Hay Festival Winter Weekend 2024

Grand Designs is one of the most popular lifestyle shows on television, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Join presenter Kevin McCloud as he discusses the impact the show has had on domestic architecture and design, and talks about some of the most impressive and game-changing self-build projects from the last 25 years.

McCloud is best known for the internationally acclaimed, Bafta award-winning series Grand Designs. It is now shown around the world along with spin-off series including Grand Designs: The Street and Grand Designs: House of the Year. He has also written several books on design and champions sustainable development, context, the historic environment, and ecological construction. He was awarded an MBE in 2014 for his services to architecture.
In conversation with BBC News Culture & Media Editor, Katie Razzall.

Using a crystal ball to see into the future may not be possible (or even reliable), but there are ways to work out what might happen in the coming years and decades. In this engaging event Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter takes us through how we can all use data to understand risks and assess the chances of what might happen in the future, informing us about how the principles of probability can be used to think about everything from medical advice and climate change forecasts to football results. Offering a path through at a time of uncertainty, Spiegelhalter presents an authoritative and accessible discussion of data.

Spiegelhalter is the author of The Art of Uncertainty and The Art of Statistics. He is Emeritus Professor of Statistics at the University of Cambridge and was knighted in 2014 for services to medical statistics. He served as president of the Royal Statistical Society and in 2020 became a non-executive director of the UK Statistics Authority.

A year is a long time in US politics, and 2024 is a extraordinary demonstration of this adage; the year has been full of unexpected events and historic firsts, including the conviction of Donald Trump for the falsification of business records and Joe Biden stepping down as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee after a disastrous debate performance.

As we enter 2025, the UK will have to forge a new kind of special relationship with the Oval Office. What will this look like with a vastly changed USA? How will international events, from wars to movements in trade and the shift to the political right, affect the way the UK and US stand together (or not)? And what does the shifting axis of world power and influence mean for us all? Join Matt Frei, lead presenter of Channel 4 News’ award-winning global coverage and a panel of experts and front row commentators to explore just what the UK’s place in the new world order could look like.

We’ll take three vowels and five consonants, please. And they form just one word: politics. Mathematics legend and former Countdown star Carol Vorderman has been using her platform to speak out against the political elite in recent years – describing herself as ‘an old bird with an iPhone’ – and has plenty of advice to offer on how we can all participate in politics.

Talking to broadcaster and historian David Olusoga, Vorderman discusses what happens now that the Conservatives are out of power, and how issues that plagued the Tories run deep and are still part of our political system.

She argues for a new age of accountability, and shares some of the tools needed to build a better and fairer Britain, as well as discussing her own political journey, the abuse she faces for speaking about politics, and why politics really is for us all. Vorderman is a Welsh broadcaster, media personality, and writer. In 2000 she was awarded an MBE for services to broadcasting and has since turned her attention to maths education. She is the author of Now What?: On a Mission to Fix Broken Britain.

Can we live forever? What would it mean for our bodies and minds if we did? How would society be affected if we just gave up death? And if the science is available, what is really stopping us? Join neuroscientist Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston as he explores these questions and more with expertise and compassion, drawing on his book The Future Loves You: How and Why We Should Abolish Death.

Zeleznikow-Johnston argues that preserving a person in stasis for future revitalisation and repair could be the logical extension of our current medical practices, and shows us that credible procedures already exist for storing not just the body but the self. He also takes a look at the philosophical and social questions around living forever, addressing worries about overpopulation and social stagnation as well as the meaning of life. Dr Zeleznikow-Johnston is a neuroscientist at Monash University, Australia, where he investigates methods for characterising the nature of conscious experiences.
In conversation with author and tech philosopher Tom Chatfield.

In the arguments between opposing political parties, the fractious nature of Prime Minister’s Question Time, and the lack of sympathy for the struggles of everyday people, it can seem that compassion has disappeared from politics altogether. Join MPs Torsten Bell and Jess Phillips as they examine where politics and politicians have failed people and how being compassionate is linked to success and a better politics for everyone. Tackling hard-hitting questions, the pair present a hopeful and optimistic view of the future, as well as looking at the lessons that Wales can impart to the national stage.

Bell, who was elected as the MP for Swansea West in 2024, is the author of Great Britain? How We Get Our Future Back, a forensic examination of Britain’s current chaos, and a bold vision for an alternative. He is the former chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, an economic research charity working to raise the living standards of households on low to middle incomes.

In Phillips’ Let’s Be Honest, she looks at how politics lost its integrity, and how we’ve all suffered as a result. It is both a laugh-so-you-don’t-cry takedown of the state of Westminster in recent years and a rallying battle cry for bringing truth back to politics. Before becoming an MP, she worked with victims of domestic violence, sexual violence and human trafficking. Phillips was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Home Office in 2024. They talk to barrister and journalist Jennifer Nadel, leader of UK think tank Compassion In Politics.

Chew over the biggest news stories of 2024 with our review of the year and look ahead to 2025 in the perfect way to begin your Sunday at Hay Festival Winter Weekend. And there’s plenty to talk about: 2024 ushered in a new government in the UK and a new president in the US, saw continued devastation in war zones in Ukraine and Palestine, and featured countless discussions of the impact of AI on our lives. And those aren’t just issues for this year, they’re all set to affect how 2025 plays out, internationally and at home. As will a host of new bills going through government in 2025, which have the potential to change everything from renters’ rights and planning laws to the make-up of the House of Lords. Olusoga is a British-Nigerian author and presenter, and professor of public history at the University of Manchester. His books include the award-winning Black and British. His latest book is Black History for Every Day of the Year, written with his siblings, Yinka and Kemi.

The Welsh global diaspora is estimated to be more than three million people, spread all over the globe – a similar number to the population living within Wales - but why do people leave Wales and on what basis might they return? Julia Gillard, former Australian prime minister and Welsh emigrant, delves into the issue with Dr Sarah Louisa Birchley, a specialist in global diaspora entrepreneurship. They discuss the motivations behind Welsh migration and what measures could be taken to encourage people to remain and contribute to the future of Wales.
In conversation with the writer, television and radio presenter and producer, Jon Gower.

Join comedian Shaparak Khorsandi and musician Jordan Stephens for a humorous, life-affirming and honest conversation about self-discovery and taking care of yourself and your mental health. Khorsandi and Stephens discuss difficult topics with warmth and openness. The pair will discuss their memoirs, how fame affected their approach to mental health, and how they have fostered a healthier outlook by embracing both the negatives and positives in their lives. Khorsandi’s book Scatter Brain recounts how she was finally diagnosed with ADHD in her 40s, enabling her to look back on her life with a new lens and make sense of everything from her attraction to toxic men to her regular bouts of burnout. Khorsandi has become a fixture on our TV screens, making appearances on shows such as Mock The Week and Live at the Apollo.

Stephens found fame in his teens and 20s as one half of musical duo Rizzle Kicks, but with that came a pattern of self-harm, hedonism, destructive coping mechanisms and heartbreak. He tells his story in Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak & Dogs, which also looks at what it means to be a modern man, advocating for vulnerability and openness. Stephens’ mental health campaign #IAMWHOLE reached over 120 million people online and was mentioned in the Houses of Parliament.