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- [00:04]
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Emma Nelson
You're listening to the Globalist, first broadcast on 12 February 2026 on Monocle Radio. The Globalist in association with U. Live from London. This is THE Globalist with me, Emma Nelson. A very warm welcome to today's program. Coming up with violence a key concern, we'll look at the Bangladeshi elections, the first since the uprising two years ago and a moment when the country could find a stable footing. Also ahead in the next 60 minutes, we're in Germany as attendees of the Munich Security Conference battle a Lufthansa strike to get to the event.
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Bertrand Auboyneau
And when you kill an animal, it's important to eat all part of it. It's also a sort of politic position.
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Emma Nelson
The chef at one of Paris most beloved restaurants, Bistro Paul Bert, talks to Monocle Radio about nose to tail eating. Plus the papers. And we hear from our team in Milan as our coverage of the world around the Winter Olympics continues to that's all coming up on the Globalist live from London. First, a look at what else is happening in today's news. The Canadian police say the shooter who killed eight people in rural British Columbia had a history of mental health issues. The messaging service WhatsApp says the Russian government has attempted to fully block the encrypted app. And The Republican controlled U.S. house of Representatives has backed a resolution in favor of ending tariffs on Canadian goods. Stay tuned to Monacle Radio throughout the day for more on these stories. But first, voting in Bangladesh is underway for the first time since an uprising forced the country's leader, Sheikh Hasina from power and into exile. There is a heightened security presence as Bangladesh's police chief said that more than half of the country's 42,000 polling stations were vulnerable to violence. While Dr. Israt Hossain is associate at the Giga Institute for Asian Studies. She joins him on the land now from Berlin. Good morning, Israt.
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Anastasia Galuchka
Good morning.
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Emma Nelson
So let us just establish a little bit of background here. We're looking now at 2024. Two years ago there was a violent crackdown on students with more than a thousand people killed. And now we are here with a country attempting to have its first election since then. Where is Bangladesh as we stand?
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Dr. Israt Hossain
I think Bangladesh stands at a crossroad because this is an extremely consequential election. It comes at the end of an autocratic rul by the former Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, who ruled the country for 15 years with a tendency towards authoritarianism. And the last free and free election where all parties participated and the voters could vote freely was in 2008. So you can imagine the kind of enthusiasm people have to go and simply exercise their democratic rights.
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Emma Nelson
So explain to us now what is happening today, because we have a big reset taking place here, don't we? And there is an enormous focus on young people in Bangladesh, having been subject to Sheikh Hasina's crackdown, are now the people that the real focus is on.
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Dr. Israt Hossain
Exactly. You're right. Around 40% of the voters who will be voting today are under 37. And many of them have never actually voted in the past. And that is because there were three elections that took place under Sheikh Hasina's rule where voting was not free and fair and not participatory. So these were people who were stripped of their rights to just simply vote. So that's why there is a huge expectation that this. This election might be sort of, in a way, a point to make by the young people who led the uprising and kind of their stamp on what kind of government they want to see in future.
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Emma Nelson
And so explain to us who is on the cards then to take, you know, to assume power.
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Dr. Israt Hossain
Yeah. Despite all the enthusiasm, it's a little bit saddening to say that we are not seeing a new kind of politics coming into shape. The two main contenders are two long established political parties. On one side we have the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is. Has been in politics almost since Bangladesh's independence. And the second contender is Jama', at, which has formed an Islamic alliance. Jama' at is a moderate Islamic party and one of the largest Islamic parties of Bangladesh, and it has formed an Islamic alliance with some of the other smaller Islamic parties. So these are the two main blocs that the voter will choose from and the student party that kind of emerged out of the 2024 uprising. They have aligned themselves with Jamaat, which puts them in a dubious position in terms of how voters see them as an agent of change for Bangladesh's future.
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Emma Nelson
And so which direction do we believe Bangladesh will go in today?
