Nobody in the history of humanity has ever achieved ‘work-life balance,’ whatever that might be, and you certainly won’t get there by copying the ‘six things successful people do before 7 a.m.’ – Oliver Burkeman

Oliver Burkeman is the anti-self-help author that everyone interested in self-help s...

How has feminist thought evolved down the ages? Beginning in the fifteenth century with Christine de Pizan, who imagined a City of Ladies that would serve as a refuge from the harassment of men, historian of ideas Hannah Dawson has magnificently drawn together six hundred years of feminist thinki...

For almost 40 years, the Parthenon Marbles, or Elgin Marbles as they are also known, have been at the centre of the great restitution debate. Taken from Greece in contested circumstances by Lord Elgin in the 19th century, the marble sculptures that were part of the Parthenon and other structures ...

The tech platforms promised us a future of connection, but they were lying. They said their walled gardens would keep us safe, but they were building prison walls.

That’s the claim made by Cory Doctorow, one of the world’s leading critics of the impact of new technologies on society and culture....

In the Middle Ages, Jews were hated for their religion. In the twentieth century, they were hated because of their race. Today Jews are hated for something else: the nation state of Israel. That's the argument being made by journalist and editor of the Jewish Chronicle Jake Wallis Simons, who com...

Bestselling author and activist Naomi Klein goes down the rabbit hole in pursuit of her doppelganger – another well known writer with a name similar to hers but whose views couldn’t be more different from her own. She finds herself returning again and again to a place she calls Mirror World, wher...

John Gray is one of the UK’s most important and influential political thinkers. Sceptical of ideas about progress and the perfectibility of human nature, he is an arch critic of liberalism, believing that history moves in cycles rather than inexorably towards a better future.

On September 14 he...

Imagine a world where people who suffer from epilepsy receive alerts moments before a seizure, where the average person can peer into their own mind to eliminate painful memories and we can easily cure addictions. This is also a world where your brain could be interrogated to learn your political...

Food has always been more than just fuel. Beyond mere nourishment, food carries deep meaning in our lives. It evokes feelings of comfort and joy and it can ignite disagreement and discord. It serves as a powerful link to culture and identity, creating a sense of belonging and community. When migr...

Messalina was the third wife of the Emperor Claudius and one of the most notorious women of the Roman world. Historians Tacitus and Suetonius wrote that the Empress Messalina was 'a ruthless and sexually insatiable schemer.' The stories they told about her included nightly visits to a brothel and...

Philosopher Susan Neiman and cultural critic Thomas Chatterton Williams came to Intelligence Squared for a challenging conversation on the themes of Neiman’s new book Left is Not Woke. Neiman set out what she sees as the dangerous consequences of conflating ‘wokeism’ with the Left, arguing that t...

We are often told that depression is ‘all in the mind’. So why are so many of its symptoms felt in our bodies? Why can depression have such a profound impact on physical as well as mental health – from coronary disease to stroke? On August 23 Philip Gold, a world-renowned expert on this devastati...

The Labour MP Wes Streeting reveals his childhood struggle with poverty and the inspirational figures who set him on the path to university and politics in this pre-recorded discussion with broadcaster Justin Webb.

To understand the world you need to understand the ocean. That’s the argument of physicist Helen Czerski who has long studied the complex ecosystems and forces that drive the ‘blue machine’ which covers 71% of our planet. On Monday June 5, Czerski comes to Intelligence Squared to discuss what we ...

Feelings not facts. Outrage over rationality. Impulsivity over measured thought. The modern political landscape has become a maelstrom of heightened emotion. On June 6 philosopher Julian Baggini comes to Intelligence Squared to share the insights of his new book How to Think Like a Philosopher: E...

‘Black people are like white people; they are shaped as much by their nationality as by their race, by their local environment as much by the colour of their skin.’ – Tomiwa Owolade

Tomiwa Owolade is a rising star of literary and cultural criticism in the UK. On August 1 he comes to Intelligence...

Once on the fringes of the political spectrum extremists are now going mainstream. Accelerated by a pandemic, global conflict and rapid technological change, their ideas are becoming more widespread: QAnon proponents run for U.S. Congress, neo-fascists win elections in Europe, and hyper partisan ...

TUESDAY JULY 25 2023, 6PM BST
Politics In The Age Of Chaos With Rafael Behr and Jonathan Freedland

Politics &
Economics
Do you ever turn away from the news in despair? Do you scroll through social media and come away feeling angry, frustrated and fearful? Have you given up on the idea that a le...

Can we love the art of monstrous men? Can we truly separate the art from the artist? Should we boycott their work or should we still appreciate their genius despite their actions?

To answer these questions author and critic Claire Dederer came to Intelligence Squared in July 24. In conversation...

There are six crucial substances in human history: sand, iron, salt, oil, copper and lithium. They took us from the Dark Ages to the present day. They build our homes and offices, power our computers and phones, and create life-saving medicines. But most of us take them completely for granted.

I...

What are the true origins of gendered oppression? Why does gender inequality persist despite efforts for change? What part do we all play in keeping patriarchal structures alive?

On June 20 award-winning science journalist Angela Saini comes to Intelligence Squared to address these questions ...

For too long our schools and universities have excluded people of colour from the canon of great writers. All students, whatever their heritage, should be able to see themselves reflected in the books they read. In our increasingly diverse society that means that Plato and Socrates, Locke and Hum...

If you’re a woman living in a deprived area of England, you are likely to die seven years younger than if you were living in an affluent area. If you attend a private school, by the time you are 40 you can expect to earn 35% more than a former state school pupil. And if you are homeless as an adu...

Over the last year, AI has been advancing at unprecedented speed. Tools like ChatGPT are taking the drudgery out of many of our everyday activities and creating exciting possibilities. But alarm bells are ringing. As we become increasingly unable to differentiate between the virtual and the real,...