AUSTRALIAN HOSTS ANNOUNCED:
Friday 17 February – Plenary, Melbourne Professor Peter Singer
Saturday 18 February – Darling Harbour Theatre, Sydney friendlyjordies
Tuesday 21 February – Riverside Theatre, Perth Tom Nash
Thursday 23 February – City Hall, Brisbane Josh Szeps
World-renowned evolutionary biologist, author, and public intellectual, Richard Dawkins, makes his highly anticipated return to Australia in less than one month for a national tour, kicking off on Friday 17 February in Melbourne.
He will be joined by a different host in each city for an unscripted conversation. Professor Peter Singer will take the stage in Melbourne, Jordan Shanks (friendlyjordies) in Sydney, Tom Nash in Perth, and Josh Szeps in Brisbane.
Final tickets are on sale now through www.tegdainty.com.
One of the most respected scientists of our time, Richard Dawkins speaks frankly about the importance of science and reason and is revered for his unapologetic appraisals of critical thinking.
Dawkins is the best-selling author of landmark books The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion. He has earned millions of admirers the world over through his passion for the wonders of science and the vital importance of reason.
After last touring here in 2018, the preeminent thinker—and world’s most prominent atheist—returns to our shores this February for an unscripted conversation tackling a variety of topics, spanning science, religion and more.
Delivered with his signature rigor and wit, this is an evening of wisdom and insight not to be missed.
About Professor Peter Singer (Melbourne):
Peter Singer was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1946, and educated at the University of Melbourne and the University of Oxford. After teaching in England, the United States and Australia, he has, since 1999, been Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. He first became well-known internationally after the publication of Animal Liberation in 1975. Some of his other well-known books are: Practical Ethics, The Expanding Circle, How Are We to Live?, Rethinking Life and Death, Pushing Time Away, The Life You Can Save, The Point of View of the Universe (co-authored with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek), Ethics in the Real World, and Why Vegan?
In 2012 Singer was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, the nation’s highest civic honor. He founded the charity The Life You Can Save and is a founding co-editor of the Journal of Controversial Ideas. In 2021, he was awarded the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture.
About friendlyjordies (Jordan Shanks) (Sydney):
Jordan Shanks (friendlyjordies) is a satirist comedian, live radio host and podcast creator. He has been described as “irreverent”, “surreal” and “some guy who got a cheap camera from K-Mart”.
He has produced over 250 no-holds-barred videos for his YouTube channel with 250,000 followers. Jordan hopes he will foster some sort of interest in socio-political discourse, maybe even stir positive change, but most people keep asking him to dress up as a high school kid he once knew. Sometimes he complies.
Since 2013 he has spent 4 years in self-imposed solitary confinement reading thousands of articles about the collapse of the planet and then yelling about it online.
In 2016 he left the costumes at home and toured Australia throughout 2016 and 2017 with his highly acclaimed live motivational comedy show, Chin Up, Stooge!
About Tom Nash (Perth):
It’s one thing to survive a life-threatening illness, it’s another to thrive thereafter; mesmerising audiences around the world as a Keynote Speaker, DJ, and quadruple amputee like it’s nobody’s business. Then again, failure has never been Tom Nash’s favourite F-word.
A taste for disruptive ideas, and a generous pour of Bordeaux are recommended accompaniments for experiencing the full flavour of Tom’s thought-provoking perspectives; the power of pragmatism, separation of ‘life-noise’, and the necessity for self-reflection. Tom allows no excuse for mediocrity, and no apology for adversity.
Tom’s penchant for captivating storytelling, alongside his dark sense of humour and his razor-sharp wit are melted down into ideas for life that leave audiences truly grounded, and unequivocally hooked.
About Josh Szeps (Brisbane):
Josh Szeps is a television and radio broadcaster currently heard on ABC Radio, Radio National and the new ABC podcast, Out Of The Loop.
Josh started out in Sydney radio as a satirical journalist. He moved to the USA to present an irreverent weekly show on Discovery Science Channel, before CBS News Productions picked him up to anchor its Peabody Award-winning show, Channel One News.
What really put Josh on the international map was founding and presenting HuffPost Live, the multi-award-winning American talk network that revolutionised how celebrities and viewers interact.
In New York, he hosted over 1,000 hours of live television and attracted billions of views thanks to his entertaining and insightful interviews with the A-list, including Susan Sarandon, Sir Ian McKellen, Jeff Daniels, Ron Howard, William Hurt, Allison Janney, Judd Apatow, Robert F Kennedy Jr, Neil Patrick Harris, Richard Dawkins and Russell Brand.
During his time at the Huffington Post, Josh won a Webby Award and the Huffington Post won a Pulitzer.
Josh’s sharp wit scored him a regular correspondent spot with Al Roker on the NBC TODAY Show.
Josh’s podcast, #WeThePeople LIVE, has hit the #1 ranking on the iTunes Comedy Chart in America numerous times and has had in excess of 3 million downloads. It is recommended by the New York Times.
Josh’s television work in Australia includes rumbling with Alan Jones and Penny Wong on Q&A and hosting The Project on Channel Ten.
About Richard Dawkins:
Richard Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist, ethologist, and public intellectual. He is the founder of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (2006), an organisation that seeks to promote scientific literacy and a secular worldview.
From 1995 to 2008, Dawkins was the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Royal Society of Literature.
An internationally best-selling author, Dawkins’ books include The Ancestor’s Tale, The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, Climbing Mount Improbable, Unweaving the Rainbow, A Devil’s Chaplain, The God Delusion, The Greatest Show on Earth, The Magic of Reality, his two-part autobiography An Appetite for Wonder and A Brief Candle in the Dark released in 2015, and Outgrowing God: A Beginner’s Guide.
His highly acclaimed 1976 title, The Selfish Gene, argued that natural selection takes place at the genetic rather than species or individual level. It is here that he famously introduced the concept of “memes”.
“Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish. Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to, because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs, something that no other species has ever aspired to do.”
― Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene
The 2006 best-selling The God Delusion offers insight into the advantages of atheism to the individual and society.
“There is something infantile in the presumption that somebody else has a responsibility to give your life meaning and point… The truly adult view, by contrast, is that our life is as meaningful, as full and as wonderful as we choose to make it.”
― Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion
AN EVENING WITH RICHARD DAWKINS
FEBRUARY 2023
Final tickets on sale now
Visit www.tegdainty.com for tickets & tour information
Find Richard Dawkins online:
Website | Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
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