Mystery Speakers

LOUIS THEROUX

Fireside Chat: The Resilience of Man in Our Relentless Quest for Answers

Day 2 | Thursday, January 25, 2024

5:10pm - 5:55pm

Whether you know him as a documentary presenter who likes to explore the often controversial and complex aspects of the human condition, or as a podcaster, writer, or even TikTok rap star, here we present Louis as you’ve likely never seen him before.

Join us for a fireside chat with Louis that will explore the resilience of man in our relentless quest for answers, a theme that will resonate with just about every scientist or clinician who’s ever lived.

About Louis:

Louis Theroux is a documentary presenter best known for producing immersive documentaries that explore the often controversial and complex aspects of the human condition. Using a gentle questioning style and an informal approach, he has shone a light on intriguing beliefs, behaviours, and institutions by getting to know the people at the heart of them – from the officers and inmates at San Quentin prison to the extreme believers of the Westboro Baptist Church; from male porn performers in California to young women with eating disorders in London.

Louis graduated from Oxford in 1991 and got his break in television in 1994 working for the American documentary maker Michael Moore, who hired him as a writer and correspondent on his show, TV Nation. He then went on to make the Bafta-winning series Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends, When Louis Met…, and a series of award-winning specials including The Most Hated Family in America, Miami Mega Jail, Altered States and the feature-length documentary, My Scientology Movie.

Over the years, Louis has kept true to a way of working that is uniquely his own: by charming his subjects, he’s able to offer rounded portraits of the people involved in complex social issues and human dilemmas, while always resisting easy judgments. Louis has won numerous awards, including three BAFTAs, an RTS award, and Grierson’s Trustees’ Award. Louis’ second book, Gotta Get Theroux This, was published in 2019. In 2020 Louis launched his award-winning BBC Sounds podcast, Grounded with Louis Theroux. He lives in North West London with his wife and three children.

ADAM RUTHERFORD

A Fireside Chat with Adam Rutherford, hosted by Vivienne Parry OBE

Day 1 | Wednesday 24th January 2024

6.40pm - 7.25pm

Don’t miss this fascinating session, where you’ll get to spend time in the company of geneticist, broadcaster and writer, Dr Adam Rutherford. Adam is best known for his work on race and eugenics, as a broadcaster on BBC Radio 4, and as the author of How to Argue With a Racist, which was a Sunday Times Bestseller. But more than that, Adam is also admired as someone who has regularly put his head above the parapet for the entire genomics community, often in the areas we fear being drawn into the most.

During the chat, you will hear Adam cover a range of topics, including how we can shape public perceptions of genetics, trust in science, genetic education, race, eugenics, and the role we as scientists can play in making science a mainstream part of the culture.

Come with questions because there will also be time for Q & A from the audience.

About Adam:

Adam is a geneticist at University College London (UCL), where he teaches evolution, genetics, the history of race science and eugenics, and science communication. Adam lectures extensively to audiences around the world, to academic and public audiences. One of BBC Radio 4’s most pre-eminent broadcasters, Adam’s recent six-part series Bad Blood: The Story of Eugenics, recently won the audio Kavli AAAS Science Journalism Gold Award.

Adam also presents Radio 4’s flagship programme Start the Week and before that, was the host of Inside Science for eight years. His popular series The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry has been on air for a decade. Adam is also a regular guest on Lauren Laverne’s BBC 6 music show and The Infinite Monkey Cage with Brian Cox and Robin Ince. He has contributed to a host of other Radio 4 documentaries on subjects ranging from the inheritance of intelligence, MMR and autism, epigenetics, human evolution, astronomy and art, science and cinema, scientific fraud, and the evolution of sex. Adam has written over a hundred articles for the Guardian, the Observer, The Telegraph, The Times, Wired, Focus, Times Educational Supplement and elsewhere.

In his academic writing, he has written extensively on race, genetics, evolution and trust in science. Adam’s first children’s book, Where Are You Really From? was published in 2023. Prior to this, Adam has written seven books, most recently, Control: The Dark History and Troubling Present of Eugenics in 2022. Other books include The Book of Humans: The Story of How We Became Us and A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived. Adam's first book, Creation was shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize. His next book, Higher, Faster, Stronger, is about the science of sport and will be out when he finishes writing it.

TURI KING

DNA Detective: Genetics, Genealogy and Forensics

Day 2 | Thursday, January 25, 2024

1:15pm - 2:00pm

Turi is a scientist, presenter, speaker and author who is passionate about communicating science to the public. Turi uses genetics in the fields of forensics, history and archaeology. Alongside this, she’s worked in the field of genetic genealogy since 2000. She is perhaps best known her work “cracking one of the biggest forensic DNA cases in history” (Globe and Mail, February 2013) leading the genetic analysis for the identification of King Richard III.

Turi started her career in archaeology, first in Canada and later reading for a degree in Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. Graduating with a BA(Hons), she then went to study at the world-famous Genetics Department at the University of Leicester on a scholarship, to read for an MSc in Molecular Genetics.

She went on to study for a PhD in Molecular Genetics on genetic genealogy. Her award-winning PhD examined the relationship between the Y chromosome and British surnames combining forensic DNA techniques with history and genealogy, the first large-scale study of its kind. Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys, who invented DNA fingerprinting, was one of her PhD advisors.

Named as one of the world’s ‘rockstar genealogists’, her work has covered not only family history but the use of genetic genealogy in forensics and historical cases. She is working on a number of forensic/ancient cold cases including King Richard III, Robert the Bruce and others. She has been conducting genetic genealogical research for over 20 years. For some projects, she is under a confidentiality agreement and unable to speak about them but is happy to talk about cases for which she is not under a CDA. Turi is also a Professor of Public Engagement and Genetics at the University of Leicester, and carries out a great deal of media and television work. as well as public speaking. She is an Honorary Fellow of the British Science Association, a Fellow of the Society of Biology, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, a Member of the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences and a Member of the International Society of Forensic Geneticists.