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
Who wants a piece of the Four Seasons?
The iconic Four Seasons restaurant has served its final meal in its current guise, as it leaves the Seagram Building on Park Avenue in New York. As the contents of the restaurant come up for sale we take a look around to see what we might like to place our…
What on earth has happened to the news?
When journalists, columnists and commentators have news flying at them from all angles, and it feels a little bit like the world is going mad, how do they begin to make sense of it all and mould it into thoughtful prose? Robert Bound sits down with Richard Godwin, columnist for…
Beach versus seaside: part two
In our quest to investigate the difference between the seaside and the beach, we take to the latter for a spot of surfing in Australia and California. Plus: we head to Belgrade and Madrid to find out how they are bringing beach culture to the city to make themselves summer…
Beach versus seaside: part one
In the first of a two-part episode we investigate the difference between the beach and the seaside, two coastal cultures that are quite different despite both involving sand and sea. This week it’s the seaside’s turn. We speak to writer and cultural historian Travis Elborough and visit Margate on the…
Summer holiday hits
As the Culture team heads on its summer holiday, we recap some of our favourite moments from 2016 so far, from cruising the Mediterranean with acrobats aplenty to the local newspaper of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
The Switch House
We visit the brand new wing of the Tate Modern to find out how architecture firm Herzog & De Meuron extended the art institution into a giant ziggurat. Plus: we assess the success of the new building with editor of ‘The Art Newspaper’ Jane Morris.
How do you sell a natural history museum?
We profile a rather unique auction house, Summers Place Auctions, as they put the entire collection of a Dutch natural history museum up for sale, including the skeleton of a seven-metre-tall duck-billed dinosaur called Freya.
Hay Festival
This year’s Hay Festival of literature, which takes place in the beautiful town of Hay-on-Wye on the Welsh border, has just wrapped up. We take a look at the festival’s international ambitions and its influence on book sales. Plus: we meet some of the talented writers and publishers on offer.
Why are books in translation such big business?
Robert Bound investigates the recent rise in translated fiction with sidekicks Anne Meadows, commissioning editor at Portobello and Granta, and Lisette Verhagen, foreign-rights agent at David Godwin Associates. Plus: we hear from Deborah Smith, Man Booker International Prize-winning translator and head to Deep Vellum books in Dallas.
Culture goes cruising
Robert Bound is on board the ‘MSC Preziosa’, somewhere between Rome and Marseille, to find out about the most misunderstood area of the arts: cruise-ship entertainers.
