Bestselling author and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has dedicated his career to speaking truth and wisdom in some of the most challenging spaces – communities polarised by politics and religion and university campuses mired in culture wars. Now he turns his attention to what he sees as a perfect storm of factors that are causing a collapse in mental health among teenagers today. According to the American College Health Association, since 2010 anxiety among American college students has inc...
May 12, 2024•48 min•Season 1Ep. 2087
Artificial intelligence is no longer a figment of our imagination a plot pulled from the pages of science fiction. Recent rapid advances mean it is now seeping into ever more aspects of our daily lives. Leading human-rights barrister Susie Alegre has been analysing the concept of what it means to be human within a digital world for years. Her latest book, Human Rights, Robot Wrongs, focuses on where the spirit of humanity will find itself in a near future almost certainly defined by human-like y...
May 10, 2024•38 min•Season 1Ep. 2086
Sathnam Sanghera is a writer and author of bestselling books exploring British identity, the latest of which is Empireworld: How British Imperialism Has Shaped the Globe. It follows Empireland, which looked at how the British Empire has shaped modern Britain. Sanghera has written both novels and non-fiction. He’s a columnist for the Times newspaper and his 2021 documentary Empire State of Mind opened up new conversations about identity and race for television viewers. Joining him in conversation...
May 08, 2024•40 min•Season 1Ep. 2085
Oxford University economist Kate Raworth has been described by the author and environmentalist George Monbiot as, "The John Maynard Keynes of the 21st century." In 2018, she came to Intelligence Squared to talk through the set of ideas that has seen her influential book, Donut Economics, find fans in audiences ranging from members of the UN General Assembly to Pope Francis and Extinction Rebellion. Hosting the discussion was Matthew Taylor, at the time of the interview Chief Executive of the RSA...
May 05, 2024•49 min•Season 1Ep. 2084
Joe Roman is a conservation biologist and marine ecologist fascinated with the natural processes that go on within animal biology and how those in turn shape the natural world around us. His new book is Eat, Poop, Die, which as the title suggests, takes a no-nonsense look at how the biology of individual living things on planet Earth forms an integral part of the chain of natural ecology that keeps the world working. Speaking to Roman for this episode is molecular biologist and science communica...
May 04, 2024•40 min•Season 1Ep. 2083
This is a the second instalment of a three-part discussion. There are few big thinkers better placed to explain global events than historian Niall Ferguson. He has not just a profound understanding of past crises, but also an exceptional ability to map out the longer term impact that present crises will have on world affairs. For this episode, Ferguson joins us on the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss the predicaments we are currently facing. How can the West deal with the geopolitical and i...
May 02, 2024•38 min•Season 1Ep. 2081
There are few big thinkers better placed to explain global events than historian Niall Ferguson. He has not just a profound understanding of past crises, but also an exceptional ability to map out the longer term impact that present crises will have on world affairs. For this episode, Ferguson joins us on the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss the predicaments we are currently facing. How can the West deal with the geopolitical and ideological threats posed by what Ferguson calls the axis of ...
May 01, 2024•45 min•Season 1Ep. 2080
As a performer, London-based George the Poet has helped elevate genres ranging from traditional spoken word to rap and grime over recent years as well as having become a well-known voice commentating on social issues. He has a popular BBC podcast, Have You Heard George's Podcast?, which won the Peabody Award. Plus, last year he curated the writing collection Part of a Story That Started Before Me: Poems about Black British History. This year he returns with a new book – a memoir – Track Record: ...
Apr 29, 2024•52 min•Season 1Ep. 2079
Englishness has been hijacked by the right. The flag of St. George’s Cross is proudly waved at far-right rallies. Conservative politicians insult the Left as being anti-English. And our history has been weaponised by cheerleaders for Brexit, exceptionalism and imperial nostalgia. That's the argument of Caroline Lucas, who came to the Intelligence Squared stage in April 2024 to offer us a radically new way of viewing England and Englishness. Lucas has long been at the forefront of progressive pol...
Apr 27, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 2078
Englishness has been hijacked by the right. The flag of St. George’s Cross is proudly waved at far-right rallies. Conservative politicians insult the Left as being anti-English. And our history has been weaponised by cheerleaders for Brexit, exceptionalism and imperial nostalgia. That's the argument of Caroline Lucas, who came to the Intelligence Squared stage in April 2024 to offer us a radically new way of viewing England and Englishness. Lucas has long been at the forefront of progressive pol...
