Announcing... Suze Kundu, and panels on True Crime and Christian Nationalism

With QED 2025 fast approaching, we have three further additions to our final ever line-up - nanochemist Dr Suze Kundu, and panels exploring the problematic popularity of True Crime and the rise of Christian Nationalism at home and abroad.

Dr Suze Kundu is a nanochemist, science communicator, and all-round champion of curiosity. Over the past decade, she has blended a career in research with a passion for sharing science in ways that are engaging, inclusive, and impactful. Suze is currently the Research Community Engagement Consultant for NASA’s Science Explorer (SciX) platform, and previously served as Director of Researcher and Community Engagement at Digital Science, working with global research communities to make science more open, collaborative, and accessible.

The Problem with True Crime - ‘True Crime’ truly is a cultural phenomenon. Podcasts on the topic often rank among the most popular, and bookshop shelves overflow with investigations and criminal biographies. But when does legitimate public interest cross the line into harmful exploitation? This panel examines the dark side of our true crime fascination, tracing the roots of modern true crime entertainment from the salacious ‘penny dreadfuls’, through New Journalism and Jack the Ripper, to today's digital platforms. We'll explore how amateur sleuths can damage active investigations, the way conspiracy theories flourish in online crime communities, and ask how we can prevent the pursuit of mystery overshadowing the pursuit of truth. Featuring Icy Sedgwick, Dr Stella Gaynor, Lucia Osborne-Crowley, and Mike Hall.

Stealth Christian Nationalism - It would be easy to see religion as in its dying throes, with successive generations of opinion polls showing an increasingly irreligious population in large parts of the world. Yet, in recent years, there has been an upsurge in social media trends glamourising traditional Christian lifestyles. In the US, wealthy religious extremists have been successful in pushing their regressive agenda all the way to the White House, overturning the legal right to abortion and eroding the country's foundational separation of church and state. Meanwhile, in the UK those same organisations fund legal challenges to the rights of gay and trans people, under the banner of 'free speech'. How did we get here, who are the groups responsible, and how do we push back against this rising tide of Christian Nationalism? Featuring Andrew Copson, Noah Lugeons, Sian Norris and Alice Howarth

While in-person tickets to this final QED are now sold out, all of our content from the main stage, panel room and live podcast room will be available via an online streaming ticket - pick up yours today!