(Arnhem, 1936) is emeritus professor in ethology and social ecology. Van Hooff grew up in Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem of which his parents were the directors. His maternal grandfather, Johan Burgers, founded the zoo and his brother Antoon was its director later on. Van Hooff studied biology with among others Niko Tinbergen and Desmond Morris and did his Ph.D. on social behaviour and communication among primates. Especially his studies on laughter and smiling in primates drew attention. As a professor at the universities of Utrecht and Wageningen he studied social behaviour in primates such as orang-utans and chimpansees. He did fieldwork in Indonesia and in Burgers’ Zoo, looking at how animals live together in group structures and how they solve conflicts. In July 2013 he enthusiastically presented a programme on ‘monkey business’ with Teleac-NTR. Van Hooff is a scientific member of the Board of Burgers' Zoo and until recently was secretary-general of the International Primatological Society and chair of the Jane Goodall Institute in the Netherlands.

began his career as vice chair of the Dutch Young Liberals of the Dutch Liberal (Conservative) Party, then changed course and joined Niet Nix (Not Nothing), a movement linked to the Dutch Labour Party. In the meantime he has become a much-in-demand chairman and moderator of debates, symposia, and conferences, combining his journalistic intuition with a fine sense of atmosphere. Maes also gives media training and teaches others to become moderators. He studied political science and subsequently joined a research agency focussed on strategic campaign advice. In addition he freelanced for BNR Nieuwsradio and PM Den Haag. Maes founded his own agency, &MAES, in 2003.

(1981) is a 'technology and surveillance correspondent with the digital platform De Correspondent. From 2007 to early 2013 he was an editor for Vrij Nederland. Maurits studied communication and philosophy at the University of Amsterdam and was active with happyChaos, a cooperation between students and VN editors. He was a moderator at various happyChaos events including Overvloed, Flickr op! and Jong & Conservatief. Later he coordinated the successful debating series ‘Vrij Nederland in debat’. Martijn is a versatile journalist who always wants to know the ins and outs. His specialisms are science, health care and technology. He tested among other things the trustworthiness of travel sites like Tripadvisor and by way of testing had his own eployer hacked, Vrij Nederland. He also investigated to what extent the previous senior man at the Dutch Institute for Health Care and the Environment was in league with the pharmaceutical industry.

(The Netherlands, 1955) is always exploring the boundaries between fact and fiction. She shot to fame with her first novel De wetten (The Laws, 1991). Her two subsequent novels, De vriendschap (Friendship, 1995) and I.M. (1998), also became bestsellers. She went on to publish Geheel de uwe (Sincerely Yours, 2004), Lucifer (2007) and Logboek van een onbarmhartig jaar (Logbook of a Merciless Year, 2011). Palmen has written several collections of essays, such as Een kleine filosofie van de moord (A Brief Philosophy of Murder, 2004), Het geluk van de eenzaamheid (The Joy of Loneliness, 2009) and Het drama van de afhankelijkheid (The Drama of Dependence, 2017). Many of her novels are based on events in her own life; her essays are exceptionally narrative. In 2023, she published Voornamelijk vrouwen (Mainly Women), personal essays about eleven women and one man who shape their lives in idiosyncratic ways. Palmen engages with them, challenges them, and discovers differences and similarities with her own life. Her multi-award-winning work is also internationally successful and has been translated into twenty languages.