Hello, I'm Rory Stewart, and I'd like to tell you about an intelligent squared event

I'm doing with the classicist author and broadcaster Mary Beard. Together we'll be discussing

politics and power from the Caesars to Sunack, who gets to Winpar, who is excluded,

does power always corrupt, or other examples of leaders who've maintained their integrity while

an authority. And how does the nature of power vary across different times and cultures?

These are just some of the questions that Mary and I will be trying to answer.

In person tickets are now sold out, but you can still watch online on the 13th of November

at 7pm BST. Put your questions first live as we discuss power and politics down the edges.

The IPCC, the world's leading body on climate change, issued a landmark report detailing how the

world is set for temperature rises of 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2040. They said this level of

temperature rise was not just inevitable, but the resulting climate change would be irreversible.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guteras said this was a code read for humanity and urged all stakeholders

to ensure that COP26 this November would be a resounding success. But what if we gave up the idea

that we can save the planet? What if we stopped pretending that we could stop the ice caps melting,

save the polar bears, or prevent biodiversity loss? What if we lived in a world where we accepted

the idea that we cannot save the planet? That's the against the grain argument of today's guest

Jonathan Franson. It comes from an online event we held with him just a few months ago that we

think is particularly pressing and fascinating. We hope you enjoy it and now let's go to the episode.

Thanks, we're here. Primarily to discuss this wonderful book. It is very short, but it's also

extremely powerful. I want to start with that kind of core thesis. So actually every Sunday I go

for a long run across South London with a senior civil servant and she's been working on a major

government back review of biodiversity, one that culminated recently in an international agreement

...