The smart-machines revolution is re-shaping our lives and our societies. Shadbolt dispels terror, confusion and misconception. We are not about to be elbowed aside by a rebel army of super-intelligent robots of our own creation. We were using tools before we became homo sapiens, and will continue to control them. How we exercise that control – in our private lives, in employment, in politics – and make the best of the wonderful opportunities, will determine our collective future well-being. Shadbolt is one of the UK’s foremost computer scientists. He is a leading researcher in artificial intelligence, a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oxford, and chairman of the Open Data Institute, which he co-founded with Tim Berners-Lee.
A side-splitting session with the swashbuckling children’s author and illustrator, creator of Princess Smartypants, Dr Dog, Mummy Laid an Egg and her latest book James Rabbit and the Giggleberries. Learn how to write and illustrate a children’s picture book and join the fun!
Who were these Supreme Court judges who might thwart ‘the will of the people’? What were their backgrounds, their politics? In response, there came a reassuring message: the job of judges is simply to apply the law made by our elected Parliament. But this reassurance is based on an understanding of judging that is at best only half true; it does sometimes matter who our judges are. Rackley is Professor of Law at University of Birmingham.
The actress and winner of Celebrity MasterChef in 2014 discusses her first book for children. A wonderfully inventive story of a boy who finds he can talk to animals, Zoo Boy takes a fresh and funny look at animals and how we treat them.
The harrowing story of an American traitor who sold out his country to the Russian president. Noel Field, once a well-meaning and privileged American working in the State Department, spied for the Soviets during the 1930s and -40s. Later, a pawn in Stalin’s sinister master strategy, Field was kidnapped and tortured by the KGB, and forced to testify against his own Communist comrades. Marton is an award-winning journalist, a human rights campaigner, and the author of Enemies of the People and The Great Escape.
The dimensions of global power shifts in the modern era. The Director of LSE IDEAS and Professor of International Relations talks about what global political and economic changes we can expect from the rise of China, India, Latin America and other developing markets around the world, and what this means for central and Eastern Europe.
Co-organized with LSE (London School of Economics) in collaboration with Egmond Kiado
One hundred years after Ireland’s 1916 Rising, who are the Irish and what has become of the republic they made? The award-winning photographer, exile and escapee, digs deep to discover the forces and mysteries that drive, and have often beguiled, the country since its birth. From the streets of Dublin and the suburbs of towns and cities adapting to new multicultural life, to the older habitats of Ireland’s wilder western shores, Murphy endeavours to capture the spirit of contemporary Ireland in this witty, closely observed and beautiful photographic story. Chaired by David Dwan.
“I talk about my life and work, including Little Britain, Come Fly With Me, Bridesmaids, Les Miserables, Alice In Wonderland and, of course, Shooting Stars. This is a bit different to most memoirs you may have read, because it comes in the form of an A-Z. For instance, B is for Baldy! - which is what people used to shout at me in the playground (not much fun), G is for Gay (because I’m an actual real life gay) and T is for the TARDIS (because I’m a companion in Doctor Who now).” Chaired by Stephanie Merritt.
A persuasive and inspiring argument exploring the subject matter of his radical and brilliant book Lost Connections. Across the world, Hari found social scientists who were uncovering evidence that depression and anxiety are not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, as we are often told. In fact, they are largely caused by key problems with the way we live today. Once he had uncovered nine real causes of depression and anxiety, they led him to scientists who are discovering seven very different solutions – ones that work.
What is an ennog? A jitty? A twitten? In fact, they are all the same thing. These are all regional names for ‘a narrow walkway running between or alongside buildings’. The English language has scores of different regional names for such an alleyway including drangway, ginnel, snicket and vennel. The English language throughout its history has been full of regional diversity – it is a language made up of dialects. The author of Studying Dialect will take us on an absorbing journey down the everyday drangways of the English language.
We have been repeatedly told that the UK will be looking to create new free-trade partnerships following Brexit, above all with the 'Anglosphere'. Why then do we need to study or learn other languages? Everyone speaks English. This session will unpack some of the monolingual attitudes that sit behind such views and ask participants to think about the role of languages and language learning for Britain's relationships with a brave new world post-Brexit. #unpack
Sariolghalam is Professor of International Relations at Tehran’s Shahid Beheshti University and is one of Iran’s best-selling authors. For 26 years he has taught and conducted research on contemporary history and Iran’s relations with the outside world. His acknowledged skill has been to find ways to navigate Iran’s red lines in public discourse, and to avoid being targeted for being outspoken in print. The political establishment not only tolerated his writings, it has also been influenced by them. And Iran’s next generation views them as having helped to frame the 2015 nuclear agreement and expectations for the future.
Junk won the prestigious Carnegie Medal and Guardian Children’s Book Prize in 1996. It was criticised for depicting young drug-users. Twenty years on, author Melvin Burgess discusses the book and the controversy that has surrounded it with Julia Eccleshare.
The award-winning New Yorker journalist forensically exposes the billionaire Koch brothers’ funding of interest groups, think-tanks and candidate campaigns to manipulate American politics towards their own extreme libertarian interests. She examines the impact on the 2016 US elections and reveals what influence the network has on politics in the UK and Europe.
