BUT in the name of intrigue and drama (two things i am famously committed to), i’m going to do something i’ve never done before and tell you what our last talk topics actually were.

they included:

• okay, so did dinosaurs have feathers, or what?

• the untold miracle of kate bush’s career

• why haven’t YOU written a musical yet?

• a shallow deep dive into periods in the middle ages

• wrestling isn’t real: fight me

if reading that list made you think ‘i'd quite like to be in a room with these people,’ then good news! hot on the heels of our third sold out event in a row (!!!!), we’re back for round four.

our next one is:

WEDNESDAY 16 SEPTEMBER
tickets here!

and because planning ahead is sexy: the one after that is 28 october, which will be our halloween special. costumes will be enthusiastically encouraged. if you've been looking for an excuse to do a dress rehearsal of your vampire accountant outfit, congratulations. you’ve found the place to do it.

if you’ve never been to a small talks before, here’s the gist:

• five-ish speakers

• five-ish niche-but-accessible ten minute talks

• every talk is about something the speaker genuinely can't shut up about. previous topics have included dinosaurs, subway systems, public infrastructure, ancient mythology, kate bush, always winning children’s board games, and many more such topics

• absolutely no talks will be about anybody’s work. you are also discouraged from talking about your own work.

• aggressively anti-networking. if we see you open linkedin on the premises, we’re legally allowed to boot you.

action points

• come to the next small talks! bring a pal! or come solo - you’ll probably leave with friends.

• subscribe here (or follow us on instagram) if you’d like to hear about future events before they sell out. you can also follow us on eventbrite if you truly hate charm and flavour text and just want to know that things are happening.

• know someone who’s new to london or just chronically says ‘i need to meet more people’? forward this to them (or hit ‘share’ below). send any and all lonely hearts our way. the lonelier the better.

• coming alone? plan a meetup on r/londonsocialclub - you definitely won’t be the only one.

• want to give a talk one day, someday, maybe next time? pitch us something gloriously over-specific.

see you in september <3

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i have great news for people who enjoy having strangers become friends and listening to people talk extremely passionately about things that should, by all rights, probably have fewer enthusiasts.

we sold out our second small talks, which means this is either a genuinely good idea or a statistical anomaly. either way, we’re doing a it again, so get on board.

so, here’s the rub:

wednesday 5 august!

tickets here!!!!

come if you’re curious. come if you’re nosy. come if you’re new to london. come if you have a friend who keeps saying they want to meet more people. come if you’d like to spend an evening learning something completely unexpectedly fascinating and then arguing about it immediately afterwards. come!

and if you’re not free (six weeks out on a wednesday?! COME ON), earmark wednesday 16 september (but you didn’t hear it from me, i’m just an email).

if you’ve never been to a small talks before, here’s the premise:

• five-ish speakers

• five-ish niche topics

• no work talk

• aggressively anti-networking; if you get a job from coming to small talks, we’ll take 100% of the credit, but you’re not allowed to tell us that. you’ll simply be indebted to us forever and we’ll never know why.

the real magic, though, is the people. i personally made three new friends at the first one, and i feel like i made at least another couple at the second, which feels like a pretty solid return on investment. folks have turned up alone, left with new pals, and immediately started arguing passionately about topics they didn’t know existed an hour earlier.

a list of action points for you, dear reader

• COME TO SMALL TALKS #3! tell your pals!

• sign up for this newsletter if you to keep up (or insta if you prefer). you can also follow us on eventbrite if you truly want to be the first to know with zero flavour text, because they email anyone who follows the second an event drops.

• know anyone new in town, or anyone who’s looking to make friends? forward this to them so they can make some pals that aren’t you!

• want to come, but want a friendlyish face to come with? ask around on r/londonsocialclub!

• want to give a small talk in the future? pitch us!

see you there <333

some buttons in case my links die:

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i’m writing this to you the morning after our very first small talks with extremely glad tidings: not only did it sell out deep, it was an absolute blast.

this whole thing started about a year and a half ago, when my friend (and co-host) chlo invited me to a birthday party that followed a format called a drink talk learn. it was chaotic and brilliant and full of super niche enthusiasm. so we started hosting them at my house (bigger living room, more people), and it quickly became one of my favourite ways to meet new pals and have weird, specific, joyful conversations with people i’d never spoken to before. loads of people brought friends, and lots of people were honestly so game to soapbox to a room full of people they had never met.

so after sitting on the idea for a bit, i thought: why not take this energy out into the world? so i emailed approximately forty pubs and venues, invited some of our funniest and most eloquent friends to speak, persuaded chlo to get on board, and…here we are. and because the first one was such a roaring success, this is officially becoming a semi-regular thing.

so if you came to #1, were on the waitlist, or you just like the sound of hyper-specific powerpoint presentations: here’s your save the date for small talks #2.

are you ready?

here it comes.

it’s wednesday 17 june 2026.

tickets here.

come! tell your friends! tell your colleagues! tell your worst enemies (there’s nothing more interesting than someone with a sworn enemy, lemme tell you).

here’s the call(s) to action:

• COME TO SMALL TALKS #2

• sign up for this newsletter if you want first dibs on future events (we do also have an insta now but it’s doing the same thing as this substack, really, so choose your fighter). you can also follow us on eventbrite if you truly want to be the first to know with zero flavour text, because they email anyone who follows the second an event drops.

• know anyone new in town, or anyone who’s looking to socialise more? forward this to them so they can make some pals that aren’t you!

• want to come, but want a friendlyish face to come with? ask around on r/londonsocialclub!

• want to give a small talk in the future? pitch us! this is community-first, not qualifications-first. it’s a (modestly) paid opportunity, and i’m excited to hear what you care about way too much.

i cannot wait to see you live and in the flesh AGAIN <333

here are some buttons in case the links die!

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