Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

AC Grayling: Who Owns the Moon?

17 Oct 2024

19:30 - 20:30

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Renowned philosopher *AC Grayling* returns to the King’s Hall with an out-of-this-world question: who owns the moon? As Earth’s superpowers and wealthiest corporations turn their eyes to the stars, Grayling considers the future of space and the history of the places which no one owned and everyone made a grab for, from feudal common land, through the rules of the sea, to the vast, nationless expanse of Antarctica. Can we avoid repeating the competition and conflicts of the past in this new space race? Join Grayling as he confronts frontiers, past, present and future.

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General/Concession £17.50/14.50

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Music | Talk

John Suchet: In Search of Beethoven – A Personal Journey

18 Oct 2024

19:30 - 20:30

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Classic FM presenter *John Suchet OBE* discusses his lifelong quest to understand Beethoven, the man, in this extraordinary, personal event. Beethoven has been with Suchet through the best and worst of times, as a music-loving, adventurous teenager, as a journalist entering Beirut in the grip of civil war, and as he explored Bonn and Vienna, in search of the man behind the music. See Beethoven brought vividly to life as Suchet demonstrates the lifechanging power of the great composer’s music.

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General/Concession £17.50/14.50

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King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Station Road, Ilkley
LS29 8HB

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

Gyles Brandreth: Happiness in Just a Minute

19 Oct 2024

12:00 - 13:00

King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

*Gyles Brandreth*, a man who wears many hats (and many jumpers), makes his glorious return to the King’s Hall to spread some joy. The former MP, actor, *One Show* reporter, *Just a Minute *star, prolific author and festival favourite will talk about everything from the secrets of happiness to the fun you can have with the English language. Join Brandreth for a word-perfect afternoon that’s sure to put a smile on your face.

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General/Concession £17.50/14.50

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King’s Hall and Winter Gardens

Station Road, Ilkley
LS29 8HB

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

Chris Goodall: Possible – Ways to Net Zero

13 Oct 2024

18:15 - 19:15

Ilkley Grammar School

A carbon neutral future is possible. So how do we get to net zero? Join *Chris Goodall*, the world’s foremost expert on climate technologies, to discover how much progress is already being made and the sixteen challenges that we must overcome in making a just transition to carbon neutrality. He’ll explore the realities of a green new deal and introduce the technologies that will solve these challenges. Goodall will help you believe that, with determination, a better future is within reach. Presented in partnership with Denton Reserve.

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General/Concession £12/9

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Ilkley Grammar School

Cowpasture Rd, Ilkley
LS29 8TR

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

Stephen Alford: The Secret World of Robert Cecil

19 Oct 2024

13:30 - 14:30

Ilkley Grammar School

Discover the untold story of the ultimate Tudor statesman and spy master: Robert Cecil. *Stephen Alford*, Professor of Early Modern British History at the University of Leeds, reveals the astonishing threats of the period Cecil lived through, with no clear succession from Elizabeth I and military and religious peril at every turn. Hear how Cecil’s espionage network and good luck all conspired to keep England uninvaded and to create a new British monarchy that endures today.

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General/Concession £12/9

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Ilkley Grammar School

Cowpasture Rd, Ilkley
LS29 8TR

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

Paul Johnson: Follow the Money

19 Oct 2024

15:45 - 16:45

Ilkley Grammar School

The government raises and spends £1 trillion of our money every year. Their decisions determine the welfare of the poor and the elderly, the state of the NHS and our schools, and society’s preparedness for the future. Follow the money with economics expert *Paul Johnson CBE*, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, in this eye-opening discussion of where that £1 trillion comes from, where it goes to and how that needs to change. Find out what the prospects are for our future as we grapple with looming recession and the cost-of-living crisis.

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General/Concession £12/9

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Ilkley Grammar School

Cowpasture Rd, Ilkley
LS29 8TR

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

Sir Robin Niblett: The New Cold War

19 Oct 2024

18:15 - 19:15

Ilkley Grammar School

We have entered a new Cold War. The contest between America and China is global, unbridgeable and has its tinder box: Taiwan. *Sir Robin Niblett*, leading expert on international relations and distinguished fellow at Chatham House, joins us for an urgent assessment of the contest between the US and China. Niblett will explain how this new Cold War is nothing like the last, but that only by looking back can we learn the lessons to guide us through this new reality.

