Monocle on Saturday

Authors and attendees have been boycotting literary festivals for their sponsorship by Baillie Gifford – and now music festivals are under fire. Charles Hecker and Georgina Godwin explore whether this will do more harm than good, as well as the top stories from global papers. Then: Richard Village, founder of new independent publisher Foundry Editions, joins to talk about bringing Mediterranean authors to the attention of English-speaking audiences. Plus: Nigerian-American artist and poet Precious Okoyomon speaks about her magical exhibition in Basel, Switzerland.

Writer and social commentator Lijia Zhang joins Georgina Godwin to talk about the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, organising her own protest, China’s relationship with Russia and Ukraine and the K-pop balloons sent to North Korea. Plus: Kate Mosse, author and founder director of the Women’s Prize, joins to discuss the organisation’s live event and Bookbanks founder Emily Rhodes on her initiative bringing books to foodbanks.

Will the conviction of former President Donald Trump affect his chance of winning the US election in November? And why does Iceland’s election today have more candidates running than ever before? Join Emma Nelson and communications consultant and journalist Simon Brooke as they look through the week’s news and culture. Plus: we look at art and tourism, including co-founder and director of London Gallery Weekend Jeremy Epstein, who joins the show to talk about this weekend’s highlights.

Georgina Godwin is joined by Daniella Peled, managing editor at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, for a look back at the week’s news and culture. Plus: author Rupert Thompson joins to discuss his new book ‘How to Make a Bomb: A Novel’ and Monocle’s Helsinki correspondent, Petri Burtsoff, visits the independent publishing imprint Cozy.

Author and political journalist, Terry Stiastny, joins Georgina Godwin to discuss the latest news from Israel, New Caledonia and the UK. Plus: the founder of the Hay Festival, Peter Florence, joins the show to talk about the launch of his new venture, The Conversation, a series of Monday evening talks in the heart of London that tackle important topics such as peace, democracy and climate action. Finally, author and law professor Rosemary Salomone joins to discuss her book, ‘The Rise of English: Global Politics and the Power of Language’.

The Eurovision final is nearly here. Latika Bourke, Sîan Pattenden and Georgina Godwin discuss the latest news from Malmö as well as Sîan’s eleventh consecutive charity live draw. Monocle’s resident Eurovision expert, Fernando Augusto Pacheco, speaks to the show’s production designer, Florian Wieder, and the lighting and screen-content designer, Fredrik Stormby, from the competition’s main stage. Plus: David Lammy in the US and the tourist crackdown in the Balearic Islands.

As the UK local election results come in, who will win the race for London mayor? On the other side of the pond, Trump’s hush-money trial continues ahead of the US election in November; Charles Hecker and Georgina Godwin discuss the latest developments. Plus: co-founder of independent publisher Galley Beggar Press, Sam Jordison, joins to discuss how much it really costs to make a book and the effect that it can have on smaller presses.

Writer and broadcaster Yassmin Abdel-Magied joins the show to discuss the potential attack in Darfur, Ukraine halting passport services and why UK South Asian garment stores are suffering. Author and playwright Guy Gunaratne joins the show to talk about ‘The Review’, a new journal by the Jhalak Foundation and WritersMosaic in ‘The Bookseller’ celebrating writers of colour. Plus: communications specialist and documentary filmmaker Issabella Orlando looks back at April’s art-and-culture moments.

Isabel Hilton, founder of China Dialogue, joins Georgina Godwin to talk about German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to China, A24’s ‘Civil War’ (warning: spoilers ahead) and Anne Hidalgo’s vision of a greener Paris under threat. The co-founder of independent publisher Charco Press, Samuel McDowell, also joins the show to discuss translated Latin American fiction. Plus: we hear from Turkish designer Gülsün Karamustafa, who is representing her country at this year’s Venice Biennale, and Monocle’s design editor, Nic Monisse, speaks to Nicola Coropulis, CEO of renowned design company Poltrona Frau, at Salone del Mobile.

US intelligence predicts that Iran will strike Israel within the next few days. Yossi Mekelberg, associate fellow at Chatham House, joins Georgina Godwin to tell us more. Also in the programme: Angela Rayner is under scrutiny, Donald Trump compares himself to Nelson Mandela and Beyoncé puts Levi jeans back on the hotlist. Plus: Monocle’s Gregory Scruggs speaks to Bernadette McDonald, who spotlights local Himalayan climbers in her new book ‘Alpine Rising: Sherpas, Baltis, and the Triumph of Local Climbers in the Greater Ranges’.

