The Big Interview

Monocle’s editor in chief, Tyler Brûlé, joins some of the world’s leading business figures to ask how we get to the other side of the crisis – and what that might look like. First up is Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, who talks crisis management, the search for a vaccine and the importance of the spaces that we work in.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Film director John Waters, aka the Pope of Trash, is known for his 1972 film ‘Pink Flamingos’ and 1988’s ‘Hairspray’, later a hit Broadway musical. Today he writes books and performs standup. He spoke to Monocle’s Daphne Karnezis about building a career on bad reviews and how Trump ruined the word ‘ugly’.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From 2013 to 2017 Samantha Power served in Barack Obama’s cabinet and as US ambassador to the UN. Starting out as a journalist, she won the Pulitzer prize in 2003 and has now written a memoir, ‘The Education of an Idealist’. Andrew Mueller asks her about her journey to the White House, playing football with the Latin American ambassadors and what it’s like at the centre of a media storm.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The French director received international acclaim for his 2002 musical-comedy-drama ‘8 Women’, starring Catherine Deneuve and Isabelle Huppert; ‘Swimming Pool’ (2003) starring Charlotte Rampling; and the psychosexual thriller ‘L’Amant Double’ in 2017. With his latest film, ‘By the Grace of God’, Ozon again is taking viewers into new territory. He talks to Monocle’s Ben Rylan about playing with different genres and telling difficult stories.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Academy Award-nominated composer and pianist is the musical brain behind the scores of Barry Jenkins’ Oscar-winning film ‘Moonlight’ and ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’, as well as Adam McKay’s ‘Vice’ and ‘The Big Short’. Most recently he scored the Netflix film ‘The King’ and won an Emmy for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme for the HBO series ‘Succession’. He talks to Monocle’s Ben Rylan about the art of the opening sequence and composing music for moving images.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The award-winning astrophysicist is a pioneer in the field known as Seti (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). For more than four decades she has been leading the way in attempting to answer the age-old human question, “Are we alone?” She speaks to Monocle’s Carlota Rebelo about what it’s like to devote your life to working on a problem that you might never see solved.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For more than three decades, Darina Allen has been tempting would-be chefs from around the world to her renowned cookery school, Ballymaloe. With 19 cookbooks and numerous TV shows to her name, she has gone on to become the face, voice and energy behind a culinary revolution. In conversation with Monocle’s Josh Fehnert, she talks about the importance of farm-fresh produce and why it all starts with a few inches of healthy soil.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite popular film credits including the Harry Potter series and an Oscar-nominated turn in 2004’s ‘Vera Drake’, Imelda Staunton has never strayed far from the stage. She’s won four Olivier awards, most recently for her much acclaimed portrayal of Madame Rose in Stephen Sondheim’s classic musical ‘Gypsy’. Monocle 24’s Ben Rylan asks Staunton about her career highlights and the secrets of good stage acting.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Known as the demon dog of American literature, Ellroy has won numerous awards for his Los Angeles Quartet novels, ‘The Black Dahlia’, ‘The Big Nowhere’, ‘LA Confidential’ and ‘White Jazz’. Now he has returned to LA with a new quartet; ‘This Storm’, the second novel in his latest series, was released earlier this year. He sits down with Augustin Macellari to talk corruption and collusion, the LA of his past, and why he writes.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sozzani, a luminary of the fashion industry, founded Milan’s 10 Corso Como in 1991. This union of culture and commerce – with photography, fashion, design, music and cuisine under one roof – marked the beginning of a new concept experience: slow shopping. Sozzani talks to Monocle’s Sophie Grove about growing up with art, beauty and design and why getting fired from *Elle* was a good thing.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.