Monocle Radio Podcast (November 22, 2024): As the International Criminal Court (ICC) issues arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, among others, we assess what effects it will have in resolving the conflict between Israel and Gaza.
Then: Narendra Modi wraps up a historic visit to Guyana, Moldova clinches a crucial security deal with the UK and we recap this year’s Cop29 summit in Baku.
Existentialist crises might more commonly be associated with some who seek out religion, rather than with those religions themselves, but that’s where the Church of England has found itself in recent days.
The resignation of Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, followed a damning report into the church’s shameful failures over the serial child abuser John Smyth, which detailed even more disturbing details of cover-ups by some senior clergy.
1
Spotlight | Trump’s shock-and-awe team A flurry of controversial and extremist picks for Trump’s administration has provoked criticism and made heads spin. David Smith reports from Washington
2
Science | The inverse link between cancer and dementia Scientists have long been aware of a curious connection between these common and feared diseases. At last, a clearer picture is emerging, writes Theres Lüthi
3
Feature | Kernels of hope During the siege of Leningrad, botanists in charge of an irreplaceable seed collection, the first of its kind, had to protect it from fire, rodents – and hunger. By Simon Parkin
4
Opinion | Seven lessons from a long-serving economics editor From Thatcher to Trump and Brexit, the Guardian’s outgoing economics editor, Larry Elliott, reflects on his 28 years in the role.
5
Culture | Faking history Film and TV have a slippery relationship with the truth when it comes to historical epics. Simon Usborne meets the experts whose advice goes unheeded
Monocle Radio Podcast (November 21, 2024): The new US treasury secretary will have the power to shape the global economy with its tariff and tax policy.
Plus: should Iran be censured before the IAEA? Also, Peace Brigades International documents the threats faced by global human-rights activists and an interview with the founder of European Sleeper to mark the release of our latest ‘Monocle: The Entrepreneurs’ magazine.
Country Life Magazine (November 20, 2024): The latest issue featuresWinston Churchill – The wit and wisdom of the great man…
‘Let us go forward together’
As we approach the 150th anniversary of Sir Winston Churchill’s birthday, Amie Elizabeth White and Octavia Pollock pay homage to the great man, in his own words.
Entertaining His Majesty
In the second of two articles, John Goodall charts the 1560s and 1620s expansion of Apethorpe Palace in Northamptonshire
Landscape of ‘seamless sameness’
England’s heather moorland and its glorious purple swathe is a wonder of the Western world, suggest John Lewis-Stempel
Why is a raven like a writing desk?
Do you know a Yonerywander from a Vinvertuperator? Engage your inner Edward Lear as Daniel McKay welcomes you into his wacky world of whimwondery
Wibble wobble, wibble wobble, jelly made of paint
Food, glorious food is fuelling the creativity of modern still-life artists discovers Catriona Gray
Sex, lies and sewing machines
The sewing machine rose to be an emblem of domesticity, but its invention is a story of Saints and Singers. Matthew Dennison follows the thread
Interiors
Raze to the ground or renovate? Has the open-plan layout had its day? Cart shed or garage? Giles Kime considers some key architectural conundrums
Wisley reinvented
John Hoyland is captivated by the spectacular transformation of Piet Oudolf’s double borders at the RHS garden in Surrey
Some like it hot
If you like your chili ‘hotter than the hinges of hell’, Tom Parker Bowles has just the dish for you (and there’s not a bean in sight)
Wooden walls restored
John Goodall lauds a decade-long project to rescue a unique painted church at Ursi, Romania
Monocle Radio Podcast (November 20, 2024):We discuss the latest from ceasefire efforts in Beirut, a shift in tone as Ukraine strikes Russia with US-supplied missiles for the first time, and protests in New Zealand. Plus: a matcha shortage and ‘Wicked’
Monocle Radio Podcast (November 18, 2024):Xi Jinping, Joe Biden and other world leaders hold bilaterals as Apec comes to an end in Lima and the G20 gets under way in Brazil.
Plus: Amsterdam protests affect the Dutch government, how the Philippines is surviving an onslaught of typhoons and the new French dictionary.
Monocle on Sunday (November 17, 2024): Rainbow Murray joins Emma Nelson for a look through the week’s news, including Cop29 and a Marine Le Pen lawsuit.
Plus: we head to Sydney for insights into the UBS Australasia Conference 2024 with Monocle’s Asia editor James Chambers. Then: Monocle’s France correspondent, Mary Fitzgerald, gives us the latest news from the region.
Monocle on Saturday (November 16, 2024): 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”.
The Week In Art Podcast (November 15, 2024):UK museums are at a moment of transformation with a new generation of directors taking the helm at several of the major national institutions in London. So for this landmark 300th episode, we felt it was a good moment to look at the challenges and opportunities for museums now and in the future.
We invited Gus Casely-Hayford of V&A East, Nicholas Cullinan of the British Museum and Karin Hindsbo of Tate Modern to join our host Ben Luke for a wide-ranging discussion.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious