The Lewes Speakers Festival is back with a top line-up

Festival manager Marc Rattray said: “We have a really exciting and varied new programme for you - with talks on everything from the Sicilian mafia to personal development. There are experts and speakers on crime, politics, personal finance, science, medicine, education and the history of witchcraft! We very much hope you enjoy it.”

The programme:

Friday, May 12, 17.30 Owen Matthews, The Spectator’s Russia correspondent and a former Moscow and Istanbul Bureau-Chief for Newsweek, investigates and explains the Russo-Ukrainian war – from the corridors of the Kremlin to the trenches of Mariupol.

Friday, May 12, 19.00 Ed Stourton, a regular presenter for BBC Radio 4. He has been a foreign correspondent for Channel 4, ITN and the BBC and was one of the main presenters of the Today programme. He reflects on his life’s work.

Saturday, May 13, 9.50 Roger Highfield, Science Director at the Science Museum Group, talks about the visionary science behind the digital human twins that will enhance our health and usher in a new era of personalised medicine.

Saturday, May 13, 11.20 Simon Jenkins, former editor of the Evening Standard and The Times as well as chair of the National Trust, explains who the Celts really were and what their legacy should be in an increasingly dis-United Kingdom.

Saturday, May 13, 12.50 Prof Malcolm Gaskill, Professor of Early Modern History and leading expert in the history of witchcraft, based on his best-seller, tells the dark, real-life folktale of witch-hunting in a remote Massachusetts plantation.

Saturday, May 13, 14.20 John Dickie, world expert and bestselling author on the Italian and Sicilian mafias, gives a history of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra and explains its current situation.

Saturday, May 13, 15.50 Martin Brunt, Sky News’ crime correspondent, offers a fascinating overview of the nature of crime reporting.

Saturday, May 13, 17.20 Alison Weir, the biggest-selling female historian in the UK, tells the story of Elizabeth of York who was: mother; survivor; and Queen and how she was born into a war between two families and had to fight for her right to rule.

Saturday, May 13, 18.50 Tom Clark, former chief leader writer for the Guardian, describes the return to real poverty and desperation in areas of the UK and what can be done to fix it.

Sunday, May 14, 9.50 Sophie Mort explains why we can feel anxious, stressed, insecure and down from time to time and what you can do about it.

Sunday, May 14, 11.20 Claer Barrett, Consumer Editor of the FT and presenter of its Money Clinic podcast, explains everything we need to know to regain control over our finances.

Sunday, May 14, 12.50 Chris Mullin, former Labour MP for Sunderland South, comments on, with his trademark irreverence and keen eye for the absurd, the turbulent last decade in UK politics.

Sunday, May 14, 14.20 Prof A C Grayling, Principal of New College of the Humanities and Philosophy Professor, presents on some important life questions.

Sunday, May 14, 15.50 Her Honour Wendy Joseph QC, former murder and homicide Judge at the Old Bailey, describes how cases unfold and illustrates exactly what it's like to judge a murder and witness human good and evil.

Sunday, May 14, 17.20 Peter Hitchens, Mail on Sunday journalist, author, and broadcaster, presents an in-depth look at the British education system.

Sunday, May 14, 18.50 Steve Richards, political columnist, journalist, and presenter of The Week in Westminster on BBC Radio, returns to present on the near-miss Prime Ministers.

Call the box office on 0333 666 3366; www.lewesspeakersfestival.com