Intelligence Squared: Arts & Culture

Human beings have been making visual depictions of human life for tens of thousands of years. Fascination with our own likeness is one of the great constants of human history – and the portrait has long been the focus of that fascination. What can portraits tell us about the world? And what can they tell us about ourselves? In today’s episode – originally recorded live in Sotheby’s in the week that the National Portrait Gallery reopened in London – Helena Newman, Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, sat down with Barbican Art Gallery curator Eleanor Nairne, and the award-winning art historian Simon Schama, for a conversation about the enduring power of the portrait. 

To see any of the portraits discussed in this episode, or to watch an extended version of this talk, visit https://www.sothebys.com/en/series/sothebys-talks-celebrating-portraiture

And, to step further into the world of Sotheby’s, you can visit any of our galleries around the world; they’re open to the public. For more information, visit sothebys.com.

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In this episode, art historian and broadcaster Carrie Scott is joined by Turner Prize-winning artist and activist Lubaina Himid, writer Lauren Elkin and Head of Modern and Contemporary African Art at Sotheby’s Hannah O’Leary for a conversation exploring modern city life from the perspective of female artists. This podcast was originally a live event, time to highlight the touring exhibition Found Cities, Lost Objects: Women in the City, curated by Himid, which features works from the Arts Council Collection. 

To see the works discussed in this episode, or to watch an extended version of this talk, visit https://www.sothebys.com/en/series/sothebys-talks/celebrating-women-artists-in-the-city-with-lubaina-himid

And, to step further into the world of Sotheby’s, you can visit any of our galleries around the world; they’re open to the public. For more information, visit sothebys.com.

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There has never been a better time than now for women working in art, fashion and design. But female artists, gallerists, and collectors have always shaped taste, pushed patriarchal boundaries, and challenged orthodoxies to find ways of expressing themselves and championing the work of others. In this episode, originally recorded as a live event, Will Gompertz was joined at Sotheby’s in London by jewellery designer Paloma Picasso, art critic and 2024 Istanbul Biennale curator Iwona Blazwick, and Sotheby’s Emma Baker for a conversation about the past, present, and future of female creativity, and how women have influenced the art world as we know it today. 

To see the works discussed in this episode, or to watch an extended version of this talk, visit https://www.sothebys.com/en/series/sothebys-talks-celebrating-portraiture

And, to step further into the world of Sotheby’s, you can visit any of our galleries around the world; they’re open to the public. For more information, visit sothebys.com.

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Julianne Moore is one of our greatest living actors: an Academy and Emmy award winner, and the first American woman to be awarded top acting prizes at the Cannes, Berlin and Venice film festivals. She is also an avid collector. In this episode, Julianne joins curator and author Glenn Adamson, curator Dakin Hart, gallerist Jean-Gabriel Mitterrand, and Sotheby’s Florent Jeanniard, for a conversation about 20th Century designers, including Isamu Noguchi and Claude Lalanne, and the role design plays in our lives. 

To see the works discussed in this episode, or to watch an extended version of this talk, visit https://www.sothebys.com/en/series/sothebys-talks/inspirational-living-important-design-with-julianne-moore

And, to step further into the world of Sotheby’s, you can visit any of our galleries around the world; they’re open to the public. For more information, visit sothebys.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Edvard Munch pioneered Expressionism and embraced life’s most painful experiences to create art: his pursuit of emotional truth changed art forever. Tracey Emin, who has been a major figure in contemporary art for more than 25 years, has always been fascinated by the Norwegian master and, in 2021, she exhibited 25 of her own works alongside Munch’s oils and watercolours at the Royal Academy. In this episode originally recorded at Sotheby’s in London, Emin sat down with Sotheby’s Simon Shaw to talk about the role of women in Munch’s work and to explore why his paintings still have such a compelling hold on us today.

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In this episode, originally recorded at Sotheby’s in London, award-winning singer-songwriter Celeste is joined by Sotheby’s Helena Newman for a conversation about female surrealist artists, including Leonor Fini and Leonora Carrington, and the profound impact that their work – and the surrealism movement more broadly – has had on design and culture over the decades. 

To see the works discussed in this episode, or to watch an extended version of this talk, visit https://www.sothebys.com/en/series/sothebys-talks/contemporary-conversations-surrealism?locale=en 

And, to step further into the world of Sotheby’s, you can visit any of our galleries around the world; they’re open to the public. For more information, visit sothebys.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When writer and musician Eliza Hull was pregnant with her first child, like most parents-to-be she felt a mix of nerves and excitement. But as a disabled person she faced added complexities. Would the pregnancy be too hard? Would people judge her? Would she cope with the demands of parenting?

On May 24th, 2023, Hull came to Intelligence Squared with host, writer, and campaigner Lucy Webster, where they discussed the themes of Hull's new book, 'We've Got This: Essays By Disabled Parents.' The anthology explores the highs and lows of their parenting journeys, showing that often the greatest obstacles lie in other people's attitudes.

This event was produced by Executive Producer Hannah Kaye with editing by Executive Producer Rowan Slaney.

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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 [email protected] or Tweet us @intelligence2. 

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For several years and more than a thousand miles, celebrated travel writer Robert Macfarlane has been following the vast network of old paths and routes that criss-cross Britain and its waters, looking at their connections to countries and continents beyond. 

In this event, recorded at the Tabernacle in London On the 12th of June 2012, Macfarlane tells us his enthralling accounts of the ghosts and voices that haunt old tracks, of songlines and their singers, of the stories our tracks keep and tell, and of rights of way and rites of passage.

This event was produced by Executive Producer Hannah Kaye with editing by Executive Producer Rowan Slaney.

To hear the full length episode of this event and to support our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations, head to intelligence Squared.com/membership or subscribe on Apple Podcasts

—

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 [email protected] 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. 

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New from Intelligence Squared. Introducing VS, a light-hearted podcast about the little debates that are always a big deal to someone. Arsenal VS Spurs. McDonald’s VS KFC. Peep Show VS The Office. 80s VS 90s. And many more. Our host Coco Khan invites experts and fans to go head-to-head on the timeless debates that form the lifeblood of friendships. Who wins? You decide with our weekly vote. Tune in to new episodes every Friday.

Search VS wherever you get your podcasts visit https://intelligencesquared.com/vs

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Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven are without doubt two of the most sublime musical geniuses who ever lived. But which of the two was the greater? 

To battle it out In part one of this live event, Intelligence Squared brought to the stage two celebrated figures from the world of music: world-renowned cellist Steven Isserlis for Bach and acclaimed music critic Norman Lebrecht for Beethoven. 

The event was hosted by the BBC’s Reeta Chakrabarti, with Mishka Rushdie Momen on the piano.

Part two and three of this event are available ad free, for subscribers now. And for our listeners who don’t subscribe part 2 will be available in our next episode. 

This conversation took place in April 2023. It was produced by Executive Producer Hannah Kaye, with editing by Lead Producer Catharine Hughes

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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 [email protected] 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.

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