Are supercomputers and killer robots going to take over?

In this episode, Adam McCauley speaks to professor and author Anthony King in order to debunk the science-
fiction tinged narrative of AI’s military potential and to, instead, explore the actual applications of AI in the armed forces over the last decade.

Professor Anthony King was appointed Director of the University of Exeter’s pioneering Strategy and Security Institute in 2023. He previously held positions at the University of Warwick and the University of Liverpool. He has also been advising the armed forces for over two decades. His latest work is AI, Automation, and War: The Rise of a Military-Tech Complex.

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Watch the full video of this event for free here: https://mailchi.mp/intelligencesquared/lw6gixq1t9

The transcript of this event is available here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GvYGaOE-fnDQdFvrTLQjUGcrE6Ra0acN/view?usp=drive_link

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The most influential inventor of the modern world, Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a different kind of visionary. Born in the same year as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, Berners-Lee famously shared his invention, the World Wide Web, for no commercial reward. Its widespread adoption changed everything — transforming humanity into the first digital species.

In September 2025 Berners-Lee came to the Intelligence Squared stage to tell the story of his iconic invention and explore the future of human innovation. Drawing on his new memoir, This is For Everyone, Berners-Lee explored how the web launched a new era of creativity and collaboration, while unleashing a commercial race that today imperils democracies and polarises public debate.

As the rapid development of artificial intelligence heralds a new era of innovation, Berners-Lee is the perfect guide to the crucial decisions ahead, and to provide a gripping, in-the-room account of the rise of the online world.

With his characteristic optimism, technical insight and wry humour, Berners-Lee discussed the power of technology — both to fuel our worst instincts and to profoundly shape our lives for the better.

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Watch the full video of this event for free here: https://mailchi.mp/intelligencesquared/lw6gixq1t9

The transcript of this event is available here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GvYGaOE-fnDQdFvrTLQjUGcrE6Ra0acN/view?usp=drive_link

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The most influential inventor of the modern world, Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a different kind of visionary. Born in the same year as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, Berners-Lee famously shared his invention, the World Wide Web, for no commercial reward. Its widespread adoption changed everything — transforming humanity into the first digital species.

In September 2025 Berners-Lee came to the Intelligence Squared stage to tell the story of his iconic invention and explore the future of human innovation. Drawing on his new memoir, This is For Everyone, Berners-Lee explored how the web launched a new era of creativity and collaboration, while unleashing a commercial race that today imperils democracies and polarises public debate.

As the rapid development of artificial intelligence heralds a new era of innovation, Berners-Lee is the perfect guide to the crucial decisions ahead, and to provide a gripping, in-the-room account of the rise of the online world.

With his characteristic optimism, technical insight and wry humour, Berners-Lee discussed the power of technology — both to fuel our worst instincts and to profoundly shape our lives for the better.

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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.

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This is an episode of Hotels with History, produced by Intelligence Squared on behalf of ⁠Perowne International⁠⁠.

On todays episode, Richard journeys to Singapore to explore the legendary Raffles Hotel. Discover how four visionary Armenian brothers turned a 10-room beach bungalow into a magnificent Neo-Renaissance palace, where literary giants found their muse, and some of the world’s most famous cocktails were shaken.

⁠⁠Follow on Instagram⁠⁠

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For more than 40 years, world-renowned foreign correspondent Jon Lee Anderson has been reporting on wars, crises and revolutions, from Latin America to the Middle East and Africa. 

Throughout his career he has made countless visits to Afghanistan, bearing witness to the Soviet invasion and the subsequent US interventions from 9/11 to the present day. His new book, To Lose A War, contains his reporting on the 20-year US military presence in Afghanistan, its disastrous and chaotic end and the return of the Taliban. 

In this episode he sits down with foreign correspondent Hannah Lucinda Smith to discuss how the US mission lost its way, the resourcefulness and resilience of Afghanistan’s people and his hopes and fears for the country’s future under a resurgent Taliban.

To Lose A War: The Fall and Rise of the Taliban by Jon Lee Anderson is available now.

