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Our Newsletters 

The Newsletters are a pinch, punch, first-of-the-month update on our Altered State.

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The Altered State- July 2025

Altered State’s motto – We Need to Talk – encourages debate and so we are dismayed by the hysteria surrounding some stupid things said by artists at Glastonbury (surely a yearly occurrence). Kier Starmer is struggling to control a rebellion on matters that should be solid ground for the Labour Party (after his third major Uturn recently) and attention-seeking Lisa Nandy even managed to get in on the act. We want leadership, not commentary, please.

 

Surely politicians have got more pressing matters to attend to? The world’s on fire, and the shortlived peace that broke out between Elon and The Don looks like it’s collapsing. Hopefully the other – rather more important - ceasefires will hold.

 

Last week we had a genuinely fantastic talk when the panel covered a great deal of ground cogitating on Britain’s defence in the world gone newly mad. Read the blog about TRUMP AND VANCE - WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE WHO NEEDS ENEMIES and look out for what promises to be an excellent podcast with talk highlights. To follow.

 

We’re off on our holibobs and we return in the Autumn with two corkers:

 

On Sept 11th we’ll hear about SOUND WAVES - CHANGING THE SOUNDTRACK TO THE OCEAN. Blue Planet TV show contributor Steve Simpson, a Professor of Marine Biology and Global Change at Bristol University will take us on an adventure in the world of underwater acoustics and show us how sound can reverse some of the ravages of climate change, pollution and industrial fishing. We're tag-teaming with the University and the Futures Festival of Discovery for this talk and best of all, this event’s a freebie. Ticket info via the website soon. Check out on our events page

 

Then on October 30th, surgeon, author, TV presenter and mother of four Dr Gabriel Weston will lead a panel discussing the human body in all its glory. Watch out for early bird tickets which will be released soon.

 

The podcast from the illuminating talk GUT ROT - ARE ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS THE NEW TOBACCO? is up now on Spotify, which you can listen to here. Household name ready-meal magnate Charlie Bigham, Heloise Balme of the Bristol Food Network and probiotic fermentary guru Will Shotton talk about UPFs, our seeming addiction to them and gut health.

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Our book of the month for July is Omar El Akkad’s biting ‘One day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This’. We went to see Omar talk about his book at the Hay festival, interviewed by Bristol’s brilliant David Olusoga. The talk was highly emotional. Omar savages western complicity in the Gaza genocide. We should all try to read this and you can buy it from our bookstore here.

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Some stories from the last month that twisted our melons:

 

Nigel Farage’s new front the UK culture wars he’s fighting: abortion, read The Guardian Article here.

 

Could Canada join the EU?- read here

 

Forever chemicals in our rivers- read here 

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Trump's 'dear leader' parade was a damp squib 

 

See you in the Hen & Chicken in September - have a wonderful Summer Now more than ever, WE NEED TO TALK…

Previous Newsletter 

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THE ALTERED STATE - June 2025

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Will he? Won’t he? Will he one day and then not the next? Who can we possibly mean? Farage? Brooklyn Beckham? Sadly one orange man baby is currently sucking all the oxygen out of every room.

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So, he “don’t like” Putin’s behaviour, but (at least right now) is doing little or nothing to stop it. Yulia Navalnya at Hay said that whereas Putin previously lived in fear of arrest if he travelled, now he feels emboldened and there is little sign of him leaving the Presidency except in a box. The world’s policeman has hung up his helmet and slapped on a MAGA baseball cap, so what’s to be done? 

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On June 24th we’ll get into the weeds with our talk - TRUMP AND VANCE - WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES? We have a five star panel headed by General Sir Tim Radford former Deputy Supreme Commander NATO Europe, Ana Juncos Garcia, a Professor of European Politics at Bristol University and Richard Graham who was MP for Gloucester and has extensive security and diplomatic experience. Are NATO and other alliances being replaced by conquest / spheres of influence, leaving Britain isolated? Our host, Colin Gavaghan, Professor of Digital Futures at Bristol University will drill down into possible solutions. Other than learning Russian.

 

Trump and Vance Tickets

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After this we take our summer break – our autumn programme is shaping up and will be announced soon. As ever, we’d love to hear from you if you have any burning ideas for speakers or subjects you’d like to hear discussed – just drop us a line at Hello@alteredstate.org.uk

 

The talk podcast from our highly prescient discussion on how to control Elon Musk is now available through our website or through your usual source – and we’re now on Spotify so you really have no excuses not to have a listen

 

Podcasts on Spotify

 

On our books page you’ll also find the list of books suggested by our Musk panellists – some summer reading suggestions! And all of our previous books of the month. Talking of Book of the Month and staying on the artistic theme from our May selection we suggest What Art Does by Brian Eno & Bette A

 Aside from his music career, Eno studied art at college and has been exhibited worldwide - this book collects many of his thoughts from an outstanding artistic career  

 

Our Book of the Month

 

Here are some articles that have caught our eye this month 

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A brief history of Musk’s former friend and modern rival, Sam Altman - The RIse and Fall

 

You might want to think twice about wild swimming in the Wye - Bathing SOS

 

'Aussie Trump’ walloped - Albanese landslide

 

The plan to turn Reform into mini-MAGA UK - MGBGA

 

Starmer’s EU reset  - bigger but vaguer than predicted - Starmer vamps

  

 

See you in the Hen & Chicken on the 24th June

 

Now more than ever, WE NEED TO TALK…

© 2025 by Altered State Talks Ltd.

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