Past Events and Screenings

In this latest “Kleptoscope, journalist Oliver Bullough is joined by some of the world’s leading experts in the politics and mechanics of corruption, to discuss how the twin threats of Trump and COVID-19 are undermining years of progress, and what we can do about it.

Prime minister, Fayez al-Serraj joins forces with the militias and back by Turkey advances to regain Tripoli airport & the lucrative oil reserves. Russian backed, General Haftar’s and his self styled ‘Libyan National Army’ are pushed back however holding the east. Further foreign armies have flocked to the conflict ridden country drawn by the promise brought by Africa’s largest oil reserves and over 1,700km of Mediterranean coastline. What happens next as the country faces a dangerous deadlock promoted by external forces. Our panel discuss conflict, Covid and the rest.

The internet or information age is not keeping everyone informed, as once thought it would, in fact is dangerously contributing to information inequality, misinformation, polarisation and ultimately much noise. This has made audiences anxious and mistrusting, causing many to be confused and ultimately disengage. A future model needs to be built on fact checking and trust, with clear procedures to ensure news is not tampered with in any way. This new reporting method, will need be safeguarded by law to allow us to keep everyone informed in an age beyond the traditional broadcasting models. Join us as we discuss the ‘future of news’

The Pentagon says ISIS fighters in Syria and Iraq number between 14,000 and 18,000, up from 10,000 at the birth of the Caliphate in summer 2014. It still carries out 60 attacks a month in Iraq alone and is active in the Sahel, the Philippines and Afghanistan. And the US believes the group can access a war chest of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Join Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, ex Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling and award winning financial columnist Stephanie Flanders to discuss the how the world comes back from the stupendous coronavirus pandemic public debt, how the world order will change and who the winners and losers are likely to be.

In more than a dozen countries technology is already used to track and trace the infection, but how is it used as a state-controlled surveillance tool?

Climate change is the defining issue of our time – we know, beyond reasonable doubt, what that science now tells us. Just as climate change is accelerating, so too must we – summoning up a greater sense of urgency, courage and shared endeavour than humankind has ever seen before. 

China’s usually bullish economy shrank 6.8% in the first quarter of 2020, a clear indication of the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Depressed demand from abroad is likely to impact the economy further. With Covid-19 resulting in less global trade and a reduced appetite for international collaboration what might be the impacts be on China?

As Afghanistan’s 18-year conflict continues, with 34 people killed recently in separate attacks on a maternity hospital and funeral, Covid-19 provides another source of despair in a country with a non-functioning healthcare system, widespread poverty and malnutrition. Will desperately needed aid continue to flow and what does the future hold for this war torn country?

The Great pandemic of 1918 which became known as Spanish flu was the most severe pandemic recorded in recent human history. The 1917/18 outbreak was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes thought be of avian origin. From 1917-1918 with unprecedented severity and speed, the H1N1 influenza virus spread across the globe to virtually every corner of the globe, an estimated 50 to 100 million people – as much as 5% of the world’s population may have died.

If you’ve uncovered a gripping story for a newspaper or a book, how can you ensure you benefit from the drama, documentary film and podcast serial that it might inspire? Join our expert panel for some tips on how to get the most out of your journalistic intellectual property.

The phrase “good day to bury bad news” originates from the September 11 attacks, but it is just as relevant today amid growing that a number of autocratic governments are exploiting Covid-19 to seize new powers.

Environmental disasters and famines are being under-reported as lockdowns prevent access to journalistic scrutiny. Anti-government protests no longer take place in Iraq, Algeria and Lebanon. We have little news of the latest battles around Idlib, or the thousands held in squalid prisons across Syria. Join our panel to discuss some of the news stories drowned out by the pandemic and why these issues remain more important than ever.

Even before the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 race for the White House was certain to be highly contentious. The coronavirus, however, has now created profound uncertainties for the campaigns of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden: it is predicted to take hundreds of thousands of American lives, radically stall the US economy and result in deep recession and long-term unemployment. 

From Cambridge Analytica to voter manipulation in the 2016 US Presidential election; from alleged Russian interference in the Brexit referendum to the growing influence of bots on social media, and a surge of conspiracy theories around Covid-19 circulating around the globe, seemingly no-one is now immune.

In 2020, Vladimir Putin had hoped to alter the Russian constitution, secure his tenure as President and ensure any future transition would maintain his effective power. The Covid-19 pandemic and its resulting global recession has put this long-term strategy in jeopardy. Russia now faces its most uncertain period since Putin returned to the Presidency in 2012.

A discussion on the unprecedented challenges when it comes to covering the global pandemic in terms of accurately reporting a complex and fast-moving story. Covid 19 poses a unique set of challenges; to interpret the scientific data, tell the human stories, counter conspiracy theories and hold political leaders to account.

A discussion on the unprecedented challenges when it comes to covering the global pandemic in terms of accurately reporting a complex and fast-moving story. Covid 19 poses a unique set of challenges; to interpret the scientific data, tell the human stories, counter conspiracy theories and hold political leaders to account. 

With rare insight into the day-to-day lives of women living within the battle lines, Christina Lamb address the systemic use of rape in war, and its continual deployment as a cruel, inhumane military tactic in a discussion chaired by Lindsey Hilsum.

Join our esteemed panel as they examine the internal dynamics of populism around the globe, with a particular focus on populist ‘charismatic’ leaders and the ideology and organisations of populist parties.

Hackers have a bad reputation, as shady deployers of bots and destroyers of infrastructure. In Coding Democracy, Maureen Webb offers another view: hackers as vital disruptors, inspiring a new wave of activism in which ordinary citizens take back democracy.