Conversations at the Kiln

Conversations at the Kiln: Sam McAlister - Scandals, Scoops and the Prince Andrew Interview

25 Feb 2025

This event is part of Conversations at the Kiln, a new event series at Kiln Theatre programmed by Intelligence Squared. For more events with speakers from the worlds of literature, art, poetry and politics, click here.

Sam McAlister is the woman who secured the now infamous Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew, when he claimed to Emily Maitlis that he was in a Pizza Express in Woking on the night Virginia Giuffre alleges he slept with her. This was the broadcast which set public opinion alight, and from which many have supposed the royal family will never quite recover.

McAlister was the first person in her family to go to university, and is a trained barrister, a single mother and a master of persuasion. In her former BBC colleagues’ words, she was the ‘booker extraordinaire’, responsible for many of Newsnight’s exclusives over the past decade, including Julian Assange, Sheryl Sandberg, Justin Trudeau, Bill Clinton, Elon Musk and Stormy Daniels.

On February 25, McAlister joins us to discuss the behind the scenes drama of the Prince Andrew interview, the making of the film adaption Scoop, the EMMY-nominated Netflix film starring Billie Piper and Gillian Anderson, and the challenges of navigating truth, power, celebrity and accountability in today’s media landscape.

Join us at the Kiln Theatre to hear from the producer behind some of the most notorious interviews in television journalism, and have your questions answered in the Q&A.

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Conversations at the Kiln: Douglas Stuart - Shuggie Bain, Storytelling, and the Human Condition

26 Feb 2025

This event is part of Conversations at the Kiln, a new event series at Kiln Theatre programmed by Intelligence Squared. For more events with speakers from the worlds of literature, art, poetry and politics, click here.

Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo, is celebrated globally for his heartbreaking, funny and moving depictions of working-class life, identity and resilience.

Born and raised in Glasgow, Stuart’s fiction draws heavily from his own experiences growing up as a gay man in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain. His debut Shuggie Bain received worldwide acclaim for its searing portrayal of poverty, addiction and one young boy’s tumultuous relationship with his mother in 1980s Scotland. It was heralded as a masterpiece by many critics, and received the Booker Prize in 2020; to date, it has sold over a million copies.

In his second novel Young Mungo, Stuart returned to the streets of Glasgow to tell an equally compelling story of vulnerability and strength. This coming-of-age tale delves into the forbidden love between two young men, set against the backdrop of sectarian violence and familial expectations. Similarly critically acclaimed, the book cemented Stuart’s place as one of today’s most compelling literary voices.

On February 26, Stuart joins us live on stage to discuss his literary journey, the inspiration behind his award-winning novels, and his insights on writing honest depictions of marginalised worlds rarely seen in the literary mainstream.

With the respected production company A24 set to adapt both novels for the BBC, Stuart will also discuss the process of bringing his characters to life on screen.

Join us at the Kiln Theatre for this rare opportunity to hear from the New York-based Stuart and to have your questions answered in the Q&A.

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Conversations at the Kiln: George the Poet - Music, Memory, and the War on Blackness

27 Feb 2025

This event is part of ‘Conversations at the Kiln’, a new event series at Kiln Theatre programmed by Intelligence Squared. For more events with speakers from the worlds of literature, art, poetry and politics, click here.

‘Poetry is the artistic wing of politics’

George Mpanga, known as George the Poet, is seen by many as one of the UK’s most compelling voices in poetry, music, and social commentary. Originally hailing from St Raphael’s Estate in Neasden, Mpanga has spent over a decade working at the intersection of art and politics reflecting on his upbringing to shed light on how race and inequality still shape Britain today.

His debut poetry collection in 2015, Search Party, tackled the north-south divide, the housing crisis and critiqued government anti-immigration policies, to widespread acclaim. Since then, Mpanga’s work has bridged grime, prose, spoken-word performance, and most recently longer-form audio, as he has continued to interrogate the socio-political status quo.

Now on February 27, he joins us on stage to discuss the themes of his new memoir, Track Record: Me, Music, and the War on Blackness. He will discuss his personal story alongside a broader social history of race and identity in Britain, and examine what he terms “the war on Blackness”: the systemic forces that continue to oppress people of African descent worldwide.

Join us at the Kiln Theatre for an evening of conversation with George the Poet, as he reflects on his artistic journey, the transformative power of creativity, and his vision for a better future.

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