Talks

Wednesday 7th October, 2009

First Wednesday: Iran’s nuclear programme

Ahead of the next round of talks later this month, a distinguished panel of experts will be discussing the Islamic republic’s controversial nuclear programme at the Frontline Club.
Join us to discuss the state of play following diplomatic talks in Geneva between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. What can be expected of the 25 October talks? Will re-elected president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad respond positively to Barack Obama’s appeal to Tehran that it “unclench its fist” or could we be facing a nuclear arms race that will threaten the future of the Middle East and beyond?
Paddy O’Connell will be moderating the second of these fast-paced dynamic debates.


Thursday 1st October, 2009

Berlin 1989: Peter Millar

Award winning journalist and author Peter Millar will be at the Frontline Club to launch his new book 1989 The Berlin Wall: My Part in Its Downfall.
In conversation with Brian Hanrahan, who reported on the fall of the Berlin Wall for the BBC,  Peter Millar will recall the events of that tumultuous night and also throw light on what it was like to be a foreign correspondent covering the Cold War during the last days of Fleet Street.


Wednesday 30th September, 2009

CANCELLED Frontline Review with Charles Glass

This is the first in a new strand with renowned journalist, broadcaster and writer Charles Glass.
Each month at the Frontline Review, the author of recently published Americans in Paris will be in conversation with selected authors on their books and the ideas behind their work. A chance to hear acclaimed authors discussing topical issues from politics, history and world affairs to culture and science. There will also be an opportunity to buy the books and have them signed by the author.
With Avi Shlaim author of Israel and Palestine Reappraisals, Revisions, Refutations, described as ‘one of the best and most illuminating accounts of Arab-Israeli relations in years’
Jim Sciutto/strong>, author of Against Us The New Face of America’s Enemies in the Muslim World. In 2002 as senior foreign correspondent for ABC News, Sciutto embarked on a reporting tour of the Muslim world that caused him to reassess the true nature of the enmity that exists towards to the US.


Tuesday 29th September, 2009

Reflections: Jeremy Bowen

In association with the BBC College of Journalism, the Frontline Club is bringing top journalists who are expert in their field and craft, to talk about their stories and the journalism that have shaped their careers. In the second of this new series Vin Ray, director of the BBC College of Journalism, will be in conversation with BBC special correspondent Jeremy Bowen.


Wednesday 23rd September, 2009

POSTPONED Reflections: Allan Little

In association with the BBC College of Journalism, the Frontline Club is bringing top journalists who are expert in their field and craft, to talk about their stories and the journalism that have shaped their careers.
In the first of this new series Vin Ray, director of the BBC College of Journalism, will be in conversation with BBC special correspondent Allan Little.


Wednesday 16th September, 2009

On the Media: Myth and reality in Russian journalism

Join us for a discussion with eminent Russian media experts Oleg Panfilov and Manana Aslamazyan that will examine the reality of the Russian media and the possibilities for genuinely investigative and critical journalism.


Tuesday 15th September, 2009

Media Talk: Pakistan, the Eye of the Storm

Owen Bennett Jones will be at the Frontline Club to discuss Pakistan’s turmoil in the light of its troubled beginning and the key events of its 60-year history.
The presenter of Newshour and The Interview on the BBC World Service and former Pakistan correspondent for the BBC, will be discussing his newly updated book examining the roots of Pakistan’s turmoil with the head of the BBC’s Urdu Service, Aamer Ahmed Khan and Aamer Ahmed Khan and Aamir Ghauri, a London-based journalist of Pakistani origin who has worked in senior roles at Dunya TV and Geo TV, Pakistan’s most-watched news channel.


Friday 11th September, 2009

Special Event: Lockerbie, the case for an inquiry with Dr Jim Swire

Join us at the Frontline Club for a special event that will bring together a distinguished group of campaigners and experts including Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was among those flying on Pan Am Flight 103 and human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce to discuss the evidence that would have emerged had Megrahi’s case gone to appeal and the need for a full inquiry into the entire history of Lockerbie.


Wednesday 9th September, 2009

Insight with Stuart Tootal: Afghanistan

An opportunity to hear Stuart Tootal discuss the war in Afghanistan and hear his views on strategy, the human cost, treatment of the wounded and lack of equipment. Stuart Tootal will be in conversation with Patrick Bishop, veteran foreign correspondent who is now one of Britain’s foremost military historians


Tuesday 8th September, 2009

On the Media: Access Denied

Frequently barred from the frontline, journalists are increasingly reliant on video footage, Twitter and email. What are the challenges when this is the only source of information? What happens when there are no images coming out and journalists can’t get in, particularly as governments become increasingly savvy in new media and public relations techniques?
Join us for a panel discussion in association with the BBC College of Journalism.
With: Richard Sambrook, director of the BBC’s Global News division:
Adrian Wells, head of foreign news, Sky News; Jean SeatonProfessor of Media History at the University of Westminster’s Communication and Media Research Institute


Thursday 3rd September, 2009

FULLY BOOKED Richard Wolffe: Behind the scenes with Barack Obama

Former Newsweek White House correspondent Richard Wolffe will be talking to Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow about his exclusive behind the scenes access to Barack Obama and his team as they campaigned across America.
An exciting opportunity to hear the political journalist discuss his best seller Renegade: the Making of a President.


Wednesday 2nd September, 2009

FIRST WEDNESDAY Afghanistan Then and Now

What does the election tell us about the state of play in Afghanistan? Join us for the first of the First Wednesdays with: Havana Marking, director of the acclaimed documentary Afghan Star; Emal Pasarly, multi media editor, BBC World Service Persian-Pashto section; Pia Heikkila who recently returned from filming in Afghanistan; Sam Kiley, award-winning journalist whose book on Afghanistan Desperate Glory is published on 7 September.
This event will be moderated by Patrick O’Connell, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House


Thursday 27th August, 2009

Edinburgh Taster: Elias Khoury and Bahaa Taher

If you can’t make it to Edinburgh for the Literary Festival this year the Frontline Club is offering a unique opportunity to hear two award-winning Arabic writers Elias Khoury and Bahaa Taher as they pass through London.


