According to the Slavery Footprint survey, the average family in the UK unknowingly employs 90 slaves, often hidden in plain sight.
Sunday Assembly’s own Dr Astrid Leuba has been working against modern slavery and human trafficking for many years. Formerly Head of Corporate Responsibility at British Airways, she is now developing anti-slavery strategy and policy for Cancer Research UK and was recently nominated as Star of the Year for her work by Unseen, a UK charity running the UK Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline and providing safehouses for survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking.
Astrid guided us through how we can learn to identify signs of potential modern slavery, knowing how to report them, and better understand this troubled system of which we are all a part.
We were also joined by spoken word artist Amy Anam Cara, whose work reflects on the impacts of colonialism and imperialism on mental health and the ways in which the comfort of the global North demands the continued oppression of the global South.
Wouldn’t we all love to do things just ‘because’, without the pressure to have a good reason?
Steve Chapman is an artist, writer, speaker, consultant and coach, who encourages people to do just that! Interested in creativity and the human condition, he works with individuals and organisations to find creative and counter-intuitive ways to help free themselves from ever-tightening loops of stuckness, shame and imperfection, nurturing, instead, the freedom of spontaneous self-expression, creativity and innovation.
Hanna Finn wrote:
‘Sunday Assembly featured a talk by artist Steve Chapman, who told us about his hilarious art projects which often include the general public in weird and wonderful ways.
We took several creative challenges from his book WTFebruary and smooshed them into one:
Use discarded materials (an orange window blind someone was throwing out)
Draw birds, badly. Add made up bird sounds and names.
Start your own art gallery
Alan and I workshopped the name of the gallery by asking the audience to give us adjectives and bird names, and then randomly choosing two words. Then everyone was encouraged to draw birds (badly) before I strung them onto black string.’
We also had poetry from Kay Scorah, a multi-skilled creative who brings 70 years of experiment, risk, rage and learning to her writing.
You may have heard of the Baby Boomers, the Millennials and Gen Z. But have you heard of the Young Olds, the Mid Olds or the Old Olds? As human life expectancy has increased, there have been significant step changes in the way we perceive our life stages and their significance, and new research is proffering ever more nuanced categorisations of our experiences as a distinct ‘Generation’.
Vivien Louizos is a Counsellor and Life Coach for young people and adults, with a special interest in developmental psychology. Her research centres on the emergence of new categories in the life cycle, and the influence of our chronological age on the choices and decisions that we make.
As we continue to live later and longer, how do the determinants of our life experience change? To what extent are we influenced in our life choices by our age, and the unique circumstances of our stage of life? How real is the phenomenon of ‘My Generation’ – and is it biology, psychology, or the idiosyncrasies of the times in which we are born?
We also had a multigenerational poetry slot, with Gale Burns and Nadira Clare Wallace each offering some spoken word across the generation gap.
Gale Burns wrote:
‘Great fun to read poetry at the Sunday Assembly (a secular celebration on a Sunday in Bethnal Green) with Nadira Clare Wallace on the theme of different generations. Drop by one week, and you get free cake!’
I Scream, You Scream! To mark the closing of our summer season, we paid homage to that oh so sweet, delectable and enduring symbol of Summertime to both young and old – the mighty ice cream cone!
Sunday Assembly’s own Tom Boulton has worked as an ice cream scientist for Unilever and Little Moons for 10 years. Today he enlightened us with a talk on the history and culture of this most iconic sweet treat; the technology and processes in how it is made and what goes into concocting the best flavours.
We also welcomed back Morwenna James, spoken word artist and published poet who uses radical honesty and self-deprecation to explore universal themes with a playful, humorous slant.
Ever been moved by Nietzsche’s philosophical musings, but been desperate to hear them sung in the style of Bob Dylan? We were joined by the inimitable Paul Lodge, musician and Professor of Philosophy at Oxford University, who does just that!
This was a titillating blend of music, philosophy and literature as Paul offered his unique musical interpretations of the work of Nietzsche as well as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walter Benjamin and Margaret Cavendish.
Paul’s songs have been featured on BBC Radio Oxford Introducing and BBC Radio Cumbria. In 2022 he launched his album Preludes to Wordsworth in the poet’s home, Rydal Mount, at the invitation of Wordsworth’s descendants.
Cantat Ergo Sumus is Latin for It sings, therefore we are.
