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“See you, either in Hell, or in Communism.”
Slavoj Žižek infamously said “Humanity is OK, but 99% of people are boring idiots”—Žižek himself is certainly neither boring nor an idiot. Žižek is arguably the most provocative philosopher of our times. Foreign Policy named Žižek a Top 100 Global Thinker "for giving voice to an era of absurdity." With never a dull moment, Žižek breathes new life into Marxism, Hegel, psychoanalysis, philosophy, politics, film and culture.
Žižek is the author of more than 50 books, including most recently Zero Point He is a senior researcher at the University of Ljubljana's Department of Philosophy.
“There is something inexplicably touching about all Žižek's mischievous bombast” — The Guardian
"The Labour Party is dead."
Zarah Sultana is the co-founder of the currently unnamed Your Party, former Labour MP and current MP for Coventry South. She was first elected to Parliament in 2019 and was appointed to a shadow government position under Jeremy Corbyn in the Department of International Development. She was re-elected as a Labour MP in 2024, however the ship was removed after she voted to end the two child benefit cap.
Since leaving the Labour Party, Zarah has become a key leader of the UK socialist left. The new Your Party had an initial sign-up of 750,000, the largest in UK political history on a platform of democratic socialism, arms embargos on Israel and support for the working class. Zarah is one of the youngest members of Parliament joining when she was 25 and has since gone on to re-write the political left.
"Zarah is a powerful advocate for peace, justice and socialism." — Jeremy Corbyn
'"Humans think they are free, conscious beings, when in truth they are deluded animals."
One of Britain’s most provocative thinkers, John Gray is a political philosopher famous for dismantling liberalism and exposing the illusions of human progress. Former Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics, Gray has challenged orthodoxy across the political spectrum with a body of work that ranges from critiques of Enlightenment rationalism to meditations on the limits of secular humanism.
He is the bestselling author of Straw Dogs, The Silence of Animals, and Seven Types of Atheism as well as a frequent contributor to The Guardian, New Statesman, and The Times Literary Supplement. Gray’s sharp insights and contrarian stance continue to shape contemporary debates on ethics, politics, and the future of humanity.
"One of the most important thinkers alive." — The Times
"Human minds have invented not one cognitive universe, but 7,000."
Lera Boroditsky is a cognitive scientist and linguist whose research has transformed our understanding of how language shapes thought. Her groundbreaking studies in linguistic relativity demonstrate that the structure of a language can influence how speakers perceive time, space, causality, and even morality—revealing the profound ways culture and cognition intertwine.
Boroditsky’s work has been featured in Nature, Scientific American, and The New York Times, and she has delivered lectures worldwide on the intersection of language, culture, and cognition. Named one of 25 visionaries changing the world by the Utne Reader, Boroditsky continues to challenge assumptions about the universality of human thought.
“One of the first to show truly convincing effects of language on cognitive processes" — Dan Slobin, Professor Emeritus at UC Berkeley
“Truth makes love possible; love makes truth bearable.”
Rowan Williams, the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, is a highly acclaimed theologian, writer and pastor. In addition to his 10-year post as Archbishop, Williams is an esteemed academic. He has been a lecturer at Cambridge University and the Lady Margaret Chair of Divinity at Oxford University.
He is one of the world’s leading thinkers on issues such as theology, spirituality, philosophy, and religious aesthetics, and is the author of several best-selling books, including Being Human: Bodies, Minds, Persons and Candles in the Dark: Faith, Hope and Love in a Time of Pandemic.
“Rowan Williams’ most striking characteristics are his humanity and his fine intellect.” ― Baroness Helena Kennedy KC
'"Left and Right is over."
James Orr is a Cambridge philosopher and theologian spearheading a return to national conservatism. Admired by JD Vance—who once described Orr as his "British sherpa"—Orr has shaped the intellectual foundations of post-liberal politics on both sides of the Atlantic. In October 2025, Orr was appointed senior advisor to Reform UK by Nigel Farage.
His writing has appeared in The Spectator and The Daily Telegraph, among other publications. At the University of Cambridge, where Orr is Associate Professor of Religion, his research focuses on Husserl, Heidegger, and Kant.
“James Orr is dedicated to the mission we have at hand both in his heart and in his head." — Nigel Farage, Leader or Reform UK
"The 21st century will be the Asian century."
Kishore Mahbubani is a Singaporean diplomat, scholar, and global thinker who has spent his career urging the West to see the world through non-Western eyes. A former President of the United Nations Security Council and Singapore's former Ambassador to the UN, Mahbubani is among Asia's most influential voices on geopolitics and the shifting balance of global power.
Mahbubani has shaped the intellectual debate on what he calls "the great convergence"—the historic return of Asia to the global center stage. His books, including Has the West Lost It? and The Asian 21st Century, have been translated worldwide and taught in universities from Beijing to Boston.
“There is no more thoughtful observer of Asia, the United States, and their interaction than Kishore Mahbubani.” — Larry Summers
"On social media, the important thing is to show your tribe that you have the right morals."
