Nervous States: William Davies in conversation with Tom Sutcliffe

Why do we no longer trust experts, facts and statistics? Why has politics become so fractious and warlike? What caused the populist upheavals of recent years?

William Davies’ new book, Nervous States: How Feeling Took Over The World, is an incisive, far-reaching exploration of our political landscape, charting how feelings have come to reshape our modern world. William will be joining us, in conversation with the BBC’s Tom Sutcliffe, about his compelling, essential guide to the turbulent times we are living through.

William Davies teaches political economy and sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London. His work explores the history of ideas, especially the history of economics, and how this helps us understand the present. He is the author of The Happiness Industry and The Limits of Neoliberalism, and regularly contributes to the Guardian and the London Review of Books. He has been called ‘one of the most interesting commentators on political ideas’ (Guardian) and Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens, said of Nervous States, ‘An insightful and well-written book that explores the deep roots of the current crisis of expertise. The scientific community has been founded on the basis of separating reason from feeling. But now science itself has exposed this separation as an untenable myth. So where do we go from here?’

Tom Sutcliffe will be chairing this event. Tom is the presenter of BBC Radio Four’s Saturday Review, with his work as a broadcaster also including several series of A Good Read, Start the Week and Newsnight Review – BBC 2’s art review programme. He helped launch The Independent newspaper, serving as its arts editor, and still regularly contributes to the paper as a television reviewer and columnist. He is also the chair of Round Britain Quiz.

Please join us for what promises to be a fascinating, insightful evening of discussion.