Off The Record | Conversations, Discussions & Debate

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About us

🐦‍🔥 Welcome to Off The Record — an intellectual salon in Norwich for in-depth, open conversations, discussions and debate.

|| Do you ever wish there was a space to talk about the big issues — politics, society, culture, || current events — openly and respectfully, without fear of being judged or shut down?

Off The Record is an independent group, community and platform where people can come together to explore different ideas, share perspectives, and connect over meaningful conversations. OTR is not affiliated with any political group, party or organisation. OTR is an independent project created and curated by Idalia Kulik and is supported on a voluntary, individual basis by sponsors or members of the community.

👉 Join us on various platforms 🔗

We host regular meetups featuring:

Guest speakers on politics, activism, and current affairs
Open discussions on social and cultural topics (including art, philosophy, history etc)
Opportunities to meet like-minded people and build local community

Whether you’re passionate about a cause, curious about other viewpoints, or simply looking to have thoughtful conversations with interesting people, you’re welcome here.

Our values:

Freedom of speech
Respectful dialogue (this can be harder than it seems when faced with an opinion that is different to one's own)
Curiosity
Open-mindedness
Equality & Inclusivity — everyone has a voice and a place at the table regardless of their views, opinions, or background.

It's ok to:

Disagree — and agree to disagree — as long as it’s done respectfully
Ask difficult or "unpopular" questions
Question and challenge opinions

You do not:

Need to be an expert on any of the topics.
Have to engage, you can simply come to listen

What is "required":

Being curious & open-minded
Being open to a variety of thoughts and opinions
Emotions are allowed, but remember that you are responsible for your actions and behaviour.

Join OTR if this resonates with you 🐦‍🔥

Upcoming events

See all

OTR 1 Year Anniversary | FSU Guest Speaker
Thu, Aug 27 · 6:00 PM BST
St. Giles House Hotel, 41 St. Giles Street NR2 1JR, Norwich, GB
🥂Celebrating Off The Record’s First Anniversary with a Guest Speaker from the Free Speech Union

Notes from the Hostess:

It is remarkable to think that only a year ago Off The Record hadn’t even existed as Project, let alone a Community or a Platform. Late in the evening of August 2025, I was finalising the logo, and getting the first domain name (which, I must admit, wasn’t even fully suited to the purpose) as well as making preparations for the first “pilot” Session — without any Guest Speakers as such — and purely advertised as a concept, just to see if anyone would be interested in coming together at all. About a week later — on the 5th September 2025 — we have held the first “Pilot Session” at Louis Marchesi, where roughly 10 people came together for the first trial discussion of this kind. I am very happy to say that as of August 2026, we’ve now got a Community with a few hundreds of people keeping tabs on the Sessions, a presence on Meetup, Eventbrite, Social Medias, WhatsApp Group, and a Newsletter. We’ve had just under 15 Sessions with politicians, academics, legal professionals, and professionals from a wide range of other fields.

I, personally, find it quite symbolic to welcome a Representative of a Free Speech Union as a Guest Speaker of Honour on the date of OTR’s First Anniversary, given the close similarity in foundational values and beliefs.

We welcome you to join us on this celebration:

🗓️ 27.08.26
🕕 18:00 doors open; 18:30 start
📍St Giles House Hotel

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Talk Description:

In Britain today, people are losing their jobs, being arrested by the police, and facing disciplinary action at their universities for saying things that are perfectly lawful. The climate around freedom of expression — one of our most fundamental rights — has shifted, and for many, the cost of speaking their mind has become very real.

The Free Speech Union was founded in 2020 to lead the fight back. It stands for freedom of speech, of conscience, and of intellectual inquiry — the foundational freedoms on which all others depend — and believes that if society doesn't uphold the right to express controversial, unpopular, or unwelcome opinions, it doesn't uphold free speech at all. Since its founding it has fought over 6,000 cases for people who found themselves in trouble for speaking their mind, and has built a membership of over 45,000.
In this talk, Vinay Kapoor — the FSU's Education and Engagement Officer — draws on real cases and national trends to open up an honest conversation about free speech in Britain today: who is under threat, what the law does and does not protect, whether the law itself is the problem, and what it all reveals about the culture we are living in. An introduction to the issues — and an invitation to argue about them.

Bio:

Vinay Kapoor is the Education and Engagement Officer at the Free Speech Union (FSU), a non-partisan mass membership organisation that stands up for freedom of speech in the UK and campaigns for free speech change more broadly. He leads the FSU's work with young people and administers the Ian Mactaggart Programme, a grant-giving programme that supports students and young people to foster open debate and free expression in the UK. He graduated with a first-class degree in Politics from the University of Warwick, where he was Founder and President of Warwick Speak Easy (2023–2025), a free speech society promoting the open debate and discussion of ideas.

Some of Vinay's work:
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Before attending, please take a moment to read our OTR Code of Conduct. By attending any OTR event, you acknowledge that you've read it and agree to abide by it throughout the Session:
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