Tuesday 25th August, 2009

Edinburgh Taster: William and Kenneth Hopper, Susan Richards and Fatos Lubonja

If you can’t make it to Edinburgh for the Literary Festival this year here’s an unique opportunity to hear some of the authors at the Frontline Club.
Hear brothers William and Kenneth Hopper whose book The Puritan Gift predicted the economic collapse of 2008 as well as award-winning Albanian writer Fatos Lubonja and Russian expert Susan Richards.


Tuesday 4th August, 2009

Media Talk: Afghanistan’s presidential election

He is widely expected to win a second term as president but what impact will the re-election of Hamid Karzai have throughout Afghanistan?
A panel of experts and journalists due to be covering the 20 August elections will be discussing the implications of an election that will take place against a backdrop of increasingly deadly violence.


Wednesday 29th July, 2009

Media Talk: Iraq – the reckoning

How will the British Army’s role in Iraq be judged once the withdrawal of troops is complete? Join us for a panel discussion examining Richard North’s damning analysis of the six-year deployment in Iraq.


Tuesday 28th July, 2009

Special Event: Malalai Joya at the Frontline Club

Prominent Afghan politician Malalai Joya, who has been called the “the bravest woman in Afghanistan” will be speaking at the Frontline Club.
One of the few to have spoken out against a government which has the support of the West, Malalai Joya will be discussing her ongoing work promoting human rights in Afghanistan, its politics and the coming election.


Sunday 19th July, 2009

Insight with John D McHugh: freelance newsgathering in Afghanistan

 In Bratislava, Frontline Club founder, Vaughan Smith, speaks to freelance journalist John D McHugh on freelance newsgathering in Afghanistan.


Wednesday 15th July, 2009

Narco Wars: Can the war be won?

A panel discussion examining the current strategies in the war on drugs. Is the Government currently engaged in a phoney war?


Tuesday 14th July, 2009

Satinath Sarangi 25 years after the Bhopal disaster PLUS The Yes Men

As the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster approaches, here is an opportunity to hear Satinath Sarangi in conversation with Daily Telegraph journalist and author Mick Brown discuss the disaster, the remarkable work of the Samhavna Trust, ongoing support work and the campaign for corporate accountability.
Satirical activists The Yes Men will be attending this event to talk about the practice of what they call “identity correction” by pretending to be powerful people and spokespersons for prominent organisations


Tuesday 7th July, 2009

Watching the Detectives: the media and anti terrorism laws

Are new Counter Terrorism laws a threat to press freedom? How concerned should photographers and journalists be about anti-terrorism legislation that came into force earlier this year making people taking pictures of the police potentially subject to fines or even arrest?


Wednesday 1st July, 2009

TIME CHANGE Insight with Gillian Tett: Scaremongerer no more

Following the publication of her book, Fool’s Gold: How Unrestrained Greed Corrupted a Dream, Shattered Global Markets and Unleashed a Catastrophe, Gillian Tett will be at the Frontline Club in conversation with another of the journalists tasked with making sense of the economic crisis, the BBC’s economics editor Stephanie Flanders.


Tuesday 30th June, 2009

REACTIVE Reporting from Iran

As the relationship between the West and Iran continues to deteriorate, the Frontline Club is hosting a special event with journalists recently back from Tehran to discuss their work reporting the elections and the protests that followed.
The panel will discuss the impact of reporting restrictions on their work, the crucial role of new media and citizen journalists as well as the increasing hostility of the Irania government towards the British government and the BBC..


Friday 26th June, 2009

POSTPONED Dinner Briefing: I’m a celebrity what am I doing here?

From Stephen Fry and other diners taking on sushi restaurant Nobu over its use of tuna to Angelina Jolie travelling the globe to highlight the plight of refugees,  celebrities are often crucial to a campaign’s media coverage.David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand took on knife crime and Blur bassist Alex James lent his support to a […]


Wednesday 24th June, 2009

Narco Wars: Mexico

What impact is Mexico’s battle against the drug cartels having within the country and around the world?


June 18, 2009

CANCELLED The Manipulation of History

£10 booking now online
Join us at the Frontline Club to hear Christopher de Bellaigue, author of Rebel Land: Among Turkey’s Forgotten Peoples discuss the manipulation of history with Margaret Macmillan, author of The Uses and Abuses of History.


Thursday 18th June, 2009

NEW REACTIVE Iran’s presidential elections

Join us at the Frontline Club where a panel of experts will discuss the presidential election of 12 June and its aftermath. With Hossein Mousavi calling for the results to be annulled and protests against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad continuing in Tehran in defiance of a government ban, the panel will assess the […]


Monday 15th June, 2009

Media Talk: Pakistan The Roots of Turmoil

Join us at the Frontline to discuss Dr Farzana Shaikh’s claim that uncertainty about Pakistan’s identity lies at the heart of its social and political decline and that its leaders will only be able to combat terrorism once the country’s vexed relationship with Islam is resolved.


June 10, 2009

CANCELLED Insight with Rana Husseini

Rana Husseini will be at the Frontline Club to talk about her work and her new book, Murder in the Name of Honour that looks at the stories behind some high-profile and lesser-known murders and her campaign to change laws that mean such murders can go unpunished.


Monday 8th June, 2009

On the Media MPs expenses: a triumph for journalism?

Join us at the Frontline Club to discuss the implications of the MPs’ expenses story for independent journalism.