Living Freedom

What can we learn from…? Cambridge, 1 November 2023
2022-11-01 19:15 - 21:15 (Europe/London) | Gonville and Caius College, Trinity Street, Cambridge, CB2 1TA, United Kingdom
‘What can we learn from…?’ events take as a starting point important thinkers and cultural figures from the past. They offer an opportunity to understand the emergence of key ideals related to freedom and to explore and debate if and how they remain important in the present.

This event is supported by Free Speech Champions
Each salon starts with short, accessible talks from thought-provoking experts and critics who will offer insights into key thinkers in history. Talks are followed by plenty of time for discussion, with the chance to ask questions and put forward points. Together we will interrogate why these thinkers and the ideas they promoted can offer valuable insights that help us understand freedom then and now.
Tuesday 1 November, 7.15pm-9.15pm
TALKS
Short, accessible talks from experts and critics will offer insights into key John Locke and John Milton
1: John Locke and Toleration – Piers Benn, philosopher, author and lecturer
It was only in the 17th century that society started to tolerate competing religions and beliefs. Today, values of tolerance and respect are regularly upheld. But some argue that tolerating free expression has its limits and society should not be placed at risk of intolerant ideas or even overly judgemental views. Should we tolerate free expression, or retain a right to be intolerant of intolerance?

2: Milton and Liberty – Andrew Doyle, author, The New Puritans
“Give me liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience”, declared the poet John Milton in Areopagitica. Often associated with 17th-century non-conformist Puritans, Milton rejected licensing of printed texts and rebuffed the notion that prohibitions, bans or force could create virtuous men. Today, amidst the rise of a new puritanism, being offensive can be deemed an offence, demands for ‘social justice’ brook no dissent while uttering uncomfortable truths can lead to public shaming. From the ages of the Puritans, old and new, what can we learn about the case for freedom of belief and expression?

VENUE
Gonville and Caius College
Trinity St, Cambridge CB2 1TA
See Google Maps for location.
Lectures: Long Room
Seminars: Long Room, Senior Parlour Room
SPEAKERS
ANDREW DOYLE
presenter, Free Speech Nation, GB News; author, The New Puritans: how the religion of social justice captured the Western world
Andrew Doyle is a writer, comedian, and a presenter on GB News. He is the author of Free Speech and Why It Matters (2021) and The New Puritans: how the religion of social justice captured the Western world (2022). He is the creator of the satirical character Titania McGrath, who has published two books – Woke: a guide to social justice (2019) and My First Little Book of Intersectional Activism (2020). He began presenting his show Free Speech Nation on GB News in June 2021. Before then he was a columnist for spiked, a panellist on the BBC’s Moral Maze and regularly reviewed the papers on Sky News.
DR PIERS BENN
philosopher and lecturer; author, Intellectual Freedom and the Culture Wars
Piers teaches philosophical ethics at Fordham University London Centre and his latest book is Intellectual Freedom and the Culture Wars. His interests include ethics, philosophy of religion and philosophy of psychiatry and he has taught at numerous universities including St Andrews, Imperial College London and King’s College London. During the 1990s, he organised seminars for students in Poland and the Czech Republic, in collaboration with host institutions struggling to rebuild education after the communist period. He is a regular media commentator.

What can we learn from…? Cambridge, 29 November 2023
2022-11-29 19:15 - 21:15 (Europe/London) | Gonville and Caius College, Trinity Street, Cambridge, CB2 1TA, United Kingdom
‘What can we learn from…?’ events take as a starting point important thinkers and cultural figures from the past. They offer an opportunity to understand the emergence of key ideals related to freedom and to explore and debate if and how they remain important in the present.

This event is supported by Free Speech Champions
Each salon starts with short, accessible talks from thought-provoking experts and critics who will offer insights into key thinkers in history. Talks are followed by plenty of time for discussion, with the chance to ask questions and put forward points. Together we will interrogate why these thinkers and the ideas they promoted can offer valuable insights that help us understand freedom then and now.
Tuesday 29 November, 7.15pm-9.15pm
TALKS
Short, accessible talks from experts and critics will offer insights into Hannah Arendt and CLR James.
1: Hannah Arendt and Totalitarianism – Jacob Reynolds, convenor, Hannah Arendt Study Group
Whether prompted by concerns over draconian lockdowns, new authoritarian political leaders, policing of speech or outlawing demonstrations, there’s been a revival of interest in Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism. From views on the destruction of individuality to the desire for safety, Arendt was never shy of challenging orthodoxies and addressing profound moral questions. What can Arendt tell us about the problems with freedom today?
3: CLR James and Universalism – Ralph Leonard, writer
As a Marxist revolutionary and Pan-Africanist, critic of European colonialism and respecter of Western civilisation, classicist and lover of popular culture, CLR James specialised in confounding expectations. Today, when praise for ‘Western culture’ is often dismissed as ‘Eurocentrism’ and identity silos trump a sense of our shared humanity, is a universalist outlook and an emphasis on what we have in common worth defending? What can we learn from a man once labelled ’the black Plato’?
VENUE
Gonville and Caius College
Trinity St, Cambridge CB2 1TA
See Google Maps for location.
Lectures: Long Room
Seminars: Long Room, Senior Parlour Room
SPEAKERS
JACOB REYNOLDS
convenor, The Academy; external affairs manager, boi charity
Jacob is partnerships manager at the Academy of Ideas. He read the BPhil in philosophy at St Cross College, Oxford, developing an interest in political and continental philosophy, especially the work of Hannah Arendt. Before that, Jacob read politics and philosophy at the University of Sheffield and co-ran the Sheffield Salon, modelled on the salons of Enlightenment Europe. He spends his spare time drinking coffee, writing and arguing about philosophy.
RALPH LEONARD
writer; author, Letter on Liberty: Unshackling Intimacy contributor, Areo Magazine
Ralph is a British-Nigerian writer and commentator on international politics, culture and sex. He is the author of the Letters on Liberty pamphlet Unshackling Intimacy, writes for UnHerd, Areo and the Telegraph, and is a regular guest on the Zer0 Books podcast. He also writes on religion, human rights and international affairs. As an ardent secularist and leftist, Ralph believes it is crucial to uphold the legacy of the Enlightenment, and the project for the universal emancipation of humanity.

Living Freedom Xmas Bash Balloon Debate
2022-12-15 19:00 - 22:00 (Europe/London)
On behalf of Living Freedom and Free Speech Champions, we would like to invite you to join us for a drink, some good company and a fun Xmas balloon debate.
This invitation only gathering will take place at the fabulous new Westminster home of UnHerd. Join us for drinks at the pay bar from 7pm.
What: Living Freedom Xmas Balloon Debate
When: Thursday 15 December 2022, 7:00pm
Where: UnHerd, 6 Old Queen Street, Westminster, London,SW1H 9HP
Entry strictly by RSVP: alastair@ideasmatter.org.uk
What is the greatest representation of freedom in culture?
A panel of six valiant freedom lovers will seek to convince you of their choice, selected from cultural worlds, whether art or the classics, comedy or film, literature or music.
Each contestant will have just three minutes to present their case, followed by a round of questions from the audience. Then there is a vote, and the top three will be given an additional one minute to convince you to back their choice.
Which cultural representation of freedom – and its defender – deserves to stay in the balloon? You decide!
Our brilliant panel comprises:

Charlie Bentley-Astor freelance writer; theatre director; English undergraduate. Charlie is defending the Supermarine Spitfire.
Nick Dixon comedian; presenter, GB News; host, The Weekly Sceptic; co-host, The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters. Nick is defending Brass Eye.
Ralph Leonard writer and commentator; contributor, Areo, author, Letter on Liberty: Unshackling Intimacy. Ralph is defending Vasily Grossman’s Life and Fate.
Rob Lownie editorial trainee, UnHerd; founding member, Free Speech Champions; contributor, Free Speech: defending the fundamental liberal value. Rob is defending Team America: World Police.
Dr Maren Thom lecturer; writer; acting and vocal trainer; contributor, The Conformist Rebellion. Maren is defending Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus
Emma Webb director, Common Sense Society, UK branch; host, Newspeak; commentator; writer; co-founder, Save Our Statues. Emma is defending the cross

Host: Alastair Donald convenor, Living Freedom
Entry is free, but space is limited. So get your invitation now by replying to this email or emailing Alastair: alastair@ideasmatter.org.uk

What can we learn from...? Cambridge, March 2023
2023-03-16 19:15 - 20:15 UTC | Knox-Shaw Room, Sidney Sussex College, Sidney Street, Cambridge, CB2 3HU, United Kingdom
INTRODUCTION
‘What can we learn from…?’ events take as a starting point important thinkers and cultural figures from the past. They offer an opportunity to understand the emergence of key ideals related to freedom and to explore and debate if and how they remain important in the present.

