Issues

Three delights for print-lovers: A 24hr bookstore and two must-reads

1.
The bookshop that never shuts
Eslite Spectrum Songyan
Taipei

Taiwan is built around convenience. Corner shops are open 24/7 and markets operate into the early hours. Within this nonstop retail landscape sits Eslite Spectrum Songyan, a bookshop that never closes its doors. Run by Eslite, one of the largest Taiwanese companies in the sector, it functions less as a shop than as a civic space. Eslite first opened a round‑the‑clock spot in 1999. Last autumn, it relocated the concept to Songshan Cultural and Creative Park in Taipei, moving it into a former industrial site repurposed for cultural use. The shift allowed the shop to expand: it now holds about 250,000 books and features tiered teak seating and a 40‑metre‑long reading corridor made for lingering. The renovations have paid off. Foot traffic has risen by 30 per cent, while overall sales are up 70 per cent.

Late at night, teenagers sit cross-legged on the floor reading manga; in the morning, shift workers leaf through newspapers and current‑affairs titles. With about 50 locations worldwide, Eslite stands apart not for its scale but for treating reading as part of public life – at all hours.
eslitecorp.com

2.
The cartoon compendium
‘Paris’ by Joann Sfar
France

Bandes dessinées often transport the reader to far-flung lands of fantasy and adventure but comics can be moving when depicting more quotidian subjects. After a decade of strolling through the French capital with a box of watercolours for weekly Paris Match, French cartoonist Joann Sfar has gathered his observations in a new book, Paris.

Organised into chapters with titles such as “Little Parisians” and “Existentialism”, each page captures a scene from the modern city: lovers meeting via dating apps, students discussing AI and children falling asleep on the back of their parents’ bicycles. With gentle humour, Sfar delights in the absurdity of everyday life.
denoel.fr

3.
The high-flying magazine
‘Holland Herald’
Netherlands

At a time when many airlines are consigning their inflight publications to the digital realm to reduce costs, KLM’s Holland Herald stands apart. As the oldest inflight magazine in the skies, it’s especially nice to see it continuing to thrive. Founded in 1966, the Herald is as integral to the KLM experience as the miniature Delft Blue porcelain houses given away in business class.

Between its covers, you will find a pleasing mix of Netherlands‑related features, as well as those that look further afield, focusing on KLM destinations. With about 170 dots on its route map, depending on the season, that means plenty of variety – and it’s not only destination content. One recent issue includes everything from a photo essay about Venice to an article on the sixth sense of sharks. There is also an article about performance in sport with a Dutch track‑and‑field champion.

Next time you fly with KLM and find yourself scrolling through the onboard entertainment, check the seat pocket and take a moment to savour some content that you can still, thankfully, hold in both hands.
holland-herald.com

‘The format’s inconvenience accounts for its richness’: How Popeye’s editor took the magazine to global heights

Since Kinosuke Iwahori and Tatsuo Shimizu founded Magazine House in 1945, the Tokyo‑based lifestyle and fashion publisher has chronicled and helped to define Japan’s cultural currents. Its magazines have been a must‑read for generations: Popeye, a fashion monthly “for city boys”; Anan, a women’s fashion‑meets‑social‑issues weekly; and Brutus, the creative industries’ fortnightly handbook.

We sat down with Yuji Machida, the editor in chief of Popeye since 2019, at Magazine House’s Tokyo office in Higashi Ginza to ask about the enduring appeal of magazines, the state of the industry and Popeye’s first English‑language edition.

Before ‘Popeye’, you worked at ‘Anan’ and ‘Brutus’. What do these titles share?
‘Very Magazine House’ is a phrase I hear from publishers and fashion brands. It refers to the editorial originality and playfulness here. I associate Magazine House with amateurism, in a good way. We never assume that we know everything; we approach topics with curiosity, from our readers’ viewpoint.

What is the appeal of print media in the digital era?
At shops and cafés in Tokyo, books and magazines are part of the space. The texture and thickness of paper, its weight, the smell of ink, how it ages… These are part of the appeal of print media. For a publisher, choosing the format, paper stock, colours and textures is a pleasure. Having to turn pages makes the two‑page‑spread format unique; it dictates our reporting. The format’s inconvenience accounts for its richness.

