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Intelligence Squared

Intelligence Squared

300 episodes

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 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.

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Episodes page 6 of 6

  1. The Age of the Strongman: Understanding Netanyahu, with Anshel Pfeffer (Part One)

    · 33 min · S1 E3284

    In November 2022, Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in Israel after winning his sixth election. Propped up by a bloc of far-right and ultra-religious parties, Netanyahu’s government is seen by many as the most…

  2. The Specialist | The Multi-Million Dollar Banana, with David Galperin

    · 13 min · Episode 3283

    This is an episode of The Specialist, produced by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Sotheby's. In The Specialist, explore the significance and journey of an extraordinary work through the eyes of those that know…

  3. Could AI Help Save Lives? With Dr Charlotte Blease

    · 36 min · S1 E3282

    How can AI improve our healthcare industry? In this episode, Dr Emma Yhnell speaks to health informaticist and author Dr Charlotte Blease about the role AI could play in the future of medicine, from making it more…

  4. Hotels with History | Claridge's, London

    · 22 min · S1 E3281

    This is an episode of Hotels with History, produced by Intelligence Squared on behalf of Perowne International. In today’s episode, the rise of one of the most exclusive districts of London, the hotel that became the…

  5. The science of dreams: why do we dream, and can we learn to control them? With Dr Michelle Carr

    · 32 min · S1 E3280

    Why do we dream? Why do dreams go bad? And can we harness the science of dreams and nightmares to improve our health? Dr Michelle Carr is the Director of the Dream Engineering Laboratory at the University of Montreal…

  6. What will become of the CIA under President Trump? With Tim Wiener

    · 45 min · S1 E3279

    Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Tim Weiner has been chronicling the history of the CIA for more than two decades. His new book, The Mission charts the agency’s successes and failings, from 9-11 to the present day.…

  7. Can Trump Deliver Peace in Ukraine? With Catherine Belton

    · 29 min · S1 E3278

    In today's episode we’re joined today by journalist and author Catherine Belton to continue our discussion on whether President Trump can deliver a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Belton speaks with Conor Boyle,…

  8. Mary Beard and Charlotte Higgins on how antiquity shapes the modern world (Part Two)

    · 22 min · S1 E3277

    How does the classical world shape our politics, culture, language and lives today? On today’s episode, we’re joined by two of the greatest names making classics accessible for the modern day. Dame Mary Beard is a…

  9. The Specialist | Fabergé’s Rediscovered Imperial Flower, with Helen Culver-Smith

    · 13 min · Episode 3274

    This is an episode of The Specialist, produced by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Sotheby's. In The Specialist, explore the significance and journey of an extraordinary work through the eyes of those that know…

  10. Mary Beard and Charlotte Higgins on how antiquity shapes the modern world (Part One)

    · 29 min · S1 E3276

    How does the classical world shape our politics, culture, language and lives today? On today’s episode, we’re joined by two of the greatest names making classics accessible for the modern day. Dame Mary Beard is a…

  11. Can Trump Deliver Peace in Ukraine? With Mark Galeotti

    · 23 min · S1 E3275

    On today's episode we're joined by Mark Galeotti, security expert and author, to discuss Trump's recent efforts to reach a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Galeotti speaks to Conor Boyle, Head of Programming at…

  12. Who are the Hidden Women who Shaped our Economic History? With Victoria Bateman

    · 41 min · S1 E3273

    How many female entrepreneurs, merchants and industrialists can you name? We all know the names Rockefeller, Medici and Ford, but what about Priscilla Wakefield, who founded the first bank for women and children? Or…

  13. What Does China's Seismic Economic Progress Mean for the USA? With Dan Wang

    · 32 min · S1 E3272

    America used to pride itself on ambition. Today, it looks stuck. Meanwhile, China has been busy building the future. In a new book, Breakneck, technology analyst Dan Wang provides a new framework for understanding…

  14. How can we win the battle against antibiotic resistance? With Liam Shaw

    · 39 min · S1 E3271

    One of the greatest medical breakthroughs of the twentieth century is set to become one of the biggest threats of the twenty-first - but what can be done to stem the rising tide of antibiotic resistance? In this…

  15. Classic Debate: The Allied bombing of German cities in World War II was unjustifiable

    · 59 min · S1 E3270

    No one doubts the bravery of the thousands of men who flew and died in Bomber Command. The death rate was an appalling 44%. And yet until the opening of a monument in Green Park in 2012 they had received no official…

  16. How have rivers shaped human existence? With Vanessa Taylor

    · 34 min · S1 E3269

    From ancient empires to modern metropolises, what do rivers tell us about the way humans build, worship, and fight for their worlds? In this episode, historian Vanessa Taylor joins host Caroline Dodds Pennock to…

  17. How Well do we Understand the Female Body? With Polly Vernon

    · 48 min · S1 E3268

    Did you know that women’s brains change during puberty, pregnancy and the menopause? That women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s? Or that female athletes are more prone to certain injuries than…

