To explain the power of anthropology to help us better understand the modern world, Financial Times journalist and bestselling author Gillian Tett joined us in this week's episode. Tett has a PhD in anthropology from Cambridge University and outlining the ideas in her acclaimed new book Anthro-Vision, she showed how we can identify what she calls the ‘webs of meaning’ that underlie consumers’ behaviour in very different cultures across the world. The episode was hosted by former editorial direct...
Jun 11, 2021•1 hr 2 min
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 person, complying with a mandate to wear a face mask in public during a pandemic is an act of communal responsibility. To another, it’s a denial of personal freedom. Same data, but opposite conclusions. The reason for this, believe internationally acclaimed authors Kenneth Cukier and Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, is that we all look at the world through differ...
Jun 08, 2021•58 min
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 so. And in June 2021 he came to Intelligence Squared to discuss the ideas in his new book Go Big. Think of any problem, he will argue, and there is already a brilliant solution to it. We don’t need massive innovation. We just need to know where to look – and then have the courage to think big and scale up. People all over the world are already succe...
Jun 04, 2021•59 min
Salman Rushdie, internationally bestselling author and ‘Best of the Booker’ winner, is a storyteller of the highest order, illuminating truths about our society and culture through his dazzling prose. Best known as a novelist, he is also a compelling essayist and last month he came to Intelligence Squared to talk about the ideas in his latest collection of nonfiction, Languages of Truth. In conversation with cultural critic Shahidha Bari, Rushdie shared with us his personal encounters, on the pa...
Jun 01, 2021•56 min
Carlo Rovelli is the internationally bestselling theoretical physicist whose many fans include Benedict Cumberbatch, Antony Gormley, Neil Gaiman and Lily Cole. In May 2021 he came to Intelligence Squared to talk about the themes of his new book Helgoland, in which he takes us back to the birth of a revolutionary idea that has reshaped the whole of science and our very conception of the world. Rovelli told the story of the brilliant young Werner Heisenberg who, suffering from hay fever, retreated...
May 28, 2021•55 min
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-19 pandemic. David had originally planned to spend 2020 embarking on a huge string of 'White Ladder' anniversary shows to mark 20 years since the release of his breakthrough multi-million selling album. When these arena dates - like so many other live shows - were rescheduled due to the pandemic, David chose instead to finish a record he had recorded...
May 25, 2021•36 min
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 dozen delays and one catastrophic rocket crash later, we are on the verge of space tourism becoming a reality. New Yorker writer Nicholas Schmidle has witnessed the fall and rise of Virgin Galactic first-hand. Over the last five years, he has spent thousands of hours at Virgin’s ‘spaceport’ in the Mojave desert, befriending the pilots who are risk...
May 21, 2021•59 min
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 communities, nature and the countryside are inaccessible with many city-dwellers struggling to find greenery in their local areas. This week's episode is taken from an event we staged in partnership with Selfridges for their Project Earth series. — We’d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on ...
May 20, 2021•58 min
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 good reason. So what can we do now to change course? In this week's episode award-winning political commentator Ece Temelkuran spoke to Matthew Taylor about her new political manifesto for the post-pandemic world. Drawing from her new book Together: 10 Choices for a Better Now, she explained why we must choose fear over comfort and political activism o...
May 18, 2021•53 min
Trees have memories. They have wisdom. They cooperate in communities of immense complexity, communicating underground through a huge web of fungi, at the centre of which lie the Mother Trees: the mysterious, powerful entities that nurture their kin and sustain the forest. That may sound initially like New Age mumbo-jumbo. But these are the core findings of a scientific revolution that has been taking place in our understanding of trees. In this week's episode world renowned scientist Suzanne Sim...
May 14, 2021•56 min
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 the questions that historian Niall Ferguson discussed with Rana Mitter in this week's episode. Drawing from his new book 'Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe' he explains that while blaming populists like Boris Johnson and Donald Trump for their poor leadership is trendy, the story of Covid-19 as a political failure is to miss the more profound patho...
May 11, 2021•59 min
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 biography Joe Biden: American Dreamer to discuss who the real Biden is and how he will confront issues from China to climate change. He speaks to Mark Mardell to answer audience questions and more. To buy Evan's book with our special Intelligence Squared discount click here: https://www.primrosehillbooks.com/product/joe-biden-american-dreamer-evan-o...
May 07, 2021•59 min
Be angry, ambitious, profane, violent, attention-seeking, lustful, and powerful. These are the “seven necessary sins” that Egyptian writer and activist Mona Eltahawy says women and girls are not supposed to commit – but absolutely should. Eltahawy advocates a muscular, out-loud approach to teaching women and girls to harness their power. Eltahawy came to Intelligence Squared to tell the stories of activists and ordinary women around the world from countries including South Africa, China, Nigeria...
May 04, 2021•59 min
In this week's episode Kate Raworth, Oxford University economist discusses what she calls Doughnut Economics, an idea she came up with to help humanity deal with the challenges we face today: financial crises, extreme wealth inequality and relentless pressure on the environment. The doughnut posits a world where we zero in on a sweet spot: all our material and political needs are met without exhausting the planet. Drawn on paper, the space where everyone can thrive looks like a doughnut. To buy ...
Apr 30, 2021•1 hr
In this week's episode Tristan Harris, star of Netflix hit documentary 'The Social Dilemma' speak to Helen Lewis about the the enormous power technology has in steering human attention and behaviour. They discuss how the business model of Big Tech impacts us on an individual level and collective level - and how we can rebalance this power to create a more ethical and enjoyable future. The interview was in partnership with iConnections the leading platform for connecting the alternative investmen...
