Speakers

HowTheLightGetsIn Hay 2024 gathered global thought leaders to answer the most pressing questions of our era in Hay-on-Wye for our most mind-expanding line-up to date!

If you just can't wait to see our era's most pioneering thinkers discuss the pressing questions of our time why not join us this Septemeber for HowTheLightGetsIn London 2024!

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David Petraeus

Former Director of the CIA
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Martha Fiennes

Award-winning filmmaker
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Slavoj Žižek

Maverick philosopher
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Paterson Joseph

Beloved actor and intellectual
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Lisa Randall

Trailblazing Harvard Physicist
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Roger Penrose

Nobel prize winning physicist
I don't know who they are.

Peter Singer

World renowned ethicist
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Rowan Williams

Former Archbishop of Canterbury
I don’t know who they are.

Amy Chua

Outspoken legal writer and commentator
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Joscha Bach

Cognitive AI neuroscientist
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Winston Marshall

Musician turned renegade
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Yasmin Benoit

Award-winning activist
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John Bercow

Former speaker of the commons
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Christina Lamb

Sunday Times chief foreign correspondent
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Marika Taylor

Boundary-Pushing Physicist
I don't know who they are.

Dan Ariely

Irrationality Expert
I don't know who they are.

Avshalom Elitzur

Revolutionary space time physicist
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Donald Hoffman

Leading anti-reality theorist
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Ilan Pappé

Outspoken critical Israeli historian
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S.Y.Quraishi

Former Chief Election Commissioner of India
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Jessica DeFino

Beauty culture critic
A man with glasses and a gray shirt, sitting against a whiteboard filled with mathematical equations.

Scott Aaronson

Top quantum complexity theorist
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Chris Lintott

Oxford astrophysicist and presenter
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Jenny Kleeman

Journalist and broadcaster
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Tommy Curry

Pioneering Philospher of Race
I don't know who they are.
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Priya Natarajan

Award-winning theoretical astrophysicist
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Stuart Hameroff

Quantum Consciousness Theorist
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Armen Sarkissien

Former president of Armenia
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Denis Noble

Leading Biologist
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Sophie Scott-Brown

Inspiring intellectual historian
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Bernard Carr

Mathematical physicist and cosmologist
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Ali Allawi

Veteran Iraqi politician and scholar
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Aaron Bastani

Leftist media disruptor
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Myriam François

Filmmaker and activist
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Paul Bloom

Anti-Empathy Psychologist
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Catherine Rowett

Distinguished politician and philosopher
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Guy Standing

Pioneering labour economist
I don't know who they are.
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Hilary Lawson

Radical post-post modern philosopher
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Shini Somara

Celebrated science communicator
Tim Maudlin HowTheLightGetsIn Hay Festival 2024

Tim Maudlin

World-leading philosopher of physics
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Theodore Dalrymple

Acclaimed author and critic
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Claudia de Rham

Pioneering physicist
I don't know who they are.
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Judith Donath

Pioneering social media expert
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Simon Baron-Cohen

Pioneering clinical psychologist
I'm sorry, but I don't know who they are.
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Bronwen Maddox

CEO of Chatham House
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Ruth Padel

Poet and Novelist
I don't know who they are.
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Frances Ashcroft

Pioneering geneticist
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Subrena E. Smith

Leading opponent of evolutionary psychology
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Jack Symes

Trailblazing emerging philosopher
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Güneş Taylor

Award-winning geneticist
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Nancy Sherman

Professor of Philosophy
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John Ralston Saul

World-renowned writer and anti-globalism activist
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Shannon Vallor

Prophetic AI ethicist
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Rana Mitter

Historian and political scientist
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Robin van den Akker

Leading Metamodernist Scholar
I don't know who they are.

Isabel Hilton

Leading China expert
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Aline Laurent-Maynard

Acclaimed author, journalist and podcast host
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Mary Ann Sieghart

Stalwart public intellectual
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Steve Taylor

Psyhchologist and spirituality expert
I don't know who they are.

Des Fitzgerald

New Generation sociologist
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Peter York

Inimitable Style Guru
I don't know who they are.

Joanna Kavenna

Acclaimed novelist
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João Magueijo

Radical physicist
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Johnjoe McFadden

Acedemic and author
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Ben Ware

Leading Wittegensteinian and philosopher of extinction.
A smiling man with glasses and gray hair sits at a table in a library, surrounded by shelves of books.
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Sir Simon Wessely

Renowned psychiatrist and epidemiologist
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Roger Hearing

BBC business presenter
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Frank Tallis

Psychotherapist and award-winning author
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Claire Provost

Discerning investigative journalist
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Harry Cliff

Celebrated Physicist and Science Communicator
I don't know who they are.

David Livingstone Smith

Philosopher of Dehumanisation
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Alpa Shah

Tireless defender of democracy
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Tim Palmer

Celebrated Mathematic and Climate Physicist
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Vicky Pryce

Powerhouse economist
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Ruth Padel

Poet and Novelist
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Dominic walliman

Popular science educator
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Abby Innes

Insightful political scholar
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Bjorn Ekeberg

Radical Philosopher of Science
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Barry C Smith

Leading philosopher of the senses
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Kate Sullivan De Estrada

India and global order expert
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Lyndsey Stonebridge

Renowned writer and political thinker
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Hannah Rich

Historian and Activist
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Angie Hobbs

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Kenneth Cukier

Leading podcaster and journalist
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Matthew Beaumont

Acclaimed author and critic
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Simon May

Radical philosopher of emotions

James Riley

Writer and Cultural Critic
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Camilla Hall

Revolutionary documentary filmmaker
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Kerry McCarthy

Shadow Minister for Climate Change
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Nadia Idle

Voice of the Joyful Left
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Jeremy Gilbert

Podcaster, Philosopher, Praxis
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Keir Milburn

Intergenerational political podcaster
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Avery Anapol

Writer for The Conversation
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Caleb Althorpe

Political philosopher of work
I don't know who they are.
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Isabel Berwick

Expert on work
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Nilufar Ahmed

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Antonella Tramacere

Philosopher of neuroscience
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Fellipe do Vale

Gender theorist and theologian
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Lisa Cameron

Voice for Conservative Scotland
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Dale Turner

Indigenous thought Philosopher
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Janne Teller

Critically acclaimed novelist

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