This event is supported by Free Speech Champions

Each salon starts with short, accessible talks from thought-provoking experts and critics who will offer insights into key thinkers in history. Talks are followed by plenty of time for discussion, with the chance to ask questions and put forward points. Together we will interrogate why these thinkers and the ideas they promoted can offer valuable insights that help us understand freedom then and now.
REGISTER

EVENT

Thursday 16 March, 7.15pm-9.15pm
Historically freedom of conscience has been a staple of liberal society. Join us to explore the historic roots and contemporary realities of this important ideal.
1: Roger Williams: Freedom’s Prophet
Dr James Orr, assistant professor of philosophy of religion, University of Cambridge
Amidst the heady religious ferment of the seventeenth century in North America, Roger Williams – a minister, theologian, and alumnus of Pembroke College, Cambridge – soon emerged as a central figure in the brewing conflicts over freedom of religion and freedom of conscience. Expelled by Puritan leaders from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Williams founded the Colony of Rhode Island with the express purpose of providing a space for the free expression of contested religious and political perspectives. A fierce and early critic of chattel slavery and the callous treatment of Native Americans, Williams sowed the seeds for the idea that the freedom to criticise authorities and majorities is an indispensable enabling condition for civic flourishing. A reappraisal of his legacy and work offers us an opportunity to assess and contest the many and various fetters on free expression that have emerged across our institutional landscape today.
2: Richard Wagner: Can we separate art from the artist?
David Cotter, academic, musician and writer
The work of Richard Wagner is captivating, but also challenging and unsettling. He believed art could be a unifying force for society. But like his operatic characters, Wagner often rejected social norms and his notoriously anti-Semitic views have promoted some critics and institutions to argue his music should no longer be played. Today, from writer JK Rowling to the recent award-winning film Tár, the beliefs, moral character or personality traits of artists are regularly asserted as key to judging the value of their work. But whatever an artists’ controversial or deeply unpleasant views, should we be more willing to focus on the work itself? Or can we never really separate art from the artist?
VENUE
Sidney Sussex College
Knox-Shaw Room
Sidney St, Cambridge CB2 3HU
See Google Maps for location.
SPEAKERS
DR JAMES ORR
assistant professor of philosophy of religion, University of Cambridge
James Orr is assistant professor of philosophy of religion at the University of Cambridge. He is Chairman of the Edmund Burke Foundation UK, a trustee of the St Paul’s Theological Centre and the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation and a member of the Advisory Councils of the New Social Covenant Unit, the Free Speech Union, History Reclaimed, and Briefings for Britain.
DAVID COTTER
academic, musician and writer
David Cotter is an academic and musician who has performed and spoken in 22 countries around the world. David’s recent publications include ‘The Creative Musical Mediation of Order and Chaos’ in Jordan Peterson: Critical Responses and ‘The Guitar Reimagined’ (co-authored with Marc Estibeiro) in Rethinking the Musical Instrument. David has also written for The Critic. He is currently completing his doctorate on co-performer collaboration in musical performance.
CONVENORS
ALASTAIR DONALD, convenor, Living Freedom
DAVID COTTER, academic, musician and writer
CHARLIE BENTLEY-ASTOR, English undergraduate, freelance writer

Chat GPT and Artificial Intelligence: implications for freedom
2023-04-17 19:00 - 20:30 UTC | Ideas Matter Club, 5-8 The Sanctuary, London, England, SW1P 3JS, United Kingdom
London Freedom Forum
Generative AI like ChatGPT and Midjourney have captured the public imagination and barely a day now passes without claim and counter-claim as to benefits or threats posed by artificial intelligence. On the one side stand those who see in these new technologies as a means to liberate humanity through a new, potentially boundless source of human creativity. Do we stand on the cusp of transforming education, healthcare, manufacturing, artistic endeavours and more? On the other, stand those who see AI as degrading science, debasing ethics and denuding humans of agency. To what extent are we faced with a potential threat in the search for truth, not to mention the risk of manipulation and censorship that place freedom of speech and other freedoms in peril?
Given all the hype, what actually is generative technology? Given the potential risks and multiple claims on behalf of Chat GPT and generative technology, is this technology overhyped or undervalued? Is creeping automation about to make workers obsolete? For example, should journalists fear being replaced by machines now that some newspapers use AI to write articles? And what of the wider implications of this technology? Are we realising the potential for liberation, or a threat to liberty?
SPEAKER
Sandy Starr, deputy director of the Progress Educational Trust
RESPONDENTS
Tom Collyer, researcher, Ideas Matter
Ella Nixon, art historian
CHAIR
Jacob Reynolds, convenor, The Academy
REGISTER
The event is free but registration is required. Please complete the form below.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *Submit

Why debating matters in an era of cancel culture
2023-04-26 19:00 - 20:30 (Europe/London) | Cambridge University – The Pitt Building, Trumpington St,, Cambridge, United Kingdom
This event is free, but please register using the form below.
The rise of cancel culture has made many nervous about free expression and open debate. Even though academic freedom is a core value – and a legal duty – of universities, many students – and even academics – report they self-censor; student societies often encounter problems in terms of inviting diverse speakers.
In one such example of the constraints on debate and free speech on campus, last year, Academy of Ideas director, Claire Fox was invited to speak at Royal Holloway’s Debating Society. Yet an invite to talk about the importance of debate was then turned into a bureaucratic nightmare – with risk assessments, safeguarding checks and other onerous procedures enforced by the students’ union. Eventually, the students’ union successfully put the Society under pressure to cancel the event – ostensibly because Claire retweeted a clip of Ricky Gervais satirising the gender wars.
In this special Living Freedom University Salon at University of Cambridge, Claire will give the talk on ‘why debating matters’ that was intended for Royal Holloway students. This is followed by a conversation with Omar Loubak, a student and former organiser of the debating society at Royal Holloway.
SPEAKERS

Claire Fox
director, Academy of Ideas; independent peer, House of Lords; author, I STILL Find That Offensive!
Omar Loubak
Debating Society, Royal Holloway University of London
CHAIR
James Orr
associate professor of Philosophy of Religion, University of Cambridge
VENUE
Newton Room, The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1RP
REGISTER
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Locke and Liberty: why toleration still matters today
2023-05-02 20:00 - 22:00 (Europe/London) | Science Lecture Theatre, Radley College, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 2HR
Living Freedom university primer at Radley College.
The rise of cancel culture has made many nervous about free expression and open debate, even though academic freedom is a core value – and legal duty – of universities. Many students – and even academics – report they self-censor; student societies often encounter problems in terms of inviting diverse speakers.

However, if universities are to fulfil their purpose as spaces in which to freely explore ideas and develop knowledge, then nothing should be beyond question or beyond the scope of debate. For students who want to take discussion and debate seriously and make the most of university life, tolerating different views will be essential.

