50 Debates

50DEBATES

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“POINTED POLITICAL DEBATE MINUS ALL THE SHOUTING: A series of ten provocative and informative live

debates, fi ve in the fall, fi ve in the spring, on the hot-button concerns of the day. The debates are broadcast on NPR�

stations across the country and on the Bloomberg Television� network. The programs reach a wide audience and

attract as speakers the top experts, specialists and passionate advocates for both sides of each issue.”

— ELIZABETH JENSEN, THE NEW YORK TIMES, SEPTEMBER 21, 2009

D E B AT E S

CELEBRATING 50 DEBATES & THE EVOLUTION OF

50 DEBATES: CELEBRATING 50 DEBATES & THE EVOLUTION OF INTELLIGENCE SQUARED DEBATES

© 2011 INTELLIGENCE SQUARED U.S. FOUNDATION

Edited and produced by Clea Conner ChangDesigned by Diana SimakhovWritten by Kris , Dana Wolfe and John Donvan

CELEBRATING 50 DEBATES &

THE EVOLUTION OF

“From wherever you stood, the opposing side offered respectable, credible views. In today’s fractured culture the evening struck a blow for civility.” – THE HUFFINGTON POST

“A great event. Fun!” – BOBBY SHRIVER, PANEL IST

“It’s a real public service to have debates that bring top-tier participants together and add the sizzle of prize fi ght competition to a discussion of issues of fi rst-order importance.” – THE ATLANTIC

“The high level of interest and thought-provoking participation in this forum for public discourse gives me hope, and I applaud your visionary insight and commitment to public service.” –RICHARD C. LEVIN, PRES IDENT OF YALE

UNIVERSITY

“A throwback to the days of traveling orators, to a time of greater civility, when people actually bothered to listen to the other side, to consider the validity of its position.” – THE GLOBE AND MAIL

“Always intelligent and provocative, as well as disciplined and civil. A stimulating way to spend an evening.”— THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

“Intelligence Squared has done something rare in New York – create an event that people feel they must go to.”— FAREED ZAKARIA

“A salon for movers and shakers, writers and thinkers”— THE NEW YORK T IMES

“Everything about the Intelligence Squared debate was first rate—the organization of the event itself, the eloquence of the participants, the moderator’s skill, the thoughtful participation of the audience, and the subsequent presentation of the debate on NPR and the internet. There’s nothing remotely like it in American politics.”—MICHAEL CRICHTON, PANEL IST

50

50D E B AT E S

Celebrating 50 debates & the evolution of

3

For robert rosenkranz & alexandra Munroe

With admiration, gratitude and respect. Thank you for giving me the freedom and the tools to bring

Intelligence Squared U.S. to life. — dana wolfe

5INTRODUCTION

Two tables on a stage in New York City. That, at its most stark and most true, is both the

architecture and the essence of Intelligence Squared U.S. Add to this tableau the “living ingredients” of a night spent engaged with IQ2US -- the debaters, the audience, the moderator, an energetic producer, and a founder who was dedicated to raising the level of public discourse in the United States. The resulting program is a unique sort of New York success story speaking from the very heart of Manhattan. It is the renewal of a time-honored form of argument: the formal debate. ■ From the first setting of those tables on a Wednesday night in September of 2006, with six sharp-minded guests arguing the pros and cons of a nuclear Iran, and over the course of the two score plus nine debates that followed, IQ2US would visit a range of issues encompassing the intellectual landscape.

From war and sex to art and power, from finance and politics to cyberspace and crime, even how we sell movies and the way we eat, nearly 300 debaters have excited audiences with the power of ideas, in a setting that has succeeded more often than not in generating as much light as heat. By the standards set by IQ2US, of course, both light and heat are always welcome, as are wit, spontaneity, and occasional flashes of brilliance. ■ Inspired by his spouse, the art curator Alexandra Munroe, to offer a forum for ideas as a form of “living philanthropy,” Robert Rosenkranz has created something unique. It is also an unqualified success. Debate that is robust, entertaining, persuasive, informative, provocative, original and honest -- an uncommon thing in this day and age. IQ2US will always capture the essence of those two tables and a stage – along with the vision and energy to bring intelligent argument back to life.

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8 beFORe THe 1sT DebATe

B E F O R E T h E 1 S T D E B AT E

FAll 2005 Robert Rosenkranz sees an Intelligence Squared debate in London

JANUARy 18, 2006 Robert Rosenkranz purchases rights to Intelligence Squared U.S.

9 beFORe THe 1sT DebATe

JANUARy 2006 Dana Wolfe is brought on to lead the initiative JUly 2006 IQ2US goes online

with the launch of the websiteWWW.IQ2us.orG

sUMMeR 2006 First debate series announced at Asia Society

10 FAll 2006 & sPRINg 2007

FA L L 2 0 0 6 & S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 M O D E R AT O R S

R O b e R T s I e g e l

0 1 : We Must Tolerate A Nuclear Iran

J e F F R e y T O O b I N

02 : Freedom Of Expression Must Include The License To Offend

beRNARD WeINRAUb

04 : Hollywood Has Fueled Anti-Americanism Abroad

JUDy WOODRUFF

03 : A Democratically-Elected Hamas Is Still A Terrorist Organization

11FAll 2006 & sPRINg 2007

P e T e R s T e I N F e l s

05 : America Is Too Damn Religious

b R I A N l e H R e R

06 : Global Warming Is Not A Crisis

CHRIs bURy

07 : Better More Domestic Surveillance Than Another 9/11

JAMes HARDINg

08 : Beware The Dragon: A Booming China Spells Trouble For America

12 FAll 2006

01 We MUsT TOleRATe A NUCleAR IRANSeptember 27, 2006

for the motion:

against the motion:

moderator:

George Perkovich, Karim Sadjadpour, Sanam VakilPatrick Clawson, Reuel Marc Gerecht, William KristolRobert Siegel

pre-debate vote:

26%

26%47%

post-debate vote:

37% FOR53% AgAINsT

10% UNDeCIDeD

13FAll 2006

02 FReeDOM OF eXPRessION MUsT INClUDe THe lICeNse TO OFFeNDOctober 18, 2006

for the motion:against the motion:

moderator:

