Popular comedian and presenter, Robin Ince comes to us to talk about his new book, The Importance of Being Interested. Robin joins The Reader on his 100 Bookshop Tour where he’ll be signing books and explaining why Science should be for everyone – including enthusiastic amateurs.
Tickets are pay what you feel. Copies of The Importance of Being Interested can be bought in advance and collected on the day or extra copies will be available to purchase from The Reader Shop.
About The Importance of Being Interested
‘A delightful and scintillating hymn to science.’ Carlo Rovelli
Comedian Robin Ince quickly abandoned science at school, bored by a fog of dull lessons and intimidated by the barrage of equations. But, twenty years later, he fell in love and he now presents one of the world’s most popular science podcasts. Every year he meets hundreds of the world’s greatest thinkers.
In this erudite and witty book, Robin reveals why scientific wonder isn’t just for the professionals. Filled with interviews featuring astronauts, comedians, teachers, quantum physicists, neuroscientists and more – as well as charting Robin’s own journey with science – The Importance of Being Interested explores why many wrongly think of the discipline as distant and difficult.
From the glorious appeal of the stars above to why scientific curiosity can encourage much needed intellectual humility, this optimistic and profound book will leave you filled with a thirst for intellectual adventure.
Join BlackFest to celebrate the launch of Malik Al Nasir’s ‘Letters to Gil, A Memoir’, held Downstairs at the Everyman.
Letters to Gil is Malik Al Nasir’s profound coming of age memoir – the story of surviving physical and racial abuse and discovering a sense of self-worth under the wing of the great artist, poet and civil rights activist Gil Scott-Heron.
The event is held Downstairs at the Everyman, 29 September, 7pm. See here for tickets.
Born in Liverpool, Malik was taken into care at the age of nine after his seafaring father became paralysed. He would spend his adolescence in a system that proved violent, neglectful, exploitative, traumatising and mired in abuse and racism.
Aged eighteen, he emerged semi-literate and penniless with no connections or sense of where he was going – until a chance meeting with Gil Scott-Heron turned everything around.
2021 marks the 10th anniversary since Gil’s passing, and in honour of his legacy, Malik Al Nasir releases Letters to Gil, a frank and moving memoir, which tells the story of Malik’s empowerment and awakening while mentored by Gil; from his introduction to black history, to the development of his voice through poetry and music.
Written with lyricism and power, it highlights how physical abuse and institutional racism can debilitate and disadvantage a child, but also how mentoring, creativity, self-expression and solidarity can help unleash a person’s full potential, despite the odds being stacked against them.
Stacey Dooley has firmly established herself as one of the most recognisable faces on British TV.
Now , following several sell – out UK tours, Stacey is heading back on the road to celebrate the publication of her new book, Are You Really OK? Understanding Britain’s Mental Health Emergency, which explores the mental health crisis in Britain and its particular impact on young people, inspired by Stacey’s two most recent documentaries on mental health.
The event is held Storyhouse, Chester, 22 February 2022, 7.30pm. See here for tickets.
In conversation for these limited events, Stacey will open up the conversation about mental health in young people, to challenge the stigma and stereotypes aroun d it.
She will also touch on related, broader topics which she has tackled in her documentaries – poverty, addiction, identity, the pressures of social media – and look back on the stand – out moments and interactions from her wide – reaching career.
Join her for what promises to be a thought – provoking, inspiring and informative evening. With a chance to try your own hand at journalism and ask Stacey the questions, this is an opportunity not to be missed.
This event will be to a full audience (not distanced).
Ignite are a Grassroots community organisation who organise and present a quarterly event where members of the community are invited to present on a subject they are passionate about.
Enlighten people but make it quick!
They have had some great presentations from a wide variety of people. You don’t have to be technical to do it, you just need passion for the chosen subject of your presentation.
The format goes like this:
At every Ignite the crowd gathers upstairs at Leaf Cafe on Bold Street for around 12 talks from members of the public each talking about a subject they are passionate about.
The next Ignite event is held 20 October and runs from 6-10pm, with talks normally starting at 7pm. See here for tickets.
For more information see: https://igniteliverpool.com/
After the success of the “Space Is The Place” opening, the team have set a second late date for everyone to head down, see the exhibition and hear directly from the artists.
Artists Patric Rodgers and Angelo Madonna will be at Convenience Gallery on Thursday 30th September at 7pm for a conversation on Space is the Place.
They will be diving into the exhibition providing insight into its creation, process, concept and exploring the wider inspiration discussing the history, myth of Hilbre Island, psychogeography and how to connect deeper with our own place in space.
The exhibition will be available to view in its full glory with all the mood and ambience of their opening.
Show Booklets will be available on the night.
An opportunity to join the Museum’s Learning & Participation Team as they talk through the fascinating stories of some of the many inspirational Black British people connected to Liverpool.
The workshops are free and held Museum of Liverpool, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 October, 11am and 2pm.
Liverpool has a rich history of inspirational Black scousers, such as the groundbreaking 1970s group The Real Thing. These workshops shed light on their many achievements.
A talk by author Lucy Bland, drawing on research from her book Britain’s ‘Brown Babies’: The stories of children born to Black GIs and white women in the Second World War.
The talk will focus on the children born to Black GIs and local women in Liverpool and Merseyside, during the Second World War. ‘Brown Babies’, a term coined in the 1940s by the African American press, referred to approximately 2,000 babies, born from relationships between Black GIs and the white women they met while stationed in the UK.
During this talk, Lucy will also be joined by Liverpool-born people identifying with the term ‘Brown Babies’, who will present their own lived experiences of growing up in all-white and predominantly racist environments. Lucy Bland is Professor of Social and Cultural History at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.
Museum of Liverpool will also host a pop-up display exploring this history between the 2 and 17 October.
An evening of quick-fire presentations by people passionate about using the arts for social change.
Join Collective Encounters for an evening of quick-fire presentations by people passionate about using the arts for social change. The showcase is a great way to grow your ideas, share and celebrate your achievements, rage about something or highlight something that needs to change. Presenters will show up to 15 slides about their theme, project, issue, community, infatuation and/or themselves. Each presentation will last no more than 5 minutes.
This event is a great opportunity to connect, network, get feedback and generate new ideas. Presenters can be theatre-makers, producers, participants, funders, community groups, charities…anyone with a curiosity or passion for arts & social change.
There will be 12 presentations, with opportunities to ask questions of the contributors throughout. The formal event will end at 9.30pm but we will keep the event open for networking until 10.00pm.
