Intelligence Squared presents:
How to Lose Your Country
with Ece Temelkuran
‘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.
Dates
16 Oct 2025Praise for How To Lose a Country
‘She’s one of the most acute and perceptive analysts of the furtive growth of fascism. Everyone should know about this.’ – Philip Pullman
‘Suffering a sorrow that we can overcome. Longing for a freedom that we don’t yet have. For as long as I can remember, these have been the sensations Beethoven’s music planted into my soul. More recently, reading Ece Temelkuran’s delightful Together gave me the same sensations.’ – Yanis Varoufakis
Available for £8.99 with tickets