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Dr. Israt Hossain
It is a little bit unpredictable to say which direction. If we look at the polling in the last few months that have come out, BNP is clearly the frontrunner they are. According to one poll, they are expected to get more than 200 seats. But the unpredictability lies in a lot of swing voters, a lot of first time voters who could sway these number of seats. Bangladesh has first passed the post system, so the percentage of voter is important, but it's not as important as the actual vote the candidates get. So that will determine exactly what kind of seat distribution we will see in the parliament. But one thing is certain, that it will be an election that is unlike any other.
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Emma Nelson
As a Bangladeshi living in Germany. How about the diaspora vote?
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Dr. Israt Hossain
Yes, this is a new element to the, to this year's vote. This is the first time that the Bangladeshi Election Commission has introduced diaspora or expat voting. Bangladesh has around 12 million diaspora living in different countries. Around 9 million of these people are migrant workers. So this is the first time they will be able to vote. There is also a lot of enthusiasm around that. And in Berlin it was done through postal ballot and the commission introduced an app and you had to register in that app to get your postal ballot which you will then send back to the Bangladesh Embassy in Berlin. So I'm guessing that was the mechanism for other countries as well.
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Emma Nelson
Just explain to us a little bit more about how forward thinking was business leaders and indeed voters believe the, the political landscape to be. Given the fact that we have Bangladesh being what, the world's second largest exporter of clothes after China and it, and it generates an astonishing US$40 billion a year. Where is the sense that those who wish to take power are able to harness this enormous potential? You have this incredibly young population and you have this incredibly dynamic clothing sector. What can Bangladesh do to, to, to lift itself up and actually push forward?
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Dr. Israt Hossain
This is a, this is a very important question and challenge for Bangladesh's future government because if we look at the trajectory of Bangladesh, it is, it is on track to graduate from being a least developed country which gives it certain preferential treatments in terms of trade and other areas of getting loans and etc. So the government that comes to power will have to make provisions to adjust to this change of Bangladeshi status. And on the other hand, the question you asked about, you know, the, how businesses will, will, how confident they feel about how Bangladesh will, will perform in the future. It also comes down to good governance and the management of the overall economy. And the next government will have to, will have to work on that because the economy was at the brink when, when the former government was, was thrown out of power. And the interim government has done good work to make it more stable. But there's certainly more needs to be done by the next government.
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Emma Nelson
And then also just looking geopolitically, there is a sense that. Excuse me, there is a sense that, well, there are reports that Bangladesh is turning against the neighbour India and the regional repositioning of Bangladesh is something that needs to be paid attention to. What is Bangladesh trying to do or be? Where does it sit regionally now?
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Dr. Israt Hossain
Yes, absolutely. The main problem right now in the region of politics is Bangladesh's relations with India. It has been on a downward trajectory since the former prime minister fled to India and has taken refuge there and she has been operating her political party's activities from India, the political party which activities were banned in Bangladesh. So India is in a position where it is, it needs to reset its relations with Bangladesh and Bangladesh also, whoever comes to power, they need to understand the realities of the region and also Bangladesh's geopolitical reality surrounded by being surrounded by India and have to work towards at least normalizing this relationship, which has been very thorny in the past one and a half years.
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Emma Nelson
Dr. Israt Hossain, Associate at the Giga Institute for Asian Studies in Berlin, thank you for joining us on the Globalist. The time is 9:11am in Kyiv, 7:11am here in London. Now, Kyiv has denied reports that Ukraine's president is to call elections in the spring. The administration has faced pressure from both Washington and from Moscow, not to mention an electorate wary of almost four years of war and a government mired in corruption scandals. Well, I'm joined now by Anastasia Galuchka, who's a Ukraine porter for the Washington reporter for the Washington Post. She joins me now on the line from Kyiv. And before we start talking about any prospect of elections, there are reports overnight that there were attacks on Kyiv, Odessa and Dnipro. So explain to us, just bring us up to date with what happened there, please.