What are the key elements to creating beautiful, information-dense magazines
People who love magazines don’t just read articles. They notice what’s in the corners of photographs – the smallest details. Popeye’s current style comes from layering things to reward careful reading.

Magazine House is 80 years old and 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of ‘Popeye’. Could you tell us what you think about the future?
Print magazines won’t disappear. But expanding overseas will be a major test for us. The launch of Popeye’s English‑language edition last September made us think about the global market. We found more readers abroad than we’d ever imagined and we plan to publish two more English‑language issues in 2026. How we build relationships with readers and clients will be crucial.
magazineworld.jp

Aitana, the new voice of Catalan electropop

Rosalía dominated the charts in 2025 but where should you turn if you want to tune in to another Catalan pop princess? Allow us to introduce Aitana. The 26-year-old Aitana Ocaña Morales – known by mononym Aitana – first stepped into the limelight in 2017 on reality-TV show Operación Triunfo. Since then, she has had a slew of megahits in Spain with her strand of electropop that’s impossible not to dance to.

Aitana’s latest album, Cuarto Azul, is a triumph of shimmering synths and has a delightful poppy bounce. She has collaborated with the likes of Puerto Rican rapper Myke Towers for the tropical track “Sentimiento Natural” and the Spanish duo Fangoria for the moody “La Chica Perfecta”. The sweet melancholia of “6 de Febrero” and the uplifting “Superestrella” are also notable singles. Aitana is multi-faceted; her collaborations extend past music to include a Netflix documentary, while she has also been a muse for Fendi.

With her upcoming world tour, 2026 promises to be the year that Aitana will go global – cementing her status (in the words of her biggest single) as a superestrella.

Air Force: How Enrico Galletti became one of Italy’s youngest primetime news presenters

Enrico Galletti’s voice is recognisable to more than six million listeners every day. At the age of 26, he is one of the youngest radio presenters at a major Italian news station. Monday to Thursday, the Cremona-born journalist hosts Non Stop News, the morning show on RTL 102.5, where he delivers the news. Here, he tells Monocle about what makes a good interview, why radio remains a vital medium and which books are on his nightstand.

Did you always want to be a journalist?
When I was a child, my father took me to a football match and I slipped away. He found me in the media section, watching the reporters instead of the game. I started at my local newspaper in Cremona when I was in high school, then joined the Corriere della Sera [Italy’s most-read newspaper] before starting at RTL Italia in 2019.

What drew you to radio?
I love the live element of it. There’s a thrill in narrating the news as it unfolds and knowing that on the other end there’s someone listening.

What makes radio an enduring medium?
We live in a time when we’re bombarded with information that’s not always reliable so people listen to the radio with the goal of properly understanding a topic. Our audience comes from all walks of life and wants us to get to the essence of an issue. That’s the true mission of this medium – cutting through the chaos of the news cycle.

What’s the general sentiment among young Italian journalists today?
Every young journalist has heard the depressing discourse from older colleagues that the industry isn’t what it used to be, that we shouldn’t invest too much into it and should have a plan B. It is a more difficult career now but we’re also more in need of trustworthy reporters than ever. As young journalists we don’t have to reinvent the job. We just need to adapt it to our time.

Which recent story are you most proud of?
The way that we covered the tragic fire in Crans-Montana in January left a mark. We interviewed doctors who were sharing the latest updates but also their own thoughts as they were trying to save people. For me, good journalism is about stating the facts but also sharing the emotions.

What’s the secret to a good interview?
I always draw some of my questions from our listeners’ feedback and the points that they make during live segments. This helps me to keep the conversation geared towards most Italians’ reality and preoccupations.

What are you currently reading?
On the fiction side, I have just reread Heaven and Earth by Italian writer Paolo Giordano, which I found so moving. I’m also reading Alessandro Sallusti’s volumes on the history of the Italian magistrature. This is ahead of the upcoming referendum on the Italian judiciary. It’ll help me to figure out how to explain it to our listeners.
rtl.it

Step inside the Boston Central Library, a beaux arts monument to democracy

There’s a stately, almost courtly grandeur to the Boston Central Library’s McKim Building. It’s magisterial but not imposing; ornate but not baroque. Even on a cool, rainy morning, people filter through its bronze doors and crane their necks to read the names carved into its granite façade: Confucius, Mohammed, Socrates, Pushkin, Edison and Bell, alongside dozens more philosophers, artists, scientists and composers whose works are among the peaks of human achievement. A motto is inscribed above the entrance: “Free to all.”

