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You've described HowTheLightGetsIn as a place where there are no "off limit" views. Has that resolve been tested, since the first festival five years ago?
It has. The nature of philosophy is to ask the questions that we run away from. And an awful lot of ideas that are discussed in the public realm are tribal. We move like sheep, and follow whatever is the current fad – indeed, we're often deeply critical of ideas that don't follow that current tribal view. It's one of the jobs of philosophy to oppose that. To present points of view which are heretical, which challenge cosy assumptions.
"Heresies" are a theme for this year's event. Tell me about some that will be explored.
One's about tax – that it's not a moral issue, whether we pay tax. Could it even be that it's a perfectly respectable and responsible thing to seek to avoid tax? A pretty strong heresy at the moment, one that most of us would disagree with. There's another called "Bang Goes the Big Bang". Well, you could hardly get a bigger heresy than that, that the big bang is a mistake.
You've also got people proposing we give up on facts ("Would it lead to chaos or make us more open and pluralistic?") and on equality ("Should we be championing difference?"). Sticky wickets!
People can be very convincing. I could name some people from the past…
Go on.
Well, George Galloway. You may be critical of him in many ways but he's a remarkable speaker. He was talking about Syria last year, and taking the view that the Assad government was not the villain of the piece in quite the way that is understood in the tribal culture of British politics. And I'm sure there were people who went along who didn't expect to hear this, and who profoundly disagreed. But I think he won over the majority of his audience.
There have been many situations when an audience was sufficiently surprised by a view, convinced by the arguments presented, to change their point of view, yes.
Many of the great views that we now take for granted as being truths started out as heresies. I mean, Galileo was a heretic. Darwin was a heretic. Many of the fundamental building blocks with which we surround ourselves started off as heresies.
You've said the British struggle with philosophy. That perhaps because we're embarrassed by it.
One of the things we're up to is breaking down the idea of philosophy as being the sort of thing that is undertaken only by a specialist and is impenetrable. Not to say laughable, frankly. And I think when we started – I founded the Institute of Art and Ideas seven years ago, two years before the first HowTheLightGetsIn – that was indeed the only way people thought about philosophy. But every human being, in a way, is a philosopher. Because that's what it is to be human. You wonder about life. You wonder about what you're doing. You wonder about where you're going. You wonder: "What the hell's going on?"
It's a magical mystery being alive. And it seems to me that philosophy is about exploring that. So the notion that philosophy – certainly in Britain – became separate from public life and people's personal lives seemed to me bizarre. Genuinely bizarre. If I met someone at a dinner party, and I was mad enough to say, "Well, I'm a philosopher," this would usually result in a nervous smile or a change in conversation. Because the assumption was that I would engage them in some technical conversation about the meaning of words. We're trying to change that. Put big ideas back in people's lives so that we're not frightened of talking about it.
Who goes to a festival of philosophy?
Everyone, now. When we started, the thinking was – and this is maybe implicit in your question – well, why would anyone go to a festival of philosophy? To engage in esoteric exercise? We're gradually breaking that down. To start with we wondered who would turn up, but people did turn up, and they turn up in increasing numbers.
You've taken a stand against waffle.
There's an awful lot of nonsense in the pretence of a subject being sufficiently complex that it's not understandable by ordinary, intelligent human beings. If somebody has something clear to say, and it matters to them, they've got to try to make sure that people who are listening to them understand. And if you don't have much to say, and you're trying to sound clever, walling yourself in with technical terminology… we have no time for that.
What motivated me on a personal level was that I grew up as a philosopher in Oxford. And Oxford at the time had the largest philosophy department in the world. I was trained there but I was aware of an awful lot of pretence going on. And that what was wanted was to somehow cut to the chase. There's something tragic about a situation in which appearance is more important than the content.
Is this why you have a rule for speakers: be ready to be challenged?
