The tortured poet. The rebellious scientist. The monstrous artist. The tech disruptor.
You can tell what a society values by who it labels as a genius. You can also tell who it excludes, who it enables, and what it is prepared to tolerate.
Taking us from the Renaissance Florence of Leonardo da Vinci to the Floridian rocket launches of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Helen Lewis unravels a word that we all use — without really questioning what it means.
Along the way, she uncovers the secret of the Beatles’ success, asks how biographers should solve the Austen Problem, and reveals why Stephen Hawking thought IQ tests were for losers (before taking one herself). And she asks if the modern idea of genius — a class of special people — is distorting our view of the world.
Helen Lewis will be ‘In Conversation’ with Rafael Behr.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Helen Lewis is a staff writer at The Atlantic who writes about politics and culture. Her first book, Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights, was a Sunday Times bestseller and a Guardian, Telegraph and Financial Times book of the year. She is the writer and presenter of the BBC podcast series The New Gurus and Helen Lewis Has Left the Chat, and co-host of Strong Message Here, with Armando Iannucci.
CHAIR BIOGRAPHY
Rafael Behr is a political columnist for the Guardian. He is a former Political Editor for the New Statesman, Chief Leader Writer and Online Editor for The Observer, a business news reporter for BBC online and a foreign correspondent for the Financial Times, based in the Baltic region and Russia.
Helen will also be signing copies of her latest book, ‘The Genius Myth’, which will be available to purchase on the night. This event will take place downstairs in The Tusk Room at The Walrus Pub, Ship Street, Brighton. Unfortunately there is no wheelchair access available at this venue.
DOORS OPEN : 19:00 (£14 on the door or advance - £12 + booking fee)
TALK STARTS : 19:30
AUDIENCE Q&A : 20:30
BOOK SIGNING : 21:00 (Books available to purchase on the night)