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Trump, Markets and The Greatest Crash in U.S. History, with Andrew Ross Sorkin

History &
Social Policy

The lessons of the 1929 financial crash and how that era of political instability and market turmoil eerily mirrors today

In 1929, the world watched in shock as the unstoppable Wall Street bull market went into a freefall, wiping out fortunes and igniting a depression that would reshape a generation. 

In November 2025, Andrew Ross Sorkin, acclaimed New York Times columnist and author, came to Intelligence Squared to reveal the lessons of the 1929 financial crash and how that era of political instability and market turmoil eerily mirrors today. Drawing from his new book 1929, he set out a blueprint for understanding the cycles of speculation, regulatory missteps and warning signs of economic crash that we choose to ignore at our own peril. 

Speakers for the motion

  • Andrew Ross Sorkin

    Author, New York Times columnist and presenter on CNBC

Chair

  • Gillian Tett

    Provost of Kings College, Cambridge and Financial Times columnist

Speakers are subject to change.

Speakers

Speaker

Andrew Ross Sorkin

Author, New York Times columnist and presenter on CNBC

Andrew Ross Sorkin is the author of the international best-seller Too Big to Fail, which won the Gerald Loeb Award for Best Business Book, and was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award. Sorkin is a long-time journalist at The New York Times, the creator of DealBook, co-creator of the TV drama Billions, and a television co-presenter for CNBC’s Squawk Box. 
Host

Gillian Tett

Provost of Kings College, Cambridge and Financial Times columnist

Provost of Kings College, Cambridge and Financial Times columnist. She is the author of many books including Fools Gold and the new book Anthro-Vision: A New Way to see Business and Life. Gillian holds a PhD in social anthropology from the University of Cambridge and has won numerous awards, including Columnist, Journalist and Business Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards. She has been elected the next Provost of King's College, Cambridge and will take office in October 2023.