Akademy Dialogues

A book dedicated to a dozen iconic and self-taught women from different fields created in collaboration with the prestigious intellectual club

This book presents a curated series of in-depth interviews with a dozen influential members of London’s Akademy Club—a private members club originated in London’s Soho, with extensions in the Emirates and Miami, known for its intellectual rigor and eclectic membership across the arts, sciences, diplomacy, and cultural leadership. The Akademy is a discreet hub for independent thinking, offering an intimate window into contemporary cultural life.
Led by Shai Baitel—artistic director, curator, and cultural interlocutor—Akademy Dialogues serves as a taxonomy of leading women around the world. Each chapter captures a candid conversation with a woman who has reshaped her field: from Marina Abramović’s endurance-based art to Dame Stella Rimington’s pioneering leadership at MI5, from astronaut Helen Sharman’s journey beyond Earth to Dr. Frances Sands’s architectural scholarship at Sir John Soane’s Museum.