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2019 Programme

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 RidleyHallie 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 fictionBen 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 ANOUKAALEX MACQUEEN and NATASCHA MCELHONE 

Presented by
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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 AaronovitchAnne 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