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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.

On today’s episode: the untold history of Russia’s deep cover spy programme.

Shaun Walker is an international correspondent for The Guardian. He reported from Moscow for more than a decade, and his coverage of Russia's war in Ukraine was shortlisted for the Foreign Reporter of the Year category at the British 2023 Press Awards. 

In his new book, The Illegals: Russia's Most Audacious Spies and the Plot to Infiltrate the West, Walker explores the untold history of Russia’s deep cover spy programme, following its evolution from the talented “great Illegals” of the 1920s and ’30s up to the 21st century, when agents maintained their fake identities and loyalties even after the fall of the Soviet Union.

These deep-cover missions - some remarkable feats of espionage, others high-profile failures - could last for decades. Walker shines new light on the long arc of the Soviet experiment and its messy aftermath - and how that hidden history shaped Russia and the West.

Joining him to discuss the book is Carl Miller, the journalist, co-founder of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos, and host of crime podcast Kill List.

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 

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The Illegals: A Secret History of Soviet Espionage, with Shaun Walker

In May 2015, New York Times columnist David Brooks came to the Intelligence Squared stage to share the insights of his latest book, 'The Road to Character'. Brooks argued that today’s ‘Big Me’ culture is making us increasingly self-preoccupied: we live in a world where we’re taught to be assertive, to master skills, to broadcast our brand, to get likes, to get followers. But amidst all the noise of self-promotion, Brooks claimed that we’ve lost sight of an important and counterintuitive truth: that in order to fulfil ourselves we need to learn how to forget ourselves. Brooks was joined on stage by writer and lecturer on psychology, politics, and the arts Andrew Solomon.

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David Brooks on the Road to Character

Bestselling author and activist Naomi Klein goes down the rabbit hole in pursuit of her doppelganger – another well-known writer with a name similar to hers but whose views couldn’t be more different from her own. She finds herself returning again and again to a place she calls Mirror World, where conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers and wellness influencers make common cause with far-right propagandists and demagogues. In conversation with journalist Ruchira Sharma, Klein sheds light on our own culture as we turn ourselves into polished virtual brands, watch as deep fakes proliferate and whole nations flip from democracy to something far more sinister.
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.
Just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi Klein on Conspiracies, Doppelgangers and Democracy's Demise

Many liberals believe that in recent years we have seen an erosion of the right to air unpopular opinions without the risk of being cancelled. We are in an ever-intensifying shutting down of conversation, they maintain, with constituencies on both the left and the right demanding that opinions they don’t like be declared out of bounds, socially, morally or legally. But some argue otherwise: that the so-called free speech crisis is completely a fiction. What we’re really seeing is a rebalance of power in elite institutions where privileged groups are being held to account for their words by others who have been historically excluded and marginalised. Intelligence Squared’s new book series THINK AGAIN, published in partnership with The Bodley Head invites two authors to debate the way forward. For the release of the first book, Is Free Speech Under Threat? Our authors are CEO of PEN America Suzanne Nossel and historian Charlotte Lydia Riley. The two recently joined Intelligence Squared live onstage in London to debate the issue. Chairing the discussion was BBC News presenter and Royal Correspondent, Jonny Dymond.

If you'd like to read our panelists' thoughts in the new Intelligence Squared book, Is Free Speech Under Threat? Head to one of the following retailers to pick up your copy. 

https://www.intelligencesquared.com/think-again/

Amazon

Bookshop
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The 12 Books of Christmas | Think Again: Is Free Speech Under Threat? with Suzanne Nossel and Charlotte Lydia Riley

To celebrate 2024, we’re taking a look backwards, and diving into the standout thinkers who have taken to the Intelligence Squared stage in the past 12 months. You might still be on the hunt for that perfect gift for the avid reader in your life, or perhaps you’re after some food for thought over the festive period. Either way, this 12 episode mini series will highlight the books that shaped 2024. We hope you’ll join us in 2025 for more events that intrigue, fascinate and entertain.

Platinum-certified singer-songwriter MARINA, formerly known as Marina and the Diamonds, has been an integral part of the U.K music scene over the last decade. Amassing over 3 billion streams worldwide, her music — which includes hit songs Primadonna and Bubblegum B*tch — has connected with fans for their unique electro-pop sound and powerful lyrics.

On October 22, MARINA came to the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss the themes of her debut poetry collection Eat The World. Her talent for evocative song lyrics has found a new outlet in poetry. MARINA will touch on themes of trauma, youth, and the highs and lows of relationships in these autobiographical poems, which retain the same energy and emotive power of her music.
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 livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events
- Our member-only newsletter The Monthly Read, sent straight to your inbox

...

Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99:
- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts
- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

...

Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access.

...

Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more.
https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 12 Books of Christmas | An Evening with Marina Diamandis

To celebrate 2024, we’re taking a look backwards, and diving into the standout thinkers who have taken to the Intelligence Squared stage in the past 12 months. You might still be on the hunt for that perfect gift for the avid reader in your life, or perhaps you’re after some food for thought over the festive period. Either way, this 12 episode mini series will highlight the books that shaped 2024. We hope you’ll join us in 2025 for more events that intrigue, fascinate and entertain.

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 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 practical advice – parents, teachers and teenagers can find new ways to mitigate tech's impact on mental health. 

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
- Our member-only newsletter The Monthly Read, sent straight to your inbox

...

Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99:
- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts
- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

...

Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access.

...

Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more.
https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 12 Books of Christmas | The Anxious Generation: Jonathan Haidt on How Smartphones Rewired Childhood

To celebrate 2024, we’re taking a look backwards, and diving into the standout thinkers who have taken to the Intelligence Squared stage in the past 12 months. You might still be on the hunt for that perfect gift for the avid reader in your life, or perhaps you’re after some food for thought over the festive period. Either way, this 12 episode mini series will highlight the books that shaped 2024. We hope you’ll join us in 2025 for more events that intrigue, fascinate and entertain.

In the 20th century most autocrats were brutal dictators whose main goal was to control a domestic population. But in the 21st century autocracy has become much more sophisticated and ambitious in its scope. States like Russia have developed sophisticated cross-border networks of kleptocratic financial structures, innovative security services and professional propagandists. The members of these networks are connected not only within a given country, but among many countries. Propagandists from one country can promote and finance extremists and propaganda in another – pounding home the same messages about the weakness of democracy and the evil of the West. 

In September 2024 Anne Applebaum came to Intelligence Squared to provide a radical new framework for understanding autocracy in the 21st century. Applebaum argued that autocracies today are best viewed like an agglomeration of companies or what she calls Autocracy, Inc. Their relations are not based on values, but are rather transactional, which is why they operate so easily across ideological, geographical, and cultural lines. In truth, they are in full agreement about only one thing: The destruction of democratic challengers. Applebaum was in conversation with BBC broadcaster Jonny Dymond to discuss how to understand and thwart this new evolved form of autocracy.

...

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 tickets for all Intelligence Squared events 

... 

Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99:
- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts
- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

…

Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access.

…

Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more.
https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 12 Books of Christmas | The Dictators Who Want to Run the World, with Anne Applebaum

To celebrate 2024, we’re taking a look backwards, and diving into the standout thinkers who have taken to the Intelligence Squared stage in the past 12 months. You might still be on the hunt for that perfect gift for the avid reader in your life, or perhaps you’re after some food for thought over the festive period. Either way, this 12 episode mini series will highlight the books that shaped 2024. We hope you’ll join us in 2025 for more events that intrigue, fascinate and entertain.

Jordan Stephens’ life during his teenage years and his twenties was a whirlwind. As one half of the hip hop duo Rizzle Kicks, his days were full of success, fame and adulation as Rizzle Kicks’ debut sold over 1 million singles and 600,000 albums in 2012. But for Jordan, success brought pain in its wake: a hidden pattern of self-harm, hedonism, destructive ideas of masculinity, and heartbreak. Diagnosed with ADHD, he was always chasing the elusive feeling of love and continually found himself distracted and derailed by drugs, drink, sex and chaos. After his world imploded, Jordan chose to step away from his previous life completely and allowed himself to finally explore the pain he’d repressed his entire life. 

His new memoir Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak & Dogs unsparingly digs into the fear, tenderness and trauma he carried. And it examines the confusing assumptions and contradictions about what a man should be that Jordan – and increasing numbers of young men today – struggle with. Jordan came to the Intelligence Squared stage in August 2024 where, in conversation with comedian, satirist, actor and Instagram sensation Munya Chawawa, he reflected on his own life experiences as he explores how we can encourage men to have a healthier and more loving conception of masculinity.

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 livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events
- Our member-only newsletter The Monthly Read, sent straight to your inbox

...

Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99:
- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts
- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

...

Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access.

...

Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more.
https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 12 Books of Christmas | Jordan Stephens on Love, Chaos and Becoming a Man

To celebrate 2024, we’re taking a look backwards, and diving into the standout thinkers who have taken to the Intelligence Squared stage in the past 12 months. You might still be on the hunt for that perfect gift for the avid reader in your life, or perhaps you’re after some food for thought over the festive period. Either way, this 12 episode mini series will highlight the books that shaped 2024. We hope you’ll join us in 2025 for more events that intrigue, fascinate and entertain.

The deep connections between food, memory, love and life.

The foods we turn to behind closed doors are deeply personal, saturated in memories and topped with a healthy dollop of guilty pleasure. In Comfort Eating, Grace Dent throws open her kitchen cupboards to reveal why we hold these secret snacks, naughty nibbles and hand-me-down recipes so dear to our hearts. We were joined by the author, critic and broadcaster – and one of our best loved writers on food – live at Union Chapel in October 2024 to discuss the deep connections between food, memory, love and life.

If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations ad free, 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 on Apple for £4.99:
- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts
- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

…

Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access.

…

Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more.
https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 12 Books of Christmas | Comfort Eating with Grace Dent

To celebrate 2024, we’re taking a look backwards, and diving into the standout thinkers who have taken to the Intelligence Squared stage in the past 12 months. You might still be on the hunt for that perfect gift for the avid reader in your life, or perhaps you’re after some food for thought over the festive period. Either way, this 12 episode mini series will highlight the books that shaped 2024. We hope you’ll join us in 2025 for more events that intrigue, fascinate and entertain.

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.

 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 livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events
- Our member-only newsletter The Monthly Read, sent straight to your inbox

...

Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99:
- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts
- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

...

Already a subscriber?
Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access.

...

Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more.
https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 12 Books of Christmas | Zeinab Badawi on an African History of Africa

In this episode of the Intelligence Squared podcast we were joined by Julia Shaw the psychologist and author of Making Evil, alongside Rosamund Urwin of the Sunday Times, in a wide-ranging exploration of evil — why do humans do and think bad things?

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 podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Julia Shaw and Rosamund Urwin on the Science Behind Humanity's Dark Side

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