Highlights
14th July 2020 - 6:30 pm
Online
Price: £5
How Do We Know We’re Doing It Right?
Pandora Sykes In Conversation With Hadley Freeman
The journalist and co-host of The High Low is here to help us to navigate our way through our contemporary chaos.
GO TO EVENT13th July 2020 - 11:00 am
Free Online - PDT
5×15 online – July 2020
Fiona Shaw, Colin Grant, Sir David Spiegelhalter, Linda Scott, and Luke Harding
5×15 is back online for an evening of ideas, conversation and inspiration.
GO TO EVENT21st July 2020 - 7:30 pm
Online - EST
Price: $20
Bret Stephens on The Art of Political Persuasion
Join New York Times columnist Bret Stephens for this unique opportunity to examine the art of political persuasion.
GO TO EVENT13th July 2020 - 7:00 pm
Online
Price: £5
In conversation with Louis Theroux
Miranda Sawyer
Award-winning documentary filmmaker Louis Theroux will be talking about his fascinating life and career with journalist Miranda Sawyer.
GO TO EVENT9th July 2020 - 3:00 pm
Free Online
How to Ask Heretical Questions at Work
A Contagious Communications Briefing
In the first of a series of exclusive briefings by the experts at Contagious Communications, you’ll find out why asking unaskable questions could be the
GO TO EVENT20th July 2020 - 7:30 pm
The Drive In, London
Price: £45
LIVE: The Receipts Podcast
Tolly T, Audrey, and Milena Sanchez
Dubbed a ‘one of the UK’s most hilarious podcasts’ (Dazed), The Receipts Podcast has become a well-trusted voice in modern conversations, offering refreshing and entertaining
GO TO EVENTFeatured Events
13th July 2020 - 6:30 pm
Online
Price: £5
Three Women – Lisa Taddeo on Life, Love and Desire
In Conversation with Hannah MacInnes
Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women is a world-wide sensation – forever changing how we think about women and desire....
13th July 2020 - 11:00 am
Free Online - PDT
5×15 online – July 2020
Fiona Shaw, Colin Grant, Sir David Spiegelhalter, Linda Scott, and Luke Harding
5x15 is back online for an evening of ideas, conversation and inspiration....
13th July 2020 - 7:00 pm
Online
Price: £5
In conversation with Louis Theroux
Miranda Sawyer
Award-winning documentary filmmaker Louis Theroux will be talking about his fascinating life and career with journalist Miranda Sawyer....
13th July 2020 - 7:00 pm
Online - EST
Price: $25
Protocol: Capricia Penavic Marshall in Conversation with Hillary Rodham Clinton
Capricia Penavic Marshall and Hillary Rodham Clinton
Ambassador Capricia Penavic Marshall is the former chief of protocol of the United States, as well as the current president of Global Engagement Strategies, which advises international public and private clients on issues relating to the nexus of business and cultural diplomacy....
14th July 2020 - 11:00 am
Free Online - PDT
Happiness & Loving Kindness
with Matthieu Ricard
Join us for a special event with Matthieu Ricard on how loving-kindness can help us lead happier lives and create a better world....
14th July 2020 - 6:30 pm
Online
Price: £5
How Do We Know We’re Doing It Right?
Pandora Sykes In Conversation With Hadley Freeman
The journalist and co-host of The High Low is here to help us to navigate our way through our contemporary chaos....
15th July 2020 - 6:30 pm
Free Online
The Divided Brain and the Search for Meaning
Iain McGilchrist in conversation with David Malone
A tour de force of neuroscience and philosophy, Iain McGilchrist’s The Master and His Emissary speaks to everyone searching for happiness, meaning and understanding in the modern world....
16th July 2020 - 6:30 pm
Free Online
The Mind Medic – How to Lead a Calmer, Happier Life
Dr Sarah Vohra in conversation with Hannah MacInnes
Dr Sarah Vohra presents a practical guide to reclaiming your mental wellbeing and becoming the happiest, healthiest version of you....
20th July 2020 - 6:30 pm
Free Online
An Evening with Emma Gannon
In Conversation With Hannah MacInnes
The bestselling columnist and podcaster is fast becoming the voice of the millennial generation. She joins us to explore the obstacle course of adulthood and question society’s milestones....
