"the optimism we need is going to come from our fellow human beings"
Elif Shafak
5x15 EartH Hackney
"A luminous evening – hopeful, heartfelt & deeply inspiring."
Akram Khan Company
"The line-up, under any circumstances would have been intriguing... the event was sold out... there was an electricity in the room..."
The New Yorker
"5x15's packed soirees feel like an evening of offline, communal surfing, it's due as much to the eclectic menu of speakers as to the short time allotted to each..."
The New York Times
"The ability to 'think intelligently' about subjects that tickle, exercise and expand your mind is at last tangible with entertaining talks at 5x15."
The Telegraph
"a brilliant concept of five 15-minute talks delivered by significant voices..."
The Financial Times
Upcoming Events
5 Speakers, 15 Minutes Each - February 2026
5x15's 2026 season continues in February with more remarkable speakers and gripping stories.
The Tabernacle, W11
The Tabernacle, W11
Featuring Talks By:
Jon Lee Anderson
on the fall and rise of the Taliban
Oliver Bullough
on money laundering and dark financial secrets
Charles Foster
on the world's edges (where all the most interesting things happen.)
Justine Picardie
on royal fashion and conflict behind the couture
Jane Rogoyska
on wartime life in one of Paris's great hotels
5 Speakers, 15 Minutes Each - February 2026
5x15's 2026 season continues in February with more remarkable speakers and gripping stories.
The Tabernacle, W11
Conway Hall, WC1R
Featuring Talks By:
Antony Beevor
Rasputin and the Downfall of the Romanovs
5x15 Special: Antony Beevor on Rasputin
A special event with Britain’s foremost historian of war and no.1 bestselling author of Stalingrad, speaking about one of history's most destructive masterminds.
Conway Hall, WC1R
Emmanuel Centre, SW1P
Featuring Talks By:
Jung Chang
Fly, Wild Swans
Rosie Boycott
In conversation
5x15 Special: Jung Chang on Fly, Wild Swans
More than 30 years have passed since Jung Chang’s Wild Swans was banned in China and embraced across the world. Now she returns to the 5x15 stage to discuss the long-awaited sequel
Emmanuel Centre, SW1P
About
5x15 produces events of ideas, insight and inspiration for the world’s leading organisations and most discerning audiences. We bring internationally acclaimed speakers to the stage to share stories that are informative, provoking, and above all, entertaining.
Wade Davis @ 5x15 - Cultures at Risk
Wade Davis is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker whose work has taken him from the Amazon to Tibet, Africa to Australia, Polynesia to the Arctic.
About
5x15 produces events of ideas, insight and inspiration for the world’s leading organisations and most discerning audiences. We bring internationally acclaimed speakers to the stage to share stories that are informative, provoking, and above all, entertaining.
