Mishal Husain will deliver the 2025 Romanes Lecture on ‘Empire, Identity and the Search for Reason’

Award-winning journalist Mishal Husain will explore themes of ‘Empire, Identity and the Search for Reason’ when she delivers the 2025 Romanes Lecture.

Speaking at the Sheldonian Theatre on October 14, Mishal will examine the symbolism of Dadabhai Naoroji’s election and the cause that brought him into politics, including the poverty gap between his native India and Britain.

When Gladstone delivered the first Romanes Lecture in the wake of the 1892 General Election, he was just beginning his final term as Prime Minister. Among the ranks of his Liberal MPs was one notable new face: Dadabhai Naoroji, the first Asian to be elected to serve in the House of Commons. Naoroji’s critique of Empire influenced two younger men, Gandhi and Jinnah, who had come to study in England and witnessed Naoroji's rise.

It's a great honour to be entrusted with the lecture and follow in the footsteps of many illustrious predecessors

Mishal Husain

Mishal, who is of Asian heritage and whose own memoir Broken Threads charts her family story amidst empire and partition in India and Pakistan, will look at narratives of identity, both historical and contemporary, and portrayals of communities and conflicts.

In an age of contested facts and clickbait she will argue for depth and reason, using examples from her own faith and heritage to show that such an approach is part of both East and West.

The Romanes Lecture is the free, annual public lecture of the University of Oxford delivered by a distinguished public figure from the arts, science or literature by special invitation of the Vice-Chancellor.

Mishal Husain said: ‘It's a great honour to be entrusted with the lecture and follow in the footsteps of many illustrious predecessors. I'll weave between the past and present, using historical research and the experience of 30 years in the media, often questioning the powerful.'

Professor Irene Tracey CBE, FRS, FMedSci, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University said: ‘The Romanes Lecture is a valued Oxford tradition – an opportunity to engage with the ideas and individuals shaping our understanding of society, history, science and the arts. I am delighted to welcome Mishal Husain to deliver this year’s lecture. Her work as a journalist, broadcaster and author has not only informed but enriched public discourse, spanning subjects from global politics to cultural identity.’

Award-winning journalism

In her lecture, Mishal will contrast the present time with the more hopeful period in which she began her career in the 1990s, when the end of the Cold War held the promise of a more settled, peaceful world order.

Mishal is Editor-at-Large at Bloomberg Weekend, where her weekly interviews since May 2025 have included a global guest list spanning politics, business, culture and thought leaders. The Romanes Lecture will coincide with the launch of a new weekly interview podcast for Bloomberg Weekend, building on the global remit of her Bloomberg interviews so far, with guests ranging from Elon Musk and Sir Keir Starmer to Shonda Rhimes and Succession writer Jesse Armstrong.

Her career in media spans nearly 30 years, and was recognised with the Charles Wheeler Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Journalism in 2024.

She spent many years at the BBC, where she presented the ‘Today’ programme on Radio 4, the main television news on BBC1, and had an international presence on BBC World. She has covered elections and referendums and in 2024 hosted two live leaders’ debates on BBC TV.

Mishal has reported from around the world including New York after 9/11, Washington through the Iraq War, Beijing for the 2008 Olympics and Pakistan after the killing of Osama Bin Laden. She covered the election that brought Prime Minister Modi to power in India and in 2014 was the first reporter to enter the school attacked by the Taliban in the Pakistani city of Peshawar. She has also fronted documentaries including a three-part series on the life of Mahatma Gandhi in 2008.

The London Press Club has twice named her Broadcaster of the Year, most recently in 2024.

Find out more about Mishal Husain and the Romanes Lecture 2025 at the University of Oxford.

The Romanes Lecture will take place on Tuesday 14 October at 5.30pm in the Sheldonian Theatre.

Tickets for the lecture are now fully booked. Please join the waitlist below and we will be in touch if places become available: Join the waitlist.