Bricks-and-mortar retail, from tiny independent shops to giant malls, can shape and inspire the community around it. Andrew Tuck finds Monocle’s Retail Survey reflecting what we’ve always believed: that in-person experiences are the most valuable. There’s plenty more too.

Stories that have piqued our interest, from spy balloons to rock’n’roll currency.

The Uruguayan musician on dancing with the devil and why it’s never too late to dedicate yourself to a passion.

A school of hard knocks in France is sending stunt performers tripping and flipping to the silver screen.

The completion of a 15-year library renovation is the end of a chapter for the team behind it – but the bonds they’ve formed are an ongoing story.

The Peninsula hospitality group’s new perch on the Bosphoros floats our boat. Monocle takes an early peek at how this vast new hotel is helping to transform Istanbul’s Karaköy neighbourhood.

For the Dutch couple who run Sterrekopje among the valleys and fields near Stellenbosch in South Africa, operating a hotel that encourages guests to interact with its staff is as natural as the bucolic surroundings.

Our travel round-up begins with a theatrical Paris hotel beside the Seine. Over the page, we immerse ourselves in Bath, visit a homely Mexican mansion and sample Japanese hospitality in Hokkaido.

Whether you want to take better portraits, monitor your sleep or just block out noise, these new gadgets can improve your life.

With its shiny new fleet of fuel-efficient, narrow-body aircraft, Toronto’s Porter Airlines is poised to change Canadian aviation and rewrite the rules of economy travel.

Ferries have been chugging between Japan and South Korea for decades but a new scarlet vessel, the ‘Queen Beetle’, is offering passengers a less choppy and more cheerful voyage across the Genkai Sea – now there’s no need for seatbelts.

Getting your hands dirty in the name of cultivating your green patch is that much more pleasing with the right tools. And in Japan they have developed the ultimate garden shed accessories.

The cosmopolitan restaurant redefining the Parisian sandwich, a west London trattoria that aspires to be a palazzo to pleasure, the secret to making the perfect Japanese milk bread and more – we have plenty for you to feast on this month.

The stories you should be paying attention to – and the ones you might have missed.

Hannah Lucinda Smith visits Turkish cities recently devastated by powerful earthquakes – a catastrophe made even worse by corrupt, shoddy construction.

Converting cars into electric vehicles, Japan’s quality-assurance badge and small German farms.

Why you have to be quick on the draw to book a place on this graphic-novel course.

A new design school in South Africa and trainers designed for the London Underground.

Is the fashion for simplified sans-serif logos changing? Plus: why trade halls still matter.

Perched between two worlds – Spain and Morocco – Melilla wants to be known for more than just its controversial border.

Speculation about the blasts that wrecked the Nord Stream gas pipelines has been rife. Is the truth about to surface?

There was a time when the leading talents in every imaginable discipline were concentrated in the same big-ticket locations. No longer. From Utah to Thailand, workers at the top of their fields are putting enterprising places on the map. You just need to know where to look.

The Boeing 747 inaugurated the age of the jumbo jet and democratised air travel. With its production now ended forever, what will take its place?

We celebrate the world of physical retail by visiting the pioneering boutiques, revitalised high streets and customer-facing vendors elevating the in-store experience.

Bookshop chain Tsutaya is adding some design nous to the country’s co-working offering – and an alternative to its rigid office culture.

Dance hall La Paloma thrived for more than a century until a barrage of noise complaints closed its doors. Now, soundproofed and reimagined, the party is back.

From a comedy about Filipino fisticuffs to an experimental gallery in the UAE, we cherry-pick a few cultural highlights.

In 2014, designers Rita Múrias and Paulo Barata began collecting neon signs for their aesthetic qualities. Now the couple’s Letreiro Galeria boasts a 300-strong collection celebrating vernacular design and aiding Lisbon’s collective memory.

No longer just dry industry texts, architecture books are a powerful medium for sharing fresh ideas.

From ambitious young start-ups to venerable fashion houses, our spring season style round-up has searched worldwide to find the 25 labels, designers and products that will be on the radar of the sharpest dressers in 2023.

Far from the mainstream fashion hubs, students in coastal Spain are forging their own creative paths.

We meet the leaders of three heritage houses that are adapting to the industry’s ever-changing demands while upholding their history and time-tested values.

Spring into action with sunny, sprightly looks and plenty of space.

Over the course of a glittering 25-year career, British photographer John Balsom has travelled the world but his latest assignment is closer to home. In a dusty box at a relative’s house in Hampshire, Balsom unearthed 7,000 pictures shot – but never shared – by his late grandfather Percy S Waite. In the images, the London-based amateur photographer captured an incredible mid-century moment of sun, fun and nuns on his breathtaking travels across southern Europe and northern Africa, and in pioneering colour. But more than this, he was a real (and until now unknown) talent. Here, Balsom shares highlights from that archive for the first time and reveals a snapshot of a life through a lens.