There’s a definite trend in the type of talks I enjoy. My favourite are adventures set in far flung places or extreme challenges. It seems that I prefer to listen to other people’s hardships rather than experience myself!
1. Dom Joly, The Conspiracy Tourist.
Oxford Playhouse, March 2024.
Dom Joly is probably best known for his 1990s show, Trigger Happy TV. Following the heady days of answering giant phones and dressing as a squirrel he’s carved out an alternative sideline in niche travel writing. I’d heard him previously talking about Dark Tourism so was keen to see his new show, The Conspiracy Theorist. Fortunately it didn’t disappoint. The first half was a brief history and whistlestop tour of conspiracy theories around the world, covering Flat Earthers, the existence of Finland, the true nature of Denver Airport and the assassination of JFK. The second half was given over to a well known conspiracy theorist, Dr Julian Northcote (who looked remarkably like Dom), before Dom returned for the final part of the show. Really enjoyed the show, although preferred the first half.
2. Hilary Bradt, in conversation with Kate Humble.
Oxford Mathematical Institute, March 2024.
An Oxford Literary Festival event. Hilary Bradt travelled widely and adventurously in the 1960s and 1970s, and set up Bradt guidebooks when she couldn’t find a publisher for the book she’d co-written. Now in her 80s, this talk was a reflection on Hilary’s life and how the world has changed. It was particularly interesting to hear about Hilary’s early travels and the challenges she faced. A special mention goes to her interviewer, Kate Humble, who came across as a likeable equally adventurous traveller.
At the end, I bought Hilary’s book and mentioned the existence of this ‘60 things’ list when she signed it. She suggested adding hitchhiking to it!
3. Kate Atkinson.
Trinity Church, Abingdon, August 2024
The heavens opened as we walked towards this event, so we arrived a tad soggy! Organised by Mostly Books, a bookshop in Abingdon, we sat in a packed hall to listen to author Kate Atkinson. Kate rose to prominence when she won the Costa Book of the Year 1995 for “Behind the scenes at the museum”. However, it’s her Jackson Brodie books which I enjoy the most, and we were there to listen to a reading from her latest book in this series, along with an interview from the host. This was followed by an audience Q&A. It was interesting to hear that nowadays Kate is a writer, rather than a reader as she feels guilty if not writing. I’m the opposite and am looking forward to reading her latest novel.
6. Adventure travel show.
London, January 2025
I’m counting this as one event though we listened to multiple talks. These included explorer Benedict Allen, Chief Scout Dwayne Fields, cycle tourers Sahir Permall and Rebecca Lowe. I’ve seen Benedict talk a couple of times previously, he’s an engaging speaker (and he even inspired my trip to Mongolia 20-odd years ago). Similarly it was great listening to Dwayne’s story about his upbringing, which was thought provoking. Rebecca and Sahir spoke about their separate solo bike journeys. I had followed Sahir’s trip on Instagram the previous summer so it was great to hear her talk more about it. I said hello to her afterwards and let her know how much I’d enjoyed following her journey.
5. Sean Conway.
Amey Theatre, Abingdon, February 2025.
Sean is an ultra-endurance athlete, who broke the world record for completing 105 Ironman triathlons in 105 days. Sean talked for a solid 2 hours about the various attempts he’d made to break records, such as cycling across the world and running across Britain. He focussed a lot on failure, and picking yourself up after things have gone wrong. It was an entertaining talk, with lots of photos and videos, which finished on a high with his Ironman achievement.
Challenge partly completed
Challenge partly completed. Pop over to read the full list of my 60 things to do before I’m 60.