But what does toleration mean? Today, while values of tolerance and respect are rhetorically espoused, increasingly it is argued that tolerating free expression has its limits and society should not be placed at risk of intolerant ideas or even overly judgemental views. Should we tolerate free expression, or retain a right to be intolerant of intolerance?
In this special university primer event, Tiffany Jenkins will look at the emergence of the important ideal of toleration and explore why it remains important today. After a short, accessible talk, there will be plenty of time for questions and discussion.

SPEAKER
DR TIFFANY JENKINS, writer and broadcaster; author, Strangers and Intimates: the rise and fall of private life
Tiffany Jenkins is a writer, author and broadcaster. Her last book, Keeping Their Marbles: How Treasures of the Past Ended Up in Museums and Why They Should Stay There, was published in 2016 to critical acclaim. Her next book, Strangers and Intimates: the rise and fall of private life, will be published in 2023 by Picador. Tiffany is an honorary fellow in Art History at the University of Edinburgh, and is host of the podcast Behind the Scenes at the Museum, in which she talks to key figures about the big ideas rocking the cultural world, charting the trends and dissecting the controversies. She has written and presented several programmes for BBC Radio 4, including the series A Narrative History of Secrecy.

MODERATOR
ALASTAIR DONALD, convenor, Living Freedom
Alastair Donald is convenor of Living Freedom, the initiative organised by educational charity Ideas Matter to encourage young adults to explore the meaning and ideals of freedom. He is also associate director at Academy of Ideas and co-convenor of Battle of Ideas festival.

ANY QUESTIONS?
For more information, contact Alastair Donald: info@livingfreedom.org.uk

What can we learn from...? Oriel College, Oxford, May 2023
2023-05-03 19:00 (Europe/London) | Harris Lecture Theatre, Oriel College, Oriel Square, Oxford, OX1 4EW, United Kingdom
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM…? John Milton/Liberty and John Locke/Toleration
Speakers: Andrew Doyle and Dr Tiffany Jenkins
The rise of cancel culture has made many nervous about free expression and open debate, even though academic freedom is a core value – and legal duty of universities. Many students – and even academics – report they self-censor; student societies often encounter problems in terms of inviting diverse speakers.
However, if universities are to fulfil their purpose as spaces in which to freely explore ideas and develop knowledge, then nothing should be beyond question or outwith the scope of debate. Today, while values of tolerance and liberty are rhetorically espoused, increasingly it is often argued that free expression has its limits.
One way to understand better the predicaments around freedom today is to turn to important figures of the past and to explore their thinking and how it might help us now. ‘What can we learn from…?’ events take as a starting point important thinkers and cultural figures from history. After short, accessible talks, there will be plenty of time for questions and discussion.
REGISTER
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EVENT
Wednesday 3 May, 7.00pm-9.00pm
Historically liberty and toleration have been staples of liberal society. Join us to explore the historic roots and contemporary realities of these important ideals.
1: Milton and Liberty
Andrew Doyle, broadcaster; author, The New Puritans
‘Give me liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience’, declared the poet John Milton in Areopagitica. Often associated with seventeenth-century non-conformist Puritans, Milton rejected licensing of printed texts and rebuffed the notion that prohibitions, bans or force could create virtuous men. Today, amidst the rise of a new puritanism, being offensive can be deemed a crime, demands for ‘social justice’ brook no dissent and uttering uncomfortable truths can lead to public shaming. From the ages of the Puritans, old and new, what can we learn about the case for freedom of belief and expression?
2: John Locke and Toleration
Dr Tiffany Jenkins, writer and broadcaster
It was only in the seventeenth century that Western society started to seriously consider the philosophical foundations of toleration of competing religions and beliefs. Today, values of tolerance and respect are regularly upheld. But some argue that tolerating free expression has its limits and society should not be placed at risk of intolerant ideas or even overly judgemental views. Should we tolerate free expression, or retain a right to be intolerant of intolerance?
VENUE
Oriel College
Harris Lecture Theatre
Oriel Square, Oxford, OX1 4EW
See Google Maps for location.
SPEAKERS
ANDREW DOYLE
presenter, Free Speech Nation, GB News; author, The New Puritans: how the religion of social justice captured the Western world
Andrew Doyle is a writer, comedian, and a presenter on GB News. He is the author of Free Speech and Why It Matters (2021) and The New Puritans: how the religion of social justice captured the Western world (2022). He is the creator of the satirical character Titania McGrath, who has published two books – Woke: a guide to social justice (2019) and My First Little Book of Intersectional Activism (2020). He began presenting his show Free Speech Nation on GB News in June 2021. Before then he was a columnist for spiked, a panellist on the BBC’s Moral Maze and regularly reviewed the papers on Sky News.
DR TIFFANY JENKINS
writer and broadcaster; author, Strangers and Intimates: the rise and fall of private life
Tiffany Jenkins is a writer, author and broadcaster. Her last book, Keeping Their Marbles: How Treasures of the Past Ended Up in Museums and Why They Should Stay There, was published in 2016 to critical acclaim. Her next book, Strangers and Intimates: the rise and fall of private life, will be published in 2023 by Picador. Tiffany is an honorary fellow Art History at the University of Edinburgh, and is host of the podcast Behind the Scenes at the Museum, in which she talks to key figures about the big ideas rocking the cultural world, charting the trends and dissecting the controversies. She has written and presented several programmes for BBC Radio 4, including the series A Narrative History of Secrecy.
CONVENORS
ALASTAIR DONALD, convenor, Living Freedom
DR MARIE KAWTHAR DAOUDA, Oriel College, University of Oxford
DR ROGER P L TEICHMANN, St Hilda’s College
DR ALBERTO GIUBILINI, Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics

Living Freedom Summer School 2023
2023-06-29 18:00 - 2023-07-01 17:00 UTC | London, United Kingdom
Our three-day residential school is open to anyone aged 18 to 30 regardless of whether you are based in the UK or beyond.
Attend to hear talks from experts on the history and philosophy of freedom, helping us to understand freedom of conscience and free will in the 21st century. With Progress now seen as dangerous, we’ll debate the implications for freedom, and explore innovations such as generative technologies and ChatGPT. There will plenty of opportunities to explore complex moral issues such as the case for reparations and the morality of borders, to revisit classic texts and debate contemporary hot topics from sensitivity readers to the hecklers veto.
If you would like to find out more about the Summer School, and find out how to apply, you can find all the details on the Summer School page.

The information wars: who verifies the verifiers?
2023-07-12 19:00 - 20:30 (Europe/London) | Ideas Matter Club, London, England, SW1P, United Kingdom
The recently launched BBC Verify promises to combat the proliferation of fake news and deep-faked images and videos online. We live in the age of the fact-checkers: groups and individuals who take on the responsibility of determining what is true, what is false, and what is fake online. With all of the dis-, mis- and even mal-information, there are indeed serious challenges to the ideal of a democratised public sphere. But who determines what’s true and false?
The Twitter Files revealed how ideology can influence the ‘objective’ verification process and how unaccountable bodies become gate keepers of truth. With shadow banning, algorithmic manipulation and suppression of sheer opinion, is the media accountable? Can verification ever be non-partisan?
This salon discussion tackles the growing role of fact-checking in the media, and the implications for freedom of speech, truth and journalism. Are initiatives like BBC Verify a welcome extension of the watchdog role of journalism, or do they do more harm than good? Who fact-checks the fact-checkers?
SPEAKERS
Poppy Coburn freelance commentator and journalist
Sam Rubinstein history student and writer
Max Sanderson editor of weekly podcasts, Guardian
CHAIR
Felice Basbøll project assistant, Ideas Matter
REGISTER
This event is free, but places are limited, so please book via Eventbrite.
BACKGROUND
Explaining the ‘how’ – the launch of BBC Verify
Deborah Turness, 22 May, BBC News
‘Fundamentally dangerous’: reversal of social media guardrails could prove disastrous for 2024 elections
Kari Paul, 10 Jun, Guardian
The BBC isn’t exposing disinformation. It’s peddling it
Jonathan Cook, 2 Jun, Middle East Eye
The tyranny of ‘misinformation’
Tim Black, 26 Oct 2020, Spiked
What Were the Twitter Files
Branko Marcetic, 26 Apr, The Nation
Gary Lineker: free speech, political debate and impartiality
Alastair Donald, Claire Fox, Ella Whelan and Rob Lyons, 13 May, Podcast of Ideas

