Our Culture editor and his guests discuss what has piqued their interest in our one-stop shop for lively reports and in-depth interviews on the newest and finest in art, film, books and the media business.

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Ali Smith
Robert Bound is joined in the studio by one of the UK?s most celebrated writers, Ali Smith. Her latest work, ?Companion Piece?, is an addition to Smith?s seasonal quartet. Through her typical playful use of language, it brings together the specific hardships of the coronavirus pandemic and mythic history. It is a celebration of companionship and an exploration of how, after being locked down, we might open up again.Listen

What to watch
Critic and broadcaster Scott Bryan and Inkoo Kang of ?The Washington Post? talk all things TV with Robert Bound. We discuss the best shows on the small screen today, as well as what?s coming up. Expect everything from crime, cooking and comedy to dinosaurs.Listen

Venice Biennale Special 
The world?s most prestigious art event is back in full force. Monocle?s Chiara Rimella and Alexis Self chat about their week in Venice, and how the Biennale has responded in times of conflict. Plus: we hear from some of the most talked-about artists at this year?s event, including Stan Douglas and Golden Lion winner Sonia Boyce.Listen

Spring music releases
Georgie Rogers and Fernando Augusto Pacheco join Robert Bound to look ahead to the most exciting albums of the coming months, including new releases from a Brazilian pop star, a classic British indie band and a camera-shy cowboy.Listen

The beautiful game
From team badges and strips to the architecture of stadiums, design has long been a major part of football. We visit a new exhibition at the Design Museum in London, ?Football: Designing the Beautiful Game?, and speak to its assistant curator Rachel Hajek and fashion commentator Simon Doonan about the evolution of style and football.Listen

?Henry VI?: Behind the scenes of a new play of heroic proportions
While some of William Shakespeare?s plays are reproduced again and again, there are others that theatre companies tend to steer clear of. The Royal Shakespeare Company is undertaking the challenge of putting on ?Henry VI: Part II?, renaming it ?Henry VI: Rebellion?, which has the longest dramatis personae of any Shakespearean drama. We go behind the scenes and speak to those putting on this epic play.Listen

Spring preview: books and art
Ossian Ward and Mia Levitin join Robert Bound in the studio for a rundown of the best of the season?s art and books.Listen



Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak
A special edition of the show marking its partnership with Abu Dhabi?s Department of Culture and Tourism. Robert Bound is joined by the chairman of the department, who explains his conviction that culture is at the heart of any progressive society. At this moment of reckoning in the world of so-called ?big culture?, the ability to build new museums with fresh thinking is an opportunity not to be missed. The chairman explains why the wealth of forthcoming institutions at Abu Dhabi?s Saadiyat Island could grasp that chance.Listen

The American Song Contest: Eurovision heads stateside
The 65-year old mainstay of the European cultural calendar, the Eurovision Song Contest, heads across the Atlantic this week. A new show will pit all 50 states, five US territories and Washington DC against each other in a spinoff of dazzling proportions. We chat to the show?s producers about the challenges of Americanising the format, and Robert Bound is joined by Emily Yahr and Fernando Augusto Pacheco to discuss what might be in store.Listen

Review: ?Red Rocket?
?Red Rocket? is the latest film from Sean Baker, who brought us ?Tangerine? and ?The Florida Project?. The film tells the story of Mikey Saber (Simon Rex), a washed-up pornstar who returns to his hometown of Texas City, where he is quickly taken by Strawberry, the teenage employee of a doughnut shop. Robert Bound and guests Tim Robey and Hannah Strong discuss the performances and music, and ask whether Mikey really is as irredeemable as he appears.Listen

Derek Jarman: ?Pharmacopoeia?
Director and artist Derek Jarman is remembered for his unique ability to capture the natural world on the page, as well as the garden he created at Prospect Cottage in Dungeness. A new book, ?Pharmacopoeia?, brings together the best of Jarman?s writing on nature. This week, we discuss Jarman and his legacy with author and curator Philip Hoare, and hear about a garden inspired by Jarman on the banks of Lake Geneva in Switzerland.Listen

?The Collaboration?: a new play about Basquiat and Warhol
In 1980s New York, two notorious members of the city?s art scene have just met. Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat become close friends and collaborators as they plan to hold a joint exhibition, which promises to be the greatest in the history of modern art. ?The Collaboration?, a new play at London?s Young Vic Theatre, tells this story. We speak to its writer, Anthony McCarten, director Kwame Kwei-Armah and stars Jeremy Pope and Paul Bettany.Listen

The evolution of hip-hop
Hip-hop has taken over the mainstream since it was born in the Bronx house parties of the 1970s. Sophie Bramly?s recent book of photography ?Yo! The Early Days of Hip-Hop 1982-84? documents its rise, while a new documentary ?Jeen-Yuhs? charts the contribution of one of the genre?s most important innovators, Kanye West. Robert Bound is joined by ?The New Yorker? staff writer Kelefa Sanneh to discuss the evolution of what is arguably America?s most significant cultural export.Listen

This year?s Oscars nominations
Robert Bound is joined by film critic Anna Smith and Monocle 24?s Fernando Augusto Pacheco to discuss this year?s list of nominations. The panel debate the surprises and the snubs, the almost-guaranteed and the underdogs. Our guests highlight their top picks from the list, from the gentle joy of ?Coda? to the acclaimed ?The Power of the Dog?, and predict who they think will get their hands on a golden statuette in March.Listen



The making of ?Sesame Street?
?Sesame Street? changed the world of children?s television when it arrived on our screens in 1969. The programme?s inception came from the unique collaboration between TV executives and child education specialists, and always had diversity at its core. A new documentary, ?Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street?, tells the story of the show. Robert Bound speaks to the film?s director, Marilyn Agrelo, about what makes ?Sesame Street? so iconic.Listen

LA women
In December 2021, we lost two of the West Coast?s literary greats: Eve Babitz and Joan Didion. This week, Robert Bound is joined by Lili Anolik, author of ?Hollywood?s Eve: Eve Babitz and the Secret History of LA?, and David Ulin, books editor of ?Alta Journal?, a quarterly publication that celebrates California and the West. They discuss the imprint that Didion and Babitz left on the Los Angeles literary scene and how they expanded what women?s writing was and could be.Listen

Art and power
Robert Bound is joined in the studio by Farah Nayeri, arts and culture writer for ?The New York Times? and host of the ?Culture Blast? podcast. Her new book ?Takedown: Art and Power in the Digital Age? looks back centuries, across Europe and America and throughout the art world. It draws on uproars and scandals to explore the reckoning of the Western world with politics, capitalism, religion, race, gender and art.Listen

Seasonal music lookahead
Robert Bound is joined by guests Fernando Augusto Pacheco and Laura Snapes to look ahead at some of this season?s most exciting music releases from the likes of Stromae, Cate Le Bon and Cecile McLorin Salvant.Listen

Review: ?Licorice Pizza?
Robert Bound and guests Simran Hans and Jason Solomons discuss Paul Thomas Anderson?s latest film, a coming-of-age tale set in the heady summer heat of 1970s California. Underpinned by a soundtrack of original music and 1970s classics, the film winds a gentle story of young love with riotous escapades and cameos from the likes of Sean Penn and Bradley Cooper.Listen

Looking ahead to 2022
We look to the year ahead with guests Amah-Rose Abrams, John Mitchinson and Scott Bryan, who recommend the art exhibitions, books and TV series that should be on our radar this season.Listen

Best of 2021
We revisit some of our favourite interviews of the year, including Sir Tom Jones, writer Patricia Lockwood, film director Cary Joji Fukunaga, screenwriter Kemp Powers, and Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay of the band Lump.Listen



2021 in review
Robert Bound and his guests discuss what has piqued their interest in our one-stop shop for lively reports and in-depth interviews on the newest and finest in art, film, books and the media business.Listen

Ghost stories at Christmas
Why do we love a ghost story at Christmas? Robert Bound puts this question to writer Andrew Male and the British Library?s Tanya Kirk as we get festive and frightened in equal measure.Listen

Who has the best Christmas song of 2021?
Robert Bound is joined by Will Hodgkinson and Georgie Rogers for a fun festive review of the season?s music releases, including albums and singles by Norah Jones, Eagles of Death Metal, Mariah Carey and Abba.Listen

Review: ?House of Gucci?
Robert Bound, Tim Robey and Simran Hans discuss the accents, outfits and performances in Ridley Scott?s true-crime drama, ?House of Gucci?. Has it lived up to the hype?Listen

?Keyboard Fantasies?, libraries and a Balearic disco
We meet Posy Dixon, the director of new documentary ?Keyboard Fantasies?, which tells the story of how musician Beverly Glenn-Copeland found an audience 30 years after the release of his album. Plus: we nip over to a new exhibition in Naples to talk about book collecting and the importance of libraries, and meet the Venezuelan DJ who has put together a compilation album of Ibizan music from the 1980s that?s just the shot of vitamin D we need.Listen

?London Grads Now 21?, Saatchi Gallery
We celebrate the next generation of artists at the Saatchi Gallery?s ?London Grads Now 21? exhibition, which brings together work by students from major art schools across the capital.Listen

Selling the silver screen
We head to Prop Store, an auction house that specialises in the sale of objects and costumes from some of the biggest blockbusters in film history. Inside, we find Batman, Spiderman, Marty McFly?s hoverboard, replicas of some of cinema?s most notorious monsters and all sorts of other artefacts, all ready to go under the hammer.Listen



Pablo Larraín and a seasonal lookahead
Chilean director Pablo Larraín tells us about his new Princess Diana biopic, ?Spencer?. Back in the studio, Robert Bound is joined by journalists Susannah Butter and Kate Hutchinson to review this autumn?s best books and album releases.Listen

Review: 'Dune'
Robert Bound is joined by film critics Simran Hans and Karen Krizanovich to review Denis Villeneuve's epic new sci-fi blockbuster, 'Dune'.Listen

Adam Jeppesen
Danish-American artist Adam Jeppesen joins Robert Bound to talk about his work that pushes the boundaries of what photography can be. They discuss anthotypes (and what they are), material and process, and interpreting art in a gallery setting.Listen

10 years of ?Monocle on Culture?
To celebrate 10 years of Monocle 24, some of our regular critics talk to us about the defining moments of the past decade in art, music and film. Robert Bound is joined by Tim Robey, Francesca Gavin and Will Hodgkinson.Listen

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Emile Mosseri, Kapwani Kiwanga and Jessica Hawkins
Musicians Emile Mosseri and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith tell us about their new collaborative album; we chat to Canadian artist Kapwani Kiwanga about her archival work at Art Basel; and we meet the British stunt driver Jessica Hawkins, who landed her first on-screen job on the new James Bond movie.Listen

James Bond: ?No Time to Die?
We speak to director Cary Joji Fukunaga and producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson about the much-anticipated new James Bond film, ?No Time to Die?. They discuss the long-awaited movie, how Daniel Craig has shaped the character of 007 and making Bond for 2021.Listen

Helen Frankenthaler, Zürich Film Festival and ?Picture Post?
We visit Dulwich Picture Gallery to learn about ?Radical Beauty?, a new exhibition of woodcut prints by abstract artist Helen Frankenthaler. We also chat to Christian Jungen, artistic director of the Zürich Film Festival, and Rob West, the director of a new documentary about ?Picture Post? magazine.Listen



Saint Etienne and Alasdair McLellan
British band Saint Etienne have just released their 10th album, ?I?ve Been Trying to Tell You?. Accompanying the music is a film by Alasdair McLellan, a series of vignettes set on a road trip across the UK. McLellan and Saint Etienne?s Sarah Cracknell join Robert Bound to discuss the project.Listen

Penny Martin
Robert Bound chats to Penny Martin, editor in chief of ?The Gentlewoman?, about a new anthology of essays called ?Modern Manners?. The book is a primer for contemporary life from the elegant and amusing female perspective to which readers of the magazine will already be happily attuned.Listen

Autumn on screen
TV critics Scott Bryan and Inkoo Kang join Robert Bound to round up the best programmes hitting televisions this season in the US and UK.Listen

Reopening the dance floor
As nightlife tries to find its feet again we speak to club owner Ray Ng in Hong Kong about his decision to launch a new venue. Plus, Simon Taffe, director of the UK?s End of the Road festival, on the toll of the pandemic on his industry.Listen

?Zola?
Robert Bound is joined by the film critics Simran Hans and Caspar Salmon to review the film ?Zola? ? a dark comedy based on a viral twitter thread about two strippers in Florida on a wild weekend gone wrong.Listen

?The Witches of the Orient?
Robert Bound chats to French film director Julien Faraut about his new documentary ?The Witches of the Orient?, about Japan?s 1964 Olympic women?s volleyball team.Listen

Alan Whicker
In the year that legendary British broadcaster Alan Whicker would have turned 100, the BFI is celebrating this pioneer of journalism and documentary. Robert Bound discusses his colourful career with Jane Ray, artistic director of The Whicker awards, and the BFI?s archive TV programmer, Dick Fiddy.Listen



Lump: Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay
Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay together make up musical duo Lump. As they release their second album, ?Animal?, they chat to Robert Bound about making their record in Margate and channelling their music through the character of Lump, whoever that might be.Listen

Review: Sophie Taeuber-Arp
Sophie Taeuber-Arp was an artist at the forefront of the 20th-century avant-garde. She was also a craftswoman, a graphic designer, a poet, an interior designer and a performer. Such a variation of disciplines has made it hard to define her as an artist. But does that mean she has been overlooked? Tate Modern has put on a major retrospective of Taeuber-Arp?s vast amount of work made throughout her vibrant career. Robert Bound, Ossian Ward and Amah-Rose Abrams review it in this week?s episode, and discuss the links between Africa and the dada movement, the readdressing of the traditional art canon and the seriousness with which decorative art forms are considered.Listen

