#29 EDITION
SUNDAY JUNE 22ND 2025
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What if being weird isn’t the exception—but the baseline?
Beloved comedian and science enthusiast Robin Ince brings warmth, wit and wild insight to a talk about neurodiversity, normality, and the quirks that make us human. After a lifetime of anxiety, distraction, and self-doubt, Robin’s ADHD diagnosis at 52 put everything into focus.
In this talk, Robin uses his own experiences to explore the neurodivergent experience and to ask what the point of 'being normal' really is.
Robin Ince is a comedian, actor and writer. The Guardian once declared him a ‘becardiganed polymath’ which seems about right.
He is the author of several acclaimed books, including The Importance of Being Interested and I'm a Joke and So Are You.
With Professor Brian Cox, he created and presents the award-winning BBC Radio 4 show The Infinite Monkey Cage, which ranks among the most popular science podcasts worldwide. He also won Celebrity Mastermind but forgot that calcium was the dominant element of chalk. After being diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 52, he finally has an excuse.
Barnaby Steel, artist and co-founder of the groundbreaking experiential collective Marshmallow Laser Feast, invites you on a journey beyond the visible.
In this talk, he shares the studio’s fascination with unseen realms of beauty—from the microscopic to the cosmic—and how multisensory installations can open our eyes to dimensions we rarely consider.
Expect a kaleidoscopic blend of science, art, and technology, as Barnaby reveals how collaboration with coders, chemists, poets and physicists can reshape the way we relate to the living world.
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Steel’s practice is rooted in expanding perception and embracing the “more-than-human” – where trees, atoms, breath and bodies are all intricately woven.
His work has featured everywhere from SXSW and Sundance to Kew Gardens and the Barbican, and now Sunday Papers Live.
A mesmerising glimpse at the future of storytelling, and why it matters for how we live now.
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What happened to privacy—and why does it matter? In a world where podcast confessions are currency and reality TV enters our bedrooms, cultural historian Dr Tiffany Jenkins charts the fall of private life.
Her talk draws on her new book Strangers and Intimates, which explores how privacy was once feared, fought for, and finally woven into our understanding of dignity, love, and identity—before being chipped away by forces long predating social media.
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Dr Jenkins is a BBC broadcaster, author of Keeping Their Marbles, and former British Museum trustee.
Expect a thought-provoking deep dive into how we got here—and what we lose when nothing is off-limits anymore.
In 2018, model Rosie Viva was arrested after a psychotic episode at Stansted Airport led to a full evacuation. She was hospitalised and diagnosed with bipolar disorder—an experience that changed her life overnight and set her on a path of discovery, recovery, and advocacy.
In this open and insightful Q&A, Rosie reflects on the early signs of bipolar in her teens, the moment everything unravelled at 22, and how she’s spent the last six years learning to manage her diagnosis while navigating the worlds of fashion, love and identity. With warmth, wit and clarity, she challenges the stigma around mental health and invites us to speak more honestly about our minds.
‘Rosie is an inspiration.’ – Dua Lipa
Rosie is a model, filmmaker and mental health activist. She’s the subject of the Channel 4 documentary Modelling, Mania and Me, an ambassador for Bipolar UK, and author of Completely Normal & Totally Fine—praised for its candour and heart.
In an age of infinite scrolling, are we losing our grip on what really matters? Join digital wellness pioneers Hector Hughes (Unplugged) and Ben Hounsell (Offline Club) for a timely conversation on the cost of constant connection—and how stepping away from screens might just be the most radical act of self-care.
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Drawing on their experience creating off-grid cabins and hosting phone-free gatherings, Hector and Ben explore how tech is rewiring our brains, and how simple, joyful offline moments can restore clarity, focus and human connection.
This talk offers practical strategies for digital detoxing, plus a powerful reminder that we don’t have to live at the mercy of our notifications.
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Hector Hughes is the co-founder of Unplugged, the UK’s first digital detox cabin company, which has helped over 10,000 people switch off.
Ben Hounsell runs the Offline Club, a fast-growing community dedicated to screen-free events and social connection.
AI is transforming the way we live, work and connect—but behind the slick interfaces and rapid innovation lies a disturbing truth: new technologies are accelerating old inequalities.
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In this eye-opening talk, feminist activist and bestselling author Laura Bates reveals how misogyny is being hard-coded into our digital future. Drawing from her new book The New Age of Sexism, she explores the gendered implications of emerging technologies—from deepfake pornography and AI ‘girlfriends’ to cyber-brothels, sex robots and the metaverse.
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Far from building a more equitable world, today’s tech revolution is amplifying discrimination and putting women’s rights, autonomy and safety at risk.
This is a bold call to action from one of the UK’s leading voices on gender equality. Laura is the founder of the Everyday Sexism Project and a New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author. Her campaigning has helped put consent on the national curriculum, pushed the UK government to recognise extreme misogyny as a form of terrorism, changed Facebook’s approach to sexual violence content, and transformed the British Transport Police’s response to harassment and assault.
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She works with institutions from the UN to the Council of Europe, and has been awarded a British Empire Medal, a British Press Award, and multiple honorary degrees. She is an Honorary Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
If we want a fairer future, she argues, we need to fight for it—before it’s written out of the code altogether.
Make Shitty Art
with Amie McNee
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What if the only goal was to make something bad? Like, spectacularly, joyfully, messily bad? In this freeing, hands-on creative workshop, author and creative mentor Amie McNee (aka @inspiredtowrite) invites you to tear up the rulebook, silence your inner critic, and reconnect with your creative instincts, one imperfect glue stick at a time.
You'll be surrounded by piles of paper, pens, glitter, perhaps a few googly eyes and permission to make anything except something “good.”
Through mentorship and gentle guidance across the day, Amie will help you unpick the perfectionist stories that keep so many of us stuck — and guide you back to the joy of creating for the hell of it. ​
The Walk
with Mark Vernon
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Join philosopher, writer and psychotherapist Mark Vernon for a Sunday stroll inspired by the spiritual wanderings of William Blake. This guided walk delves into imagination, mysticism, and the unseen dimensions of the city. As you meander through Regent’s Park, you’ll explore Blake’s visions of “fourfold London” and the poetic power of place.
Mark is the author of Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination, a columnist for The Idler, and a frequent voice on BBC Radio. Fresh air with a pinch of lyricism.
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#28 EDITION
SUNDAY MAY 18TH 2025
12:50 - CROSSWORD SECTION
1:05 - UK POLITICS SECTION: Tony Benn - Melissa Benn
1:30 - ENVIRONMENT SECTION: The London wildlife trust - David Mooney
1:50 - POLITICS SECTION: How did we get our democratic rights - John Rees
2:15 - MUSIC SECTION: How women listen - Alice Vincent
2:55 - CROSSWORD SECTION
3:05 - NEWS SECTION: An update on how Labour are doing - Polly Toynbee
4:00 - FOOD SECTION: Food fight - Stuart Gillespie
4:25 - LIFESTYLE SECTION: The art of uncertainty - David Spiegelhalter
5:05 - CULTURE SECTION: The non-monogamy playbook - Ruby Rare
5:35 - GARDENING SECTION: Renaturing - James Canton
6:00 - CROSSWORD SECTION
6:40 - THE ULTIMATE PUB QUIZ
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Hosted by Robin Clyfan​
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Political change has arrived, but how is this Labour government doing so far?
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The new Westminster government’s inheritance was certainly grim. The Tories left behind sharper social divisions and vastly greater inequality with widening gaps in class, wealth and income.
In her book The Only Way is Up, Polly gave us a ready reckoner on how to repair the damage and set the UK on the path to sustainable growth. Telling the story of what went wrong during the Tories’ wild ride and what must now be remedied. But how is this Labour government actually doing so far? Polly joins us for an update.