Free speech on campus: winning young hearts and minds
2023-08-09 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | Ideas Matter Club, 5-8 The Sanctuary, London, England, SW1P 3JS, United Kingdom
This event is free but please book a place in advance via Eventbrite.
The new Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act passed in May puts more responsibility on universities to ensure students are able to speak freely in and out of the classroom. But since then, the refusal to show the film Birthgap in Cambridge University and attempts to cancel Kathleen Stock at the Oxford Union suggests that much remains to be done to develop a new culture of free and open debate at universities.
Many students – and even academics – report they self-censor and fear ostracisation for speaking out. Student societies often encounter problems when wanting to discuss ‘controversial’ topics or invite diverse speakers. Given the new duty of free speech, how can students use this to their advantage? Can students who support academic freedom be encouraged to champion free speech on campus? Given the apparent sensitivity to discomfort among young people, how can we win students themselves to the cause of critical inquiry, free expression, and open debate?
SPEAKERS
Jack Barwell student; founder, Speak Easy, University of Exeter
Felice Basbøll project assistant, Ideas Matter, history student, Trinity College Dublin.
Stani Huepfl politics and international relations student, London School of Economics
Omar Loubak Mohamed student; founder, Speak Easy, Royal Holloway, University of London
CHAIR
Alastair Donald convenor, Living Freedom
BACKGROUND READING
Now woke universities are ditching boozy Freshers Weeks because they are not ‘inviting and inclusive’ enough!,
Dawn Thompson, MailOnline, 30 July 2023
The Oxford kids are alright
Kathleen Stock, UnHerd, 1 June 2023
Freedom of Speech Act: How it will affect university students
The Education Hub, 30 May 2023

What can we learn from... Martin Luther?
2023-10-16 18:30 - 20:00 (Europe/London) | Stephenson College, University of Durham, Howlands Farm, South Rd, Durham, DH1 3DE, United Kingdom
FREEDOM THEN AND NOW: WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM…?
MARTIN LUTHER: FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE
Living in accordance with our deeply held moral beliefs throws up tricky dilemmas. Should health professionals be forced to assist with abortion provision or with assisted-suicide services that go against their religious principles? Should lawyers concerned about climate change be able to opt out of prosecuting eco-activists? Whether baulking at military service, declining to bake wedding cakes for same-sex couples or refusing to follow lockdown rules, how should we respond to the claim to exercise freedom of conscience based on moral principles?
The idea of conscience first emerged when ancient Greek playwrights had their characters wrestle with their inner voices. Famously, Martin Luther, the German reformer who challenged the Catholic church, asserted the right to believe freely and to be slave to the authority of no one: ‘I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe’, he said. But what is conscience exactly and why is it important? What constitutes the legitimate exercise of conscience? At a time when value judgements that are not thought scientifically verifiable tend to be dismissed as whims or tribal affiliations, how should we make the case for meaningful open debate that involves the morally centred individual as well as experts?
SPEAKER
Dolan Cummings, author, Taking Conscience Seriously
Dolan Cummings is the author of the Letters on Liberty pamphlet, Taking Conscience Seriously. He recently published his third novel, The Pictish Princess.. and other stories from before there was a Scotland. His previous books are Gehenna: a novel of Hell and Earth (2020), which follows a Glasgow detective through Dante’s Hell, and That Existential Leap: a crime story, which is part bildungsroman and part novel of ideas. Dolan also works as a freelance copywriter, speechwriter and editor. His own non-fiction writing, mostly on books, politics and religion, can be found at dolancummings.com.
CHAIR
Alastair Donald, convenor, Living Freedom
READING
Dolan Cummings, In praise of our moral inheritance

Revitalising free speech on campus: Living Freedom and Speak Easy
2023-10-29 12:45 - 13:30 (Europe/London) | Church House, 27 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3AZ, United Kingdom
A special session at the Battle of Ideas festival in London. Students can come to the whole festival weekend (Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 October) for £27.50. Buy tickets here.
LIVING FREEDOM will be represented at the Battle of Ideas festival at this session on what can be done to revitalise free speech on campus.
Along with the the student initiative Speakeasy, we’ll be discussing the state of universities and highlighting initiatives that are taking the lead in remaking the case for critical inquiry, free expression and open debate in universities. Come along to hear more about the Summer School 2024, our University Salons, and Freedom Forums.

What can we learn from... Hannah Arendt?
2023-11-22 18:00 - 19:30 (Europe/London) | Vinson Auditorium, Vinson Centre, 21 Hunter Street, Buckingham, MK18 1EG, United Kingdom
The event is free but please register via Ticket Tailor.
Hannah Arendt and Totalitarianism
Whether prompted by concerns over draconian lockdowns, new authoritarian political leaders, policing of speech or outlawing demonstrations, there’s been a revival of interest in Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism. And today, in the wake of seemingly resurgent anti-Semitism in Europe, her analysis of the connection between anti-Semitism, totalitarianism, and Europe’s dark history bear re-reading. What’s more, whether attacking the contemporary concern for ‘safety’, her unflinching defence of the Western canon of literature and philosophy, her complex views on Israel, or the role of ‘facts’ in politics, Arendt was never shy of challenging orthodoxies and addressing profound moral questions. Scholars today routinely dismiss her as a closet racist or typical ‘white liberal’. But what did she really say, and what can Arendt tell us about the challenges to freedom today?
SPEAKER:
JACOB REYNOLDS, head of policy, MCC Brussels; associate fellow, Academy of Ideas; convenor, Hannah Arendt Study Group

Jacob is head of policy for the think tank MCC Brussels, an organisation founded to shake up the ‘Brussels bubble’ through in-depth exploration of the major challenges facing Europe. He is associate fellow at Academy of Ideas and a volunteer convenor of The Academy, a weekend residential summer school for free thinkers. Jacob has a BPhil from St Cross College, Oxford where he specialised in the work of Hannah Arendt, and is a writer and commentator on issues related to the Culture War, literature, and geopolitics. He has an academic background in philosophy.

Living Freedom Xmas Bash Balloon Debate 2023
2023-12-20 19:00 - 22:00 (Europe/London) | The Sekforde, 34 Sekforde Street, London, EC1R 0HA, United Kingdom
On behalf of Living Freedom we would like to invite you to join us for a drink, some good company and a fun Xmas balloon debate.
This invitation only gathering will take place at The Sekforde, the historic Clerkenwell pub now thriving on the back of an award winning restoration. Join us for drinks at the pay bar from 7pm.
What: Living Freedom Xmas Balloon Debate
When: Wednesday 20 December 2023, 7:00pm
Where: The Sekforde, 34 Sekforde St, Farringdon, London EC1R 0HA
Entrance: Free
Booking: Limited space so reserve a place via Ticket Tailor.
What is the greatest representation of freedom in culture?
A panel of six valiant freedom lovers will seek to convince you of their choice, whether a work of art or literature, a film, opera, play or song.
Each contestant will have just three minutes to present their case, followed by a round of questions from the audience. Then there is a vote, and the top three will be given an additional one minute to convince you to back their choice.
Which cultural representation of freedom – and its defender – deserves to stay in the balloon? You decide!
PANEL:
* Andrew Calcutt former bassist and journalist, now self-styled as ‘the news poet’ – defending the premiere of 4′ 33” by John Cage, Maverick Hall, New York, 29 August 1952
* David Cotter musician and composer; teacher and lecturer – defending the guitar
* Maeve Halligan musician, The Hooligans; student – defending The Fields of Athenry
* Robert Reid, researcher and parliamentary assistant, the Alba Party – defending The Declaration of Arbroath
* Cressida Wetton comedian; panellist, Headliners, GB News – defending Lenny Bruce‘s free speech routines
* Leo Villa archive manager, Academy of Ideas; music teacher – defending Miloš Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Host: Alastair Donald convenor, Living Freedom

