Intelligence Squared

Blockchain technology has gone mainstream. It earns huge amounts of column inches and airtime. Stories abound of Bitcoin millionaires and multimillion-dollar ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings). New cryptocurrencies are launched every week. People who don’t entirely understand what they’re buying are rushing to purchase Bitcoin for fear of missing out, and recently the UK's Royal Mint announced its first ever blockchain-based non-fungible token, an NFT. Back in 2018, Intelligence Squared gathered crypto specialists to debate whether blockchain technology has a legitimate future or not, including Jamie Bartlett, author and analyst on the politics of the internet, blockchain expert Primavera De Filippi, Vit Jedlička, President of the micronation Liberland, and crypto journalist David Gerard. The host for this discussion was journalist, author and former BBC News Editorial Director, Kamal Ahmed.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Following the fall of communism in 1989, American political scientist Francis Fukuyama shot to fame with his thesis about the ‘end of history’ – the idea that the entire world was set on a path towards universal liberalism. But 30 years on, liberalism is under attack from both the Right and the Left – and from Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Professor Fukuyama was joined in conversation by John Gray, the British political philosopher, who rejects the idea of a universal momentum towards liberal values and human progress. Despite the view of many that the Russian invasion of Ukraine marks the end of the post-Cold War era, Fukuyama believes that it is a wake-up call for the West to rekindle the spirit of 1989, while Gray holds that the idea that liberalism will ever triumph is a mirage. Chairing the discussion is the journalist, author and broadcaster, Helen Lewis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nick Higham is a journalist and author known to TV viewers in the UK as a former correspondent for BBC News and also as regular host of its literary interview show: Meet the Author. His new book, The Mercenary River: Private Greed, Public Good, A History of London's Water, tells the story of a resource in the city many take for granted. But the flow of water, like any natural resource, has often been fiercely contested, diverted and exploited by profiteers in London over the centuries. Our host for this discussion is the author of books including As Kingfishers Catch Fire and Winchelsea, Alex Preston. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over four million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion began. The support for Ukranians has been compassionate and heartwarming but it has also raised questions about why those fleeing North Africa and the Middle East are not afforded the same degree of sympathy. Sally Hayden is an award-winning journalist and photographer, and Africa Correspondent for The Irish Times. Her new book, My Fourth Time, We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World’s Deadliest Migration Route, tells the stories of refugees making perilous journeys and seeks to investigate the murky politics that means not all asylum seekers are given the same opportunities. Our host for this discussion is the economist, broadcaster and writer, Linda Yueh. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How we save the planet is clear: we need to prevent global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees in order to avoid doing irreversible damage. But exactly what should we do to reduce damaging greenhouse gas emissions? In recent years, hydrogen has emerged as a promising source of clean energy. It has been called ‘freedom fuel’, the ‘Swiss army knife’ of the energy transition, and a ‘silver bullet’ for decarbonisation. But is it as simple as that? In this debate we separate fact from fiction with energy experts Barry Carruthers, hydrogen director of ScottishPower; Fiona Harvey, The Guardian’s environment correspondent; and Professor Nigel Brandon, Chair in Sustainable Development in Energy at Imperial College London. Chairing the debate is Kamal Ahmed, journalist, author and former BBC News Editorial Director. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are in an era of crisis, collapse, and reactionary tyrants, argues Laurie Penny, but we are also witnessing a transformation: a revolutionary change in how we define gender, sex, consent and whose bodies matter. In her new book, Sexual Revolution: Modern Fascism and the Feminist Fightback, Laurie offers an urgent analysis of this moment of sexual politics we are living through. Our host for the discussion is cultural historian and broadcaster Shahidha Bari. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has laid bare the West’s reliance on Russian oil and gas. Around 40 per cent of Europe’s gas comes from Russia, while some 7 per cent of US oil is Russian. Journalists Javier Blas and Jack Farchy’s new book, The World for Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources, tells the story of how trading commodities such as these has shaped the global financial landscape and why we find ourselves in a pivotal moment in which geopolitical and economic relationships are being tested. Investigative journalist and Manveen Rana speaks with Javier and Jack about the book and its wider themes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bestselling investigative journalist Oliver Bullough discusses his recent book, Butler to the World, which details how Britain became a favoured destination for funnelling the finances of oligarchs and the globe's super rich. He joins fellow journalist and broadcaster Manveen Rana to talk about the book and how international finance plays into the current situation in Ukraine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this debate from the Intelligence Squared archive, we head back to 2020, when we invited journalist and broadcaster Mehdi Hasan, academic and writer Azadeh Moaveni, the Saudi political analyst Salman al-Ansari and former Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan to debate the motion: Iran is Not Our Enemy. The discussion touches on many issues that hold relevance in the current moment, ranging from the effectiveness of sanctions to the capabilities of nuclear-armed nations. The debate was chaired by the BBC's Chief International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Professor Lewis Gordon is a leading philosopher and Department Head at the University of Connecticut who believes that intellectual thought matters as much as political activism in the struggle to achieve racial justice. His recent book Fear of Black Consciousness is an exploration that combines academic theory and also his ideas on pop culture to create a broad and thought-provoking study, Gordon is joined in conversation by Professor Paul Gilroy, author, one of the world’s foremost theorists of race and racism, and Founding Director of the Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Racism & Racialisation at University College London. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In his theory of evolution, Charles Darwin cast the female animal as passive, coy, monogamous and submissive: in other words, in the shape of a Victorian housewife. Meanwhile the male animal became the main event, the dominant driver in his theory of evolutionary change. But according to a revolution in zoology and evolutionary biology, this is all wrong. Lucy Cooke, zoologist, explorer, and author, joins host Helen Czerski to set the record straight and discuss her new book, Bitch: A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal. Her research has taken her from Madagascar to Peru where she’s made discoveries about female moles, meerkats and killer whales, dispelling biological myths around passivity, weakness and submissiveness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Helen Thompson is Professor of Political Economy at the University of Cambridge, a columnist for The New Statesman, and has been a regular contributor to the Talking Politics podcast. Her new book, Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century, looks at decades of geopolitical history that have fed into our current moment: one of war and conflict, nations competing for dwindling natural resources, and the climate emergency casting a long shadow. She joins journalist and author Andrew Mueller to discuss how we got here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Banks, energy suppliers and oligarchs are just some of the targets that sanctions enforced by the West are looking to put pressure on in order to halt Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. In this edition of The Sunday Debate, we ask how effective the financial freeze caused by sanctions can be in comparison to the potential impact of a fully fledged military intervention. Joining us is Bill Browder, Head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign, and Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins. Chairing the debate is journalist and broadcaster Philippa Thomas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cal Flyn’s Islands of Abandonment was one of the UK’s bestselling books of 2021. It was the Sunday Times Science and Environment book of the year and won her the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. In this episode she talks with broadcaster and science communicator Helen Czerski about the extraordinary places where humans no longer live – or survive in only tiny numbers – and about what happens when humanity’s impact on nature is forced into retreat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Simpson is the BBC’s World Affairs Editor and has dedicated his life to telling stories from the frontline having joined the BBC more than 50 years ago as a reporter. In this special episode, Chris Hirst, Global CEO of advertising group Havas Creative, meets the veteran journalist to discuss having a front seat for some of the most significant moments in modern history; from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Iraq War in 2003, where he was seriously injured in a friendly fire incident on the road to Baghdad. His career has taken him to more than 120 countries, including 30 war zones, interviewing global leaders such as Nelson Mandela and also tyrants including Saddam Hussein along the way. Most recently he returned from Finland, where he was reporting on Russia's invasion of Ukraine for his new programme, Unspun World. If you enjoyed this podcast: please let us know what you think by rating and reviewing No Bullsh*t Leadership on Apple Podcasts. For updates on the series follow @intelligence2 and @chrish