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General/Concession £12/9

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Ilkley Grammar School

Cowpasture Rd, Ilkley
LS29 8TR

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Spoken Word | Talk

Raymond Antrobus: The Real and the Imagined

6 Oct 2024

10:30 - 12:30

Ilkley Grammar School

How can poetry play with the line between the real and the imagined? What is poetic truth and how does it relate to the emotional truth of our experience and living in the world? How can poetry imagine ideal worlds whilst being rooted in the “here and now”? Through a series of practical writing exercises and close readings of poems, you’ll explore these big questions in a supportive environment with award-winning poet *Raymond Antrobus.* This event has a limited number of bursary tickets available for people who might not otherwise be able to afford them. You can apply here.There will be a BSL interpreter at this event.

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General/Concession £25/22

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Ilkley Grammar School

Cowpasture Rd, Ilkley
LS29 8TR

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Food & Drink | Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

Ben Tish & Georgina Hayden: Food Odyssey

5 Oct 2024

19:45 - 20:45

Ilkley Playhouse

Spain to Morocco, via Italy, Sicily, Greece and Lebanon, one culinary influence gives way to the next in a rich seam of deeply delicious food. Let* Ben Tish* and *Georgina Hayden* transport you from autumnal Ilkley to the sun-soaked shores of the Mediterranean on an odyssey through the passion, colours and flavours of Mediterranean food. Chefs Tish, author of* Mediterra,* and Hayden, author of *Greekish*, discuss their favourite recipes, reveal how to make dishes like a local and explore how to add your own twists to mouth-watering classics. Enjoy a glass of Mediterranean wine upon arrival. Presented in partnership with Martinez Wines.

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General/Concession £15/12

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Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

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Heritage | Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

John Kampfner: In Search of Berlin

6 Oct 2024

12:00 - 13:00

Ilkley Playhouse

From military barracks to industrial powerhouse, hotbed of decadence to a laboratory for the worst horrors known to man, no other city has had so many lives, survived so many disasters and reinvented itself so many times. No other city is like Berlin. *John Kampfner’s* illustrious career in journalism began in Communist East Berlin reporting on the fall of the Wall. He’s been unable to get the city out of his mind ever since. Join Kampfner for a faszinierend conversation on the 800-year history of this turbulent, beguiling metropolis.

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General/Concession £12/9

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Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Spoken Word | Talk

Raymond Antrobus: Signs, Music

6 Oct 2024

14:30 - 15:30

Ilkley Playhouse

Join one of Britain’s most exciting poets, Ted Hughes Award winner *Raymond Antrobus*, as he reads from his new collection. Looking backwards to his late father and forwards to his new son, the poems of Signs, Music see Antrobus preparing to become a parent for the first time. Charting the ways parenthood disrupts one’s sense of self, *Signs, Music* is a staggeringly profound collection on masculinity, fatherhood and love.This event has a limited number of bursary tickets available for people who might not otherwise be able to afford them. You can apply here.There will be a BSL interpreter at this event.

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General/Concession £12/9

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Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Music | Talk

Vanessa Kisuule: Idols and Infamy

6 Oct 2024

17:00 - 18:00

Ilkley Playhouse

Celebrities inspire us with their music, move us with their words and influence every corner of society, from fashion to politics. But what happens when the famous figures we love do terrible things? Award-winning slam poet (and self confessed Michael Jackson mega fan) *Vanessa Kisuule* explores the nuances of fandom and the costs of hero worship. Join us for a fascinating, timely conversation on the dangers of idolising and villainising famous figures and whether we can, or should, separate the art from the artist.

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General/Concession £12/9

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Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

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Heritage | Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

Robert Hornsby: The Soviet Sixties

6 Oct 2024

19:30 - 20:30

Ilkley Playhouse

*Robert Hornsby*, associate professor in modern European history at the University of Leeds, tells the remarkable story of the ‘Soviet sixties’, an era of reform, controversy, optimism and Cold War confrontation in the Soviet Union. Hear how ideological romanticism of the revolutionary years was revived, mass terror was reined in, Stalinist cultural dogmas were challenged, and young people rebelled. Hornsby paints a colourful picture of the tumultuous years that transformed the lives of Soviet citizens and reshaped the wider world.

