Digital Works Podcast

Digital Works
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Talking about all the different things that 'digital' means in the arts, culture and heritage sectors. Tales of success and failure, interrogating the shiny new things and looking at what works (or not) and why, Interviews with digital folks working across the sector and beyond, in-house, consultants, funders, and more.

  1. This is how we built...a platform for teaching music

    4D AGO

    This is how we built...a platform for teaching music

    Aurora Classroom, from the Aurora Orchestra, began as an idea to convert a live children’s storytelling concert into a classroom resource during the pandemic.  In this conversation with Aurora Orchestra's Learning Director, Rebecca Barnett we hear how over the last five years it has grown into a comprehensive creative learning platform, showcasing Aurora’s resources for primary, secondary and SEND schools, live events for young people, and CPD for teachers.  Whilst it started out like many other EdTech products as a subscription platform, after considerable deliberation the Aurora team took the leap to remove the paywall in April 2025. This is how we built… shares the honest stories behind digital projects in the cultural sector, exploring what sparked them, how they were delivered (and what they cost), what nearly went (or did go) wrong, an the lessons learned along the way.

    24 min
  2. This is how we built...an interactive longbow exhibit

    OCT 8

    This is how we built...an interactive longbow exhibit

    Ben Templeton is a writer, creative director and facilitator in the field of games and playful technology. For almost 20 years Ben has helped organisations around the world create fun ways of bringing audiences together to interact with art, culture and science. The Robin Hood Experience at Nottingham Castle is a series of immersive arcade games in four renovated coach arches. Supported by real-time motion tracking, custom electronics and large screen projections, players can grab an authentic medieval weapon and test their skills against a range of challenges. In the longbow games, three players compete for the high score but the quarterstaff is a solo battle against Little John on the bridge. This is how we built… shares the honest stories behind digital projects in the cultural sector, exploring what sparked them, how they were delivered (and what they cost), what nearly went (or did go) wrong, an the lessons learned along the way.

    22 min
  3. Paula Bray (State Library Victoria) on the power of experimentation, the importance of advocacy and generosity, recognising that some things take time, and the value of clear and joined-up strategy

    SEP 30

    Paula Bray (State Library Victoria) on the power of experimentation, the importance of advocacy and generosity, recognising that some things take time, and the value of clear and joined-up strategy

    A great conversation with Paula Bray. Paula is Chief Digital Officer at State Library Victoria in Melbourne.  Over the last twenty years Paula has held digital leadership roles at organisations including the State Library of NSW, Powerhouse Museum, Art Gallery of NSW and the Australian National Maritime Museum. Innovation and experimentation runs through much of Paula's work, which is one of the reasons I wanted to have a converation with her. At the State Library of NSW she founded Australia’s first dedicated cultural heritage innovation lab, the DX Lab, building an award-winning team that explored new ways to open up collections and data. In 2019, she co-authored the book Open a GLAM Lab with peers from around the world, sharing the value of experimental practice across galleries, libraries, archives and museums.

    42 min
  4. Brandon Powers on dance, technology, immersive experiences, reframing the role of the audience, working with engineers, and the importance of translation

    AUG 21

    Brandon Powers on dance, technology, immersive experiences, reframing the role of the audience, working with engineers, and the importance of translation

    A chat with New York-based creative director and choreographer, Brandon Powers. Brandon works with technology to create experiences across physical and virtual spaces.  We talked about his early experiences with technology, inter-disciplinary teams, the various ways that technology and virtual spaces can enhance and extend experiences for both artists and audiences, rethinking audience agency in the work he's been doing on Fortnite, and loads more.  If you're interested in hearing from someone who sits neatly at the intersection between performance, storytelling, technology, and experience design, then this one is for you. You can find more about Brandon's work on his website https://www.brandon-powers.com/

    45 min
  5. Neil Williams (BFI) on transforming organisations through digital, comparisons between the civil service and the cultural sector, working in the open, and intentionally not empire-building

    JUL 16

    Neil Williams (BFI) on transforming organisations through digital, comparisons between the civil service and the cultural sector, working in the open, and intentionally not empire-building