Journalist and author John Preston is a master of storytelling, with his novels The Dig and A Very English Scandal having been snapped up for both Netflix and BBC adaptations. His most recent book is Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell, which tells the story of the rise and fall of the infamous 20th-century UK newspaper and media magnate. Preston joins journalist Mark Mardell to discuss the book and explore its themes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Technology might move fast but the fears surrounding it remain ever-present. Back in 2015 Intelligence Squared gathered both tech evangelists and technology naysayers to debate how robots and AI might swallow up jobs in years to come. The speakers included economist, commentator and author George Magnus, internet entrepreneur and author Andrew Keen, technology entrepreneur, presidential advisor and economist Dr Pippa Malmgren, and author and journalist Walter Isaacson. Chairing the debate was journalist and broadcaster Zeinab Badawi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whether it's arguing over cancel culture, mask-wearing or what to do with statues, the culture wars now seem to be a constantly reappearing flashpoint in public discourse. Acclaimed writer and podcaster Jon Ronson was curious to learn how this phenomenon had come about and has spent the last year creating the hit radio and podcast series, Things Fell Apart, for BBC Radio 4, exploring the history of the culture wars. For this discussion Jon is joined in conversation by comedian and writer David Baddiel to explore the origin stories of the culture wars and where they might be headed next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Between 1500 and 1866, 12.5 million enslaved Africans were transported by ship from Africa to the Americas as part of the Middle Passage crossing. Some 1.8 million of them died, their bodies thrown into the Atlantic, while the others who survived undertook journeys of misery and terror – chained together, starved, and surrounded by disease, to be sold into slavery and forced to work in brutal, dehumanising conditions. The slave mutinies that took place on these ships were the beginning of a long history of Black resistance. In February 2022, the World Monuments Fund in partnership with Intelligence Squared brought together a panel of experts to explore key sites in Black history and illustrate the pivotal role heritage can play in teaching us about underrepresented narratives from the past. We began our journey by examining buildings connected to slavery across Africa and the Caribbean, focusing on the ports, trading posts, and slave forts that were the starting points of the transatlantic slave trade. Moving

'Sprakkar' is an ancient Icelandic word meaning extraordinary or outstanding women. It forms the basis of the new book by Eliza Reid, author and co-founder of the Iceland Writers Retreat, who is also the nation's First Lady. Rosamund Urwin from the Sunday Times joins Eliza to discuss the book, which tells the stories of Iceland’s women and also the country’s efforts to elevate them while striving for increased gender equality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices