We live in highly charged times. Since Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual harassment, assault and rape by multiple women, the bastion of male privilege has been under sustained attack by the #METOO and #TIMES UP movements, with a roster of men called out for similar behaviour – not only in Hollywood but in the worlds of politics, media, art, sport, and high-end charity events. Some surprising characters have been netted in the maelstrom – Margaret Atwood (the author of the feminist novel The Handmaid’s Tale) for example, faces a feminist backlash over her voicing of concerns over the #METOO campaign. Is it possible to adopt a nuanced stance in such a climate? And what would that look like? For an analysis of this most extraordinary disruption of traditional male-female relations, and its likely long-term consequences, join Kurdistan poet and leader of the first gender studies programme in Iraqi Kurdistan Choman Hardi, Māori development and media specialist Ella Henry, US scientist Hope Jahren, and UK writer and comic actor Robert Webb. Convened by Charlotte Graham-McLay.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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