Carlo Rovelli Live: Why Numbers Don’t Exist

Nearly four centuries after his death, no writer has come close to matching Shakespeare’s understanding of the world – or his gift for dramatic poetry. It’s not just kings and queens that he captured so uniquely in his transcendent verse. Shakespeare analysed the human condition, not just for Elizabethan England, but throughout the world and for eternity. Britain may not have matched the Continent for music or art but when it comes to literature, Shakespeare sees off all international rivals, whether it’s in the spheres of comedy, tragedy or the sonnet. Even today you and I quote Shakespeare without knowing it: if you act more in sorrow than in anger, if you vanish into thin air or have ever been tongue-tied, hoodwinked or slept not one wink, you’re speaking the Bard’s English.Milton, say his fans, works on an altogether different, higher plane. In Paradise Lost – the best poem ever written in English – Milton moved beyond the literary to address political, philosophical and religious questions in a way that still resounds strongly today. In his complex, intellectual poetry he drilled down deep into the eternal truths and sought to embody new scientific discovery in his work.His engagement with the issues of the day – with the nature of knowledge, slavery, free will, love and creation – was unparalleled. Despite complete blindness in middle age, he was the English republic’s best known, most fervent apologist, and a key civil servant for Oliver Cromwell. In his other works, notably in Areopagitica, his attack on censorship, he showed himself as much a master of prose as poetry. He defines not only his age, but our own.To help you decide who should be crowned king of English letters we brought together advocates to make the case for each writer, and they called on a cast of leading actors to illustrate their arguments with readings from the works. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Katherine Rundell has dazzled millions of readers globally with her writing on fantastical beasts. In her bestselling book The Golden Mole, she profiled some of the world’s most extraordinary endangered animals, including pangolins, wombats, lemurs and seahorses. This critically acclaimed compendium celebrated the earth’s greatest wonders, and offered a rallying call to prevent their extinction.In October 2026 Rundell joined us live on stage at Conway Hall to discuss a new menagerie of spectacular creatures. Rundell drew on her new book, Napoleon’s Orangutan, to introduce us to twelve vanishing, amazing animals – from Napoleon’s pet orangutan to pigs who can learn the difference between Bach and a brass band. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Has satire lost its power in this new world of fake news and ‘alternative facts’ - when our leaders lie so blatantly and frequently, and still manage to get away with it? Or is humour a more important tool than ever to hold those in power to account? We were joined by celebrated comedy writer and producer Armando Iannucci, Labour MP Jess Phillips, and satirist and impressionist Jan Ravens to unpack these questions live on stage at the Union chapel in London. The event was chaired by journalist, writer and broadcaster Samira Ahmed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Described by Phoebe Waller-Bridge as “the most lethal, vital, screamingly funny truth-teller of our time”, Marina Hyde has become one of Britain’s most popular columnists and podcasters. A Sunday Times bestselling author and co-host of the smash hit podcast The Rest is Entertainment, she has an unrivalled talent for making sense of our stranger-than-fiction times.In September 2026 Hyde came to the Intelligence Squared stage in Brighton, marking the launch of her new book 'What A Time To Be Alive!'. From lambasting the Trump presidency, to the increasing popularity of Nigel Farage's Reform, from the spectacle of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s Venice wedding to the Beckham family feud, she is chief chronicler of our gloriously chaotic age.Hyde was joined live on stage award-winning screenwriter and producer Jesse Armstrong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the release of Aaron Sorkin's new film The Social Reckoning, Mark Zuckerberg and the dark side of Facebook are back in the spotlight.In 2019, Intelligence Squared put Zuckerberg on trial, asking whether Facebook was doing more harm than good. Was the platform connecting billions of people and transforming the world for the better? Or was it undermining democracy, spreading misinformation and fuelling political division?Seven years later, Facebook is part of Meta, artificial intelligence is transforming social media, and questions about the power and accountability of Silicon Valley's technology giants have become more urgent than ever.In this debate from the Intelligence Squared archive, Damian Collins and Nina Schick argue that Facebook is damaging society, while former Facebook executive Dex Torricke-Barton and former UK government minister Ed Vaizey defend the company.As Zuckerberg faces renewed scrutiny, we revisit a debate that asks who should be held responsible for the consequences of social media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Few figures in modern British politics have operated as close to the centre of power as Michael Gove. Over more than a decade in government, he has held some of the most senior offices of state – including Education Secretary, Justice Secretary and Secretary of State for Levelling Up, shaping policy across domestic reform, economic strategy and the future of the Union.Now, at a moment of continued economic uncertainty at home and instability abroad, Gove joined us for the Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook. In October 2026, live st Smith Square Hall in Westminster, he reflected on the forces reshaping Britain’s economic landscape. How resilient is the UK economy after a prolonged period of inflation, fiscal pressure and sluggish growth? What should a credible long-term strategy for productivity and investment look like? And how should Britain position itself in a more fragmented global economy, defined by geopolitical tension in the Middle East, energy insecurity and shifting trade alliances?This event was presented in partnership with Guinness Global Investors: https://https://www.guinnessgi.