Rosemary Goring has a history degree from the University of St Andrews. Since then, she has worked in publishing and newspapers, and is currently a reviewer with The Herald. Ms Goring is also the author of two acclaimed historical novels, After Flodden and Darce’s War. Her most recent book, Scotland: Her Story tells Scottish history through the eyes of Scotland’s women from all walks of life, from Queen Margaret to Nicola Sturgeon. Drawing on court and kirk records, diaries, newspapers and reports, the book brings to life a crucial historical perspective which is all too often hidden or ignored.

Events participated in:

Understanding Mary Queen of Scots: Join authors Rosemary Goring and Clare Hunter as they discuss the life, times, and embroidery ofMary Queen of Scots with Geofrey Baskerville. (2022)

Scotland: Her Story: Scotland’s history has been told many times, but neverexclusively by women. Listen as Ruth Wishart talks to Rosemary Goring about the history of Scotland through the eyes of women throughout the centuries– from dramatic national events to everyday life. With an introduction from Catherine Muller Stuart. (2019)

After Flodden: Listen as writer and journalist Rosemary Goring recounts tales of what came After Flodden, discussing her novel and the consequences of the disastrous battle of 1513 and the events that led to it. Geoffrey Baskerville asks the questions. (2017)

Ruth Wishart is a freelance columnist and broadcaster who has presented programme series for BBC Scotland and Radio 4.

Previously senior assistant editor of The Scotsman, she now contributes to a number of papers including The Guardian and The National.

A former trustee of the National Galleries of Scotland, and board member of Creative Scotland she also served as chair of the CCA, and Glasgow Common Purpose, and as a Governor of Glasgow School of Art. Currently she chairs the Dewar Arts Awards, and runs an annual book festival in Argyll.

Events participated in:

Scotland: Her Story: Scotland’s history has been told many times, but neverexclusively by women. Listen as Ruth Wishart talks to Rosemary Goring about the history of Scotland through the eyes of women throughout the centuries– from dramatic national events to everyday life. With an introduction from Catherine Muller Stuart. (2019)

Catherine Maxwell Stuart is the Director of Heritage at Beyond Borders Scotland. She is the 21st Lady of Traquair and lives at Traquair House, where she was born and brought up.

Over the past 30 years, she has been actively involved in tourism, the arts, heritage, and business, both locally and nationally. She has been a board member of Scottish Enterprise Borders, the Broadcasting Council for Scotland, and a non-executive director of Border TV. She also sat on the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Council on Records and Archives and is Chair of the Scottish Borders Area Tourism Partnership.

She founded and chaired the Tweed Valley Tourism Business Improvement District for 10 years and was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Tweeddale in 2024.

Mary Kenny has extensive experience as a traditional storyteller with people of all ages and abilities, and is an established member of the Scottish Storytelling Directory. A visual artist and sculptor for 40 years, she has always welcomed opportunities to actively engage with others creatively. From 2017, Mary worked as Community engagement officer at Abbotsford House, home of Sir Walter Scott, before retiring in 2026. Originally from the Midlands, the Borders have been her Home for many, many years.

Bettany Hughes is an award-winning historian, author and broadcaster specialising in classical history. An Oxford graduate, Ms Hughes is now a research fellow at Kings College London, a tutor for Cambridge university, an honorary fellow at Cardiff University and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of York. She is the first ever woman to present a history series on television and has produced an impressive list of popular documentaries across a range of topics from the Spartans to Helen of Troy, to the Romans. Her book The Hemlock Cup (2010) was on the New York Times Bestseller List, chosen as Book of the Year by The Daily Telegraph and was shortlisted for a Writer’s Guild award. Istanbul – A Tale of Three Cities was a Sunday Times bestseller and shortlisted for the Runcian Award. Her most recent book Venus and Aphrodite was also shortlisted for the Runciman Award last year. In 2017 Ms Hughes was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA) and in 2019 was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to history.

Events participated in:

Pathways to Peace: Bettany Hughes returns to Traquair House to takethe long view of historical pathways to peace to askwhat might healing and reconciliation look like intoday’s world? Allan Little asks the questions. (2019)

Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities: Journey with Bettany Hughes – author of ‘Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities’- as she talks to Stuart Kelly about her latest book about the wonders of Istanbul through the ages. (2017)

Allan Little is an award-winning Scottish journalist and presenter who has reported from more than 80 countries including a variety of war zones, revolutions and natural disasters. After graduating from the University of Edinburgh, Mr Little joined BBC Scotland as a news and current affairs researcher before moving to London to train as a radio reporter. He specialised in foreign reporting for BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, including accounts from the revolutions of 1989 across Eastern Europe. He then worked as a reporter for BBC News, reporting from hostile environments such as the 1991 Gulf War, Kuwait, former Yugoslavia, South Africa, Rwanda and Zaire. Mr Little also worked as the BBC Moscow correspondent and reported on the 1995 Afghanistan earthquakes before becoming the BBC’s Africa and later, Paris correspondent. He has won several awards, including three Gold Sony Radio Academy Awards for Reporter of the Year, the Bayeux War Correspondent of the Year, and in 2012 he won both the Thomas Reuters prize for Reporting Europe for his Radio 4 documentary, Europe’s Choice and the Charles Wheeler Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcast Journalism. Mr Little left the BBC in 2014 and today chairs the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Amanda Taub is a former human rights lawyer turned reporter and writer for the New York Times Interpreter. Ms Taub tackles the pressing issues of the day, from the effects of online social networks such as Facebook on democracy and terrorism to the #MeToo movement and Brexit. 

