Saturday 22 & Sunday 23 August 2026
Wyboston Lakes, Great North Road, Wyboston
Bedfordshire, MK44 3AL
Ticket information
Introduction
Today’s state is a sprawling leviathan. It reaches into our lives to an historically unprecedented degree. Yet it is, at the same time, fragmenting, incompetent and unable to maintain control of safety and security, internally or externally.
Beyond this, something is missing: any sense of legitimacy. Political legitimacy in the modern era is conferred by the people – the demos – yet the contemporary state often appears to be set explicitly against them. Ordinary people are seen as a problem to be managed, a source of danger, as something for the state to be protected from.
The Academy 2026 will explore the origins and development of the contemporary state. Why is the state, which seems to be growing inexorably, apparently incapable of delivering? Is it increasingly set against the people – and if so, why?
Programme and speakers
Read full session descriptions here.
Friday 21 August
THE BOOKS THE ELITE NO LONGER READ – BUT SHOULD
Nicholas Tate, educationalist, commentator, author, Seven Books That Everyone Once Read and No One Now Does(2025), ‘The Conservative Case for Education. Against the Current‘ (2017)
Saturday 22 August
THE HOLLOW LEVIATHAN
Jacob Reynolds convenor, The Academy; head of policy, MCC Brussels
WHAT IS THE NATIONAL INTEREST?
Frank Furedi executive director, MCC Brussels; author, In Defence of Populism
COMING APART: AUTHORITARIAN STRATEGIES FOR A FRACTURED SOCIETY
Chris Bayliss Contributing Editor, The Critic
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN’S ODYSSEY
Maren Thom film critic; senior research fellow, MCC Brussels
OR
AFTER LIBERALISM: TIME TO RETHINK THE STATE?
Michael Murphy head of journalism, Outpost Studios, writer, The Telegraph
HOLLOW MILITARIES AND REAL SECURITY
Andrew Fox writer, commentator, former paratrooper; co-host The Brink podcast; author, Andrew Fox Substack
Sunday 23 August
WHAT REMAINS? ART AND MEMORY IN THE POST-CULTURAL STATE
Lola Salem Oriel College, Oxford; author, Artless (Polity, forthcoming); contributor, The Critic, Engelsberg Ideas, Telegraph
ECHOES OF THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR?
Paul Lay Senior Editor, Engelsberg Ideas; Author, Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of Cromwell’s Protectorate; Co-host, 1666 and All That
OR
MICHEL HOUELLEBECQ’S ANNIHILATION
JJ Charlesworth art critic; editor, ArtReview
THE DYSFUNCTIONAL STATE
Claire Fox director, Academy of Ideas; independent peer, House of Lords; author, I STILL Find That Offensive!
&
Lisa Mckenzie working-class academic; author, Lockdown Diaries of the Working Class
ISLAMO-LEFTISM AND THE ROOTS OF CONTEMPORARY THIRD-WORLDISM
Tim Black associate editor, Spiked
Suggested reading
- Thomas Hobbes – Leviathan (1651)
- Alexis de Tocqueville – Democracy in America (1835-1840)
- James Burnham – The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom (1943)
- Peter Turchin – End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites and the Path of Political Disintegration (2023)
- Nicholas Tate, Seven Books That Everyone Once Read and No One Now Does (2025) – read it here
- Paul Lay, Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of Cromwell’s Protectorate (2020)
- Frank Furedi, In Defence of Populism (2026)
Beyond the discussions
The Academy is a residential event that offers a lot more than just the conference sessions. The quality of getting together while getting away from it makes it special.
Tickets with accommodation include:
• Brilliant food: a quality breakfast (including continental and cooked options), an extensive lunch, and a three-course dinner
• Excellent facilities: access to Wyboston Lakes amenities during your stay
• Social opportunities: staying the night means you’ll experience the full, collegiate atmosphere of the event and get the chance to carry on discussions over dinner and in the bar.
Tickets
You can choose to buy day tickets without accommodation, or tickets that include accommodation at Wyboston Lakes Resort. Tickets are subsidised to make the event available to as many people as possible.
Day tickets only include lunch
Have a friend who is also interested? You can save up to £65 each by doubling up with a friend. Select ‘double occupancy’ and let us know you’d like a twin room.
Click on the links below to purchase:
If you have your own accommodation and would just like to join us for the conference sessions, use the links below:
For concession prices – for senior citizens, unwaged and students – please contact Geoff Kidder: geoff@ideasmatter.org.uk