7pm Monday, April 15th, The Groucho Club

How do we start again? After the political divisions and gridlock of the last few years, don't we need to rethink how we do politics?  Anyone got any bright ideas? Citizen's Assemblies? Proportional representation and coalitions? Or just burn the whole house down and start again? 

Catherine Mayer, co-founder of the Women's Equality Party does. She will be joined by Ann Coffey, MP for Stockport and TIG member as well as Annabel Mullin leader of the Renew Party. We will be wanting your ideas too. 

Price:

Members: Free, plus one free ticket for a guest (please select two member tickets when you book)
Non-members: £20

Find out more about membership here

7pm Mon 8th April Mortimer House, Mortimer Street, W1

Edith Hall was scheduled to come and introduce us all to Aristotle’s virtue ethics, but she’s had to drop out at the last minute. However, Aristotle is still on the menu and we will be talking about eudaimonia, aka the Greek guide to happiness with Julia Hobsbawm.

Author of Fully Connected: Surviving & Thriving in an Age of Overload and Arianna Huffington’s editor-at-large at well-being portal Thrive Global, Julia will be giving us the info on how Aristotle’s ideas on prosperity can play into our understanding of social health today.

This is the first event in Trouble’s new monthly residency at Mortimer House ‘Untroubled’, a little less on hard debate and a little more on how to live well. A bit more chilled, in short.

TICKETS

Members: £5 (members can bring a friend for £5 too, please select two tickets at checkout)

Non-members: £20

Find out more about membership here

7pm Monday 18th March, Groucho Club, Dean Street

What’s just happened? Buzzfeed, Vice and Huffington Post are laying off staff, the Pool has gone under. But weren’t these the girls and guys who were going to revolutionise big media?

Oh and Facebook has just made record profits. So let’s go under the bonnet and work out how the money works in media, who is winning, who is losing and why - this is more complex than it looks.

Leading the discussion, we have former editor-in-chief of Buzzfeed UK Janine Gibson, Katie Vanneck-Smith, former president of Dow Jones and now editor of the feted slow news venture Tortoise, media analyst Claire Enders, and one more person to be confirmed. They will be discussing various models, including social media, as well as looking at how commercial interests are involved.

Prices:

Members: Free, plus one complimentary guest per member (if you would like to bring a guest, please select two member tickets)

Non-members: £20

Find out more about membership here

7pm Monday 4th March, Wildcard Brewery, Lockwood Way, Walthamstow

Join us for our first ever Trouble Club piss-up in a brewery. We’ll be heading to the Wildcard Brewery and Taproom for a bespoke private tour lead by Head Brewer and chemical engineer Jaega Wise. Jaega’s unusual in being a woman brewer, and not only that, her beers are fantastic. Even if you’re not a beer drinker, you’ll be fascinated by the process.

Jaega will take us round the brewery before leading a tasting where we’ll try 1/3 of a pint of 4 different beers. And then if you’re still thirsty we can all go for a gin nearby.

Tickets:

£10 per ticket

Find out more about membership here

7pm Monday 25th February, Groucho Club, Dean Street

We talked a lot about #metoo. But what happened next? 15 months after our last #metoo talk, it is time to return to see if any progress has been made. We will be talking broadly about it, but with a specific eye to Westminster, the crucible of power, where the drama of sexual harassment and bullying accusations has been played out in the public eye.
Our speakers for this event are Laura Hughes, political correspondent at the Financial Times, who has led an investigation into the culture of sexual harassment in Parliament, Hannah White, a former Parliamentary clerk and now deputy director of the Institute for Government, and writer and critic Kate Maltby whose allegations of impropriety led to the resignation of de facto deputy Prime Minister Damien Green.

*NOTE - SPEAKER CHANGE: Laura Hughes is now covering a story abroad, so instead we have fantastic Sunday Times journalist Rosamund Urwin who has covered the #metoo movement in depth.