Events participated in:

Democracy in the Digital Age: New York Times journalist Amanda Taub, social impactentrepreneur Paul van Zyl, and Beyond Conflict CEOTim Phillips talk to Oscar Guardiola-Rivera aboutdemocracy, the impact of technology, and the prevalenceof social media as a polarizing force, as well as adiscussion about The New York Times’ Privacy Project. (2019)

Oscar Guardiola-Rivera is a writer and professor of human rights and political philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. After leading the student movement that initiated a wave of constitutional reform throughout Latin America in the late 1990’s, he continued his studies in the United Kingdom where he obtained an LLM with Distinction at University College London, and a PhD in Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen. He is the writer of the award-winning What If Latin America Ruled the World? which was listed as one the best non-fiction books of 2010 by The Financial Times. Dr Guardiola-Rivera is also the co-editor of the contemporary art and theory journal Naked Punch: An Engaged Review of Arts & Theory, and has engaged with an extensive range of publications and broadcasters, including Granta, El Espectador, the BBC World Service Nightwaves, and Al-Jazeera to name but a few. He is currently the Deputy Postgraduate Director of the Department of Law at Birkbeck, University of London and is recognized as one of the most representative voices of contemporary Latin American philosophy and literature.

Paul van Zyl served as the Executive Secretary of South Africa’s post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Committee, and is the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of The Conduit, a creative and entrepreneurial hub launched last summer that connects thinkers, leaders and innovators in social change, business and the arts to force impact for the greater good. In 2001, he co-founded the International Centre for Transitional Justice, an international human rights organisation that works in over 40 countries that have endured massive human rights violations under repression and conflict. Mr van Zyl served as the Director of New York University School of Law’s Transitional Justice Program for 15 years and for 5 years, he was a visiting Professor of Law at the National University of Singapore. In 2009, Mr van Zyl was awarded the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and was chosen as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, serving on its Global Agenda Council on Fragile States. He is currently the Co-Founder and CEO of Maiyet, an ethical luxury fashion brand that cultivates traditional design and culture by partnering with global artisans, and most recently, he was announced as one of London Tech Week’s Top 30 Change Makers in 2018. 

Events participated in:

Democracy in the Digital Age: New York Times journalist Amanda Taub, social impactentrepreneur Paul van Zyl, and Beyond Conflict CEOTim Phillips talk to Oscar Guardiola-Rivera aboutdemocracy, the impact of technology, and the prevalenceof social media as a polarizing force, as well as adiscussion about The New York Times’ Privacy Project. (2019)

Small Acts of Resistance: Join Steve Crawshaw, Pamela Hogan, Richard Demarco and Paul Van Zyl, as they discuss with resident Colombian philosopher Dr. Oscar Guardiola Riverahow the arts are being used to highlight resistance and promote change around the world. (2012)

Making Peace in South Africa: Join Allan Little in conversation with Former Secretary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, Paul Van Zyl, Co-Founder of the Project on Justice in Times of Transition, Tim Phillips and President de Klerk’s defence minister, Roelf Meyer as he recounts how he came to release Nelson Mandela to create the Rainbow Nation. (2012)

Tim Phillips is a leader in the field of conflict resolution and transitional justice and founder of Beyond Conflict, a global non-profit that has created powerful and innovative frameworks to open pathways for progress in peace negotiations, transitions to democracy, and national reconciliation in the aftermath of conflict and dictatorship in several countries around the world. Under his leadership, Beyond Conflict has catalyzed the field of behavioral science and social conflict and partners with scientists and practitioners to advance new evidence-based strategies to reduce conflict, increase tolerance, and facilitate positive social change in the United States and abroad. Mr. Phillips has advised the United Nations, the U.S. Department of State, and the Council of Europe, and helped launch the Club of Madrid, a forum of 150 former democratic leaders who work to strengthen global democracy and institutions.  Mr. Phillips was educated at Suffolk University, the London School of Economics, and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2018.

