Intelligence Squared

We've heard enough from the pessimists. Yes, these are hard times, but what investors, business owners and all of us need right now is not more despair about the economy, but a clear roadmap towards growth and prosperity. In October 2025, Jeremy Hunt came to the Intelligence Squared stage to share his vision of how we can achieve economic renewal. Hunt's optimism is grounded in the authority of experience. As a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Health Secretary, he held some of the most demanding government offices during an extraordinarily turbulent time in recent history. Drawing on the themes of his new book Can We Be Great Again?, he challenged the fatalism that dominates so much of today's public debate. While candid about Britain's weaknesses, he argued that on issues ranging from European security and global trade to climate, migration and the future of democracy, the UK still has the potential to lead — if it chooses to act like a country that matters. Hunt was in conversation with BBC journalist Jonny Dymond for this instalment of the Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook series, in partnership with Guinness Global Investors. The event was a wide-ranging discussion with one of Britain's most experienced leaders on how the country can get back on track, at home and on the world stage. --- This recording is part of The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook series of events made in partnership with Guinness Global Investors, an independent British fund manager that helps both individuals and institutions harness the future drivers of growth to achieve their investment goals. To find out more visit: https://www.guinnessgi.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the course of a decade in politics Rory Stewart saw how power really works and what forces drive our communities apart. He was a backbench MP, held several ministerial positions, and stood for prime minister – before being sacked from a Conservative Party that he had come to barely recognise. Now, well away from the political arena, he regularly shares his insights into current affairs and global politics as co-host of the UK's leading political podcast, The Rest Is Politics. In October he came to Intelligence Squared to discuss the state of Britain and the world today. He drew from his new book 'Middleland: Dispatches from the Borders' to discuss his decade as MP of one of Britain's most rural constituencies, Penrith and The Border. And he argued that to truly create a better future for all we must understand the tensions that exist between rural and urban, between farming and the natural world, between the need to preserve and to grow, and between local and national politics. Bridges must – and can – be built, he argued. The event was hosted by former MP and author Caroline Lucas. You can find out more about her book Another England: Reclaiming Our National Story here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/453710/another-england-by-lucas-caroline/9781804941591 --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the course of a decade in politics Rory Stewart saw how power really works and what forces drive our communities apart. He was a backbench MP, held several ministerial positions, and stood for prime minister – before being sacked from a Conservative Party that he had come to barely recognise. Now, well away from the political arena, he regularly shares his insights into current affairs and global politics as co-host of the UK's leading political podcast, The Rest Is Politics. In October he came to Intelligence Squared to discuss the state of Britain and the world today. He drew from his new book 'Middleland: Dispatches from the Borders' to discuss his decade as MP of one of Britain's most rural constituencies, Penrith and The Border. And he argued that to truly create a better future for all we must understand the tensions that exist between rural and urban, between farming and the natural world, between the need to preserve and to grow, and between local and national politics. Bridges must – and can – be built, he argued. The event was hosted by former MP and author Caroline Lucas. You can find out more about her book Another England: Reclaiming Our National Story here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/453710/another-england-by-lucas-caroline/9781804941591 --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who does our data belong to? In this episode, Carl Miller speaks to NYT magazine journalist and author Michael Steinberger about Alex Karp, Palantir and the rise of the surveillance state. Founded in 2003, Palantir is widely regarded as the most interesting company in Silicon Valley – as well as its most controversial. It aided the US government in the war on terrorism and is now used by the CIA, the NHS, the US military and corporate giants like Airbus and BP. But its billionaire CEO, Alex Karp, is not like the other CEOs. In The Philosopher in the Valley, Michael Steinberger, who had unprecedented access to Karp during the writing of this biography, offers a detailed account of Karp's singular approach to leadership and how he is preparing Palantir, and the world, for a future dominated by technological power.  Michael Steinberger is a longtime journalist who writes primarily for The New York Times Magazine. He has written cover stories for the magazine about Joe Biden, George Soros, and Roger Federer. Before becoming a journalist, Steinberger spent several years working on Wall Street. He is the author of Au Revoir to All That: Food, Wine, and the End of France and The Wine Savant: A Guide to the New Wine Culture.  If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sanna Marin is a trailblazer in modern politics. When she became Prime Minister of Finland in 2019, she made history: at 34 she was the youngest ever leader of her country and the youngest leader in the world at the time.  As Prime Minister she confronted significant challenges. She led Finland through the COVID-19 pandemic, helped the country navigate neighbouring Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and led Finland's rapid joining of NATO – the swiftest entry for any country in the alliance's history. In November 2025, she joined us live to discuss her new book, Hope in Action. She talked about the political challenges facing Europe and the world today, how she coped with her personal life becoming public, including the incident that sparked a media frenzy and prompted women, including Hillary Clinton and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to express their support. And she explored how we can all develop the courage to lead and act for the change we want to see in the world. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sanna Marin is a trailblazer in modern politics. When she became Prime Minister of Finland in 2019, she made history: at 34 she was the youngest ever leader of her country and the youngest leader in the world at the time.  