Prices:

Members: Free, plus one complimentary guest per member (if you would like to bring a guest, please select two member tickets)

Non-members: £20

Find out more about membership here

6pm for a 6.30pm start time, Wednesday 20th February, Entertainment One Films, 45 Warren Street, Fitzrovia, London. W1T 6AG

Join Trouble and Entertainment One UK for an exclusive private screening of On the Basis of Sex ahead of its UK release.

On the Basis of Sex stars Felicity Jones as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the formidable young lawyer who brought gender discrimination before the Supreme Court. Directed by Mimi Leder and written by Justice Ginsburg’s nephew Daniel Stiepleman, the film traces Ginsburg’s early career in the 1970s, as she fought numerous groundbreaking gender discrimination cases, leading to historic changes in the law. You can view the trailer here.

Taking place ahead of the film’s public release on 22nd February, the free screening will be held at Entertainment One’s private screening room. Please come along at 6pm for a 6.30pm start time. There will be nibbles served beforehand.

Tickets:

This is a free event for members, plus one guest each. If you are a member and would like to bring a friend, please book two tickets

Find out more about membership here

7pm for a 7.30pm dinner, Tuesday 5th February, The Academy Club, W1F 

International bestselling author, journalist and women’s rights commentator Leïla Slimani will be joining Trouble for an intimate dinner to discuss sexuality, slipping past Moroccan censors, and the extraordinary success of her debut novel Lullaby. She will also introduce her gripping new novel Adèle, copies of which will be available on the night. The evening will be hosted by broadcaster and presenter of Monocle 24's Meet the Writers Georgina Godwin. 

Slimani was the twelfth woman to win the Prix Goncourt, France’s most prestigious literary prize, for her novel, Lullaby, which was published by Faber in 2018. She is a French-Moroccan journalist and frequent commentator on women’s and human rights, and was appointed as Macron’s personal representative for the promotion of the French language and culture in 2017. She lives in Paris. 

About Adèle

Respected journalist Adèle appears to have the perfect life, but beneath the veneer of 'having it all' she is bored - consumed by an insatiable need for sex, whatever the cost. Struggling to contain the twin forces of compulsion and desire, she begins to orchestrate her life around her one night stands and extramarital affairs, eventually becoming ensnared in a trap of her own making.

Please note, this is a members only event.

Members can bring one guest per member (if you would like to bring a guest, please select two member tickets)

Price: £12.50 each for communal wine and water and the table reservation.

Food on top is at your discretion - we will always choose somewhere reasonably priced

Find out more about membership here

Photo: Catherine Hélie © Editions Gallimard

7pm Monday 28th January, Groucho Club, Dean Street

We are pleased to (AHEM, clears throat and adopts a heroic posture) WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE Viv Groskop will be teaching us how to own a room and command respect and the admiration of our peers. This is especially important as we are, of course, notable wallflowers at Trouble ....

Journalist, stand up comedian, MC and rather successful podcaster, Viv has hosted book tours for Graham Norton and Jo Brand, is the veteran of four Edinburgh Fringe shows and fronts the cult podcasts Dear Viv and We Are Women. She has presented BBC Radio 4’s Front Row and Saturday Review and appears regularly on BBC1’s This Week. As an executive coach, she works with women across business, media and advertising, helping them to hone their authority, presence and leadership.

We will be selling copies of the book on the night for £12.99, and will have a card machine to take payments so no need to bring cash. PS: Viv might be happy to sign them, depends how commanding you are when you ask her…

A bit about the book
Most books about public speaking don’t tell you what to do when you open your mouth and nothing comes out. And they don’t tell you how to get over the anxiety about performance that most people naturally have. They don’t tell you what to do in the moments when you are made, as a woman, to feel small. They don’t tell you how to own the room. This book does.

From the way Michelle Obama projects ‘happy high status’, and the power of J.K.Rowling’s understated speaking style, to Virginia Woolf’s leisurely pacing and Oprah Winfrey’s mastery of inner conviction, what is it that our heroines do to make us sit up and listen - really listen - to their every word? And how can you achieve that impact in your own life? Here’s how.

