I had my mind expanded at Leeds International Festival of Ideas 2025 watching Chuck D, Victoria Derbyshire and Caitlyn Moran

Following a stagnant couple of days I drove up to Leeds on Tuesday for the first of three consecutive evening events at the Leeds International Festival of Ideas not knowing what to expect.

I’ve been to countless gigs and performances of all kinds and am a keen listener to podcasts and radio but somehow spending a night at a ticketed show watching people chat away seemed wholly alien.

But the flurry of phrasings, ideas, contradictions and considerations that struck me throughout the three sit-downs - which focused on music, masculinity and domestic abuse - have kept me absorbed long after the discussions stopped; indicating that something unique had happened.

My first session at the exceptional Playhouse Theatre was with the indomitable Chuck D, whose incendiary delivery of some of the hardest hitting hip hop tracks of the 80s and 90s as the head of Public Enemy has made of him a figure of defiant significance in the worlds of music and politics.

Chuck’s lyrics and concerns have long been focused on the black experience in the United States of America but his sphere of influence is remarkably vast and timeless.

During his discussion with former BBC presenter Nihal Arthanayake - whose 10/10 Mastermind appearance on the topic of Public Enemy was played prior to the meeting to outline his credentials - Chuck spoke fluently and assuredly on hip hop and its four founding elements of DJing, rapping, breakdancing and graffiti, which he rhapsodised were distinguishable across an abundance of cultural movements.

Amid the discussion of hip hop that the talk was billed as being focussed on there was inevitably offshoots into what has infected his lyric writing and what continues to inspire (and bother) him, delivered with a distinctive knack for a turn of phrase and humour. Whether he was talking about Public Enemy being indelibly tied to the R&B era (”Reagan and Bush”), the unconscionable government of Trump (a “hustler”), climate change and the “unique rock” we all inhabit or gender dynamics (”If at least 55 per cent of world leaders aren’t women in the next ten years then we’re doomed”) you couldn’t afford to not stay tuned in.

There was always a tint of hope and Chuck’s general warmness and compassion was in itself inspiring, as he frequently referred to his brother in the audience and shared how his post-show evenings in hotels have frequently involved sketching skylines rather than going out partying. And his references to how Artificial Intelligence could never truly take the role of humans and create like we do due to our inbuilt imperfections was refreshing, with the phrase “our scars are our signatures” being one of many for the books.

Empowered and inspired, after a day at work and a big meal my second show was a panel event titled ‘Where have all the good men gone?’ that centred around masculinity and men’s mental health.

Equally far-reaching and thought-provoking, the discussion was hosted expertly by Caitlin Moran, who brought a fluid, conversational tone to the heavy topic as the varied panel chipped in to how the concerns faced by men can be linked to technology, social pressures and, critically, our shared history and closest influencers.

Again, there was a wealth of takeaways that seemed to come flying at you and only became crystallised in subsequent ruminations. Whether it was former gang member Karl Lokko discussing how he cried for the first time in nine years while sheltering a puppy from the cold or Dr Stephen Whitehead’s austere reflections on how bad actors are inevitable (”Andrew Tate is a non-entity”) and how AI and widening gender disparities are threatening the very fabric of relationships, it’s safe to say there was a lot to consider in this one.

It was for that reason that I decided to buy a couple of books by Caitlin and Dr Whitehead after the show at the café, where the authors graciously waited to meet those who had visited.

The two were both a delight to talk to and so was BBC Newsnight’s powerhouse of a presenter Victoria Derbyshire, who I met after watching her host the final event I went to titled ‘Why do we need to talk about domestic abuse?’

It was a chance to check in after we spoke ahead of the panel discussion on domestic abuse, which Victoria has reported on and campaigned passionately about over the years, particularly during the Covid lockdown.

The discussion itself was perhaps one of the most sobering hours or so of my life, as those on the panel and in the audience shared harrowing stories and experiences about one of the most sinister and insidious issues plaguing our society.

The exasperated reflections on the failures from the institutions and groups that should be preventing and intervening in cases of domestic abuse were as despairing as the anecdotes themselves, but fortunately there was, again, room to galvanise the audience in the assurance that there are people out there who care and are doing what they can.

As you can probably tell the last few days have definitely got the cogs turning in ways they haven’t for some time. It goes to show that conversation is an art form in its own right; something that ebbs and flows and shapes and is sadly ever harder to experience as people become more detached, drawn online and less inclined to speak to the person next to them on the bus. We’ve become a society of ‘screenagers’ (another Chuck Dism).

It’s not just technology that is hampering our capacity to connect though. Heightened levels of anxiety and growing fears over the make-up of the world can make it a scary place to inhabit.

But if the Leeds International Festival of Ideas has shown me anything it’s that there are good people out there with viable solutions, if only the right people will listen.

God only knows where my head would be going if I’d have attended the other discussions on topics as varied as hospitality, religion, women’s sport, etiquette and parenthood.