ARTS WEDNESDAY 3 AUGUST 2011

Ed Lippmann will join me for Part 5 of the current series of Sydney By Design at about 10:40 am. This week we are taking a break from Barangaroo, pending the review to the government to be published at the end of this week. We will comment on that report next week to wrap up the series. For this week, Ed and I visited the very dynamic exhibition at the Object Gallery, Now and When, a 3-D film which was Australia’s contribution to the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2010 and we will discuss our visit.

My special guest this week is Dr Simon Longstaff, Executive Director of the St James Ethics Centre, making a very welcome return to Arts Wednesday. The subject for discussion is the carbon tax, the reasons for it and how it will work. It is a subject that has become so politicised that understanding the science – let alone the facts – is just about impossible! Simon recorded an interview with me earlier in the week and it is always a pleasure to hear his measured, intelligent and erudite explanations. I’ll play that interview at about 11:00am.

Last week, playing Beatles music, I remembered Imagine, the CD by Herbie Hancock and it got me thinking about how many CDs I’ve bought this year, played one track on air and somehow forgotten they were on my shelf. So this week, it’s as many tracks from those CDs as I can fit in!

As always, I look forward to your company.