20th July 2020 - 7:30 pm
The Drive In, London
Price: £45
LIVE: The Receipts Podcast
Tolly T, Audrey, and Milena Sanchez
Dubbed a ‘one of the UK’s most hilarious podcasts’ (Dazed), The Receipts Podcast has become a well-trusted voice in modern conversations, offering refreshing and entertaining perspectives on being a millennial woman in the world today....
21st July 2020 - 6:30 pm
Free Online
How to Master the Art of Long Term Thinking
Roman Krznaric
The greatest challenge facing humankind is not climate change or terrorism; it is our inability to think long term. Britain’s leading public philosopher is here to change the way we think to ensure a tomorrow....
21st July 2020 - 7:30 pm
Online - EST
Price: $20
Bret Stephens on The Art of Political Persuasion
Join New York Times columnist Bret Stephens for this unique opportunity to examine the art of political persuasion....
22nd July 2020 - 6:30 pm
Free Online
How to Quell Anxiety and Manage Stress
Owen O’Kane In Conversation With Matthew Stadlen
Psychotherapist and bestselling author Owen O’Kane was the NHS Clinical Lead for Mental Health. He joins us to explore evidence-based techniques for developing a healthier perspective....
23rd July 2020 - 7:30 pm
The Drive In, London
Price: £70
Sir Ranulph Fiennes – Living Dangerously
Sir Ranulph Fiennes
Named by the Guinness Book of Records as ‘the world’s greatest living explorer’, Sir Ranulph Fiennes has spent his life in pursuit of extreme adventure, risking life and limb in some of the most ambitious private expeditions ever undertaken....
25th July 2020 - 7:30 pm
The Drive In, London
Price: £50
My Last Supper: One meal, a Lifetime in the Making with Jay Rayner
Jay Rayner
In this life-affirming show, based on his latest book, Rayner investigates our fascination with last suppers and tells the stories of the killer dishes that would end up on his table....
27th July 2020 - 6:30 pm
Online - BST
The Twilight of Democracy
Anne Applebaum in conversation with Matthew d’Ancona
Join the eminent reporter and historian for an investigation into the central political dilemma of our time: why did the wave of enthusiasm for liberal democracy come to an end? How did we come to be so angry and divided?...
2nd August 2020 - 6:30 pm
Online - BST
The Virus in the Age of Madness
Bernard-Henri Levy in conversation with Hannah MacInnes
Join one of the world’s most influential public intellectuals for a trenchant look at how the coronavirus reveals the dangerous fault lines of contemporary society....
3rd August 2020 - 6:30 pm
Online - BST
Reasons to be an Optimist
Jonathan Safran Foer and Lily Cole in Conversation with Hannah MacInnes
The award-winning author of Eating Animals meets the activist and model to present a radical guide to being the change you want to see....
4th August 2020 - 6:30 pm
Online - BST
Price: £5
Malcolm Gladwell: Talking To Strangers
In Conversation with Oliver Burkeman
Author and podcast host Malcolm Gladwell will join us to talk about his latest book, Talking to Strangers....
22nd September 2020 - 6:30 pm
Free Online - BST
From Experiment to Everyday: The New Zero-Carbon Normal for Cities
Netting Zero
More than 70 cities worldwide have pledged to become carbon neutral by 2050. What are the winning innovations in building materials, energy and mobility, and what can be done to ensure that these innovations are spread quickly, more cities are brought into the process, and that zero-carbon goals move forward to 2040, or even 2035?...
6th October 2020 - 6:00 pm
Online
Price: £4.99
Thomas Friedman and Robert Peston on the Final Days of the Presidential Race
Thomas Friedman and Robert Peston
In conversation with ITV’s political editor Robert Peston, one of Britain’s leading journalists and broadcasters, Thomas Friedman will examine what is likely to be the most consequential Presidential elections of our times....
13th October 2020 - 6:30 pm
Free Online - BST
Driving Solutions for Climate-Ready Food Systems
Netting Zero
We cannot go on with agricultural production contributing 20 to 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. What are the radical, but feasible, solutions to significantly reduce these emissions across key sectors within the food system, while maintaining a healthy and secure food supply?...
International Highlights
UPDATE
As all talks are currently online only, we are incorporating Unmissable talks organised outside the UK in the UK section so you don’t have to look in two sections. When live talks start to happen again we will revert to UK and International....
Museums and Galleries
Free Online
Marking Time: Indigenous Art from the NGV
National Gallery of Victoria
Marking Time: Indigenous Art from the NGV looks at the persistence of images, signs or text painted or drawn on a range of surfaces in Indigenous Australia, from ancient times until now.
