Culture
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The Daily Talk
Alfred Sirleaf's 'Daily Talk' newspaper reaches thousands of Liberians every day but only ever produces one copy. How does he do it? By writing the day's biggest stories on a large blackboard beside a…
Sounds Like Teen Spirit
Sounds Like Teen Spirit, Jamie Jay Johnson's warm and witty documentary following four contestants in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, is a sure contender as one of the strongest factual films of 2009. Monocle's…
Q&A: Alain de Botton
From the art of travel to the architecture of happiness, author Alain de Botton's writings filter everyday life through a philosophical lens. Monocle Editor-in-Chief Tyler Brûlé met with Alain de Botton at his London…
Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
In The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, Alain de Botton reveals why we need an art that can proclaim the intelligence, peculiarity, beauty and horror of the workplace and, not least, its extraordinary claim…
Taiwan hit factory
Despite years of turbulence between Taiwan and China, this island's pop culture leaves the mainland standing. From idols to protest singers via television talent shows, Taipei pop is the country's new heavy industry.
Saint Etienne
A band that shares a few of Monocle’s own city-centric obsessions, St Etienne has mined the rainy pavements, smoky cafés and sweaty nightclubs of London to tell cinematic stories of life, love and iconic…
Bangkok Community Radio
Bangkok's 'quality of life' radio station provides a lifeline in a city where public services are haphazard at best. The all-talk format of RDCK is a call to action and an attempt to solve…
The Bookseller of Beirut
As anywhere, Lebanon's independent bookstores have slowly been eaten up by big, bland chains. Set in the once thriving district of Hamra, Esquire stands out as a slightly dusty, but proud, pillar of independence.…
Q&A: Lady Yvonne Cochrane
Beirut's Christian quarter of Ashrafieh has weathered civil war, terrorist assassinations and the recent Hezbollah-Israeli conflict. But today the hill-top neighbourhood is once again under threat, this time from developers who are destroying the…
Bildschöne Bücher
Less is more is the concept for Bildschöne Bücher, a small bookshop in Berlin that has grown out of the highly successful website 25books.com. Proprietor Bodo von Hodenberg, a former sales director of Taschen,…
