Intelligence Squared
Encyclopedia
Intelligence Squared is a UK based organisation that stages debates around the world. It began in London, but now operates globally in the US, Australia
, Hong Kong
, Ukraine
and Nigeria
. The debates are held in the traditional Oxford style, with as many as 2,500 people attending some events.
, Richard Dawkins
, Tony Blair
and Christopher Hitchens
. The audience is asked to vote before the debate, and then again after all the speeches have been made, to see which side has persuaded the most people to change their vote. There is also an opportunity for the audience to pose questions to individual members of each panel before the final vote is taken.
In November 2009, Intelligence Squared held their first event in partnership with Wellington College
, when an audience of 1,600 watched the debate "Atheism is the new fundamentalism", with Richard Dawkins
and AC Grayling among the panelists. This was the first Intelligence Squared debate to be streamed live on the internet, and it featured questions and comments in real time from people following the debate on Twitter.
, an initiative of The Rosenkranz Foundation, a non-profit organization. IQ2US is a live debate series with the goal of raising the level of public discourse and promoting a realization that, on contentious issues, those who challenge the conventional wisdom have intellectually respectable and often persuasive viewpoints. Intelligence Squared U.S. encourages citizens to “Think Twice” about their opinions and participate in the conversation, and it provides a forum for balanced discussion that transcends emotion and ideology. Through an annual series of between 10 and 12 live Oxford-style debates, IQ2US brings together experts and audience around public policy and cultural issues. IQ2US debates air on the Bloomberg Television network and are heard on more than 220 NPR stations nationwide. Intelligence Squared U.S. attracts top tier thinkers and the world's leading authorities debating the most pressing issues of the day. Most debates originate from New York City's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Dana Wolfe is the executive producer and John Donvan of ABC News is the moderator. Among the debate motions for the Fall 2010 season: Treat Terrorists like Enemy Combatants, Not Criminals; Islam is a Religion of Peace; Big Government is Stifling the American Spirit; Afghanistan is a Lost Cause and U.S. Airports Should use Racial and Religious Profiling.
and John Gordon, in 2002. Also closely involved are Nick Pisani, former Editor of Question Time on BBC1 and Head of Presentation and Events for David Cameron, Tony Curzon Price
and Hannah Kaye.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
and Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. The debates are held in the traditional Oxford style, with as many as 2,500 people attending some events.
Debate Format
Typically, a motion for debate is proposed and outlined by the chair, with a panel of two or three speakers each arguing for and against the motion. Previous speakers have included Stephen FryStephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
, Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
, Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
and Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Eric Hitchens is an Anglo-American author and journalist whose books, essays, and journalistic career span more than four decades. He has been a columnist and literary critic at The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Slate, World Affairs, The Nation, Free Inquiry, and became a media fellow at the...
. The audience is asked to vote before the debate, and then again after all the speeches have been made, to see which side has persuaded the most people to change their vote. There is also an opportunity for the audience to pose questions to individual members of each panel before the final vote is taken.
Intelligence Squared online
The website holds a full archive of past debates (available only to paying subscribers) as well as streaming live broadcasts of every IQ2 event.In November 2009, Intelligence Squared held their first event in partnership with Wellington College
Wellington College, Berkshire
-Former pupils:Notable former pupils include historian P. J. Marshall, architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, impressionist Rory Bremner, Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, author Sebastian Faulks, language school pioneer John Haycraft, political journalist Robin Oakley, actor Sir Christopher...
, when an audience of 1,600 watched the debate "Atheism is the new fundamentalism", with Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
and AC Grayling among the panelists. This was the first Intelligence Squared debate to be streamed live on the internet, and it featured questions and comments in real time from people following the debate on Twitter.
Intelligence Squared on TV
Intelligence Squared debates have also been broadcast globally on BBC World to audiences of up to seventy million. These have included "George W Bush is the worst American President for the past fifty years", "The Future of Iraq" and "The Catholic Church is a force for good in the world". This final debate also received nearly one million hits on YouTube after its BBC broadcast.Intelligence Squared in the US
In September 2006, Intelligence Squared U.S. http://intelligencesquaredus.org/, was launched by Robert RosenkranzRobert Rosenkranz
Robert Rosenkranz is a philanthropist and the CEO of Delphi Financial Group, a New York Stock Exchange-listed insurance holding company with assets of over $8 billion, and the founder of a group of investment and private equity partnerships.A graduate of Yale and Harvard Law School, he spent his...
, an initiative of The Rosenkranz Foundation, a non-profit organization. IQ2US is a live debate series with the goal of raising the level of public discourse and promoting a realization that, on contentious issues, those who challenge the conventional wisdom have intellectually respectable and often persuasive viewpoints. Intelligence Squared U.S. encourages citizens to “Think Twice” about their opinions and participate in the conversation, and it provides a forum for balanced discussion that transcends emotion and ideology. Through an annual series of between 10 and 12 live Oxford-style debates, IQ2US brings together experts and audience around public policy and cultural issues. IQ2US debates air on the Bloomberg Television network and are heard on more than 220 NPR stations nationwide. Intelligence Squared U.S. attracts top tier thinkers and the world's leading authorities debating the most pressing issues of the day. Most debates originate from New York City's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Dana Wolfe is the executive producer and John Donvan of ABC News is the moderator. Among the debate motions for the Fall 2010 season: Treat Terrorists like Enemy Combatants, Not Criminals; Islam is a Religion of Peace; Big Government is Stifling the American Spirit; Afghanistan is a Lost Cause and U.S. Airports Should use Racial and Religious Profiling.
History
Intelligence Squared is a company set up by two media businessmen, Jeremy O'GradyJeremy O'Grady
Jeremy O'Grady is a British media entrepreneur educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and Cornell University. A former senior examiner at the British Board of Film Classification, he was the founding editor of The Week news digest magazine, and one of its original owners. He is now the magazine's...
and John Gordon, in 2002. Also closely involved are Nick Pisani, former Editor of Question Time on BBC1 and Head of Presentation and Events for David Cameron, Tony Curzon Price
Tony Curzon Price
Tony Curzon Price, MA , PhD is an economist and entrepreneur educated at Lincoln College, Oxford and University College London...
and Hannah Kaye.