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Leeds International Festival of Ideas announces new headline speaker and hosts

Sophie Smith Sophie Smith - 8th June 2023

There's some new names to get excited about.

Joining the lineup at this year's Leeds International Festival of Ideas, BAFTA nominated Christopher Eccleston will be taking to the stage as the final headline speaker on Saturday 30 September 2023.

The renowned actor will be sharing his story as a working class actor and how voices such as his need to be kept alive across the arts and culture scene in an event entitled 'Arts and Culture – For the many; or the few?'.

Christopher Eccleston joins LIFI. / Image: Supplied, C81

Another exciting new addition to the festival will be celebrated broadcaster Naga Munchetty, who will host 'Other Side of the Coin' a fireside chat with Sir Jon Cunliffe and Tom Duff Gordon disussing the future of currency.

Meanwhile BBC journalist Lotty Leeming will host Rob Rinder's 'Invisible Rule of Law', hoping to shed light on the topic and challenge convensional notions.

Speaker and podcaster Sarah Powell is also announced today as the host for Ruby Wax OBE's conversation around wellness, self-help and mindfullness.

Steven Bartlett's talk about 'A New Generation of Entrepreneurism' has already sold out but those with tickets can looking forward to the new host announcement of Anisa Morridadi.

Meanwhile fellow RuPaul's Drag Race queen, actor and singer Divina De Campo will be hosting an insightful chat with headline speaker Bimini to talk about 'A World Beyond The Binary'.

Divina De Campo portrait.
Image: Divina De Campo is announced as the host for 'A World Beyond The Binary' with Bimini. / Image: Chapter 81

And finally with the new headline speaker announcement comes a new host announcement: Leeds' own writer and producer Lisa Holdsworth will be chatting to newly announced Christopher Eccleston about arts and culture, bringing an insightful dialogue that will 'allow attendees to explore the interplay between art, society, and personal experiences.'

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Martin Dickson, Leeds International Festival of Ideas has commented on the new additions: “We are over the moon to have someone like Christoper Eccleston headline this year’s festival. We think it will be a very telling event based around class and socio-economic background as barriers to culture. We have also just announced Naga Munchetty to lead the chat on digital currency with two already heavyweight contributors on the subject. Throwing in some real journalistic hosts and people at the top of their game, this year’s festival is going to be really special.

Leeds International Festival of Ideas Full Lineup

The full programme schedule is as followed:

Wednesday 27 September 2023

Davina McCall will be on the panel for ‘when will women’s health be taken seriously’. / Image: Chapter 81

7pm Panel: When will women’s health be taken seriously? with Davina McCall, Dr Christine Ekechi Lauren Mahon, Cherry Healey, Gabby Jahanshahi-Edlin and Kenny Ethan Jones

7.30pm Fireside chat: A New Generation Of Entrepreneurism with Steven Bartlett

Tickets are available here.

Thursday 28 September 2023

Bimini will be talking about ‘a world beyond the binary’. / Image: Chapter 81

7pm Panel: Could living The Good Life save the planet? with Matt Baker, Doug McMaster, Banjo Beale, Flavia Cacace and Clare Lewis

12pm Fireside chat: Invisible rule of law with Rob Rinder

7.30pm Fireside chat: A world beyond the binary with Bimini

Tickets are available here.

Friday 28 September 2023

My Journey to Mindfulness with Ruby Wax OBE is Friday’s fireside chat. / Image: Chapter 81

7pm Panel: What is our obsession with true crime? with Louise Shorter, Richard McCann, Coltan Scrivner, Gemma Whelan and Mark Williams-Thomas

7.30pm Fireside chat: My Journey to Mindfulness with Ruby Wax OBE

Tickets are available here.

Saturday 29 September 2023

Dame Prue Leith will be on the panel for ‘how do we talk about grief’. / Image: Chapter 81

2.30pm Panel: Who does our political system benefit? with Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Tom Brake, Magid Magid, Amber Rudd and Scarlett Westbrook

7pm Panel: How do we talk about grief? with Dame Prue Leith, Jamilla Hussain, Silvan Luley, Lucy Turner and Will Young

3pm Fireside chat: Other Side Of The Coin with Sir Jon Cunliffe and Tom Duff Gordon 

7.30pm Fireside chat: Arts and Culture - for the many; or the few? with Christopher Eccleston

Tickets are available here.

About Leeds International Festival of Ideas

Leeds International Festival of Ideas has announced its full festival lineup, and it’s combining some of the UK’s most influential speakers with some of the most important questions of our time.

Working in partnership with LeedsBID, The Hoot Leeds and Weightmans, the idea of the festival is to bring conversations to the surface, using a combination of panels, fireside chats and speeches to inspire, provoke and encourage discussions.