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Anastasia Galuchka
Yeah, Last night there were multiple attacks. Combination ballistic missiles were sent to Kyiv, Odessa. In Odessa, energy infrastructure was hit in Kyiv. We heard a couple of loud bangs last night. Luckily there were no people killed during these strikes, but they were injured.
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Emma Nelson
Okay, good to know with that, thank you very much indeed. Let's move on to the elections. Where are we? Because there are so many conflicting reports coming out of Ukraine as to whether President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will call an election or he won't or different departments are saying different things.
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Anastasia Galuchka
So Zelenskyy spoke to journalists yesterday and obviously the question, question about the FT article came up and he answered that Quite straightforward. And he has maintained that, first of all, the idea of elections being announced on 24 January, on 24 February is absurd. In his opinion, and in the opinion of a lot of people, this is a very traumatic date for the Ukrainian people. The idea of announcing elections on this date, when this date is absolutely not about that, it is about the start of the full scale invasion, the people who have sacrificed their lives since the beginning of that. And so a call for elections on that date is not going to happen. He said that. Very straightforward then, with regards to elections being held. Look, we know where this is coming from. Moscow is sending Wyckoff back to Trump to whisper in his ear that obviously, indeed, Ukraine needs to be. In order for Ukraine to prove itself to be a democratic state, it needs to hold elections. However, Ukraine is currently under martial law. 25% of election offices across the country are not working. They're either under occupation, they have been destroyed, or they're on frontline territory where it's impossible to hold any elections. Also, millions of Ukrainians have fled Ukraine due to the war. The idea of holding an election would mean we would have to lift martial law. In order to lift martial law, we would need the ability and the circumstances to do so under constant attacks while the war is happening. This is not an option for Ukraine. What Zelenskyy is doing right now is what a strategy that he's been having with Trump for a while, which is, I would almost say, to placate Trump by saying, look, you want us to hold elections, we will do anything in our power. We will form. We have a parliamentary committee working on this. We will adjust law, even though Zelenskyy does not have the majority right now in the parliament, to adjust these laws. But we will do everything in our power to get that through. But on your side, we need from Russia for them to at least agree to a ceasefire. We cannot hold elections when where people amass, in certain places, when we run the risk of ballistic missiles or drone attacks.
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Emma Nelson
Is there any appetite. So sorry, I do apologize for interrupting, but is there actually any appetite from Ukrainian people themselves to have an election?
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Anastasia Galuchka
None whatsoever. Whoever I speak to, whether they're civilian or military, they don't see the point. There is no other viable candidate in everyone's opinion. I know there's been talk about Zaluzhny, but let's be very honest, Zaluzhny is military. He's not a political man. The same can be said about Zelenskyy, but Zelenskyy has deserved like proven his stripes over the past couple of years. Zaluzhny hasn't. He is not cut out for the. He's not cut out for the leadership or at least he doesn't have the backing of the Ukrainian people insofar that they believe that he can pull this through. It would be Zelensky again. Even if we would do elections right now, I don't see any other viable candidates.
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Emma Nelson
The difficulty that Volodymyr Zelenskyy faces now though, is that this is a question of sacrifice on every front either. In order to achieve peace with Russia, despite his promise not to cede territory, land would be on the table as something that could, would be given up. And if not, then he would have to sacrifice his own power.
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Anastasia Galuchka
Zelensky has made it very clear multiple times throughout the years that he is absolutely fine with not staying in power. He is, during previous talks with journalists where I was present, he has made it clear that if me giving up my presidency would lead to peace in Ukraine, I would do it. We just, almost everyone understands that that is not going to happen. The war with Russia will not stop if Zelensky seizes power. And for the Ukrainian people it is a question of this is not the time. There is a full scale invasion going on. We are fighting on every front right now, holding an election. We'll do nothing except for tearing the country apart inside out. And once again, there is no will from anyone. There's no calls from within Ukraine to hold elections.
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Emma Nelson
There is nonetheless discussions that not just a presidential election to be held, but there is talk about a vote on a potential peace deal. How important is it that anything that Zelensky and his team agree on in principle, were there to be a suggestion of a peace deal, how important is it that that should be put to the people?
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Anastasia Galuchka
According to, once again Zelenskyy's talks with journalists in the past, he has made it clear that for him it is personally very important that the Ukrainian people decide about the fate of Ukraine and Ukrainian territory. As you said, the territory and especially the Donbass part of this is a very difficult discussion. It is very morally conflicted on every side because we have seen what happens under occupation, in occupation, when we watched the liberation of Izium and Kherson, we have found the torture chambers. We have seen what happened in Bucha, which is the most vivid image, I think, that Americans and foreign audiences can recall about post Russian occupation and what it does to civilian population. So the idea of ceding territory, of actually giving it up, is something that for Ukrainians means while you're leaving your people to die and to be tortured under occupation. Now, Zelenskyy has made clear though, that whatever is being decided that there will be a need for a referendum. The Ukrainian people need to decide with him on this. But once again, it is a question about security and Zelenskyy has made it very clear, first security, then politics.
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Emma Nelson
Thank you so much. Anastasia Galushka, Ukraine reporter for the Washington Post, joining me on the line from Kyiv. You're listening to the Globalist with me, Emma Nelson, still to come.
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Anita Riota
Good morning from Munich, where we are the first of a rather large Monocle delegation to come to the German city and see what this very highly anticipated edition of the Munich Security Conference will bring us.
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Emma Nelson
That is Monocle's Anita Riota there on the line from Munich. She'll be joining us in a little while to talk about the Munich Security Conference. So stay with us.
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Emma Nelson
Let's continue now with today's newspapers. Joining me is Vincent McEvinney, political reporter, regular Monocle Radio contributor.
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Anastasia Galuchka
Good morning, Vinnie.
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Emma Nelson
Vinny, how are you?
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Vincent McEvinney
Good morning.
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Emma Nelson
What have you been up to?
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Vincent McEvinney
Well, it's been raining a lot in Britain, hasn't it? It's pretty much rained every single day since 2 January, which has been been a bit grim this time of year.
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Emma Nelson
It's existentially challenging.
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Vincent McEvinney
Yeah. Yeah. And I'm training for the marathon again and it's a bit, it's a bit harder to get up every morning when it's just pouring down.
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Emma Nelson
Send him jackets. You do have the waterproofs though. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is, is what it is. It's a different if it's a different side of challenge. Well, we wish you the very best of luck with that one. And I could try and buy you an umbrella, but it would slow you down. What have you spotted in the papers?
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Vincent McEvinney
Oh, well, it's a busy morning. This top story I saw in the New York Times is really interesting. Trump's trade deal with India has become a head for Modi. Who would have thought doing a trade deal with Donald Trump that was pretty rushed would become a bit of a disaster for him. So obviously India was suffering under that huge 50% export tariff that Donald Trump had slapped on because of its continued purchasing of Russian oil. And so there was this rushed announcement on February 3 that the two had done this deal. India is notoriously very hard to strike deals with. It's very protectionist. The UK struck one about 18 months ago, that was seen as a bit of a breakthrough and now this deal had been done. But it seems like both sides aren't clear what they actually did, because according to the us, it meant that India was going to stop buying Russian oil, which would have been a huge coup for Donald Trump and a bit of something to cheer for in Ukraine. However, that is not exactly what the Indians thought that they had agreed to. And there was also differences when it came to agriculture, particularly the pulses, which were where is the sort of dried seeds that you make things like dal from, the main source of protein in India. The US seemed to think that they had got access to the Indian market for that. Something that India wants to be fiercely independent with and could really undermine their own farming population. So it seems that this was a bit of a half baked deal where both sides were a bit confused on what the other was agreeing to, which.
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Emma Nelson
Is interesting to think as to how do they believe that a deal had actually been done when neither of them knew what was in it?
