Will Work for Inspiration

David Byrne on whether New York City can hold onto its creative class:

“This city doesn’t make things anymore. Creativity, of all kinds, is the resource we have to draw on as a city and a country in order to survive. In the recent past, before the 2008 crash, the best and the brightest were lured into the world of finance. Many a bright kid graduating from university knew that they could become fairly wealthy almost instantly if they found employment at a hedge fund or some similar institution. But before the financial sector came to dominate the world, they might have made things: in publishing, manufacturing, television, fashion, you name it. As in many other countries the lure of easy bucks Hoovered this talent and intelligence up—and made it difficult for those other kinds of businesses to attract any of the top talent.”

Published: Oct 8, 2013
Length: 7 minutes (1,950 words)

A Talking Head Dreams of a Perfect City

Osaka’s robot-run parking lots mixed with the Minneapolis lakefront; a musician’s fantasy metropolis

Published: Sep 11, 2009
Length: 6 minutes (1,656 words)