  18. Are the Rich Preparing for Civilisational Collapse? With Evan Osnos

    · 40 min · S1 E3267

    In this episode, award-winning journalist Evan Osnos joins Carl Miller to discuss the lives of the Ultrarich and themes from his new book The Haves and the Have Yachts. Together, they explore the secretive world of the…

  19. Does Plato Still Matter Today? with Angie Hobbs

    · 51 min · S1 E3266

    Use code SQUARED at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: https://incogni.com/squared --- Can ancient philosophy make sense of a modern life? In this episode, Sophie Scott-Brown speaks…

  20. Did the Road to Trump Start in the 90’s? with John Ganz

    · 36 min · S1 E3265

    Use code SQUARED at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: https://incogni.com/squared --- How has the past thirty years of American politics impacted our present? In this episode,…

  21. Was the Nuclear Bomb Inevitable? With Frank Close

    · 59 min · S1 E3264

    Use code SQUARED at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: https://incogni.com/squared --- How did the most powerful force in history begin with a faint smudge on a photographic plate?…

  22. An African History of Africa, with Zeinab Badawi (Part Two)

    · 32 min · S1 E3263

    Use code SQUARED at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: https://incogni.com/squared ----- ‘Everyone is originally from Africa, and this book is therefore for everyone.’ – Zeinab Badawi…

  23. An African History of Africa, with Zeinab Badawi (Part One)

    · 35 min · S1 E3262

    ‘Everyone is originally from Africa, and this book is therefore for everyone.’ – Zeinab Badawi Too often historians have told the history of Africa through the prism of colonialism. But what picture of the continent…

  24. The Specialist | The Greatest Persian Manuscript: A Story Fit For Kings, with Benedict Carter

    · 14 min · Episode 3263

    This is an episode of The Specialist, produced by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Sotheby's. In The Specialist, explore the significance and journey of an extraordinary work through the eyes of those that know…

  25. Classic Debate: To Stop Climate Collapse, We Must End Capitalism

    · 1 h 06 min · S1 E3260

    Capitalism is driving us to disaster. Our planet is heading for a terrifying environmental cataclysm – and our economic system is responsible. The defining characteristic of capitalism is perpetual economic growth. And…

  26. Did Apple’s Rise Fuel China’s Fight for Tech Supremacy? With Patrick McGee

    · 45 min · S1 E3259

    How did Apple, the world’s most valuable company and creator of the defining product of the 21st century, end up so deeply entangled with China’s authoritarian state? In 1996, Apple was teetering on the edge of…

  27. How did the fourteenth century shape England? With Helen Carr

    · 38 min · S1 E3258

    The death of Edward I in 1307 marked the beginning of a period of intense turmoil and change in England. The fourteenth century ushered in the beginning of the bloody Hundred Years’ War with France, an epic conflict…

  28. How will Taiwan shape Asia’s future? With Chris Horton

    · 56 min · S1 E3257

    The issue of Taiwan is a constant background hum in today’s news cycle. Perched precariously on the fault-lines of global power, the fate of this vibrant democracy and tech colossus will shape Asia’s future – either…

  29. Where Will the Next Tech Superpower Emerge? With Mehran Gul

    · 49 min · S1 E3256

    For the past fifty years, Silicon Valley has led the world in developing cutting-edge technologies and spawning high-growth, billion-dollar tech companies. More recently, China has emerged as a formidable force in…

  30. The Safekeep, with Women’s Prize-winner Yael van der Wouden

    · 43 min · S1 E3255

    It’s been a remarkable eighteen months for Dutch-Israeli author Yael van der Wouden. Her debut novel, The Safekeep, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and this year it won the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Set in the…

  31. The Specialist | The Untold Story of the Shredded Banksy, with Alex Branczik

    · 12 min · Episode 3252

    This is an episode of The Specialist, produced by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Sotheby's. In The Specialist, explore the significance and journey of an extraordinary work through the eyes of those that know…

  32. The Specialist | The Rediscovery of Rubens’ The Massacre of the Innocents, with George Gordon

    · 13 min · Episode 3243

    This is an episode of The Specialist, produced by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Sotheby's. In The Specialist, explore the significance and journey of an extraordinary work through the eyes of those that know…

  33. How Can Football Shirts Explain Money, Power and Politics?

    · 34 min · S1 E3255

    In today’s episode, journalist and author Joey D'Urso joins us to discuss the themes of his new book More Than A Shirt: How Football Shirts Explain Global Politics, Money and Power. D'Urso travelled across the globe…

  34. How Geography Explains Our World, with Tim Marshall

    · 27 min · S1 E3253

    Tim Marshall is one of the world’s most successful authors on foreign affairs. He’s the writer who put the ‘geo’ into geopolitics with his multi-million selling books Prisoners of Geography and The Power of Geography.…

