{"id":1821843,"date":"2026-03-12T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T05:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1821843"},"modified":"2026-03-12T08:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T05:30:00","slug":"lost-property-a-lecture-series-for-thinkers-artists-lovers-and-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1821843","title":{"rendered":"Lost Property: A lecture series for \u2018thinkers, artists, lovers and friends\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/0-87-2032-1354\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441331.png&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/life-culture\/article\/69883\/1\/lost-property-east-london-lecture-series-thinkers-artists-lovers-friends\" data-article-id=\"69883\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-landscape-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.22\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Screenshot 2026-01-26 at 18.20.11\" class=\"img\" height=\"1664\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1400\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441331.png\" width=\"2032\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Photography Lily <span class=\"nowrap\">Kinnear Griffiths<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-03-12T08:30:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"12 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"12\">12,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - life-culture\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\">Life &amp; Culture<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/feature\">Feature<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-tag-container\"><a class=\"standard-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\">Life &amp; Culture<\/a> \/<br \/>\n<a class=\"standard-series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/feature\">Feature<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>Lost Property: A lecture series for \u2018thinkers, artists, lovers <span class=\"nowrap\">and friends\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>\u2018I wanted to create a space where people could learn and be excited about the world,\u2019 says Letty Cole, the brainchild behind the buzzy new East <span class=\"nowrap\">London night<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-03-12T08:30:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"12 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"12\">12,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-03-12T08:30:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"12 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"12\">12,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/EllaGlover\">Ella Glover<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"dazed-gallery has-6-images \">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<header>\n<div class=\"info\"><span class=\"heading\">Lost Property speakers<\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumbs\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/gallery\/36831\/0\/lost-property-speakers\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lost Property speakers\" class=\"img\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-263-1080-720\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441325.jpg\" width=\"1080\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/gallery\/36831\/1\/lost-property-speakers\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lost Property speakers\" class=\"img\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-264-1440-960\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441326.jpg\" width=\"1440\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/gallery\/36831\/2\/lost-property-speakers\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lost Property speakers\" class=\"img\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1080-720\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441327.jpg\" width=\"1080\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/gallery\/36831\/3\/lost-property-speakers\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lost Property speakers\" class=\"img\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-391-1440-960\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441328.jpg\" width=\"1440\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/gallery\/36831\/4\/lost-property-speakers\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lost Property speakers\" class=\"img\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-225-1440-960\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441329.jpg\" width=\"1440\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/gallery\/36831\/5\/lost-property-speakers\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lost Property speakers\" class=\"img\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1440-960\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441330.jpg\" width=\"1440\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-footer\">Gallery \/ 6 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Attention is a hot commodity. While opening the latest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/lost.property____\/\">Lost Property<\/a> \u2013 a night of short, miscellaneous lectures held in East London \u2013 host Letty Cole acknowledges this, and suggests that paying attention could be a \u201cspiritual experience to stretch towards\u201d. Chairs are scarce and tickets are completely sold out for the sixth edition of the event, suggesting that there are at least 100 of us here tonight who feel the same.