Summer Season 2025
Praise for Marianna Spring
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"Brave and brilliant... Marianna Spring lowers a bucket into the well of online misinformation and bile, and pulls up clarity and understanding" ― Fiona Bruce​
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"One of the most talented journalists of her generation" ― Jeremy Bowen
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"She emanates drive, curiosity and focus, and the zeal of authentic public‑spiritedness." ― Guardian
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"Spring is forensic in her approach… relentlessly following the trail of misinformation." ― The Times
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"A powerful, brave voice" ― Anita Anand
Adventures in Conspiracyland: Marianna Spring
In conversation with Colin Midson
7pm, 16th July at The Poly​​ £8, £6 concs
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Conspiracy theories that once lurked at the fringes of society have now shifted to the very heart of contemporary culture, driven by media platforms that thrive on clickbait and a political class eager to stir up dissent.
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Marianna Spring is one of the most acclaimed journalists of her generation and as the BBC's disinformation correspondent investigates the human cost of online conspiracy theories in podcasts and documentaries for BBC Radio 4, on Panorama, and as one of the presenters of the BBC’s ‘Americast’ podcast. ​
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Meeting face-to-face with architects of hate and fake news, she discovers how people come to believe that terrible atrocities are staged, and that pandemics and climate change are the tools of an invisible elite bent on world domination.
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Join her in conversation as she pulls back the curtain on the information battle threatening us all, and explains real-world consequences that lie beyond our screens.
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​Praise for Conspiracyland by Marianna Spring
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"This book is full of unbelievable nonsense. I am very grateful to Marianna Spring for her admirable attempts to defend us against it" ― Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye
"A tour de force" ― Jeremy Vine
"Excellent" ― Julia Ebner, Telegraph
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"A compelling guided tour of a dystopian underworld" ― John Naughton, Observer
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"Marianna reminds us how seriously we must now take fake news and the spread of false lies, and the very real havoc it can wreak" ― Emily Maitlis​​
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Praise for William Dalrymple
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“Dalrymple is a master storyteller, whose special gift lies in the use of indigenous sources.” — The Sunday Times
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​“He is a terrifically good storyteller… He makes the reader see how events unfold and observe the personalities up close.” — Times Literary Supplement
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“His books have become sacred texts for several generations of British writers of non‑fiction.” — The New Yorker
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One of the most gifted historians and storytellers working today,” New York Times
The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World
William Dalrymple
7pm 28th August at The Poly​​ £8, £6 concs
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William Dalrymple is one of Britain’s great historians and the bestselling author of many books on India. His latest, ‘The Golden Road’, explains India’s often forgotten role in shaping the ancient world.
For more than 1500 years, India exported a vast empire of ideas to the rest of the world. Indian art, religions, technology, astronomy, music, dance, literature, mathematics and mythology blazed a trail along a Golden Road that stretched from the Red Sea to the Pacific.
Inspired by discovering an abundance of Indian historical influences on a visit to Cambodia, William Dalrymple set out on a journey to investigate India's oft-forgotten position as the heart of ancient Eurasia.
For the first time, he gives a name to this spread of Indian ideas that transformed the world. From the largest Hindu temple in the world at Angkor Wat to the Buddhism of China, from the trade that helped fund the Roman Empire to the creation of the numerals we use today (including zero), India transformed the culture and technology of its ancient world - and our world today as we know it.
Join William Dalrymple for a fascinating event as he explains how India has helped lay the foundations of the world as we know it.
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​Praise for The Golden Road by William Dalrymple
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“With a mind-boggling mastery of sources, Dalrymple weaves a thrilling tale of India's cultural hegemony.” — Spectator
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“A terrific story, told with tremendous brio.” — The Times
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“The most compelling retelling we have had for generations.” — Financial Times
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“Not just a historical study but also a love letter – to a lost syncretic world.” — Guardian
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“Dalrymple's book is both contemporary and altogether foreign.” — New Statesman
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