Intelligence Squared

For many of us, our relationships with our siblings are the longest of our lives. They shape our earliest experiences of love, rivalry, identity and belonging. Yet despite their lasting influence, they are often overlooked in favour of relationships with parents, partners or children. In this episode, journalist and critic Mythili Rao speaks with broadcaster Catherine Carr about the overlooked sig...

Ben Rhodes served as one of Barack Obama’s closest foreign-policy aides, holding the role of Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting from 2009 to 2017. He acted as the lead negotiator in secret talks that normalised U.S.–Cuba relations and was central in building political support for the Iran nuclear deal. Since leaving government, Rhodes has been an outspo...

Ben Rhodes served as one of Barack Obama’s closest foreign-policy aides, holding the role of Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting from 2009 to 2017. He acted as the lead negotiator in secret talks that normalised U.S.–Cuba relations and was central in building political support for the Iran nuclear deal. Since leaving government, Rhodes has been an o...

Since the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran in late February, the world has changed dramatically. More than fourteen countries have now become embroiled in the conflict and there is widespread fear the war could impact the world for years to come. Clarissa Ward, CNN’s multi-award-winning Chief International Correspondent, has been reporting on the ground in the Middle E...

Since the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran in late February, the world has changed dramatically. More than fourteen countries have now become embroiled in the conflict and there is widespread fear the war could impact the world for years to come. Clarissa Ward, CNN’s multi-award-winning Chief International Correspondent, has been reporting on the ground in the Middle E...

This is an episode of Hotels with History, produced by Intelligence Squared on behalf of Perowne International⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Forensic science has transformed the way crimes are investigated and justice is delivered. From fingerprints and DNA to new forms of anatomical identification, its breakthroughs have helped solve cases once thought impossible. Yet when evidence is misunderstood or experts overreach, the consequences can be devastating. In this episode, doctor and broadcaster Dr Radha Modgil speaks with Professor L...

We are deeply confused about artificial intelligence: what it is, who it serves and whether it is leading us towards utopia or catastrophe. But according to AI ethicist Dr Eleanor Drage, these dramatic narratives often distract us from the urgent problems already embedded in the technology. In this episode of the Intelligence Squared podcast, Drage joins researcher and author Carl Miller to explor...

Robert Peston is one of Britain’s most trusted journalists. A fixture in British politics and business coverage, he came to national prominence as Business Editor and then Economics Editor at the BBC, where he revealed the crises at Northern Rock and RBS, the emergency rescue of HBOS, and the tumult around the credit crunch, bailouts, and austerity.  Today he hosts his namesake flagship...

Robert Peston is one of Britain’s most trusted journalists. A fixture in British politics and business coverage, he came to national prominence as Business Editor and then Economics Editor at the BBC, where he revealed the crises at Northern Rock and RBS, the emergency rescue of HBOS, and the tumult around the credit crunch, bailouts, and austerity.  Today he hosts his namesake flagship...

Intimacy coordinators have irreversibly transformed how we portray sex on screen, and they are not without their detractors. In the wake of MeToo, Ita O’Brien’s work as a top intimacy coordinator on Normal People, Sex Education and I May Destroy revolutionised how actors, directors and audiences think about sex, consent and physical storytelling. In this episode, journalist Olivia Petter speaks wi...

Olivia Laing is known as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary literature. Their work is renowned for its capacity to make abstract ideas feel precise, intimate, and beautifully thought through without ever talking down to the reader. Their books include the number one Sunday Times bestseller The Garden Against Time, Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency and, mos...

Olivia Laing is known as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary literature. Their work is renowned for its capacity to make abstract ideas feel precise, intimate, and beautifully thought through without ever talking down to the reader. Their books include the number one Sunday Times bestseller The Garden Against Time, Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency and, mos...

Is our history of World War II missing its most important chapter? For many in the West, the story of the Second World War is told through D-Day, the Blitz and the liberation of Europe. Yet some of the war's most consequential battles were fought in Asia, where the conflict claimed millions of lives, hastened the collapse of European empires and reshaped the modern world. Professor Hans van de Ven...

Maggie O’Farrell is the award-winning author of nine novels, including Hamnet, a breathtaking fictional retelling of the death of Shakespeare’s only son from the bubonic plague. This much-loved novel won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2020, and this year the celebrated film adaptation starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley arrives in cinemas.  In June 2026, O’Farrell returned wit...

Maggie O’Farrell is the award-winning author of nine novels, including Hamnet, a breathtaking fictional retelling of the death of Shakespeare’s only son from the bubonic plague. This much-loved novel won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2020, and this year the celebrated film adaptation starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley arrives in cinemas.  In June 2026, O’Farrell returned wit...

Filmmaker and activist Baroness Beeban Kidron has been warning of the digital dangers facing young people for over a decade, and has played a central role in establishing standards for online safety and privacy across the world. In this episode, she talks to Carl Miller about the technologies designed to capture our attention and the algorithms that can quickly leave children exposed to harmful co...

This is an episode of Hotels with History, produced by Intelligence Squared on behalf of Perowne International⁠. Picture being on a sweep of white sand where Rio meets the Atlantic. Through revolutions, dictatorship, and the moving of the capital itself, Jules and Richard trace how this luminous beachfront palace endured it all. They reflect on how this iconic property reflects Brazil’s wild glamo...

Andrew Ross Sorkin began his career at the forefront of Wall Street news, reporting extensively for The New York Times on the financial crash of 2008 and its chaotic aftermath. His expert journalism has since established him as a leading voice on economics, finance and corporate America. As the founder of DealBook, he helps make sense of major business and policy news through nuanced conversations...

Andrew Ross Sorkin began his career at the forefront of Wall Street news, reporting extensively for The New York Times on the financial crash of 2008 and its chaotic aftermath. His expert journalism has since established him as a leading voice on economics, finance and corporate America. As the founder of DealBook, he helps make sense of major business and policy news through nuanced conversations...

Recent high-profile legal disputes with Johnny Depp and Amber Heard and Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni have renewed public debate about gender, power and credibility in the courts. But beyond the celebrity cases lies a deeper question: how fairly does the justice system treat women? In this episode, Mythili Rao speaks to barrister Charlotte Proudman about the gender bias and misogyny she argues r...

In a world of economic shocks, geopolitical crises and constant predictions about the future, how should we make decisions when certainty is impossible? And what can statistics teach us about living with risk, chance and the unknown?  In this episode, physicist and science broadcaster Helen Czerski speaks with statistician David Spiegelhalter about his book The Art of Uncertainty. Drawing on proba...

In this episode, historian and philosopher Sophie Scott Brown speaks with writer Andrea Wulf about her new book The Traveller: The Revolutionary Life of George Forster and his Search for Humanity. A naturalist, explorer and political radical, Forster travelled around the world with Captain Cook as a teenager before becoming one of the most original and progressive thinkers of his age. Drawing on u...

Rebecca Solnit is an award-winning American writer and activist whose incisive work explores feminism, democracy, climate change and social justice. In this episode, she joins Mythili Rao to argue that, despite today's anxieties about democratic backsliding, technological disruption and environmental crisis, the past four decades have seen extraordinary social progress. From civil rights and envir...

Emmanuel Macron. Demis Hassabis. Volodymyr Zelenskiy. George Soros. Mark Carney. Christine Lagarde. Ray Dalio. Leena Nair.  Few journalists have spent more time questioning the people who shape the global economy than Francine Lacqua. As Editor-at-large at Bloomberg and host of Leaders with Francine Lacqua on Bloomberg TV, Lacqua has interviewed many of the most influential political and business...