Monocle on Saturday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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