Monaco Info - The Podcast

Our guest today was born in Beijing during China's Cultural Revolution when her family was classified as "enemies of the people" by the Red Guards. As a migrant child, she endured poverty and discrimination, and worked from age ten with little formal education until she was 18. Dismissed as a "zero", she became an award-winning violinist, played at COP21, was a member of the Monte Carlo Philharmon...

Our guest today is the grandson of the American aviator who in 1927 completed the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight. The gifted athlete was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and disabled by age 30, yet later regained mobility through knee replacements and a breakthrough biotech drug. He went on in 2002 to retrace his grandfather's solo New York–Paris crossing, raising over $1 million and h...

Our guest today is the Guardian's Formula One correspondent who has covered everything from title fights to paddock politics. The Brit is not afraid to ask the tough questions, which is how he became the first journalist to prompt F1's Max Verstappen to say "I will not speak if he is here" during a press conference. The sports writer has penned two books – including F1 Racing Confidential: Inside...

Our guest today has lived a few lives – a banker, lawyer, politician, astronaut, and NASA administrator. The fifth-generation Floridian lost an early congressional race, yet still turned his ambition into a 4-decade Washington career, including serving in the U.S. House, and Senate, where he became an advocate for science and space policy. In 1986, he went into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Colum...

Our guest today comes from a long line of dog lovers. Her great-grandmother Princess Antoinette, Prince Rainier's older sister, founded Monaco's first animal shelter. As part of the extended Grimaldi dynasty, the Monegasque was born and raised in Monaco but at age 12 moved to South Africa and later lived in the UK and the Netherlands, where she studied European Law. Inspired by her father's work e...

Our guest today lived in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery before co-founding the Transition Town movement. The Brit went on to co-create the Transition Network and the Totnes circular currency, and has written seven books, including How to Fall in Love with the Future: A Time Traveller's Guide to Changing the World. The TedX speaker is adamant that imagination is a critical but missing tool in tacklin...

Our guest today spent his childhood behind the lens of a Kodak Instamatic camera. Decades later, the royal rediscovered photography not as a career move but as a way to bring balance into his life. With no formal training, the Monaco resident developed a more discerning eye and, encouraged by friends, he took a bold step into his first exhibition in Geneva – arriving not only with photos, but with...

Our guest today left his family in native Germany at 16 to pursue surfing in Hawaii. He became the first European to win the World Surf League's XXL/Big Wave Award and, in 2020, broke the Guinness World Record for surfing a wave the height of an eight-story building. The wave explorer developed the technology that measured the largest breaking wave ever scientifically recorded and continues to pus...

Our guest today is a University of Monaco alumna who started off her career as a TV presenter for Monte-Carlo SAT and reported for Eurosport. Born in Strasbourg to a French mother and German father, the Monaco entrepreneur founded 5 Star Events and created the Bal de Noël in support of the Princess Grace Hospital's maternity ward, building it into a 20-year fixture on the country's philanthropic c...

Our guest today started out as a lawyer before co-founding one of the UK's most successful legal recruitment consultancies. But, in 2010, the keynote speaker stepped off the corporate treadmill to follow a deeper calling. He retrained in psychotherapy, moved to Monaco, and started Riviera Wellbeing. The therapist became a household name with his popular show "Wellbeing Window" on Riviera Radio bef...

Our guest today is a Brazilian-born Monegasque entrepreneur and media tycoon whose life reads like a modern saga of global ambition, influence and celebrity. After earning a law degree in Rio, he moved to the U.S. and set his sights on commodity trading where he earned the nickname "King of Coffee" for expanding into Russia. Fluent in multiple languages, he went on to become the CEO, Publisher and...

This episode with Martin Doyle is like masterclass on "The Troubles", with the "Dirty Linen" author offering a clear, compelling guide to one of Ireland's most complex periods in a way that every listener can understand. His new book... and film, both come out in Spring 2026. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Our guest today was just 12 years old when he made his first hat. It was three feet wide and became front page news when his mother wore it to Royal Ascot. Despite having no formal training, the Londoner attracted A-List clients early on with a style "less about couture and more about theatre". One of his hats can be found in the Victoria & Albert Museum, another was nominated by the Guinness...