    A conversation recorded in-person (hurray!) with the BFI's Exec Director of Technology and Digital Transformation, Neil Williams. Neil writes a regular 'fortnight notes' post on his blog, which you can find here neilojwilliams.net

    57 min
  6. Tash Willcocks (TPX Impact) on navigating uncertainty, intellectual humility, leadership in turbulent times, why zebras don't get ulcers, the importance of structure in enabling agility, how to actually build psychological safety and more

    JUN 10

    Tash Willcocks (TPX Impact) on navigating uncertainty, intellectual humility, leadership in turbulent times, why zebras don't get ulcers, the importance of structure in enabling agility, how to actually build psychological safety and more

    A wide-ranging chat with Tash Willcocks (Head of Learning Design at TPX Impact) on organisational culture, leadership, and how to deal with change and uncertainty. Tash mentioned a whole load of ideas, articles, books, and thinkers - a few of which I've linked to below: Tash's Medium lives here: https://medium.com/@tash-willcocks This is the first post I read from Tash, which touches on Kotters Dual Operating System, and cheese toasties https://tash-willcocks.medium.com/dont-micromanage-the-cheese-661eb056fca7 More on Kotters system https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgebradt/2014/05/14/leverage-john-kotters-dual-operating-system-to-accelerate-change-in-large-organizations/ VUCA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VUCA Kevin Kruse on BANI https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2025/02/03/forget-vuca-bani-is-the-new-framework-world/  The virtue of intellectual humility with Dr. Tenelle Porter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4W3ENXbzgg The SCARF model on motivation https://neuroleadership.com/your-brain-at-work/scarf-model-motivate-your-employees Thea Snow on "certainty artefacts: the constructs we create to make sense of the world" is linked via this post from Tash https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tashwillcocks_quotedumpday-design-drawing-activity-7299698981138280449-olTU/ Amy Edmondson on Psychological Safety https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fearless-Organization-Psychological-Workplace-Innovation/dp/1119477247 Edgar Shein on organisational culture https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/5-enduring-management-ideas-mit-sloans-edgar-schein

    56 min
  7. Emma Keith (National Theatre) on NT Live, remote audiences, experimentation, learning, thinking about value, leadership, and the importance of pilots

    APR 4

    Emma Keith (National Theatre) on NT Live, remote audiences, experimentation, learning, thinking about value, leadership, and the importance of pilots

    A great chat with the National Theatre's outgoing Managing Director - Digital, Emma Keith. We talked about how digital practice has developed at the NT and how that differs from other performing arts organisations. The history of the NT Live programme, and the importance of pilots and testing ideas. The hidden value of digital infrastructure, remote audiences, thinking about outcomes rather than outputs, leadership, creating a culture of learning, and loads more.

    56 min
  8. Beks Leary (National Gallery) on the challenges & opportunities of working in larger vs smaller teams, different ways of thinking about audiences, and the value of building meaningful relationships with creators

    MAR 12

    Beks Leary (National Gallery) on the challenges & opportunities of working in larger vs smaller teams, different ways of thinking about audiences, and the value of building meaningful relationships with creators

    A chat with Beks Leary, Senior Social Media and Content Lead at the National Gallery in London. We talked about Beks's career, which has encompassed working at a diverse range of organisations including the Bush Theatre, BBC, and National Theatre before Beks's current role at the National Gallery.  Beks explained the opportunities and challenges that come with working in smaller vs larger organisations, the different ways that broadcasters, performing arts, and collections-based organisations think about audiences.  We spent most of our conversation discussing the recent 200 Creators initiative (https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/about-us/ng200-programme/200-creators) which saw the National Gallery build relationships with creators across social media platforms to reach new audiences. 200 Creators is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

    32 min
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About

Talking about all the different things that 'digital' means in the arts, culture and heritage sectors. Tales of success and failure, interrogating the shiny new things and looking at what works (or not) and why, Interviews with digital folks working across the sector and beyond, in-house, consultants, funders, and more.

Information

  • Creator
    Digital Works
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodes
    67
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Digital Works Podcast
  • Show Website
    Digital Works Podcast

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