William Dalrymple is a Scottish-born bestselling author and historian. While studying at the University of Cambridge, he mirrored – on foot – the route of Marco Polo from Jerusalem to Mongolia and wrote his first book, In Xanadu about the journey. This became a bestseller and in 1990 he won the Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award and a Scottish Arts Council Spring Book Award. He has written several books about his travels, particularly around India, and his historical works have earned him several notable awards. Among them are the Wolfson Prize, the Scottish Book of the Year prize and three honorary doctorates of letters from the Universities of St Andrews, Lucknow and Aberdeen. His most recent written work The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company (2019) was shortlisted for numerous prizes. He is one of the co-founders and co-directors of the world’s largest writers festival, the annual Jaipur Literature Festival.

Emmanuel Smith Tali is a 2019 The Voice semi-finalist and gospel artist. Emmanuel was born in Ghana, later moving to the UK when he was 13 years old. Emmanuel spreads a message of love and God through his music, whether it be jazz, gospel, RnB or rap alongside working part time as a motivational speaker.  

Events participated in:

Lunchtime Music: Enjoy your lunch while Emmanuel Smith-Tali entertains and delights with a specially selected mix of spontaneous songs and original music. (2019)

Professor Emeritus Sir Thomas Martin Devine is the Sir William Fraser Professor Emeritus of Scottish History and  Palaeography at the University of Edinburgh, the world’s oldest and most prestigious chair in the field. He has also held professorial chairs at Aberdeen and Strathclyde. Sir Tom has authored or edited over forty books of which several became international  bestsellers. This is especially the case with ‘The Scottish Nation’ which has sold over 100,000 copies in the UK alone and when first published, managed to outsell ‘Harry Potter’ in Scotland. His most recent book, ‘The Scottish Clearances: A History of the Dispossessed 1600-1900’ was published last year to glowing reviews in the UK  press. Sir Tom has a high media profile and contributes regularly to newspapers, social media, periodicals, radio and television both at home and abroad. In 2001 he was awarded the Royal Gold Medal, Scotland’s supreme academic accolade by  HM The Queen on the recommendation of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 2014, he was knighted ‘for services to the study of Scottish history’, the first historian of Scotland to be honoured so. Last summer, the Joint Committee of the Houses of Lords and Commons on History and Archives bestowed on him its Lifetime Achievement Award. Sir Tom is the only UK-based humanities scholar to be elected to all three of the national  academies in the British Isles for which he is eligible; the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE), the Royal Irish Academy (HonMRIA) and the British Academy (FBA).The Times noted in 2013 that ‘Tom Devine is as close to a national bard as the nation has’.  

Events participated in:

The Scottish Clearances: A History of the Disposseseed: Join Allan Little as he talks to historian Professor Sir Tom Devine about his latest book The Scottish Clearances, and explores the history of Scotland’s immigrant communities from World War Two to the present day. (2019)

Allan Little is an award-winning Scottish journalist and presenter who has reported from more than 80 countries including a variety of war zones, revolutions and natural disasters. After graduating from the University of Edinburgh, Mr Little joined BBC Scotland as a news and current affairs researcher before moving to London to train as a radio reporter. He specialised in foreign reporting for BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, including accounts from the revolutions of 1989 across Eastern Europe. He then worked as a reporter for BBC News, reporting from hostile environments such as the 1991 Gulf War, Kuwait, former Yugoslavia, South Africa, Rwanda and Zaire. Mr Little also worked as the BBC Moscow correspondent and reported on the 1995 Afghanistan earthquakes before becoming the BBC’s Africa and later, Paris correspondent. He has won several awards, including three Gold Sony Radio Academy Awards for Reporter of the Year, the Bayeux War Correspondent of the Year, and in 2012 he won both the Thomas Reuters prize for Reporting Europe for his Radio 4 documentary, Europe’s Choice and the Charles Wheeler Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcast Journalism. Mr Little left the BBC in 2014 and today chairs the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Steve Richards is a British TV presenter and political columnist who has written for the Guardian, Independent, News Statesman and Spectator. An insightful observer of the British political scene, he has produced many television talks on influential political leaders and major political turning points. Mr Richards regularly presents Radio 4’s Week in Westminster and hosts a vibrant one man stand up show called Rock & Roll Politics. He has written numerous books, including his latest The Prime Ministers We Never Had: Success and Failure from Butler to Corbyn, which was awarded Book of the Year by The Times, The Guardian and Prospect.

Sarah Smith is a radio and television news reporter with BBC Scotland. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1989 and then began her journalistic career as a graduate trainee with BBC Scotland. In 1991, she moved to London as an assistant producer with BBC Youth Programmes before moving on to working in news and current affairs, first as assistant producer with the Public Eye and Here & Now programmes and then working on Newsnight and Rough Guides with the BBC. She also sits on the John Smith Memorial Trust’s Advisory Council.