Questions vary from ‘what’s our obsession with true crime?’ to ‘who does our political system benefit?’ and ‘how do we talk about grief?’ – and this year’s lineup is perfectly certainly won’t be shying away from the hard questions.

The four day festival will take place from Wednesday 27 September - Saturday 30 September 2023

Feature Image - Supplied, C81

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A daytime rave where you can be in bed by 8pm is returning to Leeds

Clementine Hall Clementine Hall

The famous Day Fever is back and this time it’s set to be bigger and better than ever before.

If you haven’t heard of Day Fever before, then we are about to blow your mind.

Launched in early 2024 by actress Vicky McClure and frontman of Reverend & The Makers Jon McClure, Day Fever has become somewhat of a cultural sensation.

From its debut in Sheffield to a tour that sees thousands of ravers hitting the dance floor each month, the message is clear: people want to dance and let loose, but still be in bed before 9pm. And to be honest, we don’t blame them.

Running from 3pm to 8pm, Day Fever provides a proper night out that doesn’t completely write you off for the entire weekend.

Image: Supplied

“It started as a WhatsApp idea,” says Jon McClure. “Jonny just said, ‘A daytime disco, how good would that be?’ We’re all a bit nuts, so we just said, ‘Come on then!’

“It feels like a massive house party at your nan’s,” laughs Vicky. “No drama, no egos, just people acting daft, getting dressed up, and having the best time.”

From Leeds to Newcastle, Glasgow to Manchester, every Day Fever event has its own unique flavour.

There’ll be local DJs who know their crowds keep the energy high with a nostalgic mix of Northern Soul, disco, indie, and 90s classics. “Manchester goes mad for Oasis,” says Jon, “and if Vicky’s there, we have to play Whitney, it’s non-negotiable!”

They last popped up in Leeds at Project House a couple of weeks ago and it went down a storm, so they've decided to come back for two more dates to kick off the new year.

Day Fever will be turning up the speakers at Project House on Saturday 31 January and Saturday 28 February, and we will absolutely see you there.

Tickets are on sale now, and you can grab yours here.

Read more: 10 of the biggest live gigs coming to Leeds next year | 2026

Featured image - Supplied

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A list of the most annoying songs of 2025 according to ‘science’ has been revealed

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

The most annoying songs of 2025 according to ‘science’ has been published.

Music lovers have already been sifting through their Spotify Wrapped, which came out earlier this month, with searches for it surging an astonishing 5,000% in recent weeks, proving that 2025 has been a memorable year for music.

We've had record-breaking releases, viral TikTok hits, and artists pushing creative boundaries across genres.

Despite the hits though, some tracks have sparked debates over how irritating they are – from repetitiveness to ‘harmonic dullness’.

Interested to discover the most annoying song releases of 2025, the experts at SeatPick analysed the most popular songs of 2025 according to official top charts, then measured their repetition, shrillness, harmonic dullness, and filler lyrics to calculate the percentage chance that listeners would find the song to be so-called ‘annoying’.

Unfortunately for one artist – one very popular artist, it has to be said – they have claimed both the top and second spot, and that artist is pop royalty Sabrina Carpenter.

SeatPick’s findings revealed that Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Sugar Talking’ and ‘Tears’, which were both featured on her latest album Man’s Best Friend, are the most annoying songs released in 2025, as the data metrics indicated that nearly half of listeners (46%) are likely to find these songs irritating due to they’re repetitiveness.

The most annoying songs of 2025 have been revealed according to ‘science’ / Credit: Jonas Leupe

Lady Gaga’s ‘The Dead Dance’ ranks as the third most annoying track of the year, scoring high on the ‘annoyingness index,’ with repetition, brightness, and lyrical filler contributing to an overall 45.8% likelihood that listeners would find it irritating.

Rounding off the top four most irritating songs of 2025 is ‘Who’ by BTS member, Jimin, with there being a 45.5% chance that listeners would find his song irritating due to its repetitive hooks and bright, high pitched tones.

When it comes to the list of most irritating TikTok trending songs of 2025, that title went to ‘Dame Un Grrr’ by Fantomel and Kate Linn, with a 45.7% likelihood of being found irritating by listeners, closely followed by ‘She Twerkin’ by Ca$h Out in second, with a 44.1% likelihood of being found annoying by listeners.

One song we’re sure many of you won’t be surprised to find on the most irritating list is ‘Hold My Hand’ by Jess Glynne, which, of course, initially gained popularity through its use in a Jet2Holiday advertisement, and then later became widely featured in more than 3.4 million TikTok videos.

So, what do you make of these results then? Do you agree? What do you think the most annoying song that came out in 2025 is?

Read more: Surprising new survey reveals the top 10 most disliked Christmas foods

Featured Image – Karola G (via Pexels)

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