Nick Cohen is a British journalist, author, and political commentator. He is a public intellectual whose writing touches on religion,politics, economics, and culture. Cohen is currently a columnist for The Observer, a blogger for The Spectator, and a TVcritic for Standpoint magazine. Cohen has written five books, including, “Cruel Britannia:Reports on the Sinister and the Preposterous,” a collection of his journalism;“Pretty Straight Guys: A history of the U.K. under Tony Blair;” “What’s Left?How the Left Lost its Way,” a reflection on the evolution of Leftist ideology which was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize In 2008; “Waiting for the Etonians,” a review of the U.K.’s welfare state; and his most recent book, “You Can’t Read ThisBook,” (2012) which examines new forms of censorship emerging in the21st century. Cohen’s writing has also been published in the Evening Standard, the Birmingham Post, the Independent and the New Statesman.He attended Hertford College, Oxford, where he studied philosophy, politics,and economics. Recently, his journalism has focused on free expression, libel laws, corporate greed, censorship, secularism, and religious extremism.