Intelligence Squared Debates, Chicago

Ranked one of Five Podcasts that Will Change the Way You Think by Forbes Magazine, Intelligence Squared Debates has opened the floor on timely, politically-charged issues during more than 60 interactive Oxford-style debates—typically broadcast live from New York on more than 220 NPR stations, on PBS, and on Wall Street Journal's WSJLIve. In past debates, Arianna Huffington and P.J. O'Rourke have dueled over whether the two-party political system makes it impossible to govern. Malcolm Gladwell has advocated banning college football amid rebuttals from sports broadcaster Tim Green.

Whether the topic is Palestine's UN admission as a full member state, the pros and cons of religion, or the Internet's effect on our ability to stay open-minded, audience members get to question luminaries who have included Paul Krugman, Alan Dershowitz, and Karl Rove and throw tomatoes at them when they're deemed out of order. Each attendee is also afforded the final vote––for, against, or undecided––to crown the debate's winner.