It is our great pleasure to reveal our newest set of scintillating speakers, ready to take to the ring for our final bout of 2013. As ever, they are an eclectic mix of thinkers, dreamers, mixers and tricksters: we’re thrilled they’ll be joining us in the ring for what will undoubtedly be our punchiest production to date. The gloves are off, the bell’s been rung, so without further ado, here they all are:

Friday  22^nd November 2013

Hadyn Parry: In the mosquito world, Hadyn is public enemy number one. He is CEO of Oxitec, a pioneering, British biotech company that uses advanced genetic methods to control populations of the dengue mosquito and other harmful insects that affect hundreds of millions of people each year. They do this by releasing ‘sterile’ males of the damage-causing species: a highly targeted form of biological control that has shown incredibly positive results while being sustainable, environmentally friendly and cost-effective. If adapted on a global scale, the benefits to world health could be virtually unparalleled. He joins us to discuss his groundbreaking work and demonstrate how genetics holds the key to tackling insect spread disease: one of man’s greatest threats.

James Freedman: is a persuader, a showman and a thief. Dubbed ‘the man of steal’ he’s been responsible for pickpocketing the likes of Boris Johnson, Mervin King, even Wayne Rooney and is acknowledged as being one of the most talented pickpockets in the world: a skill that has seen him advise police forces and security professionals alike, and even seen him hit the headlines after picking the pockets of senior policemen at New Scotland Yard. He now travels all over the world, giving demonstrations that entertain, educate and inform his audiences so that they can avoid becoming victims of street crime. Part lecture, part performance, James’ talk will help us get into the mind of a thief, to understand their tactics and psychology and help us keep our smartphones safe from the ever growing number of  ‘Apple and Blackberry Pickers’ in the World.

Caroline Criado-Perez: is the founder of the Women’s Room and one of the UK’s leading feminists. Alongside writing for the nation’s leading newspapers, she has spearheaded a series of highly influential campaigns. Most recently, she convinced the Bank of England to keep a woman on the face of British currency– and suffered a torrent of abuse as a result. Always willing to stick her head above the parapet, she’s bravely confronted bigotry at great personal risk and inspired many more in the process. Expect an impassioned talk about and her experiences from the gender equality front line and an inspiring take on contemporary feminism.

Susie Lau: also known as Susie Bubble, is a fashion phenomenon. One time editor of Dazed Digital, she’s now one of the world’s most influential bloggers. Her blog StyleBubble, read by more than 30K readers a day consists of her widely read thoughts and observations on fashion, with a focus on spotlighting young and unknown talent. She’s attended catwalks from here to Tokyo, while keeping a sharp eye on street style and more eccentric fashions.  Her and others like her are helping reshape a closed industry into a more dynamic and democratic global conversation. She joins us at Lost to share her views on the changing shape of the creative industry and other well placed observations from her ‘Opalescent Bubble’.

Jasper Gibson: is the co-founder of The Poke: the biggest humour site in the UK whose ambitious goal is to administer an antidote to the daily grind.  They do this rather successfully using all manner of memes, mash-ups and spoof news stories.  The Poke (a self-confessed labour of love) has been responsible for hits such as the Nick Clegg apology remix (2.2M views), Leveson the Musical (which topped the Guardians Viral Video chart) and The Daily Mail Tube map.  This year saw the publication of his debut novel A Bright Moon For Fools. He’ll be talking about fear and loathing in both online and offline publishing, Jonathan Franzen, potatoes that look like Wayne Rooney, and cats.

Reeps One: is one of the biggest performers in the international beatbox scene and pioneer in the art of vocal percussion. He is on another level from been-there-done-that traditional beatboxing basslines, redefined a genre of his very own and marrying his passion for art and music to delve into the world of cymatics (the study of visible sound and vibration). Reeps has opened for some massive Hip-Hop and dance artists– The Prodigy, Jay Sean, De La Soul, you name ’em– and has played all over the World, winning some of the most prestigious beatbox competitions including the UK Beatbox Championships…Twice. Armed with a mic and some ridiculous vocal dexterity, he’ll be treating us to some his truly insane stylings and an incredible lesson in the art of noise.

