Berwins Salon North | From High Seas to High Tech

Big ideas in intimate spaces

In a world dominated by other people’s opinions, Salon gives you the knowledge to form your own.

Three expert speakers deliver TED-style talks designed to challenge perceptions and change your life for the better. Showcasing the most stimulating ideas in arts, science, and history, each scintillating speaker has the challenge of engaging their audience within a 25-minute set, interspersed with intervals where you can chat, get a signed book from the speaker, or grab a drink at the bar.

Voted number six in the ‘Top 100 Things to do in the World’ by GQ magazine, Salon is a night out that will enlighten, entertain, excite your curiosity and change your life for the better.

From High Seas to High Tech

Join us for an inspiring evening with Suzanne Heywood, Philip Ball and Madhumita Murgia, where we delve into extraordinary journeys and cutting-edge explorations in science and technology.

• Suzanne Heywood

• Philip Ball

• Madhumita Murgia

• Suzanne Heywood

Aged just seven, Suzanne Heywood set sail with her parents and brother on a three-year voyage around the world. Three years turned into almost a decade of this adventurous way of life, sailing through storms, reefs, and dealing with isolation. After fighting to gain an education and return home, Suzanne secured a place at Oxford University and later completed a PhD at Cambridge University. Suzanne previously worked in the UK Treasury and is now the COO of Exor, one of the largest holding companies in Europe and chairs CNHi, Iveco Group and Shang Xia and is on the board of The Economist and Louboutin.

• Philip Ball

Philip Ball is a freelance writer and broadcaster and was an editor at the international science journal Nature for more than twenty years. He writes regularly in the scientific and popular media and has written many books on the interactions of the sciences, the arts, and wider culture. Philip is also a presenter of Science Stories, the BBC Radio 4 series on the history of science. He trained as a chemist at the University of Oxford and as a physicist at the University of Bristol. His most recent book, How Life Works, uncovers the mysteries of genome biology taking you on a journey into the realm of life sciences, guaranteed to reshape your understanding of life as you know it.

• Madhumita Murgia

Raised in Mumbai, Madhumita Murgia studied biology at Oxford before joining the Oxford team working on an AIDS vaccine, she is now the Tech correspondent for the Financial Times. Madhumita made a move into science journalism following an MA at New York University and a first job at WIRED magazine. Having joined the Financial Times five years ago, Madhumita’s work focuses on the human impact of emerging trends in technology. In her latest book, Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI, Madhumita discusses the impacts AI is having on humanity through the voices of ordinary people and looks to the future to see what could happen if we fail to reclaim our humanity.

‘Berwins Salon North is unique, I’ve never lived anywhere that had anything like it. It’s great!’

‘Geek chic’

‘I came away feeling just a little bit smarter – and who doesn’t love that?’

With thanks to our title sponsor