The monuments of world

As a young schoolboy in Bristol, Peter Higgs was so inspired by the life and work of the Nobel prize-winning Paul Dirac that he pursued a career in physics. Decades later Higgs is the focus of worldwide attention as the Large Hadron Collider seeks to prove whether the Higgs boson particle exists.

Bristol has always been a good place for the development and delivery of ideas. Dirac regarded his education in the city – in physics, mathematics and engineering – as crucial to his own career. Isambard Kingdom Brunel came to Bristol to build bridges, ships and railway lines, helping Britain lead the world in the industrial revolution. Thomas Beddoes’s Pneumatic Institution attracted some of the great thinkers, writers and scientists at the end of the 18th century and is where Humphry Davy developed laughing gas.

It’s also been an innovative centre for the arts and media: Lyrical Ballads was first published here, establishing English romanticism; Angela Carter started her writing career in the city; the Bristol Old Vic has been a beacon of drama; the musicians Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky, among others, are known worldwide; the street artist Banksy was able to create much of his best work here; and if you want to see the digital future, the Pervasive Media Studio is pioneering work in the creative industries at the Watershed.

Social movements feature strongly in Bristol’s history – from the campaign to abolish slavery (in one of the cities most benefiting from the trade), through Tony Benn’s rejection of his peerage, to the bus boycott that paved the way for the Race Relations Act of 1965. It has the “softer” factors, too: the places for effective networking, the people making connections so that ideas can be created, shared, fostered and delivered.

Bristol festival of ideas, now in its seventh year, celebrates all ideas that can help change the world for the better. Bringing together arts and sciences, it hosts an intensive 12-day programme of debates each May, as well as special events, exhibitions, books, business events and academic projects at other times.

Our Bristol Genius theme celebrates city ideas. The city’s aviation industry has, over a century of continuous production, gone from aircraft made of wood and paper through the supersonic age to today, where Airbus and Rolls-Royce, among others, are seeking to create more energy-efficient air transport. Sustrans built a national cycle network from its base in Bristol. The BBC’s world-famous natural history films are made here, as are Aardman’s Oscar-winning animations. And the work of Bristol’s two universities in pioneering law, health, advanced engineering and environmental improvements, are promoting better-functioning, greener cities.

But everyone must learn, too, from the ideas of others. This May, the festival will have sessions on the brain; optimism; the science of Peter Higgs; Angela Carter’s work in film and television; a celebration of geeks; the rise of China and India; the impact of worldwide protest and rebel cities; whether capitalism can be responsible; identity and the self; the possibility of today’s young people becoming a lost generation; the role of faith; and much more.

It’s important that communities celebrate ideas, promote debate about ideas and help create new ones. Cities are ideal for this. Cities are also the future – if we get them right we might be able to offset some of the critical environmental and social problems the world faces. But we need to make them good places to live and work. Helping a city to think and debate is essential, as is promoting those ideas in the city more widely. But it’s essential to take inspiration from around the world so that we can learn from others as hopefully others learn from us. In that way ideas will help make us, our cities and our world better places.

For further information on the festival, for venues, and to book tickets, visit www.ideasfestival.co.uk

New world orders: politics and economics

David Harvey

One of the world’s most influential social scientists, Harvey places cities at the heart of both capital and class struggles, arguing that they have long been the pivotal sites of political revolutions, and remain the cradle of social and political change. Looking at locations ranging from Johannesburg to Mumbai, and from New York City to São Paulo, Harvey explores how cities might be reorganised in more socially just and ecologically sane ways, and argues that they could become the focus for anti-capitalist resistance.

Stephen Armstrong, Katharine Quarmby and Guy Standing

Changes in the world economy, neo-liberal policies and the recession have seen a considerable growth in unemployment, poverty, part-time working and welfare budget reductions, as well as reports of the poor treatment of elderly and disabled people. Guy Standing, author of The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class, Katharine Quarmby (Scapegoat: Why We Are Failing Disabled People) and Stephen Armstrong (The Road to Wigan Pier Revisited) discuss whether we are giving up on the underprivileged. In their writings, all paint a picture of a nation that is ignoring the vulnerable, but all offer hope that a better society can be created.

Tariq Ramadan

A leading Muslim writer and commentator, Ramadan explores the opportunities and challenges across north Africa and the Middle East, as they look to create new, more open societies. Arguing that the debate cannot be reduced to a confrontation between the modern and secular and the traditional and Islamic, he shows that not only are these routes in crisis, but that the Arab world has a historic opportunity: to stop blaming the west, to jettison its victim status, and to create a new dynamic.