As Prime Minister she confronted significant challenges. She led Finland through the COVID-19 pandemic, helped the country navigate neighbouring Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and led Finland's rapid joining of NATO – the swiftest entry for any country in the alliance's history. In November 2025, she joined us live to discuss her new book, Hope in Action. She talked about the political challenges facing Europe and the world today, how she coped with her personal life becoming public, including the incident that sparked a media frenzy and prompted women, including Hillary Clinton and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to express their support. And she explored how we can all develop the courage to lead and act for the change we want to see in the world. --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1929, the world watched in shock as the unstoppable Wall Street bull market went into a freefall, wiping out fortunes and igniting a depression that would reshape a generation. In November 2025, Andrew Ross Sorkin, acclaimed New York Times columnist and author, came to Intelligence Squared to reveal the lessons of the 1929 financial crash and how that era of political instability and market turmoil eerily mirrors today. Drawing from his new book 1929, he set out a blueprint for understanding the cycles of speculation, regulatory missteps and warning signs of economic crash that we choose to ignore at our own peril. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1929, the world watched in shock as the unstoppable Wall Street bull market went into a freefall, wiping out fortunes and igniting a depression that would reshape a generation. In November 2025, Andrew Ross Sorkin, acclaimed New York Times columnist and author, came to Intelligence Squared to reveal the lessons of the 1929 financial crash and how that era of political instability and market turmoil eerily mirrors today. Drawing from his new book 1929, he set out a blueprint for understanding the cycles of speculation, regulatory missteps and warning signs of economic crash that we choose to ignore at our own peril. --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, we'll be tackling the future of prostate cancer care. We'll be reflecting on what prostate cancer care means in practice, how the way we think about the disease is shifting, and must continue to shift in the years ahead. Scientific advances have transformed treatment in recent years, yet the lived reality of prostate cancer still extends far beyond the clinic. The disease reshapes daily life, and may leave men and their families grappling with difficult choices about how best to manage it.  Dr. Güneş Taylor is joined by three key voices at the centre of this story, following the prostate cancer journey from diagnosis through to long-term management, and asking how patients and clinicians can work together to re-think what patient-centred care could mean in the years to come. This episode is brought to you in collaboration with Bayer, part of their Prostate Cancer Perspectives series.  PP-UN-ONC-GB-0168. November 2025 References Bray F, et al. Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2024;74(3):229-263 (Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men and the fifth leading cause of cancer death worldwide) James D, et al. The Lancet Commission on prostate cancer: planning for the surge in cases. Lancet. 2024;403(10437):1683–1722 (Each year, around 1.5 million men are diagnosed and nearly 400,000 lose their lives to the disease.1 And the numbers are rising. Diagnoses are projected to double from 1.4 million annually in 2020 to 2.9 million by 2040) Siegel RL, et al. Cancer statistics, 2022. Ca Cancer J Clin. 2022;72:7–33 (In the U.S., the proportion of men diagnosed with advanced-stage prostate cancer has doubled in recent years, due to increasing incidence of advanced-stage disease and changing guidelines regarding the prostate specific antigen screening test, implemented in the U.S. in 2012) Dodkins J, et al. Geographic, socioeconomic and demographic inequalities in the incidence of metastatic prostate cancer at time of diagnosis in England: a population based evaluation. BMJ Oncology. 2025;4:e000643 (In England, nearly one in five men only receive a diagnosis once their cancer has spread) Calvo-Schimmel A, et al. Supportive care interventions and quality of life in advanced disease prostate cancer survivors: An integrative review of the literature. Can Oncol Nurs J. 2021;31(4):412-429 (Advanced prostate cancer is often associated with long-term challenges leading to greater levels of unmet needs in supportive care) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is an episode of The Specialist, your weekly dose of wonder. In The Specialist, explore the significance and journey of an extraordinary work through the eyes of those that know it best. On today's episode, an auction built overnight - Virgil Abloh's reimagining of the iconic Nike Air Force 1 for Louis Vuitton. The auction became a global phenomenon, with two hundred pairs sold exclusively through Sotheby's, attracting bidders from more than 50 countries. Brahm Wachter, Sotheby's Head of Modern Collectibles based in Los Angeles, orchestrated the sale. Further details about the episode subject. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode academic and author Martin Moore speaks to host Carl Miller about the global battle to control the news. Drawing from his new book 'Dictating Reality' co-authored with Thomas Colley, they discuss how from the United States to China and from Brazil to India, an authoritarian approach to news is spreading across the world. Moore argues that increasingly, the media is no longer a check on power or a source of objective information but a means by which governments and leaders can propagate their versions of reality, however biased or false. -- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does the history of Test cricket show us about identity? In this episode, Joey D'Urso speaks to award-winning author Tim Wigmore about how the players and the stories that have shaped Test cricket's evolution since 1877.  With Test cricket on the cusp of its 150th anniversary, Tim Wigmore looks back at the history of the game and its legacy. Wigmore examines the pathways into elite cricket and the inequalities – economic, racial and infrastructural – that continue to influence who reach the Test arena. From the legacy of English public schools to the barriers faced by players in the Caribbean, South Asia and Africa, he unpacks the structural forces that make Test cricket a symbol of tradition and a stage for international relations. Wigmore shows us what Test cricket reveals about empire, opportunity, and the cultures built around the world's oldest form of the game.  Tim Wigmore is the Deputy Cricket Correspondent for the Daily Telegraph. He writes cricket and a range of other sports, and is based in London. He joined The Telegraph in 2019, and previously contributed to publications including ESPNcricinfo, The New York Times, The New Statesman and The Economist. He is a previous winner of the Wisden Cricket Book of the Year award. His new book, Test Cricket: A History, a global history of the Test format, was published in April 2025. It has since been shortlisted for the 2025 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For centuries, mental and physical health have been divided - disorders of the mind and body have been treated as if they were poles apart. This deep-rooted division has shaped medicine, psychiatry, and society. But what if this mind/body split is not only outdated - but dangerously misleading? Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Professor Edward Bullmore is Regius Professor of Psychiatry at Kings College London. For this episode, he sat down with Dr Güneş Taylor to explore the historical and philosophical reasons for our separation of mind and body in modern medicine. With a focus on the dark history of our treatment of schizophrenia, from 17th century medicine to the emergence of psychiatry in the 19th century, to the eugenics movement of Nazi Germany, he shows how the modern foundations of psychiatry were established, and how new scientific discoveries can help revolutionise how we treat mental illness. The Divided Mind: Uncovering psychiatry's dark past - and reimagining it's future by Professor Edward Bullmore is available to buy now. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can music help us notice nature more deeply? In this episode, Dr Leah Broad speaks to broadcaster and author Dr Hannah French about the enduring influence and legacy of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. This year is the 300th anniversary of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. It's therefore the perfect occasion for Dr Hannah French to explore the seasons as Vivaldi would have experienced them. Whether it's the song of local birds or an impending storm, Vivaldi's Four Seasons intimate relationship with nature remains a source of inspiration for many musicians, authors and artists. Once an academic and baroque flautist, Dr Hannah French now presents BBC Radio 3's Early Music Show, Saturday Breakfast Show, and live concerts including the BBC Proms. Her first book was Sir Henry Wood Champion of J.S. Bach. Her latest book is The Rolling Year: Listening to the Seasons with Vivaldi. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How does the Earth remember its own history? In this episode, Professor Caroline Dodds Pennock speaks to award-winning Earth Scientist Dr Anjana Khatwa about the deep stories hidden within our landscapes.  Dr Khatwa discusses how rocks and minerals are more than just passive objects underneath our feet. Rather, they are archives of time, memory, climate, catastrophe and life itself. Through their material fortitude, rocks are tableaus of indigenous voices, ancient civilisations and other communities and cultures that have been silenced over time. For Dr Khatwa, rocks are both the storytellers of our history – marking geo-political borders and boundaries physically – and the very material which we use to construct our societies, through industry, through war and migration. But Dr Khatwa also highlights the importance of connecting with our local geology and natural landscape. Not only is it essential to preserve the environment around us, but to uncover its secrets and its histories so as to better understand ourselves.  Dr Anjana Khatwa is an award-winning Earth Scientist specialising in bringing stories about the origins and formation of natural landscapes to life for a wide range of audiences. She has made numerous appearances on various BBC programmes, on Channel 5, More 4, ITV and many more. Her debut non-fiction book, The Whispers of Rock: Stories from the Earth, is a global story of how rocks have not only shaped our world but also our lives.  If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In partnership with GlobalSanctions.com, the world's leading online resource for up to the minute information on sanctions and export controls worldwide. Sanctions have become one of the most widely used tools in modern foreign policy, imposed not only on states but also on individual leaders, oligarchs and corporations. From trade embargoes to asset freezes and travel bans, sanctions are deployed in response to everything from territorial aggression to human rights abuses. But do they actually work? Sanctions sceptics argue that they rarely achieve their goals and often inflict suffering on ordinary people while strengthening authoritarian regimes. Far from making unsavoury governments change course, they say, sanctions are little more than virtue signalling, allowing our leaders to appear resolute without doing the harder work of diplomacy or long-term strategic thinking. Proponents of sanctions counter that, when carefully targeted, sanctions can pressure both states and individuals without harming wider populations. Measures such as trade restrictions, freezing personal assets, grounding private jets and restricting access to international financial systems, they say, can deter bad behaviour, disrupt illicit networks and signal international resolve. Rather than abandoning sanctions altogether, we should focus on using them more intelligently and in conjunction with broader diplomatic strategies. Do sanctions work, or are they just political theatre? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Australian writer Hannah Kent first travelled to Iceland at the age of 17, she had never seen snow before, and didn't speak a word of Icelandic. Living in a remote part of Iceland during the dark winter, she fell in love with the country, its landscape and its people. This experience inspired her bestselling novel, Burial Rites. She has now returned to the country that formed her identity as a writer, with a new memoir, Always Home, Always Homesick. For this episode, she spoke to host Danielle Sands about her deep love of Iceland's landscape, its traditions and its people, how you can understand the history and culture of a country through its language, and how learning a new language can alter and enrich a writer's own identity.  Hannah Kent is the author of Burial Rites, Good People and Devotion. Her memoir about her lifelong connection to Iceland, Always Home, Always Homesick, is out now.  If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Temelkuran is a brilliant writer, finding humour, hope and humanity in the darkest corners of our current malaise.' – BRIAN ENO Ece Temelkuran is the award winning Turkish writer and author who was forced into exile for her critical views of President Erdoğan. She has long signalled the alarm that not only her home country of Türkiye but the whole democratic world is steadily sleepwalking into authoritarianism. Her 2019 book How To Lose A Country was an impassioned warning to the world that populism and nationalism don't march fully-formed into government; they creep. In October 2025, she came to Intelligences Squared to discuss how we can spot the early-warning signs of authoritarianism, defend democracy and learn the lessons of resistance from Eastern Europe to South America. Temelkuran also offered an alternative path and described how democracy can survive the digital age. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Temelkuran is a brilliant writer, finding humour, hope and humanity in the darkest corners of our current malaise.' – BRIAN ENO Ece Temelkuran is the award winning Turkish writer and author who was forced into exile for her critical views of President Erdoğan. She has long signalled the alarm that not only her home country of Türkiye but the whole democratic world is steadily sleepwalking into authoritarianism. Her 2019 book How To Lose A Country was an impassioned warning to the world that populism and nationalism don't march fully-formed into government; they creep. In October 2025, she came to Intelligences Squared to discuss how we can spot the early-warning signs of authoritarianism, defend democracy and learn the lessons of resistance from Eastern Europe to South America. Temelkuran also offered an alternative path and described how democracy can survive the digital age. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are we living in a world designed to hijack our brains? In this episode, Dr Emma Yhnell speaks to international best-selling author Nicklas Brendborg about how supernormal stimuli have become the norm in modern society.  Whether it's food or our screens, Nicklas Brendborg argues that we're living in an environment that is engineered to keep us hooked. Over centuries, through our agricultural practices we perfected food that appeals to our most basic taste receptors. But we are now in the age of ultra-processed food, which is optimised to be addictive. The same goes for our screens, where colourful social media content hooks us and the constant dopamine hits that are designed to be overwhelming make it hard to unplug from the digital world. It is these habits that are fueling modern society's epidemics of addiction, loneliness and increasing mental health problems. But Nicklas Brendborg argues that by understanding our biology we can learn to manage our habits, resist the hijacking of our natural instincts, and learn to live with more intention, focus and presence.  Nicklas Brendborg is a Danish scientist and author. His international bestseller Jellyfish Age Backwards has been translated to more than 30 languages and was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize. He is the youngest ever author to have been shortlisted for this award. Brendborg holds bachelor's and master's degrees in molecular biomedicine and biotechnology from the University of Copenhagen and is now a PhD student in molecular biology. He has been recognised by, among others, the Novo Nordisk International Talent Programme and the Novo Nordisk Scholarship Programme. His latest book is Super Stimulated: How Our Biology Is Being Manipulated to Create Bad Habits – and What We Can Do About It. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's episode, an episode from our friends at Sotheby's exploring the remarkable collection of Leonard A. Lauder, one of the greatest collectors and benefactors of the arts in America. At its centre is Gustav Klimt's celebrated Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, alongside works by Henri Matisse, Edvard Munch, Vincent Van Gogh and other luminaries of modern art. Ahead of Sotheby's landmark sale of this extraordinary collection this October, Curatorial and Collections Director at the National Portrait Gallery Flavia Frigeri, Sotheby's Chairman Impressionist and Modern Art Worldwide Helena Newman, and award-winning author James Stourton will join Director of Sir John Soane's Museum Will Gompertz for a special discussion. Together they will explore Klimt's enduring allure – from his luminous portrait of Elisabeth Lederer to the lyricism of the Attersee landscapes – as well as Leonard Lauder's vision and insights into his once-in-a-generation collection. This podcast was recorded at Sotheby's London in October 2025. And, to step further into the world of Sotheby's, you can visit any of our galleries around the world; they're open to the public. For more information, visit Sothebys.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The United States of America is younger than the British Museum and Guinness - in 2026 it celebrates its 250th birthday. How did this vast melting pot of people and ideas come to dominate global politics and culture? Historian and journalist Simon Jenkins believes America's success stems from its careful balancing of the freedoms and interests of the states and the federal government. For this episode he talks to Mythili Rao about the enduring tensions and balances that have enabled these fifty distinct states not only to survive civil war, but to prosper. He shows how there is a long strain of populism, antagonism towards Washington DC and isolationism in American politics that long pre-dates President Trump. And he makes the case that, despite its divisions, the USA is a unique achievement that will endure long after Trump has left the White House. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Olivia Laing is an internationally acclaimed writer and critic. They are the author of eight books, including The Lonely City, Everybody and the Sunday Times bestseller The Garden Against Time. Laing's first novel, Crudo, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and in 2018 they were awarded the Windham-Campbell Prize for non-fiction.  In today's episode, Laing sits down with host Mythili Rao to discuss their latest novel, The Silver Book. The Silver Book is at once a queer love story and a noirish thriller, set in the dream factory of cinema.  Weaving a fictional account from the creation of Federico Fellini's flamboyant biopic Casanova and Pasolini's notoriously shocking, Salò, or 120 Days of Sodom, Laing explores the difficult relationship between artifice and truth, illusion and reality, love and power. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Salman Rushdie is one of the world's most acclaimed, award-winning contemporary authors.  Translated into over forty languages, his sixteen works of fiction include Midnight's Children – for which he won the Booker Prize in 1981, the Booker of Bookers on the 25th anniversary of the prize and Best of the Booker on the 40th anniversary – Shame, The Satanic Verses, Quichotte and Victory City. His latest non-fiction book, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder was a number one Sunday Times bestseller. A former president of PEN American Center, Rushdie was knighted in 2007 for services to literature and was made a Companion of Honour in the Queen's last Birthday Honours list in 2022. In this episode, Rushdie sits down with broadcaster and journalist Kavita Puri to discuss his reflections on legacy, mortality, and returning to fiction in his new short story collection The Eleventh Hour. The stories in The Eleventh Hour span the three countries that Rushdie has called home – India, England and America – and explore what it means to approach the eleventh hour of life.  If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Scott Anderson is a veteran foreign reporter and war correspondent, and a contributing writer for The New York Times. Over his career he has reported from Bosnia, Libya, Palestine and across the Middle East.  