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Polly Toynbee is a journalist, author, and broadcaster. A Guardian columnist and broadcaster, she was formerly the BBC’s social affairs editor. She has written for the Observer, the Independent and Radio Times and been an editor at the Washington Monthly. She has won numerous awards including a National Press Award and the Orwell Prize for Journalism.
James Canton, Director of Wild Writing at the University of Essex, shares the story of how he transformed a small, neglected field into a thriving ecosystem.
Over years of thoughtful effort, James turned a grassy patch behind his cottage into a space buzzing with life — digging ponds, planting meadows, and creating habitats for birds and pollinators.
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In his talk, James will challenge the concept of rewilding on a small scale, proposing instead the idea of “renaturing” — the intentional act of creating biodiversity even in the smallest of spaces, whether a field, a garden, or a window box.
Drawing from his book Renaturing, he’ll inspire us to rethink how we can all take steps, however small, to restore and protect our natural environment.
On the centenary of his birth, Tony Benn’s principles and ideas remain as relevant today as ever. Dubbed the ‘most dangerous man in Britain’ by the Daily Mail, Tony Benn was one of the most distinguished socialist politicians of his era.
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His powerful arguments on constitutional reform, the economy, and foreign affairs became known as ‘Bennism’ — a template for democratic socialism that influenced the politics of the 2010s. A charismatic orator, lifelong peace campaigner, and charming disruptor of mainstream consensus, Benn’s firebrand politics were often overlooked in later years when he reached national treasure status.
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Melissa Benn, his daughter, joins us to discuss his political writing and legacy in conversation with Ava Santina, Political Editor at PoliticsJOE.
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Melissa is a journalist, novelist, and activist, known for her work in the Guardian, New Statesman, and London Review of Books. She has authored several books on politics, education, and women's lives and regularly speaks and writes on social issues.
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Ava is a dynamic voice in UK politics, covering Westminster and trade unions for the digital-first news publisher aimed at 18-35s. Their news podcast was the fifth most-watched during the last election, and PoliticsJOE’s YouTube channel alone garners 50 million views per month.
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Join us for this engaging conversation as Melissa and Ava delve into Tony Benn’s legacy and what his vision means for today.
Sir David Spiegelhalter, often hailed as the UK’s “statistical national treasure,” brings his unique blend of clarity, humour, and insight to the Sunday Papers stage.
As an Emeritus Professor of Statistics at the University of Cambridge and a media commentator on statistical issues, Sir David has spent decades dissecting data to better understand risk, chance, and the unpredictability of life.
His bestselling books, The Art of Statistics and The Art of Uncertainty, guide readers through the complex world of probability, helping us make sense of everything from medical advice to climate forecasts.
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In his talk, Sir David will explore how uncertainty shapes our lives and why politicians should admit when they don’t know. With real-world examples and thought-provoking insights, he’ll challenge us to rethink how we deal with the unknown – from football results to national risk assessments. Whether you consider yourself lucky or just pragmatic, this talk will give you a new perspective on how to navigate uncertainty with humility and wisdom.
How did we get our democratic rights? The right to free speech, the right to free assembly, the right to a free press were all born in the English Revolution of the 17th century. John Rees tells us about that unprecedented decade when the English people declared a Republic and put their King on trial for treason.
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He tells us about The Fiery Spirits, the radicals and republicans of the era, who dared to imagine a country without a King. Arguing that the struggle for the rights they first fought for is unfinished business, still unachieved in large parts of the globe and under threat in democracies that have taken them for granted.
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John Rees is author of a new book, The Fiery Spirits, popular protest, Parliament, and the English Revolution. This follows his widely acclaimed The Leveller Revolution. He is a Visiting Research Fellow at Goldsmiths, University of London, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He has a column on Middle East Eye, and is a co-founder of the Stop the War Coalition.
Ruby Rare is on a mission to break down taboos and build confidence when it comes to relationships and sex. An educator and advocate for inclusive conversations, Ruby brings her own experiences as a queer, non-monogamous person to the stage. Her work with Brook, the UK's leading sexual health charity for young people, has made her a respected voice on relationship dynamics and modern love.
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In this session, Ruby will introduce The Non-Monogamy Playbook — a refreshing, joyful guide to navigating consensual non-monogamy, polyamory, and open relationships. She’ll discuss the long history of non-traditional relationships, challenge societal norms that favour monogamy, and share practical advice on setting boundaries and building self-compassion.
Whether you’re curious about polyamory or simply interested in the changing landscape of modern love, Ruby’s talk promises to be thought-provoking and empowering.
Beyond music, Alice's new book, and the journey researching for it has taken her into new corners of listening: from the phantom crying heard by mothers across the world to the nightingale's song and the crackle of the Aurora Borealis. As our attention spans shrink and our sense of disconnection grows, Alice wants to find out if sound - seeking it, trying to hold on to it, making space for it in her life - can reconnect her not only to lost parts of herself but to a life more consciously lived.
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Join Alice in conversation with Katie Goldfinch, discusses her new book, Hark - a book for women who feel unheard and a means of listening more deeply in a world that has grown too loud.
Alice Vincent is a writer. She is the author of four books, including Why Women Grow and Rootbound: Rewilding a Life, both longlisted for the Wainwright Prize and named as ‘Books of the Year’ by the Financial Times, Independent, Stylist and others. Alice is a columnist for the Guardian and New Statesman and writes for titles including Vogue, Financial Times and the Sunday Times. She writes savour, a newsletter dedicated to the delicious things in life, and hosts the Why Women Grow and In Haste podcasts.
With four decades of experience in food policy and global nutrition, Dr Stuart Gillespie is a leading voice on the urgent need to rethink our food systems.
His new book, Food Fight, traces how our food supply chains, originally designed to prevent famine, have become dominated by a few powerful transnationals focused on profit rather than health.
Stuart will unpack the long, complex journey of food production — from its roots in colonial exploitation to its modern manifestation as a global crisis of obesity and environmental degradation. He’ll also share stories of resilience and change from around the world, showing how communities are pushing back against corporate dominance and reimagining food systems that work for both people and the planet.
Expect a passionate call to action, inviting us all to think critically about the food we eat and how we can support a more sustainable future.
#27 EDITION
SUNDAY MARCH 30TH 2025
12:50 - CROSSWORD #1
1:05 - SCIENCE: Dr Shama Rahman
1:30 - SOCIETY: Deborah Frances White
2:10 - ART: Amie McNee
2:35 - SPORT: Claudia Williams in conversation with Ada Barumé
3:05 - WORLD NEWS: Lord Sumption
3:50 - CROSSWORD #2
4:00 - UK POLITICS: Peter Geoghegan in conversation with Mary Fitzgerald.
4:25 - LIFESTYLE: Maya Raichoora
5:00 - FOOD: Douglas McMaster
5:25 - CULTURE: Juliet Rosenfeld in conversation with Andrew Balfour.
5:55 - CROSSWORD #3
6:20 - THE ULTIMATE PUB QUIZ
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Hosted by Robin Clyfan​
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"Waste is a failure of the imagination."
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Douglas McMaster, the pioneering chef behind Silo—the world’s first zero-waste restaurant—joins Sunday Papers Live to explore how creativity and bold thinking can transform the way we eat, cook, and live more sustainably in 2025 and beyond.
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A visionary in the world of food, McMaster has worked at some of the world’s top restaurants, including St. John, The Fat Duck, and Noma, before setting out to prove that a restaurant could operate without a bin.
Since opening Silo in 2014, he has won multiple awards, delivered a TED Talk, and been recognised by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants as one of the young leaders shaping the future of gastronomy.
