Some of our more recent talks have been recorded on video. You can see them on our YouTube channel.
18th Annual Douglas W Bryant Lecture with Lyse Doucet
Cityread London: Sebastian Faulks in conversation
The Female Detective
Real Crime, Real Fiction
The Meanings of Music in Brazilian Culture
The American Presidential Election: Model Of Democracy Or Flawed System?
Conference Address by Baroness Williams of Crosby
The St Cuthbert Gospel: the Story of a Book
17th Annual Douglas W. Bryant Lecture
Rorschach President: How Barack Obama Personifies the Anxieties and Aspirations of America
Backstage
The British Library and De Montfort University Theatre Archive Project present an evening of interviews and discussion with those who work behind the curtain
Adapt or Die:
The Future of News and Newspapers in the Digital Revolution
Tales of Heroism, Tales of Terror: The British in the American Civil War
Amanda Foreman gives a fresh account of the Civil War through the stories of Britons who went to America.
16th Annual Douglas W. Bryant Lecture
Why men hate to talk about relationships: the US, the UK, and the Atlantic Alliance.
Writers on Writing
Deborah Moggach chairs a discussion with authors Philip Hensher, Hilary Spurling and Michael Frayn
Out of this World: Why science fiction speaks to us all
Who owns the Story of the Future?
American Intelligence and the Iraq War in Perspective
American Intelligence and the Iraq War in Perspective
The Writing Life: Authors Speak
Where do writers find their inspiration? Is there a right way to go about writing? What are the challenges of interviewing writers?
Cruel Deeds and Dreadful Calamities
Linda Stratmann discusses murder, mayhem and escaped elephants in the Illustrated Police News.
Cuddywifters, cack-handers and coochies
A discussion that explores the ever-changing regional contrasts of the English Language.
Beautiful Bird Songs of Britain
Wildlife Sounds Curator Cheryl Tipp discusses why we are so fascinated by birdsong.
Shakespeare's Sonnets
A packed auditorium joined poet Don Paterson, Ben Crystal, Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen for an evening of appreciation and exploration of Shakespeare's Sonnets
English Language Question Time
The Other English: some African reflections
David Crystal - Begat
is it true that no book has had greater influence on the English language than the King James Bible?
English - the World's Language?
Can the world's pre-eminent language for communication, business, science and popular culture expect a more diverse and multilingual future?
Steven Pinker
David Crystal - Evolving English
Evolving English shows very clearly that there is no single story of the English language.
Is the physical library a redundant resource?
A lively discussion on the future of university and research libraries.
A Celebration of Variety
The New Mapping Revolution
The internet is fuelling dramatic and dynamic changes in the way we map our world.
The Map in the Palace
David Starkey and Peter Barber discuss the importance of maps in medieval and early modern palaces.
The Story of Graphic Design
Patrick Cramsie discusses the most significant moments and greatest achievements in the history of graphic design.
Anti-Americanism in the 21st Century
Has the Obama administration seen a reverse of the anti-Americanism of the Bush years?
Book Makers: British Publishing in the Twentieth Century
Iain Stevenson discusses scandal, censorship and the net book agreement in the context of his new book.
A Night with the Impresarios
Producers John and Lisel Gale are interviewed by Rebecca Novell, and Iain Mackintosh, who founded Oxford's Prospect Theatre Company, talks with Dr Alec Patton.
Ken Livingstone interview
How the political landscape has changed in the last 20 years - and how it hasn’t.
Geoff Dyer on John Berger
Geoff Dyer, author of Ways of Telling: the Work of John Berger, talks about John’s work and archive.
Henry VIII: Myths and Reality
We ask people in the street to tell us what they think they know about England's most talked-about king.
Graham Swift - Interview
Graham Swift talks about his thoughts on seeing his archive transferred to the Library.
The Human Rights Act 1998
The landmark 1998 act, far from being an 'imposition of Europe', owes its origins to the efforts of Britain 50 years earlier.
Shami Chakrabarti with Joan Bakewell
Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti gives a fascinating interview with Joan Bakewell.
Saving St Catherine's Monastery Library
The library of Saint Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai has the world's most extraordinary collection of early Christian texts.
Holy Lands, unholy wars
Tracy Chevalier on William Blake
Tracy Chevalier reads from her novel Burning Bright and discusses William Blake's Notebook.
The Plimsoll Sensation
Nicolette Jones discusses her award-winning book about Samuel Plimsoll, the Victorian social reformer and 'sailor's friend'.
Magna Carta
Nicholas Vincent talks about the great icon of liberty and punctures a few myths.
The Golden Generation - introduction
About our exhibition The Golden Generation, which features audio, video, manuscripts and more from the vibrant postwar age of British theatre 1945-1968.
Neil Gaiman talks about the Ramayana
Neil Gaiman, author of the Sandman stories and many others, talks about his film treatment of Ramayana.