Intelligence Squared

The subject of genetic inheritance provokes passionate debate but behavioural geneticist Kathryn Paige Harden believes both sides are getting it wrong. It’s possible, she argues, to reclaim the science of genetics while avoiding the trap of categorising traits as superior or inferior. Drawing from her new book, The Genetic Lottery, Harden shares her research uncovered as head of the Developmental...

Andrew Chen is a specialist in growing tech businesses and for his new book, The Cold Start Problem, he has spoken to the founders of companies such as LinkedIn, Zoom, Uber, Dropbox, Tinder and Airbnb, to learn how startups can maximise their potential. Andrew has spent a career working with tech companies and tech investors, plus he's also a prolific writer with both a popular blog and newsletter...

Autonomy, dignity and compassion. We wish to experience these things in our lives, so why shouldn’t we experience them in our deaths? That’s the argument made by those who support a change in the law to legalise assisted dying in the UK. People who are suffering intractably, they claim, but who are too ill to self-administer life-ending medication should have the right to be helped to end their li...

It’s been almost 50 years since Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka, Africa’s first Nobel laureate for literature, last published a novel. Chronicles From the Land of the Happiest People on Earth is, his fellow writers agree, worth the wait. He joins Dr Louisa Egbunike
, Associate Professor in African Literature at Durham University, to discuss its his latest work: a satire and a whodunit mystery encompa...

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP party came to power in 2014, India has seen an increase in Hindu nationalism and a rise in hostility towards the Muslim minority population. Politician and writer Shashi Tharoor believes the country is at a crossroads. His recently published book, The Struggle for India’s Soul, looks at the political direction of the world’s second most populous natio...

Kate Bingham is the former Chair of the UK Vaccine Taskforce and she's also a shrewd business mind, having been a successful venture capitalist in sectors such as biotech for the past 30 years. She recently spoke with Jessica Pulay at the Cliveden Literary Festival to discuss how business acumen played its part in managing a team of experts from sectors such as science, medicine, industry and acad...

What now for the world? Governments have reached a climate deal which gets us closer to holding temperatures rises to 1.5C. But a last-ditch effort from India and China to water down pledges to phase out coal has led some to consider COP26 a failure. Yes, COP26 could have achieved more but is this agreement one that could potentially be seen as a strong foundation on which the world can build for...

Huma Abedin was Hillary Clinton’s most trusted aide and adviser for many years. Her recently published book, Both/And, reveals the details of that relationship as well as reflecting on the very public breakdown of her marriage to disgraced former congressman and convicted sex offender Anthony Weiner. She speaks to journalist Razia Iqbal about her life in politics and why she believes that during t...

We go to movies that make us cry, scream or gag we poke at sores, eat spicy foods and run marathons. Some of us even seek out discomfort and humiliation for sexual gratification. Most of these activities are painful yet many of us find pleasure within them and Professor Paul Bloom of Yale University's recent book, The Sweet Spot, seeks to suss out why. Bloom joins writer and broadcaster Linda Yueh...

Today's episode comes from the How To Lead a Sustainable Business podcast, brought to you by Selfridges Group and Intelligence Squared. In the podcast, Alannah Weston, Chairman of Selfridges Group, speaks to inspiring leaders at the forefront of sustainability and business to find out what it takes to lead change and how businesses can put sustainability at their core. In this COP26 Special, Alann...

This episode is part of our Energised series made in partnership with Iberdrola. To hear more search Energised, wherever you get your podcasts. Transport emissions account for almost a third of global carbon dioxide emissions – and while other sectors such as the energy industry have reduced their emissions over the past three decades, transport emissions are growing. It is the EU’s second most po...

Linda Colley is the Shelby MC Davis 1958 professor of history at Princeton University and one of the most acclaimed historians of her generation. Her latest book is The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen, which tells the stories of how constitutions around the world were shaped by forces such as warfare, geopolitical upheaval and academic rigour. She speaks with fellow historian and screenwriter Alex von...

