Can the West Hold Together? Lessons from WWII with Tim Bouverie and Michael Gove (Part Two)

John Bolton knows a thing or two about Donald Trump. So many things, in fact, that he’s now being investigated by the US Justice Department for potentially spilling classified information in his new book. On Wednesday October 28 he came to Intelligence Squared Plus to share what he knows – days before what could be the most important presidential election in American history. How does Bolton rate Trump’s chances of re-election? What kind of second term president will he be if he wins? How will his handling of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement affect those crucial voters in the swing states? Bolton discusses a president he has called unfit for office, a country that is at its most politically divided in decades, and exactly what he thinks will happen on Election Day. The podcast was hosted by Emily Maitlis broadcaster and host of BBC Newsnight.  You can find out more about Bolton's book here: https://bit.ly/3mAfgCh Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

30 Okt 20201h

Fear is on the march. All over the world citizens have surrendered basic freedoms to the state in order to be protected from Covid-19. Good government has become not just important but a matter of life and death. But the assumption that Western governments have any advantage over the rest of the world is questionable: ask yourself, where would you feel safer today – in Los Angeles and Barcelona or in Singapore and Seoul? The pandemic has exposed the weaknesses of the West, argue bestselling authors John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, and it is accelerating a shift in the balance of power to the East. While Western democracies have been consumed by in-fights such as the battle over Brexit or partisan showdowns in Congress, countries such as South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, as well as China, have been stealing a march economically, technologically and, arguably, politically in recent years. Earlier this month, Micklethwait and Wooldridge came to Intelligence Squared to talk about the themes of their new book, 'The Wake Up Call'. What are the lessons to be learned from the pandemic? Should we recognise, as many on the Left maintain, that big government is back for good and should be expanded permanently to deal with other global crises? Or should a balance be struck between collectivism on the one hand, and freedom and entrepreneurialism on the other? And how can the West respond creatively to the pandemic, reverse decades of decline, and ensure that China does not overtake the US in the struggle for global leadership? To find out more about the book click here: https://bit.ly/3ounpKl Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

27 Okt 20201h 1min

Les Payne, the renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, embarked in 1990 on a nearly thirty-year-long quest to interview anyone he could find who had actually known Malcolm X - including siblings, classmates, friends, cellmates, FBI moles and cops, and political leaders around the world. His goal was ambitious: to transform what would become hundreds of hours of interviews into a portrait that would separate fact from fiction. Following Payne's death, his daughter and primary researcher Tamara completed the biography, 'The Dead Are Arising'. In this week's episode Tamara spoke to writer Yassmin Abdel-Magied about this penetrating and riveting account of Malcolm X and his legacy in the African American freedom struggle.  Find out more about the book here: https://amzn.to/2TipryK Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

23 Okt 20201h 5min

In the years just before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, people from across the political spectrum in Europe and America celebrated a great achievement, felt a common purpose and, very often, forged personal friendships. Yet over the following decades the euphoria evaporated, the common purpose and centre ground gradually disappeared, extremism rose once more and eventually the relationships soured too. In this week's Friday episode Anne Applebaum speaks to Jonathan Freedland about the 'Twilight of Democracy' combining her personal and political experience in an original way and brings a fresh understanding to the dynamics of public life in Europe and America, both now and in the recent past. You can find out more and order the book here: https://amzn.to/36IdGKc Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

20 Okt 202056min

This week's podcast is from our friends at Intelligence Squared Germany who hosted a live debate in Berlin last week on whether the EU's 'Green Deal', a plan to deliver both economic growth and carbon neutrality, is really achievable. The debate was held in partnership with The European Council on Foreign Relations and featured Franziska Brantner of the German Green Party taking on renowned climate activist Dr. Tadzio Müller. It was hosted by BBC journalist Damien McGuinness. — 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, early access and much more 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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

16 Okt 20201h 5min

In this week's episode Helen Pluckrose documents the evolution of the ideas that inform today's radical social justice activism, from its coarse origins in French postmodernism to its refinement within activist academic fields. Pluckrose argues this dogma is recognizable as much by its effects, such as cancel culture and social-media dogpiles, as by its tenets, which are all too often embraced as axiomatic in mainstream media: knowledge is a social construct; science and reason are tools of oppression; all human interactions are sites of oppressive power play; and language is dangerous. As Pluckrose and Lindsay warn, the unchecked proliferation of these anti-Enlightenment beliefs present a threat not only to liberal democracy but also to modernity itself.  While acknowledging the need to challenge the complacency of those who think a just society has been fully achieved, Pluckrose break down how this often-radical activist scholarship does far more harm than good, not least to those marginalized communities it claims to champion. The podcast was hosted by the writer and journalist Helen Joyce. You can find out more about the book here: https://amzn.to/3nu0jmw Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

13 Okt 202043min

Thomas Friedman has been called ‘the most influential columnist in America’. The Financial Times has described him as a ‘global star’ and he has won the Pulitzer Prize three times. On October 6, Friedman will be joining us online less than a month before Americans go to the polls to elect their next president. In conversation with ITV’s political editor Robert Peston, one of Britain’s leading journalists and broadcasters, Friedman will examine what is likely to be the most consequential Presidential elections of our times. Will enough Americans rally round President Trump to give him a second term, despite the innumerable scandals that have beset his administration? Or will the Democrats find a way to send him packing? And with the campaign already shaping up to be more bitter and divisive than any other in history, is there any hope for America’s fractured politics? You can find Tom Friedman's latest book Thank You For Being Late here: https://amzn.to/2FdmBIa Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

9 Okt 202059min

North Korea shocked the world in September 2017 by exploding the most powerful nuclear device tested anywhere in 25 years. Months earlier, it had conducted the first test flight of a missile capable of ranging much of the United States. Soon after, Kim Jong Un, the reclusive state’s ruler, declared that his nuclear deterrent was complete. World leaders, intelligence officials and many ordinary people around the world shuddered at the thought of a fully nuclear-armed North Korea. But how did this brutal nation build such a sophisticated nuclear programme? If the international community had taken non proliferation more seriously after the Cold War could things have turned out differently? And what should be our end game with the North Koreans? Should we be seeking an Iran style nuclear deal or would that be a fatal error of judgment? In September 2020 we were joined by Ankit Panda, renowned security expert and author of 'Kim Jong Un and The Bomb', who spoke to Dr Patricia Lewis, former Director of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research and head of international security at Chatham House, about how this small nation became a nuclear power—and how we can learn to live with it. The event was chaired by Edward Lucas. To find out more about Ankit Panda's book click here: https://amzn.to/3noOBcP Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

6 Okt 202058min