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Lost Property is the brainchild of Cole, a writer and journalist. It was born out of her frustration at young people having so few spaces outside of traditional educational institutions to explore their intellectual interests in the company of others, and, vitally, away from their phones. \u201cI wanted to create a space where people could learn and be really nerdy and be curious and be excited about the world,\u201d Cole tells Dazed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It\u2019s also an alternative to London\u2019s booming literary scene, which Cole feels can sometimes be \u201cone-sided,\u201d as events tend to focus on readings where a writer reads their work and then moves on. \u201cI really wanted to create a space where people could have more of a two-way dialogue and speak about non-fiction, too \u2013 to create a space of curiosity and interest in the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The event has a tight format: there are four ten-minute lectures, which can be on any topic at all. The lectures are billed as \u201crabbit holes and obsessions from your favourite thinkers, artists, lovers and friends,\u201d and make a point of embracing their amateurishness. \u201cYou\u2019re not allowed to self-promote or talk about work,\u201d says Cole. \u201cWe want to keep it as collaborative and non-commercial as possible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Speakers so far have included co-creator of club collective <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36386\/3\/fetchish-zlata-mechetina-spotlight\"><span>Fetchish<\/span><\/a><span>, Zlata Mechetina, founder of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/62084\/1\/la-camionera-london-lesbian-bar-founders-interview\"><span>lesbian bar La Camionera<\/span><\/a><span>, Alex Loveless, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/pinkpantheress\">PinkPantheress<\/a>\u2019 choreographer Anjelica Wolanska, and more. Lecture topics have included frogs and the River Thames, celebrity gossip, and bull fighting. In the last edition, held on February 25, I heard lectures on the club as a heterotopia by Bee Beardsworth, the proliferation of love scams by Alex Quicho, the places spontaneity can take you by Tevin Muendo, and \u2013 my favourite \u2013 Nimrod Kamer on prediction markets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cLost Property is about rejecting the loneliness and nihilism that I think a lot of us can feel in today\u2019s world,\u201d says Cole. \u201cBy celebrating random, niche interests, we try to encourage people to engage positively with the world around them again. Especially with the physical world, because it\u2019s all we\u2019ve got.\u201d The concept is interesting, and it does exactly what it intends to. It invites curiosity, not just about the world, but about the audience\u2019s own interests, too. Even before the lectures began, I found myself considering what I\u2019d like to talk about, if given the chance \u2013 what do I know about? What do I care about? How would I tell it?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This is entirely the point. \u201cIt\u2019s a driver for idea generation and creativity that our phone screens just can\u2019t replicate,\u201d says Cole. \u201cI speak a lot about the difference between solitary, digital learning, and learning as an embodied, collective pursuit. The latter is so much more emotionally and intellectually powerful.\u201d In this sense, Lost Property acts as a tonic to our digital world, where we are hit with innumerable topics all at once, stunning us into passivity. The intentionality of going to a physical space and feeling the energy of the room feels like a genuinely fresh way for young people to engage with information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>I<span>t\u2019s a driver for spontaneity and idea generation and creativity, that our phone screens just can\u2019t replicate<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Of course, the digital world cannot be fully escaped \u2013 Lost Property is both an antidote to, and a symptom of, its time. Some audience members couldn\u2019t resist the pull of Instagram Stories mid-lecture. Many of the speakers referenced memes and used online slang in their lectures. The short-form and hotch-potch nature of the lectures was reminiscent of scrolling through TikTok (sans the feeling I was being funnelled to some dark ideological place). But arguably, all this makes Lost Property the perfect bridge from endless scrolling to more intellectual pursuits: I sometimes found myself yearning for more time, more depth on certain topics, but ultimately these lectures stayed with me in a way that a TikTok explainer or Instagram Reel decidedly does not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Cole doesn\u2019t deny this algorithmic quality to the events. \u201cThe algorithm that we experience on our screens is interesting because we get to experience a variety which mirrors the real world,\u201d she says, explaining that she is actively trying to \u201creplicate\u201d this infinite variety in the Lost Property lectures \u201cto create a sense of the chaos and randomness that makes the physical world so magical in the first place.\u201d What\u2019s different, and what\u2019s important, is hashing out these talking points in a real-life setting: \u201cThis is what enables us to critically, creatively, and socially engage with it, and have a lot more fun with it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Moreover, Lost Property is just a good space to meet new, interesting people. \u201cThe very act of sitting in a room with loads of people that you don\u2019t know and listening to four people speak about a subject that they\u2019re really interested in, no matter what it might be, is such an amazing catalyst for making friends,\u201d says Cole. On the night I attended, she invited the audience to speak to people they didn\u2019t know throughout the evening. I was there alone and noticed a handful of other solo attendees, who I soon got chatting to.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The range of topics, the accessibility of the format and the cheap drinks mean Lost Property has the power to pull in a wide range of people and collapse echo chambers in the process. It\u2019s an admirable venture, encouraging everyone to, as Cole puts it, \u201cbe enchanted by the world at a time when we need it most\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! 