Latest line up for The Salisbury Conversations 2019 series

In the age of fake news and hate speech, just how should we talk to each other? Is there such a thing as a ‘good’ life? And as the two-party system totters, how do we think we should be governed?

Hear high profile panellists like Jim Waterson (ex-political editor of Buzzfeed), Tim Montgomerie (conservative blogger and columnist), Nazir Afzal OBE (radicalisation and extremism expert) and Natalie Haynes (comedian and author of The Ancient Guide to Modern Life), discuss these issues and try to find common ground. These are individuals on the ‘inside’, social commentators and observers who influence our news, views and understanding of the world around us.

Latest to join the line-up for the series, being recorded by BBC Wiltshire, is city guru and R4 presenter Leo Johnson, former foreign secretary Boris’ brother and member of the influential Johnson clan.

Speaking ahead of the first conversation The Very Reverend, Nicholas Papadopulos, Dean of Salisbury Cathedral said:
“The purpose of these events is to encourage us all to think about our future and how we can shape it. At a time when society is fragmented, Salisbury Cathedral offers a place in which to hold difficult conversations. This is in our DNA, after all: we are the keepers of Magna Carta, foundational document of constitutional liberty. Our firm belief is that respectful conversation in this sacred space will allow people to discover common ground – to appreciate better those things that unite them, and to understand better those things that divide them”. 

Wednesday 6 March 2019
HOW SHOULD WE TALK TO EACH OTHER?
With the recent Russian flag story demonstrating just how easy it is for an Instagram post to hijack the news agenda, this conversation explores how we talk to one another and exchange ideas about society, politics and our common future.

Panellists: 
Sophia Gaston
Social and political researcher, Director of the Centre for Social and Political Risk, and deputy director of the Henry Jackson Society.
Jim Waterson
Former political editor of Buzzfeed and now media editor of the Guardian. He is the only media editor at a british newspaper to have also worked as a Church of England Verger.
Nazir Afzal OBE
Lawyer and international expert on extremism and radicalisation, and member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation Complaints Committee
The Very Revd Nicholas Papadopulos
Dean of Salisbury and former criminal barrister

Facilitator:   
Dan O’Brien
BBC Wiltshire’s political correspondent/reporter on the Sunday Politics show

How should we talk to each other? takes place on Wednesday, 6 March at 20.00 in the Cathedral. Doors open at 19.30. Tickets are £7.50 and can be purchased via the cathedral website

Wednesday, 13 March 2019
WHAT IS A GOOD LIFE?
What is a ‘good’ life? Is there such a thing as a social contract, or common purpose that governs society – or has the cult of the individual developed to the point where joint enterprise is impossible?From the environment to personal morality, hear panellists including Natalie Haynes, who believes that answers may lie in Ancient Greece and Rome, Leo Johnson, city guru, presenter of Hacking Happiness on R4, Harun Khan, one of Britain’s leading Muslims and the Bishop of Salisbury, Church of England’s lead on the environment and the spiritual leader of Salisbury Diocese, discuss these issues and try to find common ground. 

Panellists:      
Leo Johnson
City guru and business disrupter, and R4 presenter 
Natalie Haynes
Comedian, classicist and author of The Ancient Guide to Modern Life?
Harun Kahn
Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Great Britain
The Right Revd Nicholas Holtam
Bishop of Salisbury

Facilitator:    
Canon James Woodward
Principal of Sarum College

What is a good life? takes place on Wednesday, 13 March at 20.00 in the Cathedral. Doors open at 19.30. Tickets are £7.50 and can be purchased via the cathedral website

Wednesday 20 March:
HOW SHOULD WE BE GOVERNED?
The Brexit referendum has divided the country and put the UK at odds with its European neighbours. The Labour party has split over the issue and fissures in the Tory party are all too evident. What should our government’s priorities be now? What is the alternative?

Hear high profile panellists, including political activist, blogger and columnist Tim Montgomerie and Labour supporter and comedian Grianne Macguire discuss the issues at the heart of governance and try to find common ground.

Panellists:     
Tom Montgomerie
Political activist, blogger and columnist, who is best known as the co-founder of    the Centre for Social Justice and creator of the Conservative Home website
Grainne McGuire
Irish comedian and elf-proclaimed political nerd, who tweeted her menstrual cycle to the Irish Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, as a protest against the Irish abortion laws
Lemn Sissay MBE
Poet, broadcaster and a campaigner for children in care, Lemn is the author of Magniloquent Cartilage, which is part of the Ladders of Light: a new constitution for the UK installation currently on show in the Cathedral

Facilitator:   
Elinor Goodman
Former Political Editor of Channel 4 News

How should we be governed? takes place on Wednesday, 20 March at 20.00 in the Cathedral. Doors open at 19.30. Tickets are £7.50 and can be purchased via the Cathedral website

FOR ANY OTHER ENQUIRIES OR FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marie Thomas at Salisbury Cathedral m.thomas@salcath.co.uk 01722 555148