On 26 November 2024, Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Lady Ferguson) delivered the New Culture Forum’s 2024 Smith Lecture to a sold-out audience in central London. The title of her lecture was “The West: Sleepwalking to Disaster”.
Today, Britain and The West seem crippled by self-loathing. Our heroes and achievements are denigrated, our history rewritten. Race and identity politics are fracturing social cohesion. Mass immigration from the Islamic world has led to a rise in illiberal cultural practices and attitudes towards women, girls and others. Our right to free speech can no longer be taken for granted.
How did we get here? And, crucially, how do we get out?
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is one of the bravest and most prominent voices in the defence of The West. In this thought-provoking speech, she explores the multiple threats to our way of life and how to combat them.
THE SMITH LECTURE
The Smith Lecture is the NCF’s flagship annual event and is delivered by a nationally or internationally significant figure from the arts, media, politics or academia noted for their involvement in the “culture wars”.
Smith Lecturers
2017: Douglas Murray, journalist & author
2018: Nigel Farage MP
2019: Dr. David Starkey, historian & broadcaster
2021: Neil Oliver, author & broadcaster
2022: Rod Liddle, journalist & author
2024: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, campaigner, author & former politician