Connecting people and ideas through conversations that inspire
Our Themes
We organise inspiring conversations with authors and thinkers throughout the year (see Our Next Talks section below). And we also independently handpick events organised by our favourite local bookshops and venues taking place in and around Bristol that fall under one of our below three themes (see All The Talks section).
Nature
Replenishing and reconnecting with the natural world
Nurture
Caring for our community, culture, and society
Nourish
Developing and expanding our minds and souls
Our Next Talks
2026
Tuesday 28th July
7.30pm
Bristol Folk House
Natalie Bennett
Change Everything: How We Can Rethink, Repair, and Rebuild Society
Natalie (Green Party member of the House of Lords) will be discussing her latest book with Andrew Kelly (former Director of Bristol Ideas).
Tuesday 27th October
7.30pm
Bristol Folk House
Julian Baggini
The Art of Flourishing
Julian will be reflecting on what a lifetime of philosophy can teach us about how to flourish in today’s world.
All The Talks
June
Thursday 4th
7.30pm
St George’s
Philosophy Salon
History as a Weapon
Are historical narratives being manipulated to justify war? Hosted by Julian Baggini, this salon will dig into the deep histories behind the war in Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Saturday 6th-Sunday 14th
Various venues
Festival of Nature
The UK’s largest free celebration of the natural world returns…
Monday 8th
6pm
bookhaus
Kojo Koram
Book Launch: The Next Fix
Urgent, moving and deeply reported, The Next Fix asks whether the War on Drugs is really over – or merely changing its chemical formula...
Wednesday 10th
6pm
Watershed
How to create a forest
Bristol Distinguished Address Series x Festival of Nature
Looking into the new western forest and how woodland creation is much more complex than large-scale tree planting.
Saturday 13th
10.30am
Redland Quaker Meeting House
Initiatory landscapes as maps of personal transmutation
Mark Nemglan (organised by C.G. Jung Public Lectures)
Learn how Glastonbury landscape, once understood, reveals itself as a place of initiation in which personal transmutation and renewal can occur…
Tuesday 16th
6pm
Heron Books
Tom Cox
Everything Will Swallow You
Heron welcome Tom Cox to discuss his latest novel as part of Independent Bookshop Week.
Sunday 21st
11am
The Mount Without
Summer Solstice Sound Bath
A nourishing and relaxing Sacred Sound Bath for the Summer Solstice
Sunday 21st
7.30pm
Redgrave Theatre
Adriana Brownlee
Adriana is the youngest woman to have climbed K2 and all 14 of the 8000m peaks. She’ll share stories of her mountaineering journey(s).
Monday 22nd
7.30pm
St George’s
David Olusoga
BBC Celebrity Traitors faithful finalist, and BAFTA award-winning producer, writer, historian, Professor David Olusoga will be presenting his new history talk.
Monday 22nd
7.30pm
St George’s
What makes evidence credible – or usable – for policy?
Professor Kathryn Oliver (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)
What types of knowledge are used and valued in policymaking, and what are the implications for researchers and research institutions?
Monday 22nd
6pm
bookhaus
Cal Flyn
Book Launch: The Savage Landscape
This book addresses our deep yearnings to be awed and inspired by landscapes that remain beyond our reach and examines what Nature gets up to in the absence of humans.
Wednesday 24th
6.30pm
Spike Island Cafe
Sarvat Hasin
How You Find Your Voice Book & Supper Club
A three-course Pakistani supper and an intimate conversation with award-winning author Sarvat Hasin about her new novel, Strange Girls.
Sunday 28th
5.30pm
Clifton Observatory
Rooftop Jazz
Ecocivilization: Making a World that Works for All
An evening of blues on the rooftop terrace with Rendezblues, a soulful jazz ensemble
Monday 29th
6pm
bookhaus
Jeremy Lent
Ecocivilization: Making a World that Works for All
Leading thinker Jeremy Lent offers a reimagination of our current civilisation, grounded in proven design principles of ecosystems and in humankind’s evolved inclination toward justice, mutuality, and dignity.
July
Thursday 2nd
7pm
Small City Bookshop
Novels in the Wild
A celebration and conversation about two extraordinary novels: Life Cycle of a Moth by Rowe Irvin and The Wildness by Anne Keer
Friday 3rd
7pm
Wills Memorial Building
Bristol Palaeobiology Festival
A fascinating evening all about ancient life, chaired by Alice Roberts.
September
Saturday 19th
7.30pm
St George’s
Anthony Scaramucci
The former White House Communications Director turned outspoken Trump critic and host of The Rest is Politics: U.S. comes to Bristol (among other UK venues) to offer an insider’s account of how America reached this moment and to offer a hopeful message for how it might find a way back.
Wednesday 30th
7.30pm
Redgrave Theatre
Banff Mountain Festival World Tour
Featuring a brand-new collection of short films filled with extreme journeys, untamed characters and captivating cinematography.
Get in touch
If you’d like to organise an inspiring conversation please use the form or email us at: hello@bristoltalks.co.uk
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Founded by Eugene and Megan in the summer of 2024