Philip Gourevitch, Christopher Hitchens, Signe WilkinsonDavid Cesarani, Daisy Khan, Mari MatsudaJeffrey Toobin

pre-debate vote:78%11%11%

post-debate vote:83% FOR16% AgAINsT1% UNDeCIDeD 04 HOllyWOOD HAs FUeleD ANTI-

AMeRICANIsM AbROAD December 13, 2006


moderator:

James Hirsen, Roger Kimball, Joshua MuravchikRobin Bronk, Robert Greenwald, Richard WalterBernard Weinraub


post-debate vote:35% FOR59% AgAINsT6% UNDeCIDeD

03 A DeMOCRATICAlly-eleCTeD HAMAs Is sTIll A TeRRORIsT ORgANIzATION November 29, 2006


moderator:

Daniel Ayalon, Steven A. Cook, John O’SullivanStanley L. Cohen, Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou, Mark PerryJudy Woodruff

pre-debate vote:60%19% 21%


14 FAll 2006

FAll 2006 broadcast begins on 40 stations

today

225+ stations

NeW DebATe seRIes ADDResses PRessINg QUesTIONs OF THe DAy – by annie karni, january 2, 2007

In a packed auditorium at the Asia Society and Museum ear-lier this month, a panel of distin-guished scholars, editors, and filmmakers debated the motion: “Hollywood fuels anti-American-ism abroad.” The hour-and-a-half conversation about whether the film industry or the war in Iraq was more to blame for grow-ing international ill-will toward

■ Debate topics in the series range from whether America should tolerate a nuclear Iran to whether freedom of expres-sion includes the right to offend. The debates have not been ad-vertised, Mr. Rosenkranz said. Instead, he is sending out invita-tions to leading journalists, in-vestment bankers, public policy scholars, and political donors. ■ “The idea is that the quality of the questions would be higher, and the evenings would have not only an intellectual dimension,

America was part of a new live debate series called Intelligence Squared, which is funded by the Rosenkranz Foundation. The debate series is seeking to trade punditry for dialogue, accord-ing to the executive producer, Dana Wolfe. The series caters to an intellectual audience ea-ger for more than sound bites on political and social issues of international concern. ■ “Media was getting too partisan, Con-gress was getting too bitter and rancorous — even ordinary social conversations about public pol-

but also a social dimension,” Mr. Rosenkranz said. ■ “I think the format causes the audience to focus much more intensely than it would if it was just a lec-ture on the same subject,” the chief investment strategist for the hedge fund Pequot Capital, Byron Wien, said. “There was an element of competition and excitement about it.” ■ “The au-dience was very engaged, physi-cally responding to the debate,” the publisher of Dead Horse Media, Elizabeth Spiers, said.

Ms. Spiers only criticism was of the format. “I think they let the panelists talk too long,” she said. ■ The form is traditional, Oxford-debate style: one side of three speakers proposes a motion and another side of three speakers opposes the motion. An impar-tial moderator presides over the debate, and the audience, which votes before and after the de-bate, decides the winner by its final vote. ■ “I came away with a good feeling about the exercise,” a scholar at the American Enter-

prise Institute, Joshua Murav-chik, said after participating in the Hollywood debate. ■ Intelli-gence Square members who pay a minimum of $10,000 for the se-ries are invited to dine with the panelists after the debates. Indi-vidual tickets are also available for $40 a debate.

icy were getting too angry and emotional,” the chairman of the Rosenkranz Foundation, Robert Rosenkranz, said. ■ The debate series should “expose people to both sides of an argument and foster greater respect for the opposing view,” Mr. Rosen-kranz said. ■ Debaters have in-cluded columnist Christopher Hitchens, the editor of the Par-is Review, Philip Gourevitch, and the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, DanielAyalon.■ ■ At the Hollywood de-bate, witty and convincing ar-guments were greeted with laughter and applause from the audience. “Anti-Americanism abroad would exist without Hol-lywood, just as cancer would ex-

ist without cigarette smoke,” a panelist for the motion, Roger Kimball, said. “But Hollywood tends to make the malignancy worse.” ■ Mr. Kimball, an editor and publisher of the New Crite-rion, said Hollywood films foster a view of America as “a decadent society in love with nihilism.”■ Speaking against the motion, a screen writer, Richard Wal-ter, said Hollywood films “show that we’re an open society.” The violence and sex in such films “was not invented by 11 Jews at Paramount Studios a couple of weeks ago.” ■ Before the de-bate, a majority of the audience said they favored the motion or were undecided; afterward, 59% voted against the motion.

“Media was getting too partisan, Congress was getting too bitter and rancorous — even ordinary social conversations about public policy were getting too angry and emotional.” – Robert Rosenkranz

15FAll 2006

05 AMeRICA Is TOO DAMN RelIgIOUs February 7, 2007


moderator:

Susan Jacoby, Barry W. Lynn, Alan WolfeJean Bethke Elshtain, William A. Galston, Albert J. RaboteauPeter Steinfels

pre-debate vote:68%24%

8%


06 glObAl WARMINg Is NOT A CRIsIsMarch 14, 2007


moderator:

Michael Crichton, Richard S. Lindzen, Philip StottBrenda Ekwurzel, Gavin Schmidt, Richard C. J. SomervilleBrian Lehrer



16 sPRINg 2007

* The “glObAl WARMINg Is NOT A CRIsIs” debaTe draws naTional media aTTenTion and puTs iQ2us on The map

gORe’s ReTURN– march 21, 2007

Vice President Gore returns this afternoon to the Senate in which he represented the Volunteer State and served, as vice president, as the tie breaking vote. He will be tes-tifying before the Committee on Environment and Public Works, which has scheduled a full committee hearing titled, “Vice President AI Gore’s Per-spective on Global Warming.” With speculation afoot that Mr. Gore could yet enter the

■ It may be prudent to act pre-emptively to avert a threat before it rises to the level of a crisis, though for some reason those who favor such actions in respect of global warming tend

is sensible even if the onset of the crisis is uncertain. But the suggested preemptive ac-tions have costs, too, some of them quite extensive, others of them less so. ■ The ranking

Democratic presidential field in 2008, his appearance will probably attract as much press attention as his appearance at the Oscars, which is to say, a lot. ■ So it is a small’ point worth mentioning in advance that at a recent debate here in New York City on the question “Global warming is not a cri-sis,” an audience of hundreds of reasonably sophisticated New Yorkers started out pret-ty much in agreement with Mr. Gore. The Tennessean has been warning of the danger

to oppose them in the ease of rogue states such as Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, and vice versa. And it may be that,because the potential effect of a crisis is so dire, some pre-emptive action