The building, which opened in 1895, was commissioned at a time of cultural optimism, amid a drive for social reform in the Anglophone world. As disinformation and AI slop pollute the public discourse, the story of this institution and its original ambition to provide free access to accurate information, space for forums and room to learn feel particularly relevant today.

Founded in 1848, the Boston Central Library was the first city-run, free public institution of its kind in the US. It was a hit with the city’s residents; when the library eventually outgrew its first premises, the state legislature allocated funds to erect a new building. After a few false starts, New York architecture firm McKim, Mead & White was handed the commission. Its namesake founders were the leading architects of the American Renaissance movement, which was characterised by lofty ideals and a fondness for classical and Renaissance aesthetics. The building took its name from the project’s primary architect, Charles Follen McKim.

“This is McKim’s brainchild,” says visitor experience co-ordinator Katherine Mitchell. “He worked closely with the library’s trustees but had a real vision.” McKim’s influences were broad. For the building’s façade, he took inspiration from the arched windows and neoclassical restraint of Paris’s Sainte-Geneviève Library, built in 1850. Inside, his beaux arts education rears its head with two marble lions on the grand staircase, whose walls are made from yellow Siena marble.

“Based on his correspondence, he was probably a micromanager,” adds Mitchell. “He handpicked every block of marble.” Such attention to detail was essential to deliver architecture that would inspire. For the staircase, McKim split marble blocks in two and arranged them to form mirror-image panels, placing darker pieces at the bottom and lighter pieces at the top. Ascend the stairs and the room appears to brighten with every step until, at the top, eight murals by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes – depicting personifications of different expressions of human knowledge, such as astronomy, philosophy and epic poetry – burst into view.

Every section of the library is a world unto itself. There’s the sun-filled reading room, Bates Hall, with its enormous barrel-vault ceiling; the Abbey Room, in which McKim installed a 15-panel mural depicting Galahad’s quest for the Holy Grail, so that visitors would have something to look at while waiting for book deliveries; and the courtyard garden, which was inspired by Italian Renaissance palazzos – a cloistered oasis with neat hedges, a gurgling fountain and arcaded colonnades.

The library’s top floor is home to unfinished murals by John Singer Sargent – the largest-scale works that he ever painted. He spent more than 30 years on the project but was unable to complete it before his death, leaving a blank panel in the centre of the room. The series, Triumph of Religion, depicts scenes from Judaism, Christianity and ancient Egyptian and Assyrian polytheistic traditions. The work is mesmerising, tonally intense and almost frightening – a stark contrast to the murals that adorn the lower rooms and halls, with High Renaissance colouring and mythic themes.

Today the McKim Building is a hybrid institution. It’s a library but also something of a museum. There’s a café inside and chairs and tables in the courtyard where visitors work, read, chat and play – or simply relax beneath shaded porticoes. Most of the library’s day-to-day services and newer, more technologically advanced amenities are next door in a modernist structure on Boylston Street, designed by Philip Johnson in 1972. But the McKim Building offers something different. It’s a long-standing reminder of the essential role that libraries play. Some 130 years after it opened, it remains a monument to the ideals that inspired its construction: civic pride, humanism and democratic access to knowledge and art. And it’s still free to all.
bpl.org

Charlie Smith: The in-demand CMO creating something from Nothing

Fashion designers are no longer the all-powerful figures that they once were. As labels engage with global clients, teams are growing and roles are being revised – meaning that it’s increasingly important to tell the stories behind the clothes through attention-grabbing campaigns and brand ambassadors.

This is where marketers come in and Charlie Smith is among the most in-demand chief marketing officers of his generation. Working alongside Jonathan Anderson, he helped to transform Spain’s Loewe from a sleepy leather house into one of the most desirable brands of the moment through initiatives such as the yearly craft prize and campaigns featuring Maggie Smith. Now he is off to Nothing, the UK headphone and smartphone maker, to help it embrace the zeitgeist. Here, he talks to Monocle about building cultural brands, breaking the rulebook and his ambitions for his new gig.