She also has a rather good podcast, where Viv speaks to inspirational women about the secrets of brilliant speaking. Including Nigella Lawson and Mary Beard.

Prices:

Members: Free, plus one complimentary guest per member (if you would like to bring a guest, please select two member tickets)

Non-members: £20

Find out more about membership here

7.30pm - 9pm Wednesday 23rd January, The Radisson Blu Hotel, Bloomsbury Street, WC1.

It’s all to play for in Brexit and Trouble is delighted to welcome MP Anna Soubry, the hero of College Green, on Wednesday 23rd January.

Soubry has been one of the most strident voices against the current Withdrawal Deal, believing May’s deal doesn’t deliver the Brexit people voted for. She’s also an advocate for a People’s Vote.

We will be talking about the divisions in Parliament, the options on the table and what happens next, and how you can get the Brexit you want. This is a big discussion so come ready to vent your opinions and frustrations.

Remainers, Brexiteers and switchers welcome. No gilet jaunes, I’m afraid.

Price:

Members: Free, plus one complimentary guest per member (if you would like to bring a guest, please select two member tickets)
Non-members: £20

Find out more about membership here

*Please note: there is a small chance Anna may have to cancel due to Parliamentary business, which usually finishes at a fixed time on a Wednesday. In the unlikely case that she does, the event will go ahead with Joy Lo Dico (Monocle's Brexit correspondent) who will be joined by a panel of journalists discussing the Brexit issues of the day.

Monday 14th January 2019, The Mayfair Hotel, Stratton Street

7pm for 7.30pm dinner. Finishing 9pm, but you can stay on later.

Current Affairs Supper for MEMBERS ONLY.

NOTE: This will be an intimate dinner for approximately 12-20 people.

For our next dining outing, we'll be focusing on topics and tensions in China, from Huawei to trade wars and the economic downturn. Joining us to guide the conversation is Jemimah Steinfeld, Deputy Editor of Index on Censorship, and author of Little Emperors & Material Girls: Sex and Youth in China. You will be one of a merry band of 12 or so around the table. No specialist knowledge necessary, just bring your questions and opinions, along with your appetite.

Tickets: £12.50 incl. communal wine and water and the table reservation.

The meal is an exquisite three course supper, for which we have a special price of only £30 per head, payable at the end of the dinner.

6pm for a 6.30pm start time, Monday 7th January, Dolby Theatre, Soho Square

Trouble is excited to announce we have 15 tickets for an exclusive preview of A Private War starring Rosamund Pike as the celebrated Sunday Times war correspondent Marie Colvin. 

The screening will take place at the Dolby Theatre on Soho Square, with drinks served beforehand.

About the film

In a world where journalism is under attack, Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin (Academy Award and BAFTA nominee Rosamund Pike) is one of the most celebrated war correspondents of our time. As comfortable sipping martinis with London’s elite as she is confronting dictators, Colvin sacrifices loving relationships, and over time, her personal life starts to unravel as the trauma she’s witnessed takes its toll. Yet, her mission to show the true cost of war leads her, along with renowned war photographer Paul Conroy (Jamie Dornan) to embark on the most dangerous assignment of their lives in the besieged Syrian city of Homs.

This is an exclusive chance to see the film ahead of its February release.

Based on the extraordinary life of Marie Colvin, A Private War is brought to the screen by Academy Award-nominee and critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker Matthew Heineman, and is nominated for two Golden Globes including Best Actress (Drama).

IN UK & IRISH CINEMAS FROM 15th FEBRUARY 2019

7pm Monday 20th August, Groucho Club, Dean Street

Led by the Financial Times’ Chloe Cornish, we’re going to decrypt the world of crypto-currencies. 
Is it worth having a portfolio of crypto as well as a portfolio career? Or is it just a made-up market? What's an ICO and where do you take your pick-axe to go mining? And why has this virtual currencies world sprung up, and how is bro-culture impacting who gets a way in?

