This year’s HeadRead festival (22-26 May) will feature two renowned political analysts, David Patrikarakos and Anton Shekhovtsov.
The British journalist and presenter David Patrikarakos gained recognition with his book on the nuclear capacities of Iran and the international situation entitled Nuclear Iran: Birth of An Atomic State (2012). Five years later, he published War in 140 Characters: How Social Media is Reshaping Conflict in the Twenty-First Century, which looks at the role of social media in modern warfare. Patrikarakos has contributed to most major English-language publications, specialising in international relations, especially the politics of the Middle East and post-Soviet countries, as well as disinformation.
Anton Shekhovtsov is a Ukrainian author and political activist. He has studied the far right movements in Europe and their links to Vladimir Putin’s Russia. This is the subject of his most recent book, Russia and the Western Far Right (2012). Shekhovtsov demonstrates how Russia is using the far right movements of Europe for its agenda against the West. Shekhovtsov will comment on the film screened at HeadRead festival, the documentary Stieg Larsson: The Man Who Played With Fire (Henrik Georgsson, 2018). It describes Larsson’s journalistic activities that focused on investigating the far right. The film by Georgsson is shown on Sunday 19 May at 6 pm at the Sõprus cinema, where Shekhovtsov will be joined by historian and political scientist Andres Kasekamp. A second screening is on Saturday 25 May at 6 at the Sõprus cinema.
The HeadRead literary festival is held in Tallinn on 22-26 May. Stay up to date via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. A selection of recordings of previous festivals is also available online.
