Business
Germany’s train chaos: How did Deutsche Bahn go off the rails?
Germany’s railways are in crisis. Trains run late, tracks crumble and management looks away. Rail expert Christian Böttger explains how the state-owned enterprise got so offtrack – and why billions won’t fix it.
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Icebreakers at work
Throughout the long Finnish winter, the country’s ports are kept open by a small but determined fleet of icebreakers. Monocle Films hops on board to see how it’s done.
Iceberg hunters
Monocle Films meets the little-known International Ice Patrol that is keeping ships safe as they navigate Atlantic waters.
Urban growth: Solitair tree nursery
Cities are often seen as the flipside of nature: synthetic, sleek and sometimes impersonal. For places that pine after being greener, the Solitair tree nursery provides a blueprint. Monocle travelled to the nursery in…
Boutique Norway
Monocle heads to Norway’s third largest city, Stavanger, to discover how this boom town’s oil reserves are spurring on those entrepreneurs looking to add variety and quality to this once-understated retail scene.
Life at Sea
Monocle climbs aboard Alaska’s 50-year-old state-run ferry system. It's more than just a mode of transport for its users: it acts as a vital link to the rest of the world and an icon…
Hackney Revival
Monocle's editor in chief, Tyler Brûlé, ventured to Wilton Way – a small thoroughfare in east London's Hackney, to get a read on the ingredients that underpin a community.
THE MONOCLE BRIEFINGS: Craftsmanship
Some cities come to mind straight away when you think of craft and design, but it's also true that untapped markets offer opportunities for entrepreneurship. We talk to designers and artisans in Shanghai, Bradford,…
Blatt Chaya
Lebanese retiree Edgard Chaya got into the tile-making trade by chance, after stumbling upon a suitcase belonging to a great uncle. Inside, Chaya discovered a set of curious metal shapes and moulds – castings…
Gildo Zegna
Editor-in-chief Tyler Brûlé welcomes Gildo Zegna, CEO of supreme Italian menswear brand Ermenegildo Zegna, to the Monocle HQ in London to discuss the brand's centenary in 2010 and its longer-term future.
Brasimba beer
For the past eight decades, the Brasimba brewery has provided a rare slice of normality to the people of the DR Congo, a country that has endured a long history of conflict and unrest.…
