For the final episode of Dream Space season three, we leave nature behind for a chaotic, futuristic city from the mind of comedian Nish Kumar.

Guided by host Gemma Cairney, Nish reflects on the energies of the world’s great cities from his home of London to Mumbai to Melbourne. Enter a Dream Space where Manhattan skyscrapers meet Parisian boulevards in a series of contrasting neighbourhoods. Communities live alongside one another in cheap, floating housing with 100% renewable energy and flying wind turbines.

Covering everything from the importance of grassroots venues to the dangers of AI, Nish asks us to imagine a more optimistic version of our present cities.

Nish Kumar is a comedian, broadcaster and podcast host known for his social and political commentary. He hosts Pod Save the UK with journalist Coco Khan and has toured his stand-up show Nish Don’t Kill My Vibe around the world including at Aviva Studios.

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Angelique Kidjo’s Dream Space isn’t a space that you enter as such, but a mindset that you carry with you day to day. The five-times Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and activist delivers a beautiful metaphor to live by in this joyous exchange with host Gemma Cairney.

Riffing on the oral traditions of Benin where she was born, for her Dream Space Angelique invites listeners to envision themselves as a tree – the roots our value systems, the trunk our self and the branches our choices. Reflecting on how nature works in cycles – how a tree loses its leaves annually in order to renew – Angelique contrasts this with our modern world where we’re so accustomed to getting everything we want immediately and running ourselves off our feet year-round.

The lifelong campaigner for women’s rights, healthcare and climate change imparts a wealth of wisdom throughout the conversation – from nature’s nurturing powers and not holding grudges to remembering humour and humility when times are tough (something she notes her friend and mentor Nelson Mandela did).

With seventeen albums under her belt that exude elation, it’s no surprise that in Angelique’s Dream Space she invites us to live in the spirit of joy.

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From running away to London at eighteen and living on a bus with a band, to forcing the door open to a career in the music industry, Mary Anne Hobbs’ path hasn’t always been the conventional one.

The DJ, curator, music journalist and radio presenter reflects on her experiences of growing up in a small Northern town, cutting her teeth in pirate radio, and how her punk, do-it-yourself spirit has shaped her life, career and point of view.

Drawing on these life experiences, in Mary Anne Hobbs’ Dream Space, young artists are given the financial support, time and care to develop their ideas, learn from the older generation and flourish. Inspired by the DIY attitude of pirate radio, her Dream Space invites young people from across the UK to hack and takeover all social media, TV and radio channels and broadcast ‘The Culture Forecast’ every night – forcing the rest of the country to pay attention to the amazing art they’re making.

Guided expertly by host Gemma Cairney who also touches on her non-linear path into broadcasting and the arts, this Dream Space is all about giving the next generation a foot in the door and a shot to shape the culture.

Mary Anne Hobbs is a DJ, curator, music journalist and broadcaster. In 2025, she premiered WHAT DO YOU WANT? at Manchester International Festival – an electrifying fusion of live DJing, sound design, violins, viola and live electronics, created in collaboration with Anna Phoebe.

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