Current Affairs

Richard Brooks Nick Wallis

Private Eye: Post Mortem
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 3 10:00am Sat 21 Saturday, 21 March 2026 See this event
Louis Charalambous talks to Nick Wallis

Better Call Louis: Adventures in the Media Jungle
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sat 21 Saturday, 21 March 2026 See this event
Luka Jukic

Central Europe: The Death of a Civilisation and the Life of an Idea
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sat 21 Saturday, 21 March 2026 See this event
Colin Freeman

The Mad and the Brave: The Untold Story of Ukraine’s Foreign Legion
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 2 4:00pm Sat 21 Saturday, 21 March 2026 See this event
Nigel Biggar and Marie Kawthar Daouda

Empire and the Colonies: Challenging Ideas of Guilt and Victimhood
Pusey House: Chapel 4:00pm Sat 21 Saturday, 21 March 2026 See this event
Oliver Bullough

Everybody Loves our Dollars: How Money Laundering Won
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 3 10:00am Sun 22 Sunday, 22 March 2026 See this event
Andrew Lownie

Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 2 12:00pm Sun 22 Sunday, 22 March 2026 See this event
Taeku Lee, Oliver Bullough, Sarah Stein Lubrano and Pepper Culpepper chaired by Stephen Law

Oxford Debate: Is Democracy under Threat from Oligarchs and Corporate Capture?
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 1 12:00pm Sun 22 Sunday, 22 March 2026 See this event
Daniel Taub

Beyond Dispute: Rediscovering the Jewish Art of Constructive Disagreement
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sun 22 Sunday, 22 March 2026 See this event
Deborah Douglas and Tracy King

The Cost of Trust: The Butcher Surgeon
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 2 2:00pm Sun 22 Sunday, 22 March 2026 See this event
Justin Marozzi

Captives and Companions: A History of Slavery and the Slave Trade in the Islamic World
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 2 4:00pm Sun 22 Sunday, 22 March 2026 See this event
Simon Schama

The History of Antisemitism: A Warning for Today
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Mon 23 Monday, 23 March 2026 See this event
David Marsh, Marina Wheeler and Victor Mallet chaired by Stephen Law

Oxford Debate: Can Europe Survive?
Department for Continuing Education: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Mon 23 Monday, 23 March 2026 See this event
Colin Shindler talks to Con Coughlin

A Forever War: Israel and Palestine
Magdalen College: Auditorium 10:00am Tue 24 Tuesday, 24 March 2026 See this event
Zoe Gardner, Simon Heffer and Jonathan Portes chaired by Stephen Law

Oxford Debate. Immigration Debate: Legitimate Concerns or the Mainstreaming of Racism?
Department for Continuing Education: Lecture Theatre 10:00am Tue 24 Tuesday, 24 March 2026 See this event
Simon Jenkins and Melissa Butcher

Making Sense of Donald Trump’s United States
Magdalen College: Auditorium 12:00pm Tue 24 Tuesday, 24 March 2026 See this event
Alan Winfield and Marina Jirotka chaired by Tilda Storey Law

Oxford Debate. Artificial Intelligence: Promise or Peril?
Magdalen College: Auditorium 2:00pm Tue 24 Tuesday, 24 March 2026 See this event
Steve Crawshaw

Prosecuting the Powerful: War Crimes and the Battle for Justice
Magdalen College: Auditorium 4:00pm Tue 24 Tuesday, 24 March 2026 See this event
Jeremy Hunt in conversation with David Starkey

David Starkey Talks: Can Britain Be Great Again?
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Wed 25 Wednesday, 25 March 2026 See this event
Simukai Chigudu

Chasing Freedom: Coming of Age at the End of Empire
Bodleian: Convocation House 12:00pm Wed 25 Wednesday, 25 March 2026 See this event
Jana Bakunina and Joe Luc Barnes

Russia Today: What do its People Really Think
Pusey House: Chapel 2:00pm Wed 25 Wednesday, 25 March 2026 See this event
Sally Gimson

Off the Rails: The Inside Story of HS2
Pusey House: Ursell Room 4:00pm Wed 25 Wednesday, 25 March 2026 See this event
Fawaz Gerges

The Great Betrayal: The Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in the Middle East
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 10:00am Thu 26 Thursday, 26 March 2026 See this event
Lou Gilmond and Brian Klein

AI Dangers Imagined: Divinity Games and The Spider Covenant
Bodleian: Convocation House 12:00pm Thu 26 Thursday, 26 March 2026 See this event
Zoe Gardner, Paul Holden and Albie Amankona chaired by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

Oxford Debate: You Ask the Questions
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Thu 26 Thursday, 26 March 2026 See this event
Vince Cable

Eclipsing the West: China, India and the Forging of a New World
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Thu 26 Thursday, 26 March 2026 See this event
Tim Marshall

