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Monocle on Saturday

Don’t miss the week’s most interesting stories from around the world. Join Georgina Godwin every week on Monocle on Saturday to delve into the latest global news and culture, with reports from regular guests in Monocle’s London studio and our international correspondents.

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 The week in news and culture:

Join Georgina Godwin and Charles Hecker for a round-up of the week’s news and culture. Plus: a conversation with Sam Crane and Pinny Grylls, writer and director of ‘Grand Theft Hamlet’.

 

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2367 Dec 2024
32 min

 The week in news and culture 

Join Georgina Godwin and Charles Hecker for a round-up of the week’s news and culture. Plus: a conversation with Sam Crane and Pinny Grylls, writer and director of ‘Grand Theft Hamlet’.

 

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23423 Nov 2024
33 min

Trump’s diet overhaul, the power of craftsmanship and the $6.2m banana 

Former first lady Melania Trump and future US health secretary, RFK Jr, are teaming up to improve the president-elect’s diet. Then, Europe prepares for Trump tariffs and Cop29 discussions go into overtime. Join regular Monocle Radio commentator Vincent McAviney and Georgina Godwin for these stories and more of the week’s news and culture. Plus: arts specialist Issabella Orlando explores how crafted goods from homewares to clothing can inspire us to consume less, value more and forge lasting connections with the things we own. 

 

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23316 Nov 2024
35 min

Trump’s cabinet picks, the most beautiful book and Japanese reads 

Georgina Godwin looks back at the week’s news including president-elect Donald Trump’s picks for his future cabinet, X (formerly Twitter) users decamping to Bluesky and the purchase of Alex Jones’s ‘InfoWars’ by satirical publication ‘The Onion’. Joining Georgina is Isabel Hilton, founder of China Dialogue and current chair of the judges of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non Fiction. Plus: we hear from one of the judges of the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards, Vivian Godfrey, about British readers’ continued love affair with Japan. Finally, Monocle’s Michael Booth speaks to the Copenhagen-based publisher behind the Gold Medal winning “Most Beautiful Book in the World”. 

 

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2329 Nov 2024
37 min

Donald Trump wins the US presidential election 

After a “magnificent victory” for Donald Trump in the US election, Charles Hecker and Vincent McAviney unpack this week’s news. They discuss Musk’s call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, the three men charged with an “Iran-linked” assassination attempt and how world leaders will win Trump’s favour in his second term. Plus: journalist HJ Mai speaks to voters in Washington and Monocle’s Chris Cermak on the health of democracy with Moldovan election officials. 

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2312 Nov 2024
31 min

US election countdown 

With the US election just three days away, producer and investigative journalist, Hannah Cogan, joins Vincent McAviney for a look through a selection of US election stories. They’ll discuss the post-election legal challenge, a documentary on the burnout of US election officials, protest art and more. Plus: Monocle’s senior foreign correspondent, Carlota Rebelo, and US editor, Christopher Lord, on their experience speaking to people on the ground in Atlanta, Georgia, including former city councillor Kwanza Hall. 

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23026 Oct 2024
31 min

Alexei Navalny’s memoir, Minoa bookshop and Sicilian food 

Russia analyst and author, Stephen Dalziel, joins Georgina Godwin to talk about the week’s news and culture, including Israel’s retaliatory attacks on Iran, the latest on the US election and cocaine in Coca-Cola. Stephen also gave us an insight into his experience translating the late Alexei Navalny’s memoir, ‘Patriot’, as well as meeting his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, in London. Also on the programme: Monocle’s Hannah Lucinda Smith takes us to Minoa bookshop in Istanbul and Monocle’s George Ruskin gives us a tour of the best culinary spots in Taormina, Sicily. 

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22919 Oct 2024
38 min

Frankfurt Book Fair, Cheerio Publishing and British food 

Monocle’s Amy Van Den Berg meets the creative director of the Frankfurt Book Fair to get a read on the mood ahead of the industry’s largest event. Then: the editorial director of Cheerio Publishing, Darren Biabowe Barnes, discusses independent publishing in 2024. Plus: Charles Hecker joins to go through the latest news and culture, including Russian troops in North Korea, the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and a new book on British food. 

