CQAF 2025

Join us for an afternoon of sharp wit, radical history, and political insight as Tariq Ali discusses his latest memoir, You Can’t Please All: Memoirs 1980-2024. Spanning over four decades of activism, journalism, and cultural commentary, Ali’s book is a sweeping reflection on his encounters with revolutionaries, intellectuals, and political upheavals across the globe.

From his days as a Trotskyist firebrand to shaping leftist discourse in the pages of New Left Review, Ali remains an unrelenting critic of power. Expect anecdotes that range from the humorous—like his theatrical intervention at Private Eye—to the harrowing, including his firsthand account of police brutality at the 1979 Southall protests. He will also revisit his collaborations with the late Darcus Howe on The Bandung File, his dialogues with Hugo Chávez, and his take on today’s global crises, including Gaza.

Ali’s memoir is engaging—equal parts score-settling and brilliant political analysis. In conversation with Joe Nawaz, he will unpack the ideas, controversies, and contradictions that have shaped his life and work, and we’ll find out if The Rolling Stones’ political anthem ‘Street Fighting Man’ was written about him.

Books for sale following the event.