What can we learn from... Hannah Arendt?
2024-02-06 18:00 - 19:30 (Europe/London) | Harris Lecture Theatre, Oriel College, Oriel Square, Oxford, OX1 4EW, United Kingdom
THIS EVENT IS FREE OF CHARGE BUT PLEASE REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE.
Living Freedom ‘University Salons’ are for all students keen to explore and debate ideas on the past, present and future of freedom.
Our ‘What can we learn from…?’ events explore important thinkers and the emergence of key ideas. A short, accessible talk is followed by plenty of time for questions and discussion. Together we will interrogate thinkers and their ideas and assess their relevance for freedom today. Everyone is welcome to come along.
Hannah Arendt and Totalitarianism
Whether prompted by concerns over draconian lockdowns, new authoritarian political leaders, policing of speech or outlawing demonstrations, there’s been a revival of interest in Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism. And today, in the wake of seemingly resurgent anti-Semitism in Europe, her analysis of the connection between anti-Semitism, totalitarianism, and Europe’s dark history bear re-reading. What’s more, whether attacking the contemporary concern for ‘safety’, her unflinching defence of the Western canon of literature and philosophy, her complex views on Israel, or the role of ‘facts’ in politics, Arendt was never shy of challenging orthodoxies and addressing profound moral questions. Scholars today routinely dismiss her as a closet racist or typical ‘white liberal’. But what did she really say, and what can Arendt tell us about the challenges to freedom today?
SPEAKER:
JACOB REYNOLDS, head of policy, MCC Brussels; associate fellow, Academy of Ideas; convenor, Hannah Arendt Study Group
Jacob is head of policy for the think tank MCC Brussels, an organisation founded to shake up the ‘Brussels bubble’ through in-depth exploration of the major challenges facing Europe. He is associate fellow at Academy of Ideas and a volunteer convenor of The Academy, a weekend residential summer school for free thinkers. Jacob has a BPhil from St Cross College, Oxford where he specialised in the work of Hannah Arendt, and is a writer and commentator on issues related to the Culture War, literature, and geopolitics. He has an academic background in philosophy.
SUPPORTED BY
Living Freedom University Salons are supported by the Ian Mactaggart Programme, established to foster a culture of open debate, independent thinking and free expression among young people in the UK, especially students. It is administered by the Free Speech Union.

More or Less? Utopia Today
2024-02-07 18:30 - 19:30 (Europe/London)
THIS SALON IS THE OPENING SESSION AT CRITICAL SUBJECTS: SPRING ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN SCHOOL 2024. IT IS OPEN TO ATTENDEES ONLY
Since the publication of Thomas More’s Utopia marked the dawn of modernity, utopian thinking has been a means to imagine how society might, in the future, be radically, wholly different. Successive revolutionary moments in history were accompanied by reimagined worlds to come. By the turn of the twentieth century, Oscar Wilde could confidently assert that ‘a map of the world that does not include utopia is not worth even glancing at’. ‘Progress’, he declared, ‘is the realisation of utopias’.
Yet in recent decades utopia has found itself on trial, tarnished by association with totalitarian ideologies and a casualty of the ‘end of history’ and with it the demise of the possibility of imagining a different future. But while many condemn as dangerous the aspiration for transforming the world, others regret the demise of genuinely transformative ideals. In our times of paralysing malaise and disenchantment with the future whether through the environmental emergency or artificial intelligence apocalypse, should we seek a revival of utopian thinking?
SPEAKER
Alastair Donald is convenor of Living Freedom organised by Ideas Matter and associate director of the Academy of Ideas where he is co-convenor for the Battle of Ideas Festival. Alastair has worked in the UK and internationally to develop festivals, exhibitions and curated programmes. He is author of The Scottish Question, published as part of the series Letters on Liberty and co-editor of two books, The Lure of the City: from slums to suburbs (2011) and The Future of Community: reports of a death greatly exaggerated (2008). He was a founding member of mantownhuman which published Manifesto: towards a new humanism in architecture (2008), as featured in Penguin Classics 100 Artists’ Manifestos.
CHAIR
Austin Williams
director, Future Cities Project; honorary research fellow, XJTLU, Suzhou, China; author, China’s Urban Revolution; convenor, Critical Subjects Architecture School

From culture wars to misinformation: why social media is not the problem
2024-02-15 18:00 - 19:00 (Europe/London) | Quarry Whitehouse Auditorium, Selwyn College, University of Cambridge, Grange Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DQ, United Kingdom
Quarry Whitehouse Auditorium, Selwyn College, University of Cambridge
The event is free but please register via Eventbrite.
Living Freedom ‘University Salons’ are for all students keen to explore and debate ideas on the past, present and future of freedom. A short, accessible talk is followed by plenty of time for questions and discussion. Everyone is welcome to come along.
TOPIC
From Culture Wars to Misinformation: Why Social Media is Not The Problem
With digital culture and myriad forms of social media, each of us can now share more information and opinions more widely than ever before. Unlike the era of mass media, today every individual has a personalised news channel, edited by their own choices, social network and algorithms that shape what they want to see next.
But many worry that while our facility to communicate has improved, productive exchanges of ideas have diminished, as has the potential to develop a shared worldview or even shared reality. What’s more, new identity-driven forms of polarisation, online harms and fake news have fuelled fears that the very technologies that transformed communications are in fact responsible for our descent into echo chambers, toxic filter-bubbles or attention traps.
But to what extent is new technology really the problem? After all, just over a decade ago, social media was celebrated for the power to share ideas and drive political change in the Arab Spring.
In this talk followed by open discussion, Timandra Harkness explores both the new digital technologies and the new identity-driven forms of culture and politics, and asks: how did we get here, why does it matter and where do we go from here? She concludes that instead of pointing the finger at the smartphone and new technologies, we instead need to understand our own our shrinking sense of who we are and obsession with how others see us.
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SPEAKER: TIMANDRA HARKNESS
Journalist, writer and broadcaster; author, Technology is Not the Problem (2024)
Timandra Harkness is author of Technology is Not the Problem (forthcoming, Harper Collins). She is also author of Big Data: does size matter?
Timandra is a regular on BBC Radio, writing and presenting BBC Radio 4’s FutureProofing and other series including How To Disagree, Steelmanning and Political School. BBC documentaries include Data, Data Everywhere, Divided Nation, What Has Sat-Nav Done To Our Brains, and Five Knots. She was also resident reporter on all eight seasons of social psychology series The Human Zoo. Timandra is a graduate fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, and a founder member of their Data Ethics and Governance Section. She has written for publications including the Telegraph, Guardian, The Sunday Times, Men’s Health and Significance (the journal of the Royal Statistical Society).
CHAIR: ROGER MOSEY
Master of Selwyn College and a Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.

