Visionary

Sydney is one of the world's most recognisable cities. But could its famous harbour, beaches and landmarks be obscuring a much bigger story?Jeremy Gill, Head of Policy at the Committee for Sydney, joins Benjamin Wilson on Visionary to explore how Australia's most famous city can redefine its international reputation — moving beyond its image as a tourist destination to establish itself as a global centre for business, technology, culture and innovation.From the extraordinary legacy of the Sydney 2000 Olympics to the transformation brought about by new metro lines and light rail, Gill examines how infrastructure is reshaping the city. He also revisits one of Sydney's more curious transport experiments: the much-maligned monorail, and why a futuristic vision of urban travel ultimately failed to win over Sydneysiders.The conversation explores Sydney's remarkable multiculturalism, its thriving food and creative industries, and the growing importance of film production, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and innovation districts in attracting international investment.But as cities around the world compete for talent, capital and influence, is Sydney doing enough to communicate its strengths? And what will it take for a city celebrated for its natural beauty to become equally famous for its ideas? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if you could build your own software without writing a single line of code? Michael Magan believes we're entering a new era of personal software, where artificial intelligence allows anyone to create applications tailored to their needs. The founder of Charming, a cloud platform designed for AI-built applications, joins Georgina Godwin at Here East to explain how AI is transforming software development, opening up new possibilities for entrepreneurs and challenging our assumptions about who gets to build technology. From creating personalised travel itineraries to developing entirely new business tools, Michael explores a future in which software is built around the individual, rather than the other way around. He also reflects on his journey from curious young tinkerer to technology entrepreneur, the lessons learned from raising his first investment, and the influence of his father, Mike Magan, whose work at Here East helped shape his own entrepreneurial ambitions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

London remains one of the world’s great centres of finance, technology and ideas. But how long can it afford to take that position for granted?Christian May, editor of City AM, joins Georgina Godwin on Visionary to examine the forces shaping the future of London and the British economy. After years of sluggish growth and stagnant living standards, May argues that the UK still possesses formidable advantages — from its universities and financial expertise to thriving clusters of technology and innovation — but faces increasingly fierce competition from cities around the world.So what would it take to make Britain dynamic again? The conversation ranges from tax, regulation and housing to AI, entrepreneurship and the future of the high street, while asking whether London can continue to attract the people, capital and companies that have made it a global powerhouse. May also considers what Britain’s next phase of economic growth might look like — and why complacency could be one of its greatest obstacles. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when a cultural institution refuses to stand still? For more than two decades, Sir Alistair Spalding has made the case that the arts thrive on risk: new artists, new audiences and ideas that might not work until, suddenly, they do.The artistic director of Sadler’s Wells joins Georgina Godwin to discuss the creative gamble behind one of London’s great cultural institutions. Since taking the helm in 2005, Spalding has helped move contemporary dance from the margins towards the mainstream, more than doubling audiences while giving choreographers the freedom to experiment, surprise and occasionally confound.Now the story has a new stage. With Sadler’s Wells East open in Stratford, Spalding is turning his attention to the next generation: the dancers and choreographers who will shape the art form, and the audiences who might be encountering it for the first time. It is also an experiment in what culture can do for a place – not as decoration added after the buildings go up, but as part of what makes a city interesting, imaginative and alive.Spalding and Godwin discuss the pleasures of the unexpected, why artistic institutions must take risks and what live performance can offer in an age increasingly experienced through screens.Visionary returns with a new season of conversations, brought to you by Here East, London’s home of creativity and innovation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What would the world look like without us?In the Oscar-winning animated film Flow, humanity has disappeared. Cities and homes remain, but nature has begun to reclaim them. A cat, a dog, a capybara and a handful of other animals navigate a flooded landscape in which survival has replaced civilisation — and the absence of human beings hangs over everything.Author and film writer Caspar Salmon examines the unsettling ideas beneath one of the most remarkable animated films of recent years. Is Flow simply a story about animals surviving a climate catastrophe, or a vision of a planet finally released from human control?What happens when humanity is no longer the centre of the story? And as the climate changes, should imagining our own absence force us to think differently about the world we leave behind?Future Vision tells the stories behind great leaps forward in creativity. Brought to you by the team behind Visionary and presented by Here East, London’s home of creativity and innovation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.