Why do so many luxury brands want to connect with culture? And how do you make those connections in a way that feels genuine?
To be a cultural brand in today’s world you have to behave like a publisher in your own right. If Nothing takes on this role of music publisher, how can we give back to the music community? How can we create events, publish materials and build a community around the brand? That’s what we did with Loewe very effectively – beginning with craft and the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, our sponsorship of Studio Voltaire and different artists around the world. We then connected to the craft of filmmaking and art – and that, to me, felt very different to what other brands were doing, especially French ones, where it’s about the brand image.

The way I see it, modern-day brands can be patrons of the arts and help support artists, musicians and filmmakers. That’s when the creative community can see that you want to engage in a dialogue and not just take from them.

How do you keep up with ever-evolving marketing trends?
One of the things that I love about my job is that no matter which category you work in, whatever you did a year ago becomes irrelevant. I’m always asking friends and colleagues what’s inspiring them; I’m always looking online to keep up with the zeitgeist; and I find inspiration everywhere, from the Marty Supreme campaign to painters such as Rachel Jones. The way that we communicate will continue to evolve.

What opportunities do you see with Nothing?
I can’t think of a single tech brand that has recently done something cool, unless I go back to Casio in the 1990s. It all feels a bit corporate and awkward. The way to do it is by collaborating with amazing, up-and-coming creatives. I really want to create strong connections to fashion and also to music culture. This idea of collaboration and co-creation feels very modern to me.
nothing.tech

The Toyota Crown turns 70 and looks to a hydrogen future

When the Toyota Crown debuted in the 1950s, it marked a breakthrough. The regal and reliable model was one of the first successful cars developed and manufactured entirely in Japan postwar – an accomplishment that put rivals on notice at a time when the easiest way for the nation’s automotive brands to get ahead was through partnerships with US or European manufacturers.

In the seven decades since, the Crown has earned a reputation as a versatile but also stylish model – it’s admired for the original’s rear-hinged back doors and curvaceous grille, as well as for its various incarnations as sporty two-door coupés or stately saloons. The different takes on the Crown have all had their own personality but the designers have always preserved a sense of continuity as technology and tastes have shifted. Over the years, the Crown has also been adapted for a variety of fuel types, from petrol and liquefied petroleum gas to petrol-electric hybrid.

For the Crown’s 70th anniversary in Japan, Toyota has broadened the utility of the flagship model even further. Besides the saloon, there are now three new versions: a station wagon, a mid-sized SUV and a sporty “crossover” saloon (pictured). For the first time, Toyota is also selling a version of the saloon that runs on hydrogen, emits no greenhouse gases and makes barely a whisper of noise. Tokyo’s metropolitan government has already started adding these to its taxi fleet as part of a plan to put 600 hydrogen-fuelled cabs on the city’s streets by 2030.
global.toyota

Starlink’s in-flight wi-fi is an overdue gamechanger

The big breakthrough of the moment in aviation doesn’t have wings or turbines – instead, it makes smart use of out-of-this-world technology. With aerospace engineers struggling to deliver much that’s revolutionary, a reliable, no-fuss, high-speed data connection will be the real game changer. For now, the primary player is Starlink. It has won contracts with several major airlines, which have proceeded to roll out the product quickly. The system’s antenna is small and light with no moving parts and it requires no onboard server. That means it can be outfitted during an overnight stop.

The Low Earth Orbit satellites that it uses are crucial to delivering higher speeds and broad coverage. Many existing players in in-flight connectivity are rushing to roll out their own solutions. Passengers will enjoy typical download speeds of 250 megabytes per second to 300 megabytes per second. Scandinavian Airlines recently demonstrated its setup on a flight from Copenhagen to the Arctic Circle. It works – and the speeds have not been exaggerated. What that will mean when an entire aircraft cabin can be live-streaming at the same time is another matter. But one thing is clear: this will rapidly become a competitive necessity.
starlink.com

Planning a trip? Here are the top-three flights, cabins and lounges to book

The topic of air travel too often centres on the origin and the destination and seldom includes the moments in between. Monocle has collected three such moments: a fabulous first-class suite, a laudable lounge and a praiseworthy flight path.

1.
Air France sets a new industry standard with its upgraded first-class suites

When Air France refreshed its La Première (first-class) suites last year – giving passengers both a comfortable seat and a longer chaise longue on which to relax or sleep – it improved an already celebrated product that many considered the best in the world. The new suites are spacious, with each Première seating area spanning five windows – perfect for those who like to gaze outside while flying. Floor-to-ceiling curtains, meanwhile, grant privacy when drawn and room to breathe when pulled back.