The sound of summer
Fernando Augusto Pacheco and Georgie Rogers join Robert Bound to round up some of the best summer album releases by the likes of Brazilian Marisa Monte, South African star Muzi and Canadian songwriter Martha Wainwright.Listen

Summer lookahead 2021
Simran Hans, Chris Power and Kathlene Fox-Davies give us their top tips for the films to watch, books to read and art exhibitions to catch this summer.Listen

Max Porter, Jon Hopkins and Aoife McArdle
?All of this Unreal Time? is a new film installation made by a creative group for this year?s Manchester International Festival. Written by Max Porter for actor Cillian Murphy, it explores our individual and collective fallibility as one man wanders through London at night addressing his failings. The film is directed by Aoife McArdle and the soundtrack composed by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National along with electronica artist, Jon Hopkins. Robert Bound is joined by Aoife, Jon and Max to talk about the collaborative process.Listen

Alfonso Cuarón and Chaitanya Tamhane
Chaitanya Tamhane is a filmmaker whose titles include ?Court? and most recently ?The Disciple?, which has just been released by Netflix. Alfonso Cuarón is an Oscar-winning Mexican film director best known for ?Roma? and ?Gravity?. After meeting through a mentoring scheme that resulted in Tamhane shadowing Cuarón on the set of ?Roma?, the two have now collaborated on Tamhane?s film ?The Disciple?, for which Cuarón is the producer. In this week?s episode Robert Bound speaks to the duo about what they have learnt from each other?s creative processes, and about ?The Disciple? ? a film about an Indian classical singer striving to become a master of his art.Listen

In The Earth
Robert Bound is joined by the film critics Anna Smith and Tim Robey to review Ben Wheatley?s latest movie, the pandemic-set folk-horror ?In The Earth?, and discuss the things it reminded them of.Listen



Andrew O?Hagan
The writer Andrew O?Hagan pops into Midori House to chat to Robert Bound about his novel ?Mayflies?, which is loosely based on his own teenage years and has just been published in paperback. They discuss the politics and music of the 1980s, and the romance of male friendships.Listen

Tom Jones
The legendary Tom Jones joins Robert Bound to discuss the confessional nature of his new record, ?Surrounded By Time?, and how he took on other people?s songs.Listen

The art world?s grand reopening
This week saw galleries and museums reopen their doors in the UK and France, and the return of Art Basel Hong Kong as a physical event. To celebrate, we speak to gallerists and artists about a few new exhibitions. In London, Robert Bound meets Jo Stella-Sawicka from Goodman Gallery and Jeremy Epstein from Edel Assanti ? two of the driving forces behind London Gallery Weekend this June. In New York, Henry Rees-Sheridan meets the artist Adam Pendleton to discuss his new collaborative exhibition with British-Ghanaian architect Sir David Adjaye and in Hong Kong James Chambers pays a visit to Gallery Exit to take the temperature of the art scene over there right now.Listen

Lost in Italy
We head to Luxembourg + Co gallery on Savile Row for a new exhibition that explores the experimental creativity of the Italian art scene in the mid-20th century. The show puts Italian abstractionists such as Alberto Burri alongside American painters such as Robert Rauschenberg. It also shows images from Richard Serra?s debut solo show in Rome, which thread together the influence that Italy had on artists during this period. Robert Bound meets curator Francesco Bonami and gallerist, Alma Luxembourg.Listen

Episode 500: Abbey Road Studios
We swap Midori House for the most famous studio in the world, Abbey Road, for a special episode marking our 500th edition. Robert Bound is given a tour by Mirek Stiles, head of audio products, to learn about the studios? history; he meets sound engineer Paul Pritchard to find out what goes on in a day?s work behind the mixing desk; and he chats to managing director Isabel Garvey about Abbey Road Studios? legacy and future developments.Listen

Soulwax
Belgian brothers David and Stephen Dewaele are the masterminds behind indie-electronic band Soulwax. On this week?s episode they chat to Robert Bound about their handsome studio in Ghent, their latest release, ?Foundations?, and ? having been grounded in their hometown for the first time in their 25-year career ? they discuss the places they miss the most.Listen

Oscars 2021
Film critic Anna Smith and Monocle?s senior culture correspondent Fernando Augusto Pacheco join Robert Bound to review this year?s Academy Awards, which saw ?Nomadland? win big and had a refreshed format by the director Steven Soderbergh. Our guests also recommend their favourite films from the nominee list.Listen



Jagjaguwar and Secretly Canadian
Two independent US record labels ? Jagjaguwar and Secretly Canadian, which both operate under the Secretly Group ? celebrate their 25th anniversaries this year. Their co-founders Darius Van Arman and Chris Swanson join Robert Bound to discuss their roots in Bloomington, Indiana, the artists that have shaped their labels and the music industry?s past quarter-century.Listen

Spring lookahead: books, film and music
Robert Bound is joined by literary critic Lucy Scholes, film critic Simran Hans and music journalist Kate Hutchinson to find out which films will be getting us back into cinemas, the albums to spin in the run-up to summer and the books to enjoy on a sunny day in the park.Listen

?Tina?
We meet Oscar-winning US director duo, Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin, who have just released their new documentary about the life of superstar singer Tina Turner.Listen

Michael Peppiatt: what is a head?
What is a head? That?s the question we?re asking this week?s guest, art historian, writer and curator Michael Peppiatt, who has put together an exhibition at Ben Brown Fine Arts that explores exactly that, through the art of Tony Bevan and Frank Auerbach. Peppiatt chats to Robert Bound about what the head symbolises, the difference between a head and a face, and why it is the greatest challenge to artists.Listen

Peggy Seeger
Robert Bound meets the legendary folk singer as she releases her brand-new album ?First Farewell?. They discuss family, age and the folk scene over her 60-year career.Listen

?Creation Stories?
Robert Bound is joined by Tim Robey, film critic for ?The Telegraph?, and Will Hodgkinson, chief rock and pop critic for ?The Times?, to review ?Creation Stories?, a biopic of Creation Records boss Alan McGee. The notorious British record label represented some of the biggest names in indie, rock and Britpop.Listen

The Power of Sound: Nainita Desai
The composer Nainita Desai is a master of innovative thinking in scores for film, television and games. She is best-known for her documentary work ? including music for the Oscar-nominated ?For Sama? and a new Sundance-winning documentary that?s soon to be released called ?The Reason I Jump? ? but her career has been multi-faceted. Desai has a background in maths and has also worked as a sound designer, which gives her a unique approach. In this episode, Desai discusses the techniques she came up with to reflect the experiences of autistic teenagers in ?The Reason I Jump? (from water-filled clarinets to improvising on cellos), how working with Peter Gabriel early in her career inspired her and why her job is to manipulate a viewer?s emotions.Listen



Patricia Lockwood
US poet and author Patricia Lockwood is known for her memoir, ?Priestdaddy?, as well as her social-media presence ? she has been nicknamed the ?poet laureate of Twitter?. Her first novel, ?No One is Talking About This?, is about the internet and human connection, online and offline. She talks to Robert Bound about the book, the language of the internet, writing a book on her phone and making interior lives exterior.Listen

The Power of Sound: Emile Mosseri
Composer Emile Mosseri is a rising star in Hollywood. In the past few years he?s scored three major films: Joe Talbot?s drama ?The Last Black Man in San Francisco?, Miranda July?s quirky heist movie, ?Kajillionaire?, and most recently Lee Isaac Chung?s Golden Globe-winning ?Minari?. Plus, on the small screen, he created the tense sound-world for the second season of Amazon?s ?Homecoming?. In this episode he discusses the scores and sounds that he grew up with and how they filter into his music; the ways in which he has worked with different directors to bring their vision to life in sound; and how he keeps a thread running through his work.Listen

Gabriele Finaldi: how do you run an art institution in a pandemic?
Robert Bound speaks to Gabriele Finaldi, the director of London?s National Gallery, about the obstacles in the past year and what they have taught him. Plus: the gallery?s plans for its bicentenary celebrations and the pieces of art that he visits the most when he wanders the building alone.Listen

The Power of Sound: Arlo Parks
As she releases her debut album, ?Collapsed in Sunbeams? the London-based singer, songwriter and poet Arlo Parks reflects on how she defines her sound. She tells us about the music and poetry she was brought up on, why certain instruments speak to her and the effect that the spoken word has on her music.Listen

Adam Curtis?s ?Can't Get You Out of My Head?
Is documentary-maker Adam Curtis a journalist or an artist? Who is he making films for and what does he want to teach them? As his new series, ?Can't Get You Out of My Head? hits BBC iPlayer, Robert Bound puts these questions to critics, Ed Cumming and Susannah Butter.Listen

The Power of Sound: Roderick Cox
Since graduating from Northwestern University in 2011, award-winning American conductor Roderick Cox has become a celebrated name in classical music. He served as associate conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra for three seasons before relocating to Berlin, where he is now based. He is also a champion of diversity in the industry and set up the Roderick Cox Music Initiative to help provide scholarships for young musicians of colour from underrepresented backgrounds. In this episode, Cox tells us what it is like to take to the podium and lead an orchestra: from thinking about the acoustics of a concert hall to the addictive feeling you get when you?re hit by the sound of a large ensemble. Cox discusses the works that drew him to conducting; why he needs more life experience before he tackles certain composers; and the power that music has to teach us about other cultures.Listen

Iceland?s art scene
While many galleries and museums are still closed across Europe, we head to Iceland ? where coronavirus cases are low, arts centres are open and the government?s interest in visual art is growing ? to see how the past year has affected its scene. Kimberly Bradley meets various artists, directors and designers, including Hulda Rós Guðnadóttir at the opening of her new show, to talk about Iceland?s art history and its future.Listen



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 how they use everyday objects to build up sonic atmospheres.Listen

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 is told.Listen

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 responsible for writing music that will be part of a fan?s childhood. Music ?Oven-Fresh Day? and ?Slow-Baked? are copyright Rare LtdListen

?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 together in a hotel room in 1964. He discusses the depth of research he undertook ? from album liner notes to FBI files, the dynamics between these big characters and why Powers hopes that one day this story won?t be relevant anymore.Listen

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 about the unique way she found herself drawn to the violin, the physical connection she has with her instrument and the depth and complexity of sound in one note, as well as how her relationship with Delius began. Komachi has lived all around the world and describes how a sense of place influences her music, particularly her own compositions about cities, nature and architecture.Listen

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 from the comfort of your home.Listen

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.Listen



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 Jonathan Glazer?s ?Under the Skin?. In this episode, he discusses how he makes sound choices to enhance a film?s narrative ? and why less is sometimes more; how his obsession with audio extends to the musicality of everyday objects; and the childhood trauma that temporarily deafened him and sparked his interest in sound.Listen

?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.Listen

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 of David Byrne, KD Lang, Barenaked Ladies and Tricky as an engineer and producer. These days the Californian has turned to education. Rogers currently teaches at the famed Berklee College of Music where her interests lie particularly in psychoacoustics. Rogers tells us about her unexpected path into recording, some mind-blowing moments in the studio and, of course, a few tales about working with Prince.Listen

Looking ahead to 2021
We look to the year ahead in film, books and art with our critics: Anna Smith, John Mitchinson and Francesca Gavin.Listen

2020 music, film and TV review
Our critics Simran Hans, Will Hodgkinson and Fernando Augusto Pacheco reveal their top albums, films and television shows of the year.Listen

A Christmas story: ?The List?
Celebrate Christmas with us in a ?Monocle on Culture? first: an original piece of festive fiction written by Chloë Ashby.Listen

The Power of Sound: Jamie Cullum
Grammy-nominated jazz star Jamie Cullum tells us about the making of his first ever Christmas album, ?The Pianoman at Christmas?. He discusses the keys and chords that make classic Christmas songs, the festive music he was brought up on and why this is also a time of year for the spooky and the melancholic.Listen



?Winter Light? at the Southbank Centre
We go for a wander around the outside of London?s Southbank Centre to see its new multimedia exhibition, ?Winter Light?. Robert Bound is accompanied by curator Cliff Lauson and artist David Ogle.Listen

The Power of Sound: Hannah Peel
This week we speak to musician, composer and artist Hannah Peel. Renowned for her work in electronica, sound design and scoring for the screen, Peel is also interested in the intersection of music and science. In her solo work she has explored ideas of memory, neurology and sound, as well as composing a seven-movement odyssey for analogue synths and brass orchestra. Her work for TV and film is Emmy-nominated and most recently she composed the soundtrack for Channel 5 thriller ?The Deceived?. She talks to us about the role that sound has played in her life: whether that?s recording creaky old houses, the rush of a live concert or the way that sound can trigger some of our oldest memories, even in people whose minds are fading.Listen

Jonathan Coe
Novelist Jonathan Coe joins Robert Bound to discuss his new book, ?Mr Wilder and Me?, a fictional depiction of a young woman who finds herself on a Greek island working for American film director Billy Wilder.Listen

The Power of Sound: Chris Watson
Award-winning sound recordist Chris Watson is one of the leading documenters of the natural world, having recorded wildlife across all continents. Watson is also a musician and was a founding member of experimental group Cabaret Voltaire in the early 1980s. His compositions can be heard across radio and TV, including in the HBO series ?Chernobyl? and David Attenborough?s ?Life? and ?Frozen Planet?, and he has been exhibited in the National Gallery and The Louvre. In this episode he talks about where his passion for sound came from, and some of the experiences it has offered him, recording everything from blue whales in Baja to hedgehogs in his Northumberland garden. Plus: we hear recordings from his album ?Stepping into the Dark?.Listen

?Mank?
Robert Bound is joined by film critics Tim Robey and Karen Krizanovich to review David Fincher?s latest film, ?Mank?, the story of screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz as he battles for credit on the Oscar-winning ?Citizen Kane?. Set during the golden age of Hollywood, it stars Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried.Listen