Republican on the Senate envi-ronment committee, SenatorInhofe, has featured on his Web site an account of the New York debate that reports, “The New York City audience laughed as Gore became the butt of humor during the de-bate.” If the global warming alarmists displayed more of their own sense of humor, they might find themselves winning more debates, a fact that Mr. Gore has no doubt had plenty of time to reflect on in the long years since President Bush bested him in the debate for the presidency.

posed by global warming since at least the publication of his 1992 best-selling book “Earth in the Balance.” His latest sally is the movie “An Inconvenient Truth.” According to the de-bate’s sponsor, Intelligence Squared U.S., before the de-bate, 57% of the audience was against the resolution - that is, they thought global warming is a crisis. By the end of the de-bate, support for the “against” camp had eroded to 42%, while a plurality of the audience, 46%, agreed with the proposi-tion that “Global warming is not a crisis.” ■ On the one hand, this audience may not be rep-resentative of overall scientific or even American opinion. On

the other hand, as New York-ers living on low-lying islands, members of the audience would stand to lose a lot from the sort of rise in sea levels that is warned of by Mr. Gore’s movie and other global warm-ing prognosticators. The audi-ence at the event, which was an initiative of the Rosenkranz Foundation, was exposed to an hour and 45 minutes of debate by some of the top ex-perts on the topic, with writer Michael Crichton and MIT me-teorology professor Richard Lindzen arguing “not a crisis” and Richard Somerville of the Scripps Institution of Ocean-ography and Gavin Schmidt of NASA arguing that it is a crisis.

Michael Crichton, Richard S. Lindzen, Philip StottBrenda Ekwurzel, Gavin Schmidt, Richard C. J. SomervilleBrian Lehrer

17sPRINg 2007

18 sPRINg 2007

07 beTTeR MORe DOMesTIC sURVeIllANCe THAN ANOTHeR 9/11April 18, 2007

for the motion:

against the motion:

moderator:

David Frum, Andrew C. McCarthy, John YooBob Barr, Jeffrey Rosen, Nadine StrossenChris Bury

pre-debate vote:

22%

41%37%

post-debate vote:

40% FOR55% AgAINsT

5% UNDeCIDeD

19sPRINg 2007

pre-debate vote:

22%

41%37%

post-debate vote:

35% FOR

59% AgAINsT

6% UNDeCIDeD

for the motion:

against the motion:

moderator:

Bill Gertz, John J. Mearsheimer, Michael PillsburyJames McGregor, Daniel H. Rosen, J. Stapleton RoyJames Harding

08 beWARe THe DRAgON: A bOOMINg CHINA sPells TROUble FOR AMeRICAMay 16, 2007

APRIl 18, 2007 IQ2US goes to electronic voting

A HObby THAT’s PART PARTy, PART DebATe, All INTelleCT– eric konigsberg, june 2, 2007

When it comes to worthy re-cipients of noblesse largesse, a well-meaning multimillion-aire in New York has no short-age of gratifying options: the sick and the poor; cultural in-stitutions; universities; the public sector. ■ But Robert Rosenkranz, an investor and philanthropist who runs Del-phi Financial Group, a $5 bil-lion insurance concern, has instead been leveraging his

Some of his guests are writers and thinkers with whom he struck up friendships after ex-tending cold-call invitations. (Guests at his various func-tions have run the gamut from the charity-circuit regulars Georgette Mosbacher and Shel-by White to the writer Andrew Solomon and Thomas Struth, the German photographer.)■ “I’d never heard of the guy, but he wanted me to come to his apartment and talk to a few friends about my book ‘Terror and Liberalism,’ ” recalled Paul Berman, who received such a call a couple of years back. “I was skeptical, but the person who called persuaded me that this was something not to miss.

standing — and a small per-centage of his wealth — in the name of a somewhat less tangible cause: the ultimate dinner party conversation. ■ Along with his wife, Alexan-dra Munroe, a curator at the Guggenheim Museum, Mr. Rosenkranz has begun to es-tablish himself on New York’s arts-and-letters circuits as a host of high-powered salons. Since last fall he has been hold-ing a series of “Oxford-style” public policy debates at the Asia Society and Museum on Park Avenue and 70th Street. ■ The public debates are fol-

Eventually, the anthropologist in me was stirred.” ■ The two of them quickly became friends, despite Mr. Berman’s liberal politics and Mr. Rosenkranz’s decades-long support of con-servative organizations like the Manhattan Institute. ■ “At din-ner, it was a lot of conservatives, people in finance, and Bob put a wrenchingly difficult question to me,” Mr. Berman said. “Ba-sically, he said my ideological analyses of terrorism were all very fine and good, but couldn’t Al Qaeda be explained as a ra-tional power move in Saudi Ara-bia? We ended up having the sort of frank but open-minded discussion that is amazingly difficult to have nowadays.”

lowed by dinners at neigh-borhood restaurants, where the debaters — including such authors as Michael Crichton and Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Ayalon, the Israe-li ambassador to the United States, all of whom receive honorariums — mingle with a carefully selected group of 40 or so “movers and shakers” from the worlds of finance, philanthropy and the press, to quote from a letter Mr. Rosen-kranz sent to benefactors. ■ “I wanted there to be a social di-mension in addition to having an intellectual dimension — that was very important,” Mr. Rosenkranz said. “People keep talking and arguing long into the night.” ■ Unlike the art

collector who might see an ad-vantage in befriending an art-ist whose rare work he covets, Mr. Rosenkranz’s goal is en-tirely experiential: he stands to gain nothing besides a good time. For him that means up-grading the caliber of what those around him at any given moment have to say. And it comes at a time when market forces have made it ever more difficult for genuine bohemi-ans in New York City to even inhabit the same borough as the rich. ■ In addition to the debates, his efforts include in-formal dinners and parties for influence-makers at his apart-ment in River House, near Sutton Place, and his ocean-front estate in East Hampton.

▲ robert rosenkranz, an investor and philanthropist who began the IQ2 u.s.debates, in his Midtown offices.

