It’s always fascinating to see political debates in public, garnering emotions that rule over people taking part, whether on stage or in the audience. Last night’s Intelligence[...]
100 days of President Trump IQ2 debate in London
Politics
Clinton vs Trump: who has got what it takes to become President?
Yesterday I was lucky enough to attend a ‘Tina Brown on media, politics and women in the world’ 5 x 15 event hosted by the formidably funny[...]
‘Dispatches from Syria’ by Janine di Giovanni
New books get published all the time but it’s not often that a book with a political and humanitarian context makes waves even before it’s release date. Janine di Giovanni[...]
Coverage of Russian politics – is objectivity dead?
If you watch the news, you couldn’t have failed to notice the negativity that accompanies any coverage of Russian politics. Being Russian-born but living in England, I keep an eye on the coverage[...]
Thoughts on the Russia/Ukraine crisis & politicians in general
It’s always interesting to read Westerners perspective on the Russian state of affaires but I can honestly say that I am deeply disappointed that western politicians, notably President[...]
Possibility of freedom for Mikhail Khodorkovsky
Like many Russians I was glued to my television set this morning, watching the annual press conference of President Vladimir Putin with the Russian and foreign press.[...]
An evening with Irina Yasina
On a Saturday evening, when the world has learnt about the passing away of Boris Berezovsky, I was walking through snowy Piccadilly towards Waterstones, for an evening with a journalist[...]
Royal Brompton Hospital: the future in doubt or the saga continues
Last Thursday I was peacefully browsing the Evening Standard when a little article caught my attention. It talked of Royal Brompton Hospital and the fact that it seems[...]
UK Grazia’s article on Russian It Girl Ksenia Sobchak and my personal reply to it…..
Last week I opened my weekly addiction, Grazia magazine and saw the headline on pages 48-49 that made me pause in my tracks: ‘The socialite leading Russia’s[...]
Intelligence Squared+Google Hangout+You Tube=Versus liberating opinion debate
On March 13th Intelligence Squared hosted a Versus global live debate series using Google+ Hangout, which was streamed ‘live’ on YouTube. The subject of the debate was ‘It’s time to end the was on drugs’ and it took place at a very cool and modern venue called King’s Place close to King’s Cross.
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The building itself is tall, but not imposing and when you walk to it you feel like you are in another world, where old merges with new, thus creating a very interesting area vibe. There are several floors, restaurants, cafe, exhibition spaces and auditoriums, and the debate was hosted at the concert level. The auditorium itself was light and airy, with comfortable seats and a feeling of intimacy with the audience.
Forty years ago Richard Nixon and his administration declared the war or drugs, yet it seems that the same landscape and problems remain and the debate united people interested in resolving this problem or at least having a productive discussion with people and speakers present in the audience or beamed/ streamed from around the world, thus hopefully making us all feel like part of big community.
The debate was moderated by
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