Speakers and Contributors
Adrian Hart
Adrian Hart is an award winning community film-maker and founder of Coyote Films.He is a lecturer to special needs students, an author and an anti-racism campaigner. Adrian Hart's film work includes: 'Safe' (winner LWTs Whose London? 2002), Moving Here' (awarded beacon status 2006) and 'Only Human' (2006 broadcast on Teachers TV in 2009).
Adrian Hart's latest publication 'The Myth of Racist Kids' uses his own experience with his ongoing work in primary schools (and observing one too many diversity workshops) as a spring-board for exposing what passes for anti-racism. Hart’s investigation shows how teachers are under government pressure to search out and report ‘racist’ behaviour that isn't there and how primary school children are being reported to the authorities for petty playground squabbles and everyday banter. It's a prescription for victimhood as anything, anyone 'feels' might be racist gets reported and cynically used to create a 'Myth of Racist Kids'... and government policy is their only saviour.
Bob Satchwell
Bob has been executive director of the Society of Editors since its foundation in 1999. He was the award-winning editor of the Cambridge Evening News from 1984 to 1998. He was President of the Guild of Editors 1997-98, which became the Society of Editors in 1999.
The Society of Editors has nearly 450 members in national, regional and local newspapers, magazines, broadcasting and digital media, media law and journalism education. It campaigns for media freedom the wider right to freedom of expression, freedom of information and the public’s right to know and for the maintenance of high media standards.
He leads the society’s research and lobbying of government and other organisations on a wide range of issues that directly or indirectly affect all sectors of the media. The society, which has nearly 450 members in national, regional and local newspapers, magazines, broadcasting, digital media, journalism education and media law.
Brendan O'Neill
Brendan is the editor of spiked and writes widely for publications on both sides of the Atlantic. He has also been a guest on numerous TV and radio shows in Britain, Ireland and America. Brendan has presented talks on 'China : Threat or Opportunity?' and 'Surveillence Society' at The Brighton Salon. He started his career in journalism at spiked‘s predecessor, Living Marxism, until it was forced to close in 2000 following a notorious libel action brought by ITN.
Carol Dyhouse
Carol Dyhouse is research professor of history at the University of Sussex. Her work focuses on the history of women, education and gender in modern Britain. She has published widely on the subject of girls’ upbringing, schooling and women in higher education. Her most recent book on this subject was Students: A Gendered History, (Routledge, 2006).
Since then Carol has been working on the rather different subject of glamour and its social history, exploring the changing meanings of the word 'glamour', its relationship to femininity and fashion, and what glamour has meant to women. Her new book on the subject, Glamour: women, history, feminism', is published by Zed Books.http://www.amazon.co.uk/Glamour-History-Feminism-Carol-Dyhouse/dp/184813407X
Coral James O'Connor
Coral has worked in the TV industry for over 15 years with a special interest in working in multimedia. She trained as a radio journalist moved quickly into television working for TV companies such as Anglia television and production companies like Rodger Bolton Productions and Rapido.
Coral then went on to work for the first wave of multimedia internet channels - PCCW/TWI’s Now channel on environment news programmes - and most recently worked for Al Gore’s TV network, Current TV on Google Current news and later as manager for UK programming.
Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow is a novelist; co-editor, Boing Boing; author, Content: selected essays on technology, creativity, copyright and the future of the future.
Dan Travis
Dan is the Director of the Brighton Salon and has has written extensively about the Criminal Records Bureau checks on volunteers working with children and other problems facing competitive sport in the UK. Dan has published several articles and has had numerous Televison and Radio appearances in the UK and around the English-speaking world on the interplay between sport and society. He has also campaigned against public drinking restrictions and is currently writing a book on the decline of elite distance running and mass participation in time for the London Olympics. He has been a tennis coach for many years and runs a digital marketing firm.
Daniel Ben-Ami
Daniel has worked as a journalist for over 20 years. He is a regular contributor to spiked and his work has appeared in publications including the Financial Times, The Guardian, The Independent, Novo (Germany), Prospect, The Sunday Telegraph and The Sunday Times.
He has appeared on numerous radio stations including Australia’s ABC Radio National (Counterpoint programme), Air America Radio (Al Franken Show), BBC Radio 2 (Jeremy Vine Show), BBC Radio 4 (the Today programme and the Moral Maze), BBC Radio 5 Live and Hungarian public radio. His television appearances include Al Jazeera English language television, BBC News 24, BBC World, Bloomberg TV, CNBC, CNN and Sky News.
David Bowden
David works for the Institute of Ideas and is the co-ordinator of the UK Battle Satellite programme. He is TV columnist for spiked, poetry editor for Culture Wars and co-founder of the Institute of Ideas’ Current Affairs Forum. He is an alumnus of the Debating Matters Competition, having competed in its first year 03/04. He has continued to support the competition ever since, holding roles as Topic Guide Editor and speakers’ co-ordinator for the Global Uncertainties Network.
David has a MA in Creative Writing from the University of Exeter, and has also worked in communications and public affairs for Libertas and the Design and Artists Copyright Society.
Dennis Hayes
Dennis Hayes is Professor of Education at the University of Derby and a visiting professor in the Westminster Institute of Education atOxford Brookes University. He was made a National Teaching Fellow in 2010.
He has been a columnist for FE Focus in the Times Educational Supplement and writes regularly for the national press on educational issues and is a member of the Editorial Board of theTimes Higher Education magazine.
In 2006-2007 he was the first (joint) President of the University and College Union (UCU) the largest post-compulsory education union in the world. A TES profile at this time said: "He is thin, energetic, elliptical, tense and intense, a man who avoids easy conclusions..."