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Intelligence Squared

Intelligence Squared is the home of lively debate and deep-dive discussion. Follow Intelligence Squared wherever you get your podcasts and enjoy four regular episodes per week taking you to the heart of the issues that matter in the company of the world’s great minds. 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. 

And if you’d like to support our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations, as well as ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content, early access and much more, become a supporter of Intelligence Squared today. Just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more.

According to award-winning actor, writer, director and producer Lena Dunham, we’re now too invested in having a good relationship with our ex. 

Best known for creating the hit HBO show Girls, which earned her eight Emmy nominations and two Golden Globes, Lena Dunham has recently published her Sunday Times and New York Times Number One Bestseller, Famesick, which explores the decade after the show’s end and how she navigated fame, illness and relationships.

In April 2026 Lena joined Intelligence Squared live at the Hackney Empire with journalist, author and screenwriter Dolly Alderton for an intimate slumber-party-style event, where they discussed everything from their favourite meal-deal to Lena’s legacy as a voice of a generation. 

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If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more.

For £4.99 per month you'll also receive:

- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts

- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

- 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events 

... 

Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99:

- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts

- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

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Lena Dunham: Famesick, with Dolly Alderton (Part One)

In this episode, journalist Kamal Ahmed explores how innovation is the driving force behind meaningful growth, not simply through capital investment, but by rethinking and reinventing the status quo with transformative technologies. He was joined by guests Laura Gilbert, Lee Ellis & Prashant Jojodia, who together examined what sustainable, resilient growth looks like for the UK, and how empowering both businesses and individuals can push the boundaries of what is possible while securing future prosperity.

This episode was recorded live in London as part of Intelligence Squared and IBM's The Age to Come series. Next live event date: 13th May 2026 - and you can secure £10 tickets using code PODCAST at checkout. 

Find out more: https://www.intelligencesquared.com/ibm/
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The Age of Growth: Live in Partnership with IBM

Demis Hassabis – CEO and co-founder of Google DeepMind – is one of the world’s most visionary technologists. A child chess prodigy from North London, Hassabis was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for using artificial intelligence to predict the complex structures of nearly all known proteins. His company DeepMind, now owned by Google, is at the forefront of the pursuit to build artificial general intelligence, and considered Google’s engine room of AI innovation. 

Sebastian Mallaby – former FT contributing editor, two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of numerous books – has, for the past 3 years, explored the moral questions at the heart of AI and AGI, through the story of Demis Hassabis. With extensive access to DeepMind and its key players, Mallaby has conducted hundreds of hours of interviews with Hassabis and his inner circle as well as detractors and rivals at other companies. No other journalist has had such a closeup view of the opportunities, hype and threats AI could pose for us all. 

In April 2026 Hassabis and Mallaby came together for an intimate exploration of The Infinity Machine, Mallaby’s definitive account of Hassabis’ life and career. They discussed how he came to lead the world’s most ambitious AI lab, what the pursuit of AGI might cost as well as what it might unlock, and what the story of Hassabis and DeepMind can tell us about humanity’s innate drive to develop new technologies.

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If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more.

For £4.99 per month you'll also receive:

- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts

- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

- 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events 

... 

Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99:

- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts

- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

…

Already a subscriber? 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 and early access.

…

Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Demis Hassabis and Sebastian Mallaby on The Quest for Artificial General Intelligence (Part Two)

Demis Hassabis – CEO and co-founder of Google DeepMind – is one of the world’s most visionary technologists. A child chess prodigy from North London, Hassabis was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for using artificial intelligence to predict the complex structures of nearly all known proteins. His company DeepMind, now owned by Google, is at the forefront of the pursuit to build artificial general intelligence, and considered Google’s engine room of AI innovation. 

Sebastian Mallaby – former FT contributing editor, two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of numerous books – has, for the past 3 years, explored the moral questions at the heart of AI and AGI, through the story of Demis Hassabis. With extensive access to DeepMind and its key players, Mallaby has conducted hundreds of hours of interviews with Hassabis and his inner circle as well as detractors and rivals at other companies. No other journalist has had such a closeup view of the opportunities, hype and threats AI could pose for us all. 

In April 2026 Hassabis and Mallaby came together for an intimate exploration of The Infinity Machine, Mallaby’s definitive account of Hassabis’ life and career. They discussed how he came to lead the world’s most ambitious AI lab, what the pursuit of AGI might cost as well as what it might unlock, and what the story of Hassabis and DeepMind can tell us about humanity’s innate drive to develop new technologies.
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Demis Hassabis and Sebastian Mallaby on The Quest for Artificial General Intelligence (Part One)

Chemistry is everywhere. From cosmetics and the clothes we wear to life-saving medicines and kitchen experiments, chemical processes are all around us, defining our interactions with the world we live in. 

In this episode, Professor Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu joins Professor Helen Czerski to discuss how chemistry shapes our understanding of the world. Their conversation explores our complex relationship with plastics; the fact that synthetic products are not always harmful and natural ones not always safe; and the ways machine learning could transform chemical testing and revolutionise the development of new medicines.

Professor Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu is President of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge. She is the author of Chain Reaction: The Wondrous Chemistry of Everyday Life.

Professor Helen Czerski is a British physicist, oceanographer, and broadcaster.

If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more.

For £4.99 per month you'll also receive:

- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts

- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

- 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events 

... 

Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99:

- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts

- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

…

Already a subscriber? 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 and early access.

