The Big Interview
In-depth conversations with global leaders in art, design, literature, politics, business, and food. Learn from the best about their craft and successes.
Latest Episodes
Sir Terry Farrell
Architect Sir Terry Farrell’s postmodern pastiche of styles include the MI6 building and the Breakfast Television Centre in London. His six-decade career has veered from masterplanning city blocks to building train stations in China. He talks to Josh Fehnert about his life before architecture, the buildings he remembers most fondly…
Ottessa Moshfegh
The acclaimed American writer’s short stories first appeared in ‘The Paris Review’, ‘The New Yorker’, ‘Granta’ and others. She went on to publish her first novella ‘McGlue’ in 2014 and won the PEN/Hemingway Award for her second novel, ‘Eileen’. Her writing is whip-smart and bleakly funny. In conversation with Monocle’s…
Fatima Bhutto
The author is the niece of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto and part of the Pakistani political dynasty. In her memoir ‘Songs of Blood and Sword’, she tells the story of a turbulent and tragic family history. Her latest book, ‘The Runaways’, is a story about radicalism, belonging and…
Tamara Rojo
As the principal dancer of the Royal Ballet in London, Tamara Rojo has played all the main parts in the ballet canon. Yet it is as artistic director of the English National Ballet that she has made the most impact on the world of dance. Monocle’s Chiara Rimella sat down…
Pipilotti Rist
Rist’s video and installation art is known across the world for its bold, resonant and often funny style. With a major retrospective of her work open at Copenhagen’s Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Monocle’s Augustin Macellari sat down with the Swiss artist to discuss everything from colour and collectivism to…
Chiwetel Ejiofor
The English actor has had a successful career in film as well as on stage – and earlier this year he launched his career as a writer and director with critically acclaimed debut ‘The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind’. Ben Rylan sat down with him to talk about the craft…
Steve McQueen
For our season finale, we sit down with the British Turner prize-winning artist and Oscar-winning director of ‘12 Years a Slave’, ‘Shame’ and ‘Hunger’. He talks to Robert Bound about his latest film ‘Widows’ and focusing on the work, not the accolades.
Christine and the Queens
The French singer’s first album ‘Chaleur Humaine’ launched in 2015 and topped the charts in France and beyond. Since then, Christine and the Queens has travelled the world, performed with Elton John and famously got spanked on stage by Madonna in Paris. Her new release ‘Chris’ is a funk-filled record…
Barry Jenkins
The director of ‘Moonlight’, which won the Oscar for best picture in 2017, has been on an extraordinary journey to Hollywood. In conversation with Monocle’s Ben Rylan, he talks about everything from getting into filmmaking while growing up in a rough neighbourhood, to adapting James Baldwin to the screen in…
Jane Mayer
Investigative journalist Mayer became the first female Washington correspondent for ‘The Wall Street Journal’ in 1984 and had been a staff writer at ‘The New Yorker’ since 1995; she has also published numerous non-fiction books. She talks about corruption in Washington, increasing press hostility and her determination to expose the…