20 A HObby THAT’s PART PARTy, PART DebATe, All INTelleCT, NeW yORk TIMes

■ Many who have been on the receiving end of Mr. Rosen-kranz’s invitations consider it refreshing that he is willing to embrace people from across both an ideological aisle and perhaps a socioeconomic — or at least occupational — divide. ■ “He’s a very engaging and in-teresting man who obviously derives real pleasure in being able to put people together to talk about really interesting things,” said Philip Gourevitch, an author and the editor of The Paris Review, who, in addition to participating in one of Mr. Rosenkranz’s debates, went to his holiday party at River House last year and has stayed in touch with him. ■ On a week-end visit to Mr. Rosenkranz’s

reticent, self-effacing manner that recalls professional begin-nings in the think-tank world. ■ He grew up middle class on the Upper West Side and grad-uated from Yale and Harvard Law, then worked for the right-leaning RAND Corporation dur-ing its cold war heyday. In 1969 he embarked on what he called his “real career” pioneering lev-eraged buyouts for the Oppen-heimer Group. ■ “I felt the level of civility in public life had just gotten dreadful,” Mr. Rosen-kranz said of his decision to start the debate series. “And when I suggested some kind of opposi-tional debates to people at the Manhattan Institute and at the American Enterprise Institute, the response was always, ‘It’s

■ “We’ve just done everything first class,” Mr. Rosenkranz said. “I mean, the dinners are nice, the brochures are beau-tiful, the production values on the radio” — podcasts are avail-able on NPR’s Web site — “are first class, the crowd brings the kind of buzz we intended.” ■ Subject matters have includ-ed free speech, global warm-ing and whether America is too religious. It costs $40 to attend, and all but one of the eight debates so far were sold out. ■ “It’s struck me ever since I’ve been here that this is ex-actly what our own system is lacking,” said Mr. Hitchens, an Oxford alumnus. “Congress says they have debates, but

started, then watch from the wings as everybody else has a good time. ■ In preparation, however, he is said to obsess over his own contributions to the program — from deciding on the language that frames the one-line debate question, to having a salaried research-er pull articles from the Inter-net so that he can brush up on the appropriate topics before the dinners, to meticulously arranging the seating charts for those dinners. ■ IQ2 U.S. brochures classify donors, de-pending on their level of gen-erosity, as “bright,” “brilliant” or “genius.” Mr. Hitchens sur-mised that the preoccupation with intellect had something

house on Long Island, Mr. Ber-man said, he initiated a philo-sophical conversation about his car — a 1981 Toyota — and how, despite the financial impracti-cality of owning it in the city, he was reluctant to give up the convenience it represented psy-chologically. ■ “Bob said he had exactly the same feelings in re-gard to his private jet share,” Mr. Berman said. ■ From his offices high above Madison Av-enue, Mr. Rosenkranz oversees Delphi, two investment funds and the Rosenkranz Founda-tion. Lunch is prepared by his private chef, whom he sum-mons from the office kitchen with a silent, cordless plastic button that resembles a garage door opener. He is 64 and has a

not our mission in life to give them a forum, and there’s no-body smart on the other side.’” ■ As a birthday present to him two years ago, his wife hired a consultant to put together a detailed report on debate pro-grams in the United States and in Europe and recommend a course of action. ■ This led to a couple of trips to London to wit-ness a popular debate series, Intelligence Squared (often called IQ2), which Mr. Rosen-kranz liked so much he decided to simply start an American version of it, IQ2 U.S. Though it is very much a hobby for Mr. Rosenkranz, and is a nonprofit initiative of his foundation, he approached it as a professional venture and left little to chance.

they’re really speeches seria-tim. Discourse on TV is boring; it’s either vulgar or too polite. The presidential debate here is more like a joint press confer-ence.” ■ Mr. Crichton said that he, too, had long hungered for a forum like IQ2 U.S., “and I hope it has some sort of viral effect.” ■ April’s debate, which focused on domestic surveil-lance, was vigorous and sport-ing. Mr. Rosenkranz said a few words at the outset, then, for the rest of the evening, van-ished from the view of every-body in the audience of about 300 who was not making a point of looking for him. Such, perhaps, is the role of the perfect host: to get the party

to do with the notion that people who have made a lot of money by working with money have a need for the world to understand the candlepower required. ■ “I think there’s a big incentive among people in finance to prove to themselves that they aren’t just bean coun-ters or whatever,” he said, add-ing that he had recently been paid to attend a small dinner party with a group of strangers from the hedge fund industry. “They don’t want to just be the fat guy with a cigar in the New Yorker cartoon.”

21A HObby THAT’s PART PARTy, PART DebATe, All INTelleCT, NeW yORk TIMes

22 FAll 2007 & sPRINg 2008

R O b e R T s I e g e l

09 : Spreading Democracy In The Middle East Is A Bad Idea

1 2 : It’s Time To End Affi rmative Action

b R I A N l e H R e R

13 : Aid To Africa Is DoingMore Harm Than Good

FA L L 2 0 0 7 & S P R I N G 2 0 0 8 M O D E R AT O R S

JOHN HOCkeNbeRRy

10 : Let’s Stop Welcoming Undocumented Immigrants

eDWARD lUCAs

1 1 : Russia Is Becoming Our Enemy Again

bOb COsTAs

14 : We Should Accept Performance-Enhancing Drugs In Competitive Sports

23FAll 2007 & sPRINg 2008

bROOke glADsTONe

16 : Tough Interrogation Of Terror Suspects Is Necessary

IRA FlATOW

17 : We Should Legalize The Market For Human Organs

MORle y sAFeR

15 : America Should Be The World’s Policeman

24

Flynt Leverett, Dimitri K. Simes, Shibley TelhamiLiz Cheney, Danielle Pletka, Natan SharanskyRobert Siegel

FAll 2007

09 sPReADINg DeMOCRACy IN THe MIDDle eAsT Is A bAD IDeASeptember 18, 2007

for the motion:

against the motion:

moderator:

pre-debate vote:

18%

46%36%

post-debate vote:

55% FOR40% AgAINsT

5% UNDeCIDeD

sePTeMbeR 2007 Second season begins with a first-ever televised broadcast of IQ2US debate on WNET/Thirteen

DO U HAVE A HIGH RES?