What can we learn from… Frederick Douglass?
2024-02-16 16:00 - 17:30 (Europe/London) | Pitcairn Building, South College, Mount Oswald, The Approach, Durham, DH1 3LD, United Kingdom
Pitcairn Building, South College, University of Durham
The event is free but please register via Eventbrite.
Living Freedom ‘University Salons’ are for all students keen to explore and debate ideas on the past, present and future of freedom.
Our ‘What can we learn from…?’ events explore important thinkers and the emergence of key ideas. A short, accessible talk is followed by plenty of time for questions and discussion. Together we will interrogate thinkers and their ideas and assess their relevance for freedom today. Everyone is welcome to come along.
TOPIC
Frederick Douglass and Emancipation
Frederick Douglass is the renowned ‘prophet of freedom’: the most important African American of the 19th century, who escaped slavery to become a leading abolitionist, the greatest orator of his day and a leading writer of the era.
But Douglass was a complex figure who confounds many contemporary expectations. A fierce defender of freedom dedicated to the cause of Black civil and political rights, Douglass was also a radical patriot, committed to the Republican Party, and often politically at odds with younger African Americans.
Where today’s decolonisation movement derides ‘Western culture’ and ‘Eurocentrism’ and instead values ‘indigenous knowledge and ways of learning’, Douglass honed his literary and oratorial skills through by studying Cicero, Milton, Socrates, Cato and others. Is he right to emphasise a universalist outlook that celebrates our shared common humanity? What can Douglass tell us about the challenges to freedom today?
SPEAKER
DR ALKA SEHGAL CUTHBERT, director, Don’t Divide Us
Alka Sehgal Cuthbert is an educator, academic, author and campaigner. She is director of Don’t Divide Us (DDU), the UK’s ‘common-sense voice on race’. DDU make the case for colourblind anti-racism based on freedom and tolerance and believe that everyone should be treated as an individual worthy of respect regardless of race, religion or the colour of their skin. Alka is author of the Letter on Liberty series pamphlet The Dangers of the new anti-racism. She has written widely on education issues, including What Should Schools Teach? Disciplines, Subjects and the Pursuit of Truth published in 2017.
ORGANISERS

SUPPORTED BY
Living Freedom University Salons are supported by the Ian Mactaggart Programme, established to foster a culture of open debate, independent thinking and free expression among young people in the UK, especially students. It is administered by the Free Speech Union.

What can we learn from...? JS Mill: freedom and the harm principle
2024-02-20 18:00 - 19:30 (Europe/London) | University of Aberdeen, Room NK14, King's College, Aberdeen, AB24 3FX, United Kingdom
Room NK14, King’s College, University of Aberdeen
THIS EVENT IS FREE OF CHARGE BUT PLEASE REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE.
In his famous On Liberty, John Stuart Mill argued: ‘The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.’
This ‘harm principle’ became the quintessential defence of personal autonomy, acting as a defence against interference in our private choices. But in recent years, a growing sense that all individuals are vulnerable and ‘at risk’ has led to increased worries over a vast array of actions from hate speech to vaping that are now said to threaten individual safety, wellbeing and mental health. One consequence is that an expanded notion of harm is used to argue against freedom and is used to limit our personal choices.
What is Mill’s harm principle and how should we reassess it in an age where harms abound? How do we live together in a society, when one person’s freedom is another person’s nightmare? From smoking bans to anti-social-behaviour orders, have we given up on the principle of tolerance? If we want to enjoy freedom, do we need to demand the right to offend the sensibilities of those who want to deny us that freedom?
SPEAKER
Rob Lyons is science and technology director at the Academy of Ideas. He writes on a wide range of issues, but takes a particular interest in issues around the economy, environment, food, energy and risk. He is the author of Letter on Liberty Beyond the Harm Principle and Panic on a Plate: how society developed an eating disorder. Rob is convenor of the AoI Economy Forum.
CHAIR
Alastair Donald is convenor of Living Freedom and author of Letter on Liberty: The Scottish Question
ORGANISED BY

This event is organised by Living Freedom and Aberdeen University Freedom of Speech Society.
SUPPORTED BY
Living Freedom University Salons are supported by the Ian Mactaggart Programme, established to foster a culture of open debate, independent thinking and free expression among young people in the UK, especially students. It is administered by the Free Speech Union.

What can we learn from… Frederick Douglass?
2024-02-22 18:30 - 20:00 (Europe/London) | Room OC1.04, The Oculus, University of Warwick, University Road, Warwick, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
Room OC1.04, The Oculus, University of Warwick
The event is free but please register via Eventbrite.
Living Freedom ‘University Salons’ are for all students keen to explore and debate ideas on the past, present and future of freedom.
Our ‘What can we learn from…?’ events explore important thinkers and the emergence of key ideas. A short, accessible talk is followed by plenty of time for questions and discussion. Together we will interrogate thinkers and their ideas and assess their relevance for freedom today. Everyone is welcome to come along.
TOPIC
Frederick Douglass and Emancipation
Frederick Douglass is the renowned ‘prophet of freedom’: the most important African American of the 19th century, who escaped slavery to become a leading abolitionist, the greatest orator of his day and a leading writer of the era.
But Douglass was a complex figure who confounds many contemporary expectations. A fierce defender of freedom dedicated to the cause of Black civil and political rights, Douglass was also a radical patriot, committed to the Republican Party, and often politically at odds with younger African Americans.
Where today’s decolonisation movement derides ‘Western culture’ and ‘Eurocentrism’ and instead values ‘indigenous knowledge and ways of learning’, Douglass honed his literary and oratorial skills through studying Cicero, Milton, Socrates, Cato and others. Is he right to emphasise a universalist outlook that celebrates our shared common humanity? What can Douglass tell us about the challenges to freedom today?
SPEAKER
DR ALKA SEHGAL CUTHBERT, director, Don’t Divide Us
Alka Sehgal Cuthbert is an educator, academic, author and campaigner. She is director of Don’t Divide Us (DDU), the UK’s ‘common-sense voice on race’. DDU make the case for colourblind anti-racism based on freedom and tolerance and believe that everyone should be treated as an individual worthy of respect regardless of race, religion or the colour of their skin. Alka is author of the Letter on Liberty series pamphlet The Dangers of the new anti-racism. She has written widely on education issues, including What Should Schools Teach? Disciplines, Subjects and the Pursuit of Truth published in 2017.
ORGANISERS

MAP
Click on image below for interactive map.

SUPPORTED BY
Living Freedom University Salons are supported by the Ian Mactaggart Programme, established to foster a culture of open debate, independent thinking and free expression among young people in the UK, especially students. It is administered by the Free Speech Union.

From hate speech to misinformation: why social media is not the problem
2024-03-12 18:00 - 19:30 (Europe/London) | Trinity College, University of Dublin, College Green, Dublin
Room 5052, Arts Building, Trinity College, University of Dublin
Living Freedom ‘University Salons’ are for all students (and academics) keen to explore and debate ideas. A short talk is followed by plenty of time for questions and discussion.
The event is free but please register via Eventbrite.
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TOPIC
From Hate Speech to Misinformation: Why Social Media is Not the Problem
Advances in digital technology and social media mean each of us can now share more information and opinions more widely than ever before. But many worry that new digital culture fuels hate speech, online harms, fake news and identity driven polarisation. Speaking after recent Dublin riots, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said that ‘people have been radicalized through social media over the Internet’. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has vowed to ‘modernize laws against hatred’ claiming legislation is ‘not up to date for the social media age’.
Some question the extent to which new digital technologies are really the problem. After all, just over a decade ago, social media was celebrated for the power to share ideas and drive positive political change, for example the Arab Spring or the re-election of President Obama. A recent report found that majorities in most countries surveyed believe that social media is good for democracy. But on the downside, the same report revealed European democracies and America are now least likely to evaluate social media positively.
To what extent are the technologies celebrated for transforming our communications also responsible for our descent into echo chambers, toxic filter bubbles and demonising those with whom we disagree? Does social media threaten productive exchanges of ideas and our potential to develop a shared worldview and even a shared reality? Irish Green Party Senator Pauline O’Reilly admits that hate speech legislators ‘are restricting freedom’ but asserts they are ‘doing it for the common good.’ Is she right to assert that such legislative action is required? Or should we instead look elsewhere for both the root of the problem and the solutions to social strife in an age of digital culture?
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SPEAKER: TIMANDRA HARKNESS
journalist, writer and broadcaster; author, Technology is Not the Problem (2024)
Timandra Harkness is author of Technology is Not the Problem (forthcoming, Harper Collins) and Big Data: does size matter? She is a regular on BBC Radio, writing and presenting BBC Radio 4’s FutureProofing and other series including How To Disagree. Her BBC documentaries include Divided Nation and What Has Sat-Nav Done To Our Brains and she has written for publications including the Telegraph, Guardian, The Sunday Times, Men’s Health and Significance (the journal of the Royal Statistical Society).
CHAIR: ALASTAIR DONALD
convenor, Living Freedom; author, The Scottish Question
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ORGANISED BY

This event is organised by Living Freedom and Dublin Universities branch of Academics for Academic Freedom (AFAF).
SUPPORTED BY
Living Freedom University Salons are supported by the Ian Mactaggart Programme, established to foster a culture of open debate, independent thinking and free expression among young people in the UK, especially students. It is administered by the Free Speech Union.

