 | Ben Chu has been economics editor of the Independent since August 2011. Before that he was the newspaper’s chief leader writer and assistant comment editor. He has reported from China, Taiwan, Germany, France and Switzerland and Ireland. Other jobs Ben has done at the paper include editing the letters page and writing for the personal finance pages. He was born in Manchester and studied modern history at Jesus College Oxford. His father was born in China and his mother is British. Ben’s first book Chinese Whispers: why everything you’ve heard about China is wrong is published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson. |
Life off Earth: are the aliens out there?
"I was impressed by the intensity of the debate and the high level of intellectual engagement, not least by the audience. It was an invigorating, even exhilarating experience to be part of a festival based on the conviction that disagreement is good. The Battle of Ideas is a fantastic concept, may it spread epidemically to the rest of the world. I am already looking forward to next year's event."
Thomas Hylland Eriksen, professor of social anthropology, University of Oslo; novelist
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