Prisoners of Geography
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Thu 26 Thursday, 26 March 2026 See this event
Ben Barry

The Rise and Fall of the British Army, 1975–2025
Weston Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Thu 26 Thursday, 26 March 2026 See this event
Georgette Bennett talks to Nick Higham

Thou Shalt Not Stand Idly By
Weston Lecture Theatre 10:00am Fri 27 Friday, 27 March 2026 See this event
Zoe Gardner, Eric Heinze, James Schneider and Zoe Strimpel chaired by Stephen Law

Oxford Debate: Has Socialism’s Time Come?
Department for Continuing Education: Lecture Theatre 10:00am Fri 27 Friday, 27 March 2026 See this event
Martin Plaut talks to Nigel Biggar

Unbroken Chains: A 5,000-Year History of African Enslavement
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Fri 27 Friday, 27 March 2026 See this event
Louise Perry and Zoe Strimpel chaired by Julie Bindel

The Sexual Revolution: How Liberated are Women Today?
Department for Continuing Education: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Fri 27 Friday, 27 March 2026 See this event
Jonathan Romain and Kathleen Stock chaired by Nick Higham

Assisted Dying: A Dignified end or a Collective Fantasy?
Sheldonian Theatre 4:00pm Fri 27 Friday, 27 March 2026 See this event
Natasha Walter and Harriet Wistrich talks to

Feminism for a World on Fire
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 2 10:00am Sat 28 Saturday, 28 March 2026 See this event
Penny Mordaunt

Pomp and Circumstance: Why Britain’s Traditions Matter
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 1 12:00pm Sat 28 Saturday, 28 March 2026 See this event
Andrew Monaghan

Blitzkrieg and the Russian Art of War
Pusey House: Chapel 2:00pm Sat 28 Saturday, 28 March 2026 See this event
Seth Berkley

Fair Doses: An Insider’s Story of the Pandemic and the Global Fight for Vaccine Equity
Department for Continuing Education: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sat 28 Saturday, 28 March 2026 See this event
Michael Collins and Christopher Lamb

American Hope: Leo XIV Builder of Bridges
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 3 4:00pm Sat 28 Saturday, 28 March 2026 See this event
Philip Stephens

These Divided Isles: Britain and Ireland Past and Future
Weston Lecture Theatre 10:00am Sun 29 Sunday, 29 March 2026 See this event
Tina Beattie, Jane Caplan, Andrew Copson and Gary Francione chaired by Stephen Law

Oxford Debate. Life and Death: Who Decides? Abortion, Euthanasia and Beyond
Department for Continuing Education: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sun 29 Sunday, 29 March 2026 See this event
Matthew Ford

War in the Smartphone Age: Conflict, Connectivity and the Crises at Our Fingertips
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sun 29 Sunday, 29 March 2026 See this event
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Gary Francione, Emma Jones and Christian Weaver chaired by Stephen Law

Oxford Debate. Free Speech, Protest and the Media: How Power and Perception Shape What We Say
Department for Continuing Education: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sun 29 Sunday, 29 March 2026 See this event

Festival information:

I came away buzzing and reassured that we still have in this century a wide ranging community fascinated not just by famous authors (I’ve rarely seen so many concentrated in one place) but by challenging ideas and questions.

The Oxford festival is the most elegant and atmospheric of literary festivals. It’s a pleasure to both attend and perform there.

I loved the whole atmosphere of the Oxford Literary Festival. From breakfast, alongside some of the attendees, who were talking books with each other a mile a minute, to the public event at The Sheldonian where everyone was lively and engaged – I felt I had arrived in a kind of literary heaven.

The night in Oxford was the most beautiful event I have ever done. Not just the spectacular setting (of the Sheldonian), but an unforgettable evening.

Every literary festival stays in an author’s mind for slightly individual reasons. I shall remember the Oxford festival for: - the size of the audience: at the top end of the range - their intelligence – this makes a huge difference for a speaker. In the Oxford audience I encountered many experts in the field my book covered and even one of the ambassadors I’d quoted - the beauty and the grace of the place itself – incomparable - the willingness of my hearers to buy books afterwards; I’ve never sold more.

A stimulating and rewarding on-stage conversation; a lively informed and tolerant audience; privileged access to the great treasures of the Bodleian, and finally, wonderfully interesting dinner companions to help me conclude the best day I have enjoyed at any festival – anywhere.

The Oxford Literary Festival is intellectual Viagra.

It was a privilege for me to visit the festival to receive the Bodley Medal. As an incidental blessing I saw Oxford at its most mysterious and atmospheric. It was a day of piercing cold and as I walked through the twilight from the Sheldonian to Christ Church, the streets were empty and the whole city was shutting itself away. Christ Church was silent except for the footfall of unseen persons around corners and the sounds of evensong creeping from behind closed doors. For the first time I understood thoroughly the power of college ghost stories.