Intelligence Squared

Writer and academic Kerry Brown's latest book is Xi: A Study in Power, which profiles the policies and personality behind China's leader for the last decade, Xi Jinping. He’s one of the most powerful people in global geopolitics yet in the West seemingly little is known about him. What are his ambitions for China and the rest of the world? Kerry Brown is Professor of Chinese Studies and Director of the Lau China Institute at Kings College London. He is joined in conversation on the podcast by our host, the historian, author and broadcaster, Rana Mitter.

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How do you put a ghost on trial? In Linda Kinstler's deeply personal new book, Come to This Court and Cry, she uncovers the atrocities of her Latvian grandfather's involvement in the Holocaust. In conversation with author, broadcaster and academic, Peter Pomerantsev, she asks how do we account for the brutality of historical events and our personal links to them, as the passage of time means they slip further beyond living memory? Linda and Peter also discuss whether the history of conflict is repeating itself through Russia's current War on Ukraine.

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Between 2007 and 2020, China invested $23 billion into infrastructure for nations across Africa, $8 billion more than the other top eight lenders combined. But in its pursuit of energy security and raw materials the Chinese government and Chinese companies have locked resource-rich African states into loans and contracts which could start to squeeze them hard in ten or so years’ time. Is Chinese investment good for Africa? Joining us to debate the question is Dr Nkosana Moyo, former Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the African Development Bank and former Minister of Industry and International Trade for Zimbabwe. We also are joined by Stephen Chan OBE, Professor of World Politics at SOAS University of London. Hosting the discussion is the historian, author and broadcaster, Rana Mitter. 

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How we understand mental health and the level of compassion we show to those suffering from depression and other forms of mental illness define us as a society. In May 2022 acclaimed travel writer Horatio Clare and science journalist Alex Riley came to Intelligence Squared to discuss their personal experiences of mental illness. 

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Palaeobiologist and bestselling author Thomas Halliday is helping us better understand how the natural world evolved over the past 500 million years. His recent book, Otherlands: A World in the Making, guides the reader through a series of ancient landscapes from the dawn of complex life 500 million years ago to up to the birth of humanity and uses Halliday's immersive storytelling combined with sharp scientific analysis to bring the journey to life. Hosting this discussion is science writer and broadcaster, Gaia Vince.

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Every second of the day, tiny biological clocks are ticking throughout your body, from the neural pathways of your brain down to your very cells. But modern life is disrupting this ancient and delicate mechanism in ways we are only just beginning to understand. Artificial light, jet lag, smartphones, air pollution and out-of-sync work-and-meal routines are conspiring to push us out of joint. This is not only exacerbating mental health issues such as depression and fatigue, but according to new studies, is also increasing the risk of obesity, heart disease, dementia and even cancer. Professor Russell Foster is a world-leading expert on circadian neuroscience and his new book, Life Time, looks at how we can better understand and harness the science of rhythm and our own biology. Our host for this discussion is the author, economist and broadcaster, Linda Yueh.

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The political Left often purports that it has society’s best interests at heart and that it works for the good of all. Yet according to conservatives, it is precisely that self-regard, that attempt to monopolise virtue, which exposes the hypocrisy of left-wing ideology. In this archive debate from 2018, we gathered Labour MP Stella Creasy, environmental campaigner, journalist and author, George Monbiot, Conservative MP Kwasi Kwarteng, and the leading philosopher of conservative thought, the late Roger Scruton, who sadly passed away in 2020, to discuss the issue of right vs left. Our host for the discussion was the journalist, broadcaster, visiting lecturer and Professor in the Humanities Council at Princeton University, Razia Iqbal.

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Chris Hirst, Global CEO of advertising group Havas Creative, cuts through the bullshit and gets to the heart of modern leadership in this straight-talking podcast brought to you by Intelligence Squared. 

In this episode, Christ Hirst speaks to Roula Khalaf, the Editor of the Financial Times. In January 2020, Khalaf became the first female editor in the Financial Times’ 134-year history. Her path to the top of the FT came through her work as a foreign correspondent. Born in Lebanon, she served as the FT’s Foreign Editor, reporting from Iraq, Iran and Syria, and leading the FT’s coverage of the Arab Spring. She joined the FT in 1995 as North Africa correspondent after a stint as a staff writer for Forbes magazine in New York, and she now manages 600 journalists across the globe as editor of one of the world’s most respected and recognisable publications.  

If you enjoyed this podcast please let us know what you think by rating and reviewing No Bullsh*t Leadership on Apple Podcasts. For updates on the series follow @intelligence2 and @chrishirst on Twitter. 

Producer & Editor: Bella Soames; 

Technical Support: Mark Roberts. 

Chris Hirst is author of the award-winning book No Bulls*ht Leadership: Why the World Needs More Everyday Leaders and Why That Leader Is You. 

Podnotes: 

Connect with Chris Hirst on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrishirst/, Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrishirst and on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrishirst_leadership/

Watch exclusive content and original videos from Chris Hirst on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNC4qT90ArKOuKV8B0LWTWA

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Afghan women’s voices are at increasing risk of being silenced and as more of their rights slip away, so do their stories. In this episode we hear from three women from the UNTOLD writers programme, who are the co-creators of My Pen is the Wing of a Bird, a new anthology of Afghan women's fiction. Lucy Hannah is founder of UNTOLD, Zarghuna Kargaar is a journalist, translator and author of Dear Zari: Hidden Stories from Women of Afghanistan, and Marie Bamyani is a contributing author featured in My Pen is the Wing of a Bird. Hosting the discussion is Halima Kazem, Afghanistan Oral Histories Project Manager at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and the Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California Santa Cruz. 

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Author and environmental journalist Eugene Linden's new book, Fire and Flood: A People’s History of Climate Change from 1979 to the Present, lays out how successive US governments managed to delay action on climate change when they should have been raising the alarm. It also looks at why the climate emergency will have a big impact on the global economy and why China and India, which could have taken a lead on renewables, double downed on coal to fuel their industrialisation in the 1990s. Our host for the podcast is the economist and broadcaster Linda Yueh.

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