Intelligence Squared Intelligence Squared

Who owns and profits from our data, both big and small, has become one of the defining issues of the post-internet age. In their new book, Data Grab, critical media theorist Ulises A. Mejias and sociologist of media and culture Nick Couldry argue that big tech companies are taking away private citizens' most basic natural online resource and in the process establishing a new form of oppressive digital colonialism. Joining them to discuss the book is the writer and presenter Timandra Harkness, whose own books include Big Data: Does Size Matter? And the recent Technology is Not the Problem.
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The voyage of the space shuttle Challenger on the morning of January 28th, 1986, lasted just minutes before it broke up mid-flight. The tragic outcome for its lost crew has cast a shadow over space travel for decades since. But how did that disaster unfold? And what is its legacy for space exploration today? These are some of the questions being asked in journalist and author Adam Higginbotham’s new book, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space. Higginbotham’s previous book was Midnight in Chernobyl, which covered the synonymous nuclear disaster and was one of the the New York Times’ Ten Best Books of 2019. His writing has appeared in magazines including The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Wired and more. He’s also the former US correspondent for The Sunday Telegraph Magazine and former Editor-in-Chief of The Face. Joining Higginbotham in conversation for this episode is the technology researcher, author and co-founder of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos, Carl Miller.
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This is an archive episode from 2019 from the second series of How I Found My Voice, a podcast from Intelligence Squared. Presented by the BBC journalist Samira Ahmed, the podcast explores how some of the world's greatest artists and thinkers became such compelling – and unique – communicators. In this episode Samira speaks to the actor, writer and comedian Michael Palin. Part of the legendary Monty Python comedy group, Palin has helped shape British comedy on our TV screens. From growing up with a father who stuttered to finding his comedy partners and travelling the world, Palin speaks about the moments that shaped and inspired his voice.
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There's rarely a week in which Donald Trump doesn't make the headlines but the last few have been particularly potent with the former US president having been served justice in a US courtroom. One voice who has been vocal in lamenting the transformation of the Republican Party into a vehicle for Trump's agenda is Robert Kagan. He's a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a historian and contributing columnist at The Washington Post. He has advised on policy for the US State Department for both Republican and Democrat administrations. and some of the Republican party's most prominent voices in recent decades. His latest book is Rebellion: How Antiliberalism Is Tearing America Apart—Again; a reflection on the increasing radicalisation of the Republican Party. Joining Kagan in conversation to talk about it for this episode is Edward Luce, chief US commentator for the Financial Times, based in Washington DC, and author of books including The Retreat of Western Liberalism. 
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In a competitive field defined by record breakers, medals and podium places, being first in sport is often considered the primary marker of success but being out in front can also be a lonely experience. In her new memoir, These Heavy Black Bones, former swimmer for both Kenya and Team GB, Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell, tells a story of ecstatic professional highs and alienating personal lows. She is a former world number one athlete who became the first Black woman to represent Great Britain in swimming but who also chose to walk away from the sport shortly before the 2012 Olympics. Since then her achievements have been no less remarkable. She's a filmmaker, an award-winning essayist and heads up the 10,000 Interns Foundation, which helps young people from underrepresented communities get their start. Joining her in conversation for this episode is journalist and podcaster Ruchira Sharma, who is host of the Anatomy of a Stalker and Everything is Content podcasts, and writes for The Guardian, the BBC, GQ and more.
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Writer and historian Agnes Arnold-Forster's most recent book, Nostalgia: A History of a Dangerous Emotion, blends fields such as neuroscience and psychology with social history to explore a feeling that many might view as a simple human fondness for the past. Nostalgia, though, is also vulnerable to misuse, manipulation by unreliable narrators and it often reflects many of our deeper anxieties as a society. Joining her to discuss the book is the scholar, critic and editor Merve Emre, who is Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing and Criticism at Wesleyan University.
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