People

student, Humboldt Universität

Julian was born in Budapest but has previously lived in Shanghai and Peking and has been living in Berlin for six years, where he attended high school and completed his Abitur. He is currently studying for his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Mathematics and Physics at the Humboldt University of Berlin. His favourite subject is mathematics, but he loves everything that is science and is always looking to learn more.

student, Humboldt Universität

Kevin’s life has led him far from his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Colgate University with a bachelor’s in history, he moved to Austria, where he worked as a teaching assistant selected by the Austrian Fulbright Commission as well as a freelance English teacher for six years.

He has lived in Berlin for nearly two years and is pursuing a degree in mathematics at Humboldt University Berlin with which he hopes to find ways to apply mathematics to answer questions in the field of economics and other social sciences. In his free time you’re likely to find Kevin on the banks of the Spree with a book or at the Gail S. Halvorsen baseball field on the grounds of the old Tempelhof Airport, where he continues Berlin’s tradition of German-American cultural exchange through sports.

new business lead, GamerLegion GmbH

One of three brothers, Maximilian was born in Berlin. His roots are in the Ruhrgebiet, so he feels close to home, but cosmopolitan. Maximilian is a enthusiastic sports fan having come via a love of football to a Sports Management degree and through volleyball to enthusiasm for sporting events. He now works in eSports & Gaming at GamerLegion. #glhf

You can follow Maximilian on Twitter @MauliMax

professor, Urban Sociology and Theology, Tabor Protestant University; lecturer, Sociology of Religion, Humboldt University

Oleg grew up in the Soviet Union but moved to Germany when he was 10 years old. He lived for several years in both Lebanon and the USA, having studied Theology, Sociology and Comparative Religions in both Germany and Lebanon. In 2015 Oleg earned his PhD from Humboldt University and from 2019-20 he was a research fellow at Yale University.

Currently, Oleg lives in Berlin with his wife Lisa and their four children. Together with a diverse team, he leads an intercultural church. In addition, he teaches Urban Sociology and Religious Studies at Tabor Protestant University, a local seminary, and occasionally lectures in Sociology of Religion at Humboldt University. His research focuses on Urban Sociology, encompassing themes as diverse as innovation & entrepreneurship, space & cognition, Christian-Muslim relations, and immigration & pluralism.

undergraduate student, Free Speech Champion

Anna is a second-year student at the University of Glasgow, completing a History of Art and English Literature undergraduate degree. She has worked as an English tutor for over 2 years, having spent 2020 working in secondary schools in her hometown of Nottingham before moving onto private tuition in Glasgow.

She is also involved with the Free Speech Champions and has contributed to the upcoming issue of their zine, The New Taboo. In 2018 she featured on the panel debate ‘Generation Wars: Myth Or Reality’, hosted by the East Midlands Salon.

councillor, community organiser and cabinet member

Councillor Peymana Assad is a first-generation Londoner and community organiser representing Roxeth, South Harrow on the London Borough of Harrow Council. She came to the UK as a child refugee and upon her election in 2018 became the first person of Afghan origin elected to any public office in the UK. Currently she serves as the Cabinet Member for Community Cohesion, Crime and Enforcement. 

Peymana has worked extensively across the charity sector on gender, peace and security in the Global South and sat on boards for British charities working across Afghanistan and South Asia. She is an Obama Leader of Europe 2020, a Founder of the Labour Foreign Policy Group and a former Parliamentary candidate. 

Follow Peymana on Twitter: @Peymasad

lecturer and PhD student

Susie is a lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton teaching social work. She is a qualified social worker registered with Social Work England. She practised in the field of children and families, primarily in the field of child protection, for 21 years until May 2020 when she became a full-time academic. Susie is currently studying towards a PhD, researching how social workers assess differential risk in situations where children are at risk from domestic violence. Susie is interested is issues relating to child protection, assessment, risk, parenting and history social work. 

business consultant, Businessfourzero; visiting MBA lecturer, Bayes Business School; former board member, Lewes FC

Sally Taplin is a business consultant, working with clients on their growth strategy and execution, with a particular interest in accelerating execution through clarity and commitment among leaders and their teams.

Sally is also a visiting lecturer at Bayes Business School (formerly CASS Business School) on the MBA programme, looking at what kind of economic recovery we want and how to develop a thriving and productive economy in the early 21st Century.

After many years working on the business of football and creating partnerships to invest in growing the women’s and grassroots game, she spent time on the board of Lewes FC, a community-owned club in East Sussex, with a thriving men’s and women’s side. She is also a Newcastle FC fan (through thick and thin).

Sally is committed to free and open discussion, believing we should ‘take nobody’s word for it’ (motto of the Royal Society), but find out for ourselves through vigorous questioning, fact-finding and debate.

postgraduate student, University of Kent

Dervla is a master’s student at the University of Kent studying Methods of Social Research after completing her Sociology BA (Hons) degree. Her master’s dissertation explores the construction of ‘abortion stigma’ as a social problem, and how the use and definition of the concept have changed over time. This focus on the topic of abortion continues on from her undergraduate research investigating how women who came of age during the 1960s and 2010s make sense of their abortion attitudes through the lens of generation.

Dervla spoke at the Battle of Ideas 2022 on the panel ‘The future of abortion rights’. She has also volunteered at the Battle of Ideas festival on multiple occasions.

As well as abortion, her main topics of interest are reproductive health, generational attitudes, free speech, and gender. Dervla was part of the winning Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School team as debate captain at the 2019 Debating Matters Kent Championship and has since participated in the 2021 DMGBIN online championship as a chair. 

broadcaster, political commentator and columnist

Emily Carver is a broadcaster, political commentator and columnist. Emily regularly presents across GB News and appears regularly as a guest commentator on national and international media.

Her writing can be found in The Telegraph, The Independent and Conservative Home. Previously, Emily headed up the Communications department at free market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs.

Follow Emily on Twitter @CarverEmily