The 13th Battle of Ideas, at the Barbican in London
This year's Battle of Ideas, at the Barbican in London, is our 13th annual festival. Organised by the Institute of Ideas, the weekend has always tackled tough contemporary questions through wide-ranging, thought-provoking and argumentative debate. This year, the Battle commences at a time of crucial political and social change. This opportunity for open debate is more important than ever. If you’re willing to challenge and be challenged, and leave the comfort of the echo chamber, see you at the Barbican on 28 and 29 October.
The festival will attract 3,000 delegates, and has 100 sessions, as well as hundreds of insightful and thought provoking speakers from across the globe, who represent a wide range of disciplines and viewpoints.
This year's programme includes key debates such as: Is there a culture war against populism? · Rebooting Britain: industrial strategy for the 21st century · Is there such a thing as Trumpism? · Student Voice: should we listen? · Why Luther still matters: religious conscience & individual liberty · Can cognitive science save education? · Putin’s Russia: a new Cold War? · Too Dumb, Too Young: who’s qualified to vote? · Is globalisation over? · Footloose cosmopolitans or citizens of nowhere?
View the full programme here.
Speakers include: Jamie Bartlett · Piers Benn · Wendy Berliner · Douglas Carswell · Professor John Dupré · Ann Furedi · Professor Frank Furedi · Dr Clare Gerada · Timandra Harkness · Professor Angie Hobbs · Fr Christopher Jamison · Kinga Jelinska · Professor Ellie Lee · Maurizio Meloni · Dreda Say Mitchell · Phil Mullan · Jon O’Brien · Rosemary Rizq · Nick Rose · Lenore Skenazy · Fay Weldon CBE · Professor Sue White · Joanna Williams · Professor Alison Wolf · Martin Wright · Cathy Young · and many more
The festival slogan is FREE SPEECH ALLOWED, an antidote to today’s climate of offence taking.
