
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

Behind the scenes at Monocle: issue 104
Hear from the people who put together this month’s culture section of Monocle. We find out about the factory that produces film sets for ‘Saturday Night Live’, discover what it’s like to be a TV critic and meet the woman behind a new arts concept in Toronto.

Something old, something new: Paula Scher and Adrian Shaughnessy
This month Robert Bound is joined by graphic designer and first female principal at Pentagram, Paula Scher, and Adrian Shaughnessy who teaches visual communication at the Royal College of Art and is also co-founder of Unit Editions. They bring in the objects that have aided and inspired them throughout their…

What’s the role of a fan?
In the good old days fans tended to adore from behind a barrier but now the lines between them and their adored subject have been blurred by the internet. On the show today we’re interested in why some people decide to devote themselves to a particular celebrity or brand and…

How do you run an independent bookshop?
From London to Milan and Belgrade to Toronto, we showcase the independent bookshops that are thriving around the world.

Behind the scenes at Monocle, issue 103
We meet some of the people who contributed the May edition of Monocle. Georgina Godwin tells us about her story on the Hay Festival turning 30, Andrew Mueller chats about his trip to the Paris apartment of Lebanese singer Yasmine Hamdan and Robert Bound sits down with our photo director,…

How do you write true crime?
People have always loved a good murder-mystery but recently there’s been an influx of binge-worthy documentaries, books and podcasts based on true crime, such as ‘Serial’ and Netflix’s ‘Making a Murderer’. From Malaysia to Rio via the streets of 1960s New York, we find out why this genre has become…

Something old, something new: Alex Preston and Walter Donohue
Robert Bound sits down with author Alex Preston and his editor at Faber & Faber, Walter Donohue, to discuss the objects, books, plays and, in this case, plants, that have influenced them.

Spring into action
Robert Bound is joined by a panel of experts on film, music and art to discuss the things we should be listening to, watching and queueing up for this spring. His guests are head of content for the Lisson Gallery, Ossian Ward, music broadcaster and DJ, Georgie Rogers, and film…

Behind the scenes at Monocle, issue 102
Robert Bound explores some of the stories from the April issue of Monocle’s culture pages, including Chinese book shops, Thai music festivals and a photography exhibition in Kyoto.

How do you talk about music?
Robert Bound is joined by Hrishikesh Hirway, who’s the creator of the podcast “Song Exploder”, and music journalist Laura Snapes to discuss the formats, language and knowledge required to write and talk about music.