Intelligence Squared

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Sexual Revolution: Modern Fascism and the Feminist Fightback, with Laurie Penny Apr 01, 2022

Show notes

We are in an era of crisis, collapse, and reactionary tyrants, argues Laurie Penny, but we are also witnessing a transformation: a revolutionary change in how we define gender, sex, consent and whose bodies matter. In her new book, Sexual Revolution: Modern Fascism and the Feminist Fightback, Laurie offers an urgent analysis of this moment of sexual politics we are living through. Our host for the discussion is cultural historian and broadcaster Shahidha Bari.

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The World for Sale, with Javier Blas and Jack Farchy Mar 30, 2022

Show notes

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has laid bare the West’s reliance on Russian oil and gas. Around 40 per cent of Europe’s gas comes from Russia, while some 7 per cent of US oil is Russian. Journalists Javier Blas and Jack Farchy’s new book, The World for Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources, tells the story of how trading commodities such as these has shaped the global financial landscape and why we find ourselves in a pivotal moment in which geopolitical and economic relationships are being tested. Investigative journalist and Manveen Rana speaks with Javier and Jack about the book and its wider themes.

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How Britain became Butler to the World, with Oliver Bullough Mar 28, 2022

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Bestselling investigative journalist Oliver Bullough discusses his recent book, Butler to the World, which details how Britain became a favoured destination for funnelling the finances of oligarchs and the globe's super rich. He joins fellow journalist and broadcaster Manveen Rana to talk about the book and how international finance plays into the current situation in Ukraine.

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The Sunday Debate: Iran Is Not Our Enemy Mar 27, 2022

Show notes

In this debate from the Intelligence Squared archive, we head back to 2020, when we invited journalist and broadcaster Mehdi Hasan, academic and writer Azadeh Moaveni, the Saudi political analyst Salman al-Ansari and former Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan to debate the motion: Iran is Not Our Enemy. The discussion touches on many issues that hold relevance in the current moment, ranging from the effectiveness of sanctions to the capabilities of nuclear-armed nations. The debate was chaired by the BBC's Chief International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet.

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Reflections on Black Consciousness: Lewis Gordon and Paul Gilroy in conversation Mar 26, 2022

Show notes

Professor Lewis Gordon is a leading philosopher and Department Head at the University of Connecticut who believes that intellectual thought matters as much as political activism in the struggle to achieve racial justice. His recent book Fear of Black Consciousness is an exploration that combines academic theory and also his ideas on pop culture to create a broad and thought-provoking study, Gordon is joined in conversation by Professor Paul Gilroy, author, one of the world’s foremost theorists of race and racism, and Founding Director of the Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Racism & Racialisation at University College London.

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The Animal Queendom: Rethinking Zoology, with Lucy Cooke Mar 23, 2022

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In his theory of evolution, Charles Darwin cast the female animal as passive, coy, monogamous and submissive: in other words, in the shape of a Victorian housewife. Meanwhile the male animal became the main event, the dominant driver in his theory of evolutionary change. But according to a revolution in zoology and evolutionary biology, this is all wrong. Lucy Cooke, zoologist, explorer, and author, joins host Helen Czerski to set the record straight and discuss her new book, Bitch: A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal. Her research has taken her from Madagascar to Peru where she’s made discoveries about female moles, meerkats and killer whales, dispelling biological myths around passivity, weakness and submissiveness.

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Disorder: Ukraine, Politics and Conflict in the 21st Century, with Helen Thompson Mar 21, 2022

Show notes

Helen Thompson is Professor of Political Economy at the University of Cambridge, a columnist for The New Statesman, and has been a regular contributor to the Talking Politics podcast. Her new book, Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century, looks at decades of geopolitical history that have fed into our current moment: one of war and conflict, nations competing for dwindling natural resources, and the climate emergency casting a long shadow. She joins journalist and author Andrew Mueller to discuss how we got here.

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The Sunday Debate: Sanctions Won’t Stop Putin Mar 20, 2022

Show notes

Banks, energy suppliers and oligarchs are just some of the targets that sanctions enforced by the West are looking to put pressure on in order to halt Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. In this edition of The Sunday Debate, we ask how effective the financial freeze caused by sanctions can be in comparison to the potential impact of a fully fledged military intervention. Joining us is Bill Browder, Head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign, and Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins. Chairing the debate is journalist and broadcaster Philippa Thomas.

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The Allure of Abandoned Places, with Cal Flyn Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

Cal Flyn’s Islands of Abandonment was one of the UK’s bestselling books of 2021. It was the Sunday Times Science and Environment book of the year and won her the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. In this episode she talks with broadcaster and science communicator Helen Czerski about the extraordinary places where humans no longer live – or survive in only tiny numbers – and about what happens when humanity’s impact on nature is forced into retreat.

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No Bullsh*t Leadership, with John Simpson Mar 16, 2022

Show notes

John Simpson is the BBC’s World Affairs Editor and has dedicated his life to telling stories from the frontline having joined the BBC more than 50 years ago as a reporter. In this special episode, Chris Hirst, Global CEO of advertising group Havas Creative, meets the veteran journalist to discuss having a front seat for some of the most significant moments in modern history; from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Iraq War in 2003, where he was seriously injured in a friendly fire incident on the road to Baghdad. His career has taken him to more than 120 countries, including 30 war zones, interviewing global leaders such as Nelson Mandela and also tyrants including Saddam Hussein along the way. Most recently he returned from Finland, where he was reporting on Russia's invasion of Ukraine for his new programme, Unspun World. 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 Bullsh*t Leadership: Why the World Needs More Everyday Leaders and Why That Leader is You.

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