British Museum / Guardian Public Forum

Babylon to Bethnal Green:
Does language unite or divide multicultural societies?

A high-profile panel use Babylon as the starting point for a discussion of contemporary issues around language and identity.

Download the audio recording of the debate
(39 minutes, 37 MB)

Panel members: Tahmima Anam, novelist; Professor Peter K. Austin, Linguistics Professor at SOAS; Professor Robert Evans, Regius Professor of History, Oxford University; Tibor Fischer, novelist and short story writer; Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Chaired by Jon Snow, writer and broadcaster, with an introductory talk by Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum.

This event took place on 2 December 2008 and is part of a series of events to accompany the exhibition Babylon: Myth and Reality which is open until 15 March 2009.

Image: Tower of Babel/Der Turm Babel; 2001 by Michael Lassel. © Michael Lassel.