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Now, as a lecturer, author, and sustainability advocate, McMaster is challenging the food industry to rethink waste entirely. In this inspiring talk, he shares his journey, his philosophy, and how we can all play a role in designing waste out of our world.
Democracy is being tested like never before. With Trump’s return to power, traditional global alliances weakening, and billionaires exerting growing influence behind the scenes, the balance of power is shifting—and not always in ways we expect.
Political norms are being rewritten, legal safeguards bypassed, and institutions once thought unshakable are now under strain.
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Former Supreme Court judge and author Lord Sumption brings his formidable legal mind to Sunday Papers Live for a deep dive into the forces reshaping democracy.
From the US to the UK, he’ll examine how money, influence, and political power are eroding democratic structures, the warning signs we should be watching, and what these seismic shifts mean for the future of governance.
In a world where democracy is increasingly fragile, this is an urgent conversation not to be missed.
One in five of us will have an affair in our lifetime – but the real reasons behind them might surprise you. Psychotherapist Juliet Rosenfeld, author of Affairs: A Psychoanalytic Memoir, explores the secrets, lies, and motivations that drive infidelity through compelling true stories.
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Psychotherapist Juliet Rosenfeld shares the secrets, lies and motivations behind real affairs, and considers the psychological and childhood roots that may help explain why an affair happens.
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Juliet’s new book looks without judgement at five different true stories of people who had affairs, from a man who left his wife in the delivery suite to visit his young mistress to the psychologist who put attraction to a patient above career ethics.
A psychoanalytic psychotherapist and author, Juliet has a special interest in couples and the difficulties they encounter in long term relationships.
Amie McNee joins us at Sunday Papers Live to explore the quiet power of creativity—and why making art is more essential now than ever.
We’re living in an era where many of us feel powerless, as though life is happening to us. We distract ourselves with endless scrolling and consumption, trying to keep up. But there’s another way.
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Amie invites us to see creativity—whether it’s writing, painting, music, or making—as a way back to ourselves. It’s a quiet act of rebellion, a daily reminder that “I am here. I have agency. I can make meaning.”
In this inspiring and energising talk, she’ll share why creativity isn’t a luxury, but a necessity. How it helps us reclaim purpose, connect more deeply, and ripple change into our families, communities, and beyond.
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Amie McNee is an author, speaker, and creative guide. Through her hugely popular Instagram account @InspiredToWrite, she’s helped thousands of writers and artists overcome self-doubt and reconnect with their creative power. She writes historical fiction and creative guides, and works globally to support individuals and organisations in living more creatively.
Award-winning journalists Peter Geoghegan and Mary Fitzgerald explore the growing influence of money on British democracy in this lively and urgent conversation. In the age of Donald Trump and Elon Musk, they examine how powerful individuals and corporations are shaping British politics - and how the laws that are supposed to stop this are not fit for purpose. With deep insights into the role of money, influence, and the erosion of democratic norms on both sides of the Atlantic, this is a must-attend event for anyone concerned about the future of politics.
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Peter Geoghegan is an award-winning writer, broadcaster and journalist. His journalism has appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, the London Review of Books and many other publications. His latest book, Democracy for Sale, was a Sunday Times bestseller and he writes the popular Democracy for Sale newsletter on Substack.
Mary Fitzgerald is a journalist and former editor-in -chief of the award-winning news site openDemocracy. For the past four years she has run a global grantmaking programme funding independent media, artists and tech justice advocates across the world.
What happens in the brain when we enter a state of Flow? How do creativity and problem-solving emerge from the balance of control and spontaneity? Neuroscientist, artist, and AI expert Dr Shama Rahman explores the neural mechanics of creative cognition and how AI is not replacing creativity, but amplifying human potential. As technology advances, could AI help us unlock and sustain Flow? A fascinating deep dive into the future of innovation.
Dr Shama Rahman is an AI scientist and neuroscientist with an expertise in AI/human creative systems, creative strategist and technologist, artist and entrepreneur. She holds a PhD in the neuroscience and complex systems of Creative Cognition and Innovation.
Her multi-disciplinary practice has led her to be the Creative Director and founder of the Art/Science experiential agency Jugular Productions, producing immersive events and hybrid experiences, installations, performances, salons, and games.
In December, 23-year-old Alo Slebir was rumoured to have surfed a record-breaking 108-foot wave. But in the world of big-wave surfing, size is a matter of debate—surfers, scientists, and officials can’t seem to agree on just how big the wave really was.
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Tortoise Media reporters Claudia Williams and Ada Barumé dive into the high-stakes world of extreme surfing, where ambition, danger, and record-breaking feats collide.
Claudia is a reporter and producer at Tortoise, hosting the Slow Newscast and The Sensemaker and working on investigative series like the chart-topping Sweet Bobby and Orwell-nominated Hidden Homicides. She has also worked at The New York Times and The Week.
Ada is a writer and audio producer at Tortoise, previously producing the 20-part What’s Wrong with Democracy series and working as a video producer for Agence France Presse and BBC World Service, specialising in African news.
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Together, they bring their deep investigative expertise and storytelling skills to unpack the mystery behind the 100ft wave—and whether it was truly conquered.
We train our bodies—but what about our minds? Mental fitness coach Maya Raichoora has worked with elite athletes, executives, and high performers to help them rewire their thinking for success, confidence, and peak performance.
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In her groundbreaking book Visualise, Maya shares five science-backed techniques to harness the power of visualisation, helping you break limiting habits, boost productivity, and unlock your full potential.
Drawing on neuroscience, personal experience, and case studies, she makes mental fitness as accessible as physical fitness.
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A leading expert in the field, Maya is the founder of Remap Mental Fitness and has worked with global brands including Nike, Gymshark, Amex, and LEGO. As a two-time TEDx speaker, her mission is to empower people to take control of how they think, feel, and perform—without burnout.
#26 EDITION
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 16TH 2025
12:55 - CROSSWORD #1
1:10 - CULTURE: Lauren Scott-Harris
1:45 - NEWS: Patricia Clarke
2:10 - BUSINESS: Tim Minshall
2:45 - UK POLITICS: Debate - Ava Santina and
The Rt Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan
3:30 - MUSIC: Dom Stichbury
3:40 - RELIGION: Justin Brierley
4:25 - CROSSWORD #1
4:35 - SCIENCE: Dan Schreiber
5:20 - ART: Joe Tucker
5:45 - CROSSWORD FINALE
6:20 - THE ULTIMATE PUB QUIZ
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Hosted by Robin Clyfan​
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Lauren Scott-Harris is the Founder of EARNT, which was launched with a simple thought - what if there was a limited edition item (for example Nike trainers) that you could only access if you came to a hosted and verified beach clean up? No gifting, no short-cuts, if you want the item, you have to do something good for the planet or society first.
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Thus, EARNT was born out of the idea that by triangulating brands with causes and consumers, a virtuous cycle could benefit each stakeholder. Simply put, the brands choose a cause partner and ask their consumers to give their time volunteering in order to access the brands inner circle, creating a new type of brand VIP that is the result of doing things that are good for the planet or society. EARNT creates, manages and monitors the system.
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Scott-Harris says; “People will go to extraordinary lengths to access things from their favourite brands. Waiting in line for hours for limited editions, setting alarms for first access to drops, spending hours refreshing browsers to get tickets… it seemed that this was a lot of kinetic energy that we could put to better use. Not only that, by asking people to give their time and energy to causes, we felt we could reconnect communities and start celebrating those people who give back to the world - not just those with a big following and nice aesthetics. We have all had more than enough of green washing and purpose washing, so this seemed like a tangible and real way to get things done.”
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Join Lauren in conversation with Elliot Moss.