Kathleen Stock is a British philosopher and writer. A former professor at the University of Sussex, Stock rose to prominence in 2021 for her critcism of transgender movements. That year, she resigned from her university post and entered the public discourse as a central figure in the debate over sex, gender, and truth.
Stock is the author of Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism. Her upcoming book is Do Not Go Gentle: The Case Against Assisted Death. She has written for The Times, UnHerd, and The Spectator, and is regularly featured in discussions on academic freedom and women's rights.
"A fearless woman" — The Daily Telegraph
'“Greed is gross. Greed is vile. Greed sucks.”
Yasmin Alibhai‑Brown is a veteran journalist and author whose writing covers race, identity, migration, and multicultural Britain. Born in Kampala and relocating to the UK in 1972, she went on to become one of the first regular national‑newspaper columnists of colour in Britain, a founder of British Muslims for Secular Democracy, and a fierce advocate for inclusive public discourse.
Her books, No Place Like Home, Exotic England, and In Defence of Political Correctness probe how societies change and who gets left behind when they do. Across columns for The i, Evening Standard, The Guardian, and The Independent, she challenges institutional complacency and asks whether Britain’s promise of fairness survives in practice. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Alibhai‑Brown is celebrated for bringing moral clarity and cultural sensitivity to her uncompromising commentary.
“She burrows deep into the psyche of the multicultural nation.” — Yash Tandon.
"Freedom of speech wasn't won by being nice, it has been won by struggle with religion."
David Starkey is a British historian, author, and broadcaster, best known for his work on Tudor history and the British monarchy. His early career was in academia as a lecturer in International History at the LSE before he went on to pursue a career in television and radio. His work has appeared on Channel 4 and the BBC Moral Maze, among other media.
He is known for his outspoken views on British politics and culture; his convictions have put him at the centre of contemporary British cultural issues. He is also the bestselling author of many books including Henry: Model of a Tyrant and Magna Carta: The True Story Behind the Charter.
"Starkey turns even the more bureaucratic elements of history-making into a series of cliffhangers." — The Independent
'"Modern medicine has certainly preferred dealing with my various conditions as individual diagnoses. But me? I think all the diagnoses boil down to anxiety."
Sarah WIlson is a multi-New York Times and Amazon bestselling author, social philosopher, blogger, and philanthropist. At the age of 29 she was the editor of Australian Cosmopolitan magazine and went on to found the global I Quit Sugar movement, a digital wellness program with 13 award-winning books.
Her most recent book, This One Wild and Precious Life, won the 2021 US Gold Nautilus Award, and for two years in a row she has ranked in the top 200 most influential authors in the world.
“Sarah Wilson is a force of nature—quite literally. She has taken her pain and grief about our sick and troubled world and alchemized it into action." — Elizabeth Gilbert
'"The brain is highly structured, but it is also extremely flexible. It's not a blank slate, but it isn't written in stone, either."
Alison Gopnik is a cognitive scientist, philosopher, and bestselling author whose research has reshaped our understanding of how humans learn and think. A professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Gopnik is celebrated for showing that children are not just little adults, but intuitive scientists exploring the world with remarkable curiosity and creativity. More recently, Gopnik has marshalled her groundbreaking research to offer original insight into debates over whether AI is truly intelligent.
Her books, including The Scientist in the Crib and The Gardener and the Carpenter, have influenced psychologists, educators, and policymakers worldwide. Gopnik's work has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic.
"...[A] fascinating story of how we become the grown-ups that we are.” — Anthony Gottleib, the New York Times
"What is necessary is a radical transformation, following the bases of feminism, anti-racism and anti-fascism"
Rosi Braidotti, one of the most influential voices in posthuman and feminist philosophy, has spent decades dismantling the myths of individualism and human exceptionalism. A Distinguished University Professor Emerita at Utrecht University, she reimagines what it means to be human in an age of artificial intelligence, climate crisis, and blurred boundaries between species.
Her acclaimed Posthuman trilogy redefined 21st-century thought by integrating poststructuralist feminism with pressing political and ethical questions. Her writing moves fluidly between theory and personal reflection, challenging inherited dualisms of body and mind, nature and culture. Through this work, she has shaped contemporary debates across philosophy, gender studies, and environmental humanities, inspiring new ways of thinking that decentre the human.
"...a foremost posthumanist thinker. ” — Theory, Culture & Society
"We are using philosophical criteria in choosing our models. A lot of cosmology tries to hide that."
George Ellis is a South African cosmologist and philosopher of science renowned for bridging the gap between physics and metaphysics. Collaborator of Stephen Hawking on The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time, Ellis later turned his attention to the limits of scientific reductionism—arguing that human consciousness, meaning, and morality cannot be explained by physics alone.
He has authored several books and more than 500 articles, including his 2016 book How Can Physics Underlie the Mind?, in which he calls for a major conceptual shift in biology and physics to grapple with the mysteries of consiousness. His research spans cosmology, complexity, and the philosophy of science, making him a leading voice in debates over the relationship between science and human values.
"...among a handful of the world’s leading relativistic cosmologists, including luminaries such as Stephen Hawking" — 2004 Templeton Prize Press Release
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