Intelligence Squared

This is an archive episode from 2019 from the second series of How I Found My Voice, a podcast from Intelligence Squared. Presented by the BBC journalist Samira Ahmed, the podcast explores how some of the world's greatest artists and thinkers became such compelling – and unique – communicators. In this episode Samira speaks to the actor, writer and comedian Michael Palin. Part of the legendary Monty Python comedy group, Palin has helped shape British comedy on our TV screens. From growing up with a father who stuttered to finding his comedy partners and travelling the world, Palin speaks about the moments that shaped and inspired his voice. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/IS for £100 sponsored credit. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all of our longer form interviews and Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your pod

There's rarely a week in which Donald Trump doesn't make the headlines but the last few have been particularly potent with the former US president having been served justice in a US courtroom. One voice who has been vocal in lamenting the transformation of the Republican Party into a vehicle for Trump's agenda is Robert Kagan. He's a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a historian and contributing columnist at The Washington Post. He has advised on policy for the US State Department for both Republican and Democrat administrations. and some of the Republican party's most prominent voices in recent decades. His latest book is Rebellion: How Antiliberalism Is Tearing America Apart—Again; a reflection on the increasing radicalisation of the Republican Party. Joining Kagan in conversation to talk about it for this episode is Edward Luce, chief US commentator for the Financial Times, based in Washington DC, and author of books including The Retreat of Western Liberalism.  We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to

In a competitive field defined by record breakers, medals and podium places, being first in sport is often considered the primary marker of success but being out in front can also be a lonely experience. In her new memoir, These Heavy Black Bones, former swimmer for both Kenya and Team GB, Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell, tells a story of ecstatic professional highs and alienating personal lows. She is a former world number one athlete who became the first Black woman to represent Great Britain in swimming but who also chose to walk away from the sport shortly before the 2012 Olympics. Since then her achievements have been no less remarkable. She's a filmmaker, an award-winning essayist and heads up the 10,000 Interns Foundation, which helps young people from underrepresented communities get their start. Joining her in conversation for this episode is journalist and podcaster Ruchira Sharma, who is host of the Anatomy of a Stalker and Everything is Content podcasts, and writes for The Guardian, the BBC, GQ and

Writer and historian Agnes Arnold-Forster's most recent book, Nostalgia: A History of a Dangerous Emotion, blends fields such as neuroscience and psychology with social history to explore a feeling that many might view as a simple human fondness for the past. Nostalgia, though, is also vulnerable to misuse, manipulation by unreliable narrators and it often reflects many of our deeper anxieties as a society. Joining her to discuss the book is the scholar, critic and editor Merve Emre, who is Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing and Criticism at Wesleyan University. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/IS for £100 sponsored credit. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all of our longer form interviews and Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and memb

This is the second instalment of a three-part conversation. Military historian, journalist, author and broadcaster Max Hastings comes to the Intelligence Squared stage to recount the remarkable story of Operation Biting and what it tells us about the crucial role of intelligence and special forces in great power conflict. Drawing from his new book Operation Biting: The 1942 Assault to Capture Hitler’s Radar, Hastings discusses how this almost forgotten operation helped turn the tide of the war and how modern intelligence and special forces continue to shape the conflicts and wars we see in the world today. Joining Hastings live onstage in conversation is Margaret MacMillan, Emeritus Professor of International History at Oxford University. This is the second episode of a three-part conversation. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all three parts now plus all of our longer form interviews and Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per mon

Military historian, journalist, author and broadcaster Max Hastings comes to the Intelligence Squared stage to recount the remarkable story of Operation Biting and what it tells us about the crucial role of intelligence and special forces in great power conflict. Drawing from his new book Operation Biting: The 1942 Assault to Capture Hitler’s Radar, Hastings discusses how this almost forgotten operation helped turn the tide of the war and how modern intelligence and special forces continue to shape the conflicts and wars we see in the world today. Joining Hastings live onstage in conversation is Margaret MacMillan, Emeritus Professor of International History at Oxford University. This is the first instalment of a three-part conversation. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all three parts now plus all of our longer form interviews and Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intellig

China’s economic power has been growing for decades. The capitalist reforms of Deng Xiaoping quickly transformed China into the world’s fastest-growing major economy, with growth rates averaging 10% annually. But in recent years the so-called China miracle has begun to slow down. The Covid-19 pandemic and the default of property giant Evergrande (the world’s most indebted property developer) are among the factors that have economists and politicians around the world asking: Is China’s economy in big trouble? As we enter 2024 President Xi Jinping faces some formidable challenges: slow growth, high youth unemployment and a domestic property market in turmoil. In May 2024 renowned economist Keyu Jin came to Intelligence Squared to help us all make sense of the problems China faces. In conversation with the BBC's Jonny Dymond at London's Asia House, she explained how the success or failure of China's economy will have profound consequences for the rest of the world. Some argue that a more vulnerable China will se

