Emily Maitlis – Keynote Speaker

Emily Maitlis was recognised by GQ Magazine as one of the most influential people in Britain. Having covered elections in the US and UK for the BBC, she fronted Newsnight, becoming a stalwart of the broadcaster’s news output and a trusted voice with the viewing public.

She has interviewed Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, and the last six UK Prime Ministers, among numerous other political leaders. In the world of culture and international affairs she has sat down with subjects including Mark Zuckerberg, Usain Bolt, Sheryl Sandberg, Marine le Pen, and Emma Thompson. In a ground-breaking interview that defined the news and cultural narrative she spoke exclusively to Prince Andrew, as the royal talked publicly for the first time about his links to Jeffrey Epstein. Emily then co-produced the documentary, Andrew – The Problem Prince, which examined his decision to be interviewed.

Emily then moved to Global, the media and entertainment group, for the next chapter of her career built upon the success she enjoyed with the Americast podcast. She now presents the ground-breaking daily podcast The News Agents which shot to the top of the podcast charts. She is joined by Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall where they deep dive into the topics of the day. It has instantly become the go-to-listen for intelligent analysis and expert opinion. From June 2023 it will be joined by a weekly The News Agents US edition, where Emily and Jon will apply the same deep dive explorations to all things political in the US.

Emily delivered the flagship address of the 2022 Edinburgh TV Festival – The James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture – as the Festival. The lecture covered the complex world of modern journalism exploring the threat to reporting the news and holding power to account across the globe, how it comes not just with intimidation and outright censorship, but in more nuanced ways with language and normalizing the extraordinary.

Emily is also author of the Sunday Times bestseller, Airhead: An Exploration of the Imperfect Art of Making News, which is currently being adapted. She has also written for The Sunday Times and The Spectator as well as the Guardian, the Evening Standard and the New Statesman.

Celebrated for her unique and inimitable style, GQ Magazine said – “Don’t confuse her with Andrew Neil. He grills; she incinerates”.