Intelligence Squared

In today’s episode, the second in our series in partnership with WaterAid, journalist and author Coco Khan speaks to Helen Rumford, WaterAid’s Lead Policy Analyst for Climate Policy and Campaigns and Vera Kloettschen, WaterAid’s Climate and Environment Lead.

Helen and Vera share their experience, expertise and stories to explore why clean water, the blue thread that connects us all, is fundamental to everyday wellbeing, long-term prosperity and securing climate justice. They discuss the practical ways a sustainable, water-secure future is already being built, alongside the challenges that remain. Because resilient water systems aren’t just pipes and pumps – they’re people, ecosystems, and trust.

As we enter a new year, the months ahead can feel long and uncertain. Yet for many of us, one thing we rarely have to think about is the clean water flowing from our taps. That isn’t the case for everyone, but it could be.

Just £5 a month over a year can buy 5 standpipe taps so children like Nesteline, and her whole community, can have clean water for years to come. Please donate £5 a month today and help us to work alongside communities to bring clean water to everyone, everywhere.

Visit wateraid.org/uk/intelligence to donate and find out more.

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Julian Barnes and Ian McEwan are widely celebrated as two of the finest writers of their generation. Along with Salman Rushdie and Kazuo Ishiguro, they were included on Granta’s prescient Best Young British Novelists list in 1993 and have gone on to write some of the most memorable novels of the past three decades.

In January 2026 they came together to discuss the book that Barnes says will be his last, Departure(s). It follows a man named Stephen and a woman called Jean who fall in love when they are young and again when they are old. Barnes and McEwan will draw on the themes of the book to discuss topics including philosophy, art, the slipperiness of memory, the passage of time, mortality and grief.This was a rare opportunity to hear two of the most celebrated voices in contemporary British literature discussing their craft and reflections on life.

This event was presented in partnership with Waterstones.

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Julian Barnes and Ian McEwan are widely celebrated as two of the finest writers of their generation. Along with Salman Rushdie and Kazuo Ishiguro, they were included on Granta’s prescient Best Young British Novelists list in 1993 and have gone on to write some of the most memorable novels of the past three decades.

In January 2026 they came together to discuss the book that Barnes says will be his last, Departure(s). It follows a man named Stephen and a woman called Jean who fall in love when they are young and again when they are old. Barnes and McEwan will draw on the themes of the book to discuss topics including philosophy, art, the slipperiness of memory, the passage of time, mortality and grief.

This was a rare opportunity to hear two of the most celebrated voices in contemporary British literature discussing their craft and reflections on life.

This event was presented in partnership with Waterstones.

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This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more.

For £4.99 per month you'll also receive:

- Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts

- Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series

- 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events 

... 

Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99:

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In an increasingly digital world, hardly anyone relies on cash. $100 bills are essentially absent from global commerce. So how come the US Federal Reserve printed 752 million and 867.2 million of them last year?

In this episode, bestselling investigative journalist and author Oliver Bullough joins us to explore how, in the criminal world, cash is still king. Drawing on his new book, Everybody Loves Our Dollars, he explores  the hidden financial systems that allow drug cartels, kleptocrats, tax evaders, terrorists, and traffickers to move and protect their wealth with astonishing ease.

Despite decades of legislation, enforcement, and international cooperation, an estimated 2-5% of global GDP is still laundered every year. Why has every attempt to stop it failed? In conversation with host Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, Bullough sheds light on what’s going on beneath the surface, and what needs urgent change. 

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... 

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Why Is Everyone Suddenly Fighting Over the Arctic?

In this episode, Adam McCauley speaks to journalist and author Kenneth R. Rosen about the Arctic’s shifting geopolitical role in the new world order. 

Nuclear submarines. Sabotaged pipelines. Undersea communications severed in the dark of night. The fastest-warming place on earth—where buildings crumble as permafrost melts and villages get washed away by rising seas—the Arctic stands at the crossroads of geopolitical ambition and environmental catastrophe. As climate change thaws the northern latitudes, opening once ice-bound shipping lanes and access to natural resources, the world’s military powers are rushing to stake their claims in this increasingly strategic region. We’ve entered a new cold war—and every day it grows hotter. From Russia to the United States, everyone is keen to assert their dominance on the region and come out on top. 

Through his unique blend of travelogue and frontline reporting, Kenneth R. Rosen reveals how climate change, military ambition, and economic opportunity are transforming the Arctic into the epicenter of a new Cold War, where a struggle for dominance between the planet’s great powers heralds the next global conflict.

Kenneth R. Rosen: Kenneth R. Rosen travels the world to write in-depth stories about the impact of major geopolitical issues and conflict on individual lives. He was a 2025 Ira A. Lipman Fellow at Columbia University and wrote for the New York Times between 2014 and 2025. 

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... 

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