To discuss, Trouble’s panel will include Aless Sollberger, who founded health food company Evermore off of the back of her bitcoin investment, Anushka Sharma, the founder of frontier tech company Naaut, who can tell us how the blockchain functions for an interplanetary future, and Sarah Azouvi, PhD research student at UCL’s Computer Science Department.

£10 for members of Trouble (you may also book a ticket for a friend @£10)

£20 for non-members of Trouble

Please note, you have to be a paid-up member of Trouble for the reduced price tickets.  

7pm Monday 16 July at the Groucho Club, Dean Street

Social media - especially Instagram - brims with them, but what makes an influencer? What influence can they actually have? Is it fair that domestic abusers chucked out of TOWIE can still make a living from their social media presence? Is it right that teenagers can amass thousands of followers? How does this new class of celebrity work - does taking photos holding up sachets of tummy teas even count as work? And how do we the public lap it all up?

To discuss, Trouble is hosting Holly Bourne, the author of best-selling novel How Do You Like Me Now, journalist Vicky Spratt, art director and trend researcher Natalie Hasseck and Sirin Kale, Broadly associate editor who recently explored an influencer-only app INTO, offering influencers free dinners in exchange for social media clout.

REDUCED PRICE Tickets £5

6.45pm for a 7pm kickoff - ends around 9pm (unless we go to extra time and penalties) 11th July

L’Escargot, Soho.

England take on Croatia at the semi-finals of the men’s football World Cup 2018. The first semi-final for England since before half of its current team were born, and an opportunity to avenge 52 years of hurt, it’s going to be a tense match. So we’ll be watching from the comfort of L’Escargot. There will be pleasant seating, a bar in close proximity, and a nil-nil risk of being splattered with warm beer. Waistcoats optional.

Wednesday 13th June

2.30pm - 4pm - The Victoria & Albert Museum, South Kensington

Trouble has landed some very exclusive tickets to a private preview of Making Her Self Up, the new Frida Kahlo exhibition at the V&A. Tickets are free for members so if you’d like to get your hands on them, please visit our Facebook page right away.

This event will feature an early preview of the exhibition, which explores the way Kahlo combined her art with Mexican iconography to create her now-iconic and striking personal identity. There will also be a special talk from the curator, Circe Henestrosa, so do join us for this opportunity to see Kahlo’s artefacts shown for the first time outside of Mexico.

Monday 14 May

7pm - The Groucho Club, Soho

Why America First and what happened to the American Dream? This is the question posed by Professor Sarah Churchwell, in her new book Behold America, and also a question many liberal Americans must ask themselves every morning over coffee in the era of Donald Trump. 

Sarah will both look at the roots of the America First movement that started in 1940 and how the US puts itself back together again after its most divisive President. She is Professor of Public Understanding at the University of London and a brilliant speaker. This is a highly recommended evening.  

NB This is a members only event. Members may bring three guests. 

Friday 27 April

8.45pm, The Soho Theatre

Trouble's Sophie Wilkinson recommends Primates at the Soho Theatre because, she says, its star Tessa Coates is proper funny. Coates is one part of the Massive Dad women's sketch group - their last Edinburgh show sold out. So we called the Soho Theatre and now have a dozen discounted tickets and a booth reserved in the bar to drink in before and after the show. Who's in? 

Read more here: https://sohotheatre.com/shows/tessa-coates-primates/

Monday 16 April 2018

7pm - Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH

Make no mis-steak, we’re in the midst of a plant-based revolution. You’re never more than 20 paces from a new vegan joint, serving up mushroom scallops, seitan chicken and kale salads. 150,000 people took part in Veganuary, supermarkets now stock coconut-oil based imitation parmesan, and tofu scramble.

But let's make no bones about it: veganism is controversial. Is it actually healthier than a meat-based diet, is it more ethical when quinoa becomes a cash crop, and should we all switch, who will be the winners and losers in the global economy. 

