Talks
ALSO sprung from the loins of Salon London, one of the first organisations on the planet that put ideas from authors, academics, and experts together with audiences in stylish evening Salons and was described by GQ as ‘one of the top things to do in the world’. It also means we have over two decades’ experience of taking ideas and letting them run wild so in 2014, having programmed extensively for all the most creative festivals in the UK (putting the clever content in to Latitude, Wilderness, Standon Calling, Soho House, Festival No 6, Blue Dot and Lost Village) we knew exactly how to curate the UK’s first music and ideas festival.
You see we encourage ideas to run wild through your weekend and your mind with our extensive programming of talks, intimate Q&As, our double talk series, book shop signings, ideas-based walks, self guided headphones walk, walks and talks in the wild, panels, weekend papers reviews, casual conversations in bars and ask me anythings, pop up collaborations with writers and artists to explore their work, tastings, in conversations, demos, workshops, masterclasses, exploring nature and time through guided swimming, creative installations and our digital wall featuring film and art.
Ideas at ALSO25. . .
This midsommar make ALSO your destination as we playfully explore (and all in the best possible taste) our theme for 2025: **LOVE AND HORROR**
Yes, for ALSO25, we’ll get to the gory heart of our deepest selves by taking a tour into our own bodies. And who is taking us on this tour only one of the UK’s most distinguished cardiologists, Dr Robin Choudhury, who will ensure we all in love with a new organ this ALSO.
This is your clear your diary for Margaret Heffernan alert. Let’s hear it for the creatives: the book we have been waiting for has DROPPED. Margaret is one of the boldest thinkers to walk this Sceptred Isle and she knows the solution of how to live well in these unpredictable times of love and horror is to look to the artists. Award-winning author and scientist Dr Camilla Pang who found the stability of science originally as a safety blanket for her survival with Autism and wrote the extraordinary Understanding Humans now gives us the gift of Breakthrough how thinking like a scientist can help us to step confidently through the minefield of misinformation and the unknown.
We have had quite enough from big tech thank you and we all would love to know how we can make it all stop. Luckily we have LSE's Professor Nick Couldry on hand this ALSO on Data Grab: The new Colonialism of Big Tech and how to fight back. Arm yourself with the opposite of misinformation by listening to Nick.
Another story we have been waiting to hear for a long time is by the extraordinary neuro imager and neuroscientist, Gina Rippon. She’ll be explaining who delves into the emerging science of female autism, asking why it has been systematically ignored for so long and what we can learn about our own minds and the way society treats them.
Clinical experience, consultant neuropsychiatrist Dr Alastair Santhouse is LIVE at ALSO to explore his new research into this climate of diagnosis, helping us understand the role diagnosis plays in being well.
What happens when the artist you love is cancelled, what happens to all that love? What does a super fan do when the object of your love becomes a horror show. We’ll hear from the award-winning poet and artist Vanessa Kisuule on the pleasures and perils of fandom, the story of her and Michael Jackson..
And don’t miss author of My Name is Leon, Kit de Waal LIVE at ALSO25 with her brand new novel, The Best of Everything about the love that can steal into our lives, despite the best of plans, plus so much more. . .
Check out the first wave ALSO25 talks programme here
