‘The point of Article Club is to challenge ourselves to read a diverse range of articles, share them with like-minded people and deal with our anxiety that we aren’t reading books.’
7:30 pm, September 5 2024
Past events
1:00 pm, September 1 2024
Ice Cream Crawl
At our Sundae Assembly special, ice cream scientist and Sunday Assembly’s own Tom Boulton took us through the history and culture of ice cream. Then we headed off on a delectable ice cream crawl through East London.
We departed from the Backyard Comedy Club immediately following the Assembly at 1pm, where we followed the rocky road onto:
1. E5 Bakehouse
Home to the famous Softy & Swirly. We sampled grown-up flavours such as loganberry and sheep’s ricotta as well as salted black sesame, honey with lemon and cardamom, and malted vanilla.
They also had La Grotta ices, a selection of seasonal frozen treats with an emphasis on fresh-tasting fruity combos – think pomegranate and leafy orange, pear and myrtle, wild fig and watermelon, or quince and bramley apple pie.
There were four basic flavours (vanilla, matcha, charcoal and coconut), but the thrill was in the photogenic toppings, which are arranged in Petri dishes on the counter ready for sprinkling.
3. Darlish
Luxury ice cream inspired by natural botanicals and the magical flavours of the Middle East, including black tahini halva chunk, honey rum, date molasses & raisin, and Turkish coffee.
Gwawr Thomas wrote:
‘Such a lovely day today celebrating all things ice cream with Sunday Assembly – sorry, Sundae Assembly – pals, beginning with a fascinating talk about the science of ice cream making by the man whose job we all covet, Tom Boulton; progressing through a sampling of some delicious new Little Moons flavours, and culminating in a fabulous ice cream crawl around East London led by Ice Cream Queen Magdalena Hunter.’
Hanna Finn wrote:
‘Another great Sunday Assembly, with free ice cream, followed by the most money I’ve spent on ice cream in one day 
Thank you to Tom for the great ice cream science talk, and Mags for the tour of three different ice cream places in East London!
I had a cherry ice lolly, Oreo cheesecake ice cream in a cone, and a cup of rhubarb, pomegranate and rose gelato 
Great to see everyone, and I’m glad we convinced two first timers, Naomi and Fiona, to join us for a few hours of walking and ice cream eating.’
Photo credit: Gwawr Thomas
→ Our next assembly: Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation, 15 September
← Our previous assembly: Cantat Ergo Sumus: Hymns of the Philosophers, 21 July
1:00 pm, September 1 2024
Post-Assembly picnic and board games
Extending the good times, these activities accompanied our ice cream themed Sunday Assembly and ice cream crawl on 1 September 2024.
‘Join us after the Assembly for lunch and board games! Keep an eye on the weather and event listing in case we need to change venue. Bring a picnic mat and food from home or the nearby shops. And if you have any portable games, bring them too. Newcomers are very welcome. We generally play short, easy to learn, fun games.’
11:00 am, September 1 2024
Sundae Assembly Special – The Inside Scoop
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.
Watch Morwenna performing her poem Different Ice Cream for Sunday Assembly
We followed this Sunday Assembly with an ice cream crawl around East London!
→ Our next assembly: Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation, 15 September
← Our previous assembly: Cantat Ergo Sumus: Hymns of the Philosophers, 21 July
3:00 pm, July 21 2024
Boardgames Club
This Boardgames Club followed our Sunday Assembly Cantat Ergo Sumus: Hymns of the Philosophers on 21 July 2024.
‘Join us at our second in-person boardgames meetup for July. If the weather is warm and dry we will picnic and play boardgames. If not we’ll be indoors. Newcomers are very welcome. We generally play short, easy to learn fun games.’
1:00 pm, July 21 2024
Post-Assembly picnic
This picnic followed our Sunday Assembly Cantat Ergo Sumus: Hymns of the Philosophers on 21 July 2024.
‘Join us after the Assembly for lunch! Keep an eye on the weather and event listing in case we need to change venue. Bring a picnic mat and food from home or the nearby shops. We usually get others jump in last minute at the Assembly so there will be more people than are showing on the event.’
11:00 am, July 21 2024
Cantat Ergo Sumus: Hymns of the Philosophers
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.
→ Our next assembly: Sundae Assembly Special – The Inside Scoop, 1 September 2024
← Our previous assembly: Space Oddity, 7 July 2024
11:00 am, July 7 2024
Space Oddity
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.
→ Our next assembly: Cantat Ergo Sumus: Hymns of the Philosophers, 21 July
← Our previous assembly: Making Light of Chemistry, 16 June
1:00 pm, July 7 2024
Post-Assembly picnic
Our post-Assembly picnics are an opportunity to carry on the good times together and enjoy lunch in the great outdoors!
We recommend that people:
- Keep an eye on the weather and event listing in case we need to change venue
- Bring a picnic mat and food from home or the nearby shops
We usually get others jump in last minute at the Assembly so there will be more people than are showing on the event registration pages.
3:00 pm, July 7 2024
Board Games Club
Board Games Club follows Sunday Assembly at 3pm.
If the weather is warm and dry we picnic and play board games and card games. If not we’re indoors.
Newcomers are very welcome. We generally play short, easy to learn fun games.
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