In this episode, he spoke to host Hannah Lucinda Smith about his new book, King of Kings, a gripping account of the fall of the Shah of Iran, the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the rise of the Islamic Republic. Together, they explore the flaws that led to the Shah's downfall, and why Western powers fundamentally misunderstood what was happening in the country in the months before the revolution. They also examine how these events shaped Iran and the Middle East today, and the political future of a country whose power has been diminished in the region, but whose population is again rallying around the flag in response to external aggression. King of Kings: The Fall of the Shah, the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the Unmaking of the Modern Middle East is available to by now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've heard enough from the pessimists. Yes, these are hard times, but what investors, business owners and all of us need right now is not more despair about the economy, but a clear roadmap towards growth and prosperity. In October 2025, Jeremy Hunt came to the Intelligence Squared stage to share his vision of how we can achieve economic renewal. Hunt's optimism is grounded in the authority of experience. As a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Health Secretary, he held some of the most demanding government offices during an extraordinarily turbulent time in recent history. Drawing on the themes of his new book Can We Be Great Again?, he challenged the fatalism that dominates so much of today's public debate. While candid about Britain's weaknesses, he argued that on issues ranging from European security and global trade to climate, migration and the future of democracy, the UK still has the potential to lead — if it chooses to act like a country that matters. Hunt was in conversation with BBC journalist Jonny Dymond for this instalment of the Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook series, in partnership with Guinness Global Investors. The event was a wide-ranging discussion with one of Britain's most experienced leaders on how the country can get back on track, at home and on the world stage. --- This recording is part of The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook series of events made in partnership with Guinness Global Investors, an independent British fund manager that helps both individuals and institutions harness the future drivers of growth to achieve their investment goals. To find out more visit: https://www.guinnessgi.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've heard enough from the pessimists. Yes, these are hard times, but what investors, business owners and all of us need right now is not more despair about the economy, but a clear roadmap towards growth and prosperity. In October 2025, Jeremy Hunt came to the Intelligence Squared stage to share his vision of how we can achieve economic renewal. Hunt's optimism is grounded in the authority of experience. As a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Health Secretary, he held some of the most demanding government offices during an extraordinarily turbulent time in recent history. Drawing on the themes of his new book Can We Be Great Again?, he challenged the fatalism that dominates so much of today's public debate. While candid about Britain's weaknesses, he argued that on issues ranging from European security and global trade to climate, migration and the future of democracy, the UK still has the potential to lead — if it chooses to act like a country that matters. Hunt was in conversation with BBC journalist Jonny Dymond for this instalment of the Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook series, in partnership with Guinness Global Investors. The event was a wide-ranging discussion with one of Britain's most experienced leaders on how the country can get back on track, at home and on the world stage. --- This recording is part of The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook series of events made in partnership with Guinness Global Investors, an independent British fund manager that helps both individuals and institutions harness the future drivers of growth to achieve their investment goals. To find out more visit: https://www.guinnessgi.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're only at the very beginning of the AI transformation. The next big leap isn't just smarter chatbots, it's AI agents: tools that don't just answer questions but loop, reason, and complete whole tasks within your workflows. In this episode, journalist and author Kamal Ahmed sits down with Aaron Levie, CEO and co-founder of Box, to explain how a strong content and AI strategy enables organisations to rethink how work gets done across their businesses using AI agents. Learn why most companies don't actually have an AI problem but a data problem, how unstructured data is becoming an untapped goldmine, and why governance, trust, and security are just as important as innovation. From experimentation and scaling, to ROI and common pitfalls, this conversation maps out how leaders can move from dabbling with AI to deploying agents that create real value. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Box. Get the latest AI news here - https://blog.box.com/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The morning after Donald Trump's victory over Kamala Harris in the U.S. presidential election, The New York Times front page declared: ‘America Hires a Strongman'. But is Trump really a ‘strongman' and is it fair to put him in the same category of leaders as Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping? The Trump administration is already viewed by many commentators as more authoritarian than the first. But will Trump meaningfully crack down on civil liberties? Will he persecute his political opponents? Will he use the state to enrich himself and his inner circle? And will he abandon democratic allies and align America with other authoritarian so-called ‘strongman' states? Many critics say the answer to all of those questions is already, demonstrably ‘yes.' So how far could he go? We were joined by Pulitzer Prize winning historian Anne Applebaum and host Gideon Rachman for the final instalment of our Age of the Strongman event series. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This event is part of our Age of the Strongman series. Click here to see the other events in the series. The morning after Donald Trump's victory over Kamala Harris in the U.S. presidential election, The New York Times front page declared: ‘America Hires a Strongman'. But is Trump really a ‘strongman' and is it fair to put him in the same category of leaders as Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping? The Trump administration is already viewed by many commentators as more authoritarian than the first. But will Trump meaningfully crack down on civil liberties? Will he persecute his political opponents? Will he use the state to enrich himself and his inner circle? And will he abandon democratic allies and align America with other authoritarian so-called ‘strongman' states? Many critics say the answer to all of those questions is already, demonstrably ‘yes.' So how far could he go? We were joined by Pulitzer Prize winning historian Anne Applebaum and host Gideon Rachman for the final instalment of our Age of the Strongman event series. --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the BBC's Chief International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet has witnessed and reported on some of the most consequential events of our time. She has reported from Afghanistan since 1988, during the Soviet troop withdrawal, played a leading role in the BBC's coverage of the Arab Spring uprisings reporting from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria, and has covered major wars as well as efforts to make peace in the Middle East since 1994. In 2022 she covered the Russian invasion of Ukraine live from Kyiv as Putin's tanks crossed the border. Most recently she reported from Tehran in the aftermath of Israel's bombing of Iran. Doucet is renowned for her compassionate, human-centred reporting often in times of war and suffering. In October 2025 she came to the Intelligence Squared stage to share her reflections and insights from four decades on the frontlines. In conversation with fellow broadcaster Lindsey Hilsum, the International Editor for Channel 4 News who has also reported from frontlines of our time, Doucet also discussed the themes and approach of her new book, The Finest Hotel in Kabul, a vivid history of Afghanistan as seen from the iconic Inter-Continental Hotel. Drawing on years of interviews with its staff and guests, the book traces the country's tumultuous history – from the Soviet withdrawal and civil war to the US invasion and the return of the Taliban – through the prism of this landmark hotel and the lives of the staff who kept it running during war and peace.  --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the BBC's Chief International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet has witnessed and reported on some of the most consequential events of our time. She has reported from Afghanistan since 1988, during the Soviet troop withdrawal, played a leading role in the BBC's coverage of the Arab Spring uprisings reporting from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria, and has covered major wars as well as efforts to make peace in the Middle East since 1994. In 2022 she covered the Russian invasion of Ukraine live from Kyiv as Putin's tanks crossed the border. Most recently she reported from Tehran in the aftermath of Israel's bombing of Iran. Doucet is renowned for her compassionate, human-centred reporting often in times of war and suffering. In October 2025 she came to the Intelligence Squared stage to share her reflections and insights from four decades on the frontlines. In conversation with fellow broadcaster Lindsey Hilsum, the International Editor for Channel 4 News who has also reported from frontlines of our time, Doucet also discussed the themes and approach of her new book, The Finest Hotel in Kabul, a vivid history of Afghanistan as seen from the iconic Inter-Continental Hotel. Drawing on years of interviews with its staff and guests, the book traces the country's tumultuous history – from the Soviet withdrawal and civil war to the US invasion and the return of the Taliban – through the prism of this landmark hotel and the lives of the staff who kept it running during war and peace.  --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

‘Unforgettable characters, written with irrepressible verve and historical accuracy [...] thrums with swordswinging energy.' ― Simon Sebag Montefiore  The Hundred Years' War was an age-defining conflict. The violent struggle between England and France spanned over a century and permanently transformed the art of European warfare itself. Rich with stories of iconic figures, from Joan of Arc to Henry V, the sheer scale of it continues to inspire fictional retellings today.  In his Essex Dogs trilogy, bestselling historian and author Dan Jones retells the battles and bloodshed through the eyes of the Essex Dogs, a fictional platoon. Now, as the series reaches its climax, he joins us on stage for an exploration of war, plague, and the third and final instalment of the trilogy – Lion Hearts.  Jones' story resumes as the Black Death is tearing through Europe. The Essex Dogs have scattered: Romford thrives in the glittering court of King Edward III, Loveday struggles with loss and a reluctant return to violence, and Millstone and Thorp enlist themselves on a deadly mission to escort a princess to Castille. Yet an explosive turn of events is set to pull them back together.  Jones returned to Intelligence Squared to explore the brutal realities of the Hundred Years' War, the profound impact of the bubonic plague, and the craft of weaving together fact and fiction.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

‘Unforgettable characters, written with irrepressible verve and historical accuracy [...] thrums with swordswinging energy.' ― Simon Sebag Montefiore  The Hundred Years' War was an age-defining conflict. The violent struggle between England and France spanned over a century and permanently transformed the art of European warfare itself. Rich with stories of iconic figures, from Joan of Arc to Henry V, the sheer scale of it continues to inspire fictional retellings today.  In his Essex Dogs trilogy, bestselling historian and author Dan Jones retells the battles and bloodshed through the eyes of the Essex Dogs, a fictional platoon. Now, as the series reaches its climax, he joins us on stage for an exploration of war, plague, and the third and final instalment of the trilogy – Lion Hearts.  Jones' story resumes as the Black Death is tearing through Europe. The Essex Dogs have scattered: Romford thrives in the glittering court of King Edward III, Loveday struggles with loss and a reluctant return to violence, and Millstone and Thorp enlist themselves on a deadly mission to escort a princess to Castille. Yet an explosive turn of events is set to pull them back together.  Jones returned to Intelligence Squared to explore the brutal realities of the Hundred Years' War, the profound impact of the bubonic plague, and the craft of weaving together fact and fiction.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How can we reverse the enshittification of digital platforms? With Cory Doctorow Why does every online platform seem to start out great - then slowly turn to garbage? Why do our digital public squares now feel more like corporate malls... or burning trash heaps?  ‘Enshittification' has been word of the year in the UK, USA and Australia. It's been printed in the pages of the FT and declaimed from podiums at the EU. As a word, it captures the feeling of a world that is ever worsening.  Cory Doctorow, the tech and ethics writer who coined the term, argues that enshittification is not a technical glitch, but a technique that every platform - from X to TikTok, Amazon to Apple, has adopted on purpose to maximise profit at the expense of user experience.  In this episode, Doctorow joins Carl Miller to break down what this relentless downward spiral means for democracy, privacy, creativity, and trust, and what can be done to reverse it. Doctorow offers a roadmap for reclaiming a better digital future. From breaking monopolies and restoring interoperability to empowering tech workers and enforcing real regulation, this is a conversation about what's broken, and how we can fix it. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

‘There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is fighting without them.' – Winston Churchill In a world where geopolitical alliances are fraying and tensions are rising, what can the fragile coalition that defeated Hitler teach us about the challenges facing the West today? In September 2025 historian Tim Bouverie came to the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss his Sunday Times bestselling book Allies at War: The Politics of Defeating Hitler. In conversation with Editor of The Spectator Michael Gove, Bouverie described how Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin overcame deep ideological differences and strategic rivalries to form a fragile but ultimately victorious alliance against Nazi Germany. Now, with Donald Trump threatening to abandon NATO, Vladimir Putin intent on exploiting Western fissures, and democratic nations questioning their own cohesion, the lessons of WWII's Grand Alliance have never felt more relevant. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

