Professor Nadine Strossen, one of the world’s great civil libertarians, in conversation with Eric Heinze, Professor of Law & Humanities at Queen Mary University of London and renowned British free speech expert, on the critical issue of Free Speech. What is offensive? A great deal, in the brazen internet age when we are besieged on all sides by voices – including those which shout ‘Silence!’ and cite the damage being done by extreme views: discrimination, incitement to violence, psychic injury. In a free society is free speech an absolute, or is enough enough? The United States is the front-line in this debate, because the First Amendment provides significant protection for free expression. The support of many liberals has waned, however, and the new enemies of a society which has become too open are apt to quote philosopher Karl Popper: ‘If we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them.’ In the case of ‘hate speech’, what constitutes intolerable intolerance? Does causing offence qualify? Does mockery qualify? And when the politics of identity becomes a crucial determinant, where do the possiblities for offendedness end? And who decides? If you empower a government to restrict speech today, tomorrow it may be ourspeech that is restricted. More or less everything that challenged the establishment – not least the civil rights movement – has had to fight censorship, and it is hard to point to any social progress that did not depend on freedom of speech. Nadine Strossen argues that we protect speech because it has an effect, positive or negative – that a democracy succeeds only when the thoughts and aspirations of all its citizens are rights, to be expressed regardless of viewpoint. That the way to resist hate and promote equality is not censorship but argument. Join us on July 3rd to debate the new relevance of that old Voltairean chestnut: ‘I hate what you say but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.’ Read more.

The brilliant novelist, memoirist (Little Failure) and New Yorker writer Gary Shteyngart live in London in conversation with Hannah MacInnes on his new book Lake Success. Barry Cohen, master of the universe, has just had a very public meltdown involving a dinner party, an insider trading investigation and a $30,000 bottle of Japanese whisky. So he flees New York City, leaving behind his beautiful young wife and son, but remembering to bring his six favourite designer watches. Zig-zagging south through Trump’s America on a Greyhound Bus pilgrimage he is singularly unprepared for, Barry heads to Texas – to find his old college girlfriend and, with her, a second chance at life… Lake Success marries the trademark Shteyngart wit with a deep emotional resonance, capturing the vivid eccentricity and contradictions of America right now, while speaking to the universal human experience of love, belonging, and the pursuit of happiness. BOOK NOW In association with Jewish Book Week. Read more.

An unmissable evening with the Guardian’s former Editor-in-Chief Alan Rusbridger on the past, present and future of the press, and the forces menacing its freedom. How do we know any more what is true and what isn’t? We are living through the greatest communication revolution since Gutenberg in which falsehood regularly seems to overwhelm truth. The news media have been disrupted by huge and fast-moving changes. The growth of social media and with it the ability of billions of people to publish has created a vast amount of unreliable and false news which now competes with, and sometimes drowns, more established forms of journalism. The President of the United States regularly lies to the public and brands his critics ‘fake‘. Politicians openly rubbish the views of ‘so-called experts‘. Where can we look for reliable, verifiable sources of news and information? What does all this mean for democracy? And what will the future hold? Read more.

In this talk, Laura Whateley, who writes the Troubleshooter column in the Times Saturday Money section will offer expert advice on how to manage your personal finances. Designed for 18-35 year olds but relevant to a wider audience, Laura in conversation with Hannah MacInnes will cover topics ranging from housing, student loans, debt, saving for the future, bills, and tax. This talk is guaranteed to be a masterclass in how to structure your financial life now and in the future. Read more.