Events participated in:

Where Next for the United Kingdom?: Listen as political commentators Steve Richards, Sarah Smith, and Jim Naughtie explore the current state of affairs in UK politics and what it takes to lead this country. Magnus Linklater asks the questions. (2019)

What is Europe?: Join Sarah Smith in conversation with Alyn Smith MEP, EIP Director Martin Griffiths, Erik Berglöf and Dr Oscar Guardiola-Rivera as they try to answer the question “What is Europe?” (2015)

Magnus Linklater CBE is a Scottish journalist, writer and former newspaper owner. He was born in Orkney and studied at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Mr Linklater has worked as an Editor for the Evening Standard, The Sunday Times, The Observer, The Scotsman and The Times. Linklater is also a former chairman of the Scottish Arts Council 1996-2001 and holds honorary degrees from Napier, Aberdeen and Glasgow Universities. He has presented Eye to Eye on BBC radio Scotland and written numerous books on Scottish history and current affairs from, ‘The Nazi Legacy’ to ‘The Secret Life of Jeremy Thorpe.’ 

Events participated in:

Ukraine Three Years On: Join Magnus Linklater CBE as he talks to Scottish journalist, Jen Stout, about her vivid first hand account of life under fire detailed in her remarkable book, Night Train to Odessa. (2024)

From Russia with Love: Watch as Magnus Linklater, former Met Chief Bernard Hogan-Howe and John Taylor, who has spent over 50 years working in intelligence and security, including close contact with human sources like Oleg Gordievsky, as they discuss the state of play concerning domestic and international security. (2021)

Where Next for the United Kingdom?: Listen as political commentators Steve Richards, Sarah Smith, and Jim Naughtie explore the current state of affairs in UK politics and what it takes to leadthis country. Magnus Linklater asks the questions. (2019)

Great Scottish Lives: Join Allan Massie as he interviews Magnus Linklater about his latest book, Great Scottish Lives, a collection of obituaries exploring the lives of iconic figures throughout Scottish history. (2018)

After Chilcot: What Next for British Diplomacy: Join veteran UN diplomats Sir Kieran Prendergast and Andrew Gilmour as they discuss the soft and hard power options for international diplomacy in the wake of the Chilcot Inquiry. Magnus Linklater asks the questions. (2016)

Crossing Borders: Listen to Rory Stewart MP in conversation with Beyond Borders Patron, Magnus Linklater as he talks about his life as a soldier, explorer, writer, diplomat and Borders politician. (2013)

Return of the King: Meet Beyond Borders favourite, William Dalrymple, as he returns to Traquair to read from his new book, which examines the haunting parallels between Britain’s imperial adventures in Afghanistanin the 19th and 21st Centuries, as well as talk about his new project concerning the Indo-Pak rivalry. Magnus Linklater asks the questions. (2013)

The State of the Union: James Naughtie, Sir Menzies Campbell MP, Tam Dalyell and Magnus Linklater discuss the likely effect of the referendum, the banking scandal and the Leveson enquiry on the state of the British Union. (2012)

Cables from Kabul: Listen to veteran diplomat and former UK Special Envoy, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, as he discusses his experience of Afghanistan and Pakistan with the Scottish editor of the Times, Magnus Linklater. (2012)

How to Win and Keep Hold of Power: Magnus Linklater in discussion with Jonathan Powell on how to wield power in the modern world. (2011)

Tales from Afghanistan: Magnus Linklater talks to William Dalrymple and Des Browne about 19th and 20th-century British rule in Afghanistan. (2011)

A Place in the Sun: Where now for Zimbabwe: Magnus Linklater, MDC Minister of Culture, David Coltart, former Cricket Captain, Henry Olonga, and the film director of Mugabe and the White African, Andy Thompson, as they consider Zimbabwe’s future. (2010)

Tales from Afghanistan: Join Magnus Linklater in discussion with James Ferguson, author of Taliban and Tim Albone, former Sunday Times Foreign Correspondent and film director of Out of the Ashes, about what lies in store for Afghanistan, its people and the West’s presence in the country. (2010)

Jim Naughtie FRSE  is a British radio and news presenter for the BBC. He began his career as a journalist at the Aberdeen Press and Journal before moving to the London offices of The Scotsman. He became its Chief Political Correspondent before working for The Washington Post and The Guardian. Mr Naughtie later moved into radio presenting and has anchored every BBC Radio UK election results programme since 1997, and worked on every US presidential election since 1988. He has been the main presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme and his radio presenting has earned him two Sony Radio Awards: Radio Personality of the Year in 1991 and Voice of the Listener and Viewer Award in 2001. That same year, Mr Naughtie received an honorary doctorate from the University of Sterling and was appointed as its chancellor in 2008. He retired from regular presenting duties in 2016 and is currently the BBC’s Special Correspondent responsible for charting UK constitutional reform, as well as the BBC news’ Book Editor.

Jolyon Mitchell is a professor with specialisation in religion, violence and peacebuilding. Professor Mitchell is particular interested in the role of the arts and he has published a broad range of books and articles within the field. He is currently professor at the University of Edinburgh and is frequently giving lectures at universities around the world, including the University of Tehran, Vrije University in Amsterdam and the University of Sydney. In addition, he is the Director of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues and President of the National Association for Theology and Religious Studies in the United Kingdom. Professor Mitchell has previously been a producer and journalist at BBC World service. Professor Mitchell is educated at Cambridge University, Durham University and the University of Edinburgh.

Events participated in:

The Art of Peacebuilding: Join Professor Jolyon Mitchell as he explores the current reality of life in Afghanistan, Kashmir, Syria, and Yemen with four remarkable female cultural leaders and the role music and the arts can play in peace building. (2019)

Fi Martynoga is an environmental activist, journalist, museum researcher and a renowned figure in Scottish nature, sustainability, history and food circles.

Events participated in:

A Nature Walk Through Traquair: Submerse yourself in the beautiful Scottish borders landscape and stroll around the scenic Traquair grounds led by Fi Martynoga for a foraging walk. (2024)

Walk and Talk with Fi Martynoga: Experience a taste of the Scottish Borders with Fi Martynoga as she leads a foraging walkaround the grounds of Traquair. (2023)

Foraging Walk: Experience a taste of the Scottish Borders as Fi Martynoga leads a foraging walk around Traquair. (2022)

Foraging Walk: Experience a taste of the Scottish Borders as Fi Martynoga leads a foraging walk around Traquair. (2021)

Woodland Hike with Fi Martynoga: Join Fi Martynoga on a hike from Traquair Houseon the Southern Upland Way, before exploring thenew footpath up to the Satyr Sykes and returningto Traquair House. Please note that this walk involves hills, but is on a sturdy path. (2019)

Foraging Walk with Fiona Martynoga: Take a walk on the wild side as local foraging expert Fi Martynoga leads a walk through the surroundings of Traquair House. (2018)

Foraging Walk with Fiona Martynoga: Take a walk on the wild side as local foraging expert Fi Martynoga leads a walk through the surroundings of Traquair House. (2017)

Taste the Wild with the Foraging Fionas: Join local writer and foraging expert FionaMartynoga and Fiona Bird on a foraging walkaround the grounds of Traquair House. (2016)

A Forager’s Tale: Discover a delicious new side to the Borders ona foraging walk with Fi Houston in the groundsof Traquair House and taste the foraged goodslater in the Festival Café. (2015)

Where the Wild Things Are – A Borders Foraging Walk: Delve into the wild in the surroundings of Traquair House with foraging experts to discover a delicious new side to the borders. (2014)

Walk – Walking Scott’s Border Ballads: At yon castle wa’ join Fiona Houston as she talks to acclaimed modern artist and Harvard Lit Professor Peter Sacks and leads him through true Elfyn-land and beyond to rediscover the Medieval Border Ballads saved, and tinkered with, by Sir Walter Scott. (2013)

Scotland’s Wild Harvests: Local writer and foraging expert Fiona J. Houston discusses a new guide for wild food enthusiasts. (2012)

The Literary Walk: Join local writer Fiona Houston for a literary walk around the hills of Traquair and meet Scottish artists Silvia Woodcock-Clarke, Caroline McNairn, Andrew Brown, and Joseph Maxwell Stuart in situ. (2010)

Hew Strachan, FBA, FRSE, Hon. D. Univ (Paisley) has been Wardlaw Professor of International Relations at the University of St Andrews since 2015.  He is a Life Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he taught from 1975 to 1992, before becoming Professor of Modern History at Glasgow University from 1992 to 2001.He was Chichele Professor of the History of War at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of All Souls College 2002-15 (where he is now an Emeritus Fellow), and Director of the Oxford Programme on the Changing Character of War 2003-2012.  He was a Commonwealth War Graves Commissioner 2006-18 and a Trustee of the Imperial War Museum 2010-18, and a member of the national committees for the centenary of the First World War of the United Kingdom, Scotland and France.  In 2010 he chaired a task force on the implementation of the Armed Forces Covenant for the Prime Minister and has been a member of the Covenant Reference Group since its inception.  In 2011 he was the inaugural Humanitas Visiting Professor in War Studies at the University of Cambridge and became a specialist adviser to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the National Security Strategy.  He is an Ensign in the Queen’s Bodyguard for Scotland (Royal Company of Archers), in 2014 was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Tweeddale.  In 2016 he was awarded the Pritzker Prize for Lifetime Achievement for Military Writing.  His recent publications include The Politics of the British Army (1997); The First World War: To Arms (2001); The First World War: a New Illustrated History (2003); and The Direction of War (2013).

Events participated in:

Re-Thinking Remembrance: Listen as Professor Sir Hew Strachan talks to Stuart Kelly, reflecting on the commemorations of the centenary of World War One, on what we remember, how we commemorate, and why. (2019)

Stuart Kelly is a Scottish writer and critic. His book ‘The Book of Lost Books’ has been sold in 17 countries, while ‘Scott-Land: The Man Who Invented a Nation’ was Book of the Week on Radio 4 and longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Award. He has contributed to several British newspapers and magazines, including The Spectator and The Guardian, and was the Literary editor of Scotland on Sunday. In addition, he has produced various documentaries and programmes for BBC, both radio and television. Mr Kelly holds a degree in English and a Master of Studies from Oxford.

Events participated in:

Re-Thinking Remembrance: Listen as Professor Sir Hew Strachan talks to Stuart Kelly, reflecting on the commemorations of the centenary of World War One, on what we remember, how we commemorate, and why. (2019)

The Minister and the Murderer: Join two Scottish writers exploring life and death,and truth and faith as Stuart Kelly and Richard Holloway discuss their latest books The Minister and the Murderer and Waiting for the Last Bus. (2018)

Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities: Journey with Bettany Hughes – author of ‘Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities’- as she talks to Stuart Kelly about her latest book about the wonders of Istanbul through the ages. (2017)

The Power of Private Libraries: Listen to Stuart Kelly and Robert McDowell as they discuss the importance of private literary libraries. (2016)

William Dalrymple is a Scottish-born bestselling author and historian. While studying at the University of Cambridge, he mirrored – on foot – the route of Marco Polo from Jerusalem to Mongolia and wrote his first book, In Xanadu about the journey. This became a bestseller and in 1990 he won the Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award and a Scottish Arts Council Spring Book Award. He has written several books about his travels, particularly around India, and his historical works have earned him several notable awards. Among them are the Wolfson Prize, the Scottish Book of the Year prize and three honorary doctorates of letters from the Universities of St Andrews, Lucknow and Aberdeen. His most recent written work The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company (2019) was shortlisted for numerous prizes. He is one of the co-founders and co-directors of the world’s largest writers festival, the annual Jaipur Literature Festival.

Moin Mir is an accomplished author who has undertaken extensive research on Sufist history and cultural revivalism in India. His latest book – The Prince Who Beat The Empire is the riveting story of Meer Jafar Ali Khan the Indian Prince who voyaged to England in 1844 and 1853 and went on defeat the representatives of Empire- The East India Company in the House of Commons. Moin Mir was born and brought up in India and lives in London. He began his literary career by co- authoring Mirza Ghalib and the Mirs of Gujarat, a book that translated the Urdu prose and poetry of India’s foremost Urdu poet. Mir is a member of the Nawab family of Surat and Kamadhia, two erstwhile principalities in India. He is currently working on his next book which is set in 18th century India, Turkey and Spain.

Events participated in:

The Prince Who Beat the Empire: Listen as William Dalrymple talks to Moin Mir about his book The Prince Who Beat the Empire– the moving story of the rebel prince who beat the world’s most powerful corporation: The East India Company. (2019)

Oscar Guardiola-Rivera is a writer and professor of human rights and political philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. After leading the student movement that initiated a wave of constitutional reform throughout Latin America in the late 1990’s, he continued his studies in the United Kingdom where he obtained an LLM with Distinction at University College London, and a PhD in Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen. He is the writer of the award-winning What If Latin America Ruled the World? which was listed as one the best non-fiction books of 2010 by The Financial Times. Dr Guardiola-Rivera is also the co-editor of the contemporary art and theory journal Naked Punch: An Engaged Review of Arts & Theory, and has engaged with an extensive range of publications and broadcasters, including Granta, El Espectador, the BBC World Service Nightwaves, and Al-Jazeera to name but a few. He is currently the Deputy Postgraduate Director of the Department of Law at Birkbeck, University of London and is recognized as one of the most representative voices of contemporary Latin American philosophy and literature.

Lisa Dwan is an acclaimed Irish stage, film and television actress, director and writer. Ms Dwan is recognized internationally for her performances and adaptions of Samuel Beckett’s works, with the Guardian calling her an, ‘Irish actor and Beckett interpreter of the first rank’. She regularly writes, lectures and teaches on theatre, gender and Beckett, appearing on BBC radio and recently completing residencies at Princeton University’s Lewis Centre for the Arts and Columbia University. Ms Dwan is currently an artist in residence at MIT.

Events participated in:

The Most Unforgettable Women in History: Join actress and scholar Lisa Dwan and philosopher Dr Oscar Guardiola-Rivera for a fresh look at the most memorable women of Ancient Greek literature from Medea to Antigone. Can their story be re-told for the time of MeToo and the fourth wave of feminism? (2019)

Stephen Dunbar-Johnson is the President of International at the The New York Times Company. Having been appointed to lead the company’s global expansion in 2013, he is responsible for the oversight and strategic development of the Times Company’s international businesses. He served as Executive Vice President of the International Herald Tribune S.A.S. from September 2006 where he was responsible for conference and advertising revenue, the newspaper’s circulation and marketing departments, and commercial operations in Asia. Mr Dunbar-Johnson has held several business development roles around the world during his twelve years working for The Financial Times, including Advertising Manager in France and Vice President of Advertising in the Americas.