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Vincent McEvinney
Well, quite. I mean, I don't think Donald Trump is always someone who's got his mind on the details, but Narendra Modi is someone who, you know, and with the tradition in India, particularly of being so protective of their farmers that it seems very strange that they didn't have a really firm agreed text. These only came to light when the White House put out a bit of a scorecard on what the deal would mean for Americans. And suddenly India thought, hold on a second, this isn't what we thought we had signed up to.
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Emma Nelson
Let's move to a story in the Guardian about a Swiss population poll. Switzerland is going to vote on a prop proposal from the far right to limit the country's population to 10 million. That's quite an idea.
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Vincent McEvinney
Yeah. This is a really fascinating thing. We know that Switzerland loves to have some plebiscite and this is from the far right Swiss People's Party, who don't have much success in kind of getting these polls over the line, but they're wanting to bring in a sort of lockstep way of trying to keep the population below 10 million. So, for instance, if the country's permanent population of 9.1 million exceeds 9.5 million. It would want to deny entrance to newcomers, including asylum seekers and the families of foreign residents. And if the population reaches 10 million, further restrictions would come into force, which would put a limit to free movement with the EU its biggest export market. And there has been quite a big boost in the population of Switzerland over the past decade, with now 27% of Swiss residents not being citizens. And they're saying this population explosion story that we're hearing, a lot of countries is inflating rent, straining public infrastructure, etc. But what's really telling is that although there's been a big pushback from Swiss business, a poll in December found that 48% of voters actually backed these proposals and thought that Switzerland should not exceed a population of 10 million.
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Emma Nelson
Indeed. And this is a difficulty that Switzerland always faces. It is a country of structure, it is a country of order, and it is a country of certainty. Yet it absolutely depends on being incredibly nimble.
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Vincent McEvinney
Yes, it does. And I mean, it's already. We know from people that have moved there, one of our former, still a monocle colleague who moved there recently, that when you do move, there is a lot of bureaucracy to get around to be able to access the rental markets, do all those kind of things. So it's not the easiest country to even transition into. But I think if you're putting restrictions on people moving there, being able to bring their family, think about all the kind of executives, all those big companies that bring expertise in around the world, they will really struggle if people aren't allowed to move with their spouses and children.
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Emma Nelson
Let's move. Move to the times and a story which is we do things to our bodies to make ourselves look different. And we are doing an awful lot of things to our bodies to make ourselves look different and make ourselves look a little bit how we would like to look. I never realized that a freckle was a thing.
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Vincent McEvinney
Yes.
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Emma Nelson
So I knew it's a thing, obviously.
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Vincent McEvinney
But I never struck out. To me, I mean, you don't have any and I have a lot.
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Fernando Ascosto Pacheco
Do you?
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Emma Nelson
Right. I'm going to have a look.
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Vincent McEvinney
Yeah, I definitely do. They had to, you know, as you get older, they fade a bit, but as soon as the sun comes out, out, up they pop. But I was really fascinated A few years ago, I was on holiday, had a bit of color, the freckles were out. And I took some photos and I was looking at them and I realized the app I was using without my consent, without me asking to had AI airbrushed All of my freckles out. It thought I wanted a completely smooth complexion and I didn't want that at all. I wanted to look how I looked.
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Emma Nelson
You wanted to look like Vinnie.
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Vincent McEvinney
Exactly.
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Emma Nelson
What a surprise.
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Vincent McEvinney
Exactly. But this is a really interesting story in the Times about people. You know, freckles have long. There's been sort of. They've hairbrushed off models in magazines as well. And people have kind of complained about that. And people now wanting to enjoy their freckles, but some people going as far as having them tattooed onto their faces when they actually fade with age because they miss them.
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Emma Nelson
It's incredible. There is a. There is a case study of one woman who's had it done and she. I think she's an influencer, she's a content creator. So that tells us everything about what she has to do in life. I mean, surely people have better things to do. Yeah, maybe, apart from.
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Vincent McEvinney
But it's interesting, I think, that, you know, freckles are seen as something that people want to get rid of. But, you know, going back to that app, you know, it didn't ask if it had changed my eye color, automatically thinking, oh, you know, everyone wants to be blue eyed. It was a little bit strange.
