Free for King’s College London staff and students.

Contact events.ioppn@kcl.ac.uk to receive the password when booking your ticket.

Tickets £5 - available here at KCL's eStore

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Join celebrated historian Mike Jay for a fascinating exploration of humanity’s long-standing ambition to connect the mind to machines, enhance our mental capabilities and gain control over thought and behaviour.

Drawing on his book Wireheads, Mike traces the extraordinary stories of those who have pursued radical neurotechnologies, from the fictional worlds of H G Wells and Philip K Dick to The Matrix, the CIA’s Cold War experiments and Elon Musk’s Neuralink. 

Along the way, he explores a world of covert military operations, psychedelic art, cybernetic theory and moral philosophy, revealing the visionaries, scientists and renegades who have sought to unlock the potential of the human mind — sometimes with inspiring, and sometimes disturbing, consequences.

Mike will be joined by Dr Tom Pollak, a neuropsychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust/IoPPN, for a conversation exploring the ideas and stories behind Wireheads, followed by an audience Q&A and book signing. The event will be introduced and chaired by Dr Tim Nicholson who leads the Neuropsychiatry Research and Education Group at the IoPPN.

About the author

Mike Jay is a celebrated historian of science, medicine, and culture. He is the author of acclaimed books including Free Radicals, Mescaline, and Psychonauts, described by Michael Pollan as “easily the most interesting work of psychedelic history I’ve read in years.”

Programme

6.30–6.40pm: Introduction by Dr Tim Nicholson
6.40–7.40pm: Conversation between Mike Jay and Dr Tom Pollak
7.40–8.00pm: Audience Q&A chaired by Dr Tim Nicholson
8.00–8.15pm: Book signing

Reviews 

“Wireheads is freighted with extraordinary stories . . . from the utopian to the sinister, from the laudable to the curious. For those of you searching for a book that transcends the hysteria of our current AI debate but nonetheless looks clearly at a great issue of our time – Wireheads is a stellar choice.”

“Full of tales of madness, delusion and inspiration, Wireheads is the definitive account of humanity’s ambitious but misguided attempts to connect mind and machine. Thoroughly researched, entertaining and eye-opening. ”—John Higgs, author of William Blake vs the World