Hay Festival Anytime - Listen and watch writers and thinkers from Hay Festivals around the world

Start your day at Hay Festival with our daily news review. Join our leading journalists and special guests as they take us behind the headlines with insider perspectives, insights and an eye on what’s next. Strong coffee recommended! Among today’s guests are journalist James O’Brien, judge Lady Hale and comedian Doon Mackichan.

Doon Mackichan is best known for her comedy characters in the hugely popular Brass Eye, Smack the Pony and Toast of London. Lady Hale is former President of the UK Supreme Court and James O'Brien is a British radio presenter, podcaster and author. Chaired by The Independent chief books critic Martin Chilton.

How many friends do you have? Growing up, Elizabeth Day wanted to make everyone like her. Lacking friends at school, she grew up to believe that quantity equalled quality. Having lots of friends meant you were loved, popular and safe. But in adulthood she slowly realised that it was often to the detriment of her own boundaries and mental health. Join Day, in conversation with the internet’s resident librarian Jack Edwards, to unpack her Confessions of a Friendship Addict, from her own personal friendships and their distinct importance, to the significance and evolution of friendship across the globe. Day’s critically acclaimed books include How to Fail, The Party and Magpie. She hosts the iTunes chart-topping podcast How to Fail with Elizabeth Day.

The Irish novelist’s latest work is a series of four novellas, collectively titled The Elements. Four stories with four very different narrators, all of whom have been involved in, complicit with, or found themselves the victims of trauma. The first, Water, published in 2023, is a confronting, reflective story about a woman coming to terms with the demons of her past. Boyne now unfolds the tale of Earth, which follows young footballer Evan Keogh as he leaves his Irish island, finding work as a male escort before becoming a professional footballer. It’s a gritty and complex narrative exploring guilt, shame and facing the consequences of one’s actions. Boyne is one of the most critically acclaimed novelists of his generation. His best-known book, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, is a modern classic.

Celebrate the 10th anniversary of everyone’s favourite dinosaur-who-cried-wolf story, Gigantosaurus – as seen on TV! Listen to bestselling author and illustrator Jonny Duddle read the story and join in with his draw-along, creating your own dinosaurs to take home.

Please bring your own sketchbook and pencils to draw along in this event.

Rusty Fizzbang, vet to magical beasts, needs an apprentice. Ember Spark, looking for adventure, is his newest recruit, along with an unlikely friend called Arno. But keeping magical beasts a secret isn’t an easy task, especially with arch-villain Jasper Hornswoggle hot on their heels…

Join bestselling children’s author Abi Elphinstone as she talks about her new book Ember Spark and the Thunder of Dragons. Abi reveals where she finds her ideas – from shower gel bottles and street signposts to adventures in the Arctic and Mongolia – as well as showing you how to plan your own stories, dream up titles and nail that opening line. An event that champions the joy of reading and writing while encouraging you to be curious, courageous and kind.

Please bring your own notebook and pen or pencil to this event.

American filmmaker Norma Percy’s documentary series Putin vs the West aired a second series this year. At War looks at the first year of the full-scale war in Ukraine, through the eyes of the Presidents and Prime Ministers who had to deal with it, including Volodymyr Zelensky, Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, the head of the CIA and the UN Secretary General.

Series Producer Norma Percy, former Ukraine Defence Minister Oleksii Réznikov and the director of the series Tim Stirzaker discuss the show and what is happening in Ukraine with investigative journalist Misha Glenny.

Take a trip around Europe through the work of three writers in translation. Jean-Baptiste del Amo’s The Son of Man (translated by Frank Wynne) sees a man reappear in the life of his wife and their young son and take them to the dilapidated house in the mountains where he grew up with his ruthless father. Living Things by Munir Hachemi (translated by Julia Sanches) follows four recent graduates who travel to the south of France to work the grape harvest, but end up working on an industrial chicken farm. Sara Mesa’s Un Amor (translated by Katie Whittemore) is about Nat, who arrives in an arid rural village in Spain following a cryptic mistake. They speak with writer Max Liu.

Join our expert panel as they delve into the pressing issues surrounding the surge in flooding incidents driven by climate change and their profound effects on communities, agriculture and our landscapes. From exploring the current challenges faced by farmers to discussing innovative strategies for future preparedness, this discussion aims to help us cultivate resilience.

