Intelligence Squared

History

Intelligence Squared was founded in 2002 by two media entrepreneurs, Jeremy O'Grady and John Gordon. In 2012, the company was bought by art consultant Amelie von Wedel, Yana Peel (CEO of Serpentine Galleries), and David Legg (Commonwealth Bank of Australia 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, and Werner Herzog.

Intelligence Squared licensed the rights to the brand for global expansion and Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates was established in 2006 as a nonpartisan, nonprofit media group by financier and philanthropist Robert Rosenkranz. 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 (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.

Debate topics include foreign policy, religion, history, social policy, politics, economics, science, technology, art, culture, and the environment.

Intelligence Squared U.S.

Main article: Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates

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 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 since 2007, in addition to Bloomberg Television, BBC, PBS, Newsy, 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.

Partnerships

Intelligence Squared has partnered with The New York Times, Google, and Vanity Fair.

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 on topics related to climate change and sustainable energy use. Other partnerships include The National Trust, Wellington College, Abbey Road Studios, Baker McKenzie in New York City, Investec, Christie's, the World Health Organization in New York, the United Nations in Geneva, and the University of Chicago.

References

References

1. "Who We Are".
2. "ABOUT".
3. Acherson, Neal. (March 28, 2004). "How the chattering classes turned to talk". [[The Observer]].
4. "About".
5. "INTELLIGENCE SQUARED (UK) LIMITED". [[Companies House]].
6. "Who We Are".
7. "About Intelligence Squared".
8. (14 February 2007). "INTELLIGENCE SQUARED Philanthropy Roundtable".
9. Konigsberg, Eric. (June 2, 2007). "A Hobby That’s Part Party, Part Debate, All Intellect". [[The New York Times]].
10. Jensen, Elizabeth. (20 September 2009). "Pointed Political Debate, Minus All the Shouting". [[The New York Times]].
11. "What is IQ2US?".
12. (3 May 2012). "PHILLIPS de PURY & COMPANY IS PLEASED TO CO-SPONSOR INTELLIGENCE SQUARED ASIA DEBATE IN HONG KONG". [[Phillips (auctioneers).
13. (28 August 2018). "IQ2 Debates Australia".
14. (12 July 2016). "Oxford-Style Debate, Explained". Intelligence Squared.
15. Service, Tom. (12 September 2013). "Verdi vs Wagner: join the debate". [[The Guardian]].
16. Intelligence Squared. (17 August 2016). "Our cultural combat series returns with Ian Fleming vs John Le Carre. For tickets: http://intelligencesquared.com/events/ian-fleming-vs-john-le-carre-anthony-horowitz-and-david-farr/".
17. "Intelligence Squared Watch".
18. "Intelligence Squared U.S. All Debates".
19. (2022). "Mission statement for IQ2US".
20. "NPR Intelligence Squared Series Radio Program".
21. "Apple Podcasts Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates".
22. Amer, Pakinam. (17 March 2021). "AI Can Now Debate with Humans and Sometimes Convince Them Too". [[Scientific American]].
23. (25 April 2007). "'Better More Surveillance than Another 9/11'".
24. (February 16, 2011). "Intelligence Squared Debates Examines America's Two-Party System". [[GlobeNewswire]].
25. (September 18, 2020). "Bloomberg Television and Intelligence Squared U.S. Announce Lineup for Debut "That’s Debatable" Episode".
26. (January 19, 2009). "Intelligence Squared Debate on George W. Bush's Legacy".
27. (January 20, 2013). "WTTW National Production Intelligence Squared".
28. (October 15, 2017). "Up For Debate with Intelligence Squared U.S. and Newsy".
29. "Intelligence Squared On the C-SPAN Networks".
30. "Intelligence Squared U.S. Collection on Wondrium".
31. "Intelligence Squared YouTube Channel". Intelligence Squared.
32. "Intelligence Squared Podcasts".
33. "Intelligence Squared Podcasts on Apple".
34. "BBC World News - Intelligence Squared Debate". [[BBC]].
35. "The New York Times and Intelligence Squared Launch ‘Intelligent Times’ Live Event Series".
36. "Careers".
37. "INTELLIGENCE SQUARED FOR VANITY FAIR: DIGITAL SUMMIT".
38. (14 March 2012). "Versus War on Drugs Debate". Intelligence Squared.