On 11 March 2021, Save the Rhino International will host The Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture in a star-studded event presented by 15-time Tony Award nominee Arvind Ethan David, Baroness Susan Greenfield CBE and Samuel Barnett and Hannah Marks, two of the leads of Netflix’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, who will reunite for the … Read moreThe Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture
At the beginning of the second UK lockdown, I wanted to go for walks in my lunch break. But somehow didn’t. I don’t know what happened. I’d be working, and it was easy enough to do a little more work when it hit noon. Before I knew it, my ‘lunch break’ was over and I … Read moreWalk the Pod
I met Phil in 2006 in the lobby of Bush House in London. We’d been recruited as trainee Studio Managers and were about to be sent to the Beeb’s training centre, Wood Norton in Evesham, to learn how to manage studios. Presumably. We didn’t know exactly what to expect at the time. What we should … Read moreRemembering Phil Hutchinson
It’s raining. South London, reset to factory settings. In the fourth Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy novel, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, there’s a character called Rob Mckenna, a Rain God. He’s a lorry driver and it rains on him every day. As he drove on, the rainclouds dragged down the sky … Read moreHere Comes the Rain Again
I worked with BBC Light Entertainment for six weeks in 2015 on Vote Now Show during the 2015 election. The work culminated in an all-nighter as the results came in and half a dozen sleep-deprived writers attempted to get our heads around a Tory landslide, and then make jokes about it. There weren’t enough biscuits. One … Read moreTrying to find your voice? Listen
In the course of creative endeavours, artists and scientists join fragments of knowledge into a new unity of understanding.” – Vera John-Steiner Ideas are ‘just’ connections between existing elements. Sherlock Holmes is the product of 19th-century detective fiction and medical investigation. Holmes’s deductive powers were inspired by some of Arthur Conan Doyle’s medical lecturers, including … Read moreThe Interconnectedness of All Things
I’ve written a few posts on how to start a creative meeting, and how to run one. But scheduling creative time does not guarantee good ideas. Your lifestyle and approach have a huge effect on your creative ability. And time away from the problem may be the key to a breakthrough. Be open to new … Read moreCreativity requires more than a meeting
In an uncertain world, the few things we can be sure of are a comfort. London housing will always be riddled with vermin, the pubs will charge a morning’s wages for a main and August in the city is an oven. I remember now why I try to escape to Edinburgh for the month. I … Read moreThe Mouse Man Cometh
Self-esteem can be slippery. One minute you have it, the next the bubble bursts and it’s gone. 5 years ago I took up stand up comedy, perhaps because my self-esteem needed a boost. It’s been a rollercoaster. A gig goes well, and I’m Leonardo DiCaprio on the front of the Titanic. A gig goes badly, … Read moreCompetence and confident humility
Photo by Amélie Mourichon on Unsplash A successful creative meeting: Ideas flow freely. Coffee, biscuits and emergent laughter. Everyone is contributing. How familiar does this feel? Creative meetings can be great for the confident and extroverted. But I’ve definitely been in ‘creative’ meetings where I’ve been the least experienced in the room. There is ‘banter’ … Read moreComing up with creative ideas