Intelligence Squared

Ever wish you could hear about some more positive ideas on how to tackle climate change? Well, here is your chance. At this event on energy game changers organised by Intelligence² in partnership with Shell and the International Herald Tribune, we will put aside for a moment the gloomy predictions about climate armageddon and look into the exciting solutions being offered by the world of science. We’re bringing you five brilliant technical innovators who will be describing a scenar...

Rising star historian Faramerz Dabhoiwala describes how the permissive society arrived in Western Europe, not in the 1960s as we like to think, but between 1600 and 1800. It began in England and is now shaping and challenging patterns of sexual behaviour all over the world. For most of western history, all sex outside marriage was illegal, and the church, the state, and ordinary people all devoted huge efforts to suppressing and punishing it. This was a central feature of Christian civili...

In this new Intelligence² format the BBC’s Evan Davis will take to the stage in the role of roving inquisitor. There’ll be expert witnesses in the audience and a chance for everyone to put their question to the panel. We’re lining up eminent economists and leading figures from the worlds of business and finance for Evan to grill on the most pressing issues of the day: Just how bad an economic mess are we in? Is this the end of capitalism as we know it or just one of cap...

We all know that the Chinese are the neo-colonialists of Africa. They’ve plundered the continent of its natural resources, tossing aside any concern for human rights and doing deals with some of the world’s most unsavoury regimes. The relentless pursuit of growth is China’s only spur. But is this picture really fair? In Angola, for example, China’s low-interest loans have been tied to a scheme that has ensured that roads, schools and other infrastructure has been built. China has ...