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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.

Patrick Radden Keefe is an award winning writer known for his ability to tell complex stories in ways that are compelling and revealing. Author of the bestsellers Empire of Pain—a shocking exposé of the Sackler family and their involvement in the opioid crisis—and Say Nothing, his award-winning account of The Troubles in Northern Ireland and the murder of Jean McConville by the IRA, Keefe has built a global reputation for meticulous reporting, moral clarity, and gripping storytelling.In May 2026 he joined Emily Maitlis live on the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss the investigation that has led to his new book London Falling. At its centre is a teenager who mysteriously fell to his death from a Thames-side luxury apartment in London, and his grieving family’s determination to get to the truth of what really happened. Keefe also discussed the broader themes of how money laundering, crime and corruption function today in London’s underbelly.

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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

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London Falling: Patrick Radden Keefe on How Money, Power and Corruption Shape Our City, with Emily Maitlis (Part Two)

Patrick Radden Keefe is an award winning writer known for his ability to tell complex stories in ways that are compelling and revealing. Author of the bestsellers Empire of Pain—a shocking exposé of the Sackler family and their involvement in the opioid crisis—and Say Nothing, his award-winning account of The Troubles in Northern Ireland and the murder of Jean McConville by the IRA, Keefe has built a global reputation for meticulous reporting, moral clarity, and gripping storytelling.In May 2026 he joined Emily Maitlis live on the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss the investigation that has led to his new book London Falling. At its centre is a teenager who mysteriously fell to his death from a Thames-side luxury apartment in London, and his grieving family’s determination to get to the truth of what really happened. Keefe also discussed the broader themes of how money laundering, crime and corruption function today in London’s underbelly.

---

This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. 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.

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London Falling: Patrick Radden Keefe on How Money, Power and Corruption Shape Our City, with Emily Maitlis (Part One)

What do our Google searches reveal about who we really are?

For a new book, What We Ask Google, data analyst Simon Rogers explores the world’s biggest dataset - billions of searches carried out over two decades - to provide a revealing portrait of our collective brain.

In this episode, he speaks to Carl Miller about what the data reveals—from how we process grief and loneliness, to how we seek to understand our health, to “nowcasting” and how our search data can anticipate future trends. Along the way, he uncovers some unexpected cultural trends: in Paris, the most searched-for food is pizza; in the UK, parents look for children’s parkour classes, while in the US, it’s etiquette and croquet. If social media is where we perform, he says, our search data is a more honest reflection of our interests, offering a window into humanity's endless gift for curiosity. 

Simon Rogers is Google’s Data Editor. What We Ask Google is available online and in stores now.

Carl Miller is an author and researcher at Demos.

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 on Apple for £4.99:

- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts

- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

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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.

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What Do We Ask Google, and What Does It Tell Us About Human Nature? With Simon Rogers

AI models now advise on everything from war, crop output, and marriages. Algorithms determine whether we can get a loan, a job, an apartment, or an organ transplant.

Carissa Véliz, Associate Professor at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford, argues that today’s computer scientists play the same role as the oracles of the ancient world and the astrologers of the Middle Ages. And when we cede ground to these predictions, we lose control of our own lives.

In this episode, Véliz speaks to technology philosopher Tom Chatfield about how systems of prediction have long shaped human decisions - and how their influence is expanding in the age of data and AI.

Together they examine why more data does not always lead to better outcomes, and how predictive systems can become self-fulfilling, and argue for shifting focus from prediction to preparation — and for reclaiming human agency in a world increasingly guided by forecasts.

Carissa Véliz is Associate Professor at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford. She is the author of Prophecy: Prediction, Power and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI.

Tom Chatfield is a technology philosopher, author and commentator on digital culture, technology and society.

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 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.

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How Is Predictive AI Shaping Our World? With AI Philosopher Carissa Véliz

The town of Weimar looms large in German history. This ancient town nestled in the heart of the country was home to some of Europe's greatest thinkers, Goethe and Schiller, Liszt and Nietzsche among them. It gave its name to the ambitious Weimar Republic crafted in the aftermath of the First World War. But it was also where fascism took hold. Where Bauhaus architects first experimented with new ways of living, Buchenwald was dug out of a beech forest.

German-British historian Katya Hoyer has drawn on a wealth of new archival research to tell the story of Weimar through the lives of some of its citizens from the years 1919-1939. 

In this episode, she talks to historian Sophie Scott-Brown about some of these vividly drawn characters who, as the events of history swept them up, became witnesses, perpetrators, victims and bystanders. How did Germany, within a few years, turn from one of the most liberal democracies in the world to a genocidal dictatorship? What choices did individual Germans make that enabled this? And what lessons can we learn to avoid repeating their mistakes? 

Katja Hoyer is Visiting Research Fellow at King's College London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She is the author of Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe.

Dr Sophie Scott-Brown is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of East Anglia

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 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.

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Weimar and Hitler: How did fascism take hold in Germany’s historic town? With Katja Hoyer

Kae Tempest is widely regarded as one of Britain’s greatest wordsmiths. In a career of ferocious creativity, he has received multiple prizes and critical recognition across the many forms he works in. 

Beginning as a lyricist and songwriter in his teens, Tempest threw himself fully into whichever discipline he could find work in; gigging as a poet, writing for the theatre or busking with his band. A decade later, this obsessive compulsion to push his writing as far and as hard as he could, secured him a record deal with UK independent label Big Dada and a poetry publishing contract with Picador.

Tempest’s work has always sought to pull the focus between the global or national concerns of a character, and the private, very intimate experiences of their lives; the minuscule and the mundane peering out from behind the incomprehensibly large and overpowering. Whether it’s austerity, addiction, communal disassociation, the planet in crises, or the death of our prevailing myths, the bigger picture is always made up of tiny parts. 

