Talks

What was most surprising was how witty a speaker Olusoga is, quite a revelation given his austere TV persona. Given the grim journey he was about to take us on, perhaps its purpose was simply a chance to get to know each other before discussing the elephant in the room - or at least the gun on stage - the Maxim gun, known as the Devil's Paintbrush, spewing out 666 bullets a minute.

What have we come to, when someone is threatened with violence for speaking their mind so often that they make light of it?

Cheish Merryweather was keen to emphasise the value of critical thinking, investing her audience with a dignified, sober reflection on the machinery of justice, but she was canny enough to indulge a more scurrilous fascination with the macabre. It left me feeling a little uneasy that horrifying photography and unnerving reconstructions were being presented for our entertainment, not least as I found myself being entertained.

Despite its sensational title, Killer Cults was a relatively sober examination of what makes a cult leader, and how a literally fatal combination of narcissism and psychopathy can lead to disaster.