Intelligence Squared
Intelligence Squared
Intelligence Squared is the home of lively debate and deep-dive discussion. Follow Intelligence Squared wherever you get your podcasts and enjoy four regular episodes per week taking you to the heart of the issues that matter in the company of the world’s great minds. We’d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on and what our future debates should be. Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to podcasts@intelligencesquared.com or Tweet us @intelligence2. And if you’d like to support our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations, as well as ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content, early access and much more, become a supporter of Intelligence Squared today. Just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more.
Episodes
Mentioned books
6 snips
Mar 28, 2026 • 18min
The Specialist | The Coin Worth More Than Its Weight in Gold, with Selby Kiffer and David Tripp
David Tripp, former Sotheby's coin director and leading expert on the 1933 Double Eagle. Selby Kiffer, Sotheby's manuscripts specialist with deep Americana expertise. They trace the coin’s creation under FDR, theft and early leakage, King Farouk’s role, the Waldorf sting and Sotheby’s sale, later discoveries and long litigation. The story reads like a high-stakes treasure hunt.
35 snips
Mar 27, 2026 • 54min
Why Are Populists Winning? With Liam Byrne and Will Hutton
Liam Byrne, Labour MP and author of Why Populists Are Winning, offers sharp analysis of modern authoritarian populism and its media, funding, and psychological drivers. He maps five voter “tribes” and explains why nostalgic, urgent rhetoric resonates. Conversations cover economic causes, coastal decline, national renewal, and policy paths to rebuild civic life and counter populist momentum.
7 snips
Mar 25, 2026 • 34min
How To Overcome Trauma, With Psychotherapist Dr Gwen Adshead (Part Two)
Dr Gwen Adshead, a forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist with three decades of clinical experience and author of Unspeakable, speaks about trauma, identity and recovery. She explores how traumatic events reshape identity. She discusses speaking and writing as tools for healing. She outlines cautious, varied therapeutic approaches and the role of language in enabling post-traumatic growth.
10 snips
Mar 23, 2026 • 39min
How To Overcome Trauma, With Psychotherapist Dr Gwen Adshead (Part One)
Dr Gwen Adshead, a forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist with three decades’ clinical experience and author of The Devil You Know and Unspeakable, joins the conversation. She explores trauma as an identity change. She discusses speechlessness after trauma, the healing role of sustained therapeutic space, and powerful case stories ranging from refugees to frontline workers.
Mar 22, 2026 • 43min
How Has Living With Animals Shaped Our Brains? With Michael Bond
Michael Bond, award-winning science writer and author of Animate, explores how animals shaped human minds and cultures. He discusses Paleolithic cave art, ritual and burial roles for animals, the Neolithic shift to domination and domestication, differing Indigenous and Western worldviews, and how dogs, wolves and cats influenced our social life. The conversation ends with a call to rethink how we treat other species.
Mar 21, 2026 • 15min
The Specialist | From Canvas to Canon: Joan Mitchell’s King of Spades, with Courtney Kremers
A deep look at Joan Mitchell’s breakthrough painting and why its scale and palette changed perceptions. Discussion of her fierce independence within the male-dominated New York School. Exploration of sensory influences like synesthesia and the painting’s creation in Paris, exhibitions, and market twists that shaped its legacy.
10 snips
Mar 20, 2026 • 42min
Why Are Ancient Myths Resurfacing in Modern Britain? With Zakia Sewell
Zakia Sewell, journalist, broadcaster and DJ, author of Finding Albion. She traces a modern folk revival through music, pagan rituals and seasonal celebrations. She explores Glastonbury gatherings, Carnival links to Caribbean traditions, and how myths are being repurposed to reshape British identity amid climate and political anxieties.
Mar 18, 2026 • 38min
Sex, Gender and Christianity: A 3,000 Year History, with Diarmaid MacCulloch and Mary Beard (Part Two)
Diarmaid MacCulloch, Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford, surveys 3,000 years of Christianity meeting sex and gender. He traces celibacy, evolving views on same-sex relations, translation pitfalls, medieval moral panics, Reformation shifts, contraception’s disruption, and why churches change slowly. Short, historical snapshots that reframe today’s debates.
16 snips
Mar 16, 2026 • 35min
Sex, Gender and Christianity: A 3,000 Year History, with Diarmaid MacCulloch and Mary Beard (Part One)
Diarmaid MacCulloch, Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford, unpacks 3,000 years of Christian interaction with sex, gender and family. He traces shifting attitudes from Judaic and Greco-Roman roots to diverse Christian traditions. Topics include marriage rituals, Jesus on marriage and divorce, celibacy and monastic origins, and how history shapes modern debates on gender and sexuality.
32 snips
Mar 15, 2026 • 51min
Is the Russia–Ukraine War a Failure of Strategy? With Lawrence Freedman
Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies and noted historian of strategy, offers a concise walk through strategic thinking. He discusses how tactics and implementation often decide outcomes. He reflects on four years of the Russia–Ukraine conflict, authoritarian decision-making, nuclear signaling and the challenge of unpredictable leaders in global affairs.