Following the recent announcement of a general election in the UK, we revisit our debate from 2018 in which key politicians debated the merits of Left vs Right politics. The political Left often purports that it has society’s best interests at heart and that it works for the good of all. Yet according to conservatives, it is precisely that self-regard, that attempt to monopolise virtue, which exposes the hypocrisy of left-wing ideology. In this archive debate from 2018, we gathered Labour MP Stella Creasy, environmental campaigner, journalist and author, George Monbiot, Conservative MP Kwasi Kwarteng, and the leading philosopher of conservative thought, the late Roger Scruton, who sadly passed away in 2020, to discuss the issue of right vs left. Our host for the discussion was the journalist, broadcaster, and John L Weinberg visiting professor at Princeton University in the School of Public and International Affairs, Razia Iqbal. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/IS for £100 sponsored credit. This

In this archive discussion from 2020, David Kilcullen, former soldier, diplomat, and senior counterinsurgency adviser for the US during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, explains the nature of past Western interventions and the guerrilla warfare resistance that has followed. He joined Carl Miller, Research Director at the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at the think tank Demos, to discuss his book: The Dragons and the Snakes: How the Rest Learned to Fight the West. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/IS for £100 sponsored credit. This is the second instalment of a two-part conversation. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all of our longer form interviews and Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestream

The acclaimed writer and critic Olivia Laing is the author of seven books distilling challenging topics that should be difficult to wrap beautiful words around. Their latest book is The Garden Against Time, a work that initially began through documenting the restoration of a walled garden in Suffolk and eventually grew into a wider exploration of what it means to cultivate a personal paradise. Joining Laing in conversation for this episode is Hannah Dawson, the author and historian of ideas whose books include The Penguin Book of Feminist Writing. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/IS for £100 sponsored credit. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all of our longer form interviews and Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% di

This is the second instalment of a two-part conversation. In recent years the benefits of eating a diet rich in plants have increasingly been at the forefront of our conversations about food. You may have heard scientists like Tim Spector, the founder of ZOE, argue that a healthy diet should consist of 30 plants a week. This recommendation comes from a study led by Spector for the British and American Gut Project in 2019. It showed that people who ate more than 30 plants a week had the healthiest microbiomes and the best health outcomes, while those who didn’t had worse health outcomes. That science has informed the cooking of chef and founder of River Cottage Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall ever since it was published. And in May 2024 he came to the Intelligence Squared stage where he was in conversation with ZOE’s Dr Federica Amati to argue that getting 30 different plants on our plate every week is easier than you might think. Together they addressed some of the big questions around plant-based eating: to what

In recent years the benefits of eating a diet rich in plants have increasingly been at the forefront of our conversations about food. You may have heard scientists like Tim Spector, the founder of ZOE, argue that a healthy diet should consist of 30 plants a week. This recommendation comes from a study led by Spector for the British and American Gut Project in 2019. It showed that people who ate more than 30 plants a week had the healthiest microbiomes and the best health outcomes, while those who didn’t had worse health outcomes. That science has informed the cooking of chef and founder of River Cottage Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall ever since it was published. And in May 2024 he came to the Intelligence Squared stage where he was in conversation with ZOE’s Dr Federica Amati to argue that getting 30 different plants on our plate every week is easier than you might think. Together they addressed some of the big questions around plant-based eating: to what extent can eating plants really help us avoid disease? Ho

This is the second instalment of a three-part conversation. Too often historians have told the history of Africa through the prism of colonialism. But what picture of the continent emerges when we do away with making the story of Africa so anchored in European colonialism? Award-winning broadcaster Zeinab Badawi came to the Intelligence Squared stage recently to tell a new history of Africa – in all its shades and complexities – without the stifling gaze of Europe. Drawing on the themes of her latest book, An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence, she describes the origins of humankind, the emergence of ancient civilisations and empires, and the joys and thrills of Independence. Badawi was in conversation with historian and broadcaster Kate Williams. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/IS for £100 sponsored credit. This is the second instalment of a three-part conversation. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all three parts now plus all of our longer fo

