Intelligence Squared

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 Squ...

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 Squ...

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 Cou...

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-ope...

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...

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 Chancell...

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 Chancell...

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...

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...

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...

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 Love...

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...

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 j...

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...

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...

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...

Do you feel as if there is often too much to do in too little time? We are all familiar with overwhelm – an unsettling sense that it is just impossible to keep up with the demands of everyday life. In January 2026 Claudia Hammond – psychologist, award-winning writer and presenter of BBC Radio 4’s All in the Mind – came to the Intelligence Squared stage to share her scientific insights into how we...

Do you feel as if there is often too much to do in too little time? We are all familiar with overwhelm – an unsettling sense that it is just impossible to keep up with the demands of everyday life. In January 2026 Claudia Hammond – psychologist, award-winning writer and presenter of BBC Radio 4’s All in the Mind – came to the Intelligence Squared stage to share her scientific insights into how we...

How does Greece’s Byzantine and Ottoman past shape its future? In this episode, Helen Carr speaks to journalist and author Sean Matthews about Greece’s shifting geopolitical role and alliances. Caught between wars raging in both Eastern Europe and the Middle East, Greece is an island of relative stability. Popularly considered the cradle of Western civilization, this is a Christian Orthodox state...

Alan Davies is one of the UK’s most-loved comedians best known for starring in the BBC series Jonathan Creek, and for his regular appearances on comedy quiz show QI since 2003.  In September 2025 he came to Intelligence Squared for an evening of laughs and reflection on his life in comedy and TV. Drawing on the themes of his new memoir White Male Stand-Up he shared some of the funniest moments fro...