Highlights
17th August 2020 - 6:30 pm
Online - BST
Life, Love and Rebellion
Thandie Newton Meets Gloria Steinem
For decades Gloria Steinem has helped women empower themselves. Now the legendary feminist meets Emmy and BAFTA winning actress and activist for an evening of
GO TO EVENT4th 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.
GO TO EVENT5th August 2020 - 7:00 pm
Free Online - BST
5×15 online – August 5th
Lisa Taddeo, Simon Schama, Fintan O’Toole, and Peter Geoghegan,
Join us for August’s online 5×15 session for an evening of stories and ideas.
GO TO EVENT22nd 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
GO TO EVENT3rd 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.
GO TO EVENTFeatured Events
Free Online
Time 100 Talks: Angeline Jolie and Vanessa Nakate
Angelina Jolie
Concerned about her country’s rising temperatures, Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate, 23, spent months protesting alone outside the gates of Parliament in Kampala....
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....
5th August 2020 - 7:00 pm
Free Online - BST
5×15 online – August 5th
Lisa Taddeo, Simon Schama, Fintan O’Toole, and Peter Geoghegan,
Join us for August's online 5x15 session for an evening of stories and ideas....
6th August 2020 - 4:00 pm
Free Online - BST
Racial Injustice and Corporate America
Nikole Hannah-Jones, Andrew Ross Sorkin, and Jason Karaian
Years of well-intentioned pledges have had little effect. What more is needed from the business community to produce lasting change?...
6th August 2020 - 6:30 pm
Online - BST
An Evening With Slavoj Zizek
In Conversation with Robert Rowland Smith
The philosopher and raconteur presents his insights into the world of 2020....
11th August 2020 - 6:00 pm
Online - BST
Price: £4.99
Tayari Jones: How I Found My Voice
In Conversation with Samira Ahmed
Tayari Jones joins Samira Ahmed in this exclusive live recording of How I Found My Voice, the award-winning podcast from Intelligence Squared....
11th August 2020 - 6:30 pm
Online - BST
Mental Health After COVID
Prof Anthony David in conversation with Matthew Stadlen
From anxiety to PTSD, the consequences of the pandemic for global mental health are profound. Neuropsychiatrist Anthony David explores what we know so far – and what we can do about it....
13th August 2020 - 6:30 pm
Online - BST
The Sirens of Mars – Searching for Life on Another World
Sarah Stewart Johnson
Join astrobiologist Sarah Stewart Johnson as she traces our centuries-old obsession with the red planet – and her personal quest to discover life “as we don’t know it” out there in the universe....
17th August 2020 - 6:30 pm
Online - BST
Life, Love and Rebellion
Thandie Newton Meets Gloria Steinem
For decades Gloria Steinem has helped women empower themselves. Now the legendary feminist meets Emmy and BAFTA winning actress and activist for an evening of wisdom and insight....
31st August 2020
Online - BST
Livewired – The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain
David Eagleman in conversation with Matthew Stadlen
Join the “Malcolm Gladwell of brain science” (Independent), internationally-renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman as he explores the brain’s ability to adapt and change....
1st September 2020 - 7:00 pm
Online - BST
Flavour, with Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage
Felicity Cloake
Join Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage, as they talk to Felicity Cloake about their new book, Flavour....
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
Curator Chats Series: The Significance of African Americans in Sports
With Dr. Damion L. Thomas
Damion Thomas discusses experiences that sparked his interest in researching the history of African Americans in sports, and some of his favorite objects in our Sports: Leveling the Playing Field exhibition.
Free Online
New Solutions to Plastic Pollution
Live talk with David de Rothschild
Hosted by leading environmental change advocate, NHM Ambassador and founder of the Voice for Nature Foundation David de Rothschild, the panel will discuss their unique takes on how to tackle plastic pollution, encouraging us all to become advocates for the planet.
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
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....
6th August 2020
The Sleeping Beauty
Royal Opera House
Online premiere: Friday 24 July 2020 at 7pm BST, broadcast free online as part of the Royal Opera House's #OurHouseToYourHouse series. Available until August 6th....
Festival Highlights
15th August 2020
Free Online
Edinburgh International Book Festival
What’s more, you’ll be able chat with fellow Festival goers via digital chatrooms and take part in Q&A sessions, and you'll even be able to meet the author and get your books signed (selected events). Aug 15 - 31....
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
How Jared Kushner’s Secret Testing Plan “Went Poof Into Thin Air”
Katherine Eban
This spring, a team working under the president’s son-in-law produced a plan for an aggressive, coordinated national COVID-19 response that could have brought the pandemic under control. So why did the White House spike it in favor of a shambolic 50-state response?
The Pandemic Is Changing Work Friendships
Nicole Mo
Co-workers had little choice but to bond when they spent 40 hours a week together. But if widespread remote work sticks around, those relationships will never be the same.
The Force Is Still Strong with John Williams
Alex Ross
At the age of eighty-eight, the self-effacing composer reflects on his extraordinary career.
How Capitalism Drives Cancel Culture
Helen Lewis
Beware splashy corporate gestures when they leave existing power structures intact.
She was just a damn cat – and I loved her
Sam Leith
I’ve never dug a grave before. But that was how I spent my Sunday afternoon.
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.
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....
