The Arts Club Stage
10:00-11:00
Britain’s Sharpest Airhead
Boris, Trump, the Dalai Lama: Catherine Ostler gets the scoop from our most thrilling political broadcaster, EMILY MAITLIS
11:30-12:30
Infinite Galaxies
PROFESSOR BRIAN COX shares the secrets of the universe with the irrepressible Chris Evans
14:00-15:00
Tinker, Tailor, Statesman, Spy
Welcome to the Rory Party. RORY STEWART in conversation with Simon Sebag Montefiore
15:30-16:30
Emotional Education
What they didn’t teach you at school: ALAIN DE BOTTON on empathy, resilience, composure and the essential tools of life
17:00-18:00
The Machinations of McEwan
Man, woman, machine…the celebrated writer IAN MCEWAN talks to Gaby Wood about the ménage a trois at the heart of his most subversive novel yet.
The Great Hall
10:00-11:00
Crisis of Faith
ROBERT HARRIS, master story teller, talks to Blanche Girouard about his journey into the Dark Ages
11:30-12:30
Royal Britannia
Two hundred years since her birth, our panel fight the battle for Queen Victoria’s legacy
Chair: Nicholas Coleridge
Panellists: Robert Hardman, Jane Ridley, Hallie Rubenhold
14:00-15:00
Shakespeare, History and Politics
STEPHEN GREENBLATT, world-renowned literary critic, talks to Paula Byrne about his career in Shakespeare and beyond.
15:30-16:30
The Art of the Novel
The finest minds in fiction – Ben Okri, Leila Slimani, Ian McEwan, Howard Jacobson and Kate Mosse on their craft.
17:00-18:00
Heroine Chic
From Emma Woodhouse and Elizabeth Bennett to Bridget Jones and Queenie – what makes a female protagonist stand the test of time?
Chair: Natalie Livingstone
Panellists: Paula Byrne, Candice Carty-Williams, Helen Fielding and Kate Weinberg
The Arts Club Stage
10:00-11:00
The Summit
GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS and GENERAL SIR NICK CARTER talk war and peace with Andrew Roberts
11:30-12:30
Speeches & Letters That Changed The World
SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE discusses love, power, sex and death with Kate Mosse in his two new books, Voices of History and Written in History. With performances by the actors JADE ANOUKA, ALEX MACQUEEN and NATASCHA MCELHONE
Presented by
12:45-13:45
Spooks and Shadows: Master of Intelligence
SIR RICHARD DEARLOVE, former Director of MI6, in conversation with Andrew Roberts about the nature of spying across the globe – and how secret intelligence has never been more essential than in today’s volatile world.
14:00-15:00
The Kremlin Is Everywhere
Manipulative superpower or failed state? Putin’s Russia under the microscope
Chair: David Reynolds
Panellists: Gordon Corera, Dr Elisabeth Schimpfossl, Robert Service
15:30-16:30
The Secret Power
We live in an age of dangerous and vicious conspiracies – why and how do they take hold and how can we stop them?
Chair: Anne McElvoy
Panellists: David Aaronovitch, Nick Cohen, Hallie Rubenhold
17:00-18:00
Chaos Theory – Politics Now
The state of modern politics and the collapse of civility
Chair: June Sarpong
Panellists: David Aaronovitch, Anne McElvoy, Harry Mount, Sarah Vine
The Great Hall
10:00-11:00
Age Cannot Wither Him
HOWARD JACOBSON muses on the comedy of life, love and death with Paula Byrne
11:30-12:30
Women Under Fire
Is it still a man’s world? Luciana Berger, Elif Shafak and Ayaan Hirsi Ali on their tales of survival.
Chair: Kathy Lette
14:00-15:00
Fatal Lullabies
Prize-winning novelist and presidential advisor LEILA SLIMANI, author of Lullaby and Adele, talks to Tina Brown about how she turns our greatest fears into brilliant fiction. What exquisite torments is she planning next?
15:30-16:30
Psycho Drama: An Audience With Bret Easton Ellis
The iconoclastic writer discusses a career spanning from Less Than Zero and American Psycho to his latest anti-woke work, White, with Simon Sebag Montefiore