The problem with solo talks, on their own, is that they can become marketing vehicles. It's not unusual to have events where people are invited, often with a new book out, and what is really going on is promotion. If you want to get into a situation where there is actual conversation, as opposed to promotion, then you have to break through that. And so our condition is that people who take part in the festival need to be engaged in a debate. If you have a point of view, you need to defend it. And being famous, being a celebrity, does not mean you can hide behind the wall of your promotional speak.
Do TED talks let speakers off too easily?
You wouldn't expect me to criticise organisations that have been very successful and done some good work in bringing ideas to people. I don't want to criticise any other organisation. But I do think there's not enough challenge, and that a very large proportion of the cultural space is promotional.
You want people not to be just standing on a soapbox, or being pleased that they're the people in the limelight; you want to feel like you're in a real conversation. If you go to a talk, and it's in a big lecture hall, the space, the ergonomics – it's designed to make the lecturer feel important. They're behind a podium and they're right in the middle. You're just in the serried ranks. It's got a slightly hallowed, hushed-library feel. All of that is conveying authority. We try to break that down to some degree by designing softer spaces [for talks], and by keeping the distance between the space very limited – the audience are right up close. All to encourage engagement.
That's one of the reasons why we also have music at the festival, and our parties at night. We have our talks and debates during the day, of the type that I've described, and then in the evening we have a really good party. Comedy. Electronic dance music. Folk. All of that chucked in, and everybody mixes.
Do philosophers like a party then?
Philosophers love a party.
Observer events
Customs of excise … Labour MP Diane Abbott will be among those debating the rights and wrongs of tax. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian
The Open Society and Its Enemies
Oligarchs and government spies know so much about us. Who can protect us? Are whistleblowers like Edward Snowden our saviours in a digital age? Or is the pursuit of radical openness the real threat?
Mary Ann Sieghart invites former GCHQ director David Omand, WikiLeaks chief spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson, the Observer technology columnist John Naughton, and former energy secretary Chris Huhne to debate the limits of openness.
• 24 May
The Eye of the Needle
The government and the left agree we have a moral duty to pay tax. Yet companies from Google to Starbucks seem to have other ideas. Might avoidance be a catalyst for growth? Or is paying tax the only way for the rich to pass through the eye of the needle?
Observer assistant editor Robert Yates hosts as Labour politician Diane Abbott, philosopher Jamie Whyte and former Liberal Democrat minister Chris Huhne debate a social heresy.
• 26 May
Facts and Fantasy
We think facts decide the matter, yet each politician, economist, and expert seems to rely on different ones. Might facts be a fiction – a byproduct of each different perspective? Would a world less reliant on facts become chaotic, or make us more open and pluralistic?
Former government scientist David Nutt and Green party leader Natalie Bennett get the facts straight, with help from philosopher Hilary Lawson and comedian Marcus Brigstocke.
• 1 June
Politics and economics
Development assistance … Danish writer Janne Teller will contribute to a discussion on the role of foreign aid in tackling poverty. Photograph: Murdo Macleod
Independence Day
The nation state could be facing a crisis. Richard Booth declared Hay an independent state 40 years ago, in jest, but now independence is for real. If Scotland and Catalonia secede, others could soon follow suit. Even cities like Venice are calling for independence. Can the nation state survive? And should it?
Channel 4 political correspondent Michael Crick joins former ambassador to the US John Kerr, historian Count Nikolai Tolstoy, and Liberal Democrat politician Diana Wallis to debate the future of the nation state.
• 22 May
The Gathering Storm
China may be set to take over from the US as the dominant economic power but, with Russia expanding its reach as well, could the future be more dangerous than previously imagined? Do we face a multipolar world, with multiple countries vying for power? Or can we look forward to a more equal future as nations seek to counter US global dominance?
Mary Ann Sieghart hosts as Oxford historian Rana Mitter, HSBC chief economist Stephen King, and politician George Galloway envisage the world's future.