Patricia Clarke is a technology reporter working across Tortoise's investigative podcasts and newsletters. She was awarded a 2023 Wincott Award for her investigation into the boardroom battles at OpenAI and was a lead reporter on Hunt for the Porn King, which was nominated for Scoop of the Year at the British Journalism Awards.
Her investigation into the spread of needle spiking allegations online was Tortoise’s most-shared podcast in 2023. Her work has also been nominated for an Orwell prize and several Aria awards.
Increasingly AI is dominating the news. In conversation, Patricia discusses her explorations and the making of her podcast which investigated an AI company whose founder, Eugenia Kuyda thinks she can solve an “epidemic” of loneliness.
Her app, Replika, is “the AI companion who cares”, a chatbot that can text you, flirt with you, and promises to love you unconditionally. But Replika is fraught with ethical concerns – and risks.
Join Patricia Clarke to hear about her investigation, which included her getting her own AI boyfriend, and took her from Windsor Castle to Silicon Valley, to meet the woman behind it all, Eugenia Kuyda.
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This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.
Dan Schreiber is a writer, stand-up comedian, TV presenter, producer and podcaster. He is the host of QI derived comedy podcast ‘No Such Thing As A Fish’, which is a regular fixture in the top ten iTunes podcast charts, and the author of ‘The Theory of Everything Else’, a collection of mind-boggling and goosebump-raising theories,
Dan co-created and produced BBC Radio 4’s highly successful and long running series ‘The Museum of Curiosity’. His extensive repertoire of behind-the-scenes credits include producing Frank Skinner’s comedy panel show ‘The Rest Is History’ and heading up Warner Music Entertainment’s comedy arm. Dan’s first children’s book, ‘Impossible Things’ was published in July 2024.
Dan joins us to help explore questions like: Why are we here? Do ghosts exist? Did life on Earth begin after a badly tidied-up picnic? Was it just an iceberg that sank the Titanic? Are authors stealing their plotlines from the future? Will we ever talk to animals?
And why, when you’re in the shower, does the shower curtain always billow in towards you?
Dan has the facts and most of them are absolutely bananas.
Politics Joe political correspondent Ava Santina Evans argues that Reform will replace the Conservative Party as the opposition. Debating her is former Conservative Party’s International Development Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan, contesting that reports of her party's death have been exaggerated. Expect a friendly but robust head-to-head.
We’ll hear explanations for the rise in domestic and international populism, and explore how to tackle that enduring political headache, Farage, from their different political viewpoints.
Ava is the Political Editor at PoliticsJOE, a digital-first news publisher aimed at 18-35s. Their news podcast was the fifth most-watched of the election, and their YouTube alone is viewed 50 million times per month. Based in Westminster, she covers UK politics and trade unions.
Anne-Marie is a recovering politician, who served four Prime Ministers in defence, energy, trade, international development and indo-pacific foreign affairs.​ Her passion for solving problems was put to constant use as the MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed, tackling decades of neglect to get hundreds of millions of investment into North Northumberland, shifting the dial on delivering the Armed Forces Covenant across government for military families, and pushing for millions more trees to be planted every year. ​
We live in a manufactured world. Unless you are floating naked through space, you are right now in direct contact with multiple manufactured products. Throughout every day of your life you will be wearing, consuming, being transported or sheltered, communicating through or being restored to health, by manufactured products. Yet the processes by which these items appear in our lives are, to most of us, largely invisible. And that has some worrying consequences.
Tim Minshall is the first Dr John C. Taylor Professor of Innovation at the University of Cambridge, the head of the Engineering Department’s Institute for Manufacturing and a fellow of Churchill College.
His research, teaching and public outreach activities are focused on understanding what skills are needed to convert new ideas into real, manufactured products.
In his talk, Tim will look at the seismic impact this ‘hidden world of manufacturing’ has had – and continues to have – on all our lives and the natural environment.
Exploring how – if we change the way we think about manufacturing – it could offer us a path to a truly sustainable future. In doing so, it gives us the ability to make better choices for ourselves, our communities and the planet.
Justin is director of the media company ‘Think Faith’. He currently co-hosts the Re-Enchanting podcast and is the creator of the award-winning Surprising Rebirth Of Belief in God podcast documentary series. His next book ‘Why I’m Still A Christian’ is published in March 2025.
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Justin Brierley has been hosting high-profile debates between Christians, atheists and agnostics for nearly two decades.
Drawing on conversations with Jordan Peterson, Tom Holland, Douglas Murray and Nick Cave, Justin joins us to tell the story of how the conversation around spirituality and in particular, Christianity, has changed in recent years.
Arguing that despite many predicting the death of Christianity, we may yet see the ‘sea of faith’ return in our generation with the rise of adult converters. And asking - will the church be ready?
Using simple sounds we can connect with others around us and create an instant feeling of togetherness and community via our voices. Humans have been singing and sounding together for millennia, although this regular expressive ritual has dropped away from most modern cultures.
It is an important activity to feel seen and part of the larger whole, and studies have also shown it gives us a mental and physical health boost.
In this talk, Dom will be exploring the benefits of singing, how we can sing more and why the practice has disappeared from society.
Dom Stichbury is a choir leader, singer, arranger and group singing advocate. He is founder and artistic director of male singing troupes Chaps Choir & Bellow Fellows and one half of vocal duo 'Ben & Dom'.
Since 2009 he has been encouraging others to sing together in village halls, offices, schools, prisons and festivals, building new communities through this life changing activity. He has collaborated with artists as diverse as Tom Odell, Omar, Joe Stilgoe and The Magic Lantern and his singing and songs have been featured on Radio 3 and 6Music.
Joe is a scriptwriter, creating shows for the BBC including Witless, Click and Collect, and Black Ops.
Joe joins us to discuss the origin of art and its role in our lives, which he tells through the story of his Uncle Eric. A shambolically dressed man who lived with his mother for almost 80 years, he had an almost compulsive need to charm strangers with working men’s club comedy routines, and appeared to exist only for daily trips to the bookie. And yet, he also amassed over 500 of his own remarkable paintings without anyone ever realising his achievements.
Towards the end of his life, Eric requested an exhibition of his work leading to Joe and his family uncovering hundreds of paintings of street scenes, circus and theatre performers, and busy pubs, depicting the lives and stories of Eric’s community.
Joe was so fascinated by this art and the questions that arose from discovering these works that he has written a book about it. Exploring the nature of expression, the ownership of art and the secret life of those nearest to us.
Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker summed up Joe’s story best; describing it as “A timely reminder that art did not originate as an investment opportunity or a get-rich-quick scheme but as a way for human beings to make sense of their lives (plus make them bearable into the bargain). Miracles happen in the most unlikely places”
#25 EDITION
SUNDAY OCTOBER 6TH 2024
12:50 - CROSSWORD #1
1:00 - BUSINESS SECTION: Chris Blackhurst
1:35 - POLITICS SECTION: Madeleine Sumption
2:20 - ENVIRONMENT: Dr Helen Scales
2:45 - SPORT: Dr Aron D'Souza
3:30 - ARTS: Miguel Hernando Torres
4:00 - CROSSWORD #2
4:10 - MONEY: Vicky Reynal
4:50 - OPINION: Paul Carrol and William Hagerup
5:35 - CULTURE: Marijam Did
6:00 - CROSSWORD FINALE
6:20 - THE ULTIMATE PUB QUIZ
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Hosted by Robin Clyfan​
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Join Madeleine Sumption, a leading expert on UK immigration, as she unpacks the key issues surrounding immigration and asylum in Britain today, providing clear, data-driven insights to untangle the complex forces behind the country's migration challenges.
