Event type: Talk

To celebrate the publication of acclaimed writer Lanre Bakare’s first book. Hear from the author and special guests at Tate Liverpool.

We Were There: How Black Culture, Resistance and Community Shaped Modern Britain is about a Black Britain that for too long has been unknown and unexplored – the one that exists beyond London.

Lanre Bakare has a stellar reputation as a Guardian writer, covering the intersection of art, race and culture. Lanre believes that when people think about the recent history of Black Britain, they inevitably think of London. Having grown up in Bradford, Bakare wanted to write a corrective to that; this book is that corrective. He takes us on an epic journey across the UK, visiting Birmingham, Liverpool, Cardiff, Bradford, Wigan, Manchester and more.

This insightful event with Bakare and special guests, will spotlight the extraordinary voices and stories of Black Britons and Black British culture.

We Were There: How Black Culture, Resistance and Community Shaped Modern Britain will be available to buy at this event.

Author and podcaster Isaac Hart, the host of the popular ‘Ghost in the Museum’ podcast, discusses the history of ghosts and hauntings from the Bronze Age to the present day.

Exploring the origins of ghosts in human culture, the fears and folklore behind centuries of ghost sightings, and how belief in the restless undead continues even into the digital age.

‘Dogger, Fisher, German Bight’: Charlie Connelly brings the shipping forecast vividly to life in his hilarious and moving celebration of an iconic cultural institution. Charlie explores the broadcast’s remarkable history, unlocks its beguiling mysteries and tells rip-roaring stories of his own adventures among the sea areas, ensuring the forecast will never sound the same again.

As the shipping forecast embarks on its second century following its 2024 centenary, bestselling author and award-winning broadcaster Charlie Connelly’s hilarious and informative show brings the quirky broadcast vividly to life, celebrating what he believes to be the greatest invention of the modern age.

How did a weather forecast for ships capture the hearts of a nation, from salty old sea dog to insomniac landlubber? How is it possible for ‘rain later’ to be ‘good’? And where the hell is North Utsire?

Delving into the history of the forecast and the extraordinary people who made it, Charlie explains what those curious phrases really mean, celebrates its wide cultural impact, shares riproaring adventures from his own extraordinary journey through the 31 sea areas – the times he was accused by the media of trying to annex Rockall from the British government and sang sea shanties with Tom Hardy in a Manx hotel bar while Scary Spice pulled the pints – and presents his case for the shipping forecast being our finest achievement.

Inspired by Charlie’s bestselling book, which has sold more than a quarter-of-a-million copies worldwide, this pacy, moving and hilarious show takes you all the way from Viking to South-East Iceland to ensure the shipping forecast will never sound the same again.

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“Charlie Connelly is one of the funniest people I have ever had the pleasure of sitting in a studio with…He has a natural wit that doesn’t get crushed by an over-zealous ego with a lovely personality attached to it.” Fi Glover, broadcaster

“Charlie is always warm, funny and engaging…I actually sent him a fan letter – and I’ve never done that to anyone in my life before.”  Bernard Sumner, New Order

“I can thoroughly recommend an evening spent in the company of the very funny and very lovely Charlie Connelly whose knowledge of what I call ‘the ships’ is excellent. Sou’westers optional.” Corrie Corfield, BBC Radio 4