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Hybrid Humans with Harry Parker

, –
Past
  • Free
  • Discussion
  • Speech-to-text online
  • Limited audio description
Portrait photograph of Harry Parker. He is wearing a grey shirt and jeans. He has short brown hair and a beard. Harry is sitting on a chair, his prosthetic limbs are resting on the ground. Next to his chair is a white table which has a prosthetic limb upon it. On the floor next to the table is another prosthetic limb standing upright and behind this, a wooden panel.
Harry Parker, Photo: Steven Pocock. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Watch a recording of author Harry Parker in conversation with journalist David Robson, exploring how technology, robotics and artificial intelligence are changing what it means to be human.    

Harry’s life changed after losing his legs in Afghanistan. Grappling with his new identity and disability, he has discovered new possibilities for what a body can be.    

From contact lenses to prosthetic legs – and touching on issues of access, ethics and activism – Harry and David will discuss how we’re hacking the human body, and reflect on the messy reality behind some common sci-fi myths.    

This event is inspired by Harry Parker’s new book, ‘Hybrid Humans, Dispatches from the Frontiers of Man and Machine’, a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week.  

It took place in our building and simultaneously live-streamed on Wellcome Collection’s YouTube channel.

Dates

, –
Past

Need to know

Location

We’ll be in the Reading Room on level 2. You can walk up the spiral staircase to the Reading Room door, or take the lift up and then head left from the Library Desk.

Place not guaranteed

Booking a ticket for a free event does not guarantee you a place. You should aim to arrive 15 minutes before the event is scheduled to start to claim your place. If you do not arrive on time, your place may be given to someone on the waiting list.

Waiting list

If this event is fully booked, you may still be able to attend. We will operate a waiting list, which opens 30 minutes before this event starts. Arrive early, and we’ll give you a numbered ticket. If there are any unfilled places just before the start time, we will invite you to enter in order of ticket number.

Guaranteed

Booking a ticket guarantees you entry to the online event. You will be given joining instructions in your confirmation email.

Speech-to-text online

This event will be live-transcribed for online viewers. Online ticketholders will receive a link to view the captions in a separate window.

Limited audio description

The host and speakers will describe themselves and key visual elements they refer to. There will not be a separate audio description track.

For more information, please visit our Accessibility page. If you have any queries about accessibility, please email us at access@wellcomecollection.org or call

Our event terms and conditions

About your contributors

Black and white photograph of Harry Parker

Harry Parker

Speaker

Harry Parker is the author of ‘Anatomy of a Soldier’ (2016), translated into eight languages. He grew up in Wiltshire and was educated at Falmouth College of Art and University College London. He joined the British Army when he was 23 and served in Iraq in 2007 and Afghanistan in 2009 as a captain. He is now a writer and artist, and lives in London.

Black and white photograph of David Robson

David Robson

Facilitator

David Robson is an award-winning science writer and journalist, specialising in the human brain, body and behaviour.