Places for Curious Minds
Science, philosophy, politics, design and public ideas for people who still enjoy changing their minds.
The city's best public-intellectual programme is scattered across institutions that rarely appear in the same guide. Here are the lecture halls, museums and debating rooms where specialists explain their work properly, difficult questions are allowed to remain difficult, and an ordinary evening can open an unexpected line of inquiry.
13 venues
Royal Institution
Public science in the building where some of its most important discoveries were made.
Explore venue →Wellcome Collection
Medicine, bodies, art and society examined without simplifying the difficult parts.
Explore venue →Conway Hall
London's humanist hall has made room for dissenting ideas since 1929.
Explore venue →RSA Public Talks
Public conversations connecting social change, design, economics and civic life.
Explore venue →Intelligence Squared
Structured debates that take opposing arguments and the audience seriously.
Explore venue →LSE
Economics, politics and social science discussed by researchers and public figures.
Explore venue →Linnean Society of London
Natural history and evolutionary science from the world's oldest active biological society.
Explore venue →Design Museum
A place to examine how designed objects shape behaviour, systems and everyday life.
Explore venue →Frontline Club
Journalists and documentary makers discussing events beyond the news cycle.
Explore venue →SOAS
Public scholarship on Asia, Africa and the Middle East from a genuinely international institution.
Explore venue →The School of Life
Psychology, philosophy and emotional life translated into accessible public discussion.
Explore venue →The London Society
Architecture, planning and the future of London explored through talks and urban history.
Explore venue →How To Academy
Long-form conversations with writers, thinkers and specialists across disciplines.
Explore venue →