HowTheLightGetsIn, the philosophy and music festival which gathers Nobel Prize winners, politicians, comedians and music performers, has today announced its speaker programme for this year’s festival in Hay-on-Wye (May 24-27).

Leading the bill is founder of Momentum and staunch defender of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership Jon Lansman, who will be making a rare panel appearance at HowTheLightGetsIn to make the case for The Future of Socialism. Jon will also go head-to-head with outspoken People’s Vote campaigner and member of the newly-formed Independent Group Anna Soubry and former leader of the Conservative Party Michael Howard to discuss The Will of the People, in what promises to be a fascinating and heated debate.

Liz Truss, the Cabinet minister and Chief Secretary to the Treasury, will tackle Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Shadow Lord Chancellor Richard Burgon, answerning the question: should we sacrifice economic growth for social change, or is a successful economy always the top priority?

Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary Dawn Butler talks identity politics and tribal conflict with former Home Secretary David Blunkett, while Chair of the Treasury Select Committee Nicky Morgan joins a discussion on the dominance of digital giants. Can we break them up or regulate them to end their monopoly? Or is it already too late for national governments to take control?

Drawing festivalgoers away from the corridors of power and into the great unknown, mathematician and physicist Roger Penrose, who shared the Wolf Prize for physics with his long-term collaborator Stephen Hawking, returns to HowTheLightGetsIn to put forward his theory for why 95% of the universe is missing. Join HowTheLightGetsIn for a deep dive into weird physics with the world’s most influential minds, as Roger is joined by Maxwell prize-winning theoretical physicist John Ellis, who takes his audience on a fascinating journey into parallel universes. A favourite of HowTheLightGetsIn, John is beloved for his unique fashion sense, his penchant for t-shirts featuring Maxwell’s equations, and his supreme talent for guiding festivalgoers through the strangest corners of the multiverse.

Things will get stranger still when bestselling philosopher Julian Baggini and award-winning novelist and author of A Field Guide to Reality Joanna Kavenna join forces to ask: Are You An Illusion? They set out in search of the self, drawing insights from philosophy, neuroscience and literature in a panel dedicated to the late, great philosopher and HowTheLightGetsIn speaker Mary Midgley. Celebrated literary critic Terry Eagleton leads his audience into the darkest recesses of the self as he explores The Lure of Lucifer, questioning why we are fascinated by serial killers, and obsessed with evil and violence.

And for festivalgoers seeking a more lighthearted take on the biggest question of all, comedian, actress and author Helen Lederer questions What It’s All For. Star of Absolutely Fabulous, French and Saunders and Girls on Top, Helen asks whether it is our work that defines our lives, or if play – be it creative endeavour, or just sex, drugs and rock and roll – is where living really happens. Should we embrace play as vital to who we are, rejecting work and achievement as a mug’s game? Or is play just a passing and superficial pleasure that gives us no lasting satisfaction?

New Statesman editor Helen Lewis and economics commentator Grace Blakely debate the future of feminism with Nicky Morgan, in a panel that will tackle The Equality Puzzle. In a world in which ‘we are all feminists now’, yet only 7% of CEOs and 32% of MPs are women, is it just a matter of time until things even out – or is something else going on? Meanwhile, radical feminist activist and author of Anti-Porn Julia Long, and Conservative MP and Minister for Women Victoria Atkins clash over Sex, Power and Influence in society. In an age still reeling from the painful revelations of the #MeToo movement, should women use sexuality to conquer the world, or are they only going to conquer the world by eradicating it?

Other names booked to appear at HowTheLightGetsIn 2019 are award-winning journalist and broadcaster David Aaronovitch, clinical psychologist and director of Cambridge University’s Autism Research Centre Simon Baron-Cohen, the world’s most influential analytic philosopher Saul Kripke, acclaimed author and commentator Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, columnist and chief speech writer to Tony Blair Philip Collins, Professor of Clinical Psychology and author of Madness Explained and Doctoring the Mind Richard Bentall, LGBT+ and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, political commentator and author of What Women Want Ella Whelan, Kurdish rights activist Elif Sarican, economist and broadcaster Linda Yueh and many more.

Taking place from May 24-27, HowTheLightGetsIn will feature more than 200 events, including over 100 debates and talks alongside 200 musicians and performers, comedians as well as banquets, film, parties, cabaret and more.

Advance tickets for the full weekend are available from £144. Full weekend camping tickets start from £164. All students and under 25s are eligible for a 30% discount.

For tickets and details please visit howthelightgetsin.org