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
The Power of Sound: Ben and Max Ringham
Brothers Ben and Max Ringham are known for their immersive, 3D sound design for theatre shows such as ‘Blindness’ at the Donmar Warehouse last year, and ‘Anna’ at the National Theatre. They tell us about the power of binaural sound, how it can transport an audience through different scenes, and…
Dolly Parton: ‘She Come by It Natural’
As the paperback of Sarah Smarsh’s book ‘She Come by It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs’ has recently been released, Robert Bound is joined by literary critic Mia Levitin and country music aficionado Baylen Leonard to discuss the mega country star and how her story…
The Power of Sound: Grant Kirkhope
Composer Grant Kirkhope has written the soundtracks for some very successful video games, including ‘GoldenEye 007’, ‘Civilization’, and ‘Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle’. He tells us about his career highlights and the importance of music to the game-playing experience: from transporting people to new worlds to knowing that you are…
‘One Night in Miami’: Kemp Powers
Playwright and screenwriter, Kemp Powers talks to Robert Bound about the new film adaptation of his play ‘One Night in Miami’, directed by Regina King. It imagines the conversations that were had between Malcolm X, Cassius Clay, singer Sam Cooke and NFL player Jim Brown during an evening they spent…
The Power of Sound: Midori Komachi
Violinist Midori Komachi has been performing as a professional soloist since the age of 12. She specialises in British and Japanese classical music, which she says are intrinsically linked; she is particularly interested in the music of Frederick Delius, about whom she has translated books into Japanese. Komachi tells us…
Monocle recommends
As many nations face at least the next few weeks stuck inside, we’ve enlisted TV critic Scott Bryan and music journalist Georgie Rogers to tell us the best things that are on television, streaming and coming out on record over the next month or so – all to be enjoyed…
Max Porter
Writer Max Porter joins Robert Bound to talk about his new book, ‘The Death of Francis Bacon’. Porter, whose previous works includes the titles ‘Lanny’ and ‘Grief is the Thing with Feathers’, discusses art, death and truth, and the impact of 2020 events on the writing of this book.
The Power of Sound: Johnnie Burn
Throughout his career as a sound designer, editor and mixer, Johnnie Burn has worked on iconic TV commercials for clients such as Guinness; created the sounds you hear every time you log onto Skype; and developed the sound world for films including Yorgos Lanthimos’s ‘The Lobster’ and ‘The Favourite’ and…
‘Little Scratch’ by Rebecca Watson
We review ‘Little Scratch’, the debut novel by Rebecca Watson, an experimental exploration of a day in the life of a young woman in London. Robert Bound is joined by critics Susannah Butter and Lucy Scholes.
The Power of Sound: Susan Rogers
When Susan Rogers started out as an audio technician she had no idea that she would eventually contribute to some of the biggest pop hits ever made. She is best known for being Prince’s sound engineer on seminal albums including ‘Purple Rain’, but she has also worked with the likes…
