The Brazilian Villas Boas brothers, RGS gold-medallists for remarkable explorations, used their fame to champion indigenous peoples, change attitudes to them, and protect their rainforests. Free: Members only Ondaatje Theatre doors open at 5.30pm Seats are not reserved and are offered on a first-come, first-served basis

What does it mean to be Muslim in Britain today? If the media is anything to go by, it has something to do with mosques, community leaders, whether you wear a veil, and your views on religious extremists. But as all our lives become increasingly entwined with our online presence, British Islam has evolved into a multidimensional cultural identity that goes well beyond the confines of the mosque.

This path-breaking volume reveals a little-known aspect of how Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, a jihadist terrorist group, functions in Pakistan and beyond by translating and commenting upon a range of publications produced and disseminated by Dar-ul-Andlus, the publishing wing of LeT.

In this stirring account of the people of North-East England and their astonishing contribution to British and global history, we are delighted to welcome Dan Jackson to talk us through his new book, The Northumbrians.

What makes North-Eastern England so distinctive? Where do the stereotypes come from, and what’s the real story?

The Northumbrians have been overlooked by British and global history, but they’ve made astonishing contributions to both.

The pace of change in China in the 20th and 21st centuries has been dizzying – with unprecedented economic growth and bewildering social change. The former BBC China Editor Carrie Gracie (Equal) talks to the author and broadcaster Xinran (The Promise) and the young Bejing-based journalist Karoline Kan (Under Red Skies) about the reality of everyday life, breaking the chains of tradition and embracing choices and opportunities for women in China today.

The murder of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 caused the eyes of the international community to become firmly fixed on Saudi Arabia, adding to already existing concerns regarding the country’s poor human rights record, its leading role in the conflict in Yemen and influence over the global oil and arms industries. Channel 4’s International Editor Lindsey Hilsum is joined by defence and security expert Armida van Rij, LSE Middle East Centre’s Madawi Al-Rasheed and journalist Zahra Hankir (Our Women on the Ground) to examine the desert Kingdom’s complex political and cultural landscape and ask whether it can ever become a truly progressive, modern nation.

May 2019 saw a resounding victory for Narendra Modi’s BJP, consolidating his grip on power. How will Modi use his second term at the helm of the world’s largest democracy? The Chatham House Director Robin Niblett joins Champa Patel, Head of the Asia-Pacific Programme, the novelist and columnist Sathnam Sanghera and Kapil Komireddi (The Malevolent Republic) to discuss the challenges India faces, with unemployment, slow economic growth, changing geopolitical relationships and a deepening religious divide all high on the agenda.

The Northumbrians have been overlooked by British and global history, but they’ve made astonishing contributions to both. Dan Jackson sets out to recover this lost history, exploring the deep roots of Northumbrian culture. From the Venerable Bede and the prince-bishops of Durham to Viz and Geordie Shore, this vital new history reveals a part of England with an uncertain future, but whose people remain as remarkable as ever.

Cities face and share many challenges and opportunities. What are some of the big issues they face now and what can we learn from these? Bruno Maçães (a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a former Europe minister of Portugal) has been researching the future of Europe and Asia for the past five years

In a new history of North East England, Dan explores the roots of Northumbrian culture – hard work, drinking, sociability, sentimentality, militarism and masculinity—in centuries of border warfare and demanding work in industry, at sea and underground. Dan Jackson has written for the New Statesmen and appeared on the BBC. Tickets £6

The three dashing Villas Boas brothers became Brazil’s most famous explorers, in tough and exciting expeditions. They used their fame, throughout the second half of the twentieth century, to champion a series of indigenous tribes (four of which they contacted for the first time); they transformed public attitudes to these splendid peoples; and achieved the first gigantic reserve to protect them and their Amazonian rivers and rain forests.