Category Archives: Podcasts

Saturday Morning: News And Stories From London

Monocle on Saturday (May 4, 2024): 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.

Reviews: ‘The Week In Art’

The Week In Art Podcast (May 3, 2024): After years of decreasing public funding, the lingering effects of the Covid pandemic and enduring questions around the ethics of corporate sponsorship, UK museums are facing unprecedented financial pressures.

Some commentators are suggesting that the time has come to abandon the policy of free admission to museums that is viewed by many as key to the cultural fabric of the UK. Among those arguing for charging is the critic and broadcaster Ben Lewis, who joins Ben Luke to discuss the issue.

This week, the British Museum opened the exhibition Michelangelo: the Last Decades. It focuses on the period after 1534, when Michelangelo left his native Florence for Rome, never to return, and embarked on many of his most ambitious projects. We take a tour of the show with its curator, Sarah Vowles.

And this episode’s Work of the Week is Maria Blanchard’s Girl at Her First Communion (1914). The painting features in a new exhibition at the Museo Picasso in Málaga. Its curator, José Lebrero Stals, tells us more about this underappreciated Spanish artist, who was at the heart of the Parisian avant garde in the 1910s and 20s.

Michelangelo: the Last Decades, British Museum, until 28 July.

News: Baltic Ministers Warn Of GPS Jamming By Russia, UN Summit In Chile

The Globalist (May 3, 2024): Across the Baltic sea, GPS jamming has led to flights being cancelled, posing serious security risks. Could Russia be behind this?

Then: the UN convenes a “mega-summit” of chief executives in Chile, the importance of Nordic influence in Africa and the latest World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders. Plus: we meet Swiss skier Marc Rochat of the documentary ‘La Roche’.

Research Preview: Science Magazine – May 3, 2024

Current Issue Cover

Science Magazine – May 2, 2024: The new issue features ‘Superspreading Seeds’ – Influencers spread health messages across remote villages; making sense of evidence on early childhood education; Brain and muscle clocks cooperate to resist aging…

A scientist is likely to win Mexico’s presidency. Not all researchers are rejoicing

A helicopter in midair with three bighorn sheep suspended from it.

Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo would be first researcher to lead the country, but critics worry she’ll be as hostile to science as her predecessor

Which wild animals carry the COVID-19 virus? An ambitious U.S. project aims to find out

Scientists test bighorn sheep, bears, moose, rats, and dozens of other species to track how SARS-CoV-2 moves between humans and wildlife

News: ‘Mass Killings’ In Darfur Feared, US-Japan-Australia Defense Talks

The Globalist (May 1, 2024): As war closes in on Darfur’s besieged capital, we get the latest on the conflict in Sudan.

Then: Japan, Australia, the US and the Philippines meet in Hawaii for defence talks, we hear the case for EU expansion and examine Georgia’s controversial foreign-agent bill. Plus: responsible tourism in Mallorca.

News: Hamas Delegation In Cairo For Ceasefire Talks, Greece ‘Iron Dome’

The Globalist (April 30, 2024): Egypt and Qatar flex their mediator muscles as a Hamas delegation arrives in Cairo for ceasefire talks, Greece pledges €2bn to build its own ‘Iron Dome’, Germany’s far-right is on trial and we hear about the continuation of Ukraine’s global relief programme despite the ongoing war.

Plus: newspapers, aviation news and Madonnamania takes over Brazil.

News: Israel-Hamas Cease Fire Talks, Africa Heads Of State Summit In Nairobi

The Globalist (April 29, 2024): Hannah McCarthy joins us to discuss the latest from Gaza. Also in the programme: Tara O’Connor explores the IDA for Africa Heads of State Summit in Nairobi, where leaders are meeting to discuss the continent’s financing and security.

Also in the programme: we speak to Sebastian Conran, designer in residence at Habitat, as the company celebrates its 60th anniversary. Plus: a flick through the day’s papers.

News: Dutch PM Mark Rutte Meets Erdogan In Istanbul, Lufthansa CEO

The Globalist (April 26, 2024): Monocle’s Hannah Lucinda Smith on Mark Rutte’s visit to Istanbul to meet Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he seeks to woo support to become the next Nato chief.

Also in the programme: Ed Stocker sits down with Lufthansa CEO Jens Ritter as the airline prepares to launch its new premium cabins known as Allegris. Plus: we discuss why the Indian city of Bengaluru is offering incentives for those who head to the polls and the latest news in film.

Research Preview: Science Magazine – April 26, 2024

Science Magazine – April 25, 2024: The new issue features ‘Born to Explore’ – Exploratory tendency leads to diversification; Can science address loneliness?; Vitamin D, microbiota, and cancer immunity; A safer version of a 140-year-old chemical reaction…

Microbes and vitamin D aid immunotherapy

Vitamin D modulates intestinal epithelial cell function to enhance antitumor microbes

The gut microbiome has been shown to modulate the response of cancer patients to therapy, but precisely how microbiota affect anticancer immunity is still being elucidated. Giampazolias et al. report that vitamin D bioavailability in mice influences the composition of the gut microbiome (see the Perspective by Franco and McCoy). After dietary manipulation, vitamin D levels were observed to affect gut bacteria, which in turn improved cancer immunotherapy and antitumor immunity. In humans, low vitamin D levels were correlated with tumor development, and gene signatures of vitamin D activity were associated with improved patient responses to immunotherapy. These findings highlight the connection between vitamin D and the immune system through gut bacteria and may have applications for improving cancer therapies.

The power of curiosity

Lake Tanganyika contains one of the most impressive adaptive radiations, with about 250 species of cichlid occupying a variety of niches. Much research has focused on understanding the drivers of this and other adaptive radiations. Trembo et al. looked in depth at 57 of these cichlid species with regard to their behavior, ecomorphology, and genomics. They found that one behavior in particular, a tendency to explore, was related to niche adaptation, and they identified a regulatory gene that is highly associated with this behavior. These findings suggest the existence of an adaptive syndrome driven in part by a tendency to explore what is new.

News: Blinken Visits China; Gaza Humanitarian Crisis; Haiti Crisis ‘Catastrophic’

The Globalist (April 25, 2024): We discuss the state of relations between the world’s two most powerful countries as US secretary of state Antony Blinken visits China.

Plus: the current humanitarian situation in Gaza, the UN warns that the crisis in Haiti is “catastrophic” and Spanish-language music sweeps global charts.