Intelligence Squared

In this archive debate, we revisit a discussion from 2018 when an assembled panel of smart thinkers gathered to reflect on the concept of nationhood, nationality and the impact of former UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s infamous 2016 speech that proclaimed, “If you believe you are a citizen of the world, you are a citizen of nowhere.” The discussion featured guests including the commentator and author David Goodhart, award-winning novelist Elif Shafak, former diplomat David Landsman and historian Simon Schama. Hosting the the episode was journalist and broadcaster Kamal Ahmed.

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Japan's recently assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe was a leader who leaves behind a complex legacy. Internationally, he strengthened Japan's relationship with the US in ways unseen before. Closer to home, crucial good relations with South Korea dissipated. His attitude towards Japan's difficult history was sometimes praised as a readiness for neutrality, while others criticised this as denialist revisionism. In the weeks since Abe's death, Japanese citizens have also begun to grapple with the reality of how involved their political system has become with influential religious groups, too. To help unpack some of these issues and discuss how Japan will move forward, we're joined by two specialists in modern Japanese history, Satona Suzuki from SOAS, University of London, and Jeff Kingston from Temple University, Japan. Our host for this podcast is journalist and broadcaster Philippa Thomas.

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We welcome back Fiona Hill, the foreign affairs and national security expert, to discuss Putin, foreign policy, and what could lie ahead for the war in Ukraine. Hill has been an advisor to three US Presidents and is former Senior Director for Europe and Russia at the United States National Security Council. She is author of books including Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin, and There is Nothing For You Here, which she joined us to discuss earlier in 2022. She returns to give us the latest on the ongoing war and assess what Vladimir Putin's next move might be, joined in conversation by Edward Lucas, the writer, author and European and transatlantic security specialist.

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For this episode focusing on how craft, creativity and our relationship with the planet can help us rethink established narratives and contribute to addressing historical injustices of the past, we visit the Radical Acts Biennial, an initiative from Harewood House. Joining our host, journalist and author of Africa is Not a Country, Dipo Faloyin, are independent curator Ligaya Salazar and Creative Director of Tiipoi, Spandana Gopal. Plus, Claire Ratinon, organic food grower and author of Unearthed: On Race and Roots, and How the Soil Taught Me I Belong.

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For this week's Sunday Debate, we're dipping back into the archive to 2014, when we gathered a panel of expert historians to debate whether Britain was right to fight in the First World War, a tragedy that laid the foundations for decades of destructive upheaval and violence across Europe. To debate the issue, we invited leading historians Margaret MacMillan, Max Hastings, John Charmley and Dominic Sandbrook to an event hosted by journalist, columnist and national security expert, Edward Lucas. 

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For this edition of Intelligence Squared, we join Alannah Weston, Chairman of Selfridges Group, for her podcast How to Lead a Sustainable Business, in which she speaks to thought leaders who are reinventing their sectors for a sustainable and just future.

In this week’s special episode, Alannah and her guest explore the possibility of rethinking race.

Emma Dabiri is an academic, broadcaster and author of two highly acclaimed books on the subject: Don’t Touch My Hair and What White People Can Do Next: From Allyship to Coalition. She discusses why ideas about race are cultural constructs and how understanding that race was invented to create and justify more racism could help us bring about an end to racial discrimination.

How to Lead a Sustainable Business is brought to you by Selfridges Group and Intelligence Squared. If you enjoy this episode, please take a moment to subscribe, rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts.

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In the midst of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, award-winning journalist John Sweeney reported from Kiev, drawing on his decades of experience covering stories ranging from the Moscow apartment bombings to the atrocities committed by the Russian Army in Chechnya. His new book, Killer in the Kremlin, compiles that expertise and new analysis of the life story of Russia's leader in order to try and understand Putin's psyche and where the current war is headed. Joining John in conversation is Carl Miller, Research Director at the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media (CASM) at the think tank Demos.

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Robin Dunbar has been hailed as one of the most insightful and creative evolutionary thinkers of our time, famed for his work on human networks and communities (he came up with the Dunbar number, the idea that humans can have no more than 150 meaningful relationships). Now he turns his attention to religion, the subject of his recent book, How Religion Evolved: And Why It Endures. Joining Robin in conversation on the podcast is Stuart Ritchie, Psychologist at King's College London, and author of Science Fictions.

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In this archive listen from 2013, we explore the global political impact of a leader whose legacy and influence is still being questioned today: Angela Merkel. As with any leader, a legacy isn't set in stone and as the dust settles on Merkel’s chancellorship, which spanned from 2005 to 2021, questions are being asked about decisions she made during her time in power. Most pertinent today, with the arrival of war in Ukraine, is Germany's accommodating trade relationship with Russia. But there were dissenting voices on Merkel’s leadership back in 2013. Amid the fallout of the financial crisis, Germany found itself as the key central player holding the fates of less buoyant European economies such as Greece and Portugal in its hands. Many in those countries felt that Merkel's hardline approach to fiscal measures, essentially holding the purse strings for much of Europe, was crippling their own nations. So we debated the motion: Angela Merkel is Destroying Europe. Hosting the the debate was former BBC World News broadcaster Nik Gowing, joined by journalists Mehdi Hasan and Christine Ockrent. Plus, historian Antony Beevor and Greek politician Euclid Tsakalotos.

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During the Second World War, Rudolph Vrba was one of the very few people to escape the horrors of the Auschwitz concentration camp. He did so along with fellow escapee, Alfred Wetzler, in April 1944. Vrba is the subject of columnist and author Jonathan Freedland's new book, The Escape Artist. He joins journalist and broadcaster Manveen Rana to discuss Vrba's incredible story.

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