We Fight Fascists
Speakers: Daniel Sonabend, Jules Konopinski, Harry Kaufman, Bidisha Jewish soldiers returned to Britain after WWII believing they had defeated fascism in Europe. Yet in London they faced a revived fascist movement, inspired by Oswald Mosley, stirring up agitation against Jews and communists. We Fight Fascists is the story of the 43 Jewish ex-servicemen and women […]
Make, Think, Imagine: Engineering The Future of Civilisation
Speakers: John Browne, Bernard Bulkin Drawing on history, his own personal experience and conversations with many of the world’s greatest innovators, ex-CEO of British Petroleum John Browne makes an impassioned and eloquent case for technological progress. He argues that civilization is founded on engineering innovation and we should embrace the recent escalation of advances in […]
Voices From The Warsaw Ghetto
‘What we were unable to cry and shriek out to the world we buried in the ground.’ David Graber, aged 17, the Warsaw Ghetto. In 1940 the historian Emanuel Ringelblum established a clandestine organization, the Oyneg Shabes, within the Warsaw ghetto to document Jewish life, compiling an archive – ranging from reportage to jokes, from […]
A Celebration of the Life & Work of Eva Ibbotson
Speakers: Nicola Beauman, Amanda Craig and Marion Lloyd Eva Ibbotson was born in Vienna in 1925 and moved to England with her father when the Nazis came into power. Ibbotson wrote more than twenty award-winning books for children and young adults, notably Journey to the River Sea, The Dragonfly Pool and The Star of Kazan, […]
Fictionalising The Holocaust
Speakers: Toby Haggith, Peter Filkins, James Libson ‘To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric.’ But despite Theodor Adorno’s dictum, dramatising the Holocaust has become a trend, in both books and film. Should the Holocaust, the nadir of humanity, be fictionalised? When we do dramatise the suffering, how should we approach it, and should any topics […]
Learning From The Germans
Philosopher Susan Neiman grew up in the segregated American South during the civil rights movement. She has spent most of her adult life in a Germany still coming to terms with its Nazi past. Susan, from her unique perspective, examines how nations deal with their pasts. She argues that failure to confront our history permits […]
Howard Jacobson: Live a Little
Speakers: Howard Jacobson, Jenni Frazer Nonagenarian Beryl Dusinbery, forgetter of her own children and tormentor of her two longsuffering carers, meets the sprightly Shimi Carmelli, last of the eligible bachelors of North London. Shimi is prized for his ability to do up his own buttons, speak without spitting and walk without the aid of a […]
Mother Ship
Speakers: Francesca Segal, Susie Orbach After her twins were born at only 30 weeks, Francesca Segal sat vigil in the ‘mother ship’ of neonatal intensive care, all romantic expectations of new parenthood obliterated. In conversation with acclaimed psychotherapist, psychoanalyst and author Susie Orbach, Francesca talks about those heart-wrenching days amidst a band of fearless and […]
The Fashion Revolution: From Berlin to London
Speakers: Daniel Snowman, Michael Gee, Anna Nyburg, Uwe Westphal Nineteenth century Berlin was the creative centre for fashion and ready-to-wear clothing. Berlin’s clothing companies made modern apparel and developed new designs that were sold not only throughout Germany, but worldwide. But when Hitler came to power in 1933, the city’s mainly Jewish clothing industrialists were […]
The Heartless Traffic
Speakers: Jeremy Robson, Suzi Feay Jeremy Robson, described by The Times as ‘a champion of poetry’ selects the best of his poems from the early 1960s to his most recent collections, plus 50 new poems. A book about friendships with diverse figures from Ron Moody to Dannie Abse, of childhood haunts, Jewish roots, youthful passions […]
The Library of Exile: Edmund de Waal
Speakers: Edmund de Waal Prize-winning author and artist Edmund de Waal talks about his library of exile. “This library celebrates the idea that all languages are diasporic, that we need other people’s words, self-definitions and re-definitions in translation.” Edmund de Waal Edmund’s library comprises more than 2,000 volumes in almost all the languages of the […]
The New Age of Ageing
Speakers: Camilla Cavendish, Nicci Gerrard, Harry Mount We are living in an unprecedented age: this year marks the first time in human history that the number of people aged 65 and over outnumber children aged five and under. It is a tumultuous demographic shift. How will we address the ensuing challenges? How will we ensure […]