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Here\u2019s everything you need to know<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69819\/1\/love-junkie-robert-plunket-author-novel-penguin-modern-classics-interview\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Studio 54 \" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/32-0-846-563\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440579.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Love Junkie: The must-read cult novel about the 80s New York gay scene <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69723\/1\/how-to-date-a-people-pleaser-beth-mccoll-love-relationships-boundaries\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"HowToDateWhen 16x9\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/125-0-1624-1080\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438515.png\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">How to date when&#8230; you\u2019re a people pleaser<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69826\/1\/can-you-still-use-chatgpt-clear-conscience-anthropic-claude-department-of-war\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Zoe Kravitz in Kimi (Film Still)\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/219-63-1763-1173\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440363.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Is it finally time to boycott ChatGPT?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69824\/1\/brooklyn-pastry-chef-tanya-bush-will-this-make-you-happy-book-interview-baking\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Pauline Chatelan x Tanya Bush - film -32\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/66-788-2142-1425\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440286.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">Can cake solve your quarter-life crisis? This Brooklyn chef thinks so<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline\" data-newsletter hidden>\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"dazed-gallery has-6-images \">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<header>\n<div class=\"info\"><span class=\"heading\">Lost Property speakers<\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumbs\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/gallery\/36831\/0\/lost-property-speakers\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lost Property speakers\" class=\"img\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-263-1080-720\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441325.jpg\" width=\"1080\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/gallery\/36831\/1\/lost-property-speakers\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lost Property speakers\" class=\"img\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-264-1440-960\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441326.jpg\" width=\"1440\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/gallery\/36831\/2\/lost-property-speakers\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lost Property speakers\" class=\"img\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1080-720\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441327.jpg\" width=\"1080\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/gallery\/36831\/3\/lost-property-speakers\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lost Property speakers\" class=\"img\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-391-1440-960\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441328.jpg\" width=\"1440\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/gallery\/36831\/4\/lost-property-speakers\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lost Property speakers\" class=\"img\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-225-1440-960\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441329.jpg\" width=\"1440\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/gallery\/36831\/5\/lost-property-speakers\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lost Property speakers\" class=\"img\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1440-960\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441330.jpg\" width=\"1440\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-footer\">Gallery \/ 6 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Attention is a hot commodity. While opening the latest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/lost.property____\/\">Lost Property<\/a> \u2013 a night of short, miscellaneous lectures held in East London \u2013 host Letty Cole acknowledges this, and suggests that paying attention could be a \u201cspiritual experience to stretch towards\u201d. Chairs are scarce and tickets are completely sold out for the sixth edition of the event, suggesting that there are at least 100 of us here tonight who feel the same.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Lost Property is the brainchild of Cole, a writer and journalist. It was born out of her frustration at young people having so few spaces outside of traditional educational institutions to explore their intellectual interests in the company of others, and, vitally, away from their phones. \u201cI wanted to create a space where people could learn and be really nerdy and be curious and be excited about the world,\u201d Cole tells Dazed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It\u2019s also an alternative to London\u2019s booming literary scene, which Cole feels can sometimes be \u201cone-sided,\u201d as events tend to focus on readings where a writer reads their work and then moves on. \u201cI really wanted to create a space where people could have more of a two-way dialogue and speak about non-fiction, too \u2013 to create a space of curiosity and interest in the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The event has a tight format: there are four ten-minute lectures, which can be on any topic at all. The lectures are billed as \u201crabbit holes and obsessions from your favourite thinkers, artists, lovers and friends,\u201d and make a point of embracing their amateurishness. \u201cYou\u2019re not allowed to self-promote or talk about work,\u201d says Cole. \u201cWe want to keep it as collaborative