The Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas

Take three top academics, some dangerous ideas, add one comedian and it’s the force of nature that is the Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas (CODI). Hosted by comedian Susan Morrison, and now in its eleventh year, CODI is ninety minutes of rapid-fire research from some of the finest minds in the country.

Against the Odds

Ever wonder why the scriptures of Ancient Israel came down to the present, when other nations and their religion passed into oblivion? Ever wonder why people still worship a God, whose origins go back thousands of years? The key to this success story is what scholars call cultural resilience. Dr Anja Klein (The University of Edinburgh) explores what it means to be resilient, and how this works for a religious community; discovering the fascinating world of the Hebrew Bible. What emerges is a resilient God and his people, who adapt to crisis and survive against the odds.

Old dogs need new tricks

What does a cognitive neuroscientist, a university lecturer and a tourist guide have in common? Quite a lot, as Dr Thomas H Bak (The University of Edinburgh), who works in all three roles, has discovered to his great surprise. He will take you on a journey of life-long learning as life-long discovery. Importantly, no-one is too old for this adventure. On the contrary, the older we get, the more important it becomes for our brain and mental health and wellbeing that we cultivate curiosity, open-mindedness and a passion for learning new things!

Has Your Phone Replaced Your Brain? 

What if your mind is not only ‘in’ your brain? How exactly does your mind extend across brain, body and beyond?  Philosopher Dave Chalmers claims that if his iPhone were implanted in his head, it would just speed up the processing; it is already part of his mind.  But claims about ‘the extended mind’ have been around a long time: for the Romans, the iPhone equivalent was a slave. We are all out of our heads, argues Dr Miranda Anderson (University of Edinburgh, University of Stirling, Open University), and we always have been. 

CODI is curated by the University of Edinburgh as part of Beltane Public Engagement Network and produced by Fair Pley.  

Our venues are small and usually best suited to couples and small groups of friends, we do not offer any group discounts and tables seat 2-4.

As such we specifically limit the number of large groups in the audience at all shows and our capacities dictate the maximum group size we are prepared to take.

If you’d like to enquire about a group booking, please get in touch with us at [email protected]

We do receive a high volume of group requests at this time of year, so please allow us up to 5 working days to come back to you.

We ask that you do not book individually or in smaller blocks as it can cause problems for you on the door and occasionally, we must turn away groups.

We do not accept stag/hen parties at our venues- this is our permanent, year-round policy.

The show has unreserved seating and standing room.