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22812 Oct 2024
36 min

Quality of life at sea and Kate Mosse’s new book ‘The Map of Bones’ 

From Monocle’s Quality of Life Conference in Istanbul, we hear insights from US submarine officer Taylor Sheppard on maximising quality of life underwater. Then: award-winning author, playwright and essayist Kate Mosse joins Vincent McAviney to talk about her research process and the release of the fourth and final part of her Joubert Family Chronicles series, ‘The Map of Bones’. Plus: writer at large for ‘The Nightly’ Latika Bourke looks back at the week’s news including the continuing conflict in the Middle East, Barack Obama’s comments on the US election and art protests.

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2275 Oct 2024
36 min

The week in news and the future of digital art 

After a week of escalating tensions in the Middle East, Yossi Mekelberg, associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House, joins Emma Nelson to reflect on the week’s news from the region. Then: Monocle’s Helsinki correspondent, Petri Burtsoff, tells the story of a restored cultural icon in the city, and we learn about the future of digital art with the CEO of Lumen Studios, Jen Roebuck, and the director of The Lumen Prize, Gillian Varney.

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22628 Sep 2024
35 min

The United Nations General Assembly, climate innovation in Norway and The Book Hive 

The 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly concluded this week but what did it achieve? What can we expect from Keir Starmer’s meeting with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday? And what is behind the surge in popularity of South Korean skincare in the UK? Georgina Godwin and international broadcast correspondent, Nina dos Santos, discuss this and more of the week’s news and culture. Plus: Monocle’s Gunnar Gronlid attends the opening of the world’s first commercial CO2 capture-and-storage facility in Norway, and we get the latest on The Book Hive, a UK-based independent bookshop and publisher, with the owner, Henry Layte.

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22521 Sep 2024
35 min

Global news, Amsterdam design and business books 

Author and political correspondent Tessa Szyszkowitz joins Georgina Godwin to talk about the pager explosions in Lebanon, seeing Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza in London and fashion at political conferences. Plus: Monocle’s Mae-Li Evans heads to Amsterdam for the Glue design festival and ‘Financial Times’ senior business writer Andrew Hill looks ahead to the 20th edition of the FT’s Business Book of the Year awards.

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22414 Sep 2024
34 min

The Weatherglass Novella Prize, the Ig Nobel Prize and the London Jazz Festival 

Author Kate Kruimink joins Georgina Godwin to talk about her award-winning novella ‘Astraea’ and China Moses discusses her music ahead of the London Jazz Festival launch party. Plus: Charles Hecker on British diplomats accused of spying in Russia, soaring coffee prices in Italy and the 2024 Ig Nobel Prize.

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2237 Sep 2024
30 min

Georgia coverage, British history vs culture, and Radio Free Europe 

After the deadly school shooting in Georgia, United States, cultural historian Gavin Plumley and Georgina Godwin look at the judicial process in the country and the political impact of the shooting in an important election year. Across the pond in the UK, Oasis and Ticketmaster have been dominating headlines - Gavin and Georgina reflect on ‘dynamic pricing’, as well as a survey of Britain losing pride in its past and why this is actually encouraging. Plus: Monocle’s Andrew Mueller speaks to the President of Radio Free Europe about the vital work they do to bring uncensored news to countries like Ukraine, Russia, and Afghanistan.

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22231 Aug 2024
29 min

Brazil bans X, Germany’s local elections and the Depop for books 

Why has Brazil banned X, formerly known as Twitter, and how will this ban actually work? Ozempic is in the news again but what’s the newly discovered potential benefit of the drug? And Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland is expected to make gains in two state elections tomorrow – what is the mood on the ground? Author and political journalist Terry Stiastny joins Georgina Godwin for this and more of the week’s news and culture. Plus: with Vinted and Depop encouraging more people than ever to sell their used items online, Bookshop.org has launched a used-book platform called Bookloop that aims to benefit indie bookshops and authors. Bookshop.org’s partnership manager Mark Thornton tells us more. 

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22124 Aug 2024
39 min

The DNC, graffiti in politics and music in cinema 

The Democratic National Convention ended on Thursday; political analyst Charles Hecker returns to ‘Monocle on Saturday’ to discuss the highlights from the event and flick through the global papers. Plus: Bristol-born street artist Sickboy discusses the link between graffiti and political unrest, and music producer Oscar Osicki talks about translating different genres of music to film scores. 

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