and non-commercial as possible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Speakers so far have included co-creator of club collective <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36386\/3\/fetchish-zlata-mechetina-spotlight\"><span>Fetchish<\/span><\/a><span>, Zlata Mechetina, founder of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/62084\/1\/la-camionera-london-lesbian-bar-founders-interview\"><span>lesbian bar La Camionera<\/span><\/a><span>, Alex Loveless, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/pinkpantheress\">PinkPantheress<\/a>\u2019 choreographer Anjelica Wolanska, and more. Lecture topics have included frogs and the River Thames, celebrity gossip, and bull fighting. In the last edition, held on February 25, I heard lectures on the club as a heterotopia by Bee Beardsworth, the proliferation of love scams by Alex Quicho, the places spontaneity can take you by Tevin Muendo, and \u2013 my favourite \u2013 Nimrod Kamer on prediction markets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cLost Property is about rejecting the loneliness and nihilism that I think a lot of us can feel in today\u2019s world,\u201d says Cole. \u201cBy celebrating random, niche interests, we try to encourage people to engage positively with the world around them again. Especially with the physical world, because it\u2019s all we\u2019ve got.\u201d The concept is interesting, and it does exactly what it intends to. It invites curiosity, not just about the world, but about the audience\u2019s own interests, too. Even before the lectures began, I found myself considering what I\u2019d like to talk about, if given the chance \u2013 what do I know about? What do I care about? How would I tell it?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This is entirely the point. \u201cIt\u2019s a driver for idea generation and creativity that our phone screens just can\u2019t replicate,\u201d says Cole. \u201cI speak a lot about the difference between solitary, digital learning, and learning as an embodied, collective pursuit. The latter is so much more emotionally and intellectually powerful.\u201d In this sense, Lost Property acts as a tonic to our digital world, where we are hit with innumerable topics all at once, stunning us into passivity. The intentionality of going to a physical space and feeling the energy of the room feels like a genuinely fresh way for young people to engage with information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>I<span>t\u2019s a driver for spontaneity and idea generation and creativity, that our phone screens just can\u2019t replicate<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Of course, the digital world cannot be fully escaped \u2013 Lost Property is both an antidote to, and a symptom of, its time. Some audience members couldn\u2019t resist the pull of Instagram Stories mid-lecture. Many of the speakers referenced memes and used online slang in their lectures. The short-form and hotch-potch nature of the lectures was reminiscent of scrolling through TikTok (sans the feeling I was being funnelled to some dark ideological place). But arguably, all this makes Lost Property the perfect bridge from endless scrolling to more intellectual pursuits: I sometimes found myself yearning for more time, more depth on certain topics, but ultimately these lectures stayed with me in a way that a TikTok explainer or Instagram Reel decidedly does not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Cole doesn\u2019t deny this algorithmic quality to the events. \u201cThe algorithm that we experience on our screens is interesting because we get to experience a variety which mirrors the real world,\u201d she says, explaining that she is actively trying to \u201creplicate\u201d this infinite variety in the Lost Property lectures \u201cto create a sense of the chaos and randomness that makes the physical world so magical in the first place.\u201d What\u2019s different, and what\u2019s important, is hashing out these talking points in a real-life setting: \u201cThis is what enables us to critically, creatively, and socially engage with it, and have a lot more fun with it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Moreover, Lost Property is just a good space to meet new, interesting people. \u201cThe very act of sitting in a room with loads of people that you don\u2019t know and listening to four people speak about a subject that they\u2019re really interested in, no matter what it might be, is such an amazing catalyst for making friends,\u201d says Cole. On the night I attended, she invited the audience to speak to people they didn\u2019t know throughout the evening. I was there alone and noticed a handful of other solo attendees, who I soon got chatting to.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The range of topics, the accessibility of the format and the cheap drinks mean Lost Property has the power to pull in a wide range of people and collapse echo chambers in the process. It\u2019s an admirable venture, encouraging everyone to, as Cole puts it, \u201cbe enchanted by the world at a time when we need it most\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69883\/1\/lost-property-east-london-lecture-series-thinkers-artists-lovers-friends&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/0-87-2032-1354\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/1\/1441331.png&#8221;] Photography Lily Kinnear Griffiths March\u00a0 12,\u00a0 2026 Life &amp; Culture \/ Feature Life &amp; Culture \/ Feature Lost Property: A lecture series for \u2018thinkers, artists, lovers and friends\u2019 \u2018I wanted to create a space where people could learn and be excited about the world,\u2019 says Letty Cole, the brainchild behind the buzzy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1821843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1821843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821843\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1821843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1821843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1821843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}