On today’s episode: the untold history of Russia’s deep cover spy programme. Shaun Walker is an international correspondent for The Guardian. He reported from Moscow for more than a decade, and his coverage of Russia's war in Ukraine was shortlisted for the Foreign Reporter of the Year category at the British 2023 Press Awards. In his new book, The Illegals: Russia's Most Audacious Spies and the Plot to Infiltrate the West, Walker explores the untold history of Russia’s deep cover spy programme,...
Apr 13, 2025•53 min•Season 1Ep. 3197
These days, so much of our lives takes place online - but what about our afterlives? A recent study by the Oxford Internet Institute predicts that the number of deceased Facebook users could outnumber the living by 2070. As AI advances, a debate is growing over digital remains and what should be done with the vast amounts of data we leave behind. In this episode, Carl Öhman, author of The Afterlife of Data: What Happens to Your Information When You Die and Why You Should Care, explores the ethic...
Apr 12, 2025•50 min•Season 1Ep. 3196
On today’s episode, Dr Moudhy Al-Rashid sheds light on the history of Ancient Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, gave rise to writing, literature, astronomy, and law - shaping human history in ways that still resonate today. Drawing on her new book Between Two Rivers, Al-Rashid brings to life the stories of ordinary people from thousands of years ago: working mothers, enslaved individuals seeking freedom, and even a princess who may have founded the first...
Apr 10, 2025•43 min•Season 1Ep. 3195
We are entering a new era of global instability. The world is facing an era of war, climate change, great power rivalry and unprecedented technological advancement. In April 2025, geopolitical expert and bestselling author Robert Kaplan came to Intelligence Squared to analyse where the world is heading in 2025 and beyond. Drawing from the themes of his new book Waste Land, he argued that history can help guide us through a world that is changing at an unprecedented pace. Kaplan drew comparisons ...
Apr 08, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 3194
We are entering a new era of global instability. The world is facing an era of war, climate change, great power rivalry and unprecedented technological advancement. In April 2025, geopolitical expert and bestselling author Robert Kaplan came to Intelligence Squared to analyse where the world is heading in 2025 and beyond. Drawing from the themes of his new book Waste Land, he argued that history can help guide us through a world that is changing at an unprecedented pace. Kaplan drew comparisons ...
Apr 06, 2025•39 min•Season 1Ep. 3193
They are the titans of the spy novel, who have elevated thrillers to the level of literary fiction. Much imitated, much adapted by the big and small screens, Ian Fleming and John Le Carré have painted our picture of post-war espionage: Fleming through the dashing figure of James Bond, with his lush locations and Martinis as icy as his heart; Le Carré through his damning portrait of the British secret service drawn from his own time in MI5 and MI6. But which of the two novelists is the greater? I...
Apr 05, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 3192
In 1957 John Lennon and Paul McCartney were two ordinary teenagers who met in suburban Liverpool and decided to play rock and roll together. Twenty-three years later that friendship came to a tragic end when Lennon was murdered. But those 23 years changed the world. Lennon and McCartney became global stars, created a body of work that has never been matched in popular music, and arguably had more influence on our culture than any other figures in the past century. InMarch 2025 writer Ian Leslie ...
Apr 03, 2025•39 min•Season 1Ep. 3191
In 1957 John Lennon and Paul McCartney were two ordinary teenagers who met in suburban Liverpool and decided to play rock and roll together. Twenty-three years later that friendship came to a tragic end when Lennon was murdered. But those 23 years changed the world. Lennon and McCartney became global stars, created a body of work that has never been matched in popular music, and arguably had more influence on our culture than any other figures in the past century. InMarch 2025 writer Ian Leslie ...
Apr 01, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 3190
Unpaid domestic labor has long been the invisible backbone of economies worldwide - but what if it were compensated? In this episode, historian Emily Callaci takes us inside the Wages for Housework movement, a bold and controversial campaign that emerged in the 1970s. Drawing on her new book, Wages for Housework: The Story of a Movement, an Idea, a Promise, Callaci tells the story of this campaign by exploring the lives and ideas of its key creators, tracing their wildly creative political visio...
Mar 30, 2025•43 min•Season 1Ep. 3189
Between 1199 and 1399, English politics was high drama. These two centuries witnessed savage political blood-letting - including civil war, deposition, the murder of kings and the ruthless execution of rebel lords - as well as international warfare, devastating national pandemic, economic crisis and the first major peasant uprising in English history. In today’s episode, historians Caroline Burt and Richard Partington discuss the six Plantagenet kings who ruled during these two centuries, and th...
