Intelligence Squared is a media company that organizes live
debates
Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...
and other cultural events around the world.
It was founded in 2002 in London,
where its head office is based, and has affiliates in the
US,
Australia, and
Hong Kong. The debates are held in the traditional
Oxford style in front of a live audience. The company produces video and
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...
programs, publishing on
YouTube, and other platforms.
Intelligence Squared is often referred to as Intelligence
2 and IQ2.
History
Intelligence Squared was founded by two media entrepreneurs,
Jeremy O'Grady and John Gordon, in 2002.
In 2012, the company was bought by art consultant Amelie von Wedel,
Yana Peel
Yana Peel (born June 1974) is a Canadian executive, businesswoman, children's author and philanthropist who is currently global head of arts and culture at Chanel.Bailey, Sarah. "In Conversation: Art and Fashion Are Both About Desire", ''Red'', ...
(CEO of
Serpentine Galleries
The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Central London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Gallery ...
), and David Legg (
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational corporation, multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services ...
Executive General Manager).
Hannah Kaye has been executive producer since 2006,
and Matt McAllester became managing director in 2018.
In addition to debates, Intelligence Squared also hosts interviews, discussions, and panels with such figures as President
Jimmy Carter,
Eric Schmidt,
Sheryl Sandberg,
Malala Yousafzai,
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946)
is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''.
Called the "punk poet ...
, and
Werner Herzog.
Intelligence Squared licensed the rights to the brand for global expansion and
Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates
Open to Debate Foundation (Formerly Intelligence Squared U.S.) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media group that produces nationally broadcast debates and conversations on a wide array of topics spanning technology, law, global affairs, culture, sci ...
was established in 2006 as a
nonpartisan,
nonprofit media group by financier and philanthropist
Robert Rosenkranz
Robert Rosenkranz (born August 5, 1942) is an American philanthropist and the chairman of Delphi Capital Management, an investment concern with over $35 billion in assets under management, and the founder of a group of investment and private equit ...
.
The organization's mission is stated as being to "restore critical thinking, facts, reason, and civility to American public discourse."
Other Intelligence Squared licensees operate in
Sydney (since 2008) and
Hong Kong (since 2009).
The company has also had partnerships in
Kyiv (2008 – 2014),
Athens (2010),
Israel (2013), and
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
(2014). IQ2 debates in Australia are hosted by
The Ethics Centre in
Sydney.
Debate format
Intelligence Squared uses the traditional Oxford-Style debate format
inspired by the
Oxford Union. A motion is proposed, with two speakers arguing in favour and two against. Opening remarks are around 10 minutes in length. This is followed by questions and answers from the live audience, a lively dialogue between the speakers, and short closing remarks by each debater in turn.
The audience is polled on their opinion both before and after the debate and the winning side is determined by the side which changed the most minds.
Another format they produce are "Cultural Combat" debates, in which two cultural figures are pitted against each other. These began in 2013 with "Verdi vs. Wagner", which was staged at London’s
Royal Opera House with a sixty-piece live
orchestra,
Stephen Fry in the chair, and
John Tomlinson singing
Wotan
(''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelung ...
.
Debate topics include foreign policy, religion, history, social policy, politics, economics, science, technology, art, culture, and the environment.
Intelligence Squared U.S.
Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates was established in the United States in 2006 as a nonpartisan, nonprofit institution with a mission to "raise the level of public discourse" in America.
An award-winning
national radio program, podcast, television show, and digital platform, Intelligence Squared U.S. has produced more than 200 live debates since 2006 and made history by hosting the first debate ever between an
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
and a human being, in partnership with
IBM's "
Project Debater”.
Intelligence Squared U.S. is often referred to as IQ2US.
Intelligence Squared U.S. episodes have been broadcast on
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
since 2007,
in addition to
Bloomberg Television
Bloomberg Television (on-air as Bloomberg) is an American-based pay television network focusing on business and capital market programming, owned by Bloomberg L.P. It is distributed globally, reaching over 310 million homes worldwide. It is head ...
,
BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
,
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...
,
Newsy
Newsy is an American news network headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. Its content is available for free on OTT platforms including Pluto TV (which inserts short-form ''Newsy Briefs'' into commercial breaks ...
,
C-SPAN, and education streaming platform
Wondrium.
Podcast and video
All Intelligence Squared events are recorded and released on the company’s
YouTube channel and as part of a weekly podcast series. The company also records podcasts with authors and other intellectuals.
Television
Intelligence Squared debates have also been broadcast globally on
BBC World
BBC World News is an international English-language pay television network, operated under the ''BBC Global News Limited'' division of the BBC, which is a public corporation of the UK government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media an ...
.
Partnerships
Intelligence Squared has partnered with
The New York Times,
Google,
and
Vanity Fair Vanity Fair may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Literature
* Vanity Fair, a location in '' The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1678), by John Bunyan
* ''Vanity Fair'' (novel), 1848, by William Makepeace Thackeray
* ''Vanity Fair'' (magazines), the ...
.
The first Intelligence Squared and
Google VERSUS debate series held its first debate, titled "It's Time to End the War on Drugs", on 13 March 2012.
Intelligence Squared has also staged events in partnership with
Shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard o ...
on topics related to climate change and sustainable energy use. Other partnerships include
The National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
,
Wellington College Wellington College may refer to:
* Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England
** Wellington College International Shanghai
** Wellington College International Tianjin
*Wellington College, Wellington, New ...
,
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...
,
Baker McKenzie
Baker McKenzie is an international law firm located in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1949, originally named Baker & McKenzie. It now has 77 offices in 46 countries. It employs 4,809 attorneys total, and approximately 13,000 employees tot ...
in
New York City,
Investec
Investec is an Anglo-South African international banking and wealth management group. It provides a range of financial products and services to a client base in Europe, Southern Africa, and Asia-Pacific.
Investec is dual-listed on the London ...
,
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
, the
World Health Organization in New York, the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
in
Geneva, and the
University of Chicago.
References
External links
* {{Official website, https://www.intelligencesquared.com/
Intelligence Squared on YouTubeIntelligence Squared U.S. Website
Debating