‘There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is fighting without them.' – Winston Churchill In a world where geopolitical alliances are fraying and tensions are rising, what can the fragile coalition that defeated Hitler teach us about the challenges facing the West today? In September 2025 historian Tim Bouverie came to the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss his Sunday Times bestselling book Allies at War: The Politics of Defeating Hitler. In conversation with Editor of The Spectator Michael Gove, Bouverie described how Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin overcame deep ideological differences and strategic rivalries to form a fragile but ultimately victorious alliance against Nazi Germany. Now, with Donald Trump threatening to abandon NATO, Vladimir Putin intent on exploiting Western fissures, and democratic nations questioning their own cohesion, the lessons of WWII's Grand Alliance have never felt more relevant. ---- s is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The threat of war between the US and China seems to be a constant background hum in the news cycle. Commentators often tackle when and why this conflict might emerge and escalate.  But how would a war between the two great powers actually play out? Who would dominate across land, sea, air, space and cyberspace? In today's episode, host Adam McCauley sits down with Franz-Stefan Gady to discuss the operational, organisational and political challenges that the US would face should it go to war with China over Taiwan. Franz-Stefan Gady has advised US and European militaries on structural reform and the future of high-intensity warfare. An adjunct senior fellow with the Center for a New American Security, he has conducted field research in Afghanistan, Iraq and Ukraine. His latest book is How the United States Would Fight China. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is an episode of The Specialist, your weekly dose of wonder. In The Specialist, explore the significance and journey of an extraordinary work through the eyes of those that know it best. On this episode, the extraordinary story of the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé — a car so rare and revered that few believed it would ever leave the Mercedes-Benz museum. Yet it went on to become the most expensive automobile in history. To tell this story to full effect, this episode will feature both Gord Duff, President of RM Sotheby's in Blenheim, Ontario, and Marcus Breitschwerdt, Executive Vice President of Mercedes-Benz and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Heritage. Further details about the episode subject. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can criminal psychology offer us a new way to think about and combat climate change? In this episode, criminal psychologist Julia Shaw sits down with physicist and broadcaster Helen Czerski to offer a compelling new framework to understand environmental crime. While big structural issues often cloud political progress on climate action, Shaw takes a more granular approach. In conversation with Czerski, she draws on her new book Green Crime to illuminate the minds of those behind some of the world's most devastating environmental scandals - from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to Dieselgate and the shadowy wildlife trade in Shuidong. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anthony Scaramucci, former White House Communications Director turned outspoken Trump critic, comes to Intelligence Squared in September for a straight-talking conversation on the fallout from Trump's second presidency. From his brief but explosive tenure inside the Trump White House in 2017 to his career on Wall Street and success as co-host of ‘The Rest Is Politics US' podcast, Scaramucci has never been one to hold back — sometimes at great personal cost. In conversation with Emily Maitlis he explored the biggest questions facing America and the world today.  Is Trump an existential threat to democracy or can the US Constitution withstand his authoritarian impulses? Does his ‘America First' approach make war more or less likely? Does Vladimir Putin hold leverage over Trump, or is his detachment from Europe's troubles with Russia a calculated move to prioritise the greater threat from China? And are his opponents once again underestimating him — could the 77 million Americans who re-elected him be right that he will, in the end, make America great again? Scaramucci, with his trademark wit and unfiltered honesty, offered a rare insider's perspective on the chaos and consequences of the Trump era. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anthony Scaramucci, former White House Communications Director turned outspoken Trump critic, comes to Intelligence Squared in September for a straight-talking conversation on the fallout from Trump's second presidency. From his brief but explosive tenure inside the Trump White House in 2017 to his career on Wall Street and success as co-host of ‘The Rest Is Politics US' podcast, Scaramucci has never been one to hold back — sometimes at great personal cost. In conversation with Emily Maitlis he explored the biggest questions facing America and the world today.  Is Trump an existential threat to democracy or can the US Constitution withstand his authoritarian impulses? Does his ‘America First' approach make war more or less likely? Does Vladimir Putin hold leverage over Trump, or is his detachment from Europe's troubles with Russia a calculated move to prioritise the greater threat from China? And are his opponents once again underestimating him — could the 77 million Americans who re-elected him be right that he will, in the end, make America great again? Scaramucci, with his trademark wit and unfiltered honesty, offered a rare insider's perspective on the chaos and consequences of the Trump era. --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Malcolm Tucker. Pet ASBOs. A law requiring everyone in Britain to carry around a plastic bag. It's been twenty years since Armando Iannucci‘s The Thick of It first brought the chaos and drama of the fictitious ‘Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship' into our lives. First aired on the BBC in 2005, the show satirised the Blair government's spin-heavy politics, with Peter Capaldi's foul-mouthed character Malcolm Tucker quickly becoming one of Britain's most unforgettable TV villains. In September 2025 Iannucci came to Alexandra Palace Theatre alongside actors from the show Peter Capaldi, Chris Addison and Rebecca Front to relive some of the funniest moments from the show, reveal behind-the-scenes stories and answer questions on whether a show like The Thick of It could ever work in today's polarised political climate and social media news cycle. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Malcolm Tucker. Pet ASBOs. A law requiring everyone in Britain to carry around a plastic bag. It's been twenty years since Armando Iannucci‘s The Thick of It first brought the chaos and drama of the fictitious ‘Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship' into our lives. First aired on the BBC in 2005, the show satirised the Blair government's spin-heavy politics, with Peter Capaldi's foul-mouthed character Malcolm Tucker quickly becoming one of Britain's most unforgettable TV villains. In September 2025 Iannucci came to Alexandra Palace Theatre alongside actors from the show Peter Capaldi, Chris Addison and Rebecca Front to relive some of the funniest moments from the show, reveal behind-the-scenes stories and answer questions on whether a show like The Thick of It could ever work in today's polarised political climate and social media news cycle. --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are supercomputers and killer robots going to take over? In this episode, Adam McCauley speaks to professor and author Anthony King in order to debunk the science-fiction tinged narrative of AI's military potential and to, instead, explore the actual applications of AI in the armed forces over the last decade. Professor Anthony King was appointed Director of the University of Exeter's pioneering Strategy and Security Institute in 2023. He previously held positions at the University of Warwick and the University of Liverpool. He has also been advising the armed forces for over two decades. His latest work is AI, Automation, and War: The Rise of a Military-Tech Complex. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Watch the full video of this event for free here: https://mailchi.mp/intelligencesquared/lw6gixq1t9 The transcript of this event is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GvYGaOE-fnDQdFvrTLQjUGcrE6Ra0acN/view?usp=drive_link --- The most influential inventor of the modern world, Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a different kind of visionary. Born in the same year as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, Berners-Lee famously shared his invention, the World Wide Web, for no commercial reward. Its widespread adoption changed everything — transforming humanity into the first digital species. In September 2025 Berners-Lee came to the Intelligence Squared stage to tell the story of his iconic invention and explore the future of human innovation. Drawing on his new memoir, This is For Everyone, Berners-Lee explored how the web launched a new era of creativity and collaboration, while unleashing a commercial race that today imperils democracies and polarises public debate. As the rapid development of artificial intelligence heralds a new era of innovation, Berners-Lee is the perfect guide to the crucial decisions ahead, and to provide a gripping, in-the-room account of the rise of the online world. With his characteristic optimism, technical insight and wry humour, Berners-Lee discussed the power of technology — both to fuel our worst instincts and to profoundly shape our lives for the better. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Watch the full video of this event for free here: https://mailchi.mp/intelligencesquared/lw6gixq1t9 The transcript of this event is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GvYGaOE-fnDQdFvrTLQjUGcrE6Ra0acN/view?usp=drive_link --- The most influential inventor of the modern world, Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a different kind of visionary. Born in the same year as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, Berners-Lee famously shared his invention, the World Wide Web, for no commercial reward. Its widespread adoption changed everything — transforming humanity into the first digital species. In September 2025 Berners-Lee came to the Intelligence Squared stage to tell the story of his iconic invention and explore the future of human innovation. Drawing on his new memoir, This is For Everyone, Berners-Lee explored how the web launched a new era of creativity and collaboration, while unleashing a commercial race that today imperils democracies and polarises public debate. As the rapid development of artificial intelligence heralds a new era of innovation, Berners-Lee is the perfect guide to the crucial decisions ahead, and to provide a gripping, in-the-room account of the rise of the online world. With his characteristic optimism, technical insight and wry humour, Berners-Lee discussed the power of technology — both to fuel our worst instincts and to profoundly shape our lives for the better. --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is an episode of Hotels with History, produced by Intelligence Squared on behalf of ⁠Perowne International⁠⁠. On todays episode, Richard journeys to Singapore to explore the legendary Raffles Hotel. Discover how four visionary Armenian brothers turned a 10-room beach bungalow into a magnificent Neo-Renaissance palace, where literary giants found their muse, and some of the world's most famous cocktails were shaken. ⁠⁠Follow on Instagram⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For more than 40 years, world-renowned foreign correspondent Jon Lee Anderson has been reporting on wars, crises and revolutions, from Latin America to the Middle East and Africa.  Throughout his career he has made countless visits to Afghanistan, bearing witness to the Soviet invasion and the subsequent US interventions from 9/11 to the present day. His new book, To Lose A War, contains his reporting on the 20-year US military presence in Afghanistan, its disastrous and chaotic end and the return of the Taliban.  In this episode he sits down with foreign correspondent Hannah Lucinda Smith to discuss how the US mission lost its way, the resourcefulness and resilience of Afghanistan's people and his hopes and fears for the country's future under a resurgent Taliban. To Lose A War: The Fall and Rise of the Taliban by Jon Lee Anderson is available now. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Did you know that Mary Shelley was a teenager when she started writing Frankenstein in 1814? Or that England's most prolific goal scorer - man or woman - was superstar striker Lily Parr, who scored a staggering 997 goals between 1919 and 1951? When Kate Mosse launched the #WomenInHistory campaign, asking people to highlight women whose achievements have been overlooked by history, she received thousands of nominations from around the globe. The result is her new book, Feminist History For Every Day of the Year. In it, she celebrates the extraordinary achievements of activists, writers, scientists, politicians and others, some of whom are household names, and others who deserve to be better known. She sat down with broadcaster Shahidha Bari to share some of these incredible stories. They talked about the importance of putting women and girls back into history - including those with complicated or problematic views - and why rights are always fought for, never given, and need to be protected. Kate Mosse is a novelist and founder of the Women's Prize for Fiction and the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction. Feminist History For Every Day of the Year is out now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if the real story of climate change is far more hopeful than we've been led to believe? With so much doomsday reporting and general misinformation on climate change, it can be hard to know what's true - and what actually matters. In this episode, bestselling author and data scientist Hannah Ritchie joins us to examine the data on the biggest questions holding us back: Is it too late? Are we too polarised? Will we run out of the resources we need? Speaking to physicist and broadcaster Helen Czerski, Hannah draws on her new book Clearing the Air to explain that the data paints a surprisingly optimistic picture.  Together Hannah and Helen speak about contextualising progress, bust myths on everything from electric vehicles to wind turbines, and explore the solutions already working to build a cleaner, fairer, and more sustainable future.  If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices