I've just been appointed Britain's first 'thinker in residence' at Bristol's new Festival of Ideas, 16-20th May. It's an exciting prospect. I'll be staying in Bristol for five days, attending all the public events. I'm licensed to be a 'constructive heckler' - identifying broad themes that emerge from the discussions, making connections between realms of knowledge. (For any of you who've read The Play Ethic, you'll realise what an ideal gig this is for me...) I'll also be blogging the event everyday, posting right here, and writing up a report/article after.
In between events, I'll be doing learning journeys into the city of Bristol itself - talking about the power of play, bringing reports from the festival to everyone from teachers to technologists to entrepreneurs, being a 'contrarian catalyst'. Bristol's creative and innovative credentials are second to none - from Brunel to Allen Lane (founder of Penguin) to Massive Attack. I'm happy with my press release quote:
Ideas are the lifeblood of cities – the faster and richer they flow, the healthier and more robust urban life becomes. I'm delighted and honoured to be appointed the first thinker-in-residence at Bristol Festival of Ideas. The luxury of following one's intellectual and creative instincts, in the company of such an exciting roster of thinkers and writers, is something I'm going to exploit to the full. Ideas should always be festive – as David Hume once said, true enlightenment is a "disagreement between friends". If we attain that ideal, we'll all have a wonderful week!
I'd urge you to download the PDF, but some of the names and topics are:
- Paul Ormerod on economics
- Colin Tudge, John Gray, Julia Neuberger, Joanna Bourke on the Moral State We're In
- John Carey on What Good is the Arts?
- Deyan Sudjic on the Edifice Complex
- Paul Martin and Tom Hodgkinson on Happiness and Idleness
- AC Grayling on Power of Ideas
- Marek Kohn on Darwinism today
- Steven Johnson on Why Popular Culture is Good For You
Fun, yes? For some reason, my appointment has caused some consternation among the punditocracy and editoriat. In Scotland (no surprise there), see the Daily Record, The Sunday Times, The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday (reg. req. for the last two). And, surreally, in the Daily Telegraph - an op-ed piece, no less (more like burble-ed, but there we are). A little thread has started up at Demos, where I'm an associate - feel free to chip in. And Patrick Barber at the Guardian helpfully invited me to explain myself. In any case, hopefully, I'll see some of you at Bristol!
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