We were joined by Tempest live on stage at St George's, Bristol as he discussed his much anticipated return to fiction. His first novel in a decade, Having Spent Life Seeking is the story of Rothko Taylor, who returns to their hometown of Edgecliff, seeking a place to belong after fifteen years in the wilderness. It weaves together themes that have shaped Tempest’s work to date: family and forgiveness; redemption and atonement; desire and abandon; selfhood and community. Themes that are dealt with in this new novel, with a deeper resolve and a new clarity of intent.

---

 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.

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An Evening with Kae Tempest (Part Two)

Kae Tempest is widely regarded as one of Britain’s greatest wordsmiths. In a career of ferocious creativity, he has received multiple prizes and critical recognition across the many forms he works in. 

Beginning as a lyricist and songwriter in his teens, Tempest threw himself fully into whichever discipline he could find work in; gigging as a poet, writing for the theatre or busking with his band. A decade later, this obsessive compulsion to push his writing as far and as hard as he could, secured him a record deal with UK independent label Big Dada and a poetry publishing contract with Picador.

Tempest’s work has always sought to pull the focus between the global or national concerns of a character, and the private, very intimate experiences of their lives; the minuscule and the mundane peering out from behind the incomprehensibly large and overpowering. Whether it’s austerity, addiction, communal disassociation, the planet in crises, or the death of our prevailing myths, the bigger picture is always made up of tiny parts. 

We were joined by Tempest live on stage at St George's, Bristol as he discussed his much anticipated return to fiction. His first novel in a decade, Having Spent Life Seeking is the story of Rothko Taylor, who returns to their hometown of Edgecliff, seeking a place to belong after fifteen years in the wilderness. It weaves together themes that have shaped Tempest’s work to date: family and forgiveness; redemption and atonement; desire and abandon; selfhood and community. Themes that are dealt with in this new novel, with a deeper resolve and a new clarity of intent.

---

This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. 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/
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An Evening with Kae Tempest (Part One)

How close are we to a new global conflict?

In this episode, journalist Hannah Lucinda Smith speaks with global defence commentator Peter Apps about his new book The Next World War: The New Age of Global Conflict and the Fight to Stop It. From Ukraine to Taiwan, and from cyber warfare to space, Apps argues that the foundations of a new kind of global conflict are already in place.

Drawing on reporting from the corridors of power in Washington, London, Moscow and Beijing, as well as frontline perspectives, Apps maps the fault lines shaping today’s geopolitical landscape. He explores the return of great power rivalry, the rise of ‘hybrid’ warfare, and the growing role of technology in reshaping how conflicts are fought.

At its centre is a stark question: are these tensions containable, or are they leading towards a wider and more dangerous confrontation? Apps sets out how governments, militaries and societies are preparing for the possibility of large-scale conflict — and what might still be done to prevent escalation.

Peter Apps is a global defence commentator at Reuters. He is the author of The Next World War: The New Age of Global Conflict and the Fight to Stop It. His podcast, Battle for the Next World War, will release soon. 

Hannah Lucinda Smith is a journalist and foreign correspondent reporting on global politics and conflict.
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What Will Trigger the Next World War? With Peter Apps

According to award-winning actor, writer, director and producer Lena Dunham, we’re now too invested in having a good relationship with our ex. 

Best known for creating the hit HBO show Girls, which earned her eight Emmy nominations and two Golden Globes, Lena Dunham has recently published her Sunday Times and New York Times Number One Bestseller, Famesick, which explores the decade after the show’s end and how she navigated fame, illness and relationships.

In April 2026 Lena joined Intelligence Squared live at the Hackney Empire with journalist, author and screenwriter Dolly Alderton for an intimate slumber-party-style event, where they discussed everything from their favourite meal-deal to Lena’s legacy as a voice of a generation. 

---

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠podcastchoices.com/adchoices⁠
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Lena Dunham: Famesick, with Dolly Alderton (Part Two)

According to award-winning actor, writer, director and producer Lena Dunham, we’re now too invested in having a good relationship with our ex. 

Best known for creating the hit HBO show Girls, which earned her eight Emmy nominations and two Golden Globes, Lena Dunham has recently published her Sunday Times and New York Times Number One Bestseller, Famesick, which explores the decade after the show’s end and how she navigated fame, illness and relationships.

In April 2026 Lena joined Intelligence Squared live at the Hackney Empire with journalist, author and screenwriter Dolly Alderton for an intimate slumber-party-style event, where they discussed everything from their favourite meal-deal to Lena’s legacy as a voice of a generation. 

---

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.

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Lena Dunham: Famesick, with Dolly Alderton (Part One)

For today's episode we have something a little different for you. We wanted to introduce you to a new podcast we think you’ll love called Power: The Maxwells.

Everyone’s heard of Ghislaine Maxwell (Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged partner in crime). But there’s a shadowy figure who hangs above her who you likely don’t know: her father, media tycoon Robert Maxwell. His rise from nothing to fall… from the deck of his super yacht under mysterious circumstances is straight out of a crime novel. His favorite daughter Ghislaine’s theory: her father was murdered. From Somethin’ Else, makers of ‘The Immaculate Deception’ and ‘Faultline: Bush, Blair & Iraq’, hosted by Investigative journalist Tara Palmeri, ‘Power: The Maxwells’ is a seven part series on the incredible true story of a media mogul whose legacy is still being felt today.

Power: The Maxwells is available on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared.
 
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Intelligence Squared Recommends – Power: The Maxwells

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