A Meeting of Minds - Advisory Distributors

Speakers

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  Nastaran Tavakoli-Far

  Journalist and Radio Host

  Nastaran is a journalist and radio host who is fascinated by the intersection of the economy, business and psychology. She has reported on topics such as meritocracy, corruption and the gender dynamics in leadership. She also increasingly carries out investigative work and large projects. These have included looking into a women's wellness company where there are abuse allegations, with this investigation serving as a bigger exploration of the medical establishment's dismissal of women's health concerns, leading to a booming wellness industry. She also recently explored a $350 million tech investment into Las Vegas which delved into Silicon Valley's interest in community building and happy workplaces, and has just put out a podcast exploring the collaboration between the British and French engineers who built the remarkable Concorde plane. She studied Economics at the LSE and attended Columbia Journalism School, and also speaks Farsi.

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  Pippa Crerar

  Political Editor, The Guardian

  Pippa has covered Westminster and international politics for more than two decades, reporting on six general elections, seven prime ministers and too many major news stories to mention, from the Iraq war and the financial crash to Brexit and parliamentary scandals. Pippa is a warm, witty and authoritative speaker who has long experience of chairing, presenting and speaking at events in the political world and beyond. She has trusted contacts right at the heart of government, across Whitehall and in the main opposition parties so has a deep insight into what is going on in British politics and society. Pippa is Political Editor of The Guardian, previously holding the same role at the Daily Mirror where she exposed the Partygate and Barnard Castle scandals. Before that she covered politics at the London Evening Standard.

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  Claire Fox

  Director of the Academy of Ideas and a member of the House of Lords

  Claire Fox is the director of the Academy of Ideas, which she established to create a public space where ideas can be contested without constraint. She convenes the yearly Battle of Ideas festival and initiated the Debating Matters Competition for sixth-formers. She also co-founded a residential summer school, The Academy, with the aim to demonstrate ‘university as it should be’. In May 2019, she was elected as an MEP for the North West England constituency of the UK in the European Parliament elections. In 2020, she was made a visiting professor in professional practice at the University of Buckingham. In September 2020, Claire became a member of the House of Lords as Baroness Fox of Buckley. Claire is frequently invited to comment on developments in culture, education, media and free speech issues on TV and radio programmes in the UK such as Newsnight and Any Questions?