Alastair Donald
co-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; convenor, Living Freedom; organiser, European Free Speech Network
Alastair is associate director of the London based Academy of Ideas where he co-convenes Battle of Ideas festival. He is currently developing plans for a European Free Speech Network to aid collaborative efforts across the continent to build a public culture of free speech.
For the educational charity Ideas Matter, he is convenor of Living Freedom, an initiative for young people to renew freedom through education and debate. Alastair is author of Letter on Liberty: The Scottish Question, and co-editor of two books, The Lure of the City and The Future of Community. As a founding member of mantownhuman, he co-authored Manifesto: towards a new humanism in architecture which featured in Penguin Classics 100 Artists’ Manifestos.
Follow Alastair on X: @MaximumCities
RELATED SESSIONS
Tuesday 30 September, 19:00 Paris Salon
Woke: the rise… and fall?
Saturday 18 October, 09:45 Assembly Hall, Church House
Battle of Ideas festival 2025 Welcome Address
Saturday 18 October, 10:15 Robert Runcie Room, Church House
Misinformation, the media and the fight for truth
Saturday 18 October, 10:15 Harvey Goodwin Suite, Church House
The Lesbian Project Podcast: LIVE – Lesbian lives and beyond
Saturday 18 October, 10:15 Hoare Memorial Hall, Church House
Free speech in Trump’s America
Saturday 18 October, 12:15 Parker Morris Hall, Abbey Centre
The rise and fall of private life
Saturday 18 October, 13:45 Harvey Goodwin Suite, Church House
Podcast live: The Booking Club with Jack Aldane – Kafka’s The Trial, 100 years on
Saturday 18 October, 14:45 Harvey Goodwin Suite, Church House
Podcast live: Spectator’s Americano, the latest from Trump’s America
Saturday 18 October, 14:45 Assembly Hall, Church House
An island of strangers? Immigration and integration
Saturday 18 October, 16:45 Abbey Room, Church House
Balloon debate: What’s the greatest scientific breakthrough of the past 20 years?
Sunday 19 October, 11:00 Harvey Goodwin Suite, Church House
Podcast Live: Planet Normal – Views from beyond the bubble
Sunday 19 October, 11:00 Abbey Room, Church House
From Harvard to Sussex: should the state punish universities?
Sunday 19 October, 12:45 Harvey Goodwin Suite, Church House
Podcast Live: This Isn’t Working – battling the woke workplace
Sunday 19 October, 13:45 Assembly Hall, Church House
Will DEI ever DIE?
Sunday 19 October, 13:45 Robert Runcie Room, Church House
After the Supreme Court: the end of trans ideology?
Sunday 19 October, 15:45 Hoare Memorial Hall, Church House
Why is Civil War a talking point?
Sunday 19 October, 17:15 Assembly Hall, Church House
Europe’s free-speech crisis: hype or reality?
Sunday 19 October, 17:15 Harvey Goodwin Suite, Church House
Podcast Live: Arts First – are the arts too politicised?
Saturday 25 October, 17:45 Expo Łódź, Poland
Challenges to freedom of speech
Saturday 15 November, 13:30 Berlin
Why now? Hate, misinformation and the free speech crisis in Europe
Saturday 15 November, 14:45 Berlin
The arts, sciences and academia: the culture wars and free expression
Saturday 15 November, 16:00 Berlin
How to defend free speech in Germany
Saturday 22 November, 16:15 St Mary's Church, RDS, Merrion Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin D04 AK83
Immigration, integration and cultural cohesion
Saturday 22 November, 17:25 St Mary's Church, RDS, Merrion Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin D04 AK83
Narrative control: media, misinformation and the fight for truth
Saturday 7 March, 16:00 Pendulum Suite, Pendulum Hotel, Manchester
Free-speech emergency: how can we fight back?