“A non-partisan, nonprofit debate organization, Intelligence Squared U.S. was founded in 2006 to restore civility, reasoned analysis, and constructive public discourse to today’s often biased media landscape. Recorded in front of a live, voting audience, IQ2US pursues this mission through an annual series of Oxford-style debates, featuring two teams of experts arguing for and against a provocatively worded resolution. The award-winning series has reached millions through multi-platform distribution, including live streaming (via FORA.tv), radio (225+ NPR stations nationwide), television (formerly on Bloomberg and PBS), podcasts, and interactive digital content. With close to 100 debates, Intelligence Squared U.S. has encouraged the public to “think twice” on a wide range of provocative topics. The debates have attracted some of the world’s top thinkers, including economist Paul Krugman, Dr. Neal Barnard, writer Malcolm Gladwell, former governor Howard Dean, Monsanto chief technology officer Robert Fraley, former surgeon general David Satcher, entrepreneur Peter Thiel, activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, law professor Zephyr Teachout, and former CIA director Michael Hayden. Author and ABC News correspondent John Donvan has moderated IQ2US since 2008. Dana Wolfe is the executive producer. In November 2014, not two weeks after Brittany Maynard’s decision to end her life reignited that national debate around physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill, IQ2US debated the motion “Legalize Assisted Suicide.” Both sides brought powerful personal anecdotes to the debate. Arguing in favor of assisted suicide: psychologist and best-selling author Andrew Solomon, and Peter Singer, often described as the world’s most influential living philosopher. Arguing against assisted suicide: Baroness Ilora Finlay, a leading palliative care physician and president of the British Medical Association, and Dr. Daniel Sulmasy, member of the Presidential Bioethics Commission and professor of medicine and ethics at the University of Chicago.”