?Cook, Eat, Repeat? by Nigella Lawson
We discuss the balance of stories, recipes and personality in cookery books through the lens of Nigella Lawson?s new volume, ?Cook, Eat, Repeat?. Robert Bound is joined by food writers Felicity Cloake and Olivia Potts and we hear from Lawson herself about the sort of recipes she wanted to write about.Listen

2020 vision
In this 2020 television bonanza, we discuss the streaming services eyeing up linear TV opportunities, whether the news has been the most popular TV show of the year and how well satirists are keeping up with the rolling headlines. Robert Bound is joined by guests Fernando Augusto Pacheco, Inkoo Kang and Scott Bryan.Listen



?Shirley?
Anna Smith and Lucy Scholes join Robert Bound to review ?Shirley?, Josephine Decker?s new film starring Elisabeth Moss, based on the life of the US horror writer Shirley Jackson.Listen

Autumn 2020 preview
To recommend the best music, television programmes and books still to come this year, Robert Bound is joined by Sharmaine Lovegrove, publisher at Dialogue Books; Ammar Kalia, The Guardian?s assistant TV editor; and the writer and editor Liv Siddall.Listen

James O?Brien
Writer and broadcaster James O'Brien joins Robert Bound to talk about his new book ?How Not To Be Wrong?, a more personal follow-up to his last, ?How To Be Right?. They discuss the difference between winning an argument and being right, how much language gets in the way, and the penny-drop moments for both him and his listeners.Listen

David Byrne?s ?American Utopia?
As David Byrne?s hit Broadway show ?American Utopia? arrives on screens in a new film by Spike Lee, Robert Bound chats with Tim Robey and Hilary Hughes about Byrne?s history of revolutionising live performance, Lee?s imprint on the show and its relevance in the current political climate.Listen

?On the Rocks?
Anna Smith and Caspar Salmon join Robert Bound to discuss ?On the Rocks?, Sofia Coppola?s latest film, which stars Bill Murray and Rashida Jones.Listen

Miranda July
As her brand-new film, ?Kajillionaire?, is shown at the London Film Festival, director Miranda July tells Robert Bound about the characters, colours and conversations that brought it to life.Listen

?Vic Reeves Art Book?
Comedian and artist Jim Moir, better known as Vic Reeves, joins Robert Bound to talk about his new book, a collection of his paintings that range from the dark to the absurd.Listen



At the drive-in
We speak to the director and cast of a new drive-in production of ?La Bohème? at Alexandra Palace about the future of opera, staging a show during a pandemic and acting out a love story from a distance of two metres.Listen

?Nothin? But a Good Time?
Justin Quirk tells Andrew Mueller about how a childhood love for glam metal inspired his new book, ?Nothin? But a Good Time?. It tells the story of this maligned music genre, from the extravagant hair, makeup and costumes to the political backdrop of 1980s America.Listen

?I Hate Suzie?
We discuss ?I Hate Suzie? from Lucy Prebble, playwright and a writer for ?Succession?, and Billie Piper. The TV series is a comedy about an actress whose phone is hacked, leading to compromising photos being leaked on the internet. Lucy Jones and Toby Earle join Robert Bound.Listen

?Tenet?
As cinemas reopen, Simran Hans and Tim Robey join Robert Bound to discuss Christopher Nolan?s time-bending new action-adventure, ?Tenet?.Listen

?Summer? by Ali Smith
Robert Bound is joined by the writers Susannah Butter and Alex Preston to review the final book in Ali Smith?s seasonal quartet and discuss the things it made them think of.Listen

Claire Oakley, director of 'Make Up'
Claire Oakley, the director of new British psychosexual thriller ?Make Up?, speaks to Robert Bound about the holiday parks, music and dreams that inspired her debut feature.Listen

Reality check
It seems that there has been an uptick in the amount of reality TV being put out into the world by Netflix. On this week?s show, Robert Bound is joined by Fernando Augusto Pacheco and the TV critics Inkoo Kang and Scott Bryan to look at the different formats ? from dating shows to real-life soap operas ? and ask whether the streaming giant, which was once known first and foremost for glossy drama, is changing tack with its content to cater for an international audience.Listen



The Fight
Robert Bound speaks to film-maker Eli B Despres about ?The Fight?, a new documentary that he?s co-directed about four different cases taken on by the American Civil Liberties Union.Listen

Back to business
As Tate reopens its museums, we visit Tate Modern to speak to art critic Louisa Buck and Tate?s director, Maria Balshaw, about the importance of seeing art in the flesh and the new challenges of running a gallery.Listen

A time for change?
Robert Bound is joined by guests from the film, publishing, art and music industries to talk about the future of the arts, how they have been affected by lockdown and whether this is an opportunity for positive change.Listen

?The Booksellers?
We speak to DW Young and Judith Mizrachy, the director and producer of new documentary ?The Booksellers?, which offers a glimpse into the fascinating world of New York?s book collectors and traders.Listen

Summer round-up
We dial up some of our cultural experts to find out what we should be watching, listening to and reading this summer. Robert Bound chats to broadcaster and journalist Kate Hutchinson, the writer Alex Preston and film critic Simran Hans.Listen

Brit Bennett
Author Brit Bennett tells Robert Bound about her new novel, ?The Vanishing Half?, which explores the lives of twin sisters in a black community in the US Deep South, who run away and live their lives differently: one as black, the other as white.Listen

Home
The AppleTV+ documentary series ?Home? visits unique properties around the world that have a sustainable or social remit. Robert Bound speaks to the series director, Doug Pray, and one of the featured designers, Christopher Brown, about what ?home? means.Listen



Reopening the Guggenheim
The directors of the Guggenheim?s Bilbao, Venice andNew York museums reflect on what they?ve missed since we went into lockdown, how they have been getting their art fixes and how things are different now as gallery doors reopen.Listen

Róisín Murphy
Solo artist Róisín Murphy, the former lead singer of Moloko, tells us about the wonderfully trippy home music videos that she?s been making during lockdown and how her influences include Italian TV shows, queer music culture and cities with big rivers.Listen

Full stream ahead
Since people have been cooped up indoors thanks to the pandemic, streaming services have seen an uptick in viewership. We speak to two programme directors from Mubi and Curzon to find out about the opportunities that this presents.Listen

What?s the future for music mags?
As some publications are suspended while others are in danger of being discontinued, we explore how the music press is holding up during the pandemic ? and why it?s important that we keep it going. Robert Bound speaks to Stuart Stubbs, editor of ?Loud and Quiet? and Laura Snapes, deputy music editor at ?The Guardian?.Listen

Richard Russell, XL Records
We speak to Richard Russell, head of XL Recordings about his brand new book and his incredible career producing records for everyone from Damon Albarn to Bobby Womack, his life in New York that kicked everything off and the unusual start of his collaboration with Gil Scott Heron.Listen

Pop in a pandemic
Music journalists Kate Hutchinson and Will Hodgkinson join Robert Bound to take a look at how the music industry has reacted and adapted to the current pandemic, and what sort of creativity that has sparked.Listen

Onscreen in lockdown
Critics Simran Hans and Scott Bryan divulge a few hidden TV and film gems to get you through the rest of lockdown.Listen



Olivia Laing
Novelist and art writer Olivia Laing tells Robert Bound about ?Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency?, her new collection of essays, columns and character studies from the past decade.Listen

Spring books and music
Will Hodgkinson and Lucy Scholes tell us about the best new music and books to enjoy this month, and the golden oldies they have been revisiting during lockdown.Listen

Melissa Harrison
Writer Melissa Harrison tells Robert Bound about her new podcast on nature, ?The Stubborn Light of Things?. She talks about writing during a period of change, how getting in touch with the outdoors changed her life and why we should believe the hype about nightingales.Listen

Craig Brown
Robert Bound speaks to writer Craig Brown about his new biography of the Beatles, called ?One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time?. How do you say something fresh about one of the most written-about bands in history?Listen

Broadcasting during a pandemic
We look at the role of public broadcasters during the pandemic. TV critic Scott Bryan tells us what the BBC has been up to while the CBC and Radio-Canada?s Catherine Tait talks about the practicalities of producing for a multilingual country. Plus: we head to northern California to discuss the value of local radio.Listen

The art of an online gallery
As art institutions and commercial galleries shut their doors to the public, we speak to critics Ben Luke and Jane Morris about what effect closures will have on audiences and businesses. Plus: we speak to Art Basel director Marc Spiegler about its brave new online world.Listen

'The Mirror & the Light' by Hilary Mantel
Robert Bound, John Mitchinson and Ted Hodgkinson review the final ? and rather hefty ? instalment of Hilary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell trilogy.Listen



?Among the Trees?
Robert Bound, Francesca Gavin and Ossian Ward get to the root of the Hayward Gallery?s new exhibition.Listen

Portrait of a Lady on Fire
We discuss female relationships, the queer gaze and the beauty of Céline Sciamma?s latest film. Ben Rylan is in conversation with Karen Krizanovich, Caspar Salmon and Chiara Rimella.Listen

Steve McQueen at Tate Modern
We discuss the new show of the artist and filmmaker, Steve McQueen, and revisit an interview with the man himself.Listen

?Adults? by Emma Jane Unsworth
Lucy Scholes and Susannah Butter discuss Emma Jane Unsworth?s new novel about Jenny McLaine, a thirtysomething London journalist whose addiction to social media begins to take over her life.Listen

Parasite
We review the newly released dark comedy by Bong Joon-ho, which picked up the Palme d'Or at Cannes last year. Film critics Simran Hans and Tim Robey join Robert Bound in the studio.Listen

Mushrooms: the art, design and future of fungi
Curator Francesca Gavin takes Monocle?s very own fun-guy, Robert Bound, on a tour of her new mushroom exhibition at Somerset House, which explores the ways fungi have been used in art.Listen

Uncle Vanya
Theatre critics Matt Wolf and Lyn Gardner join Robert Bound to give their verdict on the new production of Chekhov?s ?Uncle Vanya? at the Harold Pinter Theatre, starring Toby Jones and Ciarán Hinds.Listen



New year, new music
Robert Bound is joined by the chief rock & pop critic for ?The Times?, Will Hodgkinson, and the writer and broadcaster Kate Hutchinson to round up the best albums of 2020 so far ? from forgotten 1970s folk music to the brightest new popListen

?1917?
As it?s nominated for 10 Academy Awards, we head into the trenches to join George MacKay on a mission in ?1917?. Robert Bound, Simran Hans and Jason Solomons review the film and we hear from its director, Sam Mendes.Listen

2020 lookahead
Scott Bryan, Francesca Gavin and Karen Krizanovich join Robert Bound to give their two cents on the TV, films and art exhibitions to see this season.Listen

The best of 2019
Robert Bound is joined by Tim Robey, Kate Hutchinson and John Mitchinson to round up the best films, albums and books of 2019.Listen

Cats
Simran Hans and Caspar Salmon join Robert Bound to discuss one of the cinema events of 2019: the release of ?Cats?.Listen

The Kingmaker
Lauren Greenfield interviews Imelda Marcos in this fascinating new documentary, which takes a look at the life of the former first lady of the Philippines and the controversies surrounding her husband?s dictatorship. Ben Rylan, Karen Krizanovich and Jason Solomons review.Listen

Christmas crooners
Will Hodgkinson and Georgie Rogers join Robert Bound to cock an ear to the year?s Christmas albums, which span country to heavy metal and include efforts by Kacey Musgraves, Bryan Adams, Chicago and Judas Priest?s Rob Halford.Listen



The Street
We take a walk down Hoxton Street, the focus of Zed Nelson?s new documentary, 'The Street', which tells the story of a gentrifying London community over the course of four years.Listen

The Crown
Sarah Carson and Scott Bryan binge on the latest series of ?The Crown?, which sees Olivia Colman take over the role of Queen Elizabeth II from Claire Foy. How does the hit Netflix show fare with a new cast in a new era? And how easy it is to watch alongside the ongoing Prince Andrew scandal?Listen

Will Apple be the new Netflix?
As Apple and Disney launch their own streaming services, Terri White and Toby Earle join Robert Bound to ask whether this rapidly expanding market is increasing not just the quantity of TV shows but their quality.Listen

The Irishman
Martin Scorsese?s new film tells the story of Frank ?The Irishman? Sheeran, a 1950s truck driver turned hitman who became union boss Jimmy Hoffa?s right-hand man. But does it keep you gripped for its three-and-a-half hours? Robert Bound asks Tim Robey and Simran Hans.Listen

Edward Parnell
?Ghostland?, the new book by Edward Parnell, is a mix of memoir, travelogue, nature journal and literary journey set in spooky, rural locations around the UK. Parnell chats to Robert Bound about how these places and narratives became therapy for him after a family tragedy.Listen

?By the Grace of God?
We discuss the new docudrama by French director François Ozon, which deals with a complex and ongoing case of child abuse in the French Catholic church. Ben Rylan?s guests are film critics Karen Krizanovich and Tim Robey.Listen

Eve Babitz
Robert Bound, Kate Hutchinson and Lucy Scholes discuss the writing of the LA legend, whose vivid stories and laser-focused observations capture the very essence of Hollywood in the 1960s and 1970s. But as she releases a new anthology, how does her work sit in the #MeToo era and will there ever be another like her?Listen



?Into the Night?
We twirl around the Barbican?s latest big exhibition, which explores the art that was created around cabaret culture from the late 1800s. But did it dazzle our critics? Robert Bound is joined by Eddy Frankel and Francesca Gavin.Listen

Brett Anderson
The Suede frontman has just released his second memoir, ?Afternoons with the Blinds Drawn?. He tells Robert Bound about his unconventional approach to a rock autobiography, how the 1990s music press shaped his career and what it was like for an indie band to exist during the Britpop wars.Listen

Grayson Perry: ?Super Rich Interior Decoration?
Robert Bound is joined by Louisa Buck and Ossian Ward to decipher the wit and politics in Grayson Perry?s new show at Victoria Miro.Listen

?Hustlers?
Robert Bound is joined by critics Anna Smith and Jason Solomons to talk friendship, fraudsters and the female gaze in ?Hustlers?, the new stripper-heist movie, starring Jennifer Lopez, that is based on a true story.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: One True Pairing
Former Wild Beasts bassist Tom Fleming has launched a solo career under the name One True Pairing, taken from a fan-fiction title. He plays some tracks in the studio and tells us about his debut album, which he describes as his ?angry, northern Springsteen record?.Listen

Autumn preview
Notebooks at the ready: we give you the TV shows, albums and exhibitions that should be on your radar this autumn. Georgie Rogers, Peter White and Francesca Gavin offer their expert tips.Listen

?Succession?
Robert Bound is joined by Tim Robey and Scott Bryan to discuss ?Succession?, the HBO dark comedy about media tycoons the Roy family.Listen



The Sessions at Midori House: Amadou & Mariam and the Blind Boys of Alabama
US gospel choir the Blind Boys of Alabama have joined forces with Malian duo Amadou & Mariam in a project called ?From Bamako to Birmingham?. They each play a track of their own plus their collaboration in the studio.Listen

?The Souvenir?
?The Souvenir? is the fourth film by British director Joanna Hogg. It stars Honor Swinton-Byrne in her first acting role and is based on the film-maker?s time as a student. Robert Bound sits down with film critics Simran Hans and Anna Smith to discuss.Listen

?The Offing? by Benjamin Myers
Robert Bound, John Mitchinson and Susannah Butter crack the spine of ?The Offing?, the new novel by Benjamin Myers, whose last book ?The Gallows Pole? was a big hit.Listen

?Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?
Last week saw the UK release of what is supposedly Quentin Tarantino?s penultimate film: ?Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?. Robert Bound, Simran Hans and Tim Robey discuss the counter-culture, cowboys and controversies surrounding it.Listen

Edition 409
Robert Bound and his guests discuss what has piqued their interest in our one-stop shop for lively reports and in-depth interviews on the newest and finest in art, film, books and the media business.Listen

?Old Town Road?
We take a deep dive into Lil Nas X?s US record-breaking number-one single, ?Old Town Road?. Baylen Leonard and Leonie Cooper join Robert Bound to discuss genre, sexuality, remixes and what it takes to make a hit song.Listen

?Queer Eye?
We assess how ?Queer Eye? has transformed the makeover genre ? and what it has done for queer TV in general. Ben Rylan is joined by critics Scott Bryan and Toby Earle, who also offer tips on the shows to stream now.Listen



?Apollo 11?
As we celebrate 50 years since Neil Armstrong took that notorious first step on the moon, we watch this thrilling and moving documentary of one of the greatest feats of humankind. Robert Bound is joined in the studio by Anna Smith and Andrew Mueller to review ?Apollo 11?, which is made up entirely of original footage of the most famous space mission.Listen

?Sweet Sorrow? by David Nicholls
This summer?s ultimate poolside read, ?Sweet Sorrow? is the latest novel by award-winning author and screenwriter David Nicholls. Robert Bound, Georgina Godwin and John Mitchinson talk love stories and 1990s nostalgia.Listen

Cindy Sherman
The art world?s master of disguise has a retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery; we try to get to the bottom of the wit and wigs that have made her one of the greatest contemporary artists. Robert Bound is joined by Kathlene Fox-Davies and Francesca Gavin.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: From the archives ? The Charlatans
We relive a performance by The Charlatans from 2017. Robert Bound met the band at the time of the release of their album ?Different Days?.Listen

Summer lookahead 2019
Robert Bound is joined by Leonie Cooper, Susannah Butter and Scott Bryan to round up our cultural checklist for the summer. Find out what you'll be reading, watching and dancing to this season.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: From the archives ? Oscar Jerome
Take another listen to a 2018 performance by UK neo-soul singer Oscar Jerome, who brought some chilled, summery vibes to Midori House.Listen

?Rolling Thunder Revue?
We try to separate fact from fiction in Martin Scorsese?s pseudo-documentary about Bob Dylan?s 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue tour. Will we ever know the real Dylan? Robert Bound discusses with Liv Siddall, Tim Robey and Will Hodgkinson.Listen



The Sessions at Midori House: Mixtape
We revisit performances by Julia Holter, Sam Evian, Saint Etienne and Margo Price from our musical archives.Listen

Art Basel, 2019
Monocle?s Culture editor, Chiara Rimella, shows us around the biggest art event of the year ? and speaks to the curators, collectors and critics.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Lewis OfMan
This week?s guest is French pop musician Lewis OfMan, who might only be in his early twenties but is fast on the rise. He has already soundtracked fashion shows for some of France?s top maisons, composed and produced for Vendredi Sur Mer and Rejjie Snow, and is in the process of finishing his debut solo album.Listen

The RA?s Summer Exhibition
Robert Bound, Eddy Frankel and Ossian Ward discuss this year?s Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, Francis Bacon at the Gagosian and the responsibilities of an art critic.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: From the archives: Jordan Rakei
Ahead of the release of his third album, we listen back to a few tracks that New Zealand-born, Brisbane-raised musician Jordan Rakei played for us during performances in 2016 and 2017.Listen

?Diego Maradona? and ?Halston?
Robert Bound is joined by film critics Anna Smith and Jason Solomons to discuss two of this month?s documentary releases: ?Halston? and ?Diego Maradona?.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Andreya Triana
British singer Andreya Triana performs some tracks from her new album ?Life In Colour?.Listen



Thunder Road
Robert Bound meets Jim Cummings, director, writer and star of brand new film ?Thunder Road?. It?s a tender comedy about a Texan police officer trying to forge a relationship with his young daughter, while also grieving for his recently deceased mother.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Lola Kirke
You might recognise actress Lola Kirke from *Gone Girl* and *Mistress America* but she revealed her musical talents last year with debut album *Heart Head West*. She dropped into Midori House to play tracks new and old.Listen

?Wild and Crazy Guys?
We look back at the golden age of US small-screen comedy through the lens of the stars of Saturday Night Live in the 1980s: Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Steve Martin and John Belushi.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: From the archives: Anna Calvi
We revisit Anna Calvi?s 2018 performance at Midori House. Armed with just her electric guitar, she played from her album ?Hunter?.Listen

Faber and Faber: the untold story
We learn about 90 years of one of the most important independent publishers, which has printed works by everyone from Sylvia Plath to Sally Rooney. Robert Bound sits down with Toby Faber, grandson of the publishing house's founder, and Faber author Alex Preston.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Noga Erez
Listen back to our 2017 session by Israeli musician and producer Noga Erez who played us a few tracks from her album ?Off The Radar?.Listen

May music
Laura Snapes and Georgie Rogers give Robert Bound their top tips for albums released this month, including records by Carly Rae Jepsen, The National, Hayden Thorpe and Holly Herndon.Listen



The Sessions at Midori House:
Listen

?Machines Like Me? by Ian McEwan
Robert Bound is joined by Susannah Butter and John Mitchinson to talk humanoid love triangles and a reimagined Britain in ?Machines Like Me? by Ian McEwan.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Rodrigo y Gabriela
Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela wow us with their strumming skills as they play from their new album ?Mettavolution? and discuss a career that?s taken them from busking in Dublin to playing at the White House.Listen

Mid90s
The actor Jonah Hill makes his directorial debut with ?Mid90s? ? a coming-of-age film about a group of teenage skater boys in LA. But how does he do in the director?s chair? Robert Bound discusses the film with critics Simran Hans and Tim Robey.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Weyes Blood ? from the archives
As Natalie Mering, aka Weyes Blood, releases her new critically acclaimed album ?Titanic Rising? we revisit some tracks she played for us in two previous sessions from 2015 and 2017.Listen

The art of design
During Milan Design Week we look at projects where the worlds of art and design collide: a furniture collection by Matthew Day Jackson and a living installation for Jil Sander created by Australian artist Linda Tegg. Plus: we discuss how you show design on-screen with filmmaker Gary Hustwit.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Luke Sital-Singh
UK singer-songwriter Luke Sital-Singh tells us why a Californian road trip inspired both his new album 'A Golden State' and his relocation from Bristol to Los Angeles. He also discusses the power of a sad song as he performs a few tracks from his new LP.Listen



Spring lookahead, 2019
Robert Bound is joined in the studio by culture writer Lucy Scholes, music columnist Leonie Cooper and film critic Anna Smith to discuss the books, songs and films worthy of your time over the next few months.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: From the archives: Middle Kids
With Australian indie trio Middle Kids about to release a new EP, we revisit their 2018 session almost a year to the day after they recorded it at Midori House.Listen

Agnès Varda
Agnès Varda, who died last week, was a key figure in 1960s French new wave film. We pay tribute to her by listening again to an interview she recorded with Robert Bound last year.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Night Works
Night Works is the solo project of Gabriel Stebbing ? ex-Metronomy and Christine and the Queens guitarist. After his first album in 2013 he?s revived the project for a new EP, followed by an album later this year. Stebbing is at Midori House to talk synth pop, collaboration and to play some new songs.Listen

?Van Gogh and Britain?
Tate Britain is unveiling its first Vincent Van Gogh exhibition for more than 70 years, exploring his early adulthood spent in the UK and the events that saw him become one of the most famous artists in history.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Nick Waterhouse
Rhythm-and-blues musician Nick Waterhouse makes his return to Midori House to play some toe-tapping tracks from his new eponymous album and talk to Daphne Karnezis about making American music.Listen

?Lanny? by Max Porter
We immerse ourselves in the world of suburban England with Porter?s excellent new novel. Robert Bound is joined in the studio by Susannah Butter and John Mitchinson, who draw comparisons to John McGregor and Russell Hoban.Listen



The Sessions at Midori House: Vök
As the Icelandic band Vök release their new album ?In The Dark?, we revisit their 2016 performance at Midori House.Listen

March music
Among other releases, March sees the return of early noughties hit-makers Dido and David Gray. The two sold millions of records back in 2000 but can they replicate that success in 2019? Robert Bound is joined in the studio by Liv Siddall and Will Hodgkinson to discuss and round up some other albums they?re enjoying this month.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Robert Forster
Robert Forster, founding member of Australian band The Go-Betweens, returns to Midori House to play some new songs and chat to Andrew Mueller.Listen

Alan Partridge
As everyone?s favourite fictional broadcaster returns in a new BBC series, Robert Bound discusses his enduring appeal with Scott Bryan and Toby Earle.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Emily King
Grammy nominee Emily King tells us why buying a car and moving upstate from her native New York City to the Catskills provided the inspiration she needed to write her new album ?Scenery?. She also plays us a few tracks from it.Listen

Oscars 2019
Ben Rylan and film critics Tim Robey and Karen Krizanovich dissect the highs and the lows of this year?s Academy Awards ceremony.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Sasami
Los Angeles-based musician Sasami plays songs from her new self-titled album and talks inspiration, analogue recording and how to bribe your brother into playing on your record.Listen



?A Private War?
Photojournalist Paul Conroy and film director Matthew Heineman join Robert Bound to discuss the making of ?A Private War? ? the new biopic of the late war journalist Marie Colvin.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: The Drums
Jonny Pierce of The Drums drops by to play us some tunes from ?Brutalism?, his upcoming record about self-care and pulling yourself out of the dark.Listen

Don McCullin
Tate Britain has opened its first-ever photography retrospective: a 60-year survey of work by Don McCullin, famed for his depictions of conflict around the world. Robert Bound is joined by Zed Nelson, Kathlene Fox-Davies and Eddy Frankel to discuss it.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Seu Jorge
Brazilian samba legend Seu Jorge revisits the David Bowie tracks that he famously covered in the 2004 Wes Anderson film ?The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou?.Listen

?Out of the Woods? by Luke Turner
Robert Bound and the writers Dan Richards and Alex Preston discuss the music, nature and sex in the pages of ?Out of the Woods?, the new memoir by Luke Turner.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: From the archives - Sunflower Bean
American indie-rock group Sunflower Bean paid us a visit in 2016. We listen back to the three tracks they played for us from their debut album, ?Human Ceremony?.Listen

?Vice?
Robert Bound, Ben Rylan and Karen Krizanovich discuss the politics and prosthetics of ?Vice?, Adam McKay?s new biopic of former US vice-president Dick Cheney.Listen



The Sessions at Midori House: From the archives: Blue Hawaii
We revisit our 2017 session with Canadian electro duo Blue Hawaii, who played tracks from their second album ?Tenderness?.Listen

Sharon Van Etten: ?Remind Me Tomorrow?
Liv Siddall and Will Hodgkinson join Robert Bound to discuss ?Remind Me Tomorrow?, the fifth album by American singer Sharon Van Etten.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Ohtis
Sam Swinson is the frontman of American trio Ohtis who, despite having been formed more than 10 years ago, are about to release their debut album, ?Curve of Earth?. It?s an exploration of the religious cult that Swinson grew up in, his battles with drug addiction and the recovery process that followed. Swinson plays three tracks and chats to Holly Fisher.Listen

?Colette?
We discuss sexuality, period drama, and Keira Knightley and Dominic West?s starring roles in our review of Wash Westmoreland?s ?Colette?, with film critics Anna Smith and Tim Robey.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Dave Keuning
This year the founding member and guitarist in The Killers, Dave Keuning, is going solo. He chats to Kieron Banerji and plays us a few tracks from his new record ?Prismism?.Listen

Lookahead 2019
Robert Bound is joined by Peter White, Anna Smith and Gareth Harris to look at the year ahead in film, TV and art.Listen

Culture review 2018
We review the best books, music and film of 2018 with Kate Hutchinson, Tim Robey and Katie Law.Listen



The Monocle Culture Quiz
Robert Bound hosts the first Monocle Culture Quiz, featuring panellists Alice Vincent, Jason Solomons, Simran Hans and John Mitchinson.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: The Christmas edition
In this bumper festive special we relive some of our favourite sessions from 2018, including Sam Evian, Anna Calvi, Jess Williamson and Charles Watson, and get into the Christmas spirit with New Zealand duo Broods who play us their cover of ?Silent Night?.Listen