25FAll 2007

10 leT’s sTOP WelCOMINg UNDOCUMeNTeD IMMIgRANTsOctober 39, 2007


moderator:

Vernon M. Briggs, Jr., Mark Krikorian, Heather Mac DonaldDaniel T. Griswold, Enrique Morones, Karen K. NarasakiJohn Hockenberry


post-debate vote:60% FOR37% AgAINsT3% UNDeCIDeD 11 RUssIA Is beCOMINg

OUR eNeMy AgAINOctober 30, 2007


moderator:

Claudia Rosett, Bret Stephens, J. Michael WallerNina Khrushcheva, Robert Legvold, Mark MedishEdward Lucas



26 FAll 2007

Fall 2007 Topics span The globe

meXico

usa

aFrica

middle easT

russia

12 IT’s TIMe TO eND AFFIRMATIVe ACTIONNovember 13, 2007


moderator:

John H. McWhorter, Terence J. Pell, Joseph C. PhilipsKhin Mai Aung, Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, Tim WiseRobert Siegel


post-debate vote:40% FOR55% AgAINsT6% UNDeCIDeD 13 AID TO AFRICA Is DOINg

MORe HARM THAN gOODDecember 4, 2007


moderator:

George Ayittey, William Easterly, David RieffC. Payne Lucas, John McArthur, Gayle SmithBrian Lehrer



27FAll 2007

15 AMeRICA sHOUlD be THe WORlD’s POlICeMAN February 12, 2008


moderator:

Max Boot, Michael Mandelbaum, Douglas MurrayIan Bremmer, Ellen Laipson, Matthew ParrisMorley Safer



sPRINg 2008

14 We sHOUlD ACCePT PeRFORMANCe- eNHANCINg DRUgs IN COMPeTITIVe sPORTsJanuary 15, 2008


moderator:

Radley Balko, Norman Fost, Julian SavulescuGeorge Michael, Dale Murphy, Richard PoundBob Costas



28

sPRINg 2008

S P R I N G 2 0 0 8

18 We sHOUlD legAlIze THe MARkeT FOR HUMAN ORgANs May 13, 2008


moderator:

Lloyd R. Cohen, Amy L. Friedman, Sally SatelJames F. Childress, Francis L. Delmonico, David RothmanIra Flatow



16 TOUgH INTeRROgATION OF TeRROR sUsPeCTs Is NeCessARy March 11, 2008


moderator:

Rick Francona, Heather Mac Donald, David RivkinJack Cloonan, John Hutson, Darius RejaliBrooke Gladstone



17 IslAM Is DOMINATeD by RADICAls April 15, 2008


moderator:

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Paul Marshall, Asra Q. NomaniReza Aslan, Richard Bulliet, Edina LekovicRobert Siegel



29

30 FAll 2008

JOhN DONvAN JoIns IntellIGence sQuared as tHe oFFIcIal Moderator sePTeMbeR 16, 2008

“I think of it as the best seat in the house: to be posi-tioned between the debat-ing teams, where I can see in close-up the set of their jaw as they speak to win, hear better than anyone their ev-ery disgruntled aside about something an opponent just

of those things. ■ And fun, too. The intellectual jolt I get from having to ride the current of these powerful arguments is like nothing else I’ve experienced. And the sense that this is some-thing that really matters makes IQ2US something

I am grateful to be a part of. As I am also grateful to both Robert Rosenkranz, for creating the series, and Dana Wolfe, for putting ev-ery one of these debates to-gether.” – john donvan

said, and be first on my feet to congratulate the winners of the evening when I finish announcing the closing vote. It’s the perfect combination of privilege and challenge to be up there as modera-tor. Or referee. Or train con-ductor. Or bee herder. Or all

31FAll 2008

32 FAll 2008

F A L L 2 0 0 8

20 AMeRICA Is FINAlly WINNINg THe WAR IN IRAQOctober 7, 2008


moderator:

Frederick W. Kagan , General Jack Keane (Ret.)Charles Ferguson, Sir Malcolm RifkindJohn Donvan



sePTeMbeR 2008 IQ2US moves to the Caspary Auditorium at Rockefeller University

19 UNIVeRsAl HeAlTH COVeRAge sHOUlD be THe FeDeRAl gOVeRNMeNT’s ResPONsIbIlITy September 16, 2008


moderator:

Art Kellermann, Paul Krugman, Michael Rachlis Michael F. Cannon, Sally C. Pipes, John StosselJohn Donvan



33FAll 2008

21 gUNs ReDUCe CRIMe October 28, 2008


moderator:

Stephen Halbrook, Gary Kleck, John R. LottJohn J. Donohue, Paul Helmke, R. Gil KerlikowskeJohn Donvan

pre-debate vote:13%

60% 27%

post-debate vote:27% FOR63% AgAINsT10% UNDeCIDeD 22 gOOgle VIOlATes ITs

“DON’T be eVIl” MOTTONovember 18, 2008


moderator:

Harry Lewis, Randal C. Picker, Siva VaidhyanathanEsther Dyson, Jim Harper, Jeff JarvisJohn Donvan



34 FAll 2008

23 bUsH 43 Is THe WORsT PResIDeNT OF THe lAsT 50 yeARsDecember 2, 2008

for the motion:

against the motion:

moderator:

Simon Jenkins, Jacob WeisbergWilliam Kristol, Karl RoveJohn Donvan

pre-debate vote:

18%

65%17%

post-debate vote:

68% FOR

27% AgAINsT

5% UNDeCIDeD

Debate draws protestors and required extra security for Karl Rove

35

24 MAJOR ReDUCTIONs IN CARbON eMIssIONs ARe NOT WORTH THe MONeyJanuary 13, 2009

for the motion:

against the motion:

moderator:

Peter Huber, Bjorn Lomborg, Philip StottL. Hunter Lovins, Oliver Tickell, Adam WerbachJohn Donvan

pre-debate vote:

35%

16%50%

post-debate vote:

42% FOR

48% AgAINsT

10% UNDeCIDeD

sPRINg 2009

23rd and 24th debates were recorded for BBC World News Television at Symphony Space

36 sPRINg 2009

25 THe ART MARkeT Is less eTHICAl THAN THe sTOCk MARkeT February 3, 2009


moderator:

