Four inspiring, internationally admired names from the world of music – Eurovision song contest winner Conchita Wurst, rapper Tinie Tempah, Malian musician Rokia Traoré and singer/songwriter Edwyn Collins – are to join a brilliant and surprising lineup of performers at the Observer Ideas Festival, a live event being staged by this newspaper next month.
Among others newly confirmed on the bill for Sunday 12 October at the Barbican arts centre in London is Kim Dotcom, the internet entrepreneur who is fighting extradition to the US from New Zealand. He will speak to the audience via Skype.
The day-long festival, the first of its kind, in partnership with BT, is designed to give readers direct experience of the most engaging talents and most interesting theories around. It will also feature David Simon, creator of television's The Wire, Turner prizewinner Jeremy Deller and space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock, among many others. It will offer what Observer editor John Mulholland called "a creative jolt to the system, forcing us to broaden our horizons in search of different, challenging stories, often told by a new group of storytellers".
With a ticket price of £75, the festival is part of an effort to reach out to readers, letting them hear what the sort of people interviewed in the Observer have to say in their own words and their own time. The ideas festival coincides with the launch of Guardian membership, an initiative set up by our daily sister newspaper to give readers the chance to attend specially curated debates, speeches and entertainment events. (Readers who sign up to partner- or patron-level Guardian membership will receive a 20% discount on Observer Ideas tickets.)
These attempts to reach out by staging live events are also aimed at informing the job writers and editors do on both papers. "Not restricted to a magazine or arts section, or the other familiar structures around which we organise our journalism, we are free to roam in search of different journalistic perspectives," explained Mulholland.
Tinie Tempah, the Brit Award-winning rapper, will discuss his upbringing in south London and his belief that musicians should take responsibility for their influence on teen culture. Edwyn Collins, who made his name with the melodic post-punk band Orange Juice before a celebrated solo career, will be joined on stage by his wife Grace Maxwell to talk about the stroke he suffered in 2005, and coping with his initial loss of memory and speech. Collins will also perform, and the couple will discuss the documentary, The Possibilities Are Endless, which premieres at the London film festival a day before the Observer festival.
Austrian singer Wurst – real name Thomas Neuwirth – will sing the winning Eurovision song, Rise Like A Phoenix, and talk about the enormous reaction to his win. Wurst's unconventional appearance drew support from the LGBT community across Europe, but was also the subject of angry protests.
Another strong and emotive performance is promised from the award-winning Malian singer, songwriter and guitarist Rokia Traoré. A recent headline act at both Glastonbury and Womad, Traoré plans to pay tribute to "the iron women of Africa", those she has described "as taking care of everything with nothing to support them".
In making his contribution from the other side of the world, Kim Dotcom, founder of the Megaupload website, will be one of a number of speakers with a fascinating story to tell. Among them are Anthony Zboralski, a former hacker turned cybersecurity expert, and Jack Monroe, the British cook who showed that it is possible – though not easy – to feed a family on a very basic budget.
Monroe is not the only chef in the festival lineup: Michael W Twitty, the expert in African American and Jewish food histories, will unpick the legacy of the African immigrants and ask why their effect on America's southern cuisine is so undervalued.
Cambridge physicist Dr Kate Stone will talk about her innovative work combining technology with the properties of everyday paper.
David Simon, American creator of The Wire, Homicide and The Corner, will present the keynote talk and offer his thoughts on race, class and capitalism in contemporary America.
