Intelligence Squared

Thomas Friedman has been called ‘the most influential columnist in America’. The Financial Times has described him as a ‘global star’ and he has won the Pulitzer Prize three times. On October 6, Friedman will be joining us online less than a month before Americans go to the polls to elect their next president. In conversation with ITV’s political editor Robert Peston, one of Britain’s leading journalists and broadcasters, Friedman will examine what is likely to be the most consequential Presidential elections of our times. Will enough Americans rally round President Trump to give him a second term, despite the innumerable scandals that have beset his administration? Or will the Democrats find a way to send him packing? And with the campaign already shaping up to be more bitter and divisive than any other in history, is there any hope for America’s fractured politics? You can find Tom Friedman's latest book Thank You For Being Late here: https://amzn.to/2FdmBIa Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/

North Korea shocked the world in September 2017 by exploding the most powerful nuclear device tested anywhere in 25 years. Months earlier, it had conducted the first test flight of a missile capable of ranging much of the United States. Soon after, Kim Jong Un, the reclusive state’s ruler, declared that his nuclear deterrent was complete. World leaders, intelligence officials and many ordinary people around the world shuddered at the thought of a fully nuclear-armed North Korea. But how did this brutal nation build such a sophisticated nuclear programme? If the international community had taken non proliferation more seriously after the Cold War could things have turned out differently? And what should be our end game with the North Koreans? Should we be seeking an Iran style nuclear deal or would that be a fatal error of judgment? In September 2020 we were joined by Ankit Panda, renowned security expert and author of 'Kim Jong Un and The Bomb', who spoke to Dr Patricia Lewis, former Director of the UN Instit

In this bonus episode we preview a new podcast created by Intelligence Squared called No Bullsh*t Leadership hosted by Chris Hirst, CEO of advertising group Havas Creative. Today's guest is the sporting legend and rugby coach Clive Woodward who speaks about his approach to leadership, relentless learning and creating a winning culture.  SUBSCRIBE TO THE NO BULLSH*T LEADERSHIP PODCAST AND LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE HERE:  Apple: https://apple.co/3iuENKZ Spotify: https://spoti.fi/36Adigw  Clive Woodward is perhaps best known for leading England's rugby team to World Cup glory in Australia in 2003. Not only was it the first time England won, but the first time any nation in the northern hemisphere won the Rugby World Cup. Clive went onto become Director of Sport forTeam GB in the 2012 London Olympics, delivering Team GB’s most successful olympic games in modern times. He is currently a sports and business consultant and founder of Hive Learning, an app which digitises his coaching methods.  Are you a busin

According to Laura Bates a vast network of incels and other men who hate women are able to operate, virtually undetected online. These extremists commit deliberate terrorist acts and violence against women. Vulnerable teenage boys are groomed and radicalised. In this episode Bates, the bestselling author and founder of The Everyday Sexism Project, speaks to Sonia Sodha about going undercover to expose misogynist networks and communities. To find out more about the book click here: https://amzn.to/304TE8f. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How can we mobilise mindsets to turn anxiety about the climate crisis into action? This week Intelligence Squared Recommends an episode from the How To Lead a Sustainable Business podcast, hosted by Alannah Weston, chairman of Selfridges Group. Alannah speaks with activist Clover Hogan, the 21-year-old founder of ‘Force Of Nature’ - a youth-led organisation empowering Gen Z to step up, rather than shut down in the face of the climate crisis. Clover has passionately highlighted one of the hidden side effects of the climate crisis, the rise in eco anxiety. At age 16, as she was lobbying decision-makers at the Paris climate meeting, she realised that the threat greater even than climate change was the universal feeling of powerlessness in the face of it. After graduating from the Green School in Indonesia, Clover worked with Impossible Foods on national youth strategy and consulted multinationals at Volans. She has worked alongside the world’s leading authorities on sustainability and consulted within the boardr

This week we were joined by Philip Rowley Media Futurist & Futures Director at Omnicom to explore how Covid-19 will shape the next decade of culture, politics and entertainment. From remote working to video gaming Phil provides a roadmap for businesses and individuals to adapt to the next decade. The conversation was hosted by author and research director Carl Miller. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

