Just as I was getting to university, the BBC broadcast a sitcom by Douglas Adams called The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, which became an international success through a TV series, a film, a stage show, and a novel translated into thirty languages. One of the pieces of technology described in the book was the Babel Fish, a small yellow fish inserted into the ear which simultaneously translates from one spoken language to another as its nutrition processes convert sound into brain waves, 'neatly crossing the language divide between any species you should happen to meet whilst travelling in space'. I was thinking about the Babel Fish while reading about Apple's Live Translation feature available on iPhones from version 15 onwards. It can translate your voice or Facetime calls from and to English (both the UK and U.S types), French, German, Brazilian Portuguese, and Castillian Spanish. Still in Beta testing but it's the Babel Fish made real. I already see tourists using the Google Tran

A couple of weeks ago I was in Rome for MIA, the Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivi - the Italian content market combining movies, drama series and documentaries. I produced and moderated a panel about history programmes. I wanted to do the panel is because of how vital it is to bring stories from the past for audiences to recognise and learn from. The panel happened on a date which will go down in history, October 7th, the anniversary of an event which has caused so much death and destruction,am first on that day in Israel and then for the past two years in Palestine. As many countries try to rewrite the historical record and use history as propaganda, getting the facts to people through television is more important than ever. But informative and factual documentaries are under threat around the world. To pick one country, the USA, whose democracy is under sustained attack from its government, I was dismayed to learn recently that PBS' American Experience strand announced it would be

Visiting the Media Production and Technology Show at Olympia in London for two full days of panels, equipment demos, and conversations.