What we’re about
Welcome to BRIGHTHINK, a non-profit organisation based in Brighton that hosts engaging and stimulating events all year round. We invite academics, journalists, authors and experts from around the UK, and beyond, to present talks on a wide range of fascinating and intriguing topics that will hopefully entertain, as well as challenge you.
If you want to know more about Brighthink visit us at our Website and sign up to our mailing list. You can also access and listen to an audio archive of previous events.
Upcoming events (4)
See all- GIRL ON GIRL: How Pop Culture Turned A Generation Of Women Against ThemselvesThe Grand Central, Brighton, Brighton£12.00
Advance Tickets available at EVENTBRITE
Cosmetic surgeries are at an all-time high, Ozempic is bringing back ‘heroin chic’ and TikTok, trad-wives are on the rise – after four waves of feminism, what went wrong?
Despite decades of progress, the gains of the feminist movement feel more fragile than ever. But as Atlantic critic and Pulitzer Prize finalist Sophie Gilbert points out, this is not a unique moment. Feminism felt just as fragmented in the early 2000s, when the momentum of third-wave feminists and riot grrrls was squashed by lad culture and the commodification of Girl Power.
In her new book, Girl on Girl, Sophie argues that we cannot move forward without fully reckoning with the ways pop culture has defined us. She casts her eye across pop culture of the past thirty years – from Madonna, the Spice Girls and the Kardashians, to MySpace, #GirlBoss and Real Housewives – and highlights a toxic pattern of progress and misogynistic backlash, claiming that every form of media, heavily influenced by the rise of porn, has shaped and warped women’s relationships with themselves and other women.Sophie Gilbert will be 'In Conversation' with Hannah Martin and will also be signing copies of her latest book, Girl on Girl, which will be available to purchase on the night.
This event will take place upstairs in The Nightingale Room at The Grand Central Pub, Brighton. Unfortunately, there is no wheelchair access at the venue.
- DOORS OPEN: 7:00pm
- TALK STARTS: 7:30pm
- AUDIENCE Q&A: 8:30pm
- BOOK SIGNING: 9:00pm (Books available to purchase on the night)
- HOPE not HATE: How the Far Right Went Viral and What We Can Do About ItThe Grand Central, Brighton, Brighton£12.00
ADVANCE TICKETS Available at EVENTBRITE now.
The UK has seen a 400% increase in far-right terror arrests over the last decade, with under-18s now making up a growing share of those radicalised.
Far-right content is shared up to 10 times more on social media than mainstream political content - thanks to algorithms that reward outrage and conspiracy.Join Joe Mulhall, Director of Research at Hope not Hate, as he draws from his extensive experience investigating extremist groups across Europe and the U.S., and explores how the far right has evolved in the digital age, infiltrating mainstream discourse through social media and online platforms.
He will also delve into the challenges faced by anti-fascist organisations, including threats and harassment, and the strategies employed to counteract these movements. This event offers a unique opportunity to gain insights into the complexities of modern extremism and the efforts to combat it.Joe Mulhall will be 'In Conversation' with Suraj Lakhani.
Joe Mulhall is a historian, writer and Director of Research at the UK’s largest anti-fascism organisation, HOPE not hate. He has written several books including Drums in the Distance: Journeys in the Global Far Right and British Fascism After the Holocaust. He also writes for the Guardian about politics and extremism, and appears regularly on BBC News at Ten, Radio 4’s Today programme, The Moral Maze and Channel 4 News. His last documentary Undercover, has been nominated for a BAFTA.
This event will take place upstairs in The Nightingale Room at The Grand Central Pub, Brighton. Unfortunately, there is no wheelchair access at the venue.
- DOORS OPEN: 7:00pm
- TALK STARTS: 7:30pm
- AUDIENCE Q&A: 8:30pm
- A TRICK OF THE MIND: How The Brain Invents Your RealityThe Grand Central, Brighton, Brighton£9.50
ADVANCE TICKETS available at EVENTBRITE now.
How does your brain decide what it’s seeing, from the physical world to other people?
For decades, scientists have tried to understand how our brains work, not realising that the answer lies much closer to home than it seems.
The latest research in neuroscience and psychology suggests that the brain is doing the same thing that the scientists are: using past experiences to build theories of how the world works, and using these models to predict and make sense of it. Through this process, your brain constructs the reality that you live in.
Daniel Yon takes the research one step further, uncovering how your brain colours your perception of the world, the judgements you make about other people and the beliefs you form about yourself. Daniel will revolutionise the way you think, with transformative applications for how we engage with other communities and approach mental illness.Daniel Yon is an experimental psychologist, cognitive neuroscientist and director of The Uncertainty Lab at Birkbeck, University of London - where he is now Associate Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience. In 2023 he was made a Visiting Fellow of the Paris Institute for Advanced Study and in 2024 he was awarded the Experimental Psychology Society’s EPS Prize for distinguished, independent and original contributions to experimental psychology.
This event will take place upstairs in The Nightingale Room at The Grand Central Pub, Brighton. Unfortunately, there is no wheelchair access at the venue.
- DOORS OPEN: 7:00pm
- TALK STARTS: 7:30pm
- AUDIENCE Q&A: 8:30pm
- BOOK SIGNING: 9:00pm (Books available to purchase on the night)
- RINSED: From Cartels to CryptoThe Grand Central, Brighton, Brighton£9.50
ADVANCE TICKETS available at EVENTBRITE now.
How the Tech Industry Washes Money for the World’s Deadliest Crooks.
For as long as people have been stealing money, there has been an industry ready to wash it. But what happened when our economy went digital? How does the global underworld wash its dirty money in the Internet age?
Join investigative journalist, Geoff White, as he reveals how organised crooks have joined forces with the world’s most sophisticated cybercriminals. The result: a vast virtual money-laundering machine too intelligent for most authorities to crack.
Geoff White will shows how thieves are uniting to successfully get away with the most atrocious crimes on an unprecedented scale, through a series of jaw-dropping cases and interviews with insiders at all levels of the system,Geoff follows the money from the outrageous luxury of Dubai hotels to sleepy backwaters of coastal Ireland, from the backstreets of Nigeria to the secretive zones of North Korea, to investigate this new cyber super-cartel, as he uncovers the extraordinary true story of hi-tech laundering – and exposes its terrible human cost.
Geoff White is an investigative journalist covering technology and organised crime. He has reported on the Snowden leaks, investigated the hacking of Britain's largest internet service provider TalkTalk, exposed fraud in the online dating industry, and won multiple awards. His work has appeared on Channel 4 News, the BBC and The Sunday Times. His podcast series The Dark Web has been a top-ten hit on Audible since its launch in 2017 and his latest podcast, The Lazarus Heist, was number one in the UK Apple chart.
This event will take place upstairs in The Nightingale Room at The Grand Central Pub, Brighton. Unfortunately, there is no wheelchair access at the venue.
- DOORS OPEN: 7:00pm
- TALK STARTS: 7:30pm
- AUDIENCE Q&A: 8:30pm
- BOOK SIGNING: 9:00pm (Books available to purchase on the night)