The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, Britain, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is Britain's second oldest University Union (only the Cambridge Union Society is older), and has gained a worldwide reputation for the cut and thrust of its debate, proving a valuable training ground for many future politicians from Britain and other countries.

The Oxford Union is an unincorporated association, holding its property in trust in favour of its objectives and members, and governed by its rules (which form a multi-partite contract between the members).

Since its foundation, it has been independent of the University: historically, this was because the Victorian University restricted junior members from discussing certain issues (for example, theology). Despite such restrictions since being lifted, it has remained entirely separate from the University, and is constitutionally bound to remain so.

Oxford ⁱ/ˈɒksfəd/ is a city in central southern England, the home of the University of Oxford. The city is the county town of Oxfordshire, and forms a district within the county. It has a population of just under 165,000, of whom 153,900 live within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles (80 km) north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames (also sometimes known as the Isis locally) run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre.

Oxford has a diverse economic base. Its industries include motor manufacturing, education, publishing and a large number of information technology and science-based businesses.

Buildings in Oxford demonstrate an example of every English architectural period since the arrival of the Saxons, including the iconic, mid-18th century Radcliffe Camera. Oxford is known as the "city of dreaming spires", a term coined by poet Matthew Arnold in reference to the harmonious architecture of Oxford's university buildings. The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world.

Jack Gleeson is an Irish actor born in 1992, best known for his portrayal of Joffrey Baratheon in the HBO television series Game of Thrones.

Gleeson started acting at the age of seven in the Independent Theatre Workshop. His first roles in feature films were minor roles in Batman Begins (2005), Shrooms (2007) and A Shine of Rainbows (2009). In 2010 he appeared in a leading role in Alicia Duffy's All Good Children. The reviewer for the Variety magazine considered Gleeson "the pic's big discovery".

Gleeson stars in HBO's Game of Thrones as Joffrey Baratheon. He was announced in the role on 19 July 2009. Gleeson was part of the initial starring cast and remains a member of the cast for the second season. He cites Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus in Gladiator as an influence on his portrayal of Joffrey. Gleeson is a student of Trinity College, Dublin, and a member of DU Players. In 2012, he was awarded a scholarship at the same university. Gleeson has indicated an intention to pursue an academic career rather than a professional acting career, once his work on Game of Thrones is completed.

Mehdi Hasan is a British journalist who has worked in television current affairs and the national press.

After graduating from Christ Church, Oxford in 2000, with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE), he began his working life answering the phones on the ITN newsdesk, before working as a researcher and then producer on LWT's Jonathan Dimbleby programme, with a brief period in between on BBC1's The Politics Show. He then became deputy executive producer on Sky's breakfast show Sunrise before moving to Channel 4 in June 2007 as their editor of news and current affairs.

He has appeared four times on the BBC Question Time: on 13 May 2010, 23 September 2010, 10 February 2011 and 8 December 2011. He also makes frequent appearances on the Sunday morning programme The Big Questions.

He has been appointed as a new presenter on Al Jazeera's English News Channel and will be presenting the new series of "The Cafe" starting in July 2012.

He was appointed senior editor (politics) at the New Statesman in the late spring of 2009, but left the post in May 2012 to take up a post as political director at The Huffington Post website. Political Correspondent Rafael Behr replaced him at the Statesman, although Hasan will continue to write a weekly column.

Michael Brant Shermer, PhD (born September 8, 1954 in Glendale, California, USA) is an American science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and Editor in Chief of its magazine Skeptic, which is largely devoted to investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. The Skeptics Society currently has over 55,000 members. Shermer also engages in debates on topics pertaining to pseudoscience and religion in which he promulgates the need for scientific skepticism.

Shermer is also the producer and co-host of the 13-hour Fox Family (now ABC Family) television series Exploring the Unknown. Since April 2001, he has been a monthly columnist for Scientific American magazine with his Skeptic column. Shermer states he was once a fundamentalist Christian, but converted from a belief in God during his graduate studies, and has described himself as an agnostic,nontheist,atheist and advocate for humanist philosophy as well as the science of morality. He has expressed reservations about such labels, however, as he sees them being used in the service of "pigeonholing", and prefers to simply be called a skeptic.