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General/Concession £12/9

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Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

Friends Reception with James Nash

10 Oct 2024

18:00 - 19:00

Ilkley Playhouse

In an event exclusively for Friends of the Festival, poet, writer and chair extraordinaire *James Nash* will celebrate his stand-out memories from his years helming Ilkley Lit Fest events. Interspersed with reflections on his own writing and readings from his latest poetry collection *Notes of Your Music*, expect glittering anecdotes from Nash’s interviews with such legends as Ranulph Fiennes, Margaret Drabble, Alan Titchmarsh and Billy Bragg. Find out who the best-dressed and most entertaining guests were, as well as Nash’s dream interviewees.Become a Friend of the Festival and attend the event for free.

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General/Concession Free for Friends

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Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

John Murray Press: Proof Party & Prosecco

10 Oct 2024

19:45 - 20:45

Ilkley Playhouse

Meet two of the next big names in fiction and get your hands on their exciting debut novels before they’re published at John Murray Press’s proof party! *Clare Leslie Hall’s* *Broken Country* is an epic love story with the pulse of a thriller. Set in rural England, it follows a woman who must choose between the life she has built and the passion of her first love. *Lucy Steeds’s* gorgeously immersive novel *The Artist* was inspired by a line in an art history book which claimed “there are no female forgers”. In 1920s Provence, Ettie, the niece of a great, reclusive painter has been cultivating a secret. Over one sweltering summer her truth is revealed. Enjoy a glass of prosecco on arrival and take home a free goody bag with proof copies of both books.

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General/Concession £12/9

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Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

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Heritage | Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

Linda Porter & Sophie Shorland: Forgotten Queens

12 Oct 2024

12:00 - 13:00

Ilkley Playhouse

Think you know your royal history? Think again. Meet Margaret Tudor, elder sister of Henry VIII and mother to James V of Scotland, whose dramatic life laid the groundwork for a future British state. And Catherine of Braganza, Charles II’s long-overshadowed wife, who we have to thank for popularising trousers for women, Baroque art and music, and – perhaps most long-lastingly – tea drinking. Join authors *Sophie Shorland * and *Linda Porter* for a fascinating discussion of the royal women who historians have consistently overlooked, and come away with a new understanding of our past.

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General/Concession £12/9

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Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

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Heritage | Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

Andrew McMillan & Catherine Taylor: Northern Stories

5 Oct 2024

12:00 - 13:00

Ilkley Playhouse

Join award-winning poet *Andrew McMillan *and winner of the TLS Ackerley Prize *Catherine Taylor *as they discuss writing northern stories and voices, and the differences between penning fiction and non-fiction. McMillan’s debut novel *Pity* is set across three generations of a South Yorkshire mining family in the 20th and 21st centuries. It is a lament for a lost way of life as well as a celebration of resilience and transformation. Taylor’s memoir *The Stirrings* explores the time and place that shaped her: growing up in the North of England in the 1970s and 80s in the shadow of the Yorkshire Ripper. This event has a limited number of bursary tickets available for people who might not otherwise be able to afford them. You can apply here.

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General/Concession £12/9

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Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

Rob Eastaway: Much Ado About Numbers

12 Oct 2024

17:00 - 18:00

Ilkley Playhouse

Shakespeare + maths = ? Solve the equation with award-winning writer and mathematician *Rob Eastaway*! Discover how new mathematical ideas that were taking off in Shakespeare’s lifetime – from astronomy to probability and music to multiplication – cropped up in surprising ways in his plays. Find out how Tudors multiplied, why Shakespeare never ended a line with the word orange, and why dice-playing was a serious hazard for the unwary. With historical asides about games, optics, astronomy, music and magic, you will never think about maths or Shakespeare the same way again.