In conversation with Robin Clyfan, Madeleine will explore pressing questions such as: Why hasn’t the government stopped small boat crossings, and will they succeed? Despite Brexit, why are immigration numbers rising? Are these trends driven by economic needs or policy failures? And why do politicians struggle to deliver on migration promises?
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Madeleine Sumption is the Director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, which provides impartial analysis of migration in the UK. Her research focuses on the design and impacts of immigration policies, particularly in the UK, including areas like labour market shortages, family migration, and immigrant investor programmes.
Madeleine is also a member of the Migration Advisory Committee, an independent panel advising the UK government on migration. She holds a PhD in Public Policy from the University of Maastricht and received an MBE in 2017 for her services to social science.
With 44% of athletes already using enhancements, Dr. Aron D’Souza believes it’s time to safely celebrate the science of human potential. As the founder of The Enhanced Games, a bold new rival to the Olympic Games, Dr. Aron envisions a world where top athletes can compete without restrictions on performance-enhancing substances.
The Enhanced Games is a global sports movement where science and athleticism converge, empowering athletes to push boundaries and celebrate human achievement without compromise. Dr. Aron will discuss how The Enhanced Games aim to break world records and redefine the limits of human capability.
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Arguing that it is a celebration of the union of athletic excellence and scientific achievement, Dr. Aron will highlight the medical and scientific processes involved in elevating humanity to its full potential, supported by a community of committed athletes.
He is also the President of The Enhanced Games, co-founder of OPEN—a venture capital fund backed by the New York Stock Exchange—and founder of the Chief of Staff Association, an international professional body for chiefs of staff in leading corporations, governments, military, and diplomatic corps.
Join Dr. Aron as he explores the future of sports, where innovation and athletic excellence collide to create a new era of record-shattering achievements.
Money is an integral part of our lives, and we all have a relationship with it. Yet, we are often unaware of what drives our money behaviours and the emotions tied to them.
Money can be a source of anxiety, shame, and conflict, influenced by a complex web of emotional factors, past experiences, and personality. Financial Psychotherapist Vicky Reynal helps people explore how these elements shape their financial choices. She dives into how an emotionally absent parent might lead to overspending, a desire to impress may cause hoarding, and how internalising a parent's financial anxieties can prevent one from enjoying their wealth.
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Vicky Reynal runs her own psychotherapy practice in London and is the first financial psychotherapist in the UK, pioneering an approach that applies psychodynamic principles to address clients' complex relationships with money. Vicky holds an MBA from London Business School, a BA in Psychology, and a Post-Graduate in Psychotherapy. Her award-winning book, "Money on Your Mind: The Psychology Behind Your Financial Habits," is being translated into eight languages and will be sold in over 20 countries.
News from the world's oceans often falls into two categories: remarkable scientific discoveries about mysterious deep-sea creatures or alarming evidence of human impact, from relentless pollution to record-breaking sea temperatures.
To cope with this mix of wonder and concern, marine biologist Dr. Helen Scales suggests finding a balance between hopes and fears. She explores how this perspective can be both comforting and empowering, helping us continue to feel awe for the ocean while taking meaningful action to protect it.
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Dr. Helen Scales is an acclaimed author and broadcaster who explores the wonders and challenges of the ocean and our living planet. Her books have been adapted for stage and screen, translated into 15 languages, and her latest, *What the Wild Sea Can Be*, is longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction.
Helen writes regularly for *The Guardian*, creates children's books—including the global bestseller *What a Shell Can Tell*—and teaches at Cambridge University. As a storytelling ambassador for the Save Our Seas Foundation, she invites us to take a 'deep dive' into the future of the ocean.
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Football, once the people’s game enjoyed by the masses, is becoming the exclusive playground of the wealthy. Chelsea fetched over £3 billion, Manchester United is worth more than £5 billion, and a ticket at Fulham can cost as much as £3,000.
With at least 14 Premier League clubs under US ownership, football is increasingly seen not as "the beautiful game" but as a lucrative investment opportunity. These owners bring a different approach to top-class sports, raising questions about the future of football as a cultural institution.
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Join Chris, a former editor of The Independent and City editor of the Evening Standard, as he unpacks the struggle for football’s soul.
Drawing on his experience working for The Sunday Times and writing for major publications around the world, Chris will explore the ramifications of the business of sport and examine whether the "Americanisation" of football is taking over and ruining its cultural heritage and future.
Join Miguel, the Performance Director for 'Heathrow Terminal 1,' Glastonbury Festival's powerful new immersive installation that offers a firsthand glimpse into the migration journey to the UK.
Curated by international artists, 'Heathrow Terminal 1' merges art, activism, and political storytelling, guiding visitors through a recreated UK Border office where they must answer a question from the UK citizenship test before entering a multi-story space. The experience provides a visual and digital representation of the challenges migrants face, from bureaucratic hurdles to the emotional toll of finding a new home.
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Miguel brings his expertise in immersive theatre, honed over 12 years at Secret Cinema, where he rose from a performer to become a performance director, associate creative director, and a member of the in-house pool of creative directors.
His recent work includes serving as the Creative Director for "Rumble in the Jungle Rematch," a landmark production reimagining one of history's most iconic boxing events. In conversation with Robin Clyfan, Miguel will discuss the power of immersive experiences in creating empathy, the impact of audience engagement, and the role of immersive art and activism.
The videogame industry, now larger than the film and music industries combined, has a proven ability to challenge the status quo. Marijam joins us to discuss the breathtaking history of the games industry not just as an economical or cultural force, but as an unacknowledged political power.
Marijam Didžgalvytė is a games industry critic dissecting the intersection between videogames and IRL politics. Her work has been published by The Guardian, VICE, GamesIndustry.biz, and others.
Previously a Lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London, Marijam is currently a Senior Marketing Executive at a Baftawinning videogames studio.
Backed by a clear passion for the videogames industry and boundless expertise, Marijam joins us to examine how everything can be games, and how games touch everything about our world today.
New: Opinion
A debate with Paul Carroll and William Hagerup
Audience capture, click bait and populist politics coupled with ever increasing online channels and social media have given rise and a voice for the most extreme of opinions.
Paul Carroll and William Hagerup from 104 London Debaters are going to debate the motion This House Believes Hate Speech Laws Go Too Far.
Audience participation and contributions in the form of questions for each side of the argument is encouraged as part of this new opinion section of Sunday Papers Live.
Votes will be taken from the audience at the beginning of the debate and also at the end to see how opinion might have been swayed by our debaters.
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PLUS: Board games, Arts & Crafts corner, Sunday Roasts served all day, massages, cocktail bars, tea, cake and coffee.
#24 EDITION
SUNDAY JUNE 16TH, 2024
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12:45 - CROSSWORD #1
1:00 - MUSIC Iain Robertson
1:30 - UK POLITICS Nick Bano
1:55 - CULTURE Liam O'Dowd
2:30 - UK NEWS Peter Geoghegan in conversation with Mary Fitzgerald
3:10 - WALK Mark Vernon
3:15 - BUSINESS David Taylor in conversation with Xavier Greenwood
3:55 - CROSSWORD #2
4:05 - POLITICS Sian Norris
4:40 - WORLD NEWS Claudia Williams in conversation with Chloe Hadjimatheou
5:15 - MONEY Nels Abbey
5:40 - CROSSWORD #3
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Hosted by Robin Clyfan​
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MUSIC
Iain Robertson: What's the Story: The ascendance of Oasis.
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Coinciding with Liam Gallagher's new tour, former tour manager of Oasis Iain Robertson joins us on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the iconic band's first album, to take us behind the scenes offering a front-row seat to the story of real rockstar superstardom.
