Today's pertinent issues around culture and privilege, race, inequality and class – and how the legacies and struggles of the past have shaped Britain’s present – are discussed with broadcaster and columnist Kenan Malik, author of Not So Black and White, Yvonne Singh, author of Ink: From the Age of Empire to Black Power, and event chair Sarah Shaffi.

Kenan Malik has presented Analysis on BBC Radio 4, Nightwaves on BBC Radio 3, and for many years was a panelist on Radio 4's The Moral Maze. He has written and presented radio and TV documentaries; works as a columnist for the Observer; and his books include The Quest for a Moral Compass; Strange Fruit; The Meaning of Race; and Man, Beast and Zombie.

Yvonne Singh's journalism has been published in the Guardian, the Observer, the White Review, BBC History, the Mirror and the London Evening Standard, among others. She teaches Creative Writing at Canterbury Christchurch University and lectures at London’s City Lit.

Sarah Shaffi is a journalist, author and editor. She is the author of South Asian Folktales, Myths & Legends and has served as a judge for the Jhalak Prize, the Costa Novel Award and the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction.

Photo (Yvonne Singh) © Lisa Nylind