Our guest today was so inspired by women pioneers like Jane Goodall that she applied for an internship with the Dutch embassy and found herself in Nairobi as a field researcher at a nature reserve. Seeing the Rift Valley with its herds of elephants and zebras became a defining moment for a career in conservation, which eventually led to an appointment as the first female Director General of the WW...

Our guest today has been called Formula One's First Lady. By age 8, she was karting competitively in Scotland and in 2012 made history by joining Williams as a development driver, becoming the first woman in over two decades to participate in an F1 race weekend. After retiring from the driver's seat, she headed the Venturi Formula E team and now serves as Managing Director of the F1 Academy, an al...

Our guest today comes from rowing royalty out of Philadelphia. His grandfather was a 3-time Olympic gold medalist and is considered one of the greatest American oarsmen of all time. His father was a 4-time Olympian and 6-time U.S. National Champion who became President of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Yet the Harvard alumnus was a pentathlete before switching to skulling, and holds the varsity team...

Our guest today says the most important thing in her life is breathing. Born in Denmark, she chose a career in finance to please her father but when she moved to Monaco, the blackbelt in jiu-jitsu and waterski champion rebooted as a professional fitness coach. Her real passion though is nature and the ocean, and in 2015 she founded The Animal Fund. The mission of this not-for profit Monaco-based a...

Our guest today is one of the UK's most recognized self-made billionaires. The founder of Phones 4U was one of the first Brits to sign the Giving Pledge promising to give away at least 50% of his wealth, is an advocate for climate action, and calls for a gambling tax to combat "mayhem in society". A passionate developer, he turned a landmark hotel on Cap d'Antibes into a €340 million euro residenc...

Our guest today's life reads like a movie script. Born in London to a British screen play writer mother and American film producer dad who worked on the Beatles movies, the bilingual founder of Pink Ribbon Monaco has addressed the United Nations in New York, is a partner of Oath Gin with Formula One's Valtteri Bottas and she started a craft beer company with American actor, Noah Wylie, who happens...

Saskia Clark is probably the most accomplished female sailor living in Monaco that you've never heard of. With the Americas Cup just announcing each crew will have a female team member, the Olympian is well-placed to teach us more about the sport. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Our guest today is a World War II veteran who enlisted in the U.S. Army after Pearl Harbor in 1942. Fluent in English, French and Italian, he was assigned to intelligence, intercepting messages, and ended the War in northern Italy, sleeping in Mussolini's bed. Post-war, the American's career at Pan American World Airlines spanned 45-years and included a stint as director in Nice, which is how he d...

Our guest today says she's always been a lightning rod for unusual life experiences. She wrote for a campus newsletter with fellow student Stephen King, cofounded a newspaper, and was a spokesperson-turned-lobbyist for a nuclear power plant. All this before the American ever set foot in Monaco 35 years ago. She could never have imagined a career at Stars'n'Bars would make her one of the most belov...

Our guest today describes himself as "a self-motivated, highly-driven entrepreneur and philanthropist". His first company used technology to help Ireland's fishing industry and here in Monaco the resident is CEO of a group of Entertainment, Media and Technology businesses. Yet what put him on the international stage was an idea to challenge teenagers to create high-end wearable fashion from everyd...

Our guest today is an Ivy League golf champion who built two billion-dollar companies and has designed acclaimed hotels in Uruguay and Italy. His vineyard in Chile that he created from scratch was ranked number two by the World's Best Vineyards last year. On top of that, the Monaco resident speaks five languages, loves to dance the night away, and was once buried alive in an avalanche while heli-s...

How far would you go to pursue your dreams? For Burcu Çetinkaya, the answer will inspire you. The President of the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission was in town for the Monaco E-Prix and shared her astonishing story.  Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.