Oasis was a band like no other. If they liked you, they loved you. If they didn’t, be prepared for confrontation. They were the most viscerally exciting rock band to emerge from Britain in years. Iain Robertson, who had retired from the Parachute Regiment and guarded legends like George Harrison, Gary Moore, and Johnny Rotten, took on the toughest job of all: keeping Oasis on track after their debut album, Definitely Maybe, ignited their meteoric rise to global fame.
Iain was with Oasis 24/7 as their road manager and minder, witnessing their journey from obscurity to megastardom. His story is the defining chronicle of life on tour with Oasis, offering an access-all-areas insight into the dream come true and the sharp double-edged swords of fame and fortune.
Join us as Iain invites you behind the velvet rope to share his experiences of life on the road with the last great analogue rock & roll band. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear firsthand what it means when the dream comes true.
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UK POLITICS
Nick Bano - Against Landlords
Due to the election announcement, the Renters Reform Bill has been delayed, breaking the government’s promise to end Section 21 no-fault evictions by the end of this parliament.
Why can’t we live in a world without landlords? The private rented sector nearly collapsed in the mid-1970s and was on the brink of being replaced with a system of secure, affordable housing for all. That should have been the legacy of the 20th century. However, The Conservatives and New Labour revived landlordism. Now, house prices are out of control as landlords outcompete owner-occupiers and make outrageous profits. The housing crisis is rooted in runaway rents and squalid conditions.
How has this happened, and how can we reverse it? Nick joins us on stage to tell us all about it.
Nick Bano is a barrister, author, and housing campaigner. In his day-to-day work, he represents renters and homeless people in legal aid cases, while also providing legal and strategic advice to national organisations. As a writer, he challenges the conventional wisdom of a housing supply shortage and questions why the UK’s housing crisis is so severe despite having ordinary levels of housing stock.
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CULTURE
Liam O'Dowd: Humanity's relationship with drugs is changing
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Join Liam O'Dowd, Editor of Leafie, for an exploration of humanity's complex and changing relationship with drugs. Liam will talk through the evocative nature and stigma of the word "drugs," followed by a dive into the ancient history of human drug use, highlighting fascinating connections such as Bronze Age rituals and religious practices.
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He will also delve into modern history, focusing on the era of prohibition and its lasting impacts, and a look at our current landscape. Our relationship with drugs has always been dynamic and ever-evolving. Liam will discuss practices throughout history such as drug-use during the bronze age and the rise of LSD during the Vietnam war, and compare it with our modern-day relationship and where we might be heading in the near future.
Exploring humanity’s ever-changing relationship with drugs and asking: Has our innate desire to alter consciousness formed society today? Is prohibition more harmful than helpful? Will psychedelics be the next revolution in healthcare?
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BRITISH POLITICS
Peter Geoghegan in conversation with Mary Fitzgerald - How an Election Campaign is really funded.
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Peter knows a thing or two about democracy and how the current election campaigns are really being funded.
He has written extensively on how money, vested interests and digital skulduggery are eroding trust in democracy. Peter had literally followed the money that its donors would much prefer to remain in the shadows.
His interviews and research regularly highlights the fabulously well-funded partisan think tanks, propagandists who know how to game a rigged system, and the campaigners and regulators valiantly trying to stop them.
Whilst in his previous role as editor-in-chief and CEO at openDemocracy, Peter and his team won Campaign of the Year at the British Journalism Awards for its ground-breaking work on transparency in British public life.
Peter joins us to discuss what is really going on in this current election campaign and for the sake of democracy highlights what must be done about it.
Mary Fitzgerald is director of expression at the Open Society Foundations, and former editor-in-chief of openDemocracy.
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WALK
Mark Vernon
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Ask not who you are, but where you are - A Philosophy Walk.
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Join us for a Sunday Saunter led by Mark Vernon, a psychotherapist with a keen interest in ancient philosophy. Mark’s writings span topics from friendships and beliefs to wellbeing and modern living. This walk and talk is designed to ground and uplift in equal measure, providing a guided spiritual amble to help us understand how to survive and thrive in our modern times.
On Mark's walk, he will lead you to a quiet place within Regent's Park to explore the outside world while identifying spiritual intelligence within. Asking: not who you are, but where you are? What is it to arrive in a fresh location? How can movement aid thought? What is the spirit of a place?
In this short walk into Regent’s Park, followed by a talk, Mark Vernon will take a step back in time to reconnect philosophy with being outdoors and walking. From the ancient Greek peripatetics to William Blake’s “learning’s bower”.
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Mark has contributed to and presented numerous radio programs and written for various publications, including the BBC, Aeon, Church Times, and The Idler, where he writes a regular column. He also leads workshops, gives talks, and hosts podcasts, including a longstanding series of conversations with Rupert Sheldrake.
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Gain valuable insights and reconnect with nature.
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NEWS
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David Taylor in conversation with Xavier Greenwood - The Sacklers: Getting Away with It
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The Sacklers made billions from the opioid painkiller OxyContin, which significantly contributed to the opioid crisis still wreaking havoc in the US and around the world. Despite being blamed for fueling the epidemic, the question remains: have they truly been held accountable, or are they getting away with it?
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Join David Taylor, former US deputy editor for the Guardian and US editor for The Times, and Xavier Greenwood, producer, reporter and investigative journalist at Tortoise, for a compelling delve into the story of the Sackler family and their controversial role in America's opioid epidemic.
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POLITICS
Sian Norris - Bodies Under Siege
Sian joins us to discuss how global anti-abortion forces are attacking gender rights in the UK, with the aim to fuel the culture wars that have so far characterised the 2024 election. She'll share how US "religious freedom" giants are helping to fund anti-abortion activity in the UK, and show how, far from being a settled issue, abortion is at risk of being the next front in the hard right culture war. Sian will show how mainstream Conservative MPs are increasingly allying with hard right, anti-abortion individuals and forces from around the world, and how the messages they are repeating have their origins in far-right conspiracist movements.
Sian Norris is a senior investigative reporter at openDemocracy. She has written for a range of national and international publications, including the Times, the Observer, the Guardian, i news, New Statesman, the Ferret, the Dial and many more, reporting from the UK, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Poland, Romania and Kenya. Sian is the author of Bodies Under Siege: how the far right attack on reproductive rights went global, which built on her investigative reporting into far-right and anti-abortion movements.
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WORLD NEWS
Claudia Williams in conversation with Chloe Hadjimatheou
The Gasman: a catch-me-if-you-can hunt for a fugitive involved in a poison gas conspiracy.
In the 1980s, Special Agent Dennis Bass received a tip-off that changed his career. Thirty years later, reporter Chloe Hadjimatheou sets out to solve the mystery of how an international fugitive escaped justice – and why he's still on the run.
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Claudia Williams is a reporter and producer at Tortoise Media, hosting the weekly investigative podcast The Slow Newscast and the daily news podcast The Sensemaker. She has previously worked at The New York Times and The Week.
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Chloe Hadjimatheou is an award-winning investigative journalist known for the BBC podcast series *Mayday*, which uncovered disinformation around the life and death of James Le Mesurier. She has reported from Greece, the Middle East, and the USA, spending time in BBC’s overseas bureaux in Washington DC, Jerusalem, and Cairo. In 2021, Chloe was shortlisted for the prestigious Orwell Prize.
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MONEY
Nels Abbey: The Hip-Hop MBA: What We Can Learn from Jay-Z
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Nels joins us to dive into how hip-hop moguls like Jay-Z, Suge Knight, Puff Daddy and 50 Cent turned economic hardship into a multi-billion-dollar industry with street-smart business acumen, creating epic tales of success, failure, betrayal, and revenge.
Using the term dubbed: The Hip-Hop MBA, Nels will show why the business world should take hip-hop moguls and their methods seriously, offering invaluable lessons from the champions of the rap industry.
