Hay Festival will partner with The Independent once again to reprise The News Review, a series of morning panels at Hay Festival 2025 with renowned guests.
As part of the Festival programme, which features 600 sessions spread over 11 days, 22 May–1 June, The News Review will help set the agenda of the day, with guests including world-renowned philosopher AC Grayling, broadcasters Anushka Asthana, Jon Sopel and Lyse Doucet, and historian Kehinde Andrews, with many more to be revealed. Each morning at 10am, journalists from The Independent will dissect the breaking news of the day with these leading minds from politics, science and the arts in front of an audience of literature loving festival-goers.
The Independent’s expert journalists and News Review guests will play an important role in bringing their world-leading insight to Hay-on-Wye and will be an integral part of this year’s event. Across nine sessions, News Review panellists will provide incisive expertise on current affairs, covering pressing areas including climate science with academic Friederike Otto (author of Climate Justice), the shifting nuances of geopolitics with journalists Lyse Doucet and Misha Glenny, and transatlantic developments with the BBC’s Jon Sopel.
Hay Festival president Stephen Fry highlighted the festival’s important role in this year’s tumultuous social and political climate: “Besides the fun and joy of gathering to share stories, it is also the antidote to disinformation and division,” he said.
The News Review programme includes nine sessions featuring major names across science, politics, law, academia, arts and comedy:
Saturday 24 May 2025, 10am
Sunday 25 May 2025, 10am
Monday 26 May 2025, 10am
Tuesday 27 May 2025, 10am
Wednesday 28 May 2025, 10am
Thursday 29 May 2025, 10am
Friday 30 May 2025, 10am
Saturday 31 May 2025, 10am
Sunday 1 June 2025, 10am
Geordie Greig, Editor-In-Chief of The Independent, said:
“Hay Festival remains the world’s greatest exchange for the best works of literature and a forum for ideas, philosophy, politics and provocative debate. I am so pleased that The Independent can once again be at the heart of this meeting of minds, bringing together our journalists with luminaries from all walks of life to discuss the pressing matters affecting us all. The Independent has more than 20 million readers in the UK alone, many of whom are passionate about culture in all its forms. I’m looking forward to a fascinating, thought-provoking series, discussing and shaping the news of the day.”
Julie Finch, Hay Festival Global CEO, said:
“We're delighted to be working with The Independent on the News Review series, gathering festival guests each morning to discuss and debate the day's headlines. With the news agenda changing so quickly, this opens up a space in our programme to be reactive and keep pace with the world around us.”