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Did you know that Mary Shelley was a teenager when she started writing Frankenstein in 1814? Or that England’s most prolific goal scorer - man or woman - was superstar striker Lily Parr, who scored a staggering 997 goals between 1919 and 1951?

When Kate Mosse launched the #WomenInHistory campaign, asking people to highlight women whose achievements have been overlooked by history, she received thousands of nominations from around the globe. The result is her new book, Feminist History For Every Day of the Year. In it, she celebrates the extraordinary achievements of activists, writers, scientists, politicians and others, some of whom are household names, and others who deserve to be better known.

She sat down with broadcaster Shahidha Bari to share some of these incredible stories. They talked about the importance of putting women and girls back into history - including those with complicated or problematic views - and why rights are always fought for, never given, and need to be protected.

Kate Mosse is a novelist and founder of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction. Feminist History For Every Day of the Year is out now.

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What if the real story of climate change is far more hopeful than we’ve been led to believe?

With so much doomsday reporting and general misinformation on climate change, it can be hard to know what’s true - and what actually matters. In this episode, bestselling author and data scientist Hannah Ritchie joins us to examine the data on the biggest questions holding us back: Is it too late? Are we too polarised? Will we run out of the resources we need?

Speaking to physicist and broadcaster Helen Czerski, Hannah draws on her new book Clearing the Air to explain that the data paints a surprisingly optimistic picture. 

Together Hannah and Helen speak about contextualising progress, bust myths on everything from electric vehicles to wind turbines, and explore the solutions already working to build a cleaner, fairer, and more sustainable future. 

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.

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Ian McEwan is the critically acclaimed author of nineteen novels and two short story collections. 

His novels include Atonement, Enduring Love, The Children Act and On Chesil Beach, and he is the recipient of many awards including the Booker Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award and the Whitbread Novel of the Year Award.

In this episode, McEwan sits down with author and journalist Alex Preston to discuss the enduring power of the novel, the challenges of writing climate fiction and his new book What We Can Know.

What We Can Know is a work of speculative fiction set in 2119. It is a book about poetry, archives, rising sea levels and the plight of humanity in the vast natural world, and is available now online or in bookstores near you.

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.

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On today’s episode, an episode from our friends at Sotheby's exploring the remarkable collecting journey of Pauline Karpidas, one of the most influential art patrons of the past fifty years. Ahead of Sotheby’s landmark sale of her extraordinary Surrealist collection this September, collector Tiquio Acentio, curator Jasper Sharp, and Sotheby’s Worldwide Chairman of Impressionist and Modern Art Helena Newman will join broadcaster and art historian Kate Bryan to reflect on Karpidas’ unique eye, her friendships with artists, and the broader role of women as cultural custodians. From Peggy Guggenheim to Dominique de Menil and beyond, women collectors have long shaped the direction of modern and contemporary art. What drives them? How do personal connections influence collecting? And how does a home become a curated world? With insights into the upcoming auction and the stories behind the works, this talk will offer a portrait of a life in art – and celebrate those who collect with connoisseurship, curiosity and conviction.

This podcast was recorded at Sotheby’s London in September 2025. 

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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‘It is vanishingly rare for a writer to both confront the ugliness of humanity and still search for its beauty. Roy is that rare writer.’ – Naomi Klein

Arundhati Roy is one of today’s most esteemed public intellectuals. The author of novels including the Booker Prize-winning The God of Small Things, Roy is equally respected as a political essayist. Her words on topics from the COVID-19 pandemic to the plight of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi have helped define public discourse in India and beyond.

In September 2025 Roy came to the Intelligence Squared stage for two exclusive events. Combining the signature scale, sweep and depth of her novels, and the passion, political clarity and warmth of her essays, Roy drew on the themes of her new memoir for a compelling exploration of her life and work.

Born out of the onrush of memories and feelings provoked by her mother Mary’s death, Mother Mary Comes to Me is Roy’s telling of her own story from childhood to the present, from Kerala to Delhi. An ode to freedom, a tribute to thorny love and savage grace, it is a memoir like no other.

The event was a rare opportunity to hear from one of the greatest writers of our generation.

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