?Middle England? by Jonathan Coe
Robert Bound is joined by John Mitchinson, publisher at Unbound, and Susannah Butter, deputy features editor at ?The Evening Standard? to discuss ?Middle England?, the new state-of-the-nation novel by Jonathan Coe.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Best of 2018
We take a trip down memory lane and relive some of our favourite performances from the past year, including tracks by Cults, Yazmin Lacey, Cub Sport and Tiny Ruins.Listen

Christmas crooners
Robert Bound rounds up the best (and worst) Christmas tunes of 2018 with Will Hodgkinson, chief rock and pop critic for ?The Times?, and broadcaster and DJ Georgie Rogers.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Broods
Live music from Kiwi brother-and-sister pop duo Broods, who will release their album ?Don't Feed The Pop Monster? next February.Listen

Commercial Christmas
With the annual battle for the best Christmas advert well underway we take a look at this year?s offerings and work out where festive TV commercials can go next. Robert Bound is joined by Toby Earle and Scott Bryan. Plus: what are Christmas ads like elsewhere in the world? We put the question to the Monocle team.Listen



The Sessions at Midori House: Julia Jacklin
Making her return to the Sessions, Australian musician Julia Jacklin plays from her upcoming album and chats to Andrew Mueller about the making of it and dealing with writer?s block.Listen

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Up for discussion this week is the latest film by The Coen brothers, a series of beautiful Western vignettes. Robert Bound is joined by film critics Tim Robey and Terri White.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Joey Dosik
LA jazz and soul singer Joey Dosik plays from his debut album ?Inside Voice? and talks about writing love songs about basketball.Listen

Suspiria
Film critics Simran Hans and Jason Solomons review Luca Guadagnino's remake of the 1977 supernatural dance-school horror ?Suspiria? to see if it lives up to the original.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Bill Ryder-Jones
Bill Ryder-Jones is back in the Monocle 24 studios to perform songs from his new record 'Yawn', which he discusses with host Andrew Mueller.Listen

Mickey Mouse at 90
As Mickey hits a significant birthday, we take a look at his career as a film star, logo, toy and all-round international brand superstar.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Gold Star
The Austrian-born, Los Angeles-based artist joins us to play tracks old and new ? and a Velvet Underground cover.Listen



?A Very, Very Dark Matter?
As Martin McDonagh?s latest play takes to the stage at the Bridge Theatre, Georgina Godwin sits down with Matt Wolf, theatre critic for the ?International New York Times?, and Monocle 24?s Augustin Macellari to review it.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Cosha
Irish R&B singer Cosha performs from her album ?RIP Bonzai?.Listen

?Honey? by Robyn
Andrew Mueller is joined by the journalist and broadcaster Kate Hutchinson and Laura Snapes, deputy music editor of ?The Guardian?, to give the new record by Robyn a spin.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Mixtape
We relive some of our favourite performances by Nerina Pallot, Devendra Banhart, Laurel and JFDR.Listen

Mipcom
Robert Bound hits the Croisette in Cannes for this year?s Mipcom ? the world?s TV-format marketplace ? to find out what we might be watching in the future.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: The Goon Sax
Brisbane band The Goon Sax hit Midori House to play from their latest album, ?We?re Not Talking?, and to have a chat with Andrew Mueller.Listen

?Strange Days: Memories of the Future?
We head to The Store in London and immerse ourselves in its enormous new video art exhibition ? a collaboration between The Vinyl Factory and The New Museum in New York. Robert Bound is joined by guests Francesca Gavin and Gareth Harris.Listen



The Sessions at Midori House: Jess Williamson
Texan musician Jess Williamson plays songs from her latest album, ?Cosmic Wink?, and talks about the changing events that sparked it.Listen

?A Star Is Born?
Many versions of the 1937 film ?A Star Is Born? have been made over the years and the latest person to tackle one of Hollywood?s favourite love stories is Bradley Cooper. He also stars in his directorial debut alongside Lady Gaga, but has it won the hearts of our critics, Simran Hans and Karen Krizanovich?Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Villagers
Irish musician Conor O?Brien has been playing under the moniker Villagers for the past decade. His fifth album, ?The Art of Pretending To Swim?, brings his usual folk songs to the dance floor for an electro-fuelled meditation on faith.Listen

?Maniac?
Ben Rylan, film critic Anna Smith and writer Candice Carty-Williams attempt to dissect the strange imagined worlds by Cary Fukunaga in his new sci-fi Netflix series, ?Maniac?.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Mixtape
We relive some excellent live performances by indie band The Charlatans, Israeli producer Noga Erez, Slow Club?s Charles Watson and American hitmakers Portugal. The Man.Listen

?Crazy Rich Asians?
?Crazy Rich Asians? has been hailed as the film that?s put Asian cinema on the western map but how does it hold up as a rom-com in its own right? Andrew Mueller puts this question to the film critics, Simran Hans and Tim Robey.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Amber Arcades
Utrecht?s Amber Arcades plays from her new album ?European Heartbreak?. She also muses on what being European means and how her former work with refugees seeking asylum in the Netherlands has impacted her views on relationships.Listen



?Heathers the Musical?
The 1989 teen cult classic 'Heathers' has had a musical makeover on the West End. Monocle senior editor Robert Bound, Alice Vincent (arts and entertainment writer for 'The Telegraph?) and Matt Wolf (theatre critic for ?The International New York Times?) discuss how easy it is to turn a dark comedy about cliques and killers into an all-singing, all-dancing spectacle.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Lyla Foy
Foy performs from her brand new album ?Bigger Brighter?, telling us about the collaborations that formed it and why it is the most honest record she has made so far.Listen

?Only To Sleep? by Lawrence Osborne
From James Bond to Sherlock Holmes, plenty of our favourite investigators have had their legacy continued by authors other than their creators. Another such sleuth is the proto noir detective Philip Marlowe, originally the star of novels by Raymond Chandler. ?Only To Sleep? is the latest Philip Marlowe novel and it?s by Lawrence Osborne. On this week?s episode it is reviewed by Katie Law, deputy literary editor at the ?Evening Standard?, and John Mitchinson, co-founder of Unbound.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Anna Calvi
Armed with just her electric guitar, Calvi wows Midori House with a trio of tracks from her brilliant new album ?Hunter?.Listen

?Hunter? by Anna Calvi
Anna Calvi?s new album ?Hunter? deals with the ideas and limitations of gender stereotypes, all told through her brand of cinematic indie rock. Robert Bound and journalists Sophie Brown and Kate Hutchinson discuss the new LP and the rise of the female rockstar.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Tiny Ruins
New Zealand band Tiny Ruins first played for us in 2014 when they released their LP ?Brightly Painted One?. Now they?re back with a more expansive sound and a new album on the way, from which they play a couple of tracks for us.Listen

Autumn lookahead 2018
Robert Bound and his team of cultural clairvoyants tell us what we will be watching, listening to and reading this autumn. Our guests are film critic Simran Hans, broadcaster and DJ Georgie Rogers and Ted Hodgkinson, head of literature and spoken word at London?s Southbank Centre.Listen



The Sessions at Midori House: Oscar Jerome
British musician Oscar Jerome takes to the studio to play us some of his south London soul.Listen

?Disenchantment?
?The Simpsons? and ?Futurama? creator Matt Groening has released his new animated series ?Disenchantment? on Netflix. But when you have a couple of hits under your belt, how easy is it to impress fans again? Tom Edwards and the TV critics Lucy Jones and Toby Earle ask whether ?Disenchantment? can match the success of its predecessors.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Sons of the East
Sydney?s Sons of the East drop by to play us a few indie-folk tracks in the midst of their European tour.Listen

?The Meg?
Robert Bound, Fernando Augusto Pacheco and film critic for ?The Telegraph? Tim Robey talk shark movies and see if this summer?s offering, ?The Meg?, has any bite.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Lucie Silvas
British singer and songwriter Lucie Silvas tells Andrew Mueller how a move to Nashville has affected her musical career and performs a few tracks from her new album ?EGO?.Listen

?Less? by Andrew Sean Greer
This year ?Less? by Andrew Sean Greer picked up the Pulitzer prize for fiction, which was a surprise to critics as this accolade is rarely given to funny books. Robert Bound and writers Lucy Scholes and Andy Miller ask why this novel has been such a hit and whether we take comedy seriously enough.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Mixtape: Australia
Listen back to some of our favourite performances by Australian artists who have made the trip all the way around the world to play in our London studios, including tracks by Julia Jacklin, Cub Sport, Sarah Blasko and Middle Kids.Listen



?Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again?
Tom Edwards is joined in the studio by the film critic Anna Smith, deputy music editor of ?The Guardian? Laura Snapes and Monocle?s Fernando Augusto Pacheco to discuss why the sequel to ?Mamma Mia? is the shot of unabashed musical escapism that everyone needs right now.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Charley Crockett
Texan singer Charley Crockett sings the blues for us and explains how he went from street performer to recording artist.Listen

Now That?s What I Call Music
As the king of compilations ?Now That?s What I Call Music? celebrates its 100th edition, Henry Rees Sheridan sits down with Peter Robinson, journalist and founder of Popjustice, and Rob Copsey, editor of The Official Charts, to discuss the legacy of this musical brand.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Talos
Irish musician Eoin French, AKA Talos, joins us in the studio to play acoustic versions of his electro-pop.Listen

Hayward at 50
As the Hayward Gallery celebrates half a decade, Robert Bound takes a look at why it was built, the art it has housed and its importance in London. He is joined in the studio by Jane Morris, editor at large of 'The Art Newspaper', and architecture and culture writer Owen Hatherley.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Our Girl
London trio Our Girl are set to release their debut album ?Stranger Today?. Lead singer Sophie Nathan comes to Midori House to play an acoustic set.Listen

?McQueen?
Robert Bound is with the film critics Anna Smith and Tim Robey to discuss the legacy of celebrated fashion designer Alexander McQueen as depicted in a new film ?McQueen?, and to work out what makes a great fashion documentary.Listen



The Sessions at Midori House: Mixtape
Listen back to some great live sessions in the Monocle studios by Tennis, Chip Taylor, Songhoy Blues, and Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear.Listen

?High as Hope? by Florence + the Machine
Music journalists Liv Siddall and Sarah Carson join Robert Bound in the studio to discuss Florence + The Machine?s fourth album ?High as Hope?.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Mixtape
We relive some past performances by the likes of Cults, Holly Williams, Pins and The Barr Brothers.Listen

Ed Ruscha and Thomas Cole at the National Gallery
We examine the link between two exhibitions being held concurrently at the National Gallery: Thomas Cole?s ?Eden to Empire? and Ed Ruscha?s ?Course of Empire?. Robert Bound is joined in the studio by Ossian Ward, head of content for the Lisson Gallery, and Eddy Frankel, visual art editor at ?Time Out London?.Listen

Jason Mraz
The Grammy-winning, Broadway-performing, avocado-farming, charity-running musician Jason Mraz plays tracks new and old and chats about his upcoming album ?Know?.Listen

Studio 54
As ?Studio 54? hits cinemas, Robert Bound is joined by film critic Jason Solomons and Horse Meat Disco DJ Severino Panzetta to discuss the documentary about the legendary New York nightclub, as well as the club?s legacy and the music and movies it reminds them of.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House Mixtape
We dig out some memorable performances from the Sessions? archive, including those by Calexico, Andreya Triana, Local Natives and The Dø.Listen



?The President is Missing? by Bill Clinton and James Patterson
We dive into the one of the biggest political thrillers of the year, co-written by former president Bill Clinton and prolific American author James Patterson. Robert Bound is joined by journalist Sarah Shaffi and Ted Hodgkinson, senior programmer for literature and spoken word at the Southbank Centre.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Fatoumata Diawara
Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara joins us in the studio to sing from her new album ?Fenfo? and chat to Andrew Mueller about her relationship with Africa.Listen

?Solo: A Star Wars Story?
Film critics Karen Krizanovich and Tim Robey join Tom Edwards in the studio to discuss the new ?Star Wars? prequel, ?Solo?. After a bumpy production process is it plain-sailing for the latest instalment of this intergalactic franchise?Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Sam Evian
American psych rock musician Sam Evian plays from his new album ?You, Forever? and explains the analogue process of making the album in a house in upstate New York.Listen

Courtney Barnett
This week we discuss ?Tell Me How You Really Feel?, the new album by Australian indie singer Courtney Barnett. Robert Bound sits down with music journalist Liv Siddall and Will Hodgkinson, chief rock and pop critic for ?The Times?, to give it a spin and unpick its influences.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Leah Dou
Musician Leah Dou may be the daughter of Chinese musical royalty (mum is popstar Faye Wong and Dad is producer and musician Dou Wei) but she?s carving her own path in the music industry, with two albums and a film soundtrack under her belt at the age of 21. Dou plays a stripped-back session of tracks for us at Midori House.Listen

Shape of Light: 100 Years of Photography and Abstract Art
Robert Bound heads down to the Tate Modern for its new show ?Shape of Light: 100 Years of Photography and Abstract Art?, where he meets curator Simon Baker and artist Barbara Kasten. Back in the studio he?s joined by Kathlene Fox-Davies and Francesca Gavin to discuss the show and photography as an art form.Listen



The Sessions at Midori House: Halo Maud
French psych-pop musician Halo Maud performs from her debut album ?Je Suis Une Île?.Listen

?Arrested Development? remix: ?Fateful Consequences?
Should a bad TV season get a second chance? The makers of ?Arrested Development? have remixed and rereleased their fourth season and Robert Bound takes a look at it with the critics Karen Krizanovich and Toby Earle. Plus, they review new TV series ?Patrick Melrose? and ?Safe?.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Low Island
This week we welcome half of Oxford pop quartet Low Island into the studio, who play from their latest EP and tell us how they?re rethinking live shows.Listen

