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PODCAST

Intelligence Squared

Intelligence Squared

Intelligence Squared is the home of lively debate and deep-dive discussion. Follow Intelligence Squared wherever you get your podcasts and enjoy four regular episodes per week taking you to the heart of the issues that matter in the company of the world’s great minds. We’d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on and what our future debates should be. Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to podcasts@intelligencesquared.com or Tweet

society & culture news commentary

All Episodes

39:36

The New Yorker’s Jon Lee Anderson on Afghanistan: An...

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/02/23

Jon Lee Anderson is considered one of the great foreign correspondents of our time. Since the late 1980s, his on-the-ground reporting in Afghanistan has provided invaluable insight into decades of conflict and political upheaval. For The New Yorker magazine he covered the US-backed Mujahideen’s insurrection in Kabul, was an eyewitness to the new war launched by the US against the Taliban and their Al-Qaeda allies within days of the 9/11 attacks, and reported on the supposed quick and easy victory of

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34:47

The New Yorker’s Jon Lee Anderson on Afghanistan: An...

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/02/22

Jon Lee Anderson is considered one of the great foreign correspondents of our time. Since the late 1980s, his on-the-ground reporting in Afghanistan has provided invaluable insight into decades of conflict and political upheaval. For The New Yorker magazine he covered the US-backed Mujahideen’s insurrection in Kabul, was an eyewitness to the new war launched by the US against the Taliban and their Al-Qaeda allies within days of the 9/11 attacks, and reported on the supposed quick and easy victory of

en

13:34

The Specialist | Jackie O's Faux Pearls, with Frank...

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/02/21

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, Frank Everett, Sotheby's Vice Chairman, Jewelry Americas, discusses the string of faux pearls that belonged to the legendary Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Estimated at $500-$700, it was the power of provenance that drove them to sell for over $200,000. Frank is largely self-taugh and moved

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55:47

Could Silicon Valley Billionaires Cure Aging? With...

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/02/20

What it might mean – biologically, socially, and philosophically – if death becomes optional? Humanity has long dreamed about the idea of immortality. And in 2026, many believe that dream could soon become a reality. The world’s most powerful technologists and investors are pouring billions into engineering immortality itself. For these modern-day immortalists, aging is no longer an inevitability – it’s a technical glitch that can be hacked, reversed, or eradicated altogether. On today’s episode,

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45:04

Will AI Design New Organisms From Scratch? With...

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/02/18

What if DNA could be edited as easily as software? What if we could delete disease, redesign organisms, and eventually rewrite ourselves? In this episode, Adrian Woolfson joins host Güneş Taylor to discuss his book, On the Future of Species. As artificial intelligence fuses with synthetic biology, Woolfson argues that we are beginning to decode the grammar of the genome - learning not just to read life, but to write it. Today, scientists are still in the scribbling phase, editing microbes and

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38:47

Is it Game Over for Keir Starmer? Martin Wolf for The...

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/02/16

2026 opened with a bang on the world stage. With Donald Trump's aggressive approach to foreign policy and the release of the Epstein files threatening more political upheaval, it's clear that this year will be another test of resilience for the global economy. On February 9, Chief Economics Commentator for the Financial Times Martin Wolf joined us for the latest installment of The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook, in partnership with Guinness Global Investors. In conversation with BBC

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36:58

Is it Game Over for Keir Starmer? Martin Wolf for The...

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/02/15

2025 has been an unprecedented year. Donald Trump’s tariff war, conflicts in the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine, and breakneck innovation in AI have put enormous pressure on the existing world order. Now 2026 is set to be another test of resilience for the global economy.All eyes are on Rachel Reeves to deliver growth; how will the new Budget, anticipated to contain cuts and tax raises, shape the nation for the year to come? What does the rising wave of populism from left and right mean for the

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43:43

Fascism, Exile, and Redefining Home in the 21st...

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/02/13

What does it mean to belong when the very idea of home is under threat?In this episode we’re joined by award-winning author and political thinker Ece Temelkuran. Forced into exile for her critical views of President Erdoğan, Temelkuran has long signalled the alarm that fascism threatens not only her home country Türkiye, but the whole democratic world. Her first book in English, How to Lose a Country, received international praise. Her second, Together, offers ‘a way out from the political and

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38:46

Why Changing How You Breathe Can Transform Your...

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/02/11

Each of us takes on average 25,000 breaths a day. Yet, as a species we have lost the ability to breathe correctly – and this has consequences for our health. That’s the argument of bestselling author James Nestor who has travelled the world to explore how ancient cultures used breathing as a medicine to help heal the body and calm the mind..In February 2026 we were joined by Nestor for an eye-opening talk, as he explained the science and traditions of how the simple act of breathing can transform

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49:20

The Trillion Dollar Battle For Your Attention, with...

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/02/09

Our attention is under attack. A handful of powerful tech companies are extracting and monetising our focus, reshaping our inner lives and threatening the foundations of democracy. Many proposed solutions rely on individual willpower but can we really outsmart supercomputers on our own?In this episode, we’re joined by Peter Schmidt of the Strother School of Radical Attention and D. Graham Burnett, Professor of the History of Science at Princeton University, two of the authors of Attensity! A

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36:16

Sir Sajid Javid – Lessons From the Front Bench (Part...

