Intelligence Squared presents
Sage & Jester
Critical Conversations
Hosted by Sophia Smith Galer
Featuring Dr Julia Ebner
Have you ever clashed with someone on social media or even a loved one? Conversations can easily escalate in a time where everyone is consuming different media with wildly different messaging.
At Truth Hurts: From Conflict to Connection, we tackle the most divisive topics in our day-to-day lives and how we can all become better conversationalists. How can we productively engage with those who have opposing views? How can we de-escalate emotionally-charged conversations? And how can we engage others to create a more ethical, kind and sustainable world?
Your evening begins in The Depot, next door to the Pleasance Theatre where Sage & Jester empower you to explore your own biases, see new perspectives and even discover your personal ‘trigger words’ that block dialogue in an insightful and interactive session.
Heading into the Pleasance Theatre, Sophia Smith Galer and Dr Julia Ebner will bring you into the conversation from the comfort of the auditorium. We’ll dive into clever strategies for critical thinking and teach you how to dodge sneaky traps; whether you’re scrolling through your newsfeed or navigating tricky conflicts. You’ll also pick up techniques for managing emotions and sparking meaningful, empathy-driven conversations that actually get somewhere.
We welcome you to join us after the show where The People Speak host a fun and social space to stay, digest, share and connect.
Intelligence Squared and Sage & Jester invite you to this series of interactive talks that bring you into the conversation with journalist, Sophia Smith Galer. Join us across three events at the Pleasance Theatre, London where we’ll help you cut through the noise, build resilience and connect with community. Are you ready for change?
Check out the
Critical Conversations series:
Tue 13 May: Tricks, Trolls, and LOLs: Comedy’s Crash Course in Spotting Lies
Tue 20 May: How To Cure Your Algorithm
TICKET INFO
Event info
Monday 19 May
Doors: 6.30pm
Start: The event begins promptly at 7pm.
Running time: 105 mins including interval plus post event social
The show is split into three sections with two intervals. Latecomers risk missing act 1.
Age recommendation: 14+
TICKET PRICES
All tickets: £5
HOW TO BOOK
Book OnlineCall 020 7609 1800
From 12pm Mon – Sat (Closed on Sundays)
You can book in person around show times
Pleaseance Theatre
5 Carpenters Mews, North Road, N7 9EF
For access information and bookings, please get in touch with the Pleasance Theatre or visit their website.
Sophia Smith Galer
Host
Sophia Smith Galer
Host
Award-winning journalist, writer, speaker, and content creator, credited for pioneering astute, engaging journalism on TikTok. Sophia began her career reporting across the BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4 and BBC World News and building Webby-winning BBC social media channels before joining VICE News as a senior reporter until February 2024. She produces and presents content on a range of topics including linguicide, innovation and disruption, health and technology, generational communication, gender equality, how to navigate mis-and-dis information, and the state of influencer culture and its ethics. She was the first journalist to report the misuse of political ads on TikTok during the 2020 US election, which was broadcast in her first television documentary The TikTok Election. She was awarded a British Journalism award for ‘Innovation of the Year’ in 2021, and in 2023 she became a Visiting Fellow for Brown University’s Information Futures Lab where she has developed resources for combating misinformation and misogyny in British schools. In 2024, she was named the winner of the Georgina Henry Award at the Women In Journalism awards for Digital Innovation. As part of the International Center for Journalists’ Disarming Disinformation Solutions Challenge, she developed Sophina, her AI tool that helps experts and journalists write video scripts and amplify their work online.
Dr Julia Ebner
Special Guest
Dr Julia Ebner
Special Guest
Leader of the Violent Extremism Lab at the University of Oxford’s Centre for the Study of Social Cohesion and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, where she has led projects on online radicalisation, terrorism, conspiracy myths and hate speech. She is an award-winning and internationally bestselling author of several books, including The Rage: The Vicious Circle of Islamist and Far-Right Extremism, Going Dark: The Secret Social Lives of Extremists and Going Mainstream: How Extremists Are Taking Over. Based on her research, she has given evidence to numerous governments, as well as advised intelligence agencies, tech firms and international organisations such as the UN, Europol and NATO. She has written for media outlets such as the Guardian, Financial Times, Washington Post and Süddeutsche Zeitung.
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