Chess
We hit the West End for a new production of ?Chess? the Cold War era musical by Tim Rice and Abba?s Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. Robert Bound is joined by Matt Wolf, theatre critic for the ?International New York Times?, and Nancy Durrant, commissioning editor for ?The Times Arts?, to discuss.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: HC McEntire
HC McEntire tells us about her complicated relationship with the American South and a meeting with Riot Grrrl Kathleen Hanna that led to the release of McEntire?s debut solo album ?Lionheart?.Listen

?Dirty Computer? by Janelle Monáe
Robert Bound gives the new Janelle Monáe record a spin with writer Candice Carty-Williams and broadcaster and DJ Georgie Rogers. Will the combination of politics and pop on Monáe?s third album propel her into superstardom?Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Beth Rowley
Ten years ago Beth Rowley was signed to a major label and had a critically acclaimed top-10 album, but she wasn?t happy with the way the music industry had moulded her and so she walked away. Now she?s back with a self-released record called ?Gota Fría?, which she plays from today.Listen



?Property? by Lionel Shriver
How important is it to discuss the author when you are reviewing a book? Robert Bound is joined in the studio by Katie Law, deputy literary editor for ?The Evening Standard?, and John Mitchinson, publisher at Unbound, to review ?Property? ? a new collection of stories by Lionel Shriver, answer this question and to provide further reading.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: mixtape
We relive some of the great performances from the Sessions? archives. Music by Bill Ryder-Jones, Jamie Woon, Sunflower Bean and Jaakko Eino Kalevi.Listen

?Pilot TV? magazine and ?Killing Eve?
Peter White, international editor for ?Hollywood Deadline? joins Robert Bound to discuss ?Pilot TV? ? the new magazine from the people behind ?Empire? ? that?s dedicated to cinematic television, and ?Killing Eve?, the darkly comedic new thriller from Phoebe Waller-Bridge.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Mona
Nashville rockers Mona join us in the studio to perform a few tracks from their upcoming album ?Soldier On?.Listen

Kacey Musgraves
This week we put country singer Kacey Musgrave?s new album ?Golden Hour? under the microscope. Joining Robert Bound in the studio are broadcaster Baylen Leonard and music writer for ?The Telegraph? Sarah Carson.Listen

The Sessions at Midori House: Middle Kids
Australian indie trio Middle Kids drop by to play us a set of songs ahead of the release of their debut album ?Lost Friends?.Listen

Isle of Dogs
In the first episode of our brand-new revamped culture show we take Wes Anderson?s ?Isle of Dogs? for a walk with film critic for ?The Telegraph? Tim Robey and ?It?s Nice That? design writer Jenny Brewer.Listen



The final hurrah
In the last-ever episode of ?Culture with Robert Bound? we revisit some of our favourite moments from the last 367 programmes.Listen

Book-hunting
We tour Hong Kong, Toronto, Ljubljana, Johannesburg and London for a snapshot of people who work in the business of collecting books; from historians and curators to booksellers and publishers.Listen

Google Arts & Culture
Robert Bound takes a trip to Paris to visit Google Arts & Culture, the branch of the internet giant that marries art and technology for both digital solutions and fun.Listen

How do you design a film?
We speak to Oscar-winning production designer Paul D Austerberry about his work on ?The Shape of Water?, and meet Erica Dorn, the lead graphic designer on Wes Anderson?s upcoming ?Isle of Dogs?, to talk visual worlds.Listen

Creative vision
Robert Bound heads to London?s Photographers? Gallery to meet the nominees for this year?s Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, which seeks innovation and bold messages in contemporary photography from around the world.Listen

What makes a great singer?
Robert Bound chats to Nick Coleman, author of new book ?Voices: How a Great Singer Can Change Your Life?, about beloved songs and sounds from rock, pop and soul music. Plus: we invite a few Monocle contributors to tell us which voices they can?t get out of their heads ? and don?t want to.Listen

Selling the sin sector
As Taschen releases its new book ?20th Century Alcohol & Tobacco Ads?, we go back in time to explore the golden age of advertising for cigarettes and alcohol. Robert Bound speaks to the book?s editor Jim Heimann and design critic? Stephen Bayley.Listen



Ragnar Kjartansson
We pay a visit to the National Museum Cardiff to meet Icelandic visual artist Ragnar Kjartansson as his latest work begins a five-week cycle: a performance piece called ?The Sky In A Room?.Listen

Gursky at the Hayward
After two years of renovation the Southbank Centre?s Hayward Gallery has just thrown open its doors to the public. Robert Bound heads down to meet director Ralph Rugoff and architect Richard Battye, and we speak to Jane Morris to find out the significance of the opening exhibition by Andreas Gursky.Listen

How do you produce a documentary?
Robert Bound speaks to film director Greg Barker and producer John Battsek about their candid new documentary on Barack Obama?s last 12 months of presidency, ?The Final Year?.Listen

Why should we read short stories?
Robert Bound and writers Elizabeth Day and Chris Power celebrate the joys of the short story and why these lithe texts are worth more than just their word count and don?t play second fiddle to the novel.Listen

Art 2018
Writer and critic Francesca Gavin and Kathlene Fox-Davies, director of Black Box Projects, sit down with Robert Bound to discuss the big art shows and openings over the next year.Listen

Culture lookahead: 2018
Robert Bound is joined in the studio by broadcaster and DJ Georgie Rogers, film critic for ?The Telegraph? Tim Robey and publisher at Unbound John Mitchinson to discuss the music, films and books that they?re looking forward to in 2018.Listen

Something Old, Something New: the highlights
We take a trip down memory lane and listen back to some of our favourite interviews from our ?Something Old, Something New? series, where we invite creative people ? from publishers to pop stars ? to talk about the things that have influenced them throughout their lives and careers.Listen



Abba: Super troupers
We head to the Southbank Centre where a new exhibition dedicated to Swedish pop behemoths Abba has just opened.Listen

Art at the beach
Robert Bound goes on his annual pilgrimage to Florida for some December sun and to meet some key figures in the world of art and design during Miami art week: art adviser Lisa Schiff, Art Basel Cities? artistic director Cecilia Alemani and Belgian designers Muller van Severen.Listen

Something Old, Something New: Plan B and Ed Skrein
Platinum-selling musician Plan B and Hollywood actor Ed Skrein have long been friends since meeting in north London as DJs. They recall the films and albums that have influenced their careers on the screen and in the studio.Listen

Make a house a gallery
We head out on a worldwide exploration of houses that play home to great art collections. From Kettle?s Yard in Cambridge to an art tour of Cape Town.Listen

Can you build a cultural quarter?
We head to Saadiyat Island, home to the new Louvre Abu Dhabi, to find out what adorns the walls of this branch of the French mega museum ? and whether it will be a success.Listen

WeTransfer: creative technology
We go behind the scenes of technology company WeTransfer, which invested its spare advertising space into the arts, to ask whether the sector should be responsible for funding creative endeavours.Listen

Club To Club 2017
This week the Culture team pack up their suitcases and head to northern Italy for this year?s Club To Club festival. The 17th edition of the musical affair sees the darlings of jazz, electronica and dance music descend upon Turin for a week of eclectic sounds in excellent venues. Robert Bound meets some of the people and artists behind this year?s festival.Listen



What is folk horror?
From ?Macbeth? to ?The Wicker Man?, we discuss what the folk-horror genre means in film and literature with writers Andy Miller and Adam Scovell. Plus: we revisit an interview with the late director of ?The Wicker Man?, Robin Hardy.Listen

Behind the scenes at Monocle: issue 108
Robert Bound guides us through this month?s culture section of Monocle. From Jeddah?s art scene to the Yves Saint Laurent museums in Marrakech and Paris, we speak to the writers behind the stories.Listen

Something Old, Something New: Melissa Harrison and Dan Richards
Melissa Harrison and Dan Richards are friends and writers who both deal with, among other things, the natural world. They chat to Robert Bound about the books, music and places that have inspired them throughout their careers.Listen

Lisson at 50: ?Everything At Once?
During Art Week in London, Robert Bound heads to 180 The Strand where a new exhibition called ?Everything At Once? is taking place as part of the Lisson Gallery?s 50th anniversary celebrations. Rob meets the people behind the show and the gallery.Listen

Radiotopia
Holly Fisher meets Julie Shapiro, executive producer for Radiotopia ? the US podcast network responsible for hit shows such as ?99% Invisible? and ?Song Exploder?.Listen

Behind the scenes at Monocle: issue 107
We go from Christian-rock concerts in Nashville to painter Gary Hume?s New York studio as we meet the writers and photographers who put together the Culture section of Monocle?s latest issue. Plus: Lars Fossheim from Broen on the Norwegian band?s debut ?I Love Art?.Listen

Something Old, Something New: Andrew Harrison and Andrew Mueller
Music journalists and old friends Andrew Harrison and Andrew Mueller are the guests on this month?s ?Something Old, Something New?. They pick the items that have piqued their interest throughout their lives and careers.Listen



Autumn preview
We take a look at what we might be listening to, watching and reading this autumn. Robert Bound is joined in the studio by John Mitchinson, co-founder of Unbound, broadcaster and DJ Georgie Rogers, and Tim Robey, film critic for ?The Telegraph?.Listen

Part of the action
We head to the theatre ? but this theatre could be anywhere. It could be in a bar, a stairwell, an old warehouse or on the street. We?re talking immersive theatre, which isn?t a new thing but it has certainly become a trendy one. We ask industry experts what?s caused this.Listen

Technology talk
We explore the ways that technology has influenced and changed the English language with publicist Hamish Thompson and assistant senior editor of the Oxford English Dictionary Clifford Sofield.Listen

Green Man turns 15
We make our annual pilgrimage to the Green Man Festival in south Wales to meet some of the musicians who have been integral to its success and to relive some memories from the field with the festival?s return customers.Listen

Culture in The Summer Weekly
Robert Bound introduces us to the the latest addition to the Monocle family, ?The Summer Weekly?: the newspaper we?re printing throughout August. From the nightclubs of Ibiza to music festivals in Helsinki, we take a sunny trip through the stories that have made the culture pages of our new publication.Listen

Do we need a new wave of rave?
Monocle Culture editor Robert Bound discusses the entrepreneurship and communal spirit of rave culture with DJ Norman Jay; former promoter for Bagleys and Pacha Debby Lee; and chairman of the Night Time Industries Association Alan Miller.Listen

What?s the point of literary prizes?
Off the back of last week?s Man Booker long list announcement Sharmaine Lovegrove, publisher at Dialogue Books; Anne Meadows, commissioning editor at Granta and Portobello; and Ted Hodgkinson, senior programmer of literature and the spoken word at London?s Southbank Centre, join Robert Bound to discuss the merits and problems of literary prizes.Listen



The Escapist
We dive into summer through Monocle?s sister publication ?The Escapist?, a journal of places less explored. Robert Bound is joined by some of the team who brought the stories to life on the page and we head to one of our destinations, Bucharest, to find out about its burgeoning arts scene.Listen

Wish you were here?
As people head off to warmer climes during the summer-holiday season we celebrate the postcards that they might be posting back home.Listen

Something Old, Something New: Fiona Stewart and Ben Coleman
Fiona Stewart and Ben Coleman, the mother-and-son duo behind Green Man Festival, discuss how music and the Brecon Beacons inspired 15 years of their annual bonanza.Listen

How do you write an essay?
The essay is a format that prompts a mixed response. While some marvel at the endless possibilities for ideas and considered prose, for others it?s a style of writing that brings back memories of homework and set texts. Robert Bound sits down with writer Travis Elborough to tackle what an essay is.Listen

Summer lookahead 2017
Robert Bound is joined in the studio by co-founder of Unbound John Mitchinson, art critic and curator Francesca Gavin and film critic Karen Krizanovich to discuss the art, books and film to look out for this summer.Listen

Behind the scenes at Monocle: issue 105
In the July/August issue of Monocle, Robert Bound goes dancing in Tel Aviv and learns how to paint in Cornwall, while Andrew Mueller meets Saint Etienne as they release their new album ?Home Counties?.Listen

Something Old, Something New: Sharmaine Lovegrove and Elizabeth Day
Tom Edwards stands in for Robert Bound in this month?s episode of ?Something Old, Something New?. He's joined in the studio by Sharmaine Lovegrove, co-founder of Dialogue Scouting and literary editor for ?Elle? magazine, and journalist and author Elizabeth Day, to discuss the items that have influenced and interested them.Listen



What is the magic of Hay Festival?
As the world?s greatest celebration of literature turns 30 we find out what makes it beloved by so many.Listen

Poetry, what poetry?
We get our rhyming couplets in order with poet and novelist Joe Dunthorne, discover a collaborative project aimed at promoting poetry across different cities around the world and head to Singapore to find out why the country loves poetry so much.Listen

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.Listen

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 careers.Listen

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 what their dedication does for them.Listen

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.Listen

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, Matt Beaman, to discuss why Photo London is a must-attend event this year.Listen



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 so popular recently and how writers and film-makers use real cases to feed our thirst for a twisted tale.Listen

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.Listen

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 critic Jason Solomons.Listen

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.Listen

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.Listen

Something old, something new: Francesca and Seana Gavin
Robert Bound is joined in the studio by the Gavin sisters: curator and writer Francesca and artist Seana. They discuss the books and art that have influenced their lives and work, from Bronzino?s ?An Allegory With Venus and Cupid? to a selection of old books once owned by cinematographer Wolfgang Suschitzky.Listen

How do you make a hit podcast?
Robert Bound is joined in the studio by podcast critic Pete Naughton to discuss the rise of the format, how it works alongside radio and how it?s doing on both sides of the Atlantic. Plus: podcast-makers Helen Zaltzman and John Mitchinson sit down to talk about the process of making interesting audio.Listen



