About this episode

Olivia Laing discusses the themes of art and loneliness in relation to her work, particularly The Lonely City, during a celebration of its ten-year anniversary.

Olivia Laing is known as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary literature. Their work is renowned for its capacity to make abstract ideas feel precise, intimate, and beautifully thought through without ever talking down to the reader. Their books include the number one Sunday Times bestseller The Garden Against Time, Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency and, most recently, The Silver Book: a bewitching love story set during the making of Fellini’s Casanova and Pasolini’s Salò. In June 2026 Laing came to Intelligence Squared for a one-off celebration of the ten-year anniversary of their seminal work, The Lonely City. Hailed as ‘a new kind of literature’ when first published, The Lonely City is both a personal quest to master the art of being alone, and an investigation into how artists have reckoned with isolation. The book asks questions that resonate in our increasingly digital and divided world. What does it mean to be lonely? How do we connect with others? Does technology draw us closer together, or keep us apart?         Laing was joined live at Union…

People in this episode

Guest: Olivia Laing

Topics covered

• art
• solitude
• loneliness
• connection
• digital world
• contemporary literature

Keywords

• Olivia Laing
• The Lonely City
• loneliness
• art
• connection
• digital isolation
• contemporary literature

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Lonely City, The Silver Book, The Garden Against Time, Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency

Places: London

More episodes of Intelligence Squared

• How Sex Scenes in Film Can Reshape Real Intimacy, With Intimacy Coordinator Ita O’Brien · July 20, 2026 · 40 min
• Olivia Laing on Art, Solitude, and The Lonely City at 10 (Part Two) · July 18, 2026 · 34 min
• How Did World War II Create Modern Asia? With Professor Hans van de Ven · July 14, 2026 · 34 min
• An Evening with Maggie O’Farrell: Land (Part Two) · July 12, 2026 · 38 min
• An Evening with Maggie O’Farrell: Land (Part One) · July 11, 2026 · 35 min
• Can We Make the Internet Safe for Children? With Baroness Beeban Kidron · July 10, 2026 · 54 min

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