Black British Lives Matter is a new anthology of writing and conversations collecting the experiences of thought leaders in the UK including novelist Kit de Waal, architect Sir David Adjaye, politician Dawn Butler and many more. The book's co-editor, journalist and Chair of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Marcus Ryder MBE, discusses its themes and the importance of ensuring that diversity is ch...

Since the original publication of Nudge more than a decade ago, the word that served as the title of the ground-breaking book has entered the vocabulary of businesspeople, policy makers, economists, engaged citizens and consumers everywhere. It has given rise to more than 400 nudge units in governments around the world and has influenced countless groups of behavioural scientists in every part of...

We are in a second Cold War with China. That’s the conclusion many experts have come to as they observe China’s increasingly aggressive behaviour beyond its borders – its suppression of democracy in Hong Kong, its sabre-rattling towards Taiwan, the vast espionage offensive against the West’s technology, not to mention the confrontational tone of its new ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy. That’s the argumen...

In summer 2021, a global panel of legal scholars and activists drew up a new definition of ecocide: unlawful or wanton acts that could cause widespread or long-term damage to the environment. The aim is that it will one day be ratified by the International Criminal Court. As COP26 draws to a close, researcher and author Carl Miller speaks with Jojo Mehta, chair and co-founder of the Stop Ecocide F...

Does power corrupt, or are corrupt people drawn to power? It’s a question that runs through the heart of the work of Brian Klaas, professor of global politics at University College London and Washington Post columnist. His latest book is 'Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us', which looks at the psychology behind those who seek power. Pulitzer-prize winning historian and journalist An...

In this special bonus episode, brought to you in partnership with online trading platform IG, Joshua Mahony, Senior Markets analyst at IG, speaks again to Linda Yueh about how the markets are coping as societies begin to open up and lift Covid-19 restrictions. They also discuss the energy markets and what investors need to know to develop a forward looking portfolio. To find out more about IG visi...

The Labour Party has been out of power for over a decade. And after a historic electoral defeat in the 2019 general election, the party looks to be in real trouble. Sir Keir Starmer became leader in April 2020 replacing self described socialist Jeremy Corbyn and tried to steer the party towards a less radical, more outwardly patriotic brand of politics than his predecessor. But the loss of the Har...

As the COP26 global climate summit takes place, many are asking who is really responsible for the climate emergency and who might be able to prevent it? Dr Anne Karpf is a writer and sociologist whose recent book, How Women Can Save the Planet, looks to analyse some of these questions in more granular detail. The BBC's South Asia correspondent Rajini Vaidyanathan speaks with Anne to learn more abo...

James Plunkett's new book, End State: 9 Ways Society is Broken, draws on his years working in both public policy and at the top tiers of government. A former advisor to UK prime minister Gordon Brown, his book looks at how to reboot some key ideas ranging from commerce to healthcare for a nation such as the UK in order to provide better quality of life for larger sections of society. James joins u...

Mo Gawdat was Chief Business Officer of Google X, the experimental development arm of the internet behemoth. He's since written books on how to find happiness and his new one, Scary Smart, warns of the potential dangers posed to the world by super-smart artificial intelligence. Media correspondent for the Sunday Times, Rosamund Urwin, speaks with Mo about the new book, the future of AI, and how bu...

This debate, recorded on Thursday 28th October 2021, was part of Energised, a debate series from Intelligence Squared in partnership with Iberdrola, a leading company in the field of renewable energy. It’s make or break time for the planet. That’s the warning issued by the UN ahead of COP26 in Glasgow this November, when leaders and heads of state from all over the world will meet to agree on glob...

With the devastating effects of the climate emergency becoming more urgent by the day, the COP26 summit in Glasgow now represents a pivotal moment in global cooperation on the issue. Can anything meaningful be achieved without collaboration from the big players such as China, the US and the EU? Economist Linda Yueh is joined by journalist and environment specialist Isabel Hilton of China Dialogue...

What does the face of power look like? Who gets commemorated in art and why? And how do we react to statues of figures we deplore? In October 2021 Mary Beard, Britain’s best known classicist, came to Intelligence Squared to talk about the ideas in her new book Twelve Caesars: Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern. To follow along with the images referenced in the podcast visit: http...