JK Rowling, Scarlett Johansson, Kanye West. All have been ‘cancelled’ – denounced on social media for doing or saying something considered wrong or offensive, often on matters to do with race or gender. In this week's episode Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Julie Bindel debated Billy Bragg and Kehinde Andrews on whether cancel culture is a mob mentality, or a long overdue way of speaking truth to power. The debate was chaired by Jonathan Freedland.  Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For most of its history, the People’s Republic of China limited public discussion of the war against Japan. It was an experience of victimization—and one that saw Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek fighting for the same goals. But now, as China grows more powerful, the meaning of the war is changing. In this week's episode Rana Mitter argues that China’s reassessment of World War II is central to its newfound confidence abroad and to mounting nationalism at home. To find out more about Rana Mitter's book click here: https://bit.ly/35RwkPf. To listen to Gideon Rachman's podcast click here: https://play.acast.com/s/therachmanreview -------------------------- Intelligence Squared+. The world's best speakers. Your questions. £4.99 per month. Intelligence Squared+ will bring you live, interactive events every week on our new online platform. Just like at our real-life events, you’ll be able to put your questions to our speakers, vote in live polls and interact with other members of the audience. Your subscription will

Jo Marchant and Helen Czerski take us on a journey through humanity’s relationship with the heavens. The stars have shaped who we are - our religious beliefs, power structures, scientific advances and even our biology. But over the last few centuries we have separated ourselves from the universe that surrounds us. And that disconnect comes at a cost. To find out more about Jo Marchant’s book, The Human Cosmos, click here: http://bit.ly/humancosmos -------------------------- Intelligence Squared+. The world's best speakers. Your questions. £4.99 per month. Intelligence Squared+ will bring you live, interactive events every week on our new online platform. Just like at our real-life events, you’ll be able to put your questions to our speakers, vote in live polls and interact with other members of the audience. Your subscription will give you access to multiple events featuring the world’s top thinkers and opinion formers, including Thomas Piketty, Margaret Atwood, Clive Woodward, Thomas Friedman, Meera Syal and

At the end of World War II, the United States dominated the world militarily, economically, and in moral standing – seen as the victor over tyranny and a champion of freedom. But it was clear – to some – that the Soviet Union was already executing a plan to expand and foment revolution around the world. The American government’s strategy in response relied on the secret efforts of a newly-formed CIA. In this week's episode Scott Anderson joins us to discuss his new book 'The Quiet Americans' chronicling the exploits of four American spies with journalist Hugo Lindgren. To find out more about the book, click here: https://amzn.to/3itTv5A. -------------------------- Intelligence Squared+. The world's best speakers. Your questions. £4.99 per month. Intelligence Squared+ will bring you live, interactive events every week on our new online platform. Just like at our real-life events, you’ll be able to put your questions to our speakers, vote in live polls and interact with other members of the audience. Your subsc

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared ------ One summer’s night in 1946, over 1,000 European Jews waited silently on an Italian beach to board a secret ship. They had survived Auschwitz, hidden and fought in forests and endured death marches—now they were taking on the Royal Navy, running the British blockade of Palestine. From Eastern Europe to Israel via Germany and Italy, Rosie Whitehouse speaks to Edward Lucas about her new book following the footsteps of those secret passengers and uncovering their extraordinary stories—some told for the first time. You can buy the book here or any good book shop: https://bit.ly/3ihjaOO -------------------------- Intelligence Squared+. The world's best speakers. Your questions. £4.99 per month. Intelligence Squared+ will bring you live, interactive events every week on our new online platform. Just like at our real-life events, you’ll be able to put your questions to our speakers, vote in live polls and interact with other members of the audien

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared ------ We still talk about the British conquering India, but that phrase disguises a more sinister reality. For it was not the British government that began seizing chunks of India in the mid-18th century, as historian William Dalrymple points out, but a dangerously unregulated private company headquartered in one small office, five windows wide, in London, and managed in India by a violent, ruthless and mentally unstable corporate predator — Robert Clive. India’s transition to colonialism, in other words, took place under a for-profit corporation, which existed for the purpose of enriching its investors. In this episode Dalrymple speaks with broadcaster Kavita Puri about why he believes the story of the East India Company has never been more relevant to understanding our world today. To find out more about his book The Anarchy click here: https://bit.ly/3hb9c06 and to find out more about kavita Puri's book click here: https://www.waterstones.co

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared ------ In this week's episode we brought together two of Britain’s most esteemed experts on global pandemics to discuss what we got wrong about the virus and how we can learn from those mistakes going forward. Drawing on examples from history and scientific research, medical historian Mark Honigsbaum and former Chief Scientific Advisor to the U.K Government Sir David King, outlined the measures that need to be put in place, at both national and international levels, to end the pandemic and prevent this kind of catastrophe from ever happening again. The event was chaired by Manveen Rana, host of Stories of Our Times, a podcast from The Times. To buy Mark Honigsbaum's book click here: https://amzn.to/2FalGYn To listen to Manveen Rana's podcast click here:https://play.acast.com/s/storiesofourtimes -------------------------- Intelligence Squared+. The world's best speakers. Your questions. £4.99 per month. Intelligence Squared+ will bring you live,

