officer for sport, Berlin association for Disabled and rehabilitation sports
Mårten Lilja is an officer for grassroots and elite sport at the Berlin association for Disabled and rehabilitation sports. He supports clubs, athletes and projects, work on sport development, events, youth and performance pathways, and helps strengthen participation opportunities for people with disabilities in sport.
He is interested in how sport can create access, visibility and social participation, and how institutions can remove barriers for people with Disabilities in practical and meaningful ways. Drawing on both his professional experience in disability sport and my personal experience as a wheelchair user, he brings a strong interest in inclusion, public debate and equal participation.
associate director, Israel Initiative; director, Berlin Chapter; contributing editor, Telos Insights
Julius is leading the Berlin Chapter and works with the Israel Initiative at TPPI, where he writes articles, curates texts for translation for both the Substack Telos Insights and the Journal Telos, recruits authors, and organizes conferences. Alongside this work, he studies philosophy at the University of Potsdam. His work and research are concerned with contemporary political and cultural crises, especially antisemitism, Islamism, and the erosion of the West. He approaches these questions through Critical Theory in the tradition of the Frankfurt School, psychoanalysis, and political theory.
His research interests also include Carl Schmitt, particularly Schmitt’s relationship to Critical Theory, as well as his reception in Telos. Additional areas of interest include the philosophy and sociology of religion.
journalist and radio reporter, Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb) and ARD
Marcus Latton is a Berlin-based journalist and radio reporter working for Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb) and ARD. He studied political science at Humboldt University of Berlin and University of Rostock, with stints in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Armenia‘s capital Yerevan. From 2017 until 2019 he attended electronic media school in Potsdam for his journalistic training where he has fostered his passion for audio storytelling.
Boris Vormann is professor of Politics and Director of the Politics Concentration at Bard College Berlin. He is also an associated researcher at the Chaire de Recherche du Canada en Études Québécoises et Canadiennes at the Université du Québec à Montréal, and serves on the editorial board of American Studies/Amerikastudien, A Quarterly.
Vormann has held visiting positions at the CUNY Graduate Center, Harvard University, Sciences Po Paris, and New York University. His research and teaching lie at the intersection of comparative politics and economic geography and focus on the role of the state in globalization and urbanization processes; nations and nationalism; and the crisis of democracy. Vormann is a regular commentator on public policy debates for different media outlets (including The Economist, Deutsche Welle, Tagesschau, and Deutschlandfunk). Recent books include the monograph Democracy in Crisis: The Neoliberal Roots of Popular Unrest with Christian Lammert (Pennsylvania University Press, 2019), the co-edited volume The Emergence of Illiberalism: Understanding a Global Phenomenon with Michael Weinman (Routledge, 2021), and the monograph Legitimizing Authority: American Government and the Promise of Equality co-authored with Christian Lammert and translated by Susan H. Gillespie (Routledge, 2024).
professor of Business and Administration, University of Europe for Applied Sciences
Dr. Gerald Fritz is a Guest Professor of Business Administration with a focus on Leadership and International Sport Management at the University of Europe (UE) in Berlin, Germany. Dr. Fritz is specialised in sport administration, marketing, leadership, and event management. He is also a visiting lecturer at Audencia Business School Paris and the International Olympic Academy.
Dr. Fritz holds a MA degree in sports administration, as well as a Master of Education in sports science and biology, and a doctorate in sports economics. In addition to his academic career, he has gained extensive practical experience in the sports industry, including as director of marketing and sponsorship for the Frankfurt Galaxy American Football Club in the NFL Europe League, as well as in management positions at the Qatar Stars Football League (QSL) and on the Organizing Committee of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany. From 2020 to 2025, he took over as Director of the German Olympic Academy (DOA), enabling him to put academic knowledge into practice in the Olympic Movement with the aim of promoting Olympic Values and the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Germany.
Markus Egg (Dr. phil., Universität Konstanz 1993; Habilitation, Universität des Saarlandes, 2001) is a professor of English at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The main focus of his research is on semantics and its interface with syntax and pragmatics, where he is involved in developing the theoretical basis and its computational modelling.
Laura Blumenthal is a communications professional and a Conservative campaigner. She spent a decade as an elected councillor in Berkshire and stood in the 2024 General Election for Brentford and Isleworth in West London. Following the election, she went on to create the website TorySuccesses to give other candidates a resource for being able to highligh the party’s successes.
Laura is the host of the Berkshire Heroes podcast which shines a spotlight on those making a difference in the local community. Laura believes in freedom, responsibility and enabling everyone to fulfil their potential.
Jake is currently working as a project assistant for the Academy of Ideas, focusing on social media communications. He is a recent graduate from the University of Bath, completing a BSc in Politics and Economics. He is published with the think tank Bright Blue, and supported the think tank at the 2024 Conservative Party Conference.
professor of private law and commercial regulation; visiting fellow, All Souls, Oxford
Dr Elise Bant is Professor of Private Law and Commercial Regulation at the University of Western Australia. She is a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College Oxford for Michaelmas 2025, and excited that this means she has a chance to be involved in Debating Matters Oxford 2025! Her current work focusses on holding corporations to account for fraud and predatory conduct, (think the Post Office Horizon scandal, recently dramatized in ITV’s ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’). Her website gives a snapshot of her novel model of corporate responsibility, which has recently been adopted in Australia’s High Court (the equivalent of the UK Supreme Court). When not battling corporate miscreants, Elise likes ocean swimming, rambling, and spending time in and around beautiful Oxford.
director, Civitas Schools; commentator on food issues
Justine Brian is Director of the schools’ programme for the think tank Civitas and, as the former director of the sixth form Debating Matters competition, is a current DM Ambassador. Justine believes in education and grappling with big ideas – and practised what she preaches by completing a degree in Classical Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London, as a mature student. She loves good food and hates food snobbery, and learned to cook at Westminster College. She is an occasional writer on food issues, and her greatest media claim to fame was being on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour on the issue of ‘frugal food’, which made her Mum extremely proud.
