Let’s talk about it

Located in the northwestern corner of the Scottish Highlands, Gairloch is a coastal village of about 700 people that is known for its mountains, sea loch and rugged landscape. Monocle paid a visit to Two Lochs, reportedly Britain’s smallest commercial radio station, which is nestled on Gairloch’s shores, run by a handful of volunteers and has built a loyal fanbase of global listeners.

Technology is everywhere but that ubiquity can come at a cost to our health, wellbeing and the quality of our conversations. View our manifesto for a more dignified relationship with all things digital and learn to be a little kinder and more cautious online.

We travel to Mipcom, the annual tradeshow in Cannes, to meet the movers and shakers defining the future of the film and television industry.

How do you unpack stories in the most engaging way while building a credible and comprehensive brand? Monocle Films showcases best design for paper and screen too.

What’s the future of media? We take a look into the art of original reporting and see why we devour stories in different ways.

Burma's national broadcaster, MRTV, was once a government mouthpiece. As the country slowly turns to democracy, Monocle films goes behind the scenes to see if it can change with the times.

We visit the members’ clubs where foreign journalists find a home away from home (and a good supper) in Tokyo, Bangkok and Hong Kong.

There is a weight of passion, wit, intellect and fun to be found on Italy's screens, in its speakers and in its print. Monocle delves into the quirks of the country's news and entertainment, and finds the best of its leaders and merchants.

Rick Kogan has been a newspaperman in his hometown of Chicago for over 40 years. These days he has a Sunday morning radio show in addition to a column at the Chicago Tribune, and in both his mission is to document life in the city through stories about the people who make up the place. Gabriel Leigh visits Kogan at the Tribune Tower to hear his take on the state of journalism and quality of life in his city.

As a wave of uprisings and revolutions have swept across North Africa and the Middle East, one news channel has been at the heart of the action. From Egypt to Libya, Al Jazeera’s reporting has had a major influence on events on the ground. It has also helped to position Doha as one of the most important capitals in the Arab world.

Monocle reports from Kabul on how social media is proving a lucrative market for daring media companies.

Art International Radio is an internet radio station based in the Clocktower in lower Manhattan, a building famous for having been at the centre of New York’s art scene in the 1970s and 1980s. At the helm is Alanna Heiss, who’s been at the forefront of contemporary art in New York City for decades and was the founder of PS1, a centre for art in Queens that’s now part of the Museum of Modern Art. AIR broadcasts art-related talk and interviews as well as an eclectic range of music, and experiments with radio theatre and more ambitious sound-based extensions of art projects. Monocle visited the headquarters to see the operation in action.

The ups and downs of our annual global ranking covering the world's most liveable cities – who's in and who's out?

From bus to bike to car, how we get around is changing and evolving in surprising ways. Who are the interesting innovators developing the networks of the future? Monocle Films set up a global mobility audit at the Monocle Quality of Life Conference in Vienna.

From design to art, magazines to furniture, we all know the pleasure of collecting. But how do we ensure that passion beats pure investment? This was the question that Robert Bound posed to the speakers at this year’s Quality of Life Conference in Vienna.

From glitzy dance numbers and well-loved show tunes to conga lines, entertainment is key to cruising success. Monocle's Robert Bound grabs a lounger and joins in the fun.

How can architects, designers, retailers and city planners embrace a new vernacular that delivers places that leave us feeling better about our lives? Our fourth Quality of Life Conference film explores the notion.

From nation to brand, city hall to hotel, who is doing hospitality well and offering benchmarks for experiences that are genuine, reliable and believable? This Monocle Quality of Life Conference film was the overture to the panel discussion, exploring how cities and brands make visitors and locals feel welcome.

Monocle’s second Quality of Life Conference kicked off in Vienna with a set of urban provocations. Here are Monocle’s top 10 city fixes.

Billions of people live in cities but how many of us actually live in our city? Hugo Macdonald, author of the book How to Live in the City, takes us to New York, Tokyo and London with tips noting down how to thrive in these urban hubs using pens from Cross's new city-inspired Peerless 125 Special-Edition Collection, inspired by iconic works of architecture; London's Elizabeth Tower, New York's Chrysler Building, and Tokyo's Skytree Tower.

Just like craft breweries, small local distilleries are reinventing drinks that have fallen out of fashion. Monocle films visits three entrepreneurs who have uncorked the potential of the old spirit in London, Hamburg and the Finnish countryside.