What can we learn from... the radical universalism of CLR James?
2024-03-19 18:00 - 19:30 (Europe/London) | ‘Beaver’s Retreat, George IV Pub, London School of Economics, 28 Portugal Street, London, WC2A 2HE, United Kingdom
Room CLM.2.05, 2nd Floor, Clement House, London School of Economics
THIS EVENT IS FREE OF CHARGE, BUT PLEASE REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE.
As a Marxist revolutionary and Pan-Africanist, critic of European colonialism and respecter of Western civilisation, classicist and lover of popular culture, CLR James confounds many contemporary expectations. Today, when praise for ‘Western culture’ is often dismissed as ‘Eurocentrism’ and identity silos trump a sense of our shared humanity, is a universalist outlook and an emphasis on what we have in common worth defending? Looking back at his life and work, what can we learn from a man once labelled ’the black Plato’?
SPEAKERS
CERI DINGLE
director, WORLDwrite; co-director Every Cook Can Govern, the award winning film on CLR James
Ceri Dingle is director of WORLDwrite, a youth education charity that campaigns for change using film and video through its online Citizen TV channel, WORLDbytes. WORLDwrite’s free TV and film training facility for young people has assisted over 3,000 young people to produce over 1,000 challenging programmes in the past 10 years.
Ceri directed the film Sylvia Pankhurst: Everything is Possible and co-directed Every Cook Can Govern on the life and works of CLR James. She is currently working with young volunteers to produce a film on the history of solidarity in the UK and new volunteers are most welcome to join the crew.
RALPH LEONARD
writer; author, Letter on Liberty: Unshackling Intimacy
Ralph is a British-Nigerian writer and commentator on international politics, culture and sex. He is the author of the Letters on Liberty pamphlet Unshackling Intimacy, writes for UnHerd, Areo and the Telegraph, and is a regular guest on the Zer0 Books podcast. He also writes on religion, human rights and international affairs. As an ardent secularist and leftist, Ralph believes it is crucial to uphold the legacy of the Enlightenment, and the project for the universal emancipation of humanity.
SUPPORTED BY
Living Freedom University Salons are supported by the Ian Mactaggart Programme, established to foster a culture of open debate, independent thinking and free expression among young people in the UK, especially students. It is administered by the Free Speech Union.

Utopia and freedom
2024-03-20 18:30 - 20:00 (Europe/London) | Bateman Lecture Theatre, University of Exeter, Building One, Rennes Drive, Exeter, EX4 4PU, United Kingdom
Bateman Lecture Theatre, University of Exeter Building One, Rennes Drive, Exeter, EX4 4PU
THIS EVENT IS FREE TO ATTEND BUT PLEASE REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE.
Living Freedom ‘University Salons’ are for all students (and academics) keen to explore and debate ideas. A short talk is followed by plenty of time for questions and discussion.
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TOPIC
Utopia and Freedom
Since the publication of Thomas More’s Utopia at the dawn of modernity, utopian thinking has helped us imagine how society might be radically, wholly different. Transformative historical events such as the English Civil War and the Industrial Revolution often inspired imagined worlds to come.
The issue of freedom in utopias is far from straight-forward. More’s Utopia imagined religious toleration but also slavery as punishment for law breakers. Later utopians anticipated transformations in work, leisure or mobility but also rule by master elites and elimination of weak and feeble folk. By the twentieth century, utopia found itself tarnished by association with totalitarian ideologies. In the time since, dystopias have come to the fore, anticipating environmental emergencies, AI apocalypses or a tyrannical patriarchy.
Oscar Wilde argued that ‘a map of the world that does not include utopia is not worth even glancing at’. ‘Progress’, he declared, ‘is the realisation of utopias’. Today, some disparage the technocratic and technological utopianism of the likes of ‘progressives’ or ‘transhumanists’. Others argue that utopian dreaming is required as a stimulus to any worthwhile practical reforms. In our times of political malaise and disenchantment with the future, could a revival of utopian imagination help us out the doldrums? To what extent are utopias – or dystopias – a useful means to think about and shape the future?
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SPEAKER
Alastair Donald; convenor of Living Freedom; co-editor, The Lure of the City: from slums to suburbs
Alastair organises the Ideas Matter initiative Living Freedom and is associate director of the Academy of Ideas where he co-convenes the Battle of Ideas Festival. He is author of The Scottish Question, and co-editor of The Lure of the City: from slums to suburbs (2011) and The Future of Community: reports of a death greatly exaggerated (2008). He co-founded mantownhuman which published Manifesto: towards a new humanism in architecture (2008), as featured in Penguin Classics 100 Artists’ Manifestos.
CHAIR
Felice Basbøll project assistant, Ideas Matter
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BACKGROUND READING
Utopias: news from nowhere can help us here and now, The Guardian, 30 November 2023
Coronavirus lockdown: Dystopian and horror virus book sales spike, from The Handmaid’s Tale to Brave New World, Rhiannon Williams, iNews, 31 March 2020
Free love or genocide? The trouble with Utopias, Tobias Jones, The Guardian, 24 January 2016
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ORGANISED BY
Living Freedom, Exeter Speak Easy and Committee for Academic Freedom.

SUPPORTED BY
Living Freedom University Salons are supported by the Ian Mactaggart Programme, established to foster a culture of open debate, independent thinking and free expression among young people in the UK, especially students. It is administered by the Free Speech Union.

Religious freedom: toleration or discrimination?
2024-03-25 18:00 - 19:30 (Europe/London) | Violet Laidlaw Room, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh
Violet Laidlaw Room, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, Chrystal Macmillan Building, 15a George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9LD
Living Freedom ‘University Salons’ are for all students (and academics) keen to explore and debate ideas. A short talk is followed by plenty of time for questions and discussion.
THIS EVENT IS FREE OF CHARGE BUT PLEASE REGISTER VIA EVENTBRITE.
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TOPIC
Religious Freedom: Toleration or Discrimination?
Questions related to expression of religious beliefs are throwing up many tricky questions related to freedom and equality. In the UK, Christian street preachers have been arrested, a Muslim pupil is taking a school to court over a prayer ban and there are worries that protection zones around abortion clinics turn silent prayer into a thought crime. In Finland, a prominent MP who publicly quoted biblical scripture is being prosecuted for hate speech and there are concerns that Scotland’s Hate Crime and Public Order Act will also threaten freedom of conscience and religious expression.
However, many worry that it is religious practice that impinges on our freedoms and rights. Religious conservatives in America have made it easier for hospitals and medics to object to providing birth control and abortions on the grounds of conscience. A Supreme Court ruling in Alabama that embryos used for IVF are legally children may create restrictions on fertility treatment. After outrage over Qur’an burnings in European countries such as Denmark, bans on desecration of religious texts create worries about the return of blasphemy laws.
In pluralistic societies, how do we reconcile the right of faith communities to exercise their beliefs with our established wider freedoms? Are street preaching or prayers in school rights we should all enjoy? Should holy books be protected by law? Is firing a midwife who refuses to perform abortions an act of justice or discrimination? Or both? Where practical conflicts arise, for example, with anti-discrimination equality laws or medical service provision, how should we respond?
Ultimately, have we gone too far in protecting the faithful or too far in neglecting them?
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SPEAKER
Dolan Cummings novelist and essayist; author, Taking Conscience Seriously and The Pictish Princess: ..and other stories from before there was a Scotland; substack, L’esprit de l’escalier
CHAIR
Alastair Donald convenor, Living Freedom
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BACKGROUND READING

