The Freudcast

with Will Gompertz, Artistic Director of the Barbican Centre on the power of the Arts

“Break the rules. You cannot fail. There’s no such thing as failure. Try things out and eventually it’ll all make sense.” - Will Gompertz Shakespeare. Adele. James Bond. Ed Sheeran. Shade Adu. Idris Elba. Harry Potter. Harry Styles - the UK’s cultural creations are some of the finest in the world. Despite its global achievements, financial support for the Creative Sector continues to dwindle. With culture creations arguably being the UK’s greatest global asset - how can we get it the support it deserves? How can agencies such as freuds continue to improve their creative work? How can we all live more creative lives? In a wide ranging discussion, Will Gompertz - former BBC Arts Editor & Artistic Director of the Barbican Centre - sat down with freuds’ Zulum Elumogo to discuss the power of the Arts to transform and energise communities, the role creativity can play in our lives and the future of this vital industry.

At Goals House in Davos

Davos has been quiet the past couple of years, as the pandemic postponed the annual World Economic Forum. This year it's back, albeit in May and not the usual snowy January, and so is Goals House. This episode of The Freudcast will give you a flavour of the people who passed through our doors and the conversations they were party to. You'll hear from Malian artist, musician and activist Inna Modja; UK Climate Action Champion Nigel Topping; model, author & entrepreneur Lily Cole; Bennett Richardson of tech publication Protocol; Rwanda-based Adiam Gafoo, COO of Arts Help; documentary maker & YouTuber Jack Harries; and CEO of WaterAid Tim Wainwright. Presented by Matt Barbet.

With Josh Ponte of the African Conservation Development Group

In 2001, a young man named Josh’s Ponte responded to a newspaper ad seeking out a Conservationist to live in Gabon with sixteen Gorillas and a handful of scientists to help the government create a network of national parks to protect more than eleven percent of the country. Gabon is an extraordinary place. This West African nation is home to some of the world’s most precious and unique biodiversity. But perhaps most crucially, Gabon is home to the ‘Lungs of Africa’ - the planet’s most important forest ecosystem after the Amazon. As one of the world’s few highly forested, low deforestation nations, this natural, green superpower plays a central role in the global fight against climate change. Josh is now Creative Director of the African Conservation Development Group - a company at the heart of efforts to get this ‘Green Capital’ acknowledged and accredited on the global stage. At COP26 in Glasgow, Josh sat down with freuds’ Zulum Elumogo to discuss his journey, Gabon’s status as a Global Carbon Superpower and the power of storytelling in conservation.

IWD Special with Dame Moya Greene, Fiona Dawson & Katie Vanneck-Smith

In honour of International Women’s Day, this year’s focus is on breaking the bias. In this episode, we’ll be hearing from three women who’ve worked hard to do just that. Hosted by Laura Round, we hear from Fiona Dawson, Katie Vanneck-Smith and Dame Moya Greene. Fiona Dawson advises famous names like Lego and Marks and Spencer after retiring from Mars last year, having risen to the position of Global President during 33 years with the company. Katie Vanneck-Smith is co-founder of groundbreaking slow news brand Tortoise Media and former President of Dow Jones. And Dame Moya Greene who made her name in mail – running Canada Post before taking up the equivalent CEO role at the Royal Mail. They share personal insights, including who their mentors were, things they wish they’d known at the start of their careers andsome of the jaw-dropping challenges they faced during their careers.

With St. Mungo's on how climate change effects the homeless

Rebecca Sycamore is Executive Director at St Mungo's, the charity ending homelessness and rebuilding lives. Founded in 1969 by a group of committed activists distressed by the rising number of London’s homeless, St Mungo’s is England’s largest provider of homelessness services housing over 3000 people every night and helping over 30 000 people in 2021 alone. On these cold, dark wintery nights, they are doing important work with those without a home. For this episode of The Freudcast, Rebecca Sycamore spoke to freuds’ Zulum Elumogo on the acute effects of climate change on the homeless, the charity’s heroic efforts to house rough sleepers during the Covid lockdowns and what it will actually take to end homelessness in the UK.