Debates for the Highbrow

Do you like your debates elevated, intelligent and well, smarter than a TMZ reporter?

Tonight at 9 p.m.  ET, Bloomberg Television (Comcast Channel 103 in Washington) will debut a new season of Intelligence Squared US (IQ2 US). Bloomberg PR describes it  as “the Oxford-style debate series that features world thinkers going head to head in a battle of ideas and persuasion.” The series describes itself similarly “as an exciting contest of ideas, wit and persuasion.” The idea behind the series is that they are to be highbrow debates sponsored by the Rosenkranz Foundation, a public policy institute founded by CEO and private equity magnate Robert Rosenkranz (his insurance holding company has assets over $5 billion; he’s a member of the Yale University Council and the Dean’s Council of Yale’s Architecture School; the philanthropic Rosenkranz Foundation donates to not only IQ2US, but think tanks, universities and the arts with a special focus...