5 Speakers, 15 Minutes Each - May 2026

Hannah Critchlow, PhD, HonsDSc is an internationally acclaimed neuroscientist, broadcaster, author and Fellow at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge. She has appeared on the BBC, Australian ABC and Korean TV and radio and gives regular talks to diverse audiences across the world. Her bestselling books including The Science of Fate, and her latest is The 21st Century Brain, a fascinating account from the frontiers of neuroscience, looking at future global challenges in the age of AI.

Jill Dawson is the Whitbread Prize and Orange Prize-shortlisted author of eleven novels, one poetry collection and the editor of six anthologies of poetry and stories. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has been a Costa Judge, and taught creative writing in many different settings. Her latest book is Pixie, a sweeping and vivid novel about publisher, illustrator and occultist Pamela 'Pixie' Colman Smith.

Philippa Perry is an artist and psychotherapist as well as a TV and radio presenter. She is the number one Sunday Times bestselling author of The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read and The Book You Want Everyone You Love* To Read?(*And Maybe a Few You Don’t), published by Cornerstone Press. Her books have been translated in over 40 languages. Her latest book is Shrink Solves Murder, a cosy crime novel set in a Sussex beach town.

Tim Spector is Professor of Epidemiology at King’s College London. He is the bestselling author of The Diet Myth, Spoon-Fed, Food for Life and The Food for Life Cookbook, and scientific co-founder of ZOE, the nutrition science company. With a focus on cutting-edge science and honoured with an OBE for his work in fighting Covid-19, Tim stands at the forefront of his field. The original pioneer of microbiome research, he is among the top 100 most cited scientists in the world. His latest book is Ferment.