Richard Feigen, Michael Hue-Williams, Adam LindemannAmy Cappellazzo, Chuck Close, Jerry SaltzJohn Donvan


post-debate vote:55% FOR33% AgAINsT12% UNDeCIDeD 26 blAMe WAsHINgTON MORe THAN WAll

sTReeT FOR THe FINANCIAl CRIsIs March 17, 2009


moderator:

Niall Ferguson, John Steele Gordon, Nouriel RoubiniAlex Berenson, Jim Chanos, Nell MinowJohn Donvan



37sPRINg 2009

28 DIPlOMACy WITH IRAN Is gOINg NOWHeReMay 12, 2009


moderator:

Liz Cheney, Dan SenorAmb. Nicholas Burns, Kenneth PollackJohn Donvan



27 IT’s WRONg TO PAy FOR seXApril 21, 2009


moderator:

Melissa Farley, Catharine MacKinnon, Wendy ShalitSydney Barrows, Tyler Cowen, Lionel TigerJohn Donvan

pre-debate vote:20%41%

34%



post-debate vote58% FOR34% AgAINsT8% UNDeCIDeD


post-debate vote27% FOR66% AgAINsT7% UNDeCIDeD

38 FAll 2009

IQ2US moves to the Skirball Center

The IQ2US set is born

F A L L 2 0 0 9

39FAll 2009

Picks up IQ2USglobally

IQ2US launches media partnership with magazine

40 FAll 2009

29 bUy AMeRICAN/HIRe AMeRICAN POlICIes WIll bACkFIReSeptember 21, 2009

for the motion:

against the motion:

moderator:

Jagdish Bhagwati, Douglas Irwin, Amb. Susan C. SchwabLeo W. Gerard, John R. MacArthur, Jeff MadrickJohn Donvan

pre-debate vote:

23%

57%20%

post-debate vote:

72% FOR

14% AgAINsT

14% UNDeCIDeD

41FAll 2009

30 AMeRICA CANNOT AND WIll NOT sUCCeeD IN AFPAkOctober 6, 2009

for the motion:

against the motion:

moderator:

Steve Clemons, Patrick Lang, Ralph PetersSteve Coll, John Nagl, James ShinnJohn Donvan

pre-debate vote:

48%25%

post-debate vote:

43% FOR45% AgAINsT

12% UNDeCIDeD

42 FAll 2009

43

John Hockenberry, Jim VandeHei, Michael WolffPhil Bronstein, David Carr, Katrina vanden HeuvelJohn Donvan

FAll 2009

31 gOOD RIDDANCe TO MAINsTReAM MeDIAOctober 27, 2009

for the motion:

against the motion:

moderator:

pre-debate vote:

25%

25%50%

post-debate vote:

24% FOR68% AgAINsT

8% UNDeCIDeD

Featured in Page One: Inside the New York Times documentary

44 FAll 2009

32 ObAMA’s eCONOMIC POlICIes ARe WORkINg eFFeCTIVelyNovember 16, 2009

for the motion:

against the motion:

moderator:

Lawrence Mishel, Steven Rattner, Mark ZandiJames Galbraith, Allan Meltzer, Eliot SpitzerJohn Donvan

pre-debate vote:

32%29%

post-debate vote:

46% FOR42% AgAINsT

12% UNDeCIDeD

39%

45FAll 2009

33 AMeRICA Is TO blAMe FOR MeXICO’s DRUg WARDecember 1, 2009

for the motion:

against the motion:

moderator:

Andrés Martinez, Jeffrey Miron, Fareed ZakariaJorge Castañeda, Chris Cox, Asa HutchinsonJohn Donvan

pre-debate vote:

43%22%

post-debate vote:

72% FOR22% AgAINsT

6% UNDeCIDeD35%

46 sPRINg 2010

34 CAlIFORNIA Is THe FIRsT FAIleD sTATeJanuary 19, 2010


moderator:

Andreas Kluth, Bobby Shriver, Sharon WaxmanGray Davis, Van Jones, Lawrence O’DonnellJohn Donvan

pre-debate vote:31% 25%44%


35 THe Us sHOUlD sTeP bACk FROM ITs sPeCIAl RelATIONsHIP WITH IsRAelFebruary 9, 2010


moderator:

Roger Cohen, Rashid KhalidiStuart Eizenstat, Itamar RabinovichJohn Donvan



36 DON’T blAMe TeACHeRs UNIONs FOR OUR FAIlINg sCHOOlsMarch 16, 2010


moderator:

Kate McLaughlin, Gary Smuts, Randi WeingartenTerry Moe, Rod Paige, Larry SandJohn Donvan




47

S P R I N G 2 0 1 0

37 ORgANIC FOOD Is MARkeTINg HyPeApril 13, 2010


moderator:

Dennis Avery, Blake Hurst, Lord John KrebsCharles Benbrook, Urvashi Rangan, Jeffrey SteingartenJohn Donvan



38 ObAMA’s FOReIgN POlICy sPells AMeRICA’s DeClINeMay 11, 2010


moderator:

Dan Senor, Mort ZuckermanWesley Clark, Bernard-Henri LévyJohn Donvan


post-debate vote:34% FOR 58% AgAINsT8% UNDeCIDeD

sPRINg 2010

48 HAMIlTON AWARD

Alexander Hamilton

APRIL 28, 2010

THE 10TH ANNUAL MANHATTAN INSTITUTE

AWARD DINNER

�

The Alexander Hamilton Award was created to celebrate New York and

honor those individuals helping to foster the revitalization of our nation’s

cities. We chose to name the award after Hamilton because, like the

Manhattan Institute, he was a fervent proponent of commerce and civic

life, and he believed the health of the nation hinged upon vibrant cities.

He was also the quintessential New Yorker. Hamilton went to university,

joined the army, and practiced law in New York. His last home stands in

Harlem; his grave is at the crown of Wall Street across from the Bank

of New York, which he started; the newspaper he founded, the New York Post, is still a powerful voice in the city he loved. New York’s style—

passionate, entrepreneurial, ambitious, and inclusive—reflected his vision

of America and shaped his politics.

Hamilton’s greatest contribution to New York, the nation, and the

science of self-government was the Federalist Papers, the series of

newspaper articles written, along with James Madison and John Jay,

under the pseudonym Publius. These articles sought to persuade the

American people that the proposed federal constitution was a good idea

and should be ratified. While we have prospered for two centuries by

taking Publius’s advice, it must be remembered that success was never

guaranteed—nor did it exempt us from maintaining and improving what

the nation’s founders built. For over 30 years, the Manhattan Institute

has worked to create a climate of opinion in the mainstream media that

supports this “experiment in self-government.”