• 24 May
After Equality
Equality is often seen as feminism's primary objective. Yet with women more likely to go to university than men, and with a greater number of female entrants to medicine and law, does this limit the horizon? Rather than equality, should we be promoting difference? Or is this a dangerous heresy that threatens progress?
Huffington Post UK editor Carla Buzasi asks columnist David Aaronovitch, writer and broadcaster Beatrix Campbell, and feminist journalist Julie Bindel to look beyond equality.
• 24 May
Machiavelli's Rules
Machiavelli's name has lived on in infamy despite, and no doubt because, he so openly endorsed fraudulence and deceit. Yet presidents from Lincoln and Johnson used skulduggery to secure change. Are lies, bribes and other dirty tricks essential for furthering a cause? Or should ends never justify the means?
Paul "Guido Fawkes" Staines, former chancellor Norman Lamont, broadcaster Joan Bakewell, and Total Politics editor Sam Macrory discuss.
• 26 May
The End of Aid
The International Monetary Fund warns there is no correlation between aid and growth, yet many of us continue to believe that humanitarian and development assistance can save lives. Could it be that the UK's £11bn donations are maintaining the very cycles of poverty they aim to abolish? Worse still, is aid colonialism by another name? Or would ending it neglect our responsibility to the world's poorest?
Hilary Benn, former Labour development secretary, World Bank economist Thomas Dichter, Prospect editor Bronwen Maddox and Danish novelist Janne Teller consider a future without aid.
• 26 May
Science and technology
Guiding light … George Ellis, one of the world's leading cosmologists, will offer his thoughts on dark energy. Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian
Bang Goes the Big Bang
Many of us accept that the universe began with the big bang. But the theory is not entirely infallible. Could it be a fallacy? Can we contemplate abandoning a notion on which we have built the foundations of the universe? And what might replace it?
Leading cosmologist Laura Mersini-Houghton, Cern particle theorist and coiner of the term "theory of everything" John Ellis, and mathematical physicist Roger Penrose retrace our steps to the beginning of time.
• 24 May
The Hunting of Dark Energy
Dark energy is thought to make up two-thirds of the universe – but Cern is yet to find any evidence. Could we be mistaken about the story of the universe? Might dark energy be the aether of our time? Should we radically revise our account of the universe, or is it too soon for that?
The BBC's Sue Nelson asks Templeton prize-winning cosmologist George Ellis, Cambridge physicist David Tong and mathematician Peter Cameron to envisage the invisible.
• 30 May
The Elegant Universe
From Aristotle to Einstein, we have sought elegant and simple truths amid the world's complexity. Do our theories stand the test of time because the universe has an eye for aesthetics? Or is simplicity, and Occam's razor, a misleading concept that diminishes the messy nature of reality?
Philosopher of science Steve Fuller, theoretical physicist Julian Barbour and Nancy Cartwright, author of How the Laws of Physics Lie, question the beauty of the universe.
• 31 May
Culture and society
Building a case … architect David Adjaye will be part of a panel assessing the merits of the modern metropolis.
Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian
Dangerously Big Ideas
Grand theories might not be popular, but are they unavoidable? In a sceptical culture that tends to believe grand theories are best left to Parisian taxi drivers, might we benefit from exploring and embracing big ideas, rather than pretending they have been banished? Or is this a slippery slope that can only lead to dangerous nonsense?
Historian of ideas Hannah Dawson, philosopher and closure theorist Hilary Lawson, and professor of contemporary literature and thought Robert Eaglestone think big.
• 24 May
Beyond Reality
From lemons to clouds, we take for granted that what we see is what's really there. Yet there are a multitude of ways to describe the world. Could our perception of reality be a radically incomplete account of what there is? Is this hocus pocus best reserved for fools and philosophers, or does it open up a world of infinite potential?
Award-winning novelist Joanna Kavenna, Cern physicist John Ellis, and philosopher Hilary Lawson seek the ultimate answer.
• 25 May
Paradise City
The modern metropolis emerged in response to the industrial revolution rather than to serve human need. Yet from Great Expectations to Brick Lane, art is full of stories about how urban living can transform our identities. Should we build cities to create better people? Or would this turn urban life into an Orwellian dystopia?
American sociologist Richard Sennett and author Joanna Kavenna imagine the future of cities with architect David Adjaye.
• 25 May
Art, literature and film
Facing the music … Julien Temple, famous for his Sex Pistols documentaries, will be join a debate about modern music. Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian
Irony, Truth and Reality
From political cartoons to contemporary art, irony can demean and parody. But it also enables us to say things we could not otherwise say. Might the American philosopher Richard Rorty be right that irony is the key to understanding? Is this a postmodern dead end, or the means to a freer and less autocratic culture?
Post-postmodernist Hilary Lawson, historian of ideas Peter Watson, and film-maker Sophie Fiennes, director of The Pervert's Guide to Ideology, confront the limits of sincerity.
• 28 May
Blowing in the Wind
From Miley Cyrus to Pussy Riot, musicians promote themselves as heretics. Yet famous recording artists live lifestyles of wealth and privilege. Is popular music a hypocritical and conservative force? Or does rock'n'roll have the power to change the world?
Film-maker Julien Temple, Jesus and Mary Chain's John Moore, Times columnist Tanya Gold, and Crass founder Penny Rimbaud debate the radicalness of pop.
• 31 May
The Mystery of Music
We feel music has an inexplicable, even transcendental quality. Yet, from Pythagorean accounts of harmony to contemporary musical theory, we have found ways to make sense of it. Can we go further and explain music completely? Or is the notion that we can crack the code a scientific and philosophical fantasy?
Oxford musicologist Eric Clarke, composer Rhian Samuel, philosopher of music Lydia Goehr and Universal's Marc Robinson seek to explain music's power.
• 1 June
Ethics and religion
Cyber guide … Cory Doctorow will join Colin Tudge and Imogen Stubbs in assessing technology's pros and cons. Photograph: Will Ireland/Future Publishing/Rex Features
Wild Dreams
For many, modern technology has provided a life of comfort and entertainment. Yet it also takes us away from being in the world. Should we give up our laptops and spend more time in the wild? A romantic illusion or the key to a happier, healthier life?
Author and broadcaster Colin Tudge and novelist Cory Doctorow reimagine our relationship with the natural world alongside actor and playwright Imogen Stubbs.
• 29 May
Party highlights
This year's festival features icon-in-the-making Sandi Thom, Starsailor frontman James Walsh, gypsy dance masters Molotov Jukebox, Hot Chip's Alexis Taylor, and two of Britain's greatest DJs, Mr Scruff and Andrew Weatherall. Each night there is a themed party.
HowTheLightGetsIn opening party
From intricate folk melodies to electronic dancefloor mayhem, 2014's opening party features singer-songwriter Carrie Tree, the melancholic RM Hubbert, Bristol band Laid Blak, plus comedians Sam Fletcher and Ahir Shah, and Hot Chip's Alexis Taylor and Felix Martin.
• 23 May
The Saturday Shindig
A rich and eclectic cabaret of tunes, comedy and partying, the Saturday Shindig features emerging talents Siôn Russell Jones and House of Hats, comedian Holly Burn, Orlando Seale and the Swell, Emmy the Great, Alison Levi, Mr Scruff, Andrew Weatherall and New Wave legend Chris Difford, of Squeeze.
• 24 May
How to book tickets
The Observer is the media partner of HTLGI, which features 500 events on seven stages over 11 days and runs from 22 May to 1 June at the Globe at Hay, Newport Street, Hay-on-Wye. Visit howthelightgetsin.iai.tv for tickets and further programme details. Sign up as a friend of the festival to receive newletters, priority booking and discounted tickets, and follow on Twitter (@HTLGIFestival) and Facebook for advance notification of events. The programme is subject to change and additional events may be added.
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