the act of looking. Best known for Ways of Seeing, his work ranged across migration, capitalism, war and mortality, always asking how culture…

  39. Is Tech Making Our Kids Less Capable? With Dr Jared Cooney Horvath

    · 33 min · S1 E3495

    Schools were promised that laptops, educational apps and artificial intelligence would make learning more personalised, engaging and effective. Cognitive neuroscientist and former teacher Dr Jared Cooney Horvath argues…

  40. Is Ukraine’s Culture Worth Fighting For? With Charlotte Higgins

    · 38 min · S1 E3494

    Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has placed not only lives and cities under attack, but also the country’s language, history and culture. Museums have been looted, cultural sites destroyed and a generation of…

  41. How George Michael Changed Music Forever, with Sathnam Sanghera (Part Two)

    · 42 min · S1 E3493 · Explicit

    George Michael wrote Careless Whisper, one of the biggest pop songs of our age, in an hour in his childhood bedroom. Alongside his childhood best friend Andrew Ridgeley he founded Wham!, a revolutionary pop group which…

  42. How George Michael Changed Music Forever, with Sathnam Sanghera (Part One)

    · 37 min · S1 E3492 · Explicit

    George Michael wrote Careless Whisper, one of the biggest pop songs of our age, in an hour in his childhood bedroom. Alongside his childhood best friend Andrew Ridgeley he founded Wham!, a revolutionary pop group which…

  43. Spielberg, Coppola and Lucas: The Remaking of Modern Cinema, With Paul Fischer

    · 52 min · S1 E3491

    By the early 1980s Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were the richest, best-known filmmakers in the world, with an empire of their own. Coppola had directed The Godfather, then the…

  44. Colm Tóibín on Stories of Exile (Part Two)

    · 37 min · S1 E3490

    Colm Tóibín is widely acclaimed for the emotional restraint and quiet power of his prose. His writing explores exile, abandonment, loss and denial, the things that go unspoken and the feelings not acted upon. His…

  45. Colm Tóibín on Stories of Exile (Part One)

    · 39 min · S1 E3489

    Colm Tóibín is widely acclaimed for the emotional restraint and quiet power of his prose. His writing explores exile, abandonment, loss and denial, the things that go unspoken and the feelings not acted upon. His…

  46. Uncovering the Epstein Story, with Emily Maitlis and Amy Wallace (Part Two)

    · 35 min · S1 E3488

    The Jeffrey Epstein story has created shockwaves on both sides of the Atlantic. As new documents continue to emerge, and as journalists continue to report around those documents, we’re increasingly seeing how the…

  47. Uncovering the Epstein Story, with Emily Maitlis and Amy Wallace (Part One)

    · 40 min · S1 E3487

    The Jeffrey Epstein story has created shockwaves on both sides of the Atlantic. As new documents continue to emerge, and as journalists continue to report around those documents, we’re increasingly seeing how the…

  48. Is the Algorithm Destroying Taste? With Polyester Editor-In-Chief Ione Gamble

    · 30 min · S1 E3486

    What we like has never been entirely our own. Taste has always been shaped by class, culture and the people around us. But in the age of algorithms and AI, our preferences are increasingly being predicted, curated and…

  49. How Do Our Sibling Relationships Shape Us? With Catherine Carr

    · 49 min · S1 E3485

    For many of us, our relationships with our siblings are the longest of our lives. They shape our earliest experiences of love, rivalry, identity and belonging. Yet despite their lasting influence, they are often…

  50. Can the US Survive Donald Trump? With Pod Save the US’ Ben Rhodes (Part Two)

    · 33 min · S1 E3484

    Ben Rhodes served as one of Barack Obama’s closest foreign-policy aides, holding the role of Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting from 2009 to 2017. He acted as the lead…

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