End The Use Of Religion To Discriminate, ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)
Scotland’s new ‘hate speech’ rules are a modern blasphemy law, Melanie McDonagh, The Spectator, 2 May 2020
Why Sweden tolerates Quran burning, Lars Tragardh, UnHerd, 1 September 2023
This ban on Muslims praying in school is a dystopian, sinister vision of Britishness, Nadeine Asbali, The Guardian, 19 January 2024
Is free speech under threat? Heather Tomlinson, Premier Christianity, 31 January 2024
Politicians have the right to strong religious views. But not to be shielded from scrutiny, Kenan Malik, The Observer, 26 February 2023

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ORGANISED BY
Living Freedom and Edinburgh Academics for Academic Freedom

SUPPORTED BY
Living Freedom University Salons are supported by the Ian Mactaggart Programme, established to foster a culture of open debate, independent thinking and free expression among young people in the UK, especially students. It is administered by the Free Speech Union.

Image: adapted from Michael Coglan, Creative Commons

The dilemmas of civility
2024-04-17 19:00 - 20:30 (Europe/London) | Ideas Matter Club, 5-8 The Sanctuary, London, England, SW1P 3JS, United Kingdom
THIS EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
We live in times where many believe that Western liberal democracies are undergoing a ‘crisis of civility’. From culture wars strife to social-media animosity, student enmity to boorish politicians, many take the view that civic norms are eroding, to be replaced by a rancorous culture that undermines the possibility of a productive public life.
Yet beyond obvious concerns over standards of behaviour and lack of basic regard to fellow participants in public life, few people stop to ask what we mean by ‘civility’. In fact, ‘civility’ is an idea with a long history and has formed a necessary buttress for a free, democratic age and promotes greater social and political freedom. Today, however, calls for greater civility in the face of offence culture, blasphemers and ill-mannered conduct are used to justify new behavioural norms and speech codes that curtail precious freedoms and free speech. In responding to the demand for civility, are we in danger of undermining rather than supporting toleration and other long-standing freedoms?
In this special Living Freedom forum hosted in partnership with Young Voices, the writer Alexandra Hudson, author of the recently published The Soul of Civility, will outline why the historic notion of civility is central to freedom, democracy and human flourishing. She will assess how, in an age of polarisation and intolerance, understanding and pursuing this age-old idea can help us navigate an age of profound cultural and political differences.
SPEAKER
Alexandra Hudson; author, The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves; founder, Civic Renaissance
RESPONDENTS
Noah Khogali; Scottish Conservative Councillor; communications professional and political commentator; former political aide, Scottish Parliament.
Samuel Rubinstein; postgraduate student in history; writer on historical themes for The Critic, UnHerd, The Spectator, Engelsberg Ideas and The New Statesman.
CHAIR
Alastair Donald; convenor, Living Freedom
Register for London Freedom Forum: The Dilemmas of Civility (reserve list) Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *Submit

Living Freedom Summer School 2024
2024-07-11 18:00 - 2024-07-13 18:00 (Europe/London) | London, United Kingdom
Our three-day residential school takes place in London on 11 to 13 July and is open to anyone aged 18 to 30, regardless of whether you are based in the UK or beyond.
Anyone interested in getting to grips with issues of freedom and free speech is welcome to apply and we aim to bring together attendees with a wide range of interests and diverse views.
Attendees will hear talks from experts on the history and philosophy of freedom, including revisiting ideals and classic texts. You will have the chance to explore complex moral and ethical issues, debate contemporary hot topics and discuss the limits to freedom. There will be plenty of time to meet, network and socialise with speakers and your peers, as well as attending the annual Living Freedom dinner.
Visit our Living Freedom Summer School 2024 page to find out more.

US Elections 2024: prospects for the free world?
2024-08-06 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | Ideas Matter Club, 5-8 The Sanctuary, London, England, SW1P 3JS, United Kingdom
Hot on the heels of the shooting of Donald Trump, we’ve had the rise of JD Vance, the demise of Joe Biden and even signs of Kamala-mania. From the culture wars to geo-politics, what is at stake in this election? And what do recent developments mean for the future of freedom and democracy?
SPEAKERS
Felice Basbøll project assistant, Living Freedom
Will Kingston podcast host, Fire at Will, The Spectator Australia
Jacob Reynolds head of policy, MCC Brussels
CHAIR
Emma Gilland, volunteer coordinator, Living Freedom
This event is free of charge, but please register using the form below.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *Submit

Living Freedom at Battle of Ideas festival
2024-10-19 10:00 - 2024-10-20 18:00 (Europe/London) | Church House, 27 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3AZ, United Kingdom
Living Freedom is taking part in the Battle of Ideas festival, which takes place at Church House, Westminster on Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 October. With 100 debates, hundreds of speakers and thousands of attendees, it is a brilliant opportunity to take part in discussions on an enormous range of issues.
Living Freedom is helping to organise some of the discussions and Living Freedom supporters are taking part in others. These include:

Gen Z: how to be a dissenter
(De)socialised on YouTube?
Equality law: freedom’s friend or foe?
Is anti-extremism a threat to liberty?
Don’t look back in nostalgia – or is modern music rubbish?
Meet-Up: Young Free Thinkers mixer

Tickets
Anyone in full-time education – or anyone under 30 studying/working in a science, technology, engineering or medical (STEM) field – can take advantage of the Student Champion ticket, which is £30 for the whole weekend. Everyone else can get 20% off standard and concession tickets by clicking on the link below.
Buy discount tickets

Living Freedom Xmas Bash Balloon Debate 2024
2024-12-05 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | Ideas Matter Club, London, England, SW1P, United Kingdom
On behalf of Living Freedom we would like to invite you to join us for a drink, some good company and a fun Xmas balloon debate.
This invitation only gathering will take place at The Sanctuary in the heart of Westminster. Register using the form below.
What: Living Freedom Xmas Balloon Debate
When: Thursday 5 December 2024, 7:00pm-9pm
Where: 5-8 The Sanctuary, London SW1P 3JS
Entrance: Free
What is the greatest representation of freedom in culture?
A panel of valiant freedom lovers will seek to convince you of their choice, whether a work of art or literature, a film, opera, play or song.
Each contestant will have just three minutes to present their case, followed by a round of questions from the audience. Then there is a vote, and the top three will be given an additional one minute to convince you to back their choice.
Which cultural representation of freedom – and its defender – deserves to stay in the balloon? You decide!
PANELISTS:
* Pierre d’Alancaisez art critic, curator, and founder of Verdurin – defending Kneecap
* Tom Collyer executive, Pagefield; writer; alumnus, Debating Matters – defending Milan Kundera’s Unbearable Lightness of Being
* Ella Dorn journalist, New Statesman; creator, Fairyland! Substack; project assistant, Academy of Ideas – defending MGM studio backlot
* Thomas Harris director of data and impact, Free Speech Union – defending South Park
* Max Mitchell assistant news editor, UnHerd – defending Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis
* Lauren Smith staff writer, spiked – defending A Man For All Seasons
* Gawain Towler commentator and writer; former director of communications, Reform UK – defending the pub
Host: Alastair Donald convenor, Living Freedom
Register:

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