The Specialist | The Untold Story of the Shredded Banksy, with Alex Branczik

Welcome to Intelligence Squared where great minds meet. I'm head of programming Connor Boyle. Today, something a little different, we're excited to share with you a handpicked episode of a brand new series, The Specialist, produced by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Sotheby's. We've all heard the stories of the record-breaking works, headline-grabbing auctions and moments that shock the art world and beyond. But have you ever wondered what's happening behind the scenes?

What goes into valuing a masterpiece or who the people are really behind the gavel? The specialist brings you art's most extraordinary stories, told by the experts who witness them, in short episodes perfect for a weekend listen. Now over to the specialist. Quite often Sutherbees plays a part in the provenance of an important artwork. I think over the decades we've sold artworks, collections, which become legendary in their own right.

But I think, in this case, the artwork itself was created at Sotherby's. I think it's a very unique situation in which the auction house participated in the creation of the artwork. Sotherby's didn't choose to do this, Sotherby's was chosen. Sotherby's is the temporary custodian of some of the world's most rare, remarkable and coveted art and objects. In each episode we'll be exploring the significance and journey of an extraordinary work told by those who know it best.

We already have this episode, so unlocking it is cheap and permanent: the full transcript (12 minutes, 2,208 words), segment and word-level timestamps, and .txt, .srt, .vtt and word-level JSON downloads, as many times as you like, forever.

No account needed, we create one from your checkout email. With credits it is 1 credit; packs start at 5 episodes for $3.49, and monthly plans are cheaper still.