Events participated in:

Update on COP26: Stephen Dunbar-Johnson, President International of the New York Times, talks about what happened at COP26 and its legacy. (2022)

The NYT Debate: Journeys Towards COP 26: Listen as Lord Bilimoria, St Andrews Professor Ali Watson and NYT’s Stephen Dunbar-Johnson talk about their journeys to COP26 and how youth, business, and journalism can help to solve the climate crisis. Co-curated by local youth activists. (2021)

Women Leading Climate Action: Explore how women’s leadership is vital to address our climate emergency. Co-curated with The New York Times, Stephen Dunbar-Johnson speaks with Fiona Darroch, Clare Dubois and Sophie Lambin. Charlotte Muller Stuart brings the school striker’s perspective. (2019)

Sophie Lambin is the Founder and CEO of Kite Global Advisors, as well as the Editorial Director of the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society. She was Director of Global Thought Leadership and External Affairs at PwC for seven years, where she developed a new strategy for the firm’s thought leadership activities. She also led PwC‘s Global Annual CEO Survey and managed the firm’s strategic partnership with the World Economic Forum. Prior to this, Ms Lambin was Executive Director and Publisher of European Business Forum, a joint venture between the Community of European Management Schools and PwC.

Events participated in:

Women Leading Climate Action for a Just Future: Explore how women’s leadership is vital to address our climate emergency. Co-curated with The New York Times, Stephen Dunbar-Johnson speaks with Fiona Darroch, Clare Dubois and Sophie Lambin. Charlotte Muller Stuart brings the school striker’s perspective. (2019)

Clare Dubois is a social entrepreneur and founder of TreeSisters. Treesisters is an organisation working for reforestation with a focus on empowering women and their role in tropical reforestation, all from a grassroots perspective. TreeSisters has volunteers all over the world and has programmes in various countries, which all work towards promoting female leadership in global reforestation. Before founding TreeSisters, Ms Dubois was UK-coordinator for an initiative called ‘Project Green Hands’ in South India, where she ensured social mobilisation and local involvement in helping restoring land.

Events participated in:

Women Leading Climate Action for a Just Future: Explore how women’s leadership is vital to address our climate emergency. Co-curated with The New York Times, Stephen Dunbar-Johnson speaks with Fiona Darroch, Clare Dubois and Sophie Lambin. Charlotte Muller Stuart brings the school striker’s perspective. (2019)

Fiona Darroch is a lawyer and former opera singer. Ms Darroch specialises in environmental law, with a marked interest in regulatory litigation, pollution, nuisance and waste, and has been involved in various cases concerning environmental issues. She is also the founder of Protimos that works for increasing legal awareness and knowledge in local communities in developing countries, where a high degree of resource extraction is taking place. Since 2009, Ms Darroch has been a member of the Clinton Global Initiative and she has through the work in Protimos and the Clinton Global Initiative assisted vulnerable local communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ms Darroch has a degree in history from King’s College London and a Masters degree in International Environment and Economic Law from SOAS.

Events participated in:

Women Leading Climate Action for a Just Future: Explore how women’s leadership is vital to address our climate emergency. Co-curated with The New York Times, Stephen Dunbar-Johnson speaks with Fiona Darroch, Clare Dubois and Sophie Lambin. Charlotte Muller Stuart brings the school striker’s perspective. (2019)

Kirsty Brimelow QC is a lawyer with specialisation in human rights and international law. Ms Brimelow is chairwoman of the Chairwoman Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2011. She has been involved in various human rights cases and projects around the world, including in Tanzania, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, and was involved in the peace process in Colombia. Ms Brimelow holds a degree in law from Birmingham University.

Andrea Fuchs is together with Petra Stelzer and Dr Manfred Nowak initiator of the Imagine Human Rights project. Ms Fuchs is also the founder of Fuchs Hotelconsult and managing partner proASP. She is also active in charity work, including an annual charity fundraiser, supporting projects such as ‘die möve’ and Africa Amini Alama. Ms Fuchs believes the Imagine Human Rights project can illustrate different conceptions of worlds, where Human Rights are respected and protected.

Events participated in:

Imagine Human Rights: Andrea Fuchs discusses Imagine Human Rights, a project depicting artistic celebrations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with Kirsty Brimelow QC and Mark Muller Stuart QC. (2019)