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General/Concession £12/9

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Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

Tom Heap: Land Smart

13 Oct 2024

12:00 - 13:00

Ilkley Playhouse

With mounting toll of extinction and pollution and no land left to take, how can we sustain ourselves and preserve our countryside? BBC’s *Countryfile* presenter *Tom Heap* discusses everything he’s learned touring the British countryside and speaking to the farmers, scientists, conservationists and even warehouse managers who are solving this most pressing challenge. Join Heap to discover how, if we use it cleverly, our land can give both humanity and nature the space to thrive. And why, if we don’t get land smart, we’re in trouble. Presented in partnership with Otley Wildlife Arts Festival.

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General/Concession £12/9

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Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

Sharon Blackie: Wise Women

13 Oct 2024

14:30 - 15:30

Ilkley Playhouse

Join award-winning writer, psychologist and mythologist *Sharon Blackie* to hear retold myths and folk tales that celebrate the wisdom and power of women in midlife and beyond. From early childhood, we learn about the world through myths and fairy tales. The heroines, though, tend to be young princesses, and the evil-doers often older women. Blackie turns old stereotypes on their head, revealing a dazzling array of not-to-be-messed-with women who outwit monsters, test and mentor younger heroines, weave the world into being and almost always have the last laugh.This event has a limited number of bursary tickets available for people who might not otherwise be able to afford them. You can apply here.

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General/Concession £12/9

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Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

Alan Hollinghurst: Our Evenings

13 Oct 2024

17:00 - 18:00

Ilkley Playhouse

Man Booker Prize-winning novelist *Alan Hollinghurst* discusses his new novel. Both dark and luminous, poignant and wickedly funny, Our Evenings is a portrait of modern England that unfolds over half a century. It follows Dave Win and Giles Hadlow, who meet as public schoolboys and whose lives diverge dramatically in adulthood. Hear Hollinghurst, one of the finest writers of our age, discuss this eloquent and insightful exploration of race and class, theatre and sexuality, love and violence. This event has a limited number of bursary tickets available for people who might not otherwise be able to afford them. You can apply here.

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General/Concession £12/9

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Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Talk

James Baldwin’s Fire Still Rages

5 Oct 2024

14:00 - 15:00

Ilkley Playhouse

Marking 100 years since his birth, WritersMosaic presents an afternoon of words and music celebrating the enduring work of the extraordinary writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin. Join author *Colin Grant*, journalist *Chitra Ramaswamy *and poet *Vanessa Kisuule* as they reflect on Baldwin’s prescience and his writing, informed by love, political activism, and the Blues. Take in Missohio’s slideshow journeying around Baldwin as singer songwriter *Angeline Morrison* performs in accompaniment. Experience the power of Baldwin’s writing as actor *Burt Caesar* brings it to life in a live reading. This event has a limited number of bursary tickets available for people who might not otherwise be able to afford them. You can apply here. Presented in partnership with WritersMosaic.

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General/Concession £12/9

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Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Literature | Performance | Spoken Word

Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa: Cane, Corn & Gully

17 Oct 2024

19:00 - 20:30

Ilkley Playhouse

Join choreopoet Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa for a live literature performance integrating visual art, dance, poetry and spoken word.

Adapted from her highly acclaimed debut poetry collection, Cane, Corn & Gully, this is a literary experience unlike any other. As Kinshasa navigates the historical narratives of Barbadian women through their dances she learns valuable lessons on womanhood, love and ice-cream sandwiches and shares ground breaking research on Black history. This performance features historical tales that some audiences may find disturbing. This event has a limited number of bursary tickets available for people who might not otherwise be able to afford them. You can apply here.Presented in partnership with Kala Sangam.

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General/Concession £12/9

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Ilkley Playhouse

Weston Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire,
LS29 8DW

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Ilkley Literature Festival | Talk

Susie Alegre: Human Rights, Robot Wrongs LIVESTREAMED

5 Oct 2024

13:15

Online

From Chat GPT to uncannily realistic chatbots, artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly prominent part of our daily lives. But is it helping or hindering humanity? Join leading international human rights lawyer and digital rights pioneer *Susie Alegre* for a timely conversation on what it means to be human in the age of AI. Explore the profound ethical dilemmas and fundamental threat this technology poses to our human rights, and find out how we can ensure that AI serves, rather than subverts, our humanity.

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General/Concession £5/10

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