Mar 30, 2025•55 min•Season 1Ep. 3188
Reid Hoffman is one of the world’s most influential and successful entrepreneurs. The co-founder of LinkedIn, Manas AI, Inflection AI and part of the original team at PayPal, he has built companies that have shaped the internet and AI revolutions of the twenty-first century. As part of Reid’s staunch commitment to Democracy, he was a supporter of Kamala Harris in the 2024 US election. In March 2025, Hoffman returned to the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss how AI is rapidly changing our worl...
Mar 28, 2025•39 min•Season 1Ep. 3187
Reid Hoffman is one of the world’s most influential and successful entrepreneurs. The co-founder of LinkedIn, Manas AI, Inflection AI and part of the original team at PayPal, he has built companies that have shaped the internet and AI revolutions of the twenty-first century. As part of Reid’s staunch commitment to Democracy, he was a supporter of Kamala Harris in the 2024 US election. In March 2025, Hoffman returned to the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss how AI is rapidly changing our worl...
Mar 26, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 3186
Music has become increasingly playlisted, personalized, and autoplayed. But how did we get here, and what does it mean for artists, listeners, and the music industry as a whole? In today’s episode, journalist Liz Pelly unpacks the origins of Spotify, its meteoric rise, and its transformative impact on the way we create and experience music. Whilst researching for her new book, Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist, Pelly conducted over one hundred interviews wit...
Mar 24, 2025•46 min•Season 1Ep. 3185
The Bengal Famine is the forgotten story of the Second World War. Between 1943 and 1944, at least three million Indians, all of whom were British subjects, died from starvation or diseases linked to malnutrition. It is one of the darkest chapters in colonial history, yet the memory of those millions who perished is not broadly nurtured in Britain, India or Bangladesh. There is no memorial, museum, or archive dedicated to them anywhere in the world – not even a plaque. Who better to shed light on...
Mar 23, 2025•45 min•Season 1Ep. 3184
The Bengal Famine is the forgotten story of the Second World War. Between 1943 and 1944, at least three million Indians, all of whom were British subjects, died from starvation or diseases linked to malnutrition. It is one of the darkest chapters in colonial history, yet the memory of those millions who perished is not broadly nurtured in Britain, India or Bangladesh. There is no memorial, museum, or archive dedicated to them anywhere in the world – not even a plaque. Who better to shed light on...
Mar 21, 2025•41 min•Season 1Ep. 3183
Ed Winters, known to his millions of online followers as Earthling Ed, has perfected the art of persuasion. During his extensive career as an activist and educator, he has made the case for veganism everywhere from university campuses to live on GB News. His compelling and informative content has garnered millions of views, and earned him a dedicated following across online platforms. Earthling Ed joined us live at the Kiln Theatre to share his insights on how we can all become better conversati...
Mar 19, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 3182
Ed Winters, known to his millions of online followers as Earthling Ed, has perfected the art of persuasion. During his extensive career as an activist and educator, he has made the case for veganism everywhere from university campuses to live on GB News. His compelling and informative content has garnered millions of views, and earned him a dedicated following across online platforms. Earthling Ed joined us live at the Kiln Theatre to share his insights on how we can all become better conversati...
Mar 17, 2025•33 min•Season 1Ep. 3181
This event was part of our Age of the Strongman series. Click here to see the other events in the series: https://www.intelligencesquared.com/the-age-of-the-strongman/. ---- War in Ukraine. Interference in democratic elections. The sponsorship of extremist politics to destabilise Europe. In recent years, Vladimir Putin has waged a relentless campaign to expand his influence beyond Russia’s borders and to undermine Western democracy. But how did he come to have such control over Russia – and what...
Mar 16, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 3180
This event was part of our Age of the Strongman series. Click here to see the other events in the series: https://www.intelligencesquared.com/the-age-of-the-strongman/. ---- War in Ukraine. Interference in democratic elections. The sponsorship of extremist politics to destabilise Europe. In recent years, Vladimir Putin has waged a relentless campaign to expand his influence beyond Russia’s borders and to undermine Western democracy. But how did he come to have such control over Russia – and what...
Mar 14, 2025•39 min•Season 1Ep. 3179
George Mpanga, known as George the Poet, is seen by many as one of the UK’s most compelling voices in poetry, music, and social commentary. Originally hailing from St Raphael’s Estate in Neasden, Mpanga has spent over a decade working at the intersection of art and politics reflecting on his upbringing to shed light on how race and inequality still shape Britain today. His debut poetry collection in 2015, Search Party, tackled the north-south divide, the housing crisis and critiqued government a...
Mar 12, 2025•29 min•Season 1Ep. 3178
George Mpanga, known as George the Poet, is seen by many as one of the UK’s most compelling voices in poetry, music, and social commentary. Originally hailing from St Raphael’s Estate in Neasden, Mpanga has spent over a decade working at the intersection of art and politics reflecting on his upbringing to shed light on how race and inequality still shape Britain today. His debut poetry collection in 2015, Search Party, tackled the north-south divide, the housing crisis and critiqued government a...
Mar 10, 2025•29 min•Season 1Ep. 3176
This event took place on the 31st of October 2016 at the Royal Institution in London. CHAIR: Afua Hirsch - Writer and broadcaster SPEAKERS FOR THE MOTION: AA Gill - The Sunday Times’s star restaurant and TV critic AGAINST THE MOTION: George Monbiot - Guardian columnist, environmental campaigner and author of Regenesis: Feeding the World without Devouring the Planet Fancy a nice juicy steak? Most of us do from time to time, and we don’t trouble our consciences too much with the rights and wrongs ...
Mar 09, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 3175
This event is part of Conversations at the Kiln, a new event series at Kiln Theatre programmed by Intelligence Squared. For more events with speakers from the worlds of literature, art, poetry and politics, click here. Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo, is celebrated globally for his heartbreaking, funny and moving depictions of working-class life, identity and resilience. Born and raised in Glasgow, Stuart’s fiction draws heavily from his own experience...
Mar 07, 2025•37 min•Season 1Ep. 3174
This event is part of Conversations at the Kiln, a new event series at Kiln Theatre programmed by Intelligence Squared. For more events with speakers from the worlds of literature, art, poetry and politics, click here. Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo, is celebrated globally for his heartbreaking, funny and moving depictions of working-class life, identity and resilience. Born and raised in Glasgow, Stuart’s fiction draws heavily from his own experience...
Mar 05, 2025•41 min•Season 1Ep. 3173
Sam McAlister is the woman who secured the now infamous Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew, when he claimed to Emily Maitlis that he was in a Pizza Express in Woking on the night Virginia Giuffre alleges he slept with her. This was the broadcast which set public opinion alight, and from which many have supposed the royal family will never quite recover. In February 2025, McAlister joined us on stage to discuss the behind the scenes drama of the Prince Andrew interview, the making of the film...
Mar 03, 2025•29 min•Season 1Ep. 3167
Sam McAlister is the woman who secured the now infamous Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew, when he claimed to Emily Maitlis that he was in a Pizza Express in Woking on the night Virginia Giuffre alleges he slept with her. This was the broadcast which set public opinion alight, and from which many have supposed the royal family will never quite recover. In February 2025, McAlister joined us on stage to discuss the behind the scenes drama of the Prince Andrew interview, the making of the film...
Mar 02, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 3169
On February 24, veteran BBC journalist, former North America editor and presenter Justin Webb came to Intelligence Squared to discuss what we all need to know about the new Trump world order. Webb analysed the first month of Trump's new administration to explain how from trade to conflict, Trump is abandoning international systems and creating a new global order based around personal relationships and dealmaking. He discussed what Trump's return means for Europe, the UK and what his changes in U...
Feb 28, 2025•36 min•Season 1Ep. 3168
On February 24, veteran BBC journalist, former North America editor and presenter Justin Webb came to Intelligence Squared to discuss what we all need to know about the new Trump world order. Webb analysed the first month of Trump's new administration to explain how from trade to conflict, Trump is abandoning international systems and creating a new global order based around personal relationships and dealmaking. He discussed what Trump's return means for Europe, the UK and what his changes in U...
Feb 26, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 3167
Rembrandt van Rijn is the best known of all the Dutch masters. His range was vast, from landscapes to portraits to Biblical scenes; he revolutionised every medium he handled, from oil paintings to etchings and drawings. His vision encompassed every element of life – the sleeping lion; the pissing baby; the lacerated soles of the returned prodigal son. Making the case for him in this debate was Simon Schama. For him Rembrandt is humanity unedited: rough, raw, violent, manic, vain, greedy and mani...
Feb 24, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 3166
In this episode, we’re joined by Edward Fishman, one of the foremost experts on economic statecraft and sanctions. With a career spanning roles at the U.S. State Department, the Pentagon, and the Treasury Department, Fishman has been at the forefront of America’s strategic response to global challenges. He now works as a professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and as a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy. His writing on global polic...
Feb 23, 2025•47 min•Season 1Ep. 3165
