Sinopse
Intelligence Squared is the world’s leading forum for debate and intelligent discussion. Live and online we take you to the heart of the issues that matter, in the company of some of the world’s sharpest minds and most exciting orators. Join the debate at www.intelligencesquared.com and download our weekly podcast every Friday.
Episódios
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What Did Apple Really Trade for Global Domination? With Patrick McGee
29/07/2025 Duração: 52minHow did Apple, the world’s most valuable company and creator of the defining product of the 21st century, end up so deeply entangled with China’s authoritarian state? In 1996, Apple was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Fast forward to 2003, and the company made a pivotal move - outsourcing production to China in search of affordable, scalable labor. That decision helped catapult Apple to unprecedented success with the iPod and iPhone. But behind the sleek devices lies a complex and consequential relationship that has reshaped global tech, economics, and power. For this episode, Carl Miller speaks to Patrick McGee, investigative journalist and author of Apple in China. Based on over 200 interviews with former Apple engineers, executives, and supply chain insiders, McGee’s new book uncovers how Apple not only transformed Chinese manufacturing - it helped build it. And now, those same capabilities are being leveraged by Beijing in ways that may threaten the very companies that enabled them. If you'd like
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How did the fourteenth century shape England? With Helen Carr
28/07/2025 Duração: 45minThe death of Edward I in 1307 marked the beginning of a period of intense turmoil and change in England. The fourteenth century ushered in the beginning of the bloody Hundred Years’ War with France, an epic conflict with Scotland that would last into the sixteenth century, famine in Northern Europe and the largest human catastrophe in known history, the Black Death. In this episode, medieval historian and writer Helen Carr speaks to Mythili Rao about this period of social, political and cultural upheaval, about how this century shaped England as we know it today. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our 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 livestreams and in-person tickets for
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How will Taiwan shape Asia’s future? With Chris Horton
26/07/2025 Duração: 01h02minThe issue of Taiwan is a constant background hum in today’s news cycle. Perched precariously on the fault-lines of global power, the fate of this vibrant democracy and tech colossus will shape Asia’s future – either containing or facilitating China’s expansionist goals. In today’s episode we’re joined by top foreign correspondent Chris Horton. Horton has spent over a decade of living and reporting in Taiwan, and has interviewed everyday citizens, presidents and other key figures for his new book Ghost Nation, a panoramic overview of the country which weaves together its complex past and perilous present. Chris is joined by host Adam McCauley to discuss how Taiwan became a tech powerhouse, why its fate matters to the world, and what its story reveals about the future of democracy in Asia. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive:
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Where Will the Next Tech Superpower Emerge? With Mehran Gul
25/07/2025 Duração: 51minFor the past fifty years, Silicon Valley has led the world in developing cutting-edge technologies and spawning high-growth, billion-dollar tech companies. More recently, China has emerged as a formidable force in innovation. But is our focus on the US-China rivalry causing us to overlook the rise of new tech powerhouses elsewhere? In today’s episode, Financial Times/McKinsey Bracken Bower Prize winner Mehran Gul invites us to take a wider view. Drawing from his new book, The New Geography of Innovation, Gul joins Adam McCauley to explore how innovation is playing out globally - and how emerging technologies will both influence and be influenced by shifting geopolitical dynamics in the decades ahead. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our 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
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The Safekeep, with Women’s Prize-winner Yael van der Wouden
23/07/2025 Duração: 50minIt’s been a remarkable eighteen months for Dutch-Israeli author Yael van der Wouden. Her debut novel, The Safekeep, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and this year it won the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Set in the Netherlands 15 years after the end of World War II, The Safekeep is the story of a reclusive young woman living in her family’s isolated country home, whose life is turned upside down by the arrival of an unpredictable house guest. In this episode, Yael sat down with host Mythili Rao to talk about her approach to writing historical fiction, the enduring legacy of the 20th century’s greatest tragedy and the ways in which her novel challenges the Dutch national narrative about World War II and its treatment of Jewish people during and after the war. Yael van der Wouden Yael lives and works in the Netherlands, where she lectures in creative writing and comparative literature. The Safekeep is available now in paperback. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conver
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How Can Football Shirts Explain Money, Power and Politics?
21/07/2025 Duração: 40minIn today’s episode, journalist and author Joey D'Urso joins us to discuss the themes of his new book More Than A Shirt: How Football Shirts Explain Global Politics, Money and Power. D'Urso travelled across the globe from Birmingham to Belgrade and Medellin and Mumbai, to uncover how the colours, crests and sponsors of football teams reflect and good and the bad of of the places they represent. He was joined in conversation by Conor Boyle, Head of Programming at Intelligence Squared. (edited) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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How Geography Explains Our World, with Tim Marshall
19/07/2025 Duração: 33minTim Marshall is one of the world’s most successful authors on foreign affairs. He’s the writer who put the ‘geo’ into geopolitics with his multi-million selling books Prisoners of Geography and The Power of Geography. Marshall’s principal argument is that without geography we cannot understand the world. Geography explains why Donald Trump wants to control Greenland. Greenland is of strategic military importance given it sits in the Arctic Ocean along the shortest route for Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles or submarines to reach the United States. It is also a land mass rich in rare earth metals like lithium and tungsten which will be key in building artificial intelligence and military hardware in the coming years. Geography also explains why China would find it highly difficult to invade Taiwan. The Taiwan Strait is about 130 km wide at its narrowest point, which is roughly three times the distance from Dover to Calais. Any invading force would face inhospitable coastlines, unpredictable mons
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The Specialist | The Untold Story of the Shredded Banksy, with Alex Branczik
18/07/2025 Duração: 14minThis is an episode of The Specialist, produced by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Sotheby's. In The Specialist, explore the significance and journey of an extraordinary work through the eyes of those that know it best. The shredding of Banksy’s Girl with Balloon live at auction in 2018 has gone down in art history. Alex Branczik, Chairman and Head of Modern & Contemporary Art Europe and Asia, reveals how Sotheby’s navigated the newly titled Love is in the Bin through a media storm and into a new market moment. Further details about the episode subject The Specialist is brought to you by Sotheby's Financial Services. SFS offers asset-based loans to unlock the value of your fine art, automobiles and other luxury collectibles. Visit sothebys.com/sfs to find out more. To step further into the World of Sotheby’s, visit any one of our galleries, which are open to the public. Explore more at sothebys.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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How will Trump’s tariff war impact the global economy? With Philip Coggan
17/07/2025 Duração: 51minWhat happens when the world’s biggest economy turns its back on global trade? In today's episode, host Adam McCauley is joined by renowned financial journalist and economist Philip Coggan to examine the far-reaching consequences of Donald Trump’s trade war. Drawing parallels with Churchill’s economic decisions in the early 20th century, Coggan argues Trump’s tariff measures and isolationist rhetoric argues that we are witnessing the dismantling of a global economic order that has underpinned international cooperation and prosperity since World War Two. and reflections on income inequality, global credibility, and economic nationalism, this is a vital conversation for anyone seeking to understand what Trump’s trade war really means for the future of the global economy. Drawing on insights from his new book The Economic Consequences of Mr Trump, Coggan explores how Trump’s shifting economic alliances, combative stance towards China, and disregard for multilateral institutions are reshaping the global finan
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The Search for a Jewish Homeland in Texas, with Rachel Cockerell and James McAuley
15/07/2025 Duração: 32minOn June 7th 1907, a ship packed with Russian Jews sets sail not to Jerusalem or New York, as many on board have dreamt, but to Texas. The man who persuades the passengers to go is David Jochelmann, Rachel Cockerell's great-grandfather. It marks the beginning of the Galveston Movement, a forgotten moment in history when 10,000 Jews fled to Texas in the lead-up to WWI. In today's episode historian and author Rachel Cockerell tells this fascinating story in conversation with James McAuley, journalist and Global Opinions contributing columnist at the Washington Post. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our 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 livestreams and in-person ticke
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What can Charlottesville teach us about America’s national story? With Deborah Baker
