As support for the extremes of the political spectrum increases across Europe, and Britain threatens to pull out of the EU, what does the future hold for our continent? Abbas is a research associate at the University of Cambridge, Bickerton is a lecturer in politics and Karcher is a research associate in the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages. Simms is the author of Britain's Europe: A Thousand Years of Conflict and Cooperation.

Join the author for a discussion of her new book, Margot and Me, a tender cross-generation story of the unexpected truth that a girl uncovers about her grandmother, when she reads the diary of her life during the War.

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Sheers’ contribution to the Festival’s 30^th anniversary project is a powerful poem addressed to his two daughters. It conjures a reformation of masculinity that is enlightened and inspiring. Sheers’ recent work includes the poem Pink Mist, the National Theatre Wales play Mametz and the Aberfan television film poem The Green Hollow.

The composer and librettists of the WNO’s groundbreaking new opera introduce their adaptation of David Jones’ classic First World War poem and screen film clips of the production. Bell’s beautiful score combines traditional Welsh song with moments of other-worldliness, terror, humour and transcendence. David Pountney’s period production is both an evocation and a commemoration of the events of the Somme.

Sarah Lean’s debut A Dog Called Homeless went down a storm with Morpurgo fans. Learn how she creates her stories and join in with some ideas of your own.

8+ years

Owen’s The Quick is a macabre gothic mystery set in Yorkshire and fin de siècle London. Sedgwick’s A Love Like Blood is a dark, compelling thriller about how a man’s life can change in a moment; about where the desire for truth – and for revenge – can lead; about love and fear and hatred. And it is also about the question of blood. They talk to Sameer Rahim.

Global children’s charity Plan UK introduces Because I am a Girl, the world’s biggest campaign for girls’ rights. With education, skills and the right support, girls in the developing world can make choices over their future and be a force for creating lasting change. Joanne Harris, author of the Rune fantasy series and the bestselling Chocolat trilogy, shares her personal stories as an inspiration for other women and girls worldwide to be able to fulfil their aspirations. She is joined by Plan UK’s Director of Programmes, Nazma Kabir, and Cristina Fuentes, International Director of Hay Festivals, who will talk about our work with Plan in Colombia.  Chaired by Claire Cohen, Deputy Women's Editor for Telegraph Wonder Women.

Sheep are the thread that runs through the history of the British countryside. Our fortunes were once founded on sheep, and this book tells a story of wool and money and history, of merchants and farmers and shepherds, of English yeomen and how they got their freedom and, above all, of the soil. He talks to Kitty Corrigan.

The economist offers a controversial look at the end of globalisation and what it means for prosperity, peace, and the global economic order. King is HSBC’s Chief Economic Adviser and a Special Adviser to the House of Commons Treasury Committee. He talks to the BBC’s Rajan Datar.

The statistician and data scientist offers an up-close and user-friendly look at artificial intelligence: what it is, how it works, where it came from and how to harness its power for a better world. A revolution of intelligent machines, from self-driving cars to smart digital assistants, is now remaking our world, just as the Industrial Revolution remade the world of the 19th century. Doctors use AI to diagnose and treat cancer. Banks use it to detect fraud. Power companies use it to save energy. AI is changing our lives at lightning speed. Many of these changes offer great promise, including freedom from drudgery, safer workplaces, better health care and fewer language barriers. But others elicit worry - whether about jobs, data privacy, political manipulation or the prospect of machines making biased decisions with no accountability. Scott shows how intelligent machines operating on massive data sets are changing the world around you, and how you can use this knowledge to make better decisions in your own life. Chaired by Hannah MacInnes.

The tax avoidance practices of multinational companies have recently been at the forefront of political and economic news. To highlight the unfairness of the current situation, a group of small businesses in Crickhowell, Wales, decided to adopt the offshore tax avoidance tactics of large companies. They have branded this movement the ‘Fair Tax Town’ and now intend to export it to other small businesses all over the UK. We explore the rise of algorithm-based companies such as Facebook, Uber and Deliveroo, and show how their offshore status allows them to extract value from countries in a similar manner to the East India Company in the C17^th.

How often, with whom, and doing what? The statistics of sexual behaviour are riveting, but can we believe them? A Cambridge professor of statistics investigates. Spiegelhalter is Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk.