I attended Talking Heads this evening, part of the Infecting the City Festival, courtesy of 2 Couchsurfers who were staying with me, and were part of the festival. Billed as speed dating for the brain, the format sees you sit at a table for 20 minutes each with 4 different, hopefully interesting, people, from all walks of life. The brief: “this information could change your life”.
None of the Talking Heads managed to change my life in any kind of dramatic way, but the event was interesting, getting better for me as it went along.
First up was Ronald Suresh Roberts. I was a little disappointed to find out that it wasn’t just me at the table, that I’d be joined by another person at each. Suresh started talking about legal rights and legal rites, the subject of a new book he is writing.
The talk didn’t work for the format too well, and rambled a bit back and forth, and before it had really got started it was over. Given another chance, I’d leap straight in to questioning him about his (in)famous book, Fit to Govern: The Native Intelligence of Thabo Mbeki, and his generally fractuous dealings with the press.
Next up was Reinette Steyn, a clinical psychologist, who gave a brief introduction, then handed over to the two of us for questions. Much of the time was spent discussing the other participants son, and the time was up quickly.
By half time, I was a bit disappointed. Partly to blame was my interaction style. I remember having the same feeling at a recent radio interview. The presenter was filling space, talking, and I was letting him talk, but the format calls for more forceful interaction, since there’s limited time.
After the break was someone from the Bicycling Empowerment Network (I think his name was Andrew), an NGO which promotes cycling, as a means of poverty alleviation, and a generally healthy, green activity.
But the best was reserved for last. Jonathan Shapiro, Zapiro himself. He talked about crossing lines, and, peppered with his cartoons, the conversation went from the Muhammed cartoons, to some of Zapiros edgier creations, the backlash he’s faced from various communities, as well as his not always smooth interactions with newspaper editors.
Being the last, we could carry on well over the allotted 20 minutes, and gathered a crowd from the other tables, all enjoying Zapiro’s cartoons and the stories behind them.
Overall an enjoyable event. It’s held three times a year, so look out for the next one.