Intelligence Squared

This is an episode of The Specialist, your weekly dose of wonder. In The Specialist, explore the significance and journey of an extraordinary work through the eyes of those that know it best.

On today’s episode, Frank Everett, Sotheby's Vice Chairman, Jewelry Americas, discusses the string of faux pearls that belonged to the legendary Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Estimated at $500-$700, it was the power of provenance that drove them to sell for over $200,000. Frank is largely self-taugh and moved through the major jewelry houses before joining Sotheby’s, where his knowledge of the design and history of great period jewels has led him to oversee record-breaking sales. He has his own popular video series - Frank's Files - and a cult following.

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What it might mean – biologically, socially, and philosophically – if death becomes optional?

Humanity has long dreamed about the idea of immortality. And in 2026, many believe that dream could soon become a reality. The world’s most powerful technologists and investors are pouring billions into engineering immortality itself. For these modern-day immortalists, aging is no longer an inevitability – it’s a technical glitch that can be hacked, reversed, or eradicated altogether.

On today’s episode, award-winning broadcaster and academic Aleks Krotoski speaks to host Carl Miller about the moguls, effective altruists, geroscientists and entrepreneurs who are seeking to disrupt death. 

Drawing on Krotoski’s new book The Immortalists, they discuss encounters with radical life extensionists transfusing their teenage son’s blood, transhumanists who want to upload consciousness to the cloud, biohackers flogging AI-powered wellness apps and billionaire kingmakers building brand-new nations.

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What if DNA could be edited as easily as software? What if we could delete disease, redesign organisms, and eventually rewrite ourselves?

In this episode, Adrian Woolfson joins host Güneş Taylor to discuss his book, On the Future of Species. As artificial intelligence fuses with synthetic biology, Woolfson argues that we are beginning to decode the grammar of the genome - learning not just to read life, but to write it.

Today, scientists are still in the scribbling phase, editing microbes and viruses. Tomorrow, we may design entirely new organisms or resurrect lost ones. Evolution would no longer be destiny. It would be a choice.

But who gets to choose? And what happens to ecosystems, and human nature itself when genomes become editable?

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2026 opened with a bang on the world stage. With Donald Trump's aggressive approach to foreign policy and the release of the Epstein files threatening more political upheaval, it's clear that this year will be another test of resilience for the global economy.

On February 9, Chief Economics Commentator for the Financial Times Martin Wolf joined us for the latest installment of The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook, in partnership with Guinness Global Investors. In conversation with BBC broadcaster Jonny Dymond, he argued these could be the final days of Keir Starmer’s tenure as British PM, and what this means for the British economy.

More broadly he shed light on the implications of American antagonism for the existing world order, and what the rising wave of populism from left and right could mean for the economic policies of incumbent parties in the UK, Europe, US and beyond.

Widely regarded as one of the world’s most influential writers on the global economy and a multi-award-winning financial journalist, Wolf has been chronicling and analysing geopolitical and economic upheaval for nearly 40 years. He has written five bestselling books. His latest, The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism, maps out the implications of globalisation, technological development and the impact of democratic decline on the global economy.

This recording is part of The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook series of events made in partnership with Guinness Global Investors, an independent British fund manager that helps both individuals and institutions harness the future drivers of growth to achieve their investment goals.

To find out more visit: https://www.guinnessgi.com/
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2026 opened with a bang on the world stage. With Donald Trump's aggressive approach to foreign policy and the release of the Epstein files threatening more political upheaval, it's clear that this year will be another test of resilience for the global economy.

On February 9, Chief Economics Commentator for the Financial Times Martin Wolf joined us for the latest installment of The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook, in partnership with Guinness Global Investors. In conversation with BBC broadcaster Jonny Dymond, he argued these could be the final days of Keir Starmer’s tenure as British PM, and what this means for the British economy.

More broadly he shed light on the implications of American antagonism for the existing world order, and what the rising wave of populism from left and right could mean for the economic policies of incumbent parties in the UK, Europe, US and beyond.

Widely regarded as one of the world’s most influential writers on the global economy and a multi-award-winning financial journalist, Wolf has been chronicling and analysing geopolitical and economic upheaval for nearly 40 years. He has written five bestselling books. His latest, The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism, maps out the implications of globalisation, technological development and the impact of democratic decline on the global economy.

This recording is part of The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook series of events made in partnership with Guinness Global Investors, an independent British fund manager that helps both individuals and institutions harness the future drivers of growth to achieve their investment goals.

To find out more visit: https://www.guinnessgi.com/
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