Our most recent Public Lectures include:

Ben Brown - A life at the BBC and a view of the changing world order

Monday 16 March 2026

Ben Brown is a well-known accomplished journalist and probably best known as a BBC anchor news presenter. In this fascinating public lecture, Ben talks about his extensive career at the BBC and his views about topical global politics.

Professor Sukhi Shergill - Making the mind

Tuesday 27 January 2026

Drawing on research from neuroimaging, psychophysics, and psychopharmacology, this Professorial Beacon lecture by Professor Sukh Shergill examines how perception and imagination interact in the formation of beliefs, including phenomena such as “seeing voices” and strongly held delusional experiences. The lecture offers valuable insight into how the mind actively constructs, rather than simply records, reality. 

Professor David Bates - The People are Revolting

Tuesday 29 April 2025

Professor David Bates, Professor of Contemporary Political Thought and Director of Research and Enterprise at CCCU,  delivers the third lecture in the Professorial Beacon Lectures series, exploring the decline of liberal democracy and the rise of new political-economic dynamics. He highlights how national populism and authoritarian capitalism — led by powerful figures allied with wealthy elites — exploit public discontent while acting against the interests of those they claim to represent. Bates warns of a bleak future, particularly for the Global South and all but the wealthiest in the Global North, and while he offers some ideas for resisting these forces, his outlook remains cautious and somber.

Sir Anthony Seldon - What can Starmer learn from Johnson and Truss?

Thursday 21 November 2024

Sir Anthony argues that Boris Johnson and Liz Truss were two of the worst Prime Ministers in British history. Starmer has much to learn from them. Sir Anthony is a bestselling contemporary political historian. He served as honorary historian of Number 10 Downing Street, chair of the National Archives Trust, and has interviewed most of the senior figures who have worked in Number 10 in the last fifty years. His most recent books are Johnson at 10: The Inside Story (2023) and Truss at 10: How Not to Be Prime Minister (2024).

Lord Jonathan Evans

Wednesday 20 March 2024

Lord Jonathan Evans was Director-General of the British Security Service (MI5) from 2007-13. Dubbed by The Independent as ‘the spy who came out from the cold’, Lord Evans was Britain’s top domestic spy. His main focus was counter-terrorism, both international and domestic, including initiatives against cyber threats. Lord Evans will be discussing the nation's current security challenges.

Sarah Porter - Mortal Humans, Time Machines, and a Future with AI

Wednesday 22 November 2023

Sarah gave us an overview of current state of AI and explored what that means for our future.

Sarah is the founder and CEO of InspiredMinds (a global community of 220,000 high level experts in AI and emerging technology), an advisor to the UN and the EU AI Council, the previous chairperson of Women in AI, and founded ADA-AI; a not for profit focusing on the democratization of tech. In 2017, Sarah lobbied on behalf of the all-girl Afghan Robotics team vs the Trump travel ban. She founded the first STEM school for girls in Kabul and is now working to build an online school for girls still in Afghanistan.

Robin Ince - Weapons of Empathy

Tuesday 21 February 2023

Robin Ince is best known as the host of Radio 4's The Infinite Monkey Cage with Professor Brian Cox.

Since writing his book I'm a Joke and So Are You, Robin has become increasingly engaged with trying to understand the disparity between how we project ourselves to the outside world and who we are on the inside. Weapons of Empathy explored neuroscience, psychology, and how books can lead us into the minds of others and help us understand their world. It also contained jokes, impressions and poetry.

Jo Brand - Growing Old Gracelessly

Tuesday 1 November 2022

Jo says: “This lecture is about making more of a fuss, getting decent care, some proper respect and irritating people. This is not an academic lecture, because I am a comedian, so lower your expectations. And there might be some jokes.”

Watch Jo Brand's lecture

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Past events

Previous speakers include The Most Revd and Rt Hon Justin Welby, former Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow, children’s author Michael Morpurgo, Stonewall CEO and activist Ruth Hunt, and musician, journalist and parish priest Reverend Richard Coles.