Intelligence Squared
Intelligence Squared is the home of lively debate and deep-dive discussion. Follow Intelligence Squared wherever you get your podcasts and enjoy four regular episodes per week taking you to the heart of the issues that matter in the company of the world’s great minds. We’d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on and what our future debates should be. Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to podcasts@intelligencesquared.com or Tweet us @intelligence2. And 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
July 7, 2025 • 40 mins
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 man, access to sensitive government information in a slash-and-burn campaign against the US government.
In June 2025 Michael Lewis, the renowned author of bestselling non-fiction masterpieces including Moneyball, Th...
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July 5, 2025 • 40 mins
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 man, access to sensitive government information in a slash-and-burn campaign against the US government.
In June 2025 Michael Lewis, the renowned author of bestselling non-fiction masterpieces including Moneyball, Th...
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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 it best.
Rubens’ early masterpiece The Massacre of the Innocents was hidden away for nearly 250 years. George Gordon, Deputy Chairman, Sotheby’s Europe and Co-Chairman of Old Master Paintings & Drawings Worldwide, s...
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July 4, 2025 • 48 mins
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 company that exposes manipulation and misinformation. At Sage & Jester, entertainment sparks critical thinking. Their work blends wisdom and wit to entertain, enlighten, and help you harness your internal BS detector. Th...
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July 1, 2025 • 39 mins
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 prepared to tolerate. Taking us from the Renaissance Florence of Leonardo da Vinci to the Florida rocket launches of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Helen Lewis joined us to unravel a word that we all use — without really questi...
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June 30, 2025 • 40 mins
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 prepared to tolerate. Taking us from the Renaissance Florence of Leonardo da Vinci to the Florida rocket launches of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Helen Lewis joined us to unravel a word that we all use — without really questi...
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June 29, 2025 • 39 mins
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 irreversible reputation as a man better known for his chaos than his comedy.
His new book Yardsticks For Failure is a map of the brain behind the breakdowns; a deep dive into the various facepalms of Ivo’s recent past, and ...
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June 27, 2025 • 36 mins
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 irreversible reputation as a man better known for his chaos than his comedy.
His new book Yardsticks For Failure is a map of the brain behind the breakdowns; a deep dive into the various facepalms of Ivo’s recent past, and ...
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‘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 and the critically acclaimed memoir Reasons to Stay Alive.
Matt’s newest novel, The Life Impossible, which became an instant Sunday Times bestseller, follows retired maths teacher Grace Winters who leaves her mundane ...
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‘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 and the critically acclaimed memoir Reasons to Stay Alive.
Matt’s newest novel, The Life Impossible, which became an instant Sunday Times bestseller, follows retired maths teacher Grace Winters who leaves her mundane ...
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June 21, 2025 • 41 mins
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 Jr., Rivals’ Lord Tony Baddingham and more.
In April 2025 they came to Intelligence Squared to discuss how we can have better and more open conversations on difficult topics. Drawing from her new book Six Conversati...
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June 20, 2025 • 40 mins
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 Jr., Rivals’ Lord Tony Baddingham and more.
In April 2025 they came to Intelligence Squared to discuss how we can have better and more open conversations on difficult topics. Drawing from her new book Six Conversati...
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June 17, 2025 • 50 mins
What is happening behind closed doors in Britain’s far right movement?
On today’s episode, we’re joined by journalist Harry Shukman, the journalist who spent over a year undercover investigating the British far right.
Drawing on his new book, Year of the Rat, Shukman sheds light on the secret meetings, pub gatherings, political canvassing, and neo-Nazi conferences at the heart of the extreme right-wing activity in Britain. Throug...
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June 15, 2025 • 37 mins
‘Embracing the knowledge in The Next Conversation will vastly improve your life.’ – Andrew Huberman, creator of the Huberman Lab Podcast
‘ The Next Conversation gives you the tools to change your life, one conversation at a time.’ – Mel Robbins, bestselling author and host of the Mel Robbins Podcast
In a time when conversations often feel more divisive and polarised than ever, knowing how to communicate effectively has never been...
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June 14, 2025 • 38 mins
‘Embracing the knowledge in The Next Conversation will vastly improve your life.’ – Andrew Huberman, creator of the Huberman Lab Podcast
‘ The Next Conversation gives you the tools to change your life, one conversation at a time.’ – Mel Robbins, bestselling author and host of the Mel Robbins Podcast
In a time when conversations often feel more divisive and polarised than ever, knowing how to communicate effectively has never been...
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June 12, 2025 • 39 mins
On today’s episode, an episode from our friends at Sotheby's, exploring the world of Shakespeare. Sam Leith, author, journalist and literary editor of The Spectator, will be joined by Emma Smith, Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Oxford, Tracy-Ann Oberman, who most recently starred as Shylock in her adaptation of The Merchant of Venice, and acclaimed actor Joseph Kloska. They will be revealing how different editions shaped our un...
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June 11, 2025 • 55 mins
In June 2024, Nvidia became the most valuable corporation on Earth. In Stephen Witt’s new book ‘The Thinking Machine’ he chronicles the astonishing story of how a designer of videogame equipment conquered the market for AI hardware, and in the process reinvented the computer.
He spoke about it with author and Research Director at Demos Carl Miller.
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June 8, 2025 • 38 mins
*** Click here to see the photograph referred to in the podcast introduction: https://www.intelligencesquared.com/events/an-evening-with-adam-buxton ***
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Adam Buxton is a comedian, writer, podcaster — and one of the UK’s most beloved cultural figures. Best known for The Adam Buxton Podcast, The Adam and Joe Show on Channel 4, and the distinctive blend of surreal and self-deprecating humour he brings to all his work, Buxton has...
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June 7, 2025 • 39 mins
*** Click here to see the photograph referred to in the podcast introduction: https://www.intelligencesquared.com/events/an-evening-with-adam-buxton ***
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Adam Buxton is a comedian, writer, podcaster — and one of the UK’s most beloved cultural figures. Best known for The Adam Buxton Podcast, The Adam and Joe Show on Channel 4, and the distinctive blend of surreal and self-deprecating humour he brings to all his work, Buxton has...
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June 5, 2025 • 41 mins
Steve McQueen is one of Britain’s most acclaimed filmmakers and artists. He is the recipient of the Academy Award for Best Picture, two BAFTA Awards, the Caméra d’Or, a Golden Globe, and the Turner Prize. McQueen’s work includes his first feature-length film Hunger about Bobby Sands and the 1981 Irish hunger strike, the Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave, the BBC anthology Small Axe, and his most recent film Blitz.
In April 2025 McQue...
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