Margaret Heffernan

The distinguished businesswoman and writer examines what makes humans so prone to wilful blindness. The presiding judge in the 2006 case of the US government vs Enron instructed the jurors to take account of the concept of wilful blindness – if the defendants failed to observe the corruption that was unfolding before them, then not knowing was not a defence. The jury’s guilty verdict sent shivers down the spine of the corporate world. Ranging freely through history, and from business to science, government to the family, Heffernan explains why wilful blindness is so dangerous in today’s globalised world.

Paul Mason

As the global economic crisis gives way to social crisis, the gulf between the haves and have-nots becomes ever wider. Mason, the Newsnight reporter and writer, explores the causes and consequences of the current wave of revolt. He reports from the frontlines of protest, from Westminster to Wisconsin, arguing that the events of 2011 reflect the expanding power of the individual and a call for new political alternatives.

Bidisha, Selma Dabbagh and John McCarthy

Selma Dabbagh’s novel, Out of It, is a gripping tale of dispossession and belonging, treachery, loyalty and bravery that redefines Palestine and its people. She discusses Palestine with critic and broadcaster Bidisha (left), who toured the West Bank as a reporter in spring 2011 and whose book Beyond the Wall: Writing a Path Through Palestine is an unflinching portrait of life in the West Bank today. In a separate event, the journalist and writer John McCarthy, who was held hostage for five years in Lebanoncorrect, from 1986-91, draws on his experience in Beirut to tell the hidden story of the Palestinian struggle.

Tom Watson MP

The man who led the pursuit of News International in parliament, and is at the forefront of the Leveson inquiry, draws on unique information and access to tell the behind-the-scenes story of the phone hacking scandal, the connections between News Corporation, the police and politicians, and how they unravelled.

Society & identity: lessons in life and new directions in a globalised age

Tom Chatfield, John-Paul Flintoff, Roman Krznaric, Philippa Perry

The School of Life Live offers an evening of fast and furious enlightenment. Covering subjects such as love, sex, work, money, emotional maturity, technology and changing the world, TSOL offers advice and inspiration for facing life’s biggest dilemmas. Combining researched material with common sense and humour, these playful and highly interactive sessions include lecture, performance, discussion and activity. Speakers include: Tom Chatfield, author of How to Thrive in the Digital Age; John-Paul Flintoff (How to Change the World); Roman Krznaric (How to Find Fulfilling Work), and Philippa Perry (How to Stay Sane).

Elif Shafak

The bestselling author of The Bastard of Istanbul and The Forty Rules of Love, and the most widely read female novelist in Turkey, talks about the politics of immigration, fiction and identity, her essay, The Happiness of Blond People (her reflection on individuality and multiculturalism), and her new novel Honour, about a half-Kurdish, half-Turkish family.

Noo Saro-Wiwa

The author and daughter of the activist Ken Saro-Wiwa was brought up in England, but was taken back to Nigeria every summer. She discusses her return to Nigeria after a 10-year absence, and describes the corruption and inefficiency, but also the beauty of its rainforest, its ancient palaces and monuments, and its people.

Richard Holloway and John Gray

For 14 years, Richard Holloway was bishop of Edinburgh. Now, in discussion with political philosopher John Gray, the acclaimed writer takes us back through a life defined by the biggest questions – Who am I? and What is God? – and explains how, after many crises of faith, he finally left the Church.

Harry Belafonte The singer and actor has been at the heart of the civil rights movement and countless other causes. He talks about both his career and his activism – the struggles, tragedies and, most of all, the triumphs of his life, alongside the likes of Martin Luther King Jr, Paul Robeson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Sidney Poitier, John F Kennedy, Marlon Brando, Robert Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Tony Bennett and Bill Clinton. 

Edmund White A talk by the novelist and cultural critic, who has penned many books, including the autobiographical A Boy’s Own Story, the memoir City Boy and now Jack Holmes and His Friend. His are beautiful explorations of sexuality and sensibility in American society.

What if? – a festival of transition

What if? helps us begin to imagine a better world. Andrew Simms and Eliane Glaser discuss how to tackle the problems that threaten society. Richard Murphy argues that it has never been more important for our elected representatives to serve the greater good. Tony Greenham asks what could be done with the banks. James Marriott describes how wildernesses are being exploited for energy when we cannot afford to burn the fossil fuels that have already been discovered. And Fred Pearce looks at the global impact of the rise in “land grabbing”.

