Monocle on Culture

We celebrate the start of spring with a slew of top-tier cultural recommendations for the new season. Robert Bound is joined in the studio by John Mitchinson, Georgie Rogers and Ossian Ward to discuss the albums, books and exhibitions that you should have on your radar this month. These include a new record by Little Simz, a book full of stories about the nocturnal world and an art event with a si...

Apple TV+’s ‘Severance’ is a dystopian workplace drama that has become one of the most talked-about television series in recent years. Following the dramatic end to season two, we sit down with its creator, writer and executive producer, Dan Erickson. Plus: we find out about the Kinoteka Polish Film Festival, which brings the best contemporary and classic Polish cinema to venues...

UK musician Alabaster DePlume tells us about his new album, ‘A Blade Because a Blade Is Whole’, and his upcoming tour. DePlume has been drawing ever-larger audiences with his blend of evocative saxophone playing, confident orchestration and music that stays long in the memory. Plus, we meet Swiss visual artist Pascal Sender to discuss his new London exhibition, which incorporates augme...

We sit down with puppeteer Basil Twist, the creator of the stunning puppets at the heart of stage production ‘My Neighbour Totoro’. Then: we catch up with Séan Doran, the artistic director of Arts Over Borders. He’s leading the charge with a major new Samuel Beckett biennale and a rather extraordinary multi-decade production of one Beckett play.  See omnystudio.com/li...

We report from Spain’s biggest contemporary-art fair, Arco Madrid. Every year, exhibition space Ifema Madrid plays host to a rich variety of galleries, curatorial presentations and many beautiful works. It’s here that the art worlds of old Europe and Latin America are brought together under one roof, with the rest of the globe invited too. We hear from one of the curators behind the &l...

We head to ‘The Face: Culture Shift’, a new exhibition at London’s National Portrait Gallery celebrating the magazine’s photography and effect on popular culture. The show is a who’s who of contemporary cool and an ode to the power of print media. We discuss the legacy of the publication with the exhibition’s curator, Sabina Jaskot-Gill; former editor of ‘...

Robert Bound highlights select nominees for the 97th Academy Awards. We hear from ‘Sing Sing’ director Greg Kwedar; lead special make-up effects designer for ‘The Substance’, Pierre-Olivier Persin; ‘The Wild Robot’ director, Chris Sanders; and co-directors of the documentary ‘No Other Land’, Yuval Abraham and Basel Adra. See omnystudio.com/listener f...

We find out how to design a dance venue from the inside out at Sadler’s Wells East in London. Also in the UK capital, we immerse ourselves in ‘Masterpieces of the Iranian New Wave’ at the Barbican. Plus, art and architecture at Provence’s Château La Coste.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We visit two new exhibitions in London by two very different US artists. First, we’ll hear from the curator of the UK’s first Noah Davis exhibition. The  glorious, sweeping show at the Barbican serves as a worthy tribute to the late, great painter. Then: we’ll hear from high-spirited octogenarian Joseph Kosuth, whose show at Sprüth Magers features works from his six dec...

British singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan is celebrating her 80th birthday with a new edition of her 2005 record ‘Lookaftering’, including added demos, live versions and sleeve notes from its producer, Max Richter. The lyric booklet features paintings by Bunyan’s daughter, which beautifully brings to life the wistful, dreamy tracks. Robert Bounds sits down with Vashti Bunyan to dis...

Eddie Chacon shot to fame as part of the duo Charles & Eddie, alongside the late Charles Pettigrew, with the release of their enduring 1992 single ‘Would I Lie to You?’ In the years after Charles & Eddie amicably split in 1997, Chacon explored another passion of his: fashion photography. But music called him back and, in 2020, he released the solo album ‘Pleasure, Joy and...

Nancy Durrant and Matt Wolf join Robert Bound in the studio to discuss the best theatre shows coming to the stage in 2025, including a new production of a West End classic, a play about the experiences of the Windrush generation and a critically acclaimed performance by an Olivier award-winning actress.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We look ahead to the most exciting books, films and exhibitions in 2025, from the first international retrospective of a beloved US artist to a political thriller so potent that its director was forced to flee his home country. John Mitchinson, Francesca Gavin and Simran Hans join Robert Bound in the studio to let you know what should be on your cultural radar in the coming months.  See omnys...

We start the year off with a bang by celebrating the release of two fantastic new films. We hear from director RaMell Ross about ‘Nickel Boys’, a formally inventive and beautifully rendered adaptation of a Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Colson Whitehead. Then: erotic thriller ‘Babygirl’, starring Nicole Kidman, depicts a lustful affair between a CEO and an intern. Monocle&r...

Laura Snapes, Toby Earle and Mia Levitin join Robert Bound in the studio to round up the best of this year’s albums, TV and books. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We share highlights from this year's programme, including interviews with the likes of Hans Zimmer and Maggi Hambling, and a very special session with folk duo The Staves. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Georgie Rogers and Will Hodgkinson join Robert Bound in the studio for our annual review of the season’s best festive music releases, including albums and singles from Orville Peck, Kelly Clarkson and Jimmy Fallon.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We visit two new London exhibitions. ‘Japanese Art History à la Takashi Murakami’ at Gagosian’s Grosvenor Hill outpost offers the contemporary artist’s interpretations of Edo-era artworks. We sit down with Murakami to discuss AI, where he finds inspiration and the atmosphere that he likes to create in his studio. Plus, we meet the curator of ‘Electric Dreams’ at London’s Tate Modern.  See omnystud...

We cover the release of two fascinating and revealing documentaries. Both take a sideways look at men we’re familiar with from their public – and vastly different – profiles: one as a world leader and the other as an icon of Hollywood’s golden age. ‘The Bibi Files’, directed by Alexis Bloom, uses leaked interrogation footage of Benjamin Netanyahu to explore contemporary Israeli politics. Then, ‘Bo...

Hank Willis Thomas is a US artist who works across media to explore themes including identity, popular culture and mass media. We meet him at his exhibition of collages, ‘Kinship of the Soul’, at London’s Pace Gallery.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen is known for his in-depth, human exploration of characters and history, which is executed with an artist’s eye. We speak to McQueen about the release of his new film, ‘Blitz’, which details the lives of 20th-century Britons during the Second World War. Then: Monocle’s Fernando Augesto Pacheco and ‘Monocle on Culture’ regular Leila Latif share their takes on th...

We celebrate 20 years of music promoter, record label and events producer Nonclassical. Over the past two decades, the organisation has been at the forefront of classical, experimental and electronic music, leading the way with innovative and genre-defying sounds. Robert Bound sits down with composer and founder Gabriel Prokofiev and composer Tonia Ko.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

We sit down with Tim Robey, author of the new book ‘Box Office Poison: Hollywood’s Story in a Century of Flops’. This alternative history of cinema recounts the industry’s biggest bombs, including how they came to be made and what they tell us about both the Hollywood machine and the public who eschewed them.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We head to Rome to find out about a new film dedicated to the Women’s Liberation Movement in the 1970s before visiting one of the world’s largest contemporary art foundries in Walla Walla. Plus: an interview with French pop star Zaho de Sagazan.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As this special episode pauses to consider elements of great design, it is important to not overcomplicate matters. Sometimes, all you need is four wheels and a beating heart. Monocle’s Italian odyssey concludes with a second roadtrip in another of Maserati’s powerful new all-electric sports cars: the Gran Turismo Folgore. Joining us for the ride are Maserati’s head of design, Klaus Busse, and foo...