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Emma Nelson
It is. Let's talk about little bit strange. Great article in the New York Times about Olympic figure skaters. I was watching it last night. What a thrill. It's all to do with the music. And there is a problem.
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Vincent McEvinney
This is fascinating. So this is all about Olympic copyright. Now, until Sochi, the rules were that you had to really. Most of the disciplines in ice skating use classical music, basically music without lyrics. So most of it would be well out of kind of the copyright limit, free to use kind of thing. But since then it's changed and we've seen people doing routines to the Spice Girls and all kinds. But the biggest battle it seems that these skaters are having is getting the copyright clearance. Because it's very complex. There's obviously international broadcasting involved, clips for social media. It lives in the Olympic archive. And some of these skaters were flying into Milan Cortina without having sought the. Without having actually had the final sign off to use the music. So you think they've spent months, years of their life preparing these intricate routines timed exactly to music, and they haven't got the permission. And this happened to a Canadian dance player who couldn't get permission off AC dc. We've had another skater who only at the last minute, simply by going on social media and pleading, managed to get the music unlocked for his minions routine. He's a Spanish skater. But this is something that's really catching them out and there's a lot of paperwork involved. And you think they got that much to focus on? Not knowing if you can use the piece of music must be a nightmare.
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Emma Nelson
There's a great, there's a great bit of this article saying that a couple who competed for Spain traveled to Italy unsure that the clearance for their song of choice from the soundtrack to Dune would come in time. And what they decided to do is message hand Zimmer themselves to try and see if he'd say yes. And then of course there's a question of cost because it costs a lot of money to pay for copyright and for copyright usage. And the IOC apparently doesn't help.
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Vincent McEvinney
It doesn't stump up. So it's on the individual skaters themselves, I mean, I guess. Yeah, it's, it's so interesting because you think for, you know, when you think about the, those big performances, Torvald and Dean, the sort of bolero stuff, the music can kind of take on a life of its own. It can really kind of, you know, be remembered forever because of a great, you know, gold winning performance like this. But I guess it goes to the issues that a lot of musicians are facing where the streaming has diluted the amount of income they can get and they want to make sure they're properly.
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Emma Nelson
Compensated and no money left over for freckle tattoos. Vincent McEvinney, thank you so much for joining me as ever in the studio. You're listening to the Globalist. Now here's a look at some of these stories we're keeping an eye on today. The Canadian police say the shooter who killed eight people in a rural British Columbian town had a history of mental health issues. 18 year old Jessie Van Ruetzeler shot dead her mother and stepbrother before killing five pupils and a teacher. The messaging service WhatsApp says the Russian government has attempted to fully block the encrypted app. It's accused Russia of wanting to drive people towards its state owned platform. The Republican controlled U.S. house of Representatives has backed a resolution in favor of ending tariffs on Canadian goods. But even if the measure passes in the Senate, it's expected to be vetoed by the President. And the Mexican Navy says it's conducted a coordinated operation with the U.S. coast Guard against drug smugglers in the Pacific Ocean. Almost 200 packages contain containing cocaine were seized. And those are the headlines on Monocle Radio. Now it's what, 8:30am in Munich? It is 7:30am here in London. So let us head to Munich, preparing to be descended upon by leaders and defence ministers for the annual Munich Security Conference. One of those who managed to get in last night was Anita Riota, our producer of our Foreign Desk podcast. She's already there. Good morning, Anita. How's Munich looking?
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Anita Riota
Good morning, Emma. It's looking very beautiful and sunny right now. I think we are expecting a bunch of snow, if not rain over the weekend. So we are enjoying the sun as long as we have it. But as you said, we are very lucky to be here already. We have colleagues who had to change all of their travel plans to sort of slink in last night because it's been really tough to get in. There's been lots of strikes. And so we are very, very fortunate to wake up here this morning.