Observer writers at Bristol

Ed Vulliamy

Ed Vulliamy covered the war in Bosnia for the Observer 20 years ago. He recalls – 20 years ago –how he witnessed the violence unleashed by Serbian president Slobodan Miloševic and his allies, the Bosnian Serbs. Vulliamy has continued to report from the country and on the ensuing war crime trials ever since. He also talks about the “reckoning” – how, although the rest of the world has moved on, in Bosnia there has been no thaw in the hatred, and the war is still alive.

Susannah Clapp

Angela Carter’s literary executor (and Observer theatre critic) talks about the author’s life and legacy. Carter spent her formative years in Bristol and three early novels are known as the Bristol trilogy. The festival is showing films and TV programmes of and about her work, including the The Holy Family Album, which treats representations of Christ in western art as if they were photos in God’s album; the 1992 Omnibus programme Angela Carter’s Curious Room, which includes the last interview Carter gave; and The Magic Toyshop, for which she wrote the screenplay. Sir Christopher Frayling talks about the writer he knew and Clapp, Charlotte Crofts and Bidisha join him for a debate.

Nick Cohen

The belief that we live in age of unparalleled freedom is dangerously naïve, Cohen argues. The traditional opponents of freedom of speech – religious fanatics, plutocrats and dictatorial states – are thriving, and in many respects finding the world more comfortable in the 21st century than they did in the late 20th.

Will Hutton

The first Observer Kenote Lecture is: Can there be a responsible capitalism? As economies stumble, major expenditure cuts are made, bonuses increase for the wealthy and mass unemployment returns, questions are raised about the very nature of market economies. There seems little alternative to capitalism, however, so, Hutton argues, a more responsible capitalism needs to be created.

Robin McKie

The Observer‘s science editor leads a panel discussing the work of American conservationist Rachel Carson, whose Silent Spring is credited with advancing the cause of the global environmental movement. But how much progress has been made in the 50 years since? McKie will be joined by Lucy Siegle, the Observer‘s ethical correspondent; Norman Maclean, author of Silent Summer: The State of Wildlife in Britain and Ireland; Jonathon Porritt, Forum for the Futurecorrect; and Callum Roberts, author of Ocean of Life: How Our Seas Are Changingcorrect.

Geeks: your time has come

Mark Henderson and Angela Saini

Mark Henderson (The Geek Manifesto: Why Science Matters) explains why the geeks of the world are no longer apologising for their obsessive interest in science and are gradually finding a powerful public voice. Delving inside the psyche of India’s science-hungry citizens, in her book Geek Nation, Angela Saini explores why the government of the most religious country on earth has put its faith in science and technology. Both writers make a compelling case that a new geek movement will transform politics and science.

Nick Harkaway

The speed at which our world is changing is both mesmerising and challenging. Novelist and tech blogger Nick Harkaway challenges the notion that digital culture is the source of all modern ills, while evealingsuggesting how the real dangers can be combated. Ultimately, he believes, the choice is ours: engage with the machines that we have created, or risk creating a world that is designed for corporations and computers, rather than people.

Science: evolution to time travel

Rebecca Stott, author, tells the story of how, a month after the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, Darwin was accused by the Reverend Powell of having taken credit for a theory that had already been discovered by others. Stott’s Darwin’s Ghosts: In Search of the First Evolutionists is a masterful retelling of the collective daring of a few like-minded men who had the courage to publish their speculations at a time when to do so, for political as well as religious reasons, was to risk everything. It is the story of an idea that would change the modern world.

Graham Farmelo and Peter Higgs These two giants of modern physics were both educated in Bristol schools. They will join Robin McKie, the Observer science editor, in a discussion about the life and work of Bristolian and Nobel prize-winning physicist Paul Dirac, who co-discovered quantum mechanics, predicted the existence of antimatter – and inspired the young Peter Higgs, who later predicted the Higgs boson particle. Experiments to find out if the Higgs boson exists are being carried out at the Large Hadron Collider. Graham Farmelo is author of The Strangest Man: The Life of Paul Dirac.

Bruce Hood, an experimental psychologist, provides a fascinating examination of how the latest science shows that our concept of the self is an illusion. He argues that the self – the “me” inside me – is not a single entity but an ever-changing character, created by the brain to provide a coherent interface between the multitude of internal processes and the demands from the external world that require different selves.

Claudia Hammond, broadcaster and writer, draws on the latest findings from psychology, neuroscience and biology, and original research on the way memory shapes our understanding of time, to delve into the mysteries of time. Hammond will show us how to manage time more efficiently, how to speed it up and slow it down at will, plan for the future with more accuracy and use the warping of time to our own advantage. Along the way, she introduces us to an extraordinary array of characters willing to go to great lengths in the interests of research.