Gary Bridgewood has been making and restoring stringed instruments for over forty years - from violins and cellos to historic instruments such as the viola da gamba. In this podcast he describes his training at the London College of Furniture, followed by his partnership with the lute maker Tom Neitzert in establishing Bridgewood & Neitzert in 1982. We explore the complex nature of his work, which combines the highest level of craftsmanship and technical mastery with his attention to each customer’s individual needs.
Dr Antranig Basman is a mathematician and computer scientist who studied at Cambridge University. After completing a PhD in Computer Vision at the Cambridge University Engineering Department’s Machine Intelligence Laboratory he spent five years as Visiting Scholar at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
In this podcast we discuss Antranig’s many interests and avenues of work, especially around pressing societal challenges which exclude the perspectives of marginalised groups. Now he is based in London and works on a range of community-oriented projects with colleagues across the world.
Geoff Brown is Education Services Coordinator at Middle Temple, one of the four Inns of Court in central London. He trained as an actor before moving to the world of the law and now has a particular interest in advocacy training for those at the start of a legal career - especially the Moot. In this conversation we explore Geoff’s many skills and interests, including improv theatre and stand-up comedy.
Lucy Skilbeck studied drama in Australia before coming to the UK in the 1980s and establishing herself as a director and teacher. For ten years she was Director of Actor Training at RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in London. She is also Founder and Director of Being With Horses, where she offers equine-facilitated actor training and coaching.
In this extended (2 hour) conversation we explore how her work in the theatre and with horses intersects with my own experiences in clinical practice and academia.
https://www.rada.ac.uk/about-us/acting-teaching-staff/lucy-skilbeck/
The distinguished barrister Angus McCullough KC has over 35 years of experience in public and private law. He has played a prominent role in many high profile cases - such as the phone hacking trial with Rebekah Brooks and proceedings against Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (otherwise known as Tommy Robinson).
Alongside his work as a barrister he has recently been appointed as a part-time judge of the Courts of Appeal in Jersey and Guernsey.
Angus has many other interests, especially concerning the natural world. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and he keeps bees.
Hamish Brown is a pianist, composer and arranger with many strings to his bow. I first encountered Hamish in his capacity as collaborative pianist during a teaching session for Masters students in conducting at the Royal College of Music, where he is a staff accompanist.
Hamish has collaborated with many leading singers as well as performing as a soloist across the world and as an orchestral keyboard player. His work spans multiple genres, including classical, jazz, musical theatre and choral work.
Nick Gold is managing director of the speaker bureau Speakers Corner. He works with clients to provide suitable speakers for corporate events and other gatherings, drawing on his extensive panel of contributors. In this podcast we discuss parallels with other kinds of live performing, including clinical consultations and scientific presentations at conferences.
David Juritz started playing the violin at the age of five. After winning the Royal College of Music’s top award he joined the English Chamber Orchestra before becoming the Leader of the London Mozart Players - a role he held for seventeen years. He is well known for his recordings, including Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for unaccompanied violin and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and for his work with the London Tango Quintet. His recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, transcribed for violin, guitar and cello, was released in 2021. In this conversation we explore the many intersecting strands of his professional career.
Rob Ryan studied Fine Art at Trent Polytechnic and specialised in printmaking at the Royal College of Art in London. For many years he has worked from his London studio. He has written and illustrated several books and he is particularly well known for his papercuts, which are instantly recognisable. In this conversation we explore the process by which he creates and executes his designs.
Roberto Trotta is Professor of Theoretical Physics at SISSA, the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy, where he directs SISSA’s Interdisciplinary Lab. He’s also Visiting Professor in Astrostatistics at Imperial College London.
His most recent book Starborn: How the stars made us and who we would be without them was published in 2023 and has received widespread acclaim.
In this conversation we discuss how Roberto’s work as a physicist and data scientist complements his work in science communication, and explore his concerns about the impact of current technological developments on the nature of our lives as humans.