Culture / Podcast

Monocle on Culture

Robert Bound and his guests discuss what has piqued their interest in our one-stop shop for lively reports and in-depth interviews on the newest and finest in art, film, books and the media business.

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2025 on the stage: Nancy Durrant and Matt Wolf join Robert Bound in the studio to discuss the best theatre shows coming to the stage in 2025, including a new production of a West End classic, a play about the experiences of the Windrush generation and a critically acclaimed performance by an Olivier award-winning actress.

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Episode	Date	Description	Download	Play
693	20 Jan 2025 27 min	2025 on the stage Nancy Durrant and Matt Wolf join Robert Bound in the studio to discuss the best theatre shows coming to the stage in 2025, including a new production of a West End classic, a play about the experiences of the Windrush generation and a critically acclaimed performance by an Olivier award-winning actress.	Download Share X Facebook LinkedIn LINE Email	Play
692	13 Jan 2025 36 min	The best cultural releases of 2025 We look ahead to the most exciting books, films and exhibitions in 2025, from the first international retrospective of a beloved US artist to a political thriller so potent that its director was forced to flee his home country. John Mitchinson, Francesca Gavin and Simran Hans join Robert Bound in the studio to let you know what should be on your cultural radar in the coming months.	Download Share X Facebook LinkedIn LINE Email	Play
691	6 Jan 2025 27 min	‘Nickel Boys’ and ‘Babygirl’ We start the year off with a bang by celebrating the release of two fantastic new films. We hear from director RaMell Ross about ‘Nickel Boys’, a formally inventive and beautifully rendered adaptation of a Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Colson Whitehead. Then: erotic thriller ‘Babygirl’, starring Nicole Kidman, depicts a lustful affair between a CEO and an intern. Monocle’s Fernando Augusto Pacheco sits down with director Halina Reijn to find out more.	Download Share X Facebook LinkedIn LINE Email	Play
690	30 Dec 2024 30 min	The year in review Laura Snapes, Toby Earle and Mia Levitin join Robert Bound in the studio to round up the best of this year’s albums, TV and books.	Download Share X Facebook LinkedIn LINE Email	Play
689	23 Dec 2024 26 min	The best of 2024 We share highlights from this year's programme, including interviews with the likes of Hans Zimmer and Maggi Hambling, and a very special session with folk duo The Staves.	Download Share X Facebook LinkedIn LINE Email	Play
688	16 Dec 2024 32 min	The best Christmas music of 2024 Georgie Rogers and Will Hodgkinson join Robert Bound in the studio for our annual review of the season’s best festive music releases, including albums and singles from Orville Peck, Kelly Clarkson and Jimmy Fallon.	Download Share X Facebook LinkedIn LINE Email	Play
687	9 Dec 2024 30 min	Takashi Murakami and Tate Modern’s ‘Electric Dreams’ We visit two new London exhibitions. ‘Japanese Art History à la Takashi Murakami’ at Gagosian’s Grosvenor Hill outpost offers the contemporary artist’s interpretations of Edo-era artworks. We sit down with Murakami to discuss AI, where he finds inspiration and the atmosphere that he likes to create in his studio. Plus, we meet the curator of ‘Electric Dreams’ at London’s Tate Modern.	Download Share X Facebook LinkedIn LINE Email	Play
686	2 Dec 2024 27 min	New documentaries: ‘The Bibi Files’ and ‘Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes’ We cover the release of two fascinating and revealing documentaries. Both take a sideways look at men we’re familiar with from their public – and vastly different – profiles: one as a world leader and the other as an icon of Hollywood’s golden age. ‘The Bibi Files’, directed by Alexis Bloom, uses leaked interrogation footage of Benjamin Netanyahu to explore contemporary Israeli politics. Then, ‘Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes’, directed by Kathryn Ferguson, takes a behind-the-scenes look at actor Humphrey Bogart.	Download Share X Facebook LinkedIn LINE Email	Play
685	25 Nov 2024 27 min	Hank Willis Thomas Hank Willis Thomas is a US artist who works across media to explore themes including identity, popular culture and mass media. We meet him at his exhibition of collages, ‘Kinship of the Soul’, at London’s Pace Gallery.	Download Share X Facebook LinkedIn LINE Email	Play
684	18 Nov 2024 33 min	Steve McQueen and ‘Blitz’ Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen is known for his in-depth, human exploration of characters and history, which is executed with an artist’s eye. We speak to McQueen about the release of his new film, ‘Blitz’, which details the lives of 20th-century Britons during the Second World War. Then: Monocle’s Fernando Augesto Pacheco and ‘Monocle on Culture’ regular Leila Latif share their takes on the film. Plus: titles to look out for this winter.	Download Share X Facebook LinkedIn LINE Email	Play
683	11 Nov 2024 31 min	20 years of Nonclassical We celebrate 20 years of music promoter, record label and events producer Nonclassical. Over the past two decades, the organisation has been at the forefront of classical, experimental and electronic music, leading the way with innovative and genre-defying sounds. Robert Bound sits down with composer and founder Gabriel Prokofiev and composer Tonia Ko.	Download Share X Facebook LinkedIn LINE Email	Play
682	4 Nov 2024 30 min	‘Box Office Poison’ We sit down with Tim Robey, author of the new book ‘Box Office Poison: Hollywood’s Story in a Century of Flops’. This alternative history of cinema recounts the industry’s biggest bombs, including how they came to be made and what they tell us about both the Hollywood machine and the public who eschewed them.	Download Share X Facebook LinkedIn LINE Email	Play
681	28 Oct 2024 27 min	Walla Walla Foundry, a new Italian film and French pop star Zaho de Sagazan We head to Rome to find out about a new film dedicated to the Women’s Liberation Movement in the 1970s before visiting one of the world’s largest contemporary art foundries in Walla Walla. Plus: an interview with French pop star Zaho de Sagazan.	Download Share X Facebook LinkedIn LINE Email	Play
★	25 Oct 2024 26 min	Gran Turismo Folgore: A Lucca Roadtrip As this special episode pauses to consider elements of great design, it is important to not overcomplicate matters. Sometimes, all you need is four wheels and a beating heart. Monocle’s Italian odyssey concludes with a second roadtrip in another of Maserati’s powerful new all-electric sports cars: the Gran Turismo Folgore. Joining us for the ride are Maserati’s head of design, Klaus Busse, and food writer Luca Cesari.	Download Share X Facebook LinkedIn LINE Email	Play
680	21 Oct 2024 30 min	A new ballet based on the life and writing of Oscar Wilde We find out about ‘Oscar’, a ballet based on the life and work of Oscar Wilde. Plus: artist Sophie Matisse tells us about designing chess sets, and writer and translator Bruna Dantas Lobato discusses her new book, ‘Blue Light Hours’.	Download Share X Facebook LinkedIn LINE Email	Play

Culture / Podcast

Monocle on Culture

Latest episode

Latest episodes

2025 on the stage

The best cultural releases of 2025

‘Nickel Boys’ and ‘Babygirl’

The year in review

The best of 2024

The best Christmas music of 2024

Takashi Murakami and Tate Modern’s ‘Electric Dreams’

New documentaries: ‘The Bibi Files’ and ‘Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes’

Hank Willis Thomas

Steve McQueen and ‘Blitz’

20 years of Nonclassical

‘Box Office Poison’

Walla Walla Foundry, a new Italian film and French pop star Zaho de Sagazan

Gran Turismo Folgore: A Lucca Roadtrip

A new ballet based on the life and writing of Oscar Wilde