ALEXANDER HAMILTONAWARD D INNER

�

WELCOMING REMARKSPaul E. Singer

Chairman of the Board, Manhattan Institute

�

2010 HONOREES

Wendy KoppChief Executive Officer and Founder, Teach For America

INTRODUCED BY

Robert K. SteelFormer President and Chief Executive Offi cer

Wachovia Corporation

&Robert Rosenkranz

Founder, Intelligence Squared US DebatesChief Executive Officer, Delphi Financial Group, Inc.

Trustee, Manhattan Institute

INTRODUCED BY

Daniel P. HenningerDeputy Editor, Editorial Page

The Wall Street Journal

APRIl 28, 2010 Robert Rosenkranz honored for IQ2US with Alexander Hamilton Award

49HAMIlTON AWARD

50 sPRINg 2010

JUNe 2010 Intelligence Squared debates in Washington, D.C. at the Newseum

51sPRINg 2010

Marc Rotenberg, Bruce SchneierMike McConnell, Jonathan ZittrainJohn Donvan

39 THe CybeR WAR THReAT HAs beeN gROssly eXAggeRATeDJUNE 8, 2010

for the motion:

against the motion:

moderator:

pre-debate vote:

22%54%

24%

post-debate vote

23% FOR71% AgAINsT

6% UNDeCIDeD

Calls were taken from the CIA, FBI, White House, NSC and DIA to attend

52 Fall 2010

41 IslAM Is A RelIgION OF PeACeOctober 6, 2010


moderator:

Zeba Khan, Maajid NawazAyaan Hirsi Ali, Douglas MurrayJohn Donvan



40 TReAT TeRRORIsTs lIke eNeMy COMbATANTs, NOT CRIMINAlsSeptember 14, 2010


moderator:

Michael Hayden, Marc ThiessenStephen Jones, David FraktJohn Donvan



F A L L 2 0 1 0

1sT TweeT: Intelligence squared debates Islam 10/6. More info and panelist bios at http://bit.ly/9QaQr1

53

43 AFgHANIsTAN Is A lOsT CAUseNovember 10, 2011


moderator:

Matthew Hoh, Nir RosenPeter Bergen, Max BootJohn Donvan


post-debate vote:51% For36% aGaInst13% undecIded

44 Us AIRPORTs sHOUlD Use RACIAl AND RelIgIOUs PROFIlINgNovember 22, 2010


moderator:

Robert Baer, Deroy Murdock, Asra Q. NomaniHassan Abbas, Deb Burlingame, Michael ChertoffJohn Donvan



FAll 2010

42 bIg gOVeRNMeNT Is sTIFlINg THe AMeRICAN sPIRITOctober 26, 2010


moderator:

Phil Gramm, Art LafferLaura Tyson, Nouriel RoubiniJohn Donvan



54 sPRINg 2011

45 RePeAl ObAMACAReJanuary 11, 2011


moderator:

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, John ShadeggJonathan Cohn, Paul StarrJohn Donvan



46 THe TWO-PARTy sysTeM Is MAkINg AMeRICA UNgOVeRNAbleFebruary 15, 2011


moderator:

David Brooks, Arianna HuffingtonZev Chafets, P.J. O’RourkeJohn Donvan



47 CleAN eNeRgy CAN DRIVe AMeRICA’s eCONOMIC ReCOVeRyMarch 8, 2011


moderator:

Bill Ritter, Kassia YanosekRobert Bryce, Steven HaywardJohn Donvan

pre-debate vote:46% 21% 33%


S P R I N G 2 0 1 1

55 sPRINg 2011

48 IT’s TIMe TO ClIP AMeRICA’s glObAl WINgsApril 5, 2011


moderator:

Peter Galbraith, Lawrence KorbElliott Abrams, Eliot CohenJohn Donvan


post-debate vote:47% FOR44% AgAINsT9% UNDeCIDeD 49 DON’T gIVe Us yOUR TIReD, yOUR

POOR, yOUR HUDDleD MAsses May 3, 2011


moderator:

Kris Kobach, Tom TancredoMayor Julián Castro, Tamar JacobyJohn Donvan



MAy 2011 iQ2us.org hits more than 1,000,000 pageviews

THe 50TH DebATe56

THe 50TH DebATe 57

Freedom oF The press does noT eXTend To sTaTe secreTs

June 8, 2011 50The First Amendment protects freedom of the press,

but how do we reconcile the confl ict between national security and accountability? Do we err on the side of secrecy or transparency? From the Pentagon Papers

to WikiLeaks, join the debate between the need for government secrecy and the public’s right to know.

Michael Chertoff, Gabriel SchoenfeldAlan Dershowitz, David Sanger

John Donvan

for the motion

against the motion

moderator

industry setting: Intelligence Squared poses experts head-to-head for an exciting contest of ideas, wit and persuasion in a series of provocative and timely debates. From global warming to the economic crisis, the goal is to provide a new forum for intelligent discussion that transcends the reflexively ideological mainstream media. Attend live in NYC, watch globally on Bloomberg TV, or listen on NPR.

challenge: The challenge was to connect the visual identity with the personality and spirit of the brand itself. Intelligence Squared originated as an exclusive sa-lon for Manhattan’s Upper Eastside. The former identity was lifeless, presidential, and failed to communicate a brand story. When the debate series moved downtown and secured international distribution rights, the brand needed to capture the essence of the organization as a stimulating battleground of ideas and appeal to a broader audience.

strategy: The revised communication strategy needed to accomplish three concurrent objectives: in-troduce the organization’s mission quickly and clearly; advertise the entertainment value of live debate to potential ticket buyers; and promote the debate content to a wide ranging television, radio, and online audience. The visual brand language needed to support this plan by developing a contemporized brand language that is bold, compelling and emotive, while still communicat-ing the brand story to an intellectually sophisticated target demographic.

result: The new identity and website served as a powerful launch platform for the Fall 2010 Debate Series. Through a revised communication strategy and visual language, the brand voice now successfully illu-minates the core values of the brand itself. Ticket sales, new audience procurement (across all audiences), web traffic, and time spent on site have all experienced gains by at least 30%.

