Monocle on Culture
Robert Bound and guests explore what’s new in art, film, books, and media. Expect lively discussions, in-depth interviews, and expert insights.
Latest Episodes
Summer reading
Is there such a thing as a ‘beach read’? Susannah Butter and John Mitchinson join Robert Bound in the studio to share their top recommendations of new books – and to question the idea of summer reading.
Music for moons
Robert Bound is joined in the studio by composer Amanda Lee Falkenberg to explore how she created her new work, ‘The Moons Symphony’. It tells the story of seven moons in our universe and dramatises the past, present and future of moon explorations.
Contemporary arts in the Mena region
What does contemporary arts practice look like across the Middle East and North Africa? We head to Morocco to find out from an actress and theatre practitioner, a pop star and an arts facilitator about the challenges and opportunities of creating their work in the region – and whether one…
Summer soundtrack
Robert Bound is joined by Kate Hutchinson and Christine Ochefu to take you through this summer’s hottest music releases. From the biggest names to the less well-known, find out which artists should be providing the backdrop to your summer.
Chris Blackwell
As the man who signed Bob Marley and the Wailers, Chris Blackwell is credited with bringing Jamaican music to the masses. He talks to Robert Bound about his upbringing on – and love for – the Caribbean island, as well as the breadth of his musical legacy, which includes playing…
Norway’s new National Museum, behind the scenes of Primavera and Indonesia’s ‘Balinale’
We visit Norway’s new National Museum on Oslo’s harbour, which aims to cement the city’s position as an emerging cultural capital. Plus: we go behind the scenes of Barcelona music festival Primavera Sound and hear from the founder of the Bali International Film Festival.
‘Top Gun: Maverick’
Tom Cruise is back as Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell for another sky-high adventure in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’. Robert Bound is joined by critics Clarisse Loughrey and Simran Hans to ask whether this legacy sequel takes off.
The films of Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola has been applauded as a filmmaker ever since ‘The Virgin Suicides’ in 1999. In the two decades since, her films have touched on everything from an 18th-century queen on the eve of the French revolution to a group of thieves notorious for stealing the property of Paris Hilton.…
Jarvis Cocker’s loft
We meet Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker for a tour of the objects that catalogue his rise to stardom, found in a loft and now forming the basis of his new memoir and exhibition. Plus we head to another exhibition, ‘Once Upon a Time’, that explores folklore, myth and fairytales through…
Foghorns and the music of the coast
Robert Bound is joined in the studio by Jennifer Lucy Allan, a musicologist, writer and radio presenter, who also has a PhD in foghorns. Her book ‘The Foghorn’s Lament: The Disappearing Music of the Coast’ has just been published in paperback. It charts the history of the foghorn, its poetic…