Behind the scenes at Monocle, issue 101
We go behind the scenes of the Culture pages in our 10th-anniversary issue, which we head to Prague to meet the music industry?s go-to orchestra, discuss true crime in Hamburg, meet the editor of Paul Auster?s latest novel ?4 3 2 1? and discuss a new Norwegian gameshow with the journalist who wrote it, Susie Mesure.Listen

Something old, something new
Once a month this show will bring together two people linked by profession, passion or friendship. To kick things off we invited in Will Hodgkinson, chief music critic for ?The Times?, and Tom Hodgkinson, the writer, critic and founder of ?The Idler? magazine. And we asked the brothers to bring along two things that fascinate them: something old and something new.Listen

Why hasn?t the digital world killed the world of paper?
Once declared a thing of the past, why do we still love paper so much? We speak to the founder of a stationery shop, visit a paper mill and gallery in Singapore and examine the colour palette of an established papermaker.Listen

How does Netflix commission original content?
Robert Bound heads to Netflix HQ in LA to meet the people behind the behemoth of online streaming.Listen

Should art be political?
We take a look at the responsibility of art to represent the opinions of the world in today's political climate.Listen

Behind the scenes at Monocle, issue 100
We find out how the Culture pages of the latest issue of Monocle came together, including a chat with our Milan correspondent about his report on ?La Repubblica? and a snapshot of life as the magazine?s photography director with Matthew Beaman.Listen

How do you write an obituary?
It was a busy year for the obituaries desk at newspapers the world over as some of our favourite cultural figures have bade farewell. We speak to Harry de Quetteville of ?The Telegraph? about how an obituary is written and Will Hodgkinson, chief rock and pop critic for ?The Times?, joins us in the studio to discuss how the death of David Bowie has played out in the press over the course of a year.Listen



How do you put on a fashion show?
We go backstage with British label E Tautz at London Fashion Week Men's to find out how they put together their autumn/winter runway show. We meet the crew behind the catwalk, including creative director Patrick Grant, hair and make-up, the commercial team and the models.Listen

Looking ahead to 2017
Robert Bound sits down with DJ and broadcaster Georgie Rogers, film critic Jason Solomons and author Mark Mason to discuss the year to come in music, film and books.Listen

Culture with Robert Bound: best of 2016
Robert Bound and producer Holly Fisher sit down to discuss their 'Culture' highlights from the past year.Listen

What makes a good Christmas TV special?
Robert Bound is joined by Alice Vincent, arts and entertainment writer for 'The Telegraph', to discuss why nostalgia and cosiness get us all huddled around the television at Christmas.Listen

Who has the best Christmas album of 2016?
Music journalist Laura Snapes, DJ and broadcaster Baylen Leonard, and chief rock and pop critic for ?The Times?, Will Hodgkinson, join Robert Bound in the studio to rate this year?s Christmas albums. Plus: singer-songwriter Marika Hackman tells us about the making of her festive EP ?Wonderland?.Listen

Have we reached peak biennial?
When almost every city in the world seemingly has one, what is the role of the biennial? We wonder who does this soft-power attraction best and which parts of the world benefit from them as a showcase of how dynamic and cultural they can be.Listen

Why would you read a manuscript?
It?s not often that you get your hands on a manuscript, whether it?s the first draft of a novel or an ancient text etched on vellum. On the show today we get to know stories in their original formats and discover what can be learned by experiencing them first hand.Listen



Why do we love quizzes so much?
Robert Bound is joined in the studio by John Mitchinson, question-writer for British quiz show ?QI?, and Mark Mason, writer of upcoming book ?Question Time?, to discuss the enduring and global appeal of the humble quiz. Plus: we put their knowledge to the test in the ?Culture Show Quiz Show?.Listen

Do we need protest songs now more than ever?
This year has been one of divided politics, from Brexit to Trump, so is it time to take a stand? We look at the history of the protest song and discuss the musicians vocalising the opinions of a new generation.Listen

How funny is the presidential race?
How has the media satirised the two most talked-about names of the year: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump? We discuss the highs and lows of late-night TV sketches, speak to 'The Atlantic' and 'New York Magazine' about media coverage and discover a film about a Trump piñata.Listen

Why are we so morbidly fascinated?
We explore the theme of morbid fascination with collectors of weird and wonderful objects in New York and a professor who has been studying why we are so compelled to watch things that frighten or disgust us. Plus: We hear from artist Luc Tuymans, who has just put on a show of work by morbidly fascinated Belgian painter James Ensor.Listen

Where else can you show art?
We take a whistle-stop tour of art galleries in alternative places, from the back alleys of Belgrade to an elevator shaft in New York via a house in London and even down the line of a Texan phone.Listen

How do you forecast the weather?
What?s the process of predicting the weather and delivering it to the public? From the findings of the Met Office in the UK to Australian presenter Livinia Nixon in Melbourne, we meet the people who ensure that you have the knowledge to stay safe and dry. Plus: France?s shipping forecast is in danger. We find out why.Listen

On the fringe of Frieze
We round up the exhibitions that took place outside Regent?s Park during last week?s Frieze Fair in London. We stop by White Cube to speak to Christian Marclay, take in a one-night-only show based around the rising and setting of the sun and check out Almine Rech's shiny new gallery in Mayfair.Listen



Autumn preview
We look ahead to the final few months of 2016 in film, music and books with our panel of experts: film critic Karen Krizanovich; Will Hodgkinson, chief rock and pop critic for ?The Times?; and co-founder of Unbound publishers, John Mitchinson.Listen

Are the arts responsible for gentrification?
We take a look at the relationship between the arts and gentrification in Madrid, Belgrade and London. Are artistic communities the driving force behind new neighbourhoods or is it the developers? And how well do the two work together?Listen

Culture Live: Is London still the cultural capital of the world?
In this special live edition of ?Culture with Robert Bound? our host is joined by Victoria Siddall, director of Frieze Fairs; Jordan Gross, founder of Oval Space; Sir Nicholas Kenyon, managing director of the Barbican Centre; and Will Hodgkinson, critic for ?The Times? to assess London?s arts scene.Listen

The Infinite Mix
We delve into the bright and beautifully soundtracked world of video art created by the Hayward Gallery and The Vinyl Factory: ?The Infinite Mix?.Listen

Television forecast
Robert Bound is joined by ?Broadcast? magazine?s news editor Peter White to look at the latest trends and discuss the regions that are doing interesting things in the realm of television.Listen

How do you design a front cover?
Robert Bound is joined in the studio by Monocle?s creative director Richard Spencer Powell and Adrian Shaughnessy, co-founder of independent publishing house Unit Editions, to discuss the art of making an eye-catching front cover.Listen

How do you run a music festival?
This weekend the Culture team took their tents and waterproofs and set up camp in the Welsh valleys for this year?s Green Man. Robert Bound meets the team behind one of the best independent UK festivals to find out what exactly goes into running the show.Listen



Is no news good news?
It?s August and we?re officially in silly season, the name given to the quiet summer period during which the people who usually make the news are off on holiday. We find out how you keep the news cycle rolling when there?s no one to provide you with a juicy headline.Listen

How do you write a review?
We discuss the art of being a critic ? whether of art, food, technology or music ? with Nancy Durrant, commissioning arts editor for ?The Times?, Alexi Duggins, editor at large of ?Time Out? and our technology correspondent David Phelan. Plus: music journalist Jude Rogers discusses the relevance of the album review.Listen

Why do we love talking animals?
We take a look at what?s been popular on the silver screen so far this year. While talking-animal films made up half of the top 12 grossing movies in the first half of 2016, sequels aren?t enjoying much success. We analyse the trend with film critics Karen Krizanovich and Tim Robey and executive director of the Rio Cinema, Oliver Meek.Listen

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 bids on.Listen

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 the ?Evening Standard?; Nina Schick from think tank Open Europe; and Quentin Peel, associate fellow at Chatham House and contributor to the ?Financial Times?.Listen

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 destinations.Listen

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 southeast English coast to see how an influx of creativity has revitalised the town.Listen



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.Listen

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.Listen

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.Listen

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.Listen

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.Listen

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.Listen

How do you write about nature?
As city populations rise there seems to be a new generation of writers turning to the natural world, a trend that might have been spearheaded by Helen Macdonald?s 2014 memoir ?H is for Hawk?. We discuss this wave of green-minded penmanship with Lucy Jones, author of ?Foxes Unearthed?; John Mitchinson, founder of Unbound publishers; and bookseller Susie Nicklin.Listen



Can Eurovision be a US hit?
Last week it was announced that the final of this year?s Eurovision Song Contest would be broadcast in the US for the first time, with LGBT network Logo airing the competition. Can Eurovision be as successful in the US as it has been in other non-European nations such as Australia? We pose the question to Broadcast magazine?s Peter White, Eurovision expert William Lee Adams and Australia?s SBS network.Listen

Summer lookahead 2016
As we approach summer we summon some cultural experts to find out what films are worth missing a bit of sunshine for, what music we should soundtrack our holidays to and which exhibitions we should be wandering. Ossian Ward, head of content at the Lisson Gallery, broadcaster and DJ Nick Luscombe, and film critic Karen Krizanovich take up the conversation with Robert Bound. Plus: we preview this year?s Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona.Listen

Where does culture thrive outside the city?
We?re heading out of the city for a breath of fresh air and an assessment of village culture. We take a tour of Lebanon?s Modern and Contemporary Art Museum in the bucolic surroundings of Alita and check out the headlines of the ?Nunatsiaq News?, the local paper for the residents of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Plus: we head to the market town of Hay-on-Wye in Wales to meet the king of books.Listen

How do you start a collection?
Whether you collect for love or money, how do you start and who do you ask? At the moment people are dismayed that art is bought not to hang above the fireplace but to be kept in a huge Swiss freeport until a more biddable buyer is found. Robert Bound meets London art adviser Kathlene Fox-Davies, we speak to our panelists from the recent Monocle Quality of Life Conference in Vienna ? in which we asked about collecting ? and meet Marine Tanguy, who?s trying to get collectors to invest in artists rather than art.Listen

How do you turn a band into an exhibition?
?Exhibitionism: the Rolling Stones? is a new show at the Saatchi Gallery, produced with the co-operation of the band; there has been a lot of crawling through Keith Richards? attic and rifling through Mick Jagger?s drawers. We take a tour with the show?s designers, Will Russell and Abbott Miller from Pentagram design agency, and sit down with Will Hodgkinson, rock and pop critic of ?The Times?.Listen

Who would launch a music magazine in 2016?
Robert Bound is joined by storied music magazine editor Mark Ellen and Liv Siddall, editor of the brand new ?Rough Trade Magazine?, to discuss what it takes to launch a new publication in 2016. Plus: we meet Karl Henkell, editor of another new publication about to hit shelves, ?Record Culture Magazine?.Listen

How do you run an independent cinema?
We celebrate the heroes of the silver screen: no, not Batman or Indiana Jones but the people who run the independent cinemas that make going to the movies such a wonderful experience. We take a tour around one of east London?s finest, Rio Cinema, and head to New York to find out about its new establishment Metrograph. Plus: in Bangkok we find out about Scala, one of the few indie cinemas still active in the city.Listen



How do you adapt a novel?
We find out how our favourite books are adapted to both the small and silver screens, the stage and the radio. What makes a book adaptable: is it the characters or the plot? And how closely should you stick to the original? To help answer these questions Robert Bound is joined in the studio by writer Philip Meeks and page-to-screen consultant Sharmaine Lovegrove. Plus: comments from ?High-Rise? director Ben Wheatley and ?One Day? author and screenwriter David Nicholls.Listen

How much does it cost to play ?Happy Birthday??
Last month the classic song ?Happy Birthday? was made public domain. We use this as a springboard to discuss some of the music industry's most contentious rights cases. Meanwhile, we set out to debunk a few mysteries surrounding the recent acquisition of Vantablack ? the blackest substance ever made ? by the sculptor Anish Kapoor.Listen

How do you make a playlist?
Playlists are everywhere: in the clothes shop where you bought that new shirt, in the bar where you went for drinks last night, hell ? even on the radio. We find out what makes a good playlist with music supervisor Rebecca Grierson, Lebanese DJ Ernesto Chahoud and the Argentinian duo behind Radio Cascabel. Plus: listen to Robert Bound?s efforts at creating his own playlist [here](https://play.spotify.com/user/monocle24/playlist/3kil2LR8m9tkC3FBjERgSe?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open).Listen

Who do you think you are?
This week we?re tackling ideas of self. Where did you come from? What class do you think you are? What signifiers of success do you flaunt? We meet Dan Fox, author of ?Pretentiousness: Why It Matters?, head to a Brooklyn bar to find out what our choice of drink says about us, nip to the Museum of Brands to find out how we learned to wear brand names as a badge rather than a label and speak to design guru Stephen Bayley about values.Listen

Aussie rules
This week we?re spinning the globe 180 degrees and zooming in on Australia to explore the people making waves in the music, radio, television and newspaper industries. We get music tips from Sydney?s coolest record label Future Classic, speak to seasoned broadcaster Myf Warhurst to find out why Australia loves radio so much, hear how wine sitcom ?Plonk? is smashing a vintage TV model and head to Perth to discover how ?The West Australian? delivers news to the most isolated city down under.Listen

How do you know what to read?
Thousands of titles are published each month and we all have a list longer than our lifespan of books we want to read ? and say we?ve read. So how can we decide which ones to tackle? To help us answer this week?s question we speak to Lisette Verhagen, founder of reading consultancy Get Booked, Emily Keeler, senior editor at ?The Walrus? magazine in Toronto, and Ivan Bevc, founder of publisher Booka in Belgrade.Listen

How do you draw the news?
A picture?s worth a thousand words, they say, so how do political and topical cartoonists drill down into the core of a news story, a scandal or a cover-up to reveal its essence? How do they transform the news into something worthy of a laugh? We sit down with cartoonist Nick Newman, whose work appears in ?The Sunday Times?, ?Private Eye? and ?The Spectator?, and we find out why ABC in Australia has decided to commission a comic that tells the story of Isis and why getting caught being funny in Lebanon can land you in the slammer.Listen



