Jacob is head of policy for the think tank MCC Brussels, where he works to develop an alternative intellectual narrative for the nation states of Europe to the one that is presented by EU elites. He hosts the MCC Brussels podcast and is a writer and commentator on issues related to the culture war, EU policy, and geopolitics.

Jacob is a PhD candidate in philosophy at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He has an academic background in philosophy, with a BPhil from St Cross College, Oxford where he specialised in the work of Hannah Arendt.  He is an associate fellow of the Academy of Ideas, where he supports the work of the Battle of Ideas festival. Jacob also convenes The Academy, a weekend residential summer school for free thinkers who want to understand the historical roots of current issues. He has a commercial background in strategy consulting, helping businesses adapt to the digital world.

He spends his spare time drinking coffee, cooking, and learning Ukrainian, which he did not expect to become as useful as it has. He is author of the Letter on Liberty Beyond the Culture War.

Follow Jacob on X: @jacobreynolds