We were also joined by comedian and poet Sam Rix who brought us a joyous medley of hilarious spoken word exploring creativity, social media and everything in between.
There were four fantastic songs performed by our very own Sunday Assembly Band, followed by tea, biscuits and chats with members of our community.
This was our last Sunday Assembly before we took our customary break over August. But before that we had our equally customary post-Assembly picnic and Boardgames Club.
Right now, something strange is going on in the cosmos… Scientists are uncovering a catalogue of weird phenomena that simply can’t be explained by our long-established theories of the universe.
After decades of fruitless searching, could we finally be catching glimpses of a profound new view of our physical world? Or are we being fooled by cruel tricks of the data?
To celebrate the launch of his recent book, experimental physicist at CERN and acclaimed science presenter Dr Harry Cliff took us through some of this groundbreaking new research.
Sunday Assembly London has a new home! This was the inaugural Assembly at our new HQ of the Backyard Comedy Club in Bethnal Green: a legendary venue on the London events scene having played host to some of the best acts in the country!
To sillybrate this joyous marriage of our two institutions, we explored the relationship between science and comedy with two of the funniest nerds in the business!
Our guest speaker: Dr Steve Cross
Dr Steve Cross is a stand-up comedian, presenter and founder of Clever Make Funny, which trains academics, museums professionals, software engineers, architects and lawyers to make comedy part of their lives.
Dr Steve talked to us about how finding the funny side of science helps to unpack its biases and helps us drive social and political change by embracing the concept of absurdity.
Our guest poet: Merry Martyn
We were tickled by the presence of Merry Martyn, award-winning comedian with a PhD in Statistics. Often seen performing with a Rubik’s Cube, Merry was the winner of Queerovision in August ‘22, semi-finalist for Comedy Virgins #INGTE ’22 and West End New Act of the Year ’23.
This was our last Sunday Assembly at Conway Hall before our move to the Backyard Comedy Club from June. So what provoked our thoughts and stirred our emotions?
Our guest speaker: Alexander Beiner
Many feel that contemporary Western culture is in the grips of a meaning crisis. Are we unsure of our direction, as we grapple with climate change, runaway AI, geopolitical instability and increasing challenges around mental health?
In this talk, Alexander Beiner examined this moment in history, with a particular focus on AI, social media and psychedelics, to argue that materialist metaphysics play a major role in our cultural dislocation today. Drawing on the research for his book The Bigger Picture, he argued that New Atheism is giving way to New Animism and what implications this has for the future of humanity.
Alexander is a writer, commentator and co-founder of Rebel Wisdom, a media and events organization focussing on making sense of culture and complexity.
Our guest poet: Max Ingmar
We were also thrilled to have poetry from Max Ingmar. Max is a queer, non-binary writer, musician and artist. They make art that acts as a series of small exorcisms; the good, the bad and the hopeful.
In a wonderful reflection of Sunday Assembly’s inclusive ethos, this was the first time that Max had used they/them pronouns in a public performance.
Our songs
Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) by Billy Joel
Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Deep Blue Something
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day
Proud Mary in the style of Tina Turner’s version
Photo credit: Gwawr Thomas
Farewell Conway Hall
After 11 years at Conway Hall, it was time to say goodbye. A vote among Sunday Assembly attendees and volunteers had decided to take us to a new venue that better suited our community’s needs in 2024 and beyond.
Steph Pollard wrote:
‘It was a very emotional day today saying goodbye to Conway Hall, my second home for the past decade. We set up the musical instruments, spaced out the chairs the way [co-founder] Sanderson [Jones] would have liked, and put on an amazing assembly.
I teared up singing Good Riddance, for which I created a photo montage of Sunday Assemblers in Conway Hall that played during the instrumental (thanks to Andrew for the treasure trove of Sunday Assembly history).’
Gwawr Thomas wrote:
‘A day filled with nostalgia but also fresh promise for Sunday Assembly London as we said goodbye to Conway Hall for the last time.
We made a lot of happy memories here, but what binds us together is so much more than bricks and mortar and I can’t wait to make a whole heap more at our new home in Bethnal Green!’
Thanks to everyone who made Sunday Assemblies at Conway Hall so welcoming for so many years, especially our volunteers (pictured below). Here’s to Living Better, Helping Often and Wondering More at the Backyard Comedy Club!
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