Allan Little is an award-winning Scottish journalist and presenter who has reported from more than 80 countries including a variety of war zones, revolutions and natural disasters. After graduating from the University of Edinburgh, Mr Little joined BBC Scotland as a news and current affairs researcher before moving to London to train as a radio reporter. He specialised in foreign reporting for BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, including accounts from the revolutions of 1989 across Eastern Europe. He then worked as a reporter for BBC News, reporting from hostile environments such as the 1991 Gulf War, Kuwait, former Yugoslavia, South Africa, Rwanda and Zaire. Mr Little also worked as the BBC Moscow correspondent and reported on the 1995 Afghanistan earthquakes before becoming the BBC’s Africa and later, Paris correspondent. He has won several awards, including three Gold Sony Radio Academy Awards for Reporter of the Year, the Bayeux War Correspondent of the Year, and in 2012 he won both the Thomas Reuters prize for Reporting Europe for his Radio 4 documentary, Europe’s Choice and the Charles Wheeler Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcast Journalism. Mr Little left the BBC in 2014 and today chairs the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Lindsey Hilsum is an award-winning journalist with a wealth of experience reporting from some of the most devastating conflicts around the world. She was at the forefront of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, in Belgrade for the 1999 NATO bombing, and in 1994 was the only English-speaking correspondent in Rwanda when the genocide began. In recent years she has covered the conflict in Syria and Ukraine and in 2017 received the Patron’s Medal from the Royal Geographical Society. Her highly praised publication ‘Sandstorm: Libya from Gaddafi to Revolution’ was nominated in 2012 for the Guardian First Book Award and she has recently published a biography, ‘In Extremis – The Life and Death of War Correspondent Marie Colvin’. Ms Hilsum is currently the International Editor at Channel 4 News and is a regular contributor to The Sunday Times, The Observer, The Guardian, The New Statesman and Granta.

Events participated in:

Britain and International Security: Allan Little quizzes the Former Head of the Special Boat Service, Col Graham Cundy, and Channel 4 Foreign Affairs Editor, Lindsey Hilsum, about Britain’s interventions in conflicts around the world. (2023)

Ukraine: One Year On: Join Steve Richards as he listens to Channel 4’s Lindsey Hilsum and BBC Lucy Ash’s dispatches from the frontline of the Ukrainian war, while Professor Marc Weller considers how to resolve a conflict. (2023)

In Extremis: The Life of War Correspondent Marie Colvin: Watch as Razia Iqbal talks to Lindsey Hilsum about her book In Extremis about the extraordinary life and death of war correspondent Marie Colvin, and a career capturing the stories of life on the front lines. (2019)

Journalists Under Fire: Join Allan Little as he talks to Channel 4 News International Editor and author of Sandstorm Lindsey Hilsum and photographer Guy Martin, who was injured in Libya while documenting the unfolding Arab Spring. Followed by a short drinks reception in memory of Marie, with the Marie Colvin Memorial Fund. (2012)

Balancing Security and Human Rights in Times of Transition: Join International Criminal Tribunal judge Ben Emmerson QC, former head of UNDPA, Sir Kieran Prendergast, Roelf Meyer and Lindsey Hilsum as they discuss with Dr. Oscar Guardiola Rivera how to achieve stability in Syria and whether military intervention, the use of targeted drone strikes and the use of other more controversial war on terror methods leads to a more stable world. (2012)

Oscar Guardiola-Rivera is a writer and professor of human rights and political philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. After leading the student movement that initiated a wave of constitutional reform throughout Latin America in the late 1990’s, he continued his studies in the United Kingdom where he obtained an LLM with Distinction at University College London, and a PhD in Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen. He is the writer of the award-winning What If Latin America Ruled the World? which was listed as one the best non-fiction books of 2010 by The Financial Times. Dr Guardiola-Rivera is also the co-editor of the contemporary art and theory journal Naked Punch: An Engaged Review of Arts & Theory, and has engaged with an extensive range of publications and broadcasters, including Granta, El Espectador, the BBC World Service Nightwaves, and Al-Jazeera to name but a few. He is currently the Deputy Postgraduate Director of the Department of Law at Birkbeck, University of London and is recognized as one of the most representative voices of contemporary Latin American philosophy and literature.

Professor Erik Berglöf became the inaugural Director of the Institute of Global Affairs (IGA) at London School of Economics and Political Science in February 2015. The IGA was established last year and already includes a number of constituent Centres – IDEAS, the Middle East Centre, the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre and the recently-approved Centres for the United States, and South Asia. Previously, he was the Chief Economist and Special Adviser to the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). He is a widely published and internationally respected specialist in the field of transition economics, as well as financial contracting, corporate governance, financial development and EU reform. As an expert on policy-related issues in transition economies, he has regularly provided advice to national governments and international institutions including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and OECD. Prior to joining the EBRD in 2006, he held the position of Director of the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) and was Programme Director at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), London.

Events participated in:

10 Years That Shook the World: Join us as we look back at the events that have helped shape the last decade and the next, with Oscar Guardiola-Rivera and guests including Razia Iqbal, Staffan de Mistura, and Erik Berglof. Followed bya drinks reception celebrating the 10th anniversaryof the Beyond Borders International Festival. (2019)

What is Europe?: Join Sarah Smith in conversation with Alyn Smith MEP, EIP Director Martin Griffiths, Erik Berglöf and Dr Oscar Guardiola-Rivera as they try to answer the question “What is Europe?” (2015)

The Rise of Islamic State – An Era of World Disorder: Join in as Sir Kieran Prendergast, Erik Berglöf and Women In Conflict Fellows discuss the rise of Islamic State, the prospects of an unending war and what the world can do to combat the rise of global Jihadism. (2015)