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the summer of 2020, as Black Lives Matter protests swept the world, the arts and creative industries faced urgent questions about racism, representation and their role in driving meaningful change.In this episode from the Intelligence Squared archive, actor Idris Elba and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah join writer and broadcaster Yassmin Abdel-Magied to examine systemic racism in the cultural sector, the limits of diversity initiatives and what it really takes to turn promises of equality into lasting change.Six years on, as debates about race, power and representation continue, we revisit a conversation that remains as relevant today as it was in 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the 70th anniversary of the publication of Giovanni’s Room, James Baldwin’s seminal novel about sexuality, race and myth in America, Booker Prize-winning writer Ben Okri joined us to reflect on the life, literature and enduring legacy of one of the world’s most loved writers.Baldwin’s work reshaped the literary and political landscape. Many of our greatest writers today credit his influence on their work. As an author and activist, his writing fearlessly tackled race, sexuality, love, masculinity and belonging with radical intimacy. Published in 1956, Giovanni’s Room was groundbreaking for its explicit homoeroticism. Its honesty and courage characterised Baldwin’s work as a whole. His poetry, essays, speeches, novels and plays, were pivotal to both the civil rights movement and the gay liberation movement in mid-twentieth century America, and continue to speak urgently to the present moment. In May 2026 Okri brought his own artistic vision to an exploration of Baldwin’s work live from the Kiln Theatre, the same venue as Anton Philips’ production of Baldwin’s The Amen Corner, the first black-produced and directed play to transfer to the West End of London. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who are we? Why are we here? Are we alone in the universe? How did we become the creatures that we are? How might we further evolve? These are some of the big questions that Brian Cox and Alice Roberts tackled when they came to the Intelligence Squared stage in December 2014. Brian Cox is the rockstar who became a scientist, and is now a rockstar scientist. He is known to millions as the presenter of the BBC Wonders series in which he unravels the complexities of the universe with calm clarity and an infectious sense of wonder. Alice Roberts is a no less talented science story-teller. A doctor, anatomist, osteoarchaeologist and writer, she has enthralled television audiences with BBC series such as The Incredible Human Journey. In this wide-ranging conversation Cox and Roberts discussed the origins of the universe, life and humanity – and you. You’re the product of what seems to be an extremely unlikely chain of events. Our universe was born with just the right laws for galaxies to form, with at least one planet capable of producing and sustaining life. The origin of muliticellular life on this planet was essentially an accident; the mammals were lucky to outlive the dinosaurs; a handful of two-legged apes survived, against the odds, on the plains of Africa… and then there’s the unlikeliness of your mother meeting your father and that particular sperm fusing with that particular egg. The chance of you being here at all is tiny. How can physics and biology help us to make sense of all that unlikeliness? How did chance and accident combine to create us? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carlo Rovelli is an award-winning theoretical physicist and writer with a gift for making complex ideas feel real and accessible. Whether exploring black holes, quantum mechanics, philosophy, or history, he inspires audiences with his sense of wonder and curiosity at how the world works.Beloved by millions, Rovelli’s books, including Seven Brief Lessons on Physics and The Order of Time, invite us into the deepest corners of the universe, while challenging what we thought we knew about time and space.In September 2026 he came to the Intelligence Squared stage to explore some of the most awe-inspiring discoveries of modern science, the subject of his new book, On The Equality of All Things. Drawing on both cutting-edge physics and ancient philosophy, he asked what these ideas reveal about the strangeness of reality. How does modern science impact age-old philosophical questions? What does it really mean to say that something exists? What is time, if it flows differently for different observers? And what kind of world do we inhabit if nature’s most fundamental elements are defined only by their connections? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.