Take top academics, contentious research, add a comedian and it’s the force of nature that is the Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas (CoDI). CoDI drags academics out of their ivory towers to debate today’s burning issues and cutting edge research. A long-running favourite with audiences at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, this CoDI show is hosted by comedian Susan Morrison. Performer Pip Thornton will surprise you with how the Google algorithm values words, using song lyrics. Alan Gow’s show is all about the brain, and unusual ways to keep it sharp as you age.

Marginal gain for brighter brains!

Staying sharp as you age is easy…just “do this one simple thing!” But what if there isn’t just one simple thing but dozens or even hundreds of things we need to do? Sounds like hard work! Marginal gains is about making small, but maybe more manageable changes rather than one big one. Join Professor Alan Gow (Heriot-Watt University) to explore what we know about how our thinking skills change as we age, and how lots of things affecting that might actually give us hope for keeping sharp as we age.