13/07/2025 Duração: 41minIn August 2017, over a thousand neo-Nazis, fascists, Klan members, and neo-Confederates descended on a small southern city to protest the pending removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee. What happened in Charlottesville—and why did so few see it coming? What does it reveal about the myths we tell ourselves about America? In this episode, we speak with Deborah Baker, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Charlottesville, about the harrowing events of August 2017, when a violent far-right rally turned a quiet college town into a national flashpoint. But rather than focus solely on the extremists, Baker turns her lens on the city itself—its institutions, its history, and the people who tried to stop the violence before it began. From clergy and activists to officials who failed to act, Baker unpacks the deeper story behind the chaos. And in a startling historical parallel, she traces the echoes of a long-buried plot from decades earlier—one with chilling similarities to what unfolded in 2017. If you'd like to b
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Why does nobody understand quantum physics? With Frank Verstraete and Céline Broeckaert
12/07/2025 Duração: 51minWhy does the universe behave in ways that defy logic - and can anyone truly understand it? In this episode, we’re joined by physicist Frank Verstraete and writer Céline Broeckaert, the husband-and-wife team behind the new book Why Nobody Understands Quantum Physics. Together, they take us on a journey into the strangest - and most essential - corner of science, unpacking everything from quantum entanglement to the surprising role of symmetry in nature. Frank Verstraete is the Leigh Trapnell Professor of Quantum Physics at the University of Cambridge. He has received several prestigious prizes for his research, including the Lieben Prize (also known as the ‘Nobel Prize of Austria’) and the Francqui Prize. He is among the leading researchers in the world on quantum physics. Céline Broeckaert is a Romance languages scholar, playwright and author. Frank and Celine sat down with Dr Shini Somara to discuss this vital branch of physics, and why it is so misunderstood and underappreciated in the mainstream. I
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What if Globalisation Fails? with Ben Chu
10/07/2025 Duração: 42minWhat happens if globalisation fails? Can nations truly stand alone in an interconnected world? Is the new race for national self-sufficiency a path to real security, or a dangerous illusion? In this episode, we’re joined by economics journalist Ben Chu, author of Exile Economics: What Happens if Globalisation Fails, to unpack the shifting tides of the global economy. He speaks to Conor Boyle, Head of Programming at Intelligence Squared about what’s driving this great unravelling—and what it could cost us. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our 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 livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events ... Or Subscribe o
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Classic Debate: Neville Chamberlain Did The Right Thing
08/07/2025 Duração: 01h07minIf ever a politician got a bum rap it’s Neville Chamberlain. He has gone down in history as the British prime minster whose policy of appeasement in the 1930s allowed the Nazis to flourish unopposed. He has never been forgiven for ceding part of Czechoslovakia to Hitler in the Munich Agreement of September 1938, and for returning home triumphantly declaring “peace for our time”. The very word “appeasement” is now synonymous with him, signifying a craven refusal to stand up to bullies and aggressors. What a contrast to Winston Churchill, the man who took over as prime minister and who has ever since been credited with restoring Britain’s backbone. But is the standard verdict on Chamberlain a fair one? After all, memories of the slaughter of the First World War were still fresh in the minds of the British, who were desperate to avoid another conflagration. And anyway what choice did Chamberlain have in 1938? There’s a good case for arguing that the delay in hostilities engineered at Munich allowed time for m
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Are bureaucrats a force for good? With Michael Lewis and Gillian Tett (Part Two)
07/07/2025 Duração: 40minThe concept of government is under attack. In the United States, Donald Trump has fired tens of thousands of federal workers; ignored congressional statutes; insulted judges; and allowed Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, access to sensitive government information in a slash-and-burn campaign against the US government. In June 2025 Michael Lewis, the renowned author of bestselling non-fiction masterpieces including Moneyball, The Big Short, Flash Boys and Liar’s Poker, came to the Intelligence Squared stage to tell the inside story of how the Trump administration is dismantling the government and how potentially disastrous the consequences for us all might be. Drawing from his new collection of essays Who is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service, Lewis argued that we must remember the often overlooked ways government officials do work that is deeply consequential to our lives. He shared impactful stories of public service, such as the story of a coal miner devoted to making mine roofs less like
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Are bureaucrats a force for good? With Michael Lewis and Gillian Tett (Part One)
