Jacob Reynolds obtained a BPhil in Philosophy from St Cross College, Oxford, specialising in the work of Hannah Arendt. After Oxford, Jacob pursued a career in strategy consulting, where he advised major corporations on how to adapt to the challenges of the 21st Century. Jacob then joined a major London think tank and charity to expand their work organising opportunities for rigorous public debate and education. There, he organised the Battle of Ideas festival, Europe’s largest festival of ideas devoted to free speech and The Academy, a residential summer school in the UK for free thinkers who want to understand the historical roots of current issues. He is author of Beyond the Culture Wars, which looks at how Western societies have become estranged from the basic building blocks of political life.