Free Online
I Am… Contemporary Women Artists of Africa
National Museum of African Art
Taking its name from a 1970’s feminist anthem, I Am… Contemporary Women Artists of Africa draws upon a selection of artworks by women artists from the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art’s permanent collection to reveal a more contemporary feminism that recognizes the contributions of women to
Free Online
Illegal to Be You: Gay History Beyond Stonewall
National Museum of American History
The museum marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots with a display featuring objects from its collections that put the history of that memorable event within a larger and longer experience of being gay.
Free Online
Contemporary Muslim Fashions
Smithsonian Design Museum
The exhibition examines how Muslim women—those who cover and those who do not—have become arbiters of style within and beyond their communities and, in so doing, have drawn attention to the variations and nuances of their daily lives.
Free Online
Vikings at British Museum
Bettany Hughes and Michael Wood
Bettany Hughes and Michael Wood present a tour around the BP exhibition Vikings: life and legend. Discover the world of these warriors, seafarers and conquerors, and come face to face with the largest Viking warship ever discovered.
Free Online
Pompeii Live – British Museum
Bettany Hughes and Peter Snow
Travel back to AD 79 and tour our 2013 Pompeii and Herculaneum exhibition with presenters Bettany Hughes and Peter Snow – and some special guests including Mary Beard.
Free Online
Curator Tour – Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk
Victoria & Albert Museum
Captured as the museum was closing its doors for a while, curator Anna Jackson guides you through the exhibition spaces, providing a personal insight into the making of the show, star exhibits and the fascinating history of the kimono.
Free Online
The Museum of the World
The British Museum
For the first time ever, discover objects from the British Museum’s collection from prehistory to the present using the most advanced WebGL (Web Graphics Library) technology available.
Theatre, Opera and Concerts
Free Online
Barbican Centre Concerts
Various Artists
Each Sunday and Thursday (from 22 March) Barbican Centre will be streaming a concert from our archive on our YouTube channel....
Free Online
Berliner Philharmoniker
Various Artists
Berliner Philharmoniker Digital Concert Hall presents a variety of free concerts in the upcoming weeks and months....
16th July 2020
Free Online
The Deep Blue Sea
National Theatre Live
Terence Rattigan’s devastating masterpiece, The Deep Blue Sea, contains one of the greatest female roles in contemporary drama, played by Helen McCrory. Streaming from 7pm on 9 July, until 7pm on 16 July....
17th July 2020 - 7:00 pm
Free Online
Rossini’s La Cenerentola
Met Opera
His much put upon heroine Angelina has to cope not only with nasty stepsisters, but also an over-the-top, farcical father, Don Magnifico. And in this version the Prince and his valet swap identities, which causes no end of delightful confusion....
18th July 2020 - 7:00 pm
Free Online
Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro
Met Opera
Ildar Abdrazakov leads the cast as the resourceful Figaro set on outwitting his master, the philandering Count Almaviva, played by Peter Mattei....
26th July 2020
Free Online
Macbeth (2020)
The Globe Theatre
A psychological thriller examining the dangers of political ambition, Macbeth is a gripping, full-scale *90 minute performance* in the Globe Theatre, with no interval. Macbeth (2020) YouTube Premiere is available until midnight Sunday 26 July 2020....
Festival Highlights
4th November 2020
Royal Geographical Society, London
Price: £135
How to Change the World 2020
How To Academy
How To Academy’s flagship conference brings together the inspirational individuals and organisations forging a better future for our planet. From technology to architecture, social innovation to green energy, you’ll meet the men and women making the world of tomorrow....
Unmissable Long Reads
This Profile of Charlie Kaufman Has Changed
Jon Mooallem
How do you write about Hollywood’s most self-referential screenwriter at a destabilizing moment in history? It takes more than one draft.
Ashes to Ashes, Eel to Eel
Patrik Svensson
In one of the twentieth century’s most memorable scenes from literature, a man is standing on a beach, pulling on a long rope that stretches out to sea.
Japan’s Rent-a-Family Industry
Elif Batuman
People who are short on relatives can hire a husband, a mother, a grandson. The resulting relationships can be more real than you’d expect.
The game of life: Maria Konnikova on what she’s learned from poker
Maria Konnikova
Down on her luck and fearful for the future, the writer decided to chance her arm. She soon found it was the perfect gameplan.
My Mother’s Dreams for Her Son, and All Black Children
Hilton Als
She longed for black people in America not to be forever refugees—confined by borders that they did not create and by a penal system that killed them before they died.
The Dad Archive
Ali Fitzgerald
Most of the memories I have of my father are obscured by the patina of a lonely little girl who obsessively repaints a portrait until it becomes a whorl of whimsical abstraction.
The Trayvon Generation
Elizabeth Alexander
I call the young people who grew up in the past twenty-five years the Trayvon Generation. They always knew these stories. These stories formed their world view. The stories were the ground soil of their rage. These stories instructed them that anti-black hatred and violence
The Unpresident and the Unredeemed Promise
Fintan O’Toole
In “The Jesting of Arlington Stringham,” a story by Saki (H.H. Munro), the eponymous politician in a debate on the Foreign Office in the House of Commons remarks that “the people of Crete unfortunately make more history than they can consume locally.” The United States
‘This man knows he’s dying as surely as I do’: a doctor’s dispatches from the NHS frontline
Rachel Clarke
As lockdown is relaxed, many in the NHS are left reeling. Palliative care doctor Rachel Clarke shares her experience working with coronavirus patients, and her fears of a second wave
Lionel Shriver Is Looking for Trouble
Ariel Levy
The author’s contrarianism has made her famous, but fiction is what she believes changes minds.
Unmissable Podcasts
Israel Story – Ep. 1: Faking It
Mishy Harman and Ira Glass
From our relationship with Ira Glass to priceless antiquities all the way to coveted sick passes – Israeli stories that are anything but real. In our very first episode, the Israel Story team delves into the realm of fakes, forgeries, and mimicry. Three stories, from different periods and places, of people pretending to to be something they are not....
The Portal
Eric Weinstein
The Portal is an exploration into discovery, including conversations with thought leaders....
Revisionist Revisited: A Good Walk Spoiled
Malcolm Gladwell
Golfers everywhere love to hate this episode. Since its debut in Season 2, the subject of golf ignites Malcolm's Twitter feed like no other. Revisionist History is Malcolm Gladwell's journey through the overlooked and the misunderstood....
Normal People, The How To: Academy, The Ultimate Top 100 Classical Music Hits and the Virtual Great Wall of China
Lockdown Culture With Ed Vaizey by Country and Town House
Our Culture Editor Ed Vaizey is finally taking to the airwaves, recording from his bedroom, to give you his tips for staying in touch with all things cultural, highbrow, lowbrow and everything in between....
How to Fail: Mo Gawdat on how to cope with anxiety in a time of Coronavirus
How To Fail With Elizabeth Day
Elizabeth Day and Mo Gawdat, the former Chief Business Officer for Google [X], talk about how to handle negative thoughts, how to practise gratitude and the concept of 'committed acceptance', working out what you can actively do to make life better....
Donna Tartt and Rick Stroud
Borris House Festival of Writing and Ideas
A rare interview with novelist Donna Tartt, author of The Secret History and The Goldfinch, with writer, producer, and friend Rick Stroud, in which they talk about writing, art and adventure....
How To Academy Podcast
Meet the global thought leaders visiting London's How To Academy to share ideas for changing our selves, communities, and the world....
The Origins Podcast
The Origins Podcast, hosted by Lawrence M. Krauss features in-depth conversations with some of the most interesting people in the world about the issues that impact all of us in the 21st century....
Talking Politics
Professor David Runciman and his colleagues in the University of Cambridge Politics department bring their considerable erudition to bear on the critical issues of the present....
Free Thinking
The BBC's unashamedly highbrow arts and ideas magazine, with conversation and debate at the intersection of politics, culture, and cutting edge academic research....
99% Invisible
Why did Freud choose a couch rather than a chair? Where do fortune cookies come from? Take a deep dive into the things we don’t think about — the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world....
The Daily
Ready by 6 a.m. five days a week, this podcast distills the biggest stories from The New York Times into a single, essential, 20 minute listen....
Reasons to be Cheerful
The former Labour leader Ed Milliband and radio host Geoff Lloyd meet the world's smartest thinkers....
This American Life
No directory of Unmissable Podcasts would be complete without the original and the best that public radio has to offer: Ira Glass's world-renowned documentary series, This American Life....
Global GoalsCast
Global GoalsCast is a podcast that inspires and empowers listeners to make the world a better place by sharing the stories individuals, companies, and organisations that are advancing and achieving a more sustainable world....