Sundance & Trieste Film Festivals
We round up two of last week?s film festivals that really set the pace for the rest of the year: Sundance and Trieste. While the mainstream is focused on the run up to the red carpet of the Oscars, the rest of the film industry is still busy making movies, showing them and doing distribution deals. We find out how you put on a film festival in a ski-town, take the temperature of Eastern European cinema and find out about the growing virtual-reality film industry.Listen

How do you look after a legacy?
Will Hodgkinson, rock and pop critic for ?The Times?, tells us how David Bowie led the world in musical legacies. We also meet sculptor Frances Segelman to find out how you immortalise someone in statue form. Plus: David Foster Wallace?s ?Infinite Jest? and its reputation as a modern classic that so many struggle to finish.Listen

How do you give a warm welcome?
In order to answer the question of how you give a warm welcome we meet Fred Sirieix, general manager of restaurant Galvin at Windows and all-round hospitality mastermind. We also talk to Monocle?s tech correspondent David Phelan about how technology such as smartphones and even rice cookers attempts to make nice with us. Plus: we inspect the importance of Qantas?s theme tune in welcoming Australians back home.Listen

Whatever happened to hype?
Who hypes the arts? Publicists? Artists? Fans? Robert Bound sits down with music magazine maestro David Hepworth, arts and entertainment writer for ?The Daily Telegraph? Alice Vincent and publicist Emily Bryce-Perkins to find out how hype has developed over the decades.Listen

New year?s resolutions
We ring in the new year with comedian James Mullinger, who tells us why his resolutions for 2016 could leave him with a red face on Canadian television. Plus: we hear about New Year?s Eve celebrations from folk in Morocco, London and Amazonian Brazil.Listen

Art in 2016
Robert Bound previews the art exhibitions and galleries to look out for in 2016 with a little help from Jane Morris, editor of ?The Art Newspaper?, and Ossian Ward, head of content at the Lisson Gallery.Listen

Best of Culture 2015
A melting pot of Culture goodies that were aired in 2015 such as our interviews with film-maker Gary Hustwit and Nicolas Godin, one half of French electro group Air. We also discover an unknown exotica artist and an intriguing Turkish acoustic instrument, go hunting for messages in bottles, investigate Toronto?s music scene, discuss the enduring appeal of hospital dramas and the golden age of advertising. Plus: book editing, animating characters, film adaptations, and museum openings. Phew!Listen



Postcard from Miami
We go on a cultural hunt around the Magic City to find out where the new upcoming art district is. We also take the temperature of the city?s music scene. Plus: we meet Miami?s gallerists, record-shop owners and property developers along the way.Listen

2016 TV highlights
We take a sneak peek at what?s coming up on the small screen in 2016 with Peter White, international editor at ?Broadcast?, and John Doyle, TV critic for ?The Globe and Mail?. Plus: Alice Vincent, arts and entertainment writer for ?The Telegraph?, has a few recommendations for festive viewing.Listen

Music in 2016
Rob Bound is joined by Will Hodgkinson, rock and pop critic for ?The Times?, Laura Snapes, senior editor at ?The Pitchfork Review? and broadcaster Nick Luscombe to talk through the artists and albums they?re all excited about for 2016. Plus we head to Honest Jon?s and Rough Trade record shops in London and New York for some festive picks and potential stocking fillers.Listen

2016 at the cinema
As we approach the end of the year we look ahead to the films that will be illuminating cinema screens around the globe in 2016. We discuss the ones to watch for next year?s awards season and film critics Karen Krizanovich and Tim Robey predict who will be taking home the big prizes this year. Plus: we head to the Bertha DocHouse for its documentary picks.Listen

How do you manage your image?
In an age when some people can?t put their shoes on in the morning without telling ? or showing ? the world, we investigate how we curate our lives for online communities. With contributions from artist Caroline Walker; Martin Adolfsson and Daniel Wilson, founders of the ?Minutiae? app; and editor of ?The Awl?, Matt Buchanan.Listen

How to write about politics
We speak to journalists around the world to find out how they write about politics. We discuss when it?s suitable to throw in a bit of humour in Britain with parliamentary sketchwriter Michael Deacon, our Washington correspondent Sasha Issenberg tells us how he tackles US politics and we head to Beirut to discover how you report on a political minefield that could get you in a lot of trouble.Listen

How popular are graphic novels?
We explore the graphic-novel industry with Emma Hayley, managing director of SelfMadeHero publishers; graphic novelist Karrie Fransman; and Waterstones? graphic-novel buyer, Kate McHale.Listen



What makes a good scary story?
We go on a spooky investigation to figure out which elements make for a decent spine-tingling tale. With contributions from graphic artist Graham Humphreys, film critic and author Kim Newman and editor of ?The Folio Book of Ghost Stories?, Mandy Kirkby.Listen

Autumn?s new art galleries
We take a global tour of some recent and upcoming art gallery openings including the Sursock Museum in Beirut, Damien Hirst?s Newport Street Gallery in London and The National Gallery Singapore. Plus: we meet the guerrilla artists in Belgrade who are taking the delayed opening of the city?s Museum of Contemporary Art into their own hands.Listen

What makes a good children?s book?
We meet Mark Russell, a Canadian author who?s introducing South Korean folklore to young readers. We also head to the studio of illustrator Viviane Schwarz to find out how you draw for a child. Plus: we speak to Iona Dudley, a children?s book expert at Daunt Books here in London, to take the temperature of the children?s book publishing industry.Listen

What does work sound like?
We go on a sonic adventure through different workplaces around the world to see how natural sounds affect productivity and how we both absorb and filter out surrounding noise. Our listening expedition takes us to a British boozer, an opera set-builders' in Victoria, BC, a curator?s office in Lisbon and a seaside brewery in Lebanon. Plus: some scientific context from Francis Sopper, president of OpenBook Learning, and Julian Treasure, chairman of the Sound Agency.Listen

Why do we love medical dramas?
Everywhere in the world viewers love the drama of doctors, nurses, patients, blood and guts, love and loss, procedure and trauma. We ask the people behind some of the top medical dramas, both real-life and fictional, why the hospital is such a good setting for a TV show.Listen

Why go solo?
When?s the right time to ditch your band and go it alone? How does the creative process differ and do you miss your fellow musicians? We speak to music journalist Andrew Mueller about the artists who have launched successful solo careers and those who should stick with the group. Plus: we speak to two musicians about how they went solo: Nicolas Godin from Air and Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell.Listen

Culture?s greatest summer hits
We go over our highlights from this summer, from sound art enjoyed in train carriages, an interview with documentary film-maker Joshua Oppenheimer to a quick stop-off at Sonar festival in Barcelona among much, much more.Listen



What is indie?
Indie can be applied to a number of things: a record label, a film, a genre, even a haircut. We take the term and apply it to music and film with Will Hodgkinson, pop and rock critic for ?The Times?, and David Jenkins, editor of ?Little White Lies? magazine, to see what the term means in 2015 and where it has come from. Plus: We head to Portland in Oregon, perhaps the most indie city in the world, and discover why counterculture thrives in the US city.Listen

Can Toronto be the next Austin?
We assess the success of the Austin-Toronto Music City Alliance, and see how Toronto is building itself as a music destination through interviews with mayor John Tory, British broadcaster and festival organiser Rob Da Bank and other musicians, promoters and venue owners from the city.Listen

Where have all the nightclubs gone?
As nightclub numbers dwindle in the UK and licensing laws put more much-loved dance floors under threat, we take a global look at nightlife. From London to Beirut to Seoul, we discuss why a thriving nightlife is important in a city and which places are getting it right.Listen

What happens in an animation studio?
We delve into the world of the animator as we undergo this week?s cultural investigation. We speak to Jude Brownbill at Disney Pixar; director of ?Moomins on the Riviera?, Xavier Picard; and House of Cool animation studios in Toronto. Plus: we find out what it?s like to be turned into a cartoon as our Copenhagen correspondent Michael Booth has his book ?Sushi and Beyond? turned into an anime series.Listen

How do you fall asleep?
We explore what makes us fall asleep, from bedtime stories at the Ace Hotel to a retreat for insomniacs in rural England. We discuss how sleep affects creativity or whether being in possession of a creative mind affects your sleep.Listen

What does an editor do?
We gain an insight in to the role of the editor ? whether creating a novel, a magazine or a movie ? through the eyes of Faber and Faber?s senior editor Walter Donohue, film editor Pete Beaudreau and Monocle?s very own editor Andrew Tuck.Listen

How do you make a myth?
Myths are like history only they?re not real. But they?re reasonable, kind of. To answer the question ?How do you make a myth?? we talk to classicist Natalie Haynes about their enduring appeal. We also ask art historian Christopher Dell where paintings would be without myth and discuss how a person becomes a myth with Peter York. Plus: Dr David Clarke, writer for the ?Fortean Times?, tells us about the supernatural side of urban legends.Listen



How do you appreciate sound art?
Robert Bound speaks to artists, curators, the uninitiated and the professionals to get a handle on sound art ? will it ever be as easy to love as a painting or as in vogue as performance art? How do you make it and where is it housed? We head to the National Gallery, speak to artist Sam Belinfante and take a ride on a sonic train.Listen

Summer art
This week?s show is a summery summary of the season?s best art exhibitions. Robert Bound is joined in the studio by Ossian Ward who has the lowdown on the top fairs, festivals and biennales to head to. Plus: we send our reporters to Porto, Vienna and Washington DC for their take on shows best enjoyed with a side of sunshine.Listen

Summer reading list
Arifa Akbar, literary editor of ?The Independent?, and John Mitchinson, founder of Unbound publishers, join Robert Bound in the studio to discuss the titles they are most looking forward to getting stuck in to on their summer holidays. Plus: we round up some of the best magazines to enjoy poolside, including a preview of Monocle?s newest publication, ?The Escapist?.Listen

Summer Blockbusters
Tim Robey, film critic for 'The Daily Telegraph' and David Jenkins, editor of 'Little White Lies' magazine join Robert Bound in the studio to review what's on the silver screen over the coming months, from big-budget blockbusters to the most engaging documentaries. Plus we find out where the best outdoor screening experiences are around the world.Listen

Monocle?s Summer Festival Guide
In the first of a series of summer culture guides we speak to Luke Turner, associate editor at the Quietus and Fiona Stewart, director of Green Man Festival about what makes a good festival, which countries are doing them best and the ones we should keep an eye out for this summer. Plus: we hear a report from this year?s Sonar festival in Barcelona.Listen

Can documentaries change the world?
We talk to Joshua Oppenheimer about his candid films, ?The Act of Killing? and ?The Look of Silence?, which deal with the Indonesian genocide of the mid-1960s. Plus we head to the Bertha DocHouse in London ? the only documentary cinema in Great Britain ? where Elizabeth Wood tells us about the social and political responsibilities of documentary makers.Listen

Do albums need notes to help us understand them?
We speak to Ashley Kahn who won the 2015 Grammy award for his liner notes in John Coltrane?s ?Offering: Live at Temple University?. We also investigate the golden age of album-sleeve note writing with 'The Times? rock and pop critic Will Hodgkinson and discuss the art of the album cover in Portland, Oregon.Listen



How close are fact and fiction?
We look at the blurred lines between fact and fiction with novelist and former travel writer Lawrence Osborne, comedian Mark Watson and journalist and author Adam LeBor.Listen

Where did all the good adverts go?
As AMC?s ad drama ?Mad Men? draws to a close, Robert Bound asks: ?Where did all the good adverts go?? He speaks to Peter Mead, chairman and founder of Abbott Mead Vickers; Richard Brim, executive creative director at Adam and Eve DDB; writer and broadcaster Sam Delaney; and cultural commentator Peter York.Listen

How do you write a biography?
Robert Bound is joined in the studio by ghostwriter Fanny Blake and Cathy Rentzenbrink, books editor at 'The Bookseller'. Up for discussion is how to choose your subject, adopt their voice and dig up the most salacious stories possible. Plus we hear from Kim Jong-il?s biographer and about a Brazilian play challenging the legalities of penning someone else?s story.Listen

Who still writes letters?
We speak to Christopher Howse about the letters to the editor section in ?The Telegraph?, Julien Planté about making letters relevant to a new audience through ?Letters Live? and our Hong Kong bureau chief Aisha Speirs heads to Saigon to meet the city?s last remaining professional letter writer.Listen

How do you reboot a classic?
Great works and well-loved products are always being rewritten, redesigned, remixed or remade. But how do you do this successfully? How subtle or brash should you be about reworking something the public are so au fait with? We pose the question, ?How do you reboot a classic?? to a few experts including theatre critic Matt Wolf, ?Far From the Madding Crowd? screenwriter David Nicholls, director Thomas Vinterberg and professor of illustration Lawrence Zeegen.Listen

Whatever happened to fanzines?
Will Hodgkinson from ?The Times? and British Undergound?s Crispin Parry talk about the romance of waxing lyrical about your favourite bands in a homemade mag and whether fanzines can only exist in print. Plus we open the topic up beyond music with a ?zine dedicated to people who have been on game shows.Listen

Is acoustic on its way out?
To answer this week?s question on Culture, we discover the ?yaybahar? ? a new acoustic instrument from Istanbul that sounds electronic ? we speak to oboe makers Howarth of London, piano-making masters Steinway & Sons and a woman in San Francisco who makes instruments out of whatever she can get her hands on.Listen



How do you write a column?
We ask columnists Simon Kuper, Tim Dowling and Tabatha Southey how they approach the tricky art of column writing. How do you choose your subject? How do you keep it amusing? And how do you make your own experiences relevant to your audience? Plus we go back to school with a lesson from the London College of Communication.Listen



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