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Intelligence Squared

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Intelligence Squared
Intelligence Squared logo
Founded2002; 22 years ago (2002)
HeadquartersNotting Hill, West London
No. of locationsLondon
New York City
Sydney
Athens
Hong Kong
Tel Aviv
Santiago
Founder(s)Jeremy O'Grady
John Gordon
CEOMatt McAllester[1]
URLwww.intelligencesquared.com

Intelligence Squared is a media company that organizes live debates and other cultural events around the world.[2] It was founded in 2002 in London,[3] 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 programs, publishing on YouTube, and other platforms.[4] Intelligence Squared is often referred to as Intelligence2 and IQ2.[2]

History

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Intelligence Squared was founded by two media entrepreneurs, Jeremy O'Grady and John Gordon, in 2002.[3] 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).[5] Hannah Kaye has been executive producer since 2006,[6] and Matt McAllester became managing director in 2018.[5] 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.[7]

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.[8][9][10] The organization's mission is stated as being to "restore critical thinking, facts, reason, and civility to American public discourse."[11]

Other Intelligence Squared licensees operate in Sydney (since 2008) and Hong Kong (since 2009).[12][13] The company has also had partnerships in Kyiv (2008 – 2014), Athens (2010), Israel (2013), and Chile (2014).[citation needed] IQ2 debates in Australia are hosted by The Ethics Centre in Sydney.[12]

Debate format

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Intelligence Squared uses the traditional Oxford-Style debate format[14] 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.[14] 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.[15][16]

Debate topics include foreign policy, religion, history, social policy, politics, economics, science, technology, art, culture, and the environment.[17][18]

Intelligence Squared U.S.

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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.[19] An award-winning[11] national radio program,[20] podcast,[21] 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”.[22] Intelligence Squared U.S. is often referred to as IQ2US.[11]

Intelligence Squared U.S. episodes have been broadcast on NPR since 2007,[23] in addition to Bloomberg Television,[24][25] BBC,[26] PBS,[27] Newsy,[28] C-SPAN,[29] and education streaming platform Wondrium.[30]

Podcast and video

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All Intelligence Squared events are recorded and released on the company’s YouTube channel[31] and as part of a weekly podcast series.[32] The company also records podcasts with authors and other intellectuals.[33]

Television

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Intelligence Squared debates have also been broadcast globally on BBC World.[34]

Partnerships

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Intelligence Squared has partnered with The New York Times,[35] Google,[36] and Vanity Fair.[37]

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.[38] Intelligence Squared has also staged events in partnership with Shell[36] 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.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ "Who We Are". IntelligenceSquared. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  2. ^ a b "ABOUT". IntelligenceSquared. Archived from the original on 11 July 2010.
  3. ^ a b Acherson, Neal (March 28, 2004). "How the chattering classes turned to talk". The Observer. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  4. ^ "About". IntelligenceSquared. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b "INTELLIGENCE SQUARED (UK) LIMITED". Find and update company information. Companies House. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Who We Are". IntelligenceSquared. Archived from the original on 25 June 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  7. ^ "About Intelligence Squared". IntelligenceSquared. Archived from the original on 12 March 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  8. ^ "INTELLIGENCE SQUARED Philanthropy Roundtable". The Rosenkranz Foundation. 14 February 2007. Archived from the original on 9 June 2015.
  9. ^ Konigsberg, Eric (June 2, 2007). "A Hobby That's Part Party, Part Debate, All Intellect". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022.
  10. ^ Jensen, Elizabeth (20 September 2009). "Pointed Political Debate, Minus All the Shouting". The New York Times. p. B5. Archived from the original on 17 June 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  11. ^ a b c "What is IQ2US?". Intelligence Squared U.S. Archived from the original on 20 August 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  12. ^ a b "IQ2 Debates Australia". The Ethics Centre. 28 August 2018. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  13. ^ "PHILLIPS de PURY & COMPANY IS PLEASED TO CO-SPONSOR INTELLIGENCE SQUARED ASIA DEBATE IN HONG KONG" (Press release). Hong Kong: Phillips. 3 May 2012. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  14. ^ a b Oxford-Style Debate, Explained. Intelligence Squared. 12 July 2016. Archived from the original on 29 July 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ Service, Tom (12 September 2013). "Verdi vs Wagner: join the debate". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 April 2022.
  16. ^ Intelligence Squared [@intelligence2] (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/" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ "Intelligence Squared Watch". Intelligence Squared. Archived from the original on 25 June 2022.
  18. ^ "Intelligence Squared U.S. All Debates". Intelligence Squared U.S. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  19. ^ "Mission statement for IQ2US". Intelligence Squared U.S. 2022. Archived from the original on 15 January 2007. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  20. ^ "NPR Intelligence Squared Series Radio Program". NPR. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022.
  21. ^ "Apple Podcasts Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates". Apple Podcasts. Archived from the original on 20 August 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  22. ^ Amer, Pakinam (17 March 2021). "AI Can Now Debate with Humans and Sometimes Convince Them Too". Scientific American. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  23. ^ "'Better More Surveillance than Another 9/11'". NPR. 25 April 2007. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  24. ^ "Intelligence Squared Debates Examines America's Two-Party System". GlobeNewswire. February 16, 2011. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  25. ^ "Bloomberg Television and Intelligence Squared U.S. Announce Lineup for Debut "That's Debatable" Episode". IBM Newsroom. September 18, 2020. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020.
  26. ^ "Intelligence Squared Debate on George W. Bush's Legacy". BBC. January 19, 2009. Archived from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  27. ^ "WTTW National Production Intelligence Squared". WTTW PBS Station. January 20, 2013. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013.
  28. ^ "Up For Debate with Intelligence Squared U.S. and Newsy". Newsy. October 15, 2017. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  29. ^ "Intelligence Squared On the C-SPAN Networks". C-SPAN. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022.
  30. ^ "Intelligence Squared U.S. Collection on Wondrium". Wondrium. Archived from the original on 12 November 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  31. ^ "Intelligence Squared YouTube Channel". YouTube. Intelligence Squared. Archived from the original on 13 September 2022.
  32. ^ "Intelligence Squared Podcasts". Intelligence Squared. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  33. ^ "Intelligence Squared Podcasts on Apple". Apple Podcasts. Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  34. ^ "BBC World News - Intelligence Squared Debate". BBC. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  35. ^ "The New York Times and Intelligence Squared Launch 'Intelligent Times' Live Event Series". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 June 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  36. ^ a b "Careers". Intelligence Squared. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  37. ^ "INTELLIGENCE SQUARED FOR VANITY FAIR: DIGITAL SUMMIT". Shoreditch Town Hall. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021.
  38. ^ Versus War on Drugs Debate. Intelligence Squared. 14 March 2012 – via YouTube.
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