The Altered Statement
A pinch, punch, first-of-the-month update on our Altered State.
The Altered Statement — October 2025
Conference season brings with it the usual blizzard of buzzwords—apparatchiks lob hashtags like confetti in the hope one will stick. Last year’s was #farageriots; this time we’ve had ‘Boriswave’ for immigration numbers, ‘Brexit boats’ for, well, those boats, and ‘Turquoise Tories’ for Reform after the latest wave of Conservative defections.
Your Party, the Corbyn/Sultana party of the left descended into a Monty Python People’s Front of Judea–style public dust up and Andy Burnhamobligingly timed his challenge to Starmer for Labour’s big week. Donald Trump was met with tiara diplomacy of the sort Britain insists is unique, though quite what we got in return for kissing Donald's ring remains anyone’s guess. Protestors, predictably, were swiftly sat on (see below).
Our first ever Altered State was called THE PRICE OF PROTEST and it covered the increasingly narrow confines for peaceful protest so it is with great excitement that announce our talk PUSSY RIOT AND LED BY DONKEYS - THE ART OF DIRECT ACTION. Masha Alyokhina and Olga Borisova of Pussy Riot and Ben Stewart, James Sadri and Oliver Knowles of Led By Donkeys will be joined by the author and journalist Oliver Bullough who hosts the talk on Monday Dec 1st in St George’s. The two activist groups have never shared a stage before and both are revered for their bold, satirical interventions that ridicule political hypocrisy and hold power to account. And that power is flexing, Masha and Olga were sentenced in absentia this month to 14 and 9 years respectively in a penal colony for defaming the Russia army in their music video ‘Mama Don't Watch TV’, whilst Led By Donkeys were arrested for beaming the evidential truths of the Trump/Epstein bromance onto the walls of Windsor Castle the day the orange man/baby arrived. Well worth a look.
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It promises to be an adrenalising evening and tickets are shifting fast - you can buy here.
Can you identify the 3D printed organ below? If so (or maybe if not) our next talk on October 30th is for you. For BENEATH THE SKIN - A INTIMATE LOOK AT OUR BODIES surgeon, author, TV presenter and mother of four Dr Gabriel Weston, Gene Feder, Professor of Primary Care at the University of Bristol and our host the journalist Eliz Mizon will get into how everyone isn't get treated all the same and what we can do about that.
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From the surgery manual being written by men, to the disregard for the female sexual organs and racial inequality, our talk will get into how care plans and procedures are arrived at and what we can do to compensate. The talk starts at 7.30pm at our usual coop the Hen & Chicken, 210 North St, BS3. Tickets including deals on a pair and concessions for students here from Headfirst.
The 2nd of our epic two parter podcast from defence talk TRUMP & VANCE - WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES? Is available to play and download now
Our book of the month for October is Alive by speaker from our next talk Gabriel Weston, who according to Chris Van Tulleken "...is one of the best writers around, and when it comes to medicine and anatomy she redefines the genre. … It is essential reading if you own a body and should be mandatory for all those who study them."
The book can be bought at the October 30th event when Gabriel will be signing copies afterwards, or in advance via our bookstore here
In a tumultuous month, some stories pricked us…
“Putin loving, free speech imposter and Trump sycophant” Rep Jamie Raskin welcomed Nigel Farage to a US Congressional hearing on free speech
Whilst back at home Reform was refusing to speak to press they don’t like
The rise of Christian Nationalism in the UK
‘The trouble with being thick and telling this many lies is that you can never remember which ones you’ve told” Marina Hyde assesses the fawning and apologetic email (“I didn’t call you the P word”) from the Duchess of York to Jeffrey Epstein weeks after publicly disowning the convicted paedophile and sex trafficker
See you in the Hen & Chicken at the end of the month.
Now more than ever, WE NEED TO TALK…
Previous Altered Statement
August used to be a quiet month for news, at best dilapidated houses slipping off the edge of cliffs gave us state-of-the nation metaphors. Now there’s an annual outpouring of populist/nationalist angst that makes it hard to see beyond single issue politics. But see we shall. Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s new party of the left claims 600,000 registrations and they’re all being asked what to call the new party and Donald Trump applauded Vladimir Putin back onto the world’s diplomatic stage in Alaska. The fart of the deal.
We're pleased to announce BENEATH THE SKIN - AN INTIMATE LOOK AT OUR BODIES on Thursday 30th October. Our host Eliz Mizon is joined by surgeon, author, TV presenter and mother of four Gabriel Weston and Gene Feder, Professor of Primary Care at University of Bristol. They will take a fresh look at how our bodies are seen in medicine. From the influence of tradition and the male gaze to the blind spots of race and gender, we’ll explore why some parts of some of our anatomies get more attention than others. Super early birds are now on sale from Headfirst – or via our website.
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Our next talk is SOUND WAVES - CHANGING THE SOUNDTRACK OF THE OCEAN on Thursday 11th Sept in our usual hang-out, the Hen & Chicken. Steve Simpson, Blue Planet 2 and recent Today programme contributor and Professor of Global Change at Bristol Uni and Miranda Krestovnikoff, TV presenter, diver, author and musician will take us on an adventure into the underwater world of acoustics. They’ll show us how sound can identify and map habitats, giving us the means to reverse some of the ravages of climate change, overfishing and pollution. It promises to be a hopeful and uplifting evening, so it feels appropriate that entry will be free of charge, thanks to collaboration with Futures and Bristol Uni. Futures is a UKRI funded initiative that celebrates research across the South West. Please register here for tickets.
You could reasonably deduce from Sergei Lavrov trolling the world by wearing a USSR sweatshirt and serving journalists Chicken Kiev on the way to Alaska that the Russian delegation weren’t wholly committed to The Donald’s Nobel Peace Prize attempt. We got into the issues in depth at our last talk TRUMP & VANCE - WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES?, so much so that we weren’t able to distill the talk down to the usual half hour’s highlights for the podcast, so we’ve put together a two part podcast epic, part 1 features the whole of the main body of the talk and part 2 coming next week features the audience’s prescient questions and the panel’s toolbox.
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Our book of the month for September is Patriot by the late Alexei Navalny. Vladimir Putin’s charismatic political nemesis wrote his compelling autobiography when recovering from being poisoned by Novichok whilst investigating corruption. The last part of the book comprises his prison diaries written during his final incarceration in Siberia that followed his astonishingly brave return to Russia. It is hugely moving as it progresses towards his inevitable death and his courage and standards are inspiring. We saw his widow Yulia speak at Hay Lit Fest where she received a standing ovation of five minutes before she had even said a word and her stoicism in the face of tragedy was remarkable. The book can be bought here.
Some stories from the last month that held our attention :
Alaska summit optics
Gordon Brown’s tax suggestion to ease child poverty
The rage of Dominic Cummings
Elon Musk renews hostilities, giving Nigel Farage a big problem
Former panelist Oscar Berglund on the far right in his neigbourhood
See you in the Hen & Chicken in September.
Now more than ever, WE NEED TO TALK…