Every now and then a taboo topic comes up in conversation amongst colleagues or friends; the kind that gets your blood boiling, causes riffs in relationships or ends up with a strong spell of the silent treatment by the person you differ with. 

Brace yourself for Intelligence Squared, a series of Oxford-style debates which wrestle exactly with such themes and the concerns of the moment. Provocation is one of their mainstays, alongside information and reasoned analysis. Unavoidable when you’re dealing with motions such as China is not fit to host the Olympics, or that we’d be better off without religion.

If you opine that as a sporting nation we’re not very sporting, or vehemently agree that America has lost its moral authority, book yourself in for one of the five remaining live debates this year.

Leading thinkers and authorities including activists, academics, and advisers will present their cases. You can vote on the motion both before and after hearing the arguments, so there is a clear measure of how far the audience has actually been swayed.

Your views can stay for or against, you can agree to disagree. No guarantees you won’t still get the silent treatment, but as long as you’ve challenged preconceptions and learnt much more about the issue at hand as you leave the Recital Hall, this is a good thing.

IQ²
City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney 2000
Doors open at 6.00pm, the debate begins at 6.45pm and will end promptly at 8.30pm.
Single tickets $15-$30, season subscription $150.