Speakers

Yuval Noah Harari, Richard Dawkins, Slavoj Žižek and Roger Penrose will come up against Pullitzer prize winning writers, Nobel laureates and members of Parliament, sparking conversations that will shape the intellectual landscape for decades to come.

Weekend Festival Tickets are now sold out! A limited number of Day Tickets and Flexi Day Passes are available. 

Explore the full festival programme here

World-famous historian, internationally best-selling author, and luminary purveyor of human history, Harari has changed the way we understand who we are and who we have been.

Speaking via video link in: Nature: Friend or foe

Pulitzer Prize winner Andrea Elliott has revolutionised the narrative around society and poverty via her incisive investigative journalism for the New York Times and as a best-selling author.

Speaking in: Camus vs Kafka

Biologist and best-selling author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins is the most famous, and most incendiary, scientist in the world.

Speaking in: The Gene Machine

Deemed "The most dangerous philosopher in the West", Slavoj Žižek once declared “Humanity is OK, but 99% of people are boring idiots.”  Žižek himself is neither.  

Manveen Rana is an award winning journalist who currently hosts the Times Radio podcast Stories Of Our Times and previously reported for BBC Radio 4's The Today Show.

Speaking in: How to be an Investigative Journalist

Nobel Laureate and Hawking collaborator, Roger Penrose has spent his career blazing a trail through conventional physics and perennially at the cutting edge of mathematical physics. 

Explore our speakers

Sabine Hossenfelder

YOUTUBE SCIENCE SUPERSTAR

Michio Kaku

Leading Theoretical Physicist

Tommy Curry

Pioneering Philosopher of Race

Tulip Siddiq

Rising star of the Labour Party

Matt Hancock

Conservative MP and former Health Secretary

Thangam Debbonaire

Shadow Leader of the House of Commons

Isy Suttie

Comedian and actress

Simon Baron-Cohen

Experimental psychologist

Ezgi Basaran

Journalist and Oxford Academic

Massimo Pigliucci

Leading Stoic Philosopher

Catherine Heymans

Astronomer Royal for Scotland

Hilary Lawson

Post-Realist Philosopher

Frank Turner

UK Number 1 Singer

Güneş Taylor

Francis Crick Geneticist

Katherine Angel

Expert on desire

Rupert Sheldrake

Radical Scientist

Simon Blackburn

Meta-Ethics Expert

Shabnam Nasimi

British-Afghan Social Activist

Peter Godfrey-Smith

Bestselling author of "Other Minds"

Ruth Chang

Professor of Jurisprudence

Bjørn Ekeberg

Philosopher of Science

Mary Ann Sieghart

Award-Winning Journalist

Paul Dolan

Bestselling author and behavioural scientist

Kathleen Stock

Philosopher

Samira Shackle

Jouranlist and Author

Juan Castaneda

Economist

Aaron Bastani

Novara Media Co-Founder

Nigel Inkster

Intelligence Strategist

Chris Parry

Strategic Forecaster

Luke Johnson

Entrepeneur and Former Chairman of Channel 4 and the RSA

Zoe Strimpel

Journalist, Academic Historian, Author

Tim Palmer

Renowned Climate Scientist

Nemone Metaxas

BBC Radio 6 DJ

Anders Sandberg

Oxford Transhumanist

Janne Teller

Award-winning novelist

Stefan Dercon

Oxford Economist

Hugh Tomlinson

Famed Lawyer

Alex J. O'Connor

CosmicSkeptic

Matthew Green

Historian and broadcaster

Steven Berkoff

Actor and Playwright

Bence Nanay

Philosopher and Film Critic

Dallas Campbell

Celebrated Science Presenter

Peter Sjostedt-Hughes

Psychedelic Nietzschean philosopher

Paul Muldoon

Pulitzer Prize Winning Poet

Myriam Francois

Writer and broadcaster

Rana Mitter

Oxford professor and China expert

Kehinde Andrews

Academic, activist and broadcaster

Danielle Sands

Post-Kantian philosopher

Isabel Hilton

Founding editor of chinadialogue.net

Vince Cable

Former leader of the Liberal Democrats

Maria Balaska

Philosopher and author

Emma Sulkowicz

Artist and Activist

Sarah Garfinkel

UCL Neuroscientist

Katie Robertson

Philosopher of Physics

Mary-Ann Ochota

Anthropologist and Broadcaster

Calvin Robinson

Political Commentator and Advisor

Ben Tarnoff

Tech writer and co-founder of Logic Magazine

Denis Noble

Pioneer in the field of Biology

Ian Parker

Psychologist and psychoanalyst

Ben Burgis

Philosopher and Author

Pavel Kroupa

Psychologist and psychoanalyst

Ellen Clarke

Philosopher of Biology

Joanna Kavenna

Acclaimed author

David Freeman

Science Journalist

Susan Michie

Psychologist

Hannah Sullivan

T. S. Eliot Prize winning Poet

Ella Whelan

Fearless political commentator

Peter Tatchell

Trailblazing Activist

Catherine Hakim

Pioneering Sociologist

Eric Kaufmann

Radical Professor of Politics

Lindsey German

Anti-War Political Activist

Paul Davies

Open-minded Scientist

Rebecca Roache

Alt-Left Philosopher

Keith Ward

Philosopher and Theologian

James Tartaglia

Philosopher and Jazz Musician

Cindy Yu

Journalist and China Expert

Mike Berners-Lee

Carbon Footprint Expert

Chelsea Wald

Award-winning Environmental Writer

Chris Huhne

Former Secretary for Climate Change

Linda Bauld

Renowned Behavioural Scientist

JohnJoe McFadden

Quantum Biologist

Timothy Williamson

Hard-hitting Logician

Maya Oppenheim

Women's Correspondent for The Independent

Danny Robins

Celebrated Playwright and Podcaster

Minna Salami

Journalist, Author, Feminist

Bobbi Pickard

Trans-rights Activist

Aveek Bhattacharya

Eminent Economist

David Healy

Psychiatrist and Scientist

Steve Taylor

Transpersonal Psychologist

Mark Salter

Psychiatrist

Rebecca Buxton

Theorist and Author

Stephen Pincock

Science Communicator

Mazviita Chirimuuta

Philosopher of Neuroscience

Anita Sethi

Journalist and Writer

Victoria Baines

Internet Expert

Stephen Kinsella

Lawyer and Digital Campaigner

Stephanie Hegarty

BBC’s Population Correspondent

Gerard Milburn

Theoretical Quantum Physicist

Petter Brodin

Immunologist

Francesca Chadha-Day

Theoretical Particle Physicist

Theodore Dalrymple