Nels Abbey is a British-Nigerian (Itsekiri) writer, broadcaster, media executive and satirist based in London. Prior to moving into media, he worked in financial services principally for the US investment mammoth BlackRock. He knows a thing or two about money and joins us to give us the lowdown on an alternative rise to great wealth.
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CROSSWORDS
Sons & Sons
Barely more coherent than toddlers themselves, our crossword gurus have been running the sillier side of Sunday for 5 years. Brush up on your charade skills for the live crossword challenges, but also pop down to their pub quiz and crafternoon crafts table full of crafty crafts. Weather permitting this will all take place in the venue's hidden garden.
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#23 EDITION
SUNDAY MARCH 17TH, 2024
12:55 - CROSSWORD #1
13:10 - BRITISH CULTURE Danny Dorling
13:45 - TRAVEL Seyi Rhodes in conversation with Katie Goldfinch
14:05 - LIFESTYLE Ben Ware in conversation with Maria Balaska
14:40 BRITISH POLITICS Tom Baldwin on Keir Starmer
15:25 - WALK Matthew Beaumont
15:30 - ENVIRONMENT Captain Cornelissen
16:15 - CROSSWORD #2
16:25 BUSINESS: Joshua Oliver
17:05 - WORLD NEWS John Rees on Julian Assange
17:35 - POLITICS Phoenix Andrews
18:00 - CROSSWORD FINALE
18:20 - THE ULTIMATE PUB QUIZ
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Hosted by Robin Clyfan
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BRITISH CULTURE
Danny Dorling
Is the UK f**ked? Is there any hope? What do we do? Join Danny Dorling, professor in the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford, as he explores the options, and how Geography shows you a way out for London, England and the UK.
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TRAVEL
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Seyi Rhodes in conversation with Katie Goldfinch
In recent years stories of older British women hooking up with younger Gambian men have made the headlines, from one-night stands to whirlwind weddings. But what's the truth behind the stories? Documentary filmmaker and presenter Seyi Rhodes explores sex tourism in Gambia. Fascinated by cultural change and social upheaval, documentary filmmaker and reporter Seyi Rhodes has travelled pretty much the length and breadth of the world, creating an impressive body of work that explores unique stories and fascinating individuals.
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LIFESTYLE
Ben Ware in conversation with Maria Balaska
Ben Ware is a philosopher and social theorist, who is Co-Director of the Centre for Philosophy and Art at King’s College London.
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In this conversation with philosopher Maria Balaska he joins us to discuss extinction and how as we approach the end of all things, we must face our apocalyptic future without flinching. Arguing that in fact, extinction is the very lens through which we should examine our current reality and lifestyle.
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BRITISH POLITICS
Tom Baldwin on Keir Starmer
Keir Starmer stands on the cusp of becoming prime minister despite being a puzzle to many in Westminster and beyond who really don’t understand how he has got there, let alone who he is or what he wants to do if he makes it through the front door of 10 Downing Street.
Tom Baldwin has spent most of life working in politics from Westminster to Washington and has just written a biography on Keir Starmer. Drawing deeply on many hours of interviews with the Labour leader himself, as well as unprecedented access to members of his family, his oldest friends and closest colleagues, Tom joins us to provide some answers.
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ENVIRONMENT
Captain Cornelissen
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Captain Alex Cornelissen is the CEO of Sea Shepherd, an international, non-profit marine conservation organisation that engages in direct action campaigns to defend wildlife, and conserve and protect the world’s ocean from illegal exploitation and environmental destruction.
Captain Alex has participated in more than 25 Sea Shepherd campaigns, including five trips down to the Antarctic to stop the Japanese whale poachers and in this conversation will regale us with some tales from these dangerous trips and why he believes that not just direct action but also working with local governments helps to enforce the laws protecting our oceans.
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WALK
Matthew Beaumont
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WE HAVE FORGOTTEN HOW TO WALK! In cities like London, we stumble from place to place like zombies, staring at our phones and reflexively flinching if we come too close to foreign objects, especially if these are other pedestrians. Join Matthew Beaumont, UCL professor in a meaningful, undistracted Sunday saunter.
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BUSINESS
Joshua Oliver
The rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried and his FTX crypto empire is one of the most absurd tales in modern finance. The case has been called “one of the largest financial frauds in American history,” and the mastermind Bankman-Fried faces up to 110 years in jail after being convicted last year.
But how did anyone ever trust this upstart crypto company and its odd-ball founder in the first place? And have investors and the public learned their lesson about the perils of crypto? Join Financial Times journalist Joshua Oliver as he explores this riveting tale, as Sam Bankman-Fried awaits sentencing.
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WORLD NEWS
John Rees on Julian Assange
Julian Assange is the founder of WikiLeaks which revealed critical public interest material about the conduct of the Afghan and Iraq wars. He is now in Belmarsh prison for a fifth year awaiting the outcome of extradition proceedings which are just about to conclude. If Assange is taken to the US he will be the first journalist ever tried under the 1917 Extradition Act.
Join John Rees, writer, broadcaster, and campaigner who is the national coordinator of the Free Assange campaign in the UK, as he explores the potential outcomes, which could result journalists being cast as spies, a major blow to press freedom, and could be sentenced to a 175 year jail term.
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POLITICS
Phoenix Andrews
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If a week is a long time in politics, the past decade has felt like a lifetime. But what’s behind the unrelenting upheaval? Join Phoenix Andrews in this discussion around Fandom and how it’s shaping our political discourse around the world.
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CROSSWORDS
Sons & Sons
Barely more coherent than toddlers themselves, our crossword gurus have been running the sillier side of Sunday for 5 years. Brush up on your charade skills for the live crossword challenges, but also pop down to their pub quiz and crafternoon crafts table full of crafty crafts.
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#22 EDITION
SUNDAY - NOV 19TH, 2023
Full day tickets are now SOLD OUT! If you still want to join us for a taste of SPL, there's a few evening tickets left, with entry from 5pm
12:50 - CROSSWORD #1
13:05 - WORLD NEWS Tomiwa Owolade
13:35 - FOOD Alissa Timoshkina
13:55 - UK NEWS Chris Atkins
14:30 MONEY Rachel O'Dwyer
15:05 - BRITISH CULTURE Polly Toynbee
15:55 - POLITICS Rafael Behr
16:40 - CROSSWORD #2
16:55 TRAVEL Tim Fitzhigham
17:25 - HEALTH Nick Dearden
17:55 - MUSIC Eammon Forde
18:15 - LIFESTYLE Harriet Gibsone
18:35 - CROSSWORD FINALE
18:50 - FLASHMOB SURPRISE
19:20 - THE ULTIMATE PUB QUIZ
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WORLD NEWS
Tomiwa Owolade
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This is not America. Why we need a better conversation on race
Tomiwa Owolade writes about social, cultural and literary issues for the New Statesman, The Times, the Sunday Times, the Observer, UnHerd and the Evening Standard.
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For too long, discussions around race and diversity have been too simplistic. If we care about the inequalities in our society, we need to stop focusing only on race, because race is not the only thing that shapes inequality. And many of the discussions on race do not reflect the fact that black and brown people are more than the racial categories they happen to belong to: that other things, such as class, geography, religion, nationality, gender and many more, shape their identity too; and that even all these categories can't get at someone's irreducible sense of self.
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FOOD
Alissa Timoshkina
Alissa Timoshkina is a London-based food writer and historian specialising in Eastern European food culture. Originally from Siberia, Alissa comes from a Ukrainian-Jewish lineage, with her family history forming an important part of her culinary writing. Alissa holds a PhD in Soviet film and Holocaust history, however, her love of cooking pulled her away from an academic career. Since 2015 she’s been curating and hosting immersive dining experiences, offering cooking classes and authored a cookbook ‘Salt and Time’. In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Alissa initiated a global fundraising campaign, #CookForUkraine which raised over £2 million. She is now writing her second cookbook, out in early 2025.