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared ------ Every week in England and Wales, two women are killed by a current or former partner. And still we ask the question: 'Why didn't she leave?' According to author award winning Jess Hill, we should be asking 'Why did he do it?' In this episode Hill speaks to Rosamund Urwin about the perpetrators of abuse and the systems that enable them. Her radical reframing of domestic abuse takes us beyond the home and explores some innovative solutions such as women only police stations in Latin America. To find out more about her new book, click here: https://bit.ly/3lD4H1D -------------------------- Intelligence Squared+. The world's best speakers. Your questions. £4.99 per month. Intelligence Squared+ will bring you live, interactive events every week on our new online platform. Just like at our real-life events, you’ll be able to put your questions to our speakers, vote in live polls and interact with other members of the audience. Your subscription

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared ------ As Japan's longest serving premier, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, steps down due to health concerns, we examine his life and legacy in a special bonus episode. We were joined by Tobias Harris, author of the new book 'The Iconoclast: Shinzo Abe and the New Japan' to discuss the story of Abe’s meteoric rise and stunning fall, his remarkable comeback, and his unlikely emergence as a global statesman laying the groundwork for Japan’s survival in a turbulent century. To find out more about the book click here: https://amzn.to/2GalwB7 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared ------ Human beings, we’re taught, are by nature selfish and governed by self-interest. From Hobbes’ theory about the state of nature to Richard Dawkins’ ‘selfish gene’, the roots of this belief are deeply ingrained in Western thought. But historian Rutger Bregman believes we have got human nature wrong – and that deep down we are all pretty decent. On August 3 Bregman came to the Intelligence Squared to persuade us that it is realistic, as well as revolutionary, to assume that people are good. And that the instinct to cooperate rather than compete, trust rather than distrust, has an evolutionary basis going right back to the beginnings of Homo Sapiens. In conversation with journalist and author Helen Lewis, Bregman will discuss some of the world’s most famous studies and events and reframe them, providing a new perspective on the last 200,000 years of human history. To find out more about the book click here: https://bit.ly/34FLsyK. -----------

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared ------ Democracy is in crisis, and unaccountable and untraceable flows of money are helping to destroy it. According to Peter Geoghegan, politicians lie gleefully, making wild claims that can be shared instantly with millions of people on social media. Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Jair Bolsonaro and populists in many other countries are the beneficiaries. This week Geoghegan speaks to Nick Cohen, columnist at the Observer, about the problems democracy faces and what can be done about it. To find out more and order Peter's new book 'Democracy for Sale: Dark Money and Dirty Politics' click here: https://bit.ly/34rOZAu. ----------------------------------- Intelligence Squared+. The world's best speakers. Your questions. £4.99 per month. Intelligence Squared+ will bring you live, interactive events every week on our new online platform. Just like at our real-life events, you’ll be able to put your questions to our speakers, vote in live polls and in

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. -------- Race, class, gender. These are the categories that are commonly thought to define our lives. But Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson argues that ultimately the determining factor in societies is a more powerful, unspoken system of divisions: caste. On August 17 Wilkerson came to Intelligence Squared to talk about this hidden phenomenon, which she sets out in her acclaimed new book, Caste: The Lies That Divide Us. Isabel Wilkerson was in conversation with author and broadcaster Yassmin Abdel-Magied. To find out more about the book click here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/caste/isabel-wilkerson/9780241486511. --------------------------------- Intelligence Squared+. The world's best speakers. Your questions. £4.99 per month. Intelligence Squared+ will bring you live, interactive events every week on our new online platform. Just like at our real-life events, you’ll be able to put your questions to our speakers, vote in live

Ian Urbina, investigative reporter of The New York Times for 17 years returns to the podcast to discuss a new investigation, which he believes to uncover the largest known case of illegal fishing perpetrated by a single industrial fleet operating in another nation’s waters (a Chinese fleet of squid boats fishing in North Korean waters in violation of UN sanctions). He spoke to Rosamund Urwin about the case and why dead North Koreans were washing up on the shores of Japan. They also discussed the wider themes of Ian's book The Outlaw Ocean which you can find out more about here: https://www.theoutlawocean.com/ Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The division of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 into India and Pakistan saw millions uprooted and resulted in unspeakable violence. It happened far away, but it would shape modern Britain. In this week's episode Kavita Puri speaks to Rajini Vaidyanathan about how she tracked down and uncovered remarkable testimonies from former subjects of the Raj who are now British citizens - and persuaded them to break their silence. To find out more about Kavita Puri's book click here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/partition-voices-9781408899069/. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices