Battle of Ideas 2012 20 & 21 October, London. Two days of high-level, thought-provoking, public debate organised by the Academy of Ideas at the Barbican.
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Battle of Ideas 2012 at the Barbican

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Battle Blog

The Law’s cyber drug war. Is it time to hold peace talks with internet suppliers of ‘legal highs’?, Jonathan Hurlow

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Speakers include
Brendan O'Neill, editor, spiked; columnist, Big Issue; contributor, Spectator; author, A Duty to Offend: Selected Essays

GM Tamás, visiting professor, Central European University; author, Les Idoles de la Tribu

Mark Vernon, journalist; author, God: all that matters and The Big Questions: God

Natalie Bennett, newly elected leader, Green Party of England and Wales; London Assembly candidate; chair, Green Party Women; former editor, Guardian Weekly

Ruth Padel, poet and writer; author, The Mara Crossing and Darwin: a life in poems

KAS Quinn, children's writer; lecturer and educationalist; author, The Queen Must Die, first part of a time-travel trilogy

John Haldane, professor of philosophy, University of St Andrews; chairman, Royal Institute of Philosophy; author, An Intelligent Person's Guide to Religion and Reasonable Faith

Ferdinand Mount, author, The New Few: or a very British oligarchy; former editor, Times Literary Supplement

Zoe Williams, columnist, Guardian; author, What Not to Expect When You're Expecting

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Readings

Veep creator Armando Iannucci tells BBC to stop interfering with programme makers, Christopher Williams

Page Three Girls and porn-again feminists, Jennie Bristow

The Law’s cyber drug war. Is it time to hold peace talks with internet suppliers of ‘legal highs’?, Jonathan Hurlow

FreeSpeechDebate, University of Oxford

What happened to the caring professions?, Alka Sehgal Cuthbert

The Leveson Inquiry: There’s a bargain to be struck over media freedom and regulation, George Brock

Should the law try and correct society's prejudices?, Luke Gittos

The ‘Dark Ages’ were a lot brighter than we give them credit for, Richard Swan

Forget the Booker, the prize every author really wants is academic validation, Miguel Ceia

There's a new species of prohibitionism on the rise, Jason Smith

Scotland: the world’s most childish nation, Rob Lyons

Being Pro-Life Doesn't Make Me Any Less Of A Lefty, Mehdi Hasan

Vice Presidential Debate, ABC

And the Firewalls Came Tumbling Down, Evgeny Morozov

Am I the only fan of modern classical music?, Paul Kilbey

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The Battle of Ideas is produced by the
Academy of Ideas
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"There's a real sense of intellectual delight that so much can be discussed in just sixty minutes - and so thoughtfully - both by the speakers and especially by the audience. A rich feast of ideas."
Christopher Kelly, reader in Ancient History and Fellow and Director of Studies in Classics at Corpus Christi College

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