Apr 25, 2024•41 min•Season 1Ep. 2077
Regularly embroiled in international conflicts – both militarily and diplomatically – and locked in a cycle of protest and heavy government crackdowns on the domestic political front, Iran has rarely been out of the international spotlight over the past decades. The protests in recent years that were initially sparked in resistance to the oppression of women formed the inspiration for writer and historian Arash Azizi's latest book, What Iranians Want: Women, Life, Freedom. The book asks whether ...
Apr 23, 2024•49 min•Season 1Ep. 2076
For this episode, particle physicist Harry Cliff takes us on a deep dive into some of the universe's most perplexing scientific mysteries. His recent book, Space Oddities, draws on many findings found during his work at the University of Cambridge. Why are stars flying away from us faster than anyone can explain? What are the source of mysterious particles found to hold huge amounts of energy trapped beneath Antarctic ice? What really goes on at the CERN Large Hadron Collider? – another place wh...
Apr 21, 2024•46 min•Season 1Ep. 2075
Alexander Christie-Miller is a former Istanbul correspondent for The Times newspaper, whose writing has also appeared in outlets such as Newsweek, The Atlantic and The White Review. His recent book, To the City: Life and Death Along the Ancient Walls of Istanbul, combines tales drawn from centuries past and also those from the contemporary sociopolitical picture in Istanbul to weave together an expansive narrative that circles around the city like its defensive walls that have stood for a millen...
Apr 20, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 2074
This is Part Two of a three-part episode. Britain is in big trouble. The country has dipped into recession, local councils are going bankrupt and trust in our politics has collapsed. Could Labour leader Keir Starter remake Britain after the next election? According to political economist, writer and author, Will Hutton, and political strategist, journalist and co-host of The Rest Is Politics podcast, Alastair Campbell, a recovery is in our own hands. For this Intelligence Squared live event on h...
Apr 18, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 2072
Britain is in big trouble. The country has dipped into recession, local councils are going bankrupt and trust in our politics has collapsed. Could Labour leader Keir Starter remake Britain after the next election? According to political economist, writer and author, Will Hutton, and political strategist, journalist and co-host of The Rest Is Politics podcast, Alastair Campbell, a recovery is in our own hands. For this Intelligence Squared live event on how to remake Britain, Keir Starmer himself...
Apr 16, 2024•49 min•Season 1Ep. 2071
Andrew O’Hagan has written seven novels, three non-fiction books, a play and many standout journalism pieces on topics ranging from the origins of cryptocurrency to the story of the Grenfell Tower fire. The Booker Prize-nominated novelist's 2020 book Mayflies was adapted for television by the BBC. His latest is an expansive tale of London titled Caledonian Road, named after the thoroughfare that threads through the north of the city. Joining O'Hagan in conversation for this episode is the writer...
Apr 14, 2024•51 min•Season 1Ep. 2070
In her latest book, writer and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Cornell University, Kate Manne, turns her analytical lens towards prejudice and discrimination against larger bodied people, which she says is on the rise. In Unshrinking: How to Fight Fatphobia, Manne blends the political and the personal to explore what it would require to build a world that views and treats all people as equal, regardless of their body shape. Joining Manne in conversation for this episode is Sophie McBain, co...
Apr 14, 2024•49 min•Season 1Ep. 2069
Charan Ranganath is the Director of the Memory and Plasticity Program and a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of California at Davis. His new book, Why We Remember: The Science of Memory and How it Shapes Us, is a radical exploration of human engagement with memory, asking new questions about imagination, intention, attention and emotion. Joining Ranganath to discuss it is Alex Wilkins, reporter for New Scientist. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/IS for £100 ...
Apr 12, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 2068
Annie Jacobsen is an investigative journalist and author whose books probe the periphery of what we know about state warcraft and read like unputdownable thrillers. As a result, a her Pulitzer-nominated work can be found in both journalistic pieces and fiction including Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan tv show. Previous books have covered topics ranging from the CIA to Area 51 and the Second World War. Her latest book is Nuclear War, A Scenario, detailing how a nuclear conflict might unfold sourced from h...
Apr 10, 2024•44 min•Season 1Ep. 2067
Megan Nolan is an Irish journalist and author who has made a name for herself by cutting to the quick of the most uncomfortable facets of the human experience. She first appeared on Intelligence Squared to discuss her widely acclaimed debut, Acts of Desperation, back in 2022 and she returns now with her latest novel, Ordinary Human Failings, which follows a family and a tabloid journalist embroiled in a harrowing murder, which was recently selected for the Women’s Fiction Prize longlist. In this...
