Society

Charles Foster

Pets and Their People
Weston Lecture Theatre 10:00am Sat 21 Saturday, 21 March 2026 See this event
Bill Tara, Marlene Watson-Tara, Gary Francione, Anna Charlton and Laurence Candy

Exploring the Microbiome: Health from the Inside Out
Pusey House 10:30am 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
Carl Frey talks to

How Progress Ends: Technology, Innovation, and the Fate of Nations
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm 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
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
Liam Byrne

Why Populists Are Winning: and How to Beat Them
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 2 6:00pm Sat 21 Saturday, 21 March 2026 See this event
Joe Tidy

Ctrl+ Alt+ Chaos: How Teenage Hackers Hijack the Internet
Weston Lecture Theatre 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
Simon Schama

The History of Antisemitism: A Warning for Today
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Mon 23 Monday, 23 March 2026 See this event
Fitzroy Morrissey

The Renewal of Islam: Thinkers and Believers of the Modern Era
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Mon 23 Monday, 23 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
Paul Dolan

Beliefism: How to Stop Hating the People we Disagree With
Bodleian: Convocation House 12:00pm Tue 24 Tuesday, 24 March 2026 See this event
Jamie Franklin, Bijan Omrani and Nick Spencer chaired by Jane Shaw

Ignoring Christianity at our Peril: How Christian Faith can Save West
Pusey House: Chapel 2:00pm 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
Richard Susskind and Charlotte Blease

Future Vision: Can AI Improve our Lives and Wellbeing?
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 10:00am Wed 25 Wednesday, 25 March 2026 See this event
Margaret Heffernan and Steven D’Souza

Unlocking Your Potential: Harnessing Uncertainty and your Darker Side
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 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
Luke Kemp

Goliath’s Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Wed 25 Wednesday, 25 March 2026 See this event
Matt Cook and Rebecca Jennings

A Queer Scrapbook: Britain and Ireland Since 1945
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Wed 25 Wednesday, 25 March 2026 See this event
Sailesh Rao talks to Bill Tara

A Guide to Planet B
Weston Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Wed 25 Wednesday, 25 March 2026 See this event
John Studzinski

A 21st Century Perspective: Our Life and Times Today
Sheldonian Theatre 10:00am Thu 26 Thursday, 26 March 2026 See this event
Rowan Williams

Solidarity: The Work of Recognition
Pusey House: Chapel 12:00pm Thu 26 Thursday, 26 March 2026 See this event
Nigel Biggar

The New Dark Age: Why Liberals Must Win the Culture War
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Thu 26 Thursday, 26 March 2026 See this event
Liam Shaw

Dangerous Miracle: A Natural History of Antibiotics and How We Burned Through Them
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 10:00am Fri 27 Friday, 27 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
Sarah Williams

When Courage Calls: Josephine Butler and the Radical Pursuit of Justice for Women
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Fri 27 Friday, 27 March 2026 See this event
Ed Davey and Tiggy Walker

Why We Care and Why it Matters
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Fri 27 Friday, 27 March 2026 See this event
Michel-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies

God, the Science, the Evidence: The Dawn of a Revolution
Sheldonian 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
Tim Gregory

Going Nuclear: How the Atom will Save the World
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Fri 27 Friday, 27 March 2026 See this event
James Cahill and Christopher Stephens in conversation with A J West

Being Gay in Oxford: From the Dawn of Liberation to Today
Pusey House: Ursell Room 6:00pm Fri 27 Friday, 27 March 2026 See this event
Avi Shlaim and Peter Oborne

Gaza: Genocide and Britain’s Complicity in Destruction
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 1 10:00am Sat 28 Saturday, 28 March 2026 See this event
Chine McDonald talks to Jessica Hamel-Akré

Unmaking Mary: Shattering the Myth of Perfect Motherhood
Weston Lecture Theatre 10:00am Sat 28 Saturday, 28 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
Charli Howard and Freya India chaired by Julie Bindel

What it Means to be a Woman in the 21st Century
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 3 12:00pm 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
Ben Arogundade

Hollywood Blackout: The Battle for Recognition in a White Hollywood
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sat 28 Saturday, 28 March 2026 See this event
Sven Beckert

American Lecture. Capitalism: A Global History
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 1 6:00pm Sat 28 Saturday, 28 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
Brenda Hale talks to David Unterhalter

With Law on our Side
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 1 2:00pm Sun 29 Sunday, 29 March 2026 See this event
Juliet Nicolson

The Book of Revelations: Women and their Secrets
Oxford University Mathematical Institute: Lecture Theatre 3 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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Often as an author, I only occasionally get to meet the public who buy and read my books. The Oxford Literary Festival was a special opportunity for me and certainly one of the highlights of my career – it was an honour I will never forget.

The Oxford Literary Festival has in my mind become the leading literary festival of the year. The organisation, the roster of speakers, the ambience and the sheer quality of it all is superb. May it now go from strength to strength each year stretching its ambition more and more. I believe it will.