Strands

Click on the links to explore ‘themed’ strands of debates at the 2026 festival. You can download the festival brochure and the weekend timetable in PDF format. To keep up-to-date with the latest festival news, sign up to the Academy of Ideas Substack.

Weekend Saturday Sunday Strands

Keynote Controversies

Lunchtime Bites

Battle for the Economy

Contemporary Controversies

Podcasts Live

Bookshop café conversations

International affairs

Breakfast Banters

The state of welfare

The state of Britain

(Un)Free Society

Lifestyle matters

Tech Futures

Ideological capture?

Ethical dilemmas

Culture Wars

Go on, convince me

Future Britain