This is the first instalment of a three-part conversation. Too often historians have told the history of Africa through the prism of colonialism. But what picture of the continent emerges when we do away with making the story of Africa so anchored in European colonialism? Award-winning broadcaster Zeinab Badawi came to the Intelligence Squared stage recently to tell a new history of Africa – in all its shades and complexities – without the stifling gaze of Europe. Drawing on the themes of her latest book, An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence, she describes the origins of humankind, the emergence of ancient civilisations and empires, and the joys and thrills of Independence. Badawi was in conversation with historian and broadcaster Kate Williams. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/IS for £100 sponsored credit. This is the first instalment of a three-part conversation. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all three parts now plus all of our longer form

This is the second instalment of a three-part conversation. Bestselling author and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has dedicated his career to speaking truth and wisdom in some of the most challenging spaces – communities polarised by politics and religion and university campuses mired in culture wars. Now he turns his attention to what he sees as a perfect storm of factors that are causing a collapse in mental health among teenagers today. According to the American College Health Association, since 2010 anxiety among American college students has increased by 134%, depression by 106%, bipolar disorder by 57%, and anorexia by 100%. Haidt recently came to the Intelligence Squared stage where in conversation with BBC presenter Sarah Montague he drew on his new book The Anxious Generation, which has shot to No 1 in the Sunday Times bestsellers. He argues that the decline of free play in childhood and the rise of smartphone use among adolescents are the twin sources of increased mental distress among teenagers

Bestselling author and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has dedicated his career to speaking truth and wisdom in some of the most challenging spaces – communities polarised by politics and religion and university campuses mired in culture wars. Now he turns his attention to what he sees as a perfect storm of factors that are causing a collapse in mental health among teenagers today. According to the American College Health Association, since 2010 anxiety among American college students has increased by 134%, depression by 106%, bipolar disorder by 57%, and anorexia by 100%. Haidt recently came to the Intelligence Squared stage where in conversation with BBC presenter Sarah Montague he drew on his new book The Anxious Generation, which has shot to No 1 in the Sunday Times bestsellers. He argues that the decline of free play in childhood and the rise of smartphone use among adolescents are the twin sources of increased mental distress among teenagers. But with traditional wisdom, cutting-edge research and pra

Artificial intelligence is no longer a figment of our imagination a plot pulled from the pages of science fiction. Recent rapid advances mean it is now seeping into ever more aspects of our daily lives. Leading human-rights barrister Susie Alegre has been analysing the concept of what it means to be human within a digital world for years. Her latest book, Human Rights, Robot Wrongs, focuses on where the spirit of humanity will find itself in a near future almost certainly defined by human-like yet empathy-free algorithms made from ones and zeroes. Joining Alegre in conversation for this episode is Head of Programming for Intelligence Squared, Conor Boyle. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/IS for £100 sponsored credit. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all of our longer form interviews and Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever y

Sathnam Sanghera is a writer and author of bestselling books exploring British identity, the latest of which is Empireworld: How British Imperialism Has Shaped the Globe. It follows Empireland, which looked at how the British Empire has shaped modern Britain. Sanghera has written both novels and non-fiction. He’s a columnist for the Times newspaper and his 2021 documentary Empire State of Mind opened up new conversations about identity and race for television viewers. Joining him in conversation for this episode is Helen Carr, the writer and historian who specialises in medieval history and public history. Her books include The Red Prince and the upcoming This Is England, plus as a broadcaster she appears across outlets ranging from History Hit to the BBC. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/IS for £100 sponsored credit. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all of our longer form interviews and Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4

Oxford University economist Kate Raworth has been described by the author and environmentalist George Monbiot as, "The John Maynard Keynes of the 21st century." In 2018, she came to Intelligence Squared to talk through the set of ideas that has seen her influential book, Donut Economics, find fans in audiences ranging from members of the UN General Assembly to Pope Francis and Extinction Rebellion. Hosting the discussion was Matthew Taylor, at the time of the interview Chief Executive of the RSA and latterly Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/IS for £100 sponsored credit. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all of our longer form interviews and Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15%

Joe Roman is a conservation biologist and marine ecologist fascinated with the natural processes that go on within animal biology and how those in turn shape the natural world around us. His new book is Eat, Poop, Die, which as the title suggests, takes a no-nonsense look at how the biology of individual living things on planet Earth forms an integral part of the chain of natural ecology that keeps the world working. Speaking to Roman for this episode is molecular biologist and science communicator Dr Gunes Taylor, who is postdoctoral research scientist at the Francis Crick Institute. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/IS for £100 sponsored credit. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all of our longer form interviews and Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated fee