Saturday 23^rd November 2013

Ruby Wax: A woman who surely needs no introduction (but still gets one). Ruby Wax has had a stellar career. Whether performing standup, being a charity ambassador, or simply being Ruby, she’s been delighting audiences for decades over. Most recently, she has taken on the brave mission of exploring how mental illness is mistreated by society: with her own periods of depression, and now a Masters from Oxford in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy, hers will be a ‘Lost’ manual to a saner life, sharing ideas from her brilliant book ‘Sane New World’ on how our busy, chattering, self-critical thoughts drive us to anxiety and stress… and how through understanding our brain functions and rewiring our thinking we can become the masters, not slaves, of our own mind.

Lauren Pears is an entrepreneur and as far as cat lovers are concerned, the cat that got the cream. In a few weeks time, Lauren will open doors to Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium, the UK’s first ever cat cafe. For the uninitiated, cat cafes are part cafe, part boutique petting zoo, where guests are given a kitten with their cappuccino (or something along those lines). It’s been a long journey, but she’s managed to raise a whopping £100K through crowd funding to make this dream a reality. Lauren will be tearing herself away from her feline friends to talk about a purrfectly crazy concept, first made famous in Japan that lands (presumably on it’s feet), to charm cat lovers all over London.

Simon Baron-Cohen is a world leading neuroscientist and Cambridge professor — an altogether more serious sort than that other Baron-Cohen, his cousin. He’s spent his career conducting research into autism and has garnered a string of accolades, awards and even appeared in Time magazine in recognition of his pioneering work. His early theory of ‘mind blindness’ has changed the way many understand the disability and paved the way for subsequent breakthroughs in this vital field of research. Leading up to the release of his new book Zero Degrees of Empathy, Simon will give us a unique insight into human cruelty…and kindness, explaining how the ‘empathy spectrum’, and our position in it, can be affected by both genes and our environment.

Paul Steele, (AKA the ‘bald hiker’) was recently voted the World most influential travel writer…quite fitting since he rarely does anything in half measures. A former British soldier who embarked on a series of extreme hiking expeditions to lose weight, not least a cheerful hike up mount Kilimanjaro in a bid to shed extra pounds. Since then, the ever-intrepid Paul has been travelling the world and sharing his adventures. Between testing snow-mobiles over arctic mountains or photographing the sunsets of venetian islands, Paul has grown something of a loyal following, with a humble half-million followers on Twitter. Somewhat miraculously, we’ve managed to pin him down in London for the night, where he’ll be talking about his global adventures, before he gets too footloose and bounds off for horizons new.

Lost Speaker: We have left the final Saturday spot free, for one lucky Lostling to step up and give their very own Lost Lecture alongside Ruby, Paul, Simon and Co…

As a community, Lost has some of the most passionate, talented, articulate folk we’ve ever met, as a platform it’s a pretty unique as idea sharing goes: this is your chance to grab the mic and make the Lost Stage your very own. The winner will have the usual 15 minutes to give the talk of their lives and have it streamed live across the internet. If you would like to be part of Saturday’s illustrious lineup, please send a short 1/2 page written submission or one minute video / link to folk@thelostlectures.com before 1^st November. We’re really excited to see what you come back with…talks can range from the sublime to the ridiculous, but you already knew that… Good luck Lostlings!

Tim Woolgar: London Chess Boxing: We figured ‘The BIG FIGHT LIVE’ would not be complete without, well…a big fight. So we’re clearing the stage, dimming the lights, cranking up the entrance music as the ring comes into its own, complete with fighters, referee, commentator…and a chess board, of course. Introducing the sport and giving a short talk about it’s history will be one of its leading figures, Tim Woolgar, ahead of an awe-inspiring battle of wits and brawn: a mix of sporting thrills, glamour and…chess. For those not in the know (though it’s kind of in the name), the basic premise is as follows: one round of chess and one round of boxing until checkmate or KO. We can’t quite believe we’re actually doing it, but here goes… Ticking clocks and wet sponges at the ready, lets get ready to rumble!

In addition to all the speakers, we have a few punchy surprises in store. Without giving too much away, expect a host of interactive elements and unexpected encounters: including ½ time rap battles from some of the UKs leading freestyle hip hop artists, rambunctious art installations as well as a host of colourful characters who’ll be bringing back the razzamatazz and excitement of a 1920’s boxing spectacle.

See you ringside Lostlings, Keep it to a whisper…