Ideas at the House

René Redzepi is the founder of MAD and the chef-patron of noma, a restaurant in Copenhagen and multiple winner of Restaurant Magazine's 'Best Restaurant in the World' award.Kylie Kwong has been the owner of Sydney’s celebrated Billy Kwong restaurant since 2000 and is a passionate campaigner for sustainable food and ethical eating. She is the author of six books and presenter of three television series, and in 2014 was named by Food & Wine magazine as one of the world’s 25 most innovative women in food and wine.Momofuku founder David Chang is the chef who turned ramen and pork buns into haute cuisine. Beginning with the Momofuku Noodle Bar in 2004, he has built a culinary empire that includes restaurants in New York City, Toronto, Washington DC, Sydney and his own print quarterly, Lucky Peach, a regular collaborator with MAD.Massimo Bottura is an Italian-born chef who apprenticed with Georges Cogny and Alain Ducasse in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1995, he opened the multi-award-winning restaurant Osteria Francescana in Modena, which has maintained Three Michelin Stars since 2013. He is also the author of four books, including Parmigiano Reggiano and Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef. Chido Govera is a 29-year-old Zimbabwean farmer and campaigner with her own foundation, The Future of Hope. After being orphaned at the age of seven and left to care for her brother and near-blind grandmother, Govera was invited to learn mushroom cultivation, supported by Belgian environmental entrepreneur Gunter Pauli. Today, she teaches mushroom farming to women and orphans throughout the developing world.Rebecca Huntley is one of Australia's foremost social researchers and experts on social trends. She is the author of Does Cooking Matter?, a call to arms to bring our nation back into the kitchen, and Eating Between the Lines: Food and Equality in Australia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Massimo Bottura is an Italian-born chef who apprenticed with Georges Cogny and Alain Ducasse in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1995, he opened the multi-award-winning restaurant Osteria Francescana in Modena, which has maintained Three Michelin Stars since 2013. He is also the author of four books, including Parmigiano Reggiano and Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kylie Kwong has been the owner of Sydney’s celebrated Billy Kwong restaurant since 2000 and is a passionate campaigner for sustainable food and ethical eating. She is the author of six books and presenter of three television series, and in 2014 was named by Food & Wine magazine as one of the world’s 25 most innovative women in food and wine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chido Govera is a 29-year-old Zimbabwean farmer and campaigner with her own foundation, The Future of Hope. After being orphaned at the age of seven and left to care for her brother and near-blind grandmother, Govera was invited to learn mushroom cultivation, supported by Belgian environmental entrepreneur Gunter Pauli. Today, she teaches mushroom farming to women and orphans throughout the developing world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

René Redzepi is the founder of MAD and the chef-patron of noma, a restaurant in Copenhagen and multiple winner of Restaurant Magazine's 'Best Restaurant in the World' award.Momofuku founder David Chang is the chef who turned ramen and pork buns into haute cuisine. Beginning with the Momofuku Noodle Bar in 2004, he has built a culinary empire that includes restaurants in New York City, Toronto, Washington DC, Sydney and his own print quarterly, Lucky Peach, a regular collaborator with MAD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russia is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. But as an eloquent and outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin’s regime and a prominent LGBT activist, Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen does not hide her views. The author of The Man without a face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin, a biography of President Vladimir Putin, and a book about Pussy Riot, it was only when the Russian authorities started discussing removing children from gay parents that Masha moved her family to America. In this revealing talk, the reporter discusses her courageous career, her particular combination of activism and analysis, and how she continues to chronicle the Putin regime from a distance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imagine having to flee your home country, leaving your mother and brother behind you. As a child, Hyeonseo Lee thought her country– North Korea- was the best on the planet. It wasn‘t until the devastating famine of the 1990s that she began to question those beliefs and look for an escape route.As a teenager, she fled to China to stay with distant relatives and spent the next ten years hiding her true identity before finally escaping to South Korea. She then made the courageous decision to return to the North Korean border in a daring mission to bring the rest of her family to safety.Now a university student and human rights advocate, the author of the memoir The Girl with Seven Names reveals the details of her extraordinary journey. She offers a unique insight into the situation of the people of North Korea and how we can help those still suffering. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the age of social media we think we know each other, but do we really?  Muriel Barbery’s second novel, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, became an international sensation through word-of-mouth recommendations. It told the story of an unlikely friendship of an unhappy teenage girl and the determinedly ordinary, middle-aged concierge in a Parisian apartment building – whose lives were richer than they first appear.  With her next novel, The Life of Elves now published nine years later, secret lives are again uncovered, this time focusing on the tale of two young girls and the secret world of elves that they discover.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alix Generous has big ideas, but she hasn’t always been able to communicate them to others. Her Asperger’s syndrome was misdiagnosed for many years and it has taken great courage and persistence to overcome her challenges. Alix thinks differently, but she has learned that this can be an important part of solving complex problems. Still a university student, she is involved in scientific research, has spoken at the UN, and her company Autism Sees has released the app Podium to help people with Autism Spectrum Disorder develop communication skills. One of Alix Generous’s big ideas is that we need all the creativity and intellect we can muster to solve our problems, so need to build a culture that accepts mental diversity so everyone can share their talents. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Go to any networking event and you’ll probably overhear someone talking about how they discovered their ‘true purpose’. But doggedly pursuing the work you love can get in the way of the rest of your life, and lead to some tough choices.For writer Margie Orford it meant spending a year away from her three children when she had the opportunity to study overseas. It was a hard decision, as the overwhelming satisfaction of knowing that she had found her vocation was balanced by the sadness of what felt like losing a year of her children’s lives.Is a strong sense of vocation a mixed blessing, and what are the tough choices you might have make to make to follow your ambition? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.