Monocle on Culture | Monocle

Cover art for
C

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.

RSS Feed
696

Latest episode

The captivating work of Noah Davis :

We visit two new exhibitions in London by two very different US artists. First, we’ll hear from the curator of the UK’s first Noah Davis exhibition. The  glorious, sweeping show at the Barbican serves as a worthy tribute to the late, great painter. Then: we’ll hear from high-spirited octogenarian Joseph Kosuth, whose show at Sprüth Magers features works from his six decades spent as a pioneer of conceptual and installation art.

Latest episodes

EpisodeDateDescriptionDownloadPlay
69610 Feb 2025
27 min

The captivating work of Noah Davis  

We visit two new exhibitions in London by two very different US artists. First, we’ll hear from the curator of the UK’s first Noah Davis exhibition. The  glorious, sweeping show at the Barbican serves as a worthy tribute to the late, great painter. Then: we’ll hear from high-spirited octogenarian Joseph Kosuth, whose show at Sprüth Magers features works from his six decades spent as a pioneer of conceptual and installation art.

DownloadPlay
6953 Feb 2025
29 min

Vashti Bunyan  

British singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan is celebrating her 80th birthday with a new edition of her 2005 record ‘Lookaftering’, including added demos, live versions and sleeve notes from its producer, Max Richter. The lyric booklet features paintings by Bunyan’s daughter, which beautifully brings to life the wistful, dreamy tracks. Robert Bounds sits down with Vashti Bunyan to discuss the cult reception to her work and how a new generation breathed new life into her music.

DownloadPlay
69427 Jan 2025
33 min

Eddie Chacon  

Eddie Chacon shot to fame as part of the duo Charles & Eddie, alongside the late Charles Pettigrew, with the release of their enduring 1992 single ‘Would I Lie to You?’ In the years after Charles & Eddie amicably split in 1997, Chacon explored another passion of his: fashion photography. But music called him back and, in 2020, he released the solo album ‘Pleasure, Joy and Happiness’, followed by ‘Sundown’ in 2023. Now he has returned with the gorgeous new record ‘Lay Low’. On today’s show, Chacon joins Robert Bound in the studio to discuss his unique, heartfelt strain of R&B and the inspiration behind the dreamy tracks on his new record. 

DownloadPlay
69320 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.  

DownloadPlay
69213 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. 

DownloadPlay
6916 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.

DownloadPlay
69030 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.

DownloadPlay
68923 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.

DownloadPlay
68816 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. 

DownloadPlay
6879 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. 

DownloadPlay
6862 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. 

DownloadPlay
68525 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. 

DownloadPlay
68418 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.

DownloadPlay
68311 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. 

DownloadPlay
6824 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. 

DownloadPlay

/

sign in to monocle

new to monocle?

Subscriptions start from £120.

Subscribe now

Loading...

/

15

15

Live
Monocle Radio

00:0001:00

  • Monocle Weekends5