But the real difference is in the ground service. Though it’s an area that many companies overlook, what happens at the airport can make a significant difference to your flight experience. Most air-travel issues occur before you settle down in your seat, with queues, crowds and noise casting a pall over your day. However, at Charles de Gaulle – an airport not noted for efficiency – Air France has sought to minimise inconvenience throughout the departure and transit processes.

Ground perks include a driver to collect and take you to the private check-in area, which leads to an exclusive security screening and then directly to the lounge, bypassing the main terminal area. When it’s time to board, a Porsche is on hand to take passengers to the aircraft steps. The service was already industry-leading. Now these tweaks have set a new standard.
airfrance.fr

2.
Design that soars: why Cathay Pacific’s lounges remain a ground-level triumph

There are many airlines competing for best-in-class seats and service at 30,000 feet but on the ground there’s only one winner. Cathay Pacific’s peerless lounges, created with London-based designer Ilse Crawford, continue to soar above the competition with their homely furnishings, signature cherrywood panelling and sense of warmth.

The remarkable collaboration started in 2014 at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport and was then responsible for The Pier first- and business-class lounges at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), among other places. The Bridge at HKIA got the Crawford treatment last year and a revamp of The Wing first-class lounge is under way.

Studioilse is keeping a careful eye on proceedings to ensure that what has made the lounges so successful to date remains intact (the right light, rich, tactile materials and sense of scale), while keeping the peerless design and thoughtful furniture looking fresh. Next on the runway? Cathay’s first New York lounge, which will open later this year.

3.
Côte d’Ivoire’s premium air corridor: Paris to Abidjan

When asked to pick the most glamorous airline journey in the world, which comes to mind? Perhaps some of the traditional transatlantic heavy hitters: Paris to JFK or London to Los Angeles? Or maybe Miami to Buenos Aires still carries an air of romance? But we suggest a busy route for which it’s often hard to book a seat at the front of the plane – specifically, Paris to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire’s capital.

This route has been quietly pulling in healthy profits for Air France for years (it is notably one of only 14 for which it offers its La Première first class), thanks to the West African country’s dynamic economy and a demanding clientele of regulars shuttling between the two cities. Corsair also serves the route and now there is another player. Air Côte d’Ivoire recently bought a pair of factory fresh Airbus A330neo widebodies and began its own service on the lucrative route last autumn. The Ivoirian flag carrier offers its own first-class section in addition to a large and often very busy business-class cabin. 

That combination of flying to an African coastal capital and a selection of some of the world’s better premium cabin products en route holds a special appeal. Business in Abidjan? Book well in advance and enjoy your journey.

Inside the Finnish Embassy in New Delhi: A landmark of Nordic architecture

“This is without doubt Finland’s finest overseas mission,” says the country’s ambassador to India, Kimmo Lähdevirta, of the building in New Delhi’s Chanakyapuri neighbourhood where he now lives and works. He might be biased but when you learn that Lähdevirta has previously served in New York, London, Beijing, Hanoi and Belgrade, you’ll agree that his opinion carries weight. Chanakyapuri, the Indian capital’s diplomatic zone, is a tree-lined oasis in a clamorous megacity. But even among its tastefully designed mansions, the Finnish embassy stands out as a mission statement for Nordic modernism.

It’s the result of a design competition won by husband and wife duo Raili and Reima Pietilä in 1963. Finally constructed in 1986, the building’s low, white, rippling roof was intended to evoke the snowy peaks of the Himalayas and the icy hills that surround Lake Kitkajärvi in Finland. In the 20 years between its conception and fruition, the original design, which featured one roof, was altered, breaking the single white expanse up into six lateral buildings, evoking the collegial atmosphere of an Indian ashram.

Finnish art and design fill the space, including ceramics by Rut Bryk and a winter landscape painted by Pekka Halonen. There are Indian touches too, such as sliding wooden doors. Home to about 40 staff, it’s now one of Finland’s largest overseas missions – reflecting its increasing importance as India has grown to become the world’s fifth-largest economy.

As well as those seeking visa renewals, there are many visitors who are interested in the building. “For them, it’s an experience,” says Lähdevirta – one that often leads to conversations about Finnish aesthetic experimentation. In this way, the structure is the perfect advertisement for qualities that the nation wants to project abroad.