What it is

As humanity and technology become ever more tightly interwoven, Wireheads explores the final and most intimate frontier: the brain, and the electronic devices, magnetic signals, implants, and computer interfaces that promise to merge it with the world of the machine. Will these technologies eventually direct our thoughts and behaviour—or are they doing so already?

Will they maintain us in states of artificial bliss, or connect us to higher intelligences, or replace the world of our senses with simulated realities?

Mike Jay, acclaimed author of Psychonauts, discusses the tangled, paranoid history of these real and fantastical brain technologies. From the fictions of H. G. Wells and Philip K.

Dick to The Matrix, the CIA’s Cold War experiments and Elon Musk’s Neuralink, scientists and visionaries have long chased the dream of neural enhancement and control, with wildly varying degrees of success.

Questions

When does WIREHEADS: An Unnatural History of Technology in the Brain - with Mike Jay start and end?

WIREHEADS: An Unnatural History of Technology in the Brain - with Mike Jay runs Thursday, 19 November 2026, 19:30 until 21:00.

Where is WIREHEADS: An Unnatural History of Technology in the Brain - with Mike Jay?

WIREHEADS: An Unnatural History of Technology in the Brain - with Mike Jay takes place at The Walrus, 10 Ship Street, Brighton and Hove, Brighton.

How much are tickets for WIREHEADS: An Unnatural History of Technology in the Brain - with Mike Jay?

Tickets for WIREHEADS: An Unnatural History of Technology in the Brain - with Mike Jay cost £12 on the official ticket shop.

Who plays at WIREHEADS: An Unnatural History of Technology in the Brain - with Mike Jay?

The line-up of WIREHEADS: An Unnatural History of Technology in the Brain - with Mike Jay: Mike Jay, Chair - Dr Simon Bowes.

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