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Unless you’ve been hiding under a body shaped rock lately, you will have noticed that this month on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Three is all about the Body Beautiful.

The past ten days have seen a brave bunch of body-conscious people put their life in front of the lens as they reveal all about their bodies and their bits.

From young people wanting to go under the knife, to guys wanting want to bulk up, the season has raised a lot of questions around today’s obsessive body image culture.Ìý And in the spirit of Free Speech, for every question raised there’s a good debate to be had.

Cue the Free Speech Body Beautiful Special, live from Newcastle on Tuesday 27th November at 8pm.

Over the hour we’ll be focusing on the following big issues:

- Cosmetic surgery and its global popularity
- Obesity and its health and social consequences
- Body image issues from a man’s perspective
- The media and its role in creating the body beautiful image

Getting the debate going is a top notch panel of industry experts who all have specific knowledge around the issues being discussed. Introducing:

Rosi Prescott: Head of the YMCA and was part of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Body Image.

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Venice A. Fulton: personal trainer, dietician, and author of this year’s controversial diet book Six Weeks To OMG: Get Skinnier Than All Your Friends.

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Sabrina Mahfouz: a poet, playwright and feminist with a history of campaigning against Page 3.

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Grace Woodward: a fashion stylist, TV presenter and reality TV judge known for her no-nonsense comments and outspoken opinions on beauty and fashion.

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Of course, there’s another side to this debate: you guys. Free Speech is the only show that doesn’t just let you shout at the TV, it lets you change it. Using the controlled Power Bar you can tell the panellists exactly what you think of their points, right as they’re making them. Just use the following hashtags to say whether you AGREE (#YesName) or DISAGREE (#NoName) with them:

Rosi: #YesRosi to agree and #NoRosi to disagree
Venice: #YesVenice to agree and #NoVenice to disagree
Sabrina: #YesSabrina to agree and #NoSabrina to disagree
Grace: #YesGrace to agree and #NoGrace to disagree

It's as simple as that.

Finally, bringing your debate at home into the heart of the Free Speech zone is our Social Media Jockey . She’ll be injecting your points from , and this blog in to the spotlight for the panel and audience to mull over. But, you’ve got to make those points first.Ìý

So, to kick the debate off let’s ask you all this question:

Should cosmetic surgery be banned?

Over to you...

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Related links:
´óÏó´«Ã½ Three’s Body Beautiful Season page

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All eyes are Stateside right now as today is the U.S. Presidential Election.

It’sÌýa two-horse race with the current Democrat President fighting to hold on to his position for a second term, versus the Republican candidate , who is hoping to pip him to the post and moveÌýinto the White House.

Honouring the biggest democratic vote in the world, Free Speech are holding a U.S. Election Special in Colchester, Essex, with a stellar panel of presidential experts to debate us through the issues of the night. Introducing:

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Historian, writer, and current Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent, Dr Tristram Hunt MP.

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American journalist, author and Professor of American Literature and Public Understanding, Sarah Churchwell.

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Cyclist, scientist, and serving Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge, Julian Huppert.

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American obsessive, History expert and Tea Party supporter, Dr. Tim Stanley.ÌýÌý
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Controversial star of Young, Bright and on the Right, and former Oxford Uni Conservative Association chair, Joe Cooke.
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The eagle eyed among you will have noticed five panellists instead of our usual four – meaning you’ll get even more debate to mull over for the night. Which can only be a good thing, right?

But, what will that debate consist of? Well, that’s up to you, as it’s your debate and needs your input. The four subjects up for offering this month are:

• The U.S. Presidential Elections – who will win, why, and does it really matter
• Voting – why don’t young people vote, and will giving the right to 16 and 17 year olds make any difference?
• Abortion – do men have the right to have a say in when a baby can be terminated?
• Jimmy Savile – have we lost faith in the ´óÏó´«Ã½?

Something to say on any of those? Good. We thought so. ‘Cos in the last few weeks these issues have been ripped apart and put up for dissection by our hungry online audience through and . These debates have been flying around, and there’s been some pretty strong opinions on both sides of the argument so far.

For those who don’t yet know, Free Speech is more than a panel debate show. It’s a completely interactive programme that YOU control from your very own sofa through the appropriately named Power Bar. Find out how your opinions can affect the power bar.

Throughout the live debate, the fabulous Tina Daheley of Radio 1’s Newsbeat fame will be sitting in the studio reading out as many messages as she can, bringing your debate at home in to the heart of the debate in the studio.

Got that? Good. See you at 8pm tonight on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Three when we’ll be opening with a question on the U.S. Elections.

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Free Speech is on tonight at 8pm, live on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Three

• ´óÏó´«Ã½ News - US presidential vote
• ´óÏó´«Ã½ News - Predict the president
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* Additional note on 8 Nov 2012: Due to time constraintsÌýall ofÌýthe topics listed in the the blog post were not covered in this show.ÌýÌý

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