RebRAND58

A F T E RB E F O R E

RebRAND 59

AwA R D : N O TA B L EFebRUARy 23, 2011 IQ2US wins a Rebrand Award: Notable

60 ReCePTION

R E C E P T I O N

61ReCePTION

62 NOTes

congraTs & Thank you noTes

63NOTes 63

64

radio roduction

NPR -- Margaret Low Smith, Eric Nuzum, Erica Ryan

Ellen Horne, Radio Producer (WNYC)

Ed Haber, Recording Engineer (WNYC)

Rob Christiansen, Radio Producer 2006-

Maureen McMurray, Radio Producer 2008-

Damon Whittemore, Recording Engineer, Tritone Digital 2006-

Kristin Mueller, Tritone Digital

stage & television production

Bloomberg Television--David Rhodes, Maia Samuels, Eric Wagner, Sarah Scully

Metrovision, Frank Berman

Rob Lewis, Technical Production Manager

Grant Shafe, Production Assistant

George Allison, Set Designer

Rick Siegel, Lighting

Jennifer Wollan, Video Editor

venues

Asia Society 2006-2008

Caspary Auditorium, Rockefeller University 2008-2009

Symphony Space December 2008 - January 2009

Newseum, Washington, D.C. June 2010

NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts September 2009 -

public radio marketing

Blakeley & Co. -- Deb Blakeley & Joan Miller

public relations

Lisa Dallos & Robert Pini, High 10 Media

Eileen Murphy, Publicist

The Weiser Group--Michael Weiser, Jonathan Cohen, Karol Sheinen

Brown Lloyd James

graphics, design & web

BGT Partners

Graphic Designers Miko McGinty & Rita Jules

Treehouse Collective -- Chris Maiorino, Nick Ruzhnikov, Brian Carley

Thank you To everyone who has made iQ2us such a success and making whaT we do possible

ACkNOWleDgMeNTs

media partners

NPR

WNYC

Newsweek

Bloomberg Television

corporate/foundation sponsors

American Clean Skies 2010 / 2011

Neustar, June 2010

photography

Kevin Wick, Longview Photography

Chris Vultaggio, Photographer

transportation

DirectLimos -- Eric Welle

dedicated volunteers

Cyndi Pogue, Hazel Crews, Rebecca Monroe, Sara Burningham

Mary Ann Crouse, iCount

iQ2 london--John Gordon, Jeremy O’Grady, Laura La Frenais, Hannah Kaye,

virtual advisory board

James Blue III, Max Boot, Chris Bury, Devon Cross, Chris DeMuth, Van Greenfield, John Gordon, Roger Hertog, Stephen Hessler, Philip K. Howard, Sara Just, Herb London, Myron Magnet, Alexandra Munroe, Su-Lin Cheng Nichols, Gerry Ohrstrom, Ellen Palevsky, Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, Nadia Schadlow, Paul Singer, Fareed Zakaria

the rosenkranz foundation--

Directors: Robert Rosenkranz, Stephanie Rosenkranz Hessler, Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz

Emily Doskow

Beth Green

intelligence sQuared u.s.

Robert Rosenkranz is Founder and Chairman of Intelligence Squared U.S. Foundation

S. Dana Wolfe, Executive Producer 2006-

John Donvan, Moderator 2009-

Lia Macko, Producer 2007-

Kris Kamikawa, Director of Research 2006-

Clea Conner Chang, Director of Marketing and Production 2011-

Laura Meyer, Event Production Coordinator 2010-

Vern Calhoun, Production Manager 2006-2007

Heather Grossmann, Production Manager 2007-2008

Lindsay Nelson, Director of Production, Strategy & Development 2008-2011

Juliet Dickey, Production Coordinator 2009-2010

Thank you To everyone who has made iQ2us such a success and making whaT we do possible

© 2011 INTellIgeNCe sQUAReD U.s. FOUNDATION 65

50DEBATES

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“POINTED POLITICAL DEBATE MINUS ALL THE SHOUTING: A series of ten provocative and informative live

debates, fi ve in the fall, fi ve in the spring, on the hot-button concerns of the day. The debates are broadcast on NPR�

stations across the country and on the Bloomberg Television� network. The programs reach a wide audience and

attract as speakers the top experts, specialists and passionate advocates for both sides of each issue.”

— ELIZABETH JENSEN, THE NEW YORK TIMES, SEPTEMBER 21, 2009

D E B AT E S

CELEBRATING 50 DEBATES & THE EVOLUTION OF

50 DEBATES: CELEBRATING 50 DEBATES & THE EVOLUTION OF INTELLIGENCE SQUARED DEBATES

© 2011 INTELLIGENCE SQUARED U.S. FOUNDATION

Edited and produced by Clea Conner ChangDesigned by Diana SimakhovWritten by Kris , Dana Wolfe and John Donvan

CELEBRATING 50 DEBATES &

THE EVOLUTION OF

“From wherever you stood, the opposing side offered respectable, credible views. In today’s fractured culture the evening struck a blow for civility.” – THE HUFFINGTON POST

“A great event. Fun!” – BOBBY SHRIVER, PANEL IST

“It’s a real public service to have debates that bring top-tier participants together and add the sizzle of prize fi ght competition to a discussion of issues of fi rst-order importance.” – THE ATLANTIC

“The high level of interest and thought-provoking participation in this forum for public discourse gives me hope, and I applaud your visionary insight and commitment to public service.” –RICHARD C. LEVIN, PRES IDENT OF YALE

UNIVERSITY

“A throwback to the days of traveling orators, to a time of greater civility, when people actually bothered to listen to the other side, to consider the validity of its position.” – THE GLOBE AND MAIL

“Always intelligent and provocative, as well as disciplined and civil. A stimulating way to spend an evening.”— THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

“Intelligence Squared has done something rare in New York – create an event that people feel they must go to.”— FAREED ZAKARIA

“A salon for movers and shakers, writers and thinkers”— THE NEW YORK T IMES

“Everything about the Intelligence Squared debate was first rate—the organization of the event itself, the eloquence of the participants, the moderator’s skill, the thoughtful participation of the audience, and the subsequent presentation of the debate on NPR and the internet. There’s nothing remotely like it in American politics.”—MICHAEL CRICHTON, PANEL IST

50

Documents

50 Debates