…

Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more.

https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/

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How Does Chemistry Shape our World? With Professor Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu

The Cambridge Five - Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Kim Philby, John Cairncross and Keeper of the Queen's Pictures Anthony Blunt - made up one of the most notorious spy rings of the 20th century. Besotted with communist ideology and radicalised while at Cambridge University in the 1930s, their clandestine supply of British and US intelligence material gave Stalin an inside track on US and British decision-making until May 1951.

So how did this collective come into being, what brought about its downfall, and why did four of the five never answer for their crimes?

In this episode, Antonia Senior draws on recently declassified files to reexamine the story of the Cambridge Five. Discussing her new book Stalin’s Apostles: The Cambridge Five and the Making of the Soviet Empire with historian and philosopher Sophie Scott Brown, Senior explores how a generation shaped by the crises of the 1930s was drawn to communism, and how elite networks within Cambridge and the British establishment enabled one of the most damaging intelligence breaches in modern history.

Antonia Senior is a journalist and writer. She is the author of Stalin’s Apostles: The Cambridge Five and the Making of the Soviet Empire.

Sophie Scott Brown is a historian and philosopher specialising in modern intellectual history and political thought.

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Why Did Elite Cambridge Graduates Become Soviet Spies? Revisiting the Cambridge Five, with Antonia Senior

Our changing climate is accelerating conflict and migration, with the potential to drive political instability from the Sahel to Saudi Arabia to Siberia. From the water-stressed mountains of the Arabian Peninsula to the wildfires raging through America’s most populated regions, the climate crisis is already affecting the lives of millions. 

In a new book, Elemental, former diplomat Arthur Snell explores how global powers must adapt to new vulnerabilities, the risk of future conflicts over natural resources, and the links between the climate crisis and the rise of populism in Europe and the United States.

In this episode, he speaks to journalist Adam McCauley about our rapidly changing geopolitics, the technologies available to help us adapt to a heating planet, the potential for new forms of political cooperation and the choices we need to make to avert disaster.

Arthur Snell is a former British diplomat who has worked in Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen. His new book is Elemental: The New Geography of Climate Change and How We Survive It. 

If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more.

For £4.99 per month you'll also receive:

- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts

- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

- 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events 

... 

Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99:

- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts

- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

…

Already a subscriber? 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 and early access.

…

Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more.

https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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How Will the Climate Crisis Reshape Global Politics? With Former Diplomat and Author, Arthur Snell

More people are being labelled with medical conditions than ever before. Diagnoses of autism, ADHD, allergies, and long COVID have skyrocketed - but are we actually getting less healthy? 

In this episode, neurologist Dr Suzanne O’Sullivan speaks to Dr Güneş Taylor about an impending crisis of overdiagnosis. Drawing on histories of real people, as well as decades of clinical practice and the latest medical research, O’Sullivan argues her research indicates that ordinary life experiences, bodily imperfections, sadness and social anxiety are being subsumed into the category of medical disorder. In other words: we are not getting sicker – we are attributing more to sickness.

Dr Suzanne O’Sullivan is a neurologist and writer. She is the author of The Age of Diagnosis, as well as previous books including It’s All in Your Head and The Sleeping Beauties.

Dr Güneş Taylor is a science broadcaster and Fellow at the Centre for Reproductive Health.

If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more.

For £4.99 per month you'll also receive:

- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts

- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

- 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events 

... 

Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99:

- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts

- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

…

Already a subscriber? 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 and early access.

…

Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more.

https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/

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Is There a Crisis of Overdiagnosis in Modern Medicine? With Dr Suzanne O’Sullivan

What does it mean to translate some of the most recognisable and revered works in the English language? When the wordplay, poetry, and syntax of Shakespeare are all changed, is it still truly Shakespeare? 

In this episode, host Mythili Rao speaks with translator Daniel Hahn about his new book If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation. From Hamlet in Italian to Romeo and Juliet in Thai, Hahn explores how Shakespeare’s plays are continually reshaped as they move across languages, cultures and traditions.

Drawing on close readings and examples from around the world, Hahn examines the practical and creative challenges of translation: how to carry across rhythm, wordplay and humour, and what is lost and gained in the process. The conversation explores questions of fidelity and invention, from the difficulty of reproducing Shakespeare’s jokes to the complexities of voice, character and grammar.

At its centre is a reflection on what makes Shakespeare endure, not as a fixed body of text, but as a living work constantly remade through language, performance and interpretation.

Daniel Hahn is an award-winning translator, author and editor of numerous fiction and non-fiction works. He was previously chair for the Society of Authors and currently serves on the board of trustees for English PEN. He is the author of If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation, which is available in bookstores now.

Mythili Rao is a book critic, journalist and podcast producer.

If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more.

For £4.99 per month you'll also receive:

- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts

- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

- 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events 

... 

Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99:

- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts

- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

…

Already a subscriber? 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 and early access.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How Has Translation Transformed Shakespeare? With Daniel Hahn

Hundreds of millions of people now talk to AI, such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini every day. They organise their finances and holidays, ask advice, seek therapy and find love – via machines. Almost overnight, chatbots are transforming society, politics and business. This is one of the biggest and fastest technological changes in history.

In this episode journalist and author, Jamie Bartlett, speaks to Intelligence Squared’s Head of Programming, Conor Boyle, about the consequences both good and ill of a world where people are talking to machines. Jamie’s new book on the topic is titled How To Talk To AI (And How Not To) and is available now from your local bookshop.

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If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more.

For £4.99 per month you'll also receive:

- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts

- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

- 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events 

... 

Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99:

- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts

- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

…

Already a subscriber? 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 and early access.

…

Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more.

https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Should You Be Talking To AI? with Jamie Bartlett

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