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/02/08

For more than a decade, Sir Sajid Javid was at the heart of power in Britain. First elected in 2010, he rapidly rose to his first cabinet position as Culture Secretary. The son of a bus driver and comprehensive school-educated, he was one of the few cabinet members from a working-class background. He went on to hold several ministerial roles under three different prime ministers including Chancellor of the Exchequer under Boris Johnson. In February 2026 he came to the Intelligence Squared stage to

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41:05

Sir Sajid Javid – Lessons From the Front Bench (Part...

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/02/06

For more than a decade, Sir Sajid Javid was at the heart of power in Britain. First elected in 2010, he rapidly rose to his first cabinet position as Culture Secretary. The son of a bus driver and comprehensive school-educated, he was one of the few cabinet members from a working-class background. He went on to hold several ministerial roles under three different prime ministers including Chancellor of the Exchequer under Boris Johnson. In February 2026 he came to the Intelligence Squared stage to

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29:38

Can Water Shape Our Future?

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/02/04

In today’s episode, the second in our series in partnership with WaterAid, journalist and author Coco Khan speaks to Helen Rumford, WaterAid’s Lead Policy Analyst for Climate Policy and Campaigns and Vera Kloettschen, WaterAid’s Climate and Environment Lead.Helen and Vera share their experience, expertise and stories to explore why clean water, the blue thread that connects us all, is fundamental to everyday wellbeing, long-term prosperity and securing climate justice. They discuss the practical

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43:05

Julian Barnes in conversation with Ian McEwan (Part Two)

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/02/03

Julian Barnes and Ian McEwan are widely celebrated as two of the finest writers of their generation. Along with Salman Rushdie and Kazuo Ishiguro, they were included on Granta’s prescient Best Young British Novelists list in 1993 and have gone on to write some of the most memorable novels of the past three decades. In January 2026 they came together to discuss the book that Barnes says will be his last, Departure(s). It follows a man named Stephen and a woman called Jean who fall in love when they

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39:02

Julian Barnes in conversation with Ian McEwan (Part One)

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/02/02

Julian Barnes and Ian McEwan are widely celebrated as two of the finest writers of their generation. Along with Salman Rushdie and Kazuo Ishiguro, they were included on Granta’s prescient Best Young British Novelists list in 1993 and have gone on to write some of the most memorable novels of the past three decades.In January 2026 they came together to discuss the book that Barnes says will be his last, Departure(s). It follows a man named Stephen and a woman called Jean who fall in love when they

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42:14

Why Can’t We Stop Money Laundering? With Oliver Bullough

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/02/01

In an increasingly digital world, hardly anyone relies on cash. $100 bills are essentially absent from global commerce. So how come the US Federal Reserve printed 752 million and 867.2 million of them last year? In this episode, bestselling investigative journalist and author Oliver Bullough joins us to explore how, in the criminal world, cash is still king. Drawing on his new book, Everybody Loves Our Dollars, he explores the hidden financial systems that allow drug cartels, kleptocrats, tax

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51:21

Is the Arctic the World’s Next War Zone? With Kenneth...

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/01/30

Why Is Everyone Suddenly Fighting Over the Arctic? In this episode, Adam McCauley speaks to journalist and author Kenneth R. Rosen about the Arctic’s shifting geopolitical role in the new world order. Nuclear submarines. Sabotaged pipelines. Undersea communications severed in the dark of night. The fastest-warming place on earth—where buildings crumble as permafrost melts and villages get washed away by rising seas—the Arctic stands at the crossroads of geopolitical ambition and environmental

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35:17

Implementing and scaling AI agents in business

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/01/29

Many organisations are experimenting with AI and AI agents. But far fewer are seeing real, measurable impact. The challenge isn’t ambition, it’s readiness. As we explored in the first episode of this series, the challenge for most businesses isn’t ambition - it’s having the right foundations in place.In part two of our series on AI in the workplace, journalist and author Kamal Ahmed is back and joined by Ben Kus, Chief Technology Officer at Box, to examine what it truly means to become AI-ready

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86:58

Happy Mind, Happy Life, with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/01/28

Happiness is good for your health. That’s the argument of Dr Rangan Chatterjee, one of the most influential doctors in the UK and host of Europe’s biggest health podcast Feel Better, Live More. Throughout his career, Dr Chatterjee has seen first-hand how motivation isn’t always enough for us to maintain a healthy lifestyle. It’s his view that it is only when we learn how to support our own mental well-being and cultivate core happiness that these choices become easy.In January 2026, Dr

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35:13

Can Britain Become an AI Superpower? The Intelligence...

Intelligence Squared ·

2026/01/26

A record £2.9 billion was invested in British AI companies last year as Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed to make the UK an AI superpower. But according to influential business leaders such as Jensen Huang, CEO of the world’s most valuable designer and seller of advanced computer chips, Nvidia, the UK and other Western nations risk losing the AI race to China due to unnecessary cynicism and worry over AI. In January 2026 a panel of experts came to Intelligence Squared to debate and discuss the

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426 results

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