Apr 08, 2024•39 min•Season 1Ep. 2066
Kohei Saito is the Japanese philosopher and associate professor of philosophy at the University of Tokyo, whose ideas have become highly influential in the conversation surrounding how to better use economics to combat the looming climate crisis. His book, Slow Down, is a bestseller. Joining him to discuss Slow Down on the podcast for this episode is Adam McCauley, the writer and researcher whose work focuses on the social, cultural, and political impacts of emerging technologies. He is currentl...
Apr 06, 2024•58 min•Season 1Ep. 2065
With AI's capabilities now beginning to conjure visions reminiscent of science fiction, it's fiction writers who are pointing the way to where these tools will take us in decades to come. 2054, the second of a trilogy of books depicting the AI-infused geopolitical landscape of decades not so far away is co-written by former marine and New York Times bestselling author and writer Elliot Ackerman, and Admiral Jim Stavridis, who spent more than 30 years in the U.S. Navy. The duo's story picks up 20...
Apr 05, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 2064
In a world increasingly built around convenience, why do we often feel so short of free time? It’s a question that’s been on the minds of authors Nick Srnicek and Helen Hester. Srnicek is Lecturer in Digital Economy in the Department of Digital Humanities at Kings College London. Hester is Associate Professor of Media and Communication at the University of West London. Together they’ve written a book, After Work: A History of the Home and the Fight for Free Time. For this episode, Srnicek joins ...
Apr 03, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 2063
This is the second instalment of a three-part discussion. Armando Iannucci is one of Britain’s best-loved comedy writers. The creator of hit shows such as The Thick Of It, Veep and Alan Partridge, Iannucci is renowned for his sharp political satire and parodies of the rich and powerful. His latest project, a West End stage production of Stanley Kubrick’s Oscar-nominated black comedy Dr. Strangelove, focuses on a rogue US general who triggers a nuclear crisis. In March 2024 Iannucci came to the I...
Mar 31, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 2061
Armando Iannucci is one of Britain’s best-loved comedy writers. The creator of hit shows such as The Thick Of It, Veep and Alan Partridge, Iannucci is renowned for his sharp political satire and parodies of the rich and powerful. His latest project, a West End stage production of Stanley Kubrick’s Oscar-nominated black comedy Dr. Strangelove, focuses on a rogue US general who triggers a nuclear crisis. In March 2024 Iannucci came to the Intelligence Squared stage where, in conversation with auth...
Mar 31, 2024•44 min•Season 1Ep. 2060
Jason Okundaye is a writer whose essays and work have been published in titles such as The London Review of Books, the Guardian, British GQ and more. His debut book, Revolutionary Acts: Love & Brotherhood in Black Gay Britain, explores the stories of seven black, gay men in Brixton, South London. Through conversations with these men, he traces their journeys and arrivals to South London throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, upto the present day, seeking to reconcile the Black and gay narrat...
Mar 29, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 2059
Tom Chatfield is a tech philosopher whose new book looks at how humans have lived side by side with technology for millennia and offers ideas for how humanity will fare in the imminent AI-powered future. Chatfield's work often focuses on the cross-section of society and tech. He is a creator of textbooks and courses training in critical thinking and his previous non-fiction books include How To Thrive in the Digital Age. Not only that but he's also a novelist, having published a thriller – This ...
Mar 27, 2024•45 min•Season 1Ep. 2058
This is Part Two of a three-part discussion. Why are middle-aged women these days subject to so much rage and hatred – frequently from people who see themselves as kind and ‘on the right side of history’? What explains the popularity of the Karen meme, which references a stereotypically privileged white woman whom everyone feels entitled to loathe? Why does this age-old misogyny feel so very now? As writer Victoria Smith approached middle age she made her peace with her sagging neckline and havi...
Mar 25, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 2057
This is Part One of a three-part discussion. Why are middle-aged women these days subject to so much rage and hatred – frequently from people who see themselves as kind and ‘on the right side of history’? What explains the popularity of the Karen meme, which references a stereotypically privileged white woman whom everyone feels entitled to loathe? Why does this age-old misogyny feel so very now? As writer Victoria Smith approached middle age she made her peace with her sagging neckline and havi...
Mar 24, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 2056
As a writer who focuses on technology and as AI Editor for The Financial Times, Madhumita Murgia has been unable to ignore the increasing reach of AI into the infrastructure that helps run our societies. It's the subject of her new book, Code Dependent, a study of how technology and AI often designed with idealistic intent is beginning to have a significant effect on real people's lives and not always for the better. Joining Murgia in conversation for this episode is Carl Miller, co-founder of t...
Mar 22, 2024•49 min•Season 1Ep. 2055
