Intelligence Squared

• Olivia Laing on Passion and Heartbreak in the Golden Age of New Italian Cinema

  Olivia Laing is an internationally acclaimed writer and critic. They are the author of eight books, including The Lonely City, Everybody and the Sunday Times bestseller The Garden Against Time. Laing’s first novel, Crudo, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and in 2018 they were awarded the Windham-Campbell Prize for non-fiction.  In today’s episode, Laing sits down with host Mythili Rao to discuss their latest novel, The Silver Book. The Silver Book is at once a queer love story and a noirish thriller, set in the dream factory of cinema.  Weaving a fictional account from the creation of Federico Fellini’s flamboyant biopic Casanova and Pasolini’s notoriously shocking, Salò, or 120 Days of Sodom, Laing explores the difficult relationship between artifice and truth, illusion and reality, love and power. 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Salman Rushdie on Mortality, Memory and The Eleventh Hour

  Salman Rushdie is one of the world’s most acclaimed, award-winning contemporary authors.  Translated into over forty languages, his sixteen works of fiction include Midnight’s Children – for which he won the Booker Prize in 1981, the Booker of Bookers on the 25th anniversary of the prize and Best of the Booker on the 40th anniversary – Shame, The Satanic Verses, Quichotte and Victory City. His latest non-fiction book, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder was a number one Sunday Times bestseller. A former president of PEN American Center, Rushdie was knighted in 2007 for services to literature and was made a Companion of Honour in the Queen's last Birthday Honours list in 2022. In this episode, Rushdie sits down with broadcaster and journalist Kavita Puri to discuss his reflections on legacy, mortality, and returning to fiction in his new short story collection The Eleventh Hour. The stories in The Eleventh Hour span the three countries that Rushdie has called home – India, England and America – and explore what it means to approach the eleventh hour of life.  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/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• What was the Iranian Revolution really about? With Scott Anderson

  Scott Anderson is a veteran foreign reporter and war correspondent, and a contributing writer for The New York Times. Over his career he has reported from Bosnia, Libya, Palestine and across the Middle East.  In this episode, he spoke to host Hannah Lucinda Smith about his new book, King of Kings, a gripping account of the fall of the Shah of Iran, the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the rise of the Islamic Republic. Together, they explore the flaws that led to the Shah’s downfall, and why Western powers fundamentally misunderstood what was happening in the country in the months before the revolution. They also examine how these events shaped Iran and the Middle East today, and the political future of a country whose power has been diminished in the region, but whose population is again rallying around the flag in response to external aggression. King of Kings: The Fall of the Shah, the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the Unmaking of the Modern Middle East is available to by now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook with Jeremy Hunt (Part Two)

  We’ve heard enough from the pessimists. Yes, these are hard times, but what investors, business owners and all of us need right now is not more despair about the economy, but a clear roadmap towards growth and prosperity. In October 2025, Jeremy Hunt came to the Intelligence Squared stage to share his vision of how we can achieve economic renewal. Hunt’s optimism is grounded in the authority of experience. As a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Health Secretary, he held some of the most demanding government offices during an extraordinarily turbulent time in recent history. Drawing on the themes of his new book Can We Be Great Again?, he challenged the fatalism that dominates so much of today’s public debate. While candid about Britain’s weaknesses, he argued that on issues ranging from European security and global trade to climate, migration and the future of democracy, the UK still has the potential to lead — if it chooses to act like a country that matters. Hunt was in conversation with BBC journalist Jonny Dymond for this instalment of the Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook series, in partnership with Guinness Global Investors. The event was a wide-ranging discussion with one of Britain’s most experienced leaders on how the country can get back on track, at home and on the world stage. --- This recording is part of The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook series of events made in partnership with Guinness Global Investors, an independent British fund manager that helps both individuals and institutions harness the future drivers of growth to achieve their investment goals. To find out more visit: https://www.guinnessgi.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook with Jeremy Hunt (Part One)

  We’ve heard enough from the pessimists. Yes, these are hard times, but what investors, business owners and all of us need right now is not more despair about the economy, but a clear roadmap towards growth and prosperity. In October 2025, Jeremy Hunt came to the Intelligence Squared stage to share his vision of how we can achieve economic renewal. Hunt’s optimism is grounded in the authority of experience. As a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Health Secretary, he held some of the most demanding government offices during an extraordinarily turbulent time in recent history. Drawing on the themes of his new book Can We Be Great Again?, he challenged the fatalism that dominates so much of today’s public debate. While candid about Britain’s weaknesses, he argued that on issues ranging from European security and global trade to climate, migration and the future of democracy, the UK still has the potential to lead — if it chooses to act like a country that matters. Hunt was in conversation with BBC journalist Jonny Dymond for this instalment of the Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook series, in partnership with Guinness Global Investors. The event was a wide-ranging discussion with one of Britain’s most experienced leaders on how the country can get back on track, at home and on the world stage. --- This recording is part of The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook series of events made in partnership with Guinness Global Investors, an independent British fund manager that helps both individuals and institutions harness the future drivers of growth to achieve their investment goals. To find out more visit: https://www.guinnessgi.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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