05/07/2025 Duração: 40minThe concept of government is under attack. In the United States, Donald Trump has fired tens of thousands of federal workers; ignored congressional statutes; insulted judges; and allowed Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, access to sensitive government information in a slash-and-burn campaign against the US government. In June 2025 Michael Lewis, the renowned author of bestselling non-fiction masterpieces including Moneyball, The Big Short, Flash Boys and Liar’s Poker, came to the Intelligence Squared stage to tell the inside story of how the Trump administration is dismantling the government and how potentially disastrous the consequences for us all might be. Drawing from his new collection of essays Who is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service, Lewis argued that we must remember the often overlooked ways government officials do work that is deeply consequential to our lives. He shared impactful stories of public service, such as the story of a coal miner devoted to making mine roofs less like
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The Specialist | The Rediscovery of Rubens’ The Massacre of the Innocents, with George Gordon
04/07/2025 Duração: 14minThis is an episode of The Specialist, produced by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Sotheby's. In The Specialist, explore the significance and journey of an extraordinary work through the eyes of those that know it best. Rubens’ early masterpiece The Massacre of the Innocents was hidden away for nearly 250 years. George Gordon, Deputy Chairman, Sotheby’s Europe and Co-Chairman of Old Master Paintings & Drawings Worldwide, spearheaded its discovery, attribution and triumphant sale. More than 20 years on, it retains the record for the highest price paid anywhere for a rediscovered painting. Further details about the episode subject The Specialist is brought to you by Sotheby's Financial Services. SFS offers asset-based loans to unlock the value of your fine art, automobiles and other luxury collectibles. Visit sothebys.com/sfs to find out more.To step further into the World of Sotheby’s, visit any one of our galleries, which are open to the public. Explore more at sothebys.com. Learn more
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Ctrl, Alt, Delusion: Resetting Reality in the Manosphere
04/07/2025 Duração: 48minToday’s episode is the recording of our recent panel Ctrl, Alt, Delusion: Resetting Reality in the Manosphere, live at SXSW London, in partnership with Sage & Jester. Sage & Jester is an impact-led arts production company that exposes manipulation and misinformation. At Sage & Jester, entertainment sparks critical thinking. Their work blends wisdom and wit to entertain, enlighten, and help you harness your internal BS detector. They're not just storytellers, they are catalysts for a more informed, more engaged society. For this panel, host Sophia Smith Galer was joined by journalist Ash Sarkar, Cambridge University social psychologist Sander van der Linden and documentary filmmaker Matt Shea to shed light on how influencer culture weaponises masculinity, transforming isolation and insecurity into a misinformation powerhouse. Exploring how key figures such as the infamous Tate brothers thrive on grievance and viral distortions, the panel discussed the specifics of misinformation in the manosphere, and how to
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The Genius Myth, with Helen Lewis and Armando Iannucci (Part Two)
01/07/2025 Duração: 39minThe tortured poet. The rebellious scientist. The monstrous artist. The tech disruptor. You can tell what a society values by who it labels as a genius. You can also tell who it excludes, who it enables, and what it is prepared to tolerate. Taking us from the Renaissance Florence of Leonardo da Vinci to the Florida rocket launches of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Helen Lewis joined us to unravel a word that we all use — without really questioning what it means. In conversation with acclaimed satirist and screenwriter Armando Iannucci she drew from her new book 'The Genius Myth' to uncover the secret of the Beatles’ success, discuss how biographers should solve the ‘Austen Problem’ and reveal why Stephen Hawking thought IQ tests were for losers. Lewis and Iannucci asked if the modern idea of genius — a class of special people — is distorting our view of the world. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligence
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Yardsticks For Failure, with Ivo Graham (Part Two)
01/07/2025 Duração: 39minAfter coming last by quite such a distance on Taskmaster Series 15, and seeing his emotional frailties laid bare in a series of memes of him with his head in his hands, Ivo Graham is adapting to an increasingly irreversible reputation as a man better known for his chaos than his comedy. His new book Yardsticks For Failure is a map of the brain behind the breakdowns; a deep dive into the various facepalms of Ivo’s recent past, and a live diary of his unravelling present, where his solution to the general bedlam of his life has been to pile his plate higher than ever before. Longer-term resolutions of rest and relaxation can wait; in the meantime he’s trying to host the greatest club night of all time, run a Sub-3 marathon while pushing a wheelchair, and put his heart on the line in a show unlike anything he’s ever done before. Can these dreams become a reality, or will they just become more yardsticks for failure? We were joined by Ivo at the Kiln Theatre in May 2025 for a unique self-examination from one of