Leading us through the garden of vegan, we’ll be joined by VICE writer and vegan Hannah Ewens, entrepreneur and vegan Emma Sinclair, omnivore food writer and café owner Rosie Lovell and Tomi Makanjuola, who runs the food blog The Vegan Nigerian.

£8 for paying members and £8 for your guest  

£20 for non-members

Find out about membership here

Sunday 11 March 2018

12 noon at The Gate Picturehouse, Notting Hill

Ok, not strictly speaking one of our events but... who is up for the cinema trip on Sunday to see the documentary on the actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr?

It is being put on Birds Eye View, the women's film collective, at the Gate Picturehouse. Tickets directly through them, followed by a talk by Harriet Hall. After that we are going for lunch at Polpo across the road in Notting Hill

For tickets to the film, please book directly with -> The Gate <-

If you would like to come for the Trouble lunch, click through on the Bombshell poster which will take you through to reserve a place. No flaking out. 

Monday 26th February 2018

PLEASE NOTE THE VENUE CHANGE

7pm at ***Mortimer House***

37–41 Mortimer Street, Fitzrovia, London W1T 3JH

One of two women to reach the UK’s Supreme Court and the first to become president of the highest court in the land, Lady Baroness Brenda Hale has had a varied career as an academic lawyer, law reformer - particularly within the realm of family law - and judge. 

Lawyer Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, who has a slightly better working knowledge of the law than our co-founder Joy, will be interviewing Lady Hale, who will detail the role of the courts in 2018, discuss the importance of diversity in all echelons of the legal system, and tell us all about her own career rising up through the ranks of an industry which, when she first arrived at the bar in 1969, saw women make up only 2.7% (750) of all solicitors and an even smaller proportion of all barristers. 

£8 for paying members and £8 for your guest  

£20 for non-members

Find out about membership here

Monday 12 February 2018

7pm at the Groucho Club

Vishala Sri-Pathma, business presenter and reporter for BBC News 24, started off her long love affair with economics at JP Morgan. Knowing the importance placed on beauty in a high profile role, she will chair a panel on beauty: does being beautiful/attractive make you more successful? Are beautiful women more successful? What price do we pay to be more attractive, and what’s the opportunity cost of not having a beauty regime?

We’ll be joined by journalist and author Daisy Buchanan, former Miss Britain titleholder Amy Willerton and body-language expert Judi James, who'll be able to guide us through the ways image is also down to what you do with it. 

Monday 5th February

6pm, Entertainment One Films, 45 Warren Street, Fitzrovia, London. W1T 6AG.

Based on the unbelievable but true events, I, TONYA is a darkly comedic tale of American figure skater, Tonya Harding, and one of the most sensational scandals in sports history. Though Harding was the first American woman to complete a triple axel in competition, her legacy was forever defined by her association with an infamous, ill-conceived, and even more poorly executed attack on fellow Olympic competitor Nancy Kerrigan. Featuring an iconic turn by Margot Robbie as the fiery Harding, a mustachioed Sebastian Stan as her impetuous ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, a tour-de-force performance from Allison Janney as her acid-tongued mother, LaVona Golden, and an original screenplay by Steven Rogers, Craig Gillespie’s I, TONYA is an absurd, irreverent, and piercing portrayal of Harding’s life and career in all of its unchecked––and checkered––glory.

FREE but limited availability so email zara@thetroubleclub.com to place your interest for you and a plus one. Trouble members get priority

Monday 8 January 2018

7pm at the Groucho Club

We’ve secured a Brief Encounter with Emma Rice. You will know Emma from her tenure at Shakespeare’s Globe, which wasn't without controversy. That’s coming to an end and we’re catching her as she prepares for her hi-tech revival of the Noël Coward play begins at the Empire Cinema in Haymarket. This is an event not to be missed by any theatrically-inclined Troublista. 

£8 for member and bring a guest at that price

£20 for non-members