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Emma Nelson
Indeed. And Munich is not a bad place to wake up in. And this Lufthansa general strike, which is what has caused so much disruption, is there any sense actually that this might be getting in way of what might be able to be done at the Munich Security Conference?
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Anita Riota
Well, absolutely. I mean, I think, you know, this is actually not even the first time we, as the foreign desk team have seen a conference a little bit hobbled by a travel strike like this. Back when we were in Greece for the Delphi Economic Forum, we had the Athens airport come have a strike. And so obviously that was basically the main entry point for all the delegates there. Lufthansa, obviously, as the German national carrier, is responsible for so many flights not only into Munich, but if you want to. To reroute and go to Berlin, you know, and then maybe jump on a train and. Or Frankfurt, that is also not going to be an easy option for you. And this will be all day today, this strike. It is unclear if it will extend into tomorrow and the weekend, but, you know, a lot of people were expecting to get in today. I do think maybe the organizers will find some solace in the fact that, that if the strike remains confined to today, a big, you know, a very substantial amount of delegations are set to arrive tomorrow.
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Emma Nelson
Okay, so who are the big names that we're expecting to hear from and see?
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Anita Riota
So we from the US front, Interestingly, last year, as listeners will remember, due to his very incendiary speech, US Vice President J.D. vance was here. As is the norm with the US delegation, he will not be here this year. And the U.S. delegation will be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio instead. And then we have the usual bevy of European heads of state. We will have French President Emmanuel Macron here, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Olaf Scholz, the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be here, maybe almost excited to come and deal with the hot topic issues of the war in Ukraine and the transatlantic Atlantic relationship after facing a really, really tough week at home. These might actually seem like slightly easier topics to him, you know, I couldn't say. And the Danish Prime Minister, Mercer Fredriksen, who of course has been all over the news recently as the Trump administration has sort of laid, laid plans on to Greenland, will also be here. So as always, it's a very, very high level cast here in Munich indeed.
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Emma Nelson
I mean, the absence though of the, of the likes of Trump. We don't have Mark Carney because of what's happened with the shooting yesterday. But those who have not decided to go, how important is that, that, you know, that the empty seats, what does that say about the relevance and the influence of the security conference?
- [34:27]
Anita Riota
I think, I think you're right that the empty seat, especially of J.D. vance, does say a lot. You know, he was here last year saying that Europe, in maybe brusque terms that I'm about to say, but that Europe had to stand on its own two feet. And the, the assumption of US Protection that is, you know, underpinned the world order of the last 80 years is not something that the world should continue to assume will remain there. And so then for him to not even show up this year with all of these negotiations that are very important, it seems very strange, I think, you know, especially because he was in Europe this week. You know, he had a very mixed reception at the Milano Cortina Olympics and he continued his travels in Europe. So he was also here, you know, you never know with the Munich Security Conference if he is making a future. He has plans to make a last minute appearance. But I think also the, the sort of actual importance of that empty seat is of course, one of the bigger ticket agenda items of this weekend will be the continuation of Ukraine peace talks and the fact that after these big concessions that we've seen in the last week, a referendum elections, that actually Zelenskyy is able to come to Munich, speak with his European allies who are promising a harder line on Russia, who are saying, you know, if, if Zelenskyy is having to make concessions, we will make sure that he is extracting security guarantees worth his while, that the US Just does not see itself anymore as part of that process, as part of that coalition, as part of the table that comes together to issue Russia a hard line.
- [36:29]
Emma Nelson
And this is Leading to wider questions about the way that the world operates. I think the Munich security report said that the world is entering what's being described as a period of wrecking ball politics. When we were talking about finance and business and the rules based order of the world, Mark Carney drove a cart and horses through that in a speech in Davos. Is there a sense that this conference, this time around is a moment when everybody takes a long, hard look at how security works?
- [37:02]
Anita Riota
Absolutely. And I'm really glad you brought up the Munich security report. I do encourage listeners. It's just on their website. It's open to the public. I think it is worthwhