How we understand mental health and the level of compassion we show to those suffering from depression and other forms of mental illness define us as a society. In May 2022 acclaimed travel writer Horatio Clare and science journalist Alex Riley came to Intelligence Squared to discuss their personal experiences of mental illness. 

Clare, whose new book is Heavy Light: A Journey Through Madness, Mania and Healing, recounted how, after a lifetime of ups and downs, he had a complete breakdown and was committed to a locked hospital ward. He described the wonder and intensity of the manic experience, as well as its peril and strangeness. Riley, whose first book is A Cure for Darkness: The Story of Depression and How We Treat It, explained how through his efforts to understand his own depression he discovered the macabre, ingenious and often surprising history of the science of mental healthcare over the last 2000 years. 

Join us as these two writers discuss the most fundamental human experiences and share their message of hope and healing. 

Praise for Horatio Clare’s Heavy Light:

‘One of the most brilliant travel writers of our day takes us us now to that most challenging country, severe mental illness; and does so with such wit, warmth, and humanity, that, better acquainted with its terrors, we may better face our own‘ – The Reverend Richard Coles

Praise for Alex Riley’s A Cure For Darkness

‘Boldly ambitious, deeply affecting, and magisterial in scope’ – Steve Silberman, author of Neurotribes