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Edinburgh opens its doors to new ideas with a longlist of great thinkers as part of this year’s TED conference
A slew of artists, musicians, scientists, architects, historians, filmmakers, actors and many more will descend on the capital this July, as part of a four-day programme devoted to ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’. Helmed by non-profit organisation TED, the conference will showcase 70 talks, performances and tech demonstrations from leading figures around the globe, under the banner ‘The Stuff of Life’. Held for the first time this year
in Edinburgh, TEDGlobal will feature international names including philosopher Alain de Botton, historian Niall Ferguson, comedian Robin Ince (pictured), actress Thandie Newton and politician Rory Stewart. Each will have 18 minutes to put their points to the 800 people from over 30 countries that are expected to attend. TED’s European director, Bruno Giussani, who curated the speaker’s line-up says: ‘The TEDGlobal 2011 speakers will celebrate life in all its forms. We’ve assembled a program that explores life from the secrets of the biological processes that take place in our body, to the cultural constructs that take place in our society; from the technologies and resources that make life possible, to the themes that define our humanity – or threaten it.’ If you haven’t got a conference
pass (or didn’t have the $5200 required to obtain one) you can watch videos of previous and upcoming talks at ted.com/talks. ■ TED will run from 11–15 Jul.
Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on
Facebook at facebook.com/TED
8 THE LIST 23 Jun–21 Jul 2011
An open book
Grant Morrison, Will Self, Ingrid Betancourt and Jo Nesbø are
among the highlights at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival, finds The List’s books editor Brian Donaldson
A selection of international authors, a bunch of Scottish novelists, an array of top non-fiction scribes, a host of children’s writers and a series of exciting innovations: yes, it’s just another Edinburgh International Book Festival programme. A cliché it may be, but there really is something for virtually everyone at this year’s event, which runs from 13 to 29 August.
Difficult to know where to begin, though the excellent opening day’s schedule is as good a place as any. Alasdair Gray is given the proud task of officially opening proceedings, while a thrilling live performance of his Fleck brings the curtain down, featuring starring roles for Will Self, Alan Bissett, Ian Rankin and AL Kennedy, all of which is in partnership with National Theatre Scotland. the of
Among the host of homegrown talents appearing at Charlotte Square Gardens will be Kevin MacNeil, Ali Smith, Alan Warner and Grant Morrison, while North America is splendidly represented by TC Boyle,
Robert Coover, Sapphire and Ben Mezrich. There are a number of impressive debut authors including Sunjeev Sahota, Mary Horlock, Adam Levin and Rebecca Hunt, while international authors Sjón, Andrzej Stasiuk, Jo Nesbø (pictured, above) and Chan Koonchung are coming our way. In the Children’s programme, authors such as Julia Donaldson, Jacqueline Wilson and Eoin Colfer are accompanied there by iconic characters such as Tarzan, Horrid Henry and Peter Rabbit, while the world of sport is represented by former Wales and Celtic footballer cricket commentator Jonathan ‘Aggers’ Agnew and controversial cycling star Hartson,
John
David Millar.
The world of journalism and politics has thrown up some intriguing events from the likes of former hostage Ingrid Betancourt, scourge the establishment Heather Brooke, terrorism analyst Peter Taylor and Jon Ronson (pictured, left), the man who can spot a psychopath at 50 paces. of