  35. How will Trump’s tariff war impact the global economy? With Philip Coggan

    · 45 min · S1 E3251

    What happens when the world’s biggest economy turns its back on global trade? In today's episode, host Adam McCauley is joined by renowned financial journalist and economist Philip Coggan to examine the far-reaching…

  36. The Search for a Jewish Homeland in Texas, with Rachel Cockerell and James McAuley

    · 26 min · S1 E3250

    On June 7th 1907, a ship packed with Russian Jews sets sail not to Jerusalem or New York, as many on board have dreamt, but to Texas. The man who persuades the passengers to go is David Jochelmann, Rachel Cockerell's…

  37. What can Charlottesville teach us about America’s national story? With Deborah Baker

    · 35 min · S1 E3249

    In August 2017, over a thousand neo-Nazis, fascists, Klan members, and neo-Confederates descended on a small southern city to protest the pending removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee. What happened in…

  38. Why does nobody understand quantum physics? With Frank Verstraete and Céline Broeckaert

    · 45 min · S1 E3248

    Why does the universe behave in ways that defy logic - and can anyone truly understand it? In this episode, we’re joined by physicist Frank Verstraete and writer Céline Broeckaert, the husband-and-wife team behind the…

  39. What if Globalisation Fails? with Ben Chu

    · 35 min · S1 E3247

    What happens if globalisation fails? Can nations truly stand alone in an interconnected world? Is the new race for national self-sufficiency a path to real security, or a dangerous illusion? In this episode, we’re…

  40. Classic Debate: Neville Chamberlain Did The Right Thing

    · 59 min · S1 E3246

    If ever a politician got a bum rap it’s Neville Chamberlain. He has gone down in history as the British prime minster whose policy of appeasement in the 1930s allowed the Nazis to flourish unopposed. He has never been…

  41. Are bureaucrats a force for good? With Michael Lewis and Gillian Tett (Part Two)

    · 34 min · S1 E3245

    The concept of government is under attack. In the United States, Donald Trump has fired tens of thousands of federal workers; ignored congressional statutes; insulted judges; and allowed Elon Musk, the world’s richest…

  42. Are bureaucrats a force for good? With Michael Lewis and Gillian Tett (Part One)

    · 34 min · S1 E3244

    The concept of government is under attack. In the United States, Donald Trump has fired tens of thousands of federal workers; ignored congressional statutes; insulted judges; and allowed Elon Musk, the world’s richest…

  43. Ctrl, Alt, Delusion: Resetting Reality in the Manosphere

    · 41 min · S1 E3240

    Today’s episode is the recording of our recent panel Ctrl, Alt, Delusion: Resetting Reality in the Manosphere, live at SXSW London, in partnership with Sage & Jester. Sage & Jester is an impact-led arts production…

  44. The Genius Myth, with Helen Lewis and Armando Iannucci (Part Two)

    · 33 min · S1 E3241

    The tortured poet. The rebellious scientist. The monstrous artist. The tech disruptor. You can tell what a society values by who it labels as a genius. You can also tell who it excludes, who it enables, and what it is…

  45. The Genius Myth, with Helen Lewis and Armando Iannucci (Part One)

    · 33 min · S1 E3240

    The tortured poet. The rebellious scientist. The monstrous artist. The tech disruptor. You can tell what a society values by who it labels as a genius. You can also tell who it excludes, who it enables, and what it is…

  46. Yardsticks For Failure, with Ivo Graham (Part Two)

    · 32 min · S1 E3239

    After coming last by quite such a distance on Taskmaster Series 15, and seeing his emotional frailties laid bare in a series of memes of him with his head in his hands, Ivo Graham is adapting to an increasingly…

  47. Yardsticks For Failure, with Ivo Graham (Part One)

    · 30 min · S1 E3238

    After coming last by quite such a distance on Taskmaster Series 15, and seeing his emotional frailties laid bare in a series of memes of him with his head in his hands, Ivo Graham is adapting to an increasingly…

  48. An Evening with Matt Haig: Embracing Hope, Wonder and the Power of the Imagination (Part Two)

    · 32 min · S1 E3237

    ‘A beautiful novel full of life-affirming wonder and imagination’ Benedict Cumberbatch Matt Haig is one of Britain’s most celebrated authors, best known for his internationally bestselling novel The Midnight Library…

  49. An Evening with Matt Haig: Embracing Hope, Wonder and the Power of the Imagination (Part One)

    · 33 min · S1 E3236

    ‘A beautiful novel full of life-affirming wonder and imagination’ Benedict Cumberbatch Matt Haig is one of Britain’s most celebrated authors, best known for his internationally bestselling novel The Midnight Library…

  50. An Evening with Deborah Frances-White and David Tennant (Part Two)

    · 35 min · S1 E3236

    Deborah Frances-White is the writer and comedian best known for hosting The Guilty Feminist podcast. David Tennant is the multi-award-winning actor who has played iconic roles including Doctor Who, Hamlet, Barty Crouch…

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