Conversations at the Kiln
Conversations at the Kiln is back for another year! This autumn, Intelligence Squared are bringing together the most interesting voices for a series of insightful discussions from journalists, historians, and political thinkers.
Book for 2 events for 15% discount, or 3 for 20%
Events
The Revolutionists: The Remarkable True Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970's
07 Oct 2025
The Revolutionists: The Remarkable True Story of The Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970’s
In the 1970s, a network of radical extremists terrorised the West with plane hijackings and hostage-takings. Among them were the beautiful young Leila Khaled with her jewellery made from grenade rings, the hard-drinking philanderer Carlos the Jackal sporting shades and open-neck shirts, and the radical leftists of the Baader-Meinhof Gang. Taking Israel, capitalism and ‘western imperialism’ as targets, they orchestrated spectacularly violent attacks that held governments to ransom and the world gripped to their television screens.
Now on October 7, one of the foremost writers on terrorism and International Security Correspondent for the Guardian Jason Burke comes to the Intelligence Squared stage to uncover the insider stories from the terror attacks which shaped this tumultuous decade.
From the Munich Olympics and the raid on Entebbe, to the Iranian Embassy Siege in London and the Beirut bombings of the early 1980s, Burke will shed light on the lives and minds of the perpetrators of these attacks, as well as the government agents who sought to thwart and assassinate them.
Drawing on declassified archive material and original interviews with key actors and witnesses, hear from Burke live at the Kiln Theatre, and have your questions answered in the Q&A.
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Raymond Antrobus on Creativity, Deafness and the Politics of Language
08 Oct 2025
What does creativity look like when you’re missing one of the five senses?
Award-winning poet and author Raymond Antrobus was first diagnosed as deaf at the age of six. He discovered he had missing sounds – bird calls, whistles, kettles, alarms. Teachers thought he was slow and disruptive, some didn’t believe he was deaf at all.
On October 8 Antrobus comes to the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss how the deaf experience can expand how we all think about language, writing and the spoken word.
Antrobus will draw on his new memoir The Quiet Ear to reflect on life and art at the intersection of worlds; growing up in East London to an English mother and Jamaican father; navigating the mainstream and deaf schooling systems; and living between the world of sound and silence.
Join us at the Kiln Theatre and have your questions answered in the audience Q&A.
This event is part of Conversations at the Kiln, an event series at Kiln Theatre programmed by Intelligence Squared. For more curated conversations on literature, history, poetry and politics, click here.
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Lyse Doucet on Reporting from the Frontlines
14 Oct 2025
This event is part of Conversations at the Kiln, an event series at Kiln Theatre programmed by Intelligence Squared.
As the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet has witnessed and reported on some of the most consequential events of our time. She has reported from Afghanistan since 1988, during the Soviet troop withdrawal, played a leading role in the BBC’s coverage of the Arab Spring uprisings reporting from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria, and has covered major wars as well as efforts to make peace in the Middle East since 1994. In 2022 she covered the Russian invasion of Ukraine live from Kyiv as Putin’s tanks crossed the border. Most recently she reported from Tehran in the aftermath of Israel’s bombing of Iran.
Doucet is renowned for her compassionate, human-centred reporting often in times of war and suffering. Now on October 14, she comes to the Intelligence Squared stage to share her reflections and insights from four decades on the frontlines.
In conversation with fellow broadcaster Lindsey Hilsum, the International Editor for Channel 4 News who has also reported from frontlines of our time, Doucet will also discuss the themes and approach of her new book, The Finest Hotel in Kabul, a vivid history of Afghanistan as seen from the iconic Inter-Continental Hotel. Drawing on years of interviews with its staff and guests, the book traces the country’s tumultuous history – from the Soviet withdrawal and civil war to the US invasion and the return of the Taliban – through the prism of this landmark hotel and the lives of the staff who kept it running during war and peace.
Join us for an evening of discussion at the Kiln Theatre, and have your questions answered in the audience Q&A.
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How To Lose Your Country, with Ece Temelkuran
16 Oct 2025
‘Temelkuran is a brilliant writer, finding humour, hope and humanity in the darkest corners of our current malaise.’ – Brian Eno
Ece Temelkuran is the award winning Turkish writer and author who was forced into exile for her critical views of President Erdoğan. She has long signalled the alarm that not only her home country of Türkiye but the whole democratic world is steadily sleepwalking into authoritarianism.
Her 2016 book How To Lose A Country was an impassioned warning to the world that populism and nationalism don’t march fully-formed into government; they creep. Now on October 16, she comes to Intelligences Squared to discuss how we can spot the early-warning signs of authoritarianism, defend democracy and learn the lessons of resistance from Eastern Europe to South America. Temelkuran will also offer an alternative path and describe how democracy can survive the digital age.
Join us for an evening of discussion at the Kiln Theatre, and have your questions answered in the audience Q&A.
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