Culture
Gift guide: 22 books and magazines for cooks, design devotees and print lovers
From chef-led cookbooks and design tomes to page-turning fiction and the freshest independent magazines, here is Monocle’s pick of the best in print.
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‘We don’t work to confirm the biases of our readers.’ Jan Martínez Ahrens on defending democracy in the age of junk information
As Spain heads to a fractious election and traditional media faces a crisis of confidence, the editor in chief of ‘El País’ discusses separating fact from opinion and why clickbait is a dead end.
In Sharjah ‘The Direct Line’ phone-in show is turning radio into a forum (and solution) for residents’ problems
‘Al Khat Al Mubasher’ (’The Direct Line’) is a live phone-in on Sharjah Radio and TV where government officials troubleshoot residents’ concerns – and the ruler sometimes calls in himself.
Taiwan is putting itself back on the global art stage and the world is taking notice
Despite tensions with a neighbouring power that refuses to recognise its autonomy, Taiwan has a cultural scene all its own. A new wave of galleries, museums and collectors is affirming the island’s identity.
Like a one-week free trial, our relationship with streaming services is not made to last
After many years of using streaming platforms, it’s time for a fresh start: a return to an era when films were packaged in something more tangible – and long-lasting – than a Netflix subscription.
Meet five literary leaders helping Jakarta’s book industry turn a new page
From the co-founder of Periplus to the writer of ‘Cigarette Girl’ and the chair of the Indonesia International Book Fair, here are the players breathing new life into Indonesia’s publishing milieu.
From historic emporiums to literary cafés: Our favourite bookshops in Barcelona
In the Spanish coastal city, a growing number of booksellers are becoming a hub for cultural life, balancing Catalan roots with a global perspective.
Has the art world forgotten how to feel? Museums need less explanation and more emotion
Critics might accuse the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and Switzerland’s Fondation Beyeler of eschewing art-world academicism. But by prioritising emotional and sensory experience, these institutions offer visitors something that galleries have been missing.
Paweł Pawlikowski tackles ‘sacred beast’ Thomas Mann in his new film, ‘Fatherland’
The filmmaker discusses his directorial style and his casting of Sandra Hüller in a drama that follows the Nobel laureate and his daughter on a journey through war-ravaged Germany.
Parisian art centre Large opens on the former site of a Renault production facility and it was no small feat
A new contemporary art gallery is leading the regeneration of Île Seguin – a small, neglected island in the suburbs of Paris – while honouring both its automotive and artistic past.
The Bayeux Tapestry reveals an abundance of naked truths – about humans’ unchanging nature
I was invited to a party this week to mark 40 years of The Independent, the newspaper-turned-content powerhouse where I worked for close to a decade before joining Project Monocle. The event was held…