Terry Stiastny updates Georgina Godwin on the Wirecard fugitive case and discusses the honeytrap scandal that has rattled Westminster this week. We examine the history of honeytrap scandals and look back at the lives of two extraordinary people: journalist Hella Pick and author Lynne Reid Banks. Plus: twins Dina and Rosabella Gregory take us through their new opera, ‘The Haberdasher Prince’, and Louise Doughty joins to talk about her guest edition of Writers Mosaic, ‘Blood and belonging: Traveller Writers’.

Isabel Hilton, founder of China Dialogue, joins Emma Nelson in the studio to discuss accusations that China is responsible for cyber espionage in the UK, US and New Zealand, affecting millions of people. We also look at how Truth Social could be worth $9bn (€8.3bn), despite reporting losses, and we head to The Chiefs, Monocle’s conference in Hong Kong, to learn from developer and hotelier Yuta Oka. Also on the programme: Monocle’s Mae-Li Evans takes us to Robert Herman’s latest exhibition, ‘From California with Love’.

Monocle’s editorial director, Tyler Brûlé, joins Emma Nelson from Zürich to talk about the Japanese spring market at Dufourstrasse 90, as well as the forthcoming The Chiefs conference in Hong Kong. Plus: communications consultant and journalist Simon Brooke joins the studio in London to flick through the global papers. We also discuss this week’s news, including Moscow’s concert hall attack and the world’s response to Catherine Princess of Wales’s cancer diagnosis.

Though voting has begun in Russia to elect the country’s next president, the results are unlikely to come as a surprise. However, there is resistance bubbling under the surface. Join Georgina Godwin and Russia specialist Charles Hecker to discuss the run-up to the election. Plus: Tory donor Frank Hester’s racist comments, Boris Johnson’s unofficial talks in Venezuela and Monocle’s Fernando Augusto Pacheco interviews Lauro Andrade, founder of DW! São Paulo Design Week.

US lawmakers have passed a bill that would remove TikTok from app stores – but will the ban go ahead? And does dark matter actually exist? Join Vincent McAviney and Yassmin Abdel-Magied for this as well a background on the potential ceasefire in Sudan during Ramadan. Plus: Monocle’s Tomos Lewis interviews the CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ahead of the celebrations tomorrow and the director of the London Book Fair, Gareth Rapley, joins us to discuss next week’s event.

On Friday the funeral of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny drew thousands of mourners. What was the mood in Moscow? In the UK what has the reaction been to prime minister Rishi Sunak’s Downing Street address on Friday evening? Meanwhile in Austria, an investigation has exposed the fraudulent COO of Wirecard as a decade-long GRU spy – what do we know? Join Vincent McAviney and political journalist Terry Stiastny for all this, as well as a breakdown of the Willy Wonka experience scam in Glasgow. Plus: Monocle’s Fernando Augusto Pacheco gives us a rundown of the world’s best biscuits.

Emma Nelson, Christopher Phillips and Charles Hecker reflect on the last two years of Russia’s war in Ukraine and take a look at Christopher’s new book, ‘Battleground: 10 Conflicts that Explain the New Middle East’. Plus: arts and culture communications specialist Issabella Orlando stops by to talk about the Barbican’s new exhibition, ‘Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art’, Sarah Snook’s one-woman take on ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ and Bali’s extraordinary New Year tradition.

Isabel Hilton, international journalist and founder of China Dialogue, joins Georgina Godwin for a round-up of the week’s news and culture. This week, we look back at the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the UK by-elections and fake Chinese accounts on Elon Musk’s X. Plus: Professor Suzannah Liscomb, award-winning author and broadcaster, joins Georgina Godwin to talk about the first-ever Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.

Isabel Hilton, international journalist and founder of China Dialogue, joins Georgina Godwin for a round-up of the week’s news and culture. This week, we look back at the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the UK by-elections and fake Chinese accounts on Elon Musk’s X. Plus: Professor Suzannah Liscomb, award-winning author and broadcaster, joins Georgina Godwin to talk about the first-ever Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.

Will China’s economy recover during the Year of the Dragon? What is the UK’s new tech that could control the weather? And how is the ‘Bayeux Tapestry’ being updated? Join Georgina Godwin and David Bodanis for a round-up of the week’s news and culture. Plus: the owner of The Steam Room, Tony Chung, joins us to talk about his collaboration with Ai Weiwei and Avant Arte for the Lunar New Year.