Ali Capper is a fruit and hops grower in Worcestershire. She is director of the British Hop Association, member of the Hop Industry Committee and chair of British Apples and Pears. Ian Maddock is Professor of River Science, Geography, Environmental Management and Sustainability at the University of Worcester. David Throup was Environment Agency Area Manager in Worcester for 22 years and is an expert on flooding. They talk to Nicola Goodwin from BBC Midlands Investigations...

Settle in for a joyous morning of family entertainment with national treasure and former Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen. He shares stories and poems from his extensive back catalogue, and introduces his latest playful tale The Incredible Adventures of Gaston le Dog. Inspired by stories Michael used to tell his son on holiday in France, this was the book he dreamed of writing while he was recovering from Covid.

Island boy Aaron loves the sea. But he's a bit scared of going under the water. Then one day Aaron finds an octopus stranded on the beach. And as he helps Dad return it to the water, something amazing happens… Can Aaron lose his fear and go underwater? Maybe now he can help look after the sea creatures and be… Aqua Boy!

Award-winning author and illustrator Ken Wilson-Max (Astro Girl and Eco Girl) reads from Aqua Boy, an empowering story about looking after the ocean and its wildlife. Next he shows you how to draw an octopus yourself, and then – hold your breath! – while you complete your drawing, Ken creates a stunning live painting.

Please bring your own sketchbook and pencils to draw along in this event.

From the historian and co-presenter of The Rest is History podcast comes the story of antiquity’s ultimate superpower at the pinnacle of its greatness. The Roman Empire once stretched from Scotland to Arabia, the wealthiest and most formidable state the world had seen. Holland’s Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age begins in 69 AD, a year that saw four Caesars in succession rule the empire, and ends some seven decades later with the death of Hadrian. Covering the destruction of Jerusalem and Pompeii, the building of the Colosseum and Hadrian’s Wall, and the conquests of Trajan, he vividly sketches the lives of Romans from slaves to emperors. This is the last of his trilogy that began with Rubicon and continued with Dynasty.

Every day we’re sold a dream life through adverts: sun-soaked holidays, beautiful interiors, perfect home-brewed coffees. We consume goods like there’s no tomorrow, and if advertising continues as it is, that might indeed become true. Leo Murray and Andrew Simms, authors of Badvertising: Polluting our Minds and Fuelling Climate Chaos, raise the alarm about an industry that is making us both unhealthy and unhappy, and that is driving the planet to the precipice of environmental collapse in the process. They address the psychological impact of being barraged by thousands of adverts a day, how commercialisation of public spaces weakens our sense of belonging and what we can do to change things for the better.

Amor Towles (A Gentleman in Moscow, The Lincoln Highway) shares some of his stylish and transporting shorter fiction with journalist Max Liu. Table for Two is a sophisticated collection of stories set in New York City and Golden Age Hollywood. Taking place at the turn of the millennium, the New York stories consider the fateful consequences of brief encounters and the delicate mechanics of compromise that operate at the heart of modern marriages. The novella ‘Eve in Hollywood’ picks up where Towles’ first novel Rules of Civility left off, with the indomitable Evelyn Ross crafting a new future for herself – and others – in a noirish tale that takes us through the movie sets and dive bars of 1938 Los Angeles.

Live your best life with empowering advice from Jessie Yendle, the beauty and self-confidence boosting influencer AKA ‘That Girl with the Stammer on TikTok’. In this empowering event for young adults, Jessie shares her experiences and how she learnt to challenge herself to ‘have a go’. She offers a safe space to help you increase your positivity, let go of the things that bother you and deal with your anxieties. Inspired by her book Let’s Talk, Jessie gives tips to boost confidence and support positive mental health – and she’ll answer your questions too.

Please bring your own notebook and pen or pencil to this event.

There will be a BSL interpreter at this event

As Home Secretary for six years and Prime Minister for three, Theresa May confronted a series of issues in which the abuse of power led to devastating results for individuals and significantly damaged the reputation of, and trust in, public institutions and politicians. From the Hillsborough and Grenfell tragedies to the Daniel Morgan case and parliamentary scandals, the powerful repeatedly chose to use their power not in the interests of the powerless but to serve themselves or to protect the organisation to which they belonged. The Abuse of Power: Confronting Injustice in Public Life is May’s searing exposé of injustice and an impassioned call to exercise power for the greater good. The former prime minister argues for a radical rethink in how we approach our politics and public life, in conversation with BBC broadcaster Samira Ahmed.

Come and celebrate with the much-loved author and former Children’s Laureate as he introduces a new edition of his 1979 diary of Parsonage Farm. All Around the Year was Morpurgo’s first book, and his early impressions of the English countryside grew into an undertaking that he describes as the best story of his life: the founding of Farms for City Children, a charity started with his wife Clare that has since enabled over 100,000 city children to spend a week in the countryside, living and working on a farm. The book includes poems by Ted Hughes, Morpurgo’s friend and neighbour, and is illustrated with photographs by James Ravilious, who spent most of his life documenting rural life in Devon. This new edition is published to mark Morpurgo’s 80th birthday.

Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire is one of the foremost recording studios in the world, immortalised in the documentary, Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm. The ‘Galileos’ of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ were born at Rockfield. Black Sabbath, Iggy Pop, Rush, Oasis, Simple Minds, Coldplay, Robert Plant, The Manic Street Preachers and Paolo Nutini have all recorded there. Tiffany Murray, whose memoir My Family and Other Rock Stars is set at the studios, talks to the King of Rockfield, Kingsley Ward MBE, and studio manager Lisa Ward about the legendary location.

Tim Peake was the first British astronaut to conduct a spacewalk at the International Space Station, and an inspiration for budding young scientists and astronauts everywhere. In this out-of-this-world event, Peake talks about his first non-fiction book for children, The Cosmic Diary of Our Incredible Universe with space scientist, educator, author and presenter Maggie Aderin-Pocock. You'll discover everything from how stars are made, to which fruit can create antimatter. Peake is a former Apache pilot, flight instructor, test pilot and European Space Agency astronaut whose books include his memoir Limitless, and the photography collection Hello, is this Planet Earth?

What can tea and pyjamas tell us about Britain today? Carnegie-nominated author Shelina Janmohamed steers an interactive, mind-blowing journey through the centuries and lands of the British Empire, standing in the shoes of kids just like you. Hear the voices of children of the industrial revolution, enslaved children, the Home children and even the teenage match girls who went on strike and inspired a political movement. Understanding what happened during the British Empire helps all of us to make sense of the world we live in today. Not afraid to tackle big issues like racism and inequality, Shelina will ask perhaps the most important question of all: how can you be the author of your own (British Empire) story, and could your story change the course of history?

Please bring your own notebook and pen or pencil to this event.

The roots of Western civilisation lie in ancient Greek and Rome, and values like freedom, rationality, justice, democracy and tolerance originated in the West. But what if that’s not true? Covering 4,000 years of history, Josephine Quinn calls for a major reassessment of the West, arguing that many of the values we hold close are not only or originally western, and that the West is a product of longstanding links between a large group of cultures, from the Gobi Desert to the Atlantic Ocean, Scandinavia to the Sahara. Quinn, a professor of ancient history at the University of Oxford, puts forward a rich new narrative that has the power to change how we see the world.

Dive deep with physicist Helen Czerski and marine biologist Helen Scales as they speak to the Festival’s Sustainability Director Andy Fryers about our vast oceans. Czerski’s The Blue Machine illuminates the murky depths of the ocean engine, examining the messengers, passengers and voyagers that live in it, travel over it, and survive because of it. Scales’ What the Wild Sea Can Be is an optimistic view of the future of the ocean, looking at how fish populations and giant kelp and seagrass forests are being regenerated and expanded.

Tune in to BBC Radio 4 broadcaster Jeffrey Boakye to discover modern world history as you’ve never heard it before! The critically acclaimed author of Musical Truth presents Musical World, a new book and soundtrack charting pivotal historical moments from across the globe. Explore the cultural, political and societal impact of various music genres and musicians, including artists Bob Marley, Aretha Franklin, Lil Nas X and many more.

The singer-songwriter, record producer and former British Army officer regales us with tales loosely based on fact, from his questionable Norfolk roots, eccentric family, boarding school antics, misjudged military service, to his rise to music stardom and tour escapades. His 2004 debut album Back to Bedlam, featuring the single You’re Beautiful, sold over 11 million copies and was the best-selling album of the 2000s in the UK. His new album, Who We Used to Be is out in October. Blunt talks to writer and presenter Matt Everitt.

There will be a BSL interpreter at this event

What would a sustainable economy look like? How could we live within our environmental means? Sir Dieter Helm explains what it would take to properly maintain different types of capital, why polluters would have to pay, why the current generation would have to fund the necessary maintenance of our natural assets and why we would have to save to invest. Author of Net Zero and The Carbon Crunch, Helm is Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford. From 2012 to 2020 he was Independent Chair of the UK Natural Capital Committee, providing advice to the government on the sustainable use of natural capital. His latest book is Legacy: How to Build the Sustainable Economy and he is in conversation with Mark Lloyd, CEO of The Rivers Trust.

