FBF The New World Disorder: Jonn Elledge & Tom Phillips

The world feels increasingly chaotic — borders are shifting, alliances are fracturing, and doomsday warnings are arriving on what feels like a weekly basis. But is this disorder really something new, or just the latest chapter in a very old story?

Journalists and non-fiction writers Jonn Elledge (New Statesman, Guardian) and Tom Phillips (editorial director and senior writer for BuzzFeed) join forces to chart the messy realities of geopolitics and our enduring obsession with the apocalypse.

As author of the Sunday Times Bestselling A History of the World in 47 Borders, Jonn reveals how the lines on our maps — often born of chance, conflict or colonialism — conceal centuries of history, from Roman frontiers to the secret carve-up of the Ottoman Empire, from Detroit’s city limits to the curious case of Bolivia’s navy (despite having no coastline). In Tom's latest book A Brief History of the End of thr F*cking World he offers a darkly comic tour of humanity’s recurring doomsday obsessions — from medieval prophets and sex cults to asteroid scares, nuclear standoffs and conspiracy theorists convinced the end is just around the corner.

Between them they will look back across the rich pageant of history while circling more thorny questions from the recent year, like whether  Greenland and Canada should consider building a wall and if AI will end humanity, or just keep writing bad poetry. 

Led by two of the sharpest journalistic voices writing today, this session will be witty, insightful and just the right side of unnerving. And it will (hopefully!) serve as a reminder that while history is full of chaos and calamity, we’ve always muddled through — and probably will again.

FBF The New World Disorder: Jonn Elledge & Tom Phillips

Monday 20th October 7.00pm

Cost: £6/£7/£9 

A £1 Poly Fund payment is added to each ticket sold. A 50p booking fee is also applied per ticket for online and telephone transactions.