Words of Wisdom. Harnessing the power of words, the debate night showcased some of the most notorious, outspoken characters of our time in a series of topical debates and discussions. Curated by the talented stand up comedian and writer, Robin Ince and showcasing the work of Adam Buxton and the hilarious Literary Death Match amongst other big name performers.
Debate Highlights
Debate Review
Wednesday 2 November saw the launch of the inaugural first direct Dialogue festival, a brand new event that brought together an exciting mix of artists from the world of arts, music, literature and comedy.
The night was the launch of the Debate night curated by the hilarious Robin Ince, who kicked off the festivities with a witty take on the unusual surroundings of St Peter's Church and his position there as 'an angry atheist'. Robin introduced Adam Buxton and his BUG show, whose witty ripostes and commentary on YouTube clips and videos had the audience in stitches. Next to take to the stage was Alan Moore and Simon Munnery, who joined Robin Ince to tackle the question, 'Has Technology Killed the Art of Conversation?'. Simon kicked off the debate with a droll take on conversation and technology with Alan quickly announcing his hatred of the TV and American crime show CSI!
Robin rounded off the evening with a humorous look at the media and his love hate relationship with Twitter and some of the journalists that take to the social networking site.
Over in Under the Westway, the night hit the right note (or the wrong one in places) with a debate on 'Can music still change the world?'. The debate featured Feeder frontman Grant Nicholas, Liam Tootill, Managing Director at SBTV and Marco Gandolfi, editor of Music News. The discussion uncovered some interesting facts: the role of music in politics, Ed Miliband's penchant for MC-ing and clean-cut artists. Meanwhile sharp-tongued Grant Nicholas from Feeder won't be collaborating with Lady Gaga anytime soon as he blasted her latest track in the charts, as well as Bono for his self-promotion! Marco Gandolfi challenged Simon Cowell with a bold claim that The X Factor won't deliver a music superstar. The night finished with a fantastic show from the Literary Death Match.
Over in the third venue The Earl of Portobello, UK journalist Andy Jones was joined by celebrity agent to the stars, Thea Martin, and one of London's top entertainment Lawyers, Chris Hutchings, for the Privacy Debate. The three panelists discussed the issue of privacy in the media.
Several points were raised by the audience, including the correct definition of 'public interest'. This question prompted a heated discussion around the difference between 'public interest' and what is of interest to the public. The recent revelations of hacking scandals and super injunctions were discussed at length and it was agreed that social media plays a huge role in the amount we as individuals share with the world.
