Can artificial intelligence ever really be creative? And what happens when AI learns from work created by humans?
University of Reading Chancellor Paul Lindley OBE explores the impact of generative AI on creativity with children's author and JoJo & Gran Gran creator Laura Henry-Allain and Dr Dominic Lees, Associate Professor of Filmmaking at the University of Reading.
From AI-generated books, images, voices and video to the use of creative work to train AI models, they explore some of the biggest questions facing the creative industries.
The University of Reading's Synthetic Media Research Network brings together researchers from across disciplines to examine how generative AI is reshaping media and inform the public policy developing around it. Synthetic Media Research Network - Sharing innovation in deepfakes and generative AI (https://research.reading.ac.uk/synthetic-media-research-network/)
26 Oct 2026
Sustainable Leadership
What makes a good leader – and can leadership be taught?
In Episode 4 of Reading Ahead, University of Reading Chancellor Paul Lindley OBE brings together two people at very different points in their leadership journeys.
Major General Nick Cowley, Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, has spent 25 years leading in the British Army. Daniel Tapp is a first-year University of Reading student and one of the first scholars on our Global Sustainability Leaders Scholarship.
Together, they explore how leadership is learned, the importance of character and curiosity, and what it takes to make good decisions in a rapidly changing world.
What can a student and a Major General learn from each other about leadership? Watch the full conversation to find out.
12 Oct 2026
Sustainable Business
Can businesses grow, create value and help tackle the challenges facing society?
In Episode 3 of Reading Ahead, University of Reading Chancellor Paul Lindley OBE is joined by Jon Foster-Pedley, Dean of Henley Business School Africa, and entrepreneur, ESG adviser and Reading alumna Amy Clarke.
Together, they explore purpose, profit, sustainability and how ethical practices can become part of business as usual.
28 Sept 2026
Future Skills
What skills will young people need most in the century ahead?
In Episode 2 of Reading Ahead, University of Reading Chancellor Paul Lindley OBE is joined by Dr Naeema Pasha, founder of the World of Work Institute at Henley Business School, and Martin Allen Morales, founder of Ceviche and CEO of the Institute of Imagination.
Read Dr. Naeema Pasha's new white paper: https://assets.henley.ac.uk/v3/fileUploads/WOW-Paper-2026.pdf
And buy her book, Futureproof Your Career: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/futureproof-your-career-9781472988379/
14 Sept 2026
Climate Change
We know our climate is changing. So how do we turn knowledge into action?
In the first episode of the Reading Ahead podcast, University of Reading Chancellor Paul Lindley OBE is joined by Professor Andrew Charlton-Perez, Professor of Meteorology at Reading, and broadcast meteorologist, Laura Tobin.
They explore climate anxiety, communicating climate science, individual and collective action, and how we can work together to address one of the biggest challenges facing society in the century ahead.
Subscribe now for a new episode every fortnight.
https://www.reading.ac.uk/planet/
7 Sept 2026
Reading Ahead Trailer
Welcome to the new podcast from the University of Reading! Across our first series, made in our centenary year, we'll be exploring some of the biggest challenges facing us in the century ahead, and what universities can do about them.
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