Apr 27, 2021•42 min
Helen Lewis argues that feminism's success is down to complicated, contradictory, imperfect women, who fought each other as well as fighting for equal rights. Too many of these pioneers have been whitewashed or forgotten in our modern search for feel-good, inspirational heroines. It's time to reclaim the history of feminism as a history of difficult women. To find out more about the book click here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/difficult-women/helen-lewis/9781784709730 Support this show http...
Apr 23, 2021•39 min
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 question of how the West should engage a more assertive and powerful China. The debate was moderated by Andrew Small and to find out more about the ECFR's work click here: https://ecfr.eu/ Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared . See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. ...
Apr 22, 2021•40 min
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 often prides itself on principles of equality, justice and protecting minorities overlooks these things when it comes to the Jews. He spoke to screenwriter and director Armando Iannucci about how and why Jews don't count. To find out more about the book click here: https://www.primrosehillbooks.com/product/jews-dont-count-david-baddiel/ Support this sho...
Apr 20, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Walter Isaacson is the bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci, Einstein and Steve Jobs. His new book is The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing and the Future of the Human Race, a gripping account of how Nobel Prize-winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues launched a scientific revolution that gives humanity the power to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and give birth to healthier babies. Doudna has invented a technology that has the potential to change human history: an easy-to-use to...
Apr 16, 2021•51 min
Geoffrey Robertson QC is one of Britain’s leading human rights champions. Twenty years ago he helped fuel the global justice movement with his groundbreaking book Crimes Against Humanity. In April 2021, alongside fellow human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and campaigner Bill Browder, he took part in a special Intelligence Squared online event in partnership with Doughty Street Chambers to set out what he calls his ‘plan B for human rights’. This would involve countries introducing and enforcing fre...
Apr 13, 2021•1 hr 5 min
In this special bonus episode, brought to you in partnership with online trading platform IG, Joshua Mahoney, Senior Markets analyst at IG, speaks to Linda Yueh about how the pandemic has impacted trading and investing. From Netflix to Deliveroo, there have been winners and losers in the pandemic, but what will happen once we've all been vaccinated? To find out more about IG and the world of investing visit: https://www.ig.com/uk Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared ....
Apr 12, 2021•33 min
This episode is made in partnership with international heritage charity World Monuments Fund Britain. Together we explore the fascinating world of on-screen historic homes with insightful conversations with industry experts who have brought these magnificent buildings to life on the big and small screens. We were joined by Nell Hudson, actress in popular TV dramas like 'Victoria' and 'Outlander'; Julie Anne Robinson, director of the hit series 'Bridgerton'; and Sally Ambrose, Head of Marketing a...
Apr 09, 2021•50 min
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. The humble handshake, it turns out, has a rich and surprising history. In this week's episode palaeoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi speaks to science broadcaster Helen Czerski about a funny and fascinating voyage of discovery - from the handshake's origins (at least seven million years ago) all the way to its sudden disappearance in March 2020. We...
Apr 06, 2021•40 min
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 Intelligence Squared on March 29 to set out the ideas in his latest book, The New Age of Empire: How Racism and Colonialism Still Rule the World. Wrong, says historian Jeremy Black. All that is a complete misrepresentation of the historical and present-day facts, Black counter argues. Who's right and who's wrong? Listen to the debate chaired by Anne M...
Apr 02, 2021•57 min
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 such as our love of the family, helping the needy, and the importance of kindness, match Jesus's original tenets? In this week's episode Julian Baggini challenges our assumptions on Christian values with some surprising insights on who Jesus really was. The episode was hosted by former BBC Broadcaster and journalist Mark Mardell. To buy Julian's b...
Mar 30, 2021•44 min
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 break up Britain and for Scotland to go it alone. The debate was chaired by Manveen Rana. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared . See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Mar 26, 2021•1 hr 1 min
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 to a fall in life expectancy in the past three years, reversing a trend towards increased life expectancy that began in 1918. In this week's episode we discuss, Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism, economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton new book which has identified a culprit for these ‘deaths of despair’: capitalism – or at least some asp...
Mar 23, 2021•59 min
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 live our lives. The interview is taken from our new podcast Intelligence Squared Business and our guest is Sheila Warren, member of the Executive Committee and Head of Blockchain and Data Policy at The World Economic Forum. To subscribe to Intelligence Squared Business click here: https://apple.co/2OEn5fe To listen to more podcasts from the World Ec...
Mar 19, 2021•50 min
Robin Dunbar is the world-renowned psychologist and author who famously discovered Dunbar’s number: how our capacity for friendship is limited to around 150 people. In this week's episode he explains why friends matter to us – more than we think. The single most surprising fact to emerge out of the medical literature over the last decade or so has been that the number and quality of the friendships we have has a bigger influence on our happiness, health and even mortality risk than anything else...
Mar 16, 2021•59 min
In 2016, almost anyone you asked, or any poll you consulted, pointed you to a Hillary Clinton landslide. The Accidental President is a balanced feature documentary that is seeking to answer one question - How the hell did Donald Trump win? In this week's episode we were joined by the director James Fletcher who spoke to Mark Mardell about making the documentary and the future of Trump's style of politics. THE ACCIDENTAL PRESIDENT is available to rent and buy on Apple TV+, Amazon, iTunes, Google ...
Mar 12, 2021•36 min
