Intelligence Squared

In this week's episode Charles Blow speaks to journalist Dele Olojede about the arguments in his new book The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto. He argued that if enough African-Americans move south, the demographic balance in the Southern States will be tipped in favour of Black voters and politicians. His new home state of Georgia – he practises what he preaches and left Brooklyn for Atlanta – recently voted for a Democrat presidential candidate and two Democratic Senate candidates, one of whom became the first Black senator in the state’s history. The growing African-American population in Georgia was pivotal in these votes, Blow believes. To find out more and buy the book click here: https://www.primrosehillbooks.com/product/the-devil-you-know-a-black-power-manifesto-charles-m-blow-subscribers/ 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

21 Sep 202156min

In this week's episode we're featuring a podcast produced by Intelligence Squared called 'It’s The Economy' in which host Nicola Walton breaks down the complex economic ideas we have all heard of but may not fully understand in under 15 minutes. In this episode Lord O’Donnell, a former Cabinet Secretary who headed the British Civil Service between 2005-2011 under Prime Ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron looks at economic growth, what counts as GDP and productivity, and whether national happiness and wellbeing are taken into account. Subscribe to It's The Economy at: https://pod.link/1577180549 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 Sep 202119min

With so much data and power centralised in the hands of a few West Coast companies, the tech giants have become a serious threat to our basic freedoms and must be broken up. That’s the argument that was made at this major Intelligence Squared debate by the FT’s global business columnist Rana Foroohar and by businessman and former chairman of Channel 4 Luke Johnson. But others would argue that it’s all too easy to make the tech giants a scapegoat for the inevitable upheavals caused by the digital revolution. The real winners of this revolution are not the tech companies but us, the users. Who could now imagine living without the services of Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft? That’s the case that was made in our debate by former head of Facebook’s European politics and government division Elizabeth Linder and competition law expert Pinar Akman. Who's right and who's wrong?  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

19 Sep 20211h 3min

Does owning a big house and supporting ‘correct’ social causes not just make you feel good about yourself but actually make you healthier and live longer? The answer is yes. This is just one of the fascinating findings that bestselling writer Will Storr shared with Intelligence Squared on September 16 discussing the themes of his new book The Status Game. Storr argues that it is our irrepressible craving for status that ultimately defines who we are. As he puts it, ‘If you want to rule the world, save the world, buy the world or fuck the world, the best thing to pursue is status.’ And research shows that without sufficient status, we suffer more illness and live shorter lives. To get the Intelligence Squared discount on the book click here: https://www.primrosehillbooks.com/product/the-status-game-on-social-position-and-how-we-use-it-will-storr-intel/ 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

17 Sep 202159min

Acclaimed novelist Salman Rushdie joins journalist Razia Iqbal to take us back in time and discuss three influential touchstones of his life: a silver ingot engraved with an unpartitioned map of India, Bob Dylan’s ‘Mr. Tambourine man’, and James Joyce’s ‘The Dead’, a slightly intimidating but powerful inspiration. This episode was originally released in 2021 as part of Intelligence Squared’s touchstones series and produced by Head of Podcasts Farah Jassat — 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 about. Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to podcasts@intelligencesquared.com or Tweet us at @intelligence2.  At Intelligence Squared we’ve got our own online streaming platform, Intelligence Squared+ and we’d love you to give it a go. It’s packed with more than 20 years’ worth of video debates and conversations on the world’s most important topics as well as exclusive podcast content. Tune in to live events, ask your questions or watch on-demand, totally ad-free with hours of discussion to dive into. Visit intelligencesquaredplus.com to start watching today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

14 Sep 202156min

On Monday September 7th El Salvador became the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender. Businesses in the country will be obliged where possible to accept the digital coins as payment and citizens will be expected to download the government's new digital wallet app which gives away $30 in Bitcoin to every citizen. Bitcoin fans have been jumping for joy and believe the adoption of cryptocurrency in low income countries like El Salvador will provide banking services to the two billion people in the world who are unbanked. In El Salvador, 70 per cent of citizens are unbanked and roughly one quarter of the working population lives in the United States, from where they send remittance payments to their families back home. In the future, these payments could be made using Bitcoin, which could dramatically reduce cross-border fees and allow families to send cryptocurrency straight to the mobile phone of loved ones. But some security experts have their doubts. ‘Banking the unbanked’ may sound like a bright idea but it assumes that people who lack financial services primarily need a better and cheaper way to access them. A 2015 World Bank report found that 59 per cent of survey respondents cited lack of money as the main reason for not having a bank account. So, rather than luring people into the murky world of cryptocurrencies, where volatile prices such as the recent drop in Bitcoin can make the poor poorer, should we not instead be looking at real solutions to help unbanked people generate more income? Speakers: Peter McCormack, Yaya Fanusie Moderator: Anne McElvoy This debate is part of Intelligence Squared Crypto our new debate series in partnership with EQONEX the Nasdaq listed digital asset advisory. To find out more about EQONEX click here: https://eqonex.com/ 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 Sep 202153min

Meritocracy has long been an article of faith in the modern Western world. Get an education, work hard and the rewards of success will be yours, regardless of class, privilege or wealth. But recently meritocracy has come under attack, with the charge led by Michael Sandel, the Harvard philosopher whose public debates on how we define the common good have won him a global following. But not everyone agrees. Taking issue with much of Sandel’s arguments is Adrian Wooldridge, the political editor at The Economist. In this week's debate they argue whether we need more or less meritocracy in society. The host is BBC broadcaster Ritula Shah. For Michael Sandel's new bool click here: https://www.primrosehillbooks.com/product/the-tyranny-of-merit-whats-become-of-the-common-good-michael-j-sandel-pb/ For Adrian Wooldridge's new book click here: https://www.primrosehillbooks.com/product/the-aristocracy-of-talent-how-meritocracy-made-the-modern-world-adrian-wooldridge/ 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

10 Sep 20211h 2min

While the Taliban have the power of violence on their side in Afghanistan, they nonetheless need civilians to comply with their authority. Both strategically and by necessity, civilians have leveraged this reliance on their obedience in order to influence Taliban behaviour. In this week's episode Ashley Jackson author or Negotiating Survival speaks to Rosamund Urwin about her new model for understanding how civilian agency can shape the conduct of insurgencies. They also discuss Taliban strategy and objectives, explaining how the organisation has so nearly triumphed on the battlefield and in peace talks. While Afghanistan’s future is deeply unpredictable, there is one certainty: it is as critical as ever to understand the Taliban—and how civilians survive their rule. To find out more about the book and to order it click here: https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/negotiating-survival/ 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

7 Sep 202141min