In conversation with Sunday Papers Live host, Robin Clyfan, Alissa discusses the trajectory of her campaign in an update from her previous talk in April 2022.
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UK NEWS
Chris Atkins
Chris Atkins is a three time BAFTA-nominated film-maker. His documentaries Taking Liberties and Starsuckers were critically acclaimed and made front-page news, and he recently made the hit film Who Killed the KLF? He has also worked extensively with Dispatches for Channel 4 and BBC Panorama. He has just finished a film about James Blunt, and published a new book on reoffending called Time After Time.
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Documentary maker, journalist and ex con Chris Atkins will talk about his crazy time in HMP Wandsworth - one of the most dangerous and dysfunctional prisons in the UK and the scene of the daring prison break in September this year. When Chris was incarcerated for tax fraud in 2016 his only knowledge of prison was from Shawshank Redemption and Porridge, and he was thrust into a dangerous and surreal world of mentally ill drug addicts, flatulent cellmates and grossly inexperienced officers. Over nine months he got a front row seat of the worst prison crisis in history, and kept a diary of his surreal and often hilarious experiences which has since become a bestselling book A Bit of a Stretch.
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TRAVEL
Tim Fitzhigham
Tim FitzHigham is a Perrier nominated, multi award-winning comedian, explorer, presenter, and author. Among TV credits as a comedian, he has presented several documentaries for BBC1 and Super Human Challenge for CBBC. His diverse interests have led him into film appearances include being the baddie in Paddington 2 and Wonka, writing and performing in his highly successful Edinburgh Fringe show and also setting many unusual records, including rowing the English Channel in a bathtub.
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Tim's travels include: running across deserts in a suit of armour, racing against race horses, rowing the channel in a bathtub, unfeasible distances in a paper boat, arrow catching, accidentally getting caught up in a revolution. This is a travel section - as you'd hope at Sunday Papers Live - with a difference.
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BRITISH CULTURE
Polly Toynbee
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Polly Toynbee is a journalist, author, and broadcaster. A Guardian columnist and broadcaster, she was formerly the BBC's social affairs editor. She has written for the Observer, the Independent and Radio Times and been an editor at The Washington Monthly. She has won numerous awards including a National Press Award and the Orwell Prize for Journalism. While for generations Polly Toynbee's ancestors have been committed left-wing rabble-rousers railing against injustice, they could never claim to be working class, settling instead for the prosperous life of academia or journalism enjoyed by their own forebears. So where does that leave their ideals of class equality?
In conversation with Mark Damazer CBE (ex Controller of BBC Radio 4, Radio 7 and Editor of the Nine O'Clock News at the BBC), Toynbee explores the myth of mobility, the guilt of privilege, and asks for a truly honest conversation about class in Britain.
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POLITICS
Rafael Behr
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Rafael Behr is an award-winning political columnist for the Guardian and regular commentator on the BBC and Times Radio. He is a former political editor of the New Statesman, a BBC online business reporter and a foreign correspondent for the Financial Times in the Baltic states and Russia. He hosts the Politics on the Couch podcast. Rafael's first book, Politics, A Survivor's Guide, was published in April 2023.
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Do you feel like turning away from the news in despair? Or struggle to quit the screen although you know doomscrolling gets you down? It doesn't have to be like this. In an era of political meltdown when each new crisis erupts before the last one has finished it can be hard to stay engaged without being consumed by rage. Rafael Behr has reported from the political front line for nearly 30 years - and it nearly killed him. He talks about the way politics drives us apart and the way to keep hope for a healthier, better way of doing things.
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MONEY
Rachel O'Dwyer
Dr Rachel O’Dwyer is the author of Tokens, Longlisted for the FT Schroders Book of the Year Award 2023. Her research focuses on the intersection of cultural and digital economies.
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Rachel will discuss the rise of new-money like tokens that are circulated and exchanged on digital platforms, a new economy where platforms are the new bank and how they are utilised to make payment for online marginalised and extra-legal sex related work.
In one way tokens are part of a new economy where the likes of sex camming platforms are the new banks, exploiting online streamers and cam girls. But in another, tokens are part of an age-old economy where women and housewives have always made do with invisible dollars, treats and gifts.
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HEALTH
Nick Dearden
Nick Dearden has been trying to change the world for nearly three decades. He’s been a particular pain in the neck for big businesses – taking on some of the giants who run our food, energy, financial, fashion and medicine systems. He believes our politicians have allowed these giants far too much wealth and power, fundamentally undermining our right to make democratic decisions about the way we live. Challenging this power isn’t easy, but it is possible. It can even be fun.
America’s opioid crisis has woken the world up to just how dangerous the pharmaceutical industry can be. But the problem goes deeper than one family’s ruthless profiteering from a highly addictive drug. In fact, the Big Pharma corporations as a whole are failing nearly all of us. Addicted to sky high profits, Big Pharma is not providing the medicines we need at a price we, or the NHS, can afford. Rather, the industry has become a cash machine for already wealthy investors. It doesn’t have to be this way – learn about the ideas of a new way of producing medicines.
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MUSIC
Eammon Forde
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Eamonn Forde is an award-winning music business writer and author. He has been writing about all areas of the music business since 2000 and currently writes for Music Ally, Music Business Worldwide and The Guardian, among others. He is the author of three music business books – The Final Days Of EMI: Selling The Pig (2019), Leaving The Building: The Lucrative Afterlife Of Music Estates (2021) and 1999: The Year The Record Industry Lost Control (to be published in March 2024).
AI is going to kill all new music and make every songwriter and musician in the world instantly redundant! That's what some say is the best-case scenario as artificial intelligence software grows and improves at a rapid rate. Worse than that, AI can, and will, put words and tunes in the mouths of dead pop stars in a desperate attempt to keep them earning money.
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A moral, ethical, musical and financial storm is brewing and dead artists could be the ones most exploited here. Or maybe, just maybe, such Black Mirror-style dystopian thinking is overblown and AI will become a creative aid rather than a creative replacement.
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LIFESTYLE
Harriet Gibsone
Music journalist and self-professed creep, Harriet Gibsone, lives in fear of her internet searches being leaked. Her latest book, Is This Ok? is an outrageously funny and painfully honest account of trying to find connection in the age of the internet – from bad MSN boyfriends, to the tyranny of Instagram mumfluencers. Harriet’s talk delves into the question of how far is too far when ‘stalking’ someone on the internet.
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LIVE MUSIC
Palace Avenue
Stalwarts of the London jazz scene and National Treasures in the making; Palace Avenue play the best in hot New Orleans jazz, good time swing and down low blues, guaranteed to get feet tapping. We are blessed to have their outfit as our Sunday Papers Live ‘house band’.
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CROSSWORDS
Sons & Sons
Barely more coherent than toddlers themselves, our crossword gurus have been running the sillier side of Sunday for 5 years. Brush up on your charade skills for the live crossword challenges, but also pop down to their pub quiz and crafternoon crafts table full of crafty crafts.
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THE WALK
Antony Robbins
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Antony is a former director of the Museum of London and loves the city of his birth. His tours delight in the discovery of the hidden, the secret and the lost. As Mr Londoner, Antony combines his fascination with the traditional and the quirky - alongside the ancient and the modern.
Mr Londoner explores Soho’s origins as monastic lands-cum-royal hunting ground. He then delves into the area’s rise and fall, and rise and fall – and rise again. Today Soho is one of our most diverse, creative and surprising London neighbourhoods. And we celebrate it, warts and all.