A series of weekly talks at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London
The Conversation is a series of weekly conversations exploring the biggest topics of the day from global conflict to the climate crisis with Britain’s leading thinkers, scientists, philosophers, historians, war correspondents and writers.
The Conversation features talks with bestselling writers including Hanif Kureishi, Ahdaf Soueif, Paul Lynch and Robert Macfarlane; acclaimed historians Tom Holland, Bettany Hughes, Marion Turner and Helen Castor; theatre director Nicholas Hytner, war correspondents Lindsey Hilsum, Fergal Keane and Åsne Seierstad; as well as scientists and philosophers David Spiegelhalter, Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Roman Krznaric, Gaia Vince and Monica Feria-Tinta.
Addressing some of the biggest political, social and environmental challenges of our time, The Conversation will explore conflict and empathy, inequality and power, climate crisis and wonder through storytelling and action. The first half of the evening is an hour-long interview with a leading thinker, followed by a second hour where the guest speaker joins the audience around tables to keep the conversation going.
The Conversation is programmed by Peter Florence and takes place at St Martin-in-the-Fields every Tuesday. The Conversation 2025 will feature talks with 15 of the UK’s brightest minds, and each conversation will be hosted by Peter Florence, alongside Claire Armitstead, formerly Associate Editor at The Guardian, journalist and campaigner Caitlin McNamara and Georgina Godwin of Monocle.
Uniquely for an event of this kind, The Conversation invites members of the audience to carry on the conversation and engage directly with the speaker following each event. Tickets cost £15 and the talks are also available to be live streamed and watched from anywhere in the world for £10.
Full information on The Conversation is available here: stmartin-in-the-fields.org/the-conversation/
Peter Florence Director of The Conversation has said: “Each of these writers sets you off on adventures of imagination and action. Themes and experiences resonate through the season – of wonder as well as of deep crisis. And I love the idea of extending the familiar interview format into a wider conversation. It’s wonderful to see what happens when the audience takes up the thoughts and storylines. Trust the room.”
Revd Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields since 2012 has said: “St Martin in the Fields has always been a beacon of social justice campaigning and action. We hope The Conversation will continue and extend that tradition of questioning and challenging assumptions and narratives, and will celebrate all our many, welcome visitors.”
Ticket Information
Location: St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 4JJ.
Dates: 14th January – 6th May
Time: Tuesdays from 6.30pm – 8.30pm
Price: £15 for in person tickets. £10 for online tickets
Box Office: 020 7766 1100 BoxOffice@smitf.org
THE CONVERSATION 2025
4th February: Astronomer Maggie Aderin-Pocock demystifies stunning images from the universe, explaining what we’re learning from the world’s most powerful space telescope and her latest book Webb’s Universe: The Space Telescope Images That Reveal Our Cosmic History.
11th February: The Oscar winning playwright, screenwriter and author of The Buddha of Suburbia, Hanif Kureishi discusses his memoir Shattered his wildly inspiring memoir of illness and defiance
18th February: Egyptian author of The Map of Love, Ahdaf Soueif invites you to a powerful conversation about language and action, freedom and hope and purpose.
25th February: Social philosopher Roman Krznaric unearths insights and inspiration from the last 1000 years of world history to help us confront the most urgent challenges facing humanity today in his new book History for Tomorrow.
4th March: Oxford English Professor Marion Turner explores how Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales illuminates 14th-century London life, exploring power and prosperity in society.
11th March: Paul Lynch discusses his 2023 Booker-winning novel Prophet Song, a deeply moving exploration of family’s survival in a dystopian Ireland.
18th March: The director of the Bridge Theatre’s new production of Richard II, Nicholas Hytner discusses Shakespeare’s examination of humanity and power with the historian Helen Castor.
25th March: The historian and classicist Bettany Hughes discusses her latest book The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
1srt April: Norwegian war Correspondent and author of The Bookseller of Kabul Åsne Seierstad maps the lead-up to the Taliban return in 2021, how the first year of Taliban rule unfolded, and where this leaves Afghans today, and tomorrow.
8th April: Historian and presenter of The Rest is History, Tom Holland discusses the vivid lives of the Caesars, following Holland’s translation of Suetonius' renowned biography of the twelve Caesars, being published in February 2025: Suetonius the Lives of the Caesars.
15th April: From Bosnia, Rwanda, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, to Ukraine and Gaza Fergal Keane has covered conflict and brutality across the world for more than thirty years. He discusses his book The Madness: A Memoir of War, Fear and PTSD.
22nd April: We celebrate Earth Day 2025 with the dynamic and inspirational environmental writer and BBC host Gaia Vince author of Adventures in The Anthropocene and the global rights lawyer and author Monica Feria-Tinta author of A Barrister for the Earth: Ten Cases of Hope for Our Future that recounts her groundbreaking legal work on restorative environmental justice.
6th May: Cambridge Professor and ‘statistics national treasure’ David Spiegelhalter takes us through the principles of probability and his latest book The Art of Uncertainty.
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