Join Professor Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost for an illustrated talk about his new book, Fieldnotes from Celtic Palestine. He shares reflections on his field visits to Palestine over several years, including encounters such as being served tea by the daughter of a Hamas suicide bomber in the family apartment in Ramallah, and being taken to Jewish settlements regarded as illegal under international law. He explores aspects of the conflict in Palestine through the medium of art, casting a critical eye upon depictions of Gaza by the Welsh artist Osi Rhys Osmond and upon portrayals of the West Bank in the creative writing of Irish novelist Colum McCann. Chríost is Director of Postgraduate Research Studies at the School of Welsh, Cardiff University.

Girlo Wolf longs for something beyond the defunct slag heaps of post-industrial Wales and nurtures dreams of becoming a poet. But, struggling with mental health challenges and the repercussions of childhood trauma, she falls into a dark underworld of sex, drugs and alcohol. Poet and activist Gemma June Howell discusses her darkly comedic novel The Crazy Truth, which sheds light on the harsh realities of economic poverty and present-day oppression, with author Rachel Trezise. Howell is director of Women Publishing Wales/Menywod Cyhoeddi Cymru.

Only 628 people in human history have left Earth. Tim Peake traces the lives of some of these remarkable men and women, from Yuri Gagarin to Neil Armstrong, Valentina Tereshkova to Peggy Whitson. He describes the wondrous view of Earth, the surreal weightlessness, the extraordinary danger, the surprising humdrum, the unexpected humour, the psychological pressures, the physical toll, the thrill of launch and trepidation of re-entry. He also examines the surprising, shocking and often poignant stories of astronauts back on Earth, whose lives are forever changed as they readjust to terra firma. A former Apache helicopter pilot, flight instructor and test pilot, Peake was the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station. In conversation with Andy Fryers, Sustainability Director, Hay Festival Global.

Faced with family dramas, political crises and questions about the future of the monarchy in Britain and elsewhere, the new King has had no shortage of challenges to face including, most recently, his cancer diagnosis. Robert Hardman, writer and co-producer of the BBC documentary Charles III: The Coronation Year, gives his insight into the life of our current monarch, including looking at the role played by Queen Camilla and the monarchy’s role on the world stage.

Hardman has been a member of the BBC commentary team at all the major state occasions of recent times and is the author of several international bestsellers, including Queen of Our Times: The Life of Elizabeth II. His latest book is Charles III.

Nigerian writer Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀’s debut novel Stay With Me was shortlisted for the Baileys Prize for Women’s Fiction and the Wellcome Book Prize. Discussing her latest novel A Spell of Good Things – longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize – Adébáyọ̀ shines her light on the gaping divide between the haves and the have-nots in Nigeria, and the shared humanity that lies in between. Eniola spends his days running errands for the local tailor, collecting newspapers and begging, dreaming of a big future. Wuraola is a golden girl, the perfect child of a wealthy family. When sudden violence shatters a family party, Wuraola and Eniola’s lives collide.

Join Leusa Llewelyn, Artistic Director of Literature Wales, as she speaks to four of the authors shortlisted for the 2024 Wales Book of the Year Awards. The writers discuss their work and explore the wider context of literature in Wales today. Gain an introduction to some of Wales’ best writers, with the winners being announced later this summer at the Awards Ceremony on 4 July.

The Wales Book of the Year Awards are the national literary awards celebrating outstanding creative talent in Welsh and English across fiction, poetry, non-fiction, creative non-fiction and writing for children and young people. Established in the late 1960s, the awards have since 2011 been run by Literature Wales, the national charity for the development of literature.

The American novelist joins us for a conversation about the TV adaptation of his 2016 novel. He discusses the story and its re-presentation, with clips from the Paramount+ limited series starring Emmy Award-winning actor Ewan McGregor.

In A Gentleman in Moscow, a Russian aristocrat in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution finds that his gilded past places him on the wrong side of history. Spared immediate execution, he is banished by a Soviet tribunal to an attic room in the opulent Hotel Metropol, threatened with death if he ever sets foot outside again. As the years pass and some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history unfold outside the hotel’s doors, the Count’s reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery. As he builds a new life within the walls of the hotel, he discovers the true value of friendship, family and love. In conversation with actor, screenwriter, producer and director, Johnny Harris who plays Osip Glebnikov in A Gentleman in Moscow.