Improvised philosophy and wine with Robert Rowland Smith

Last night I learned three things at a night of improvised philosophy, led by Breakfast With Socrates writer Robert Rowland Smith:

1. We're all mad
2. Colour is a myth
3. There's no such thing as reality

Held in Clerkenwell Tales bookshop, the night resulted in discussion about psycho-analysis vs philosophy, David Cameron, Margaret Thatchter, Sigmund Freud and Immanuel Kant. It sounds like an odd way to spend a Wednesday night, but it was actually surprisingly fun.
And afterwards, I got to spend five minutes with Rowland Smith. At present he is reading David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet because he has been asked to speak about it on BBC2's Review Show tonight.
He is also reading Solar by Ian McEwan and said: "I'm enjoying it, but I like McEwan as a writer anyway. I read his first book when it came out and have continued to follow him."
Speaking about why he wrote Breakfast at Socrates, he said: "I'd written academic books - heavy weight academic book - but I wanted to write something more accessible that anyone could enjoy."
To write he revealed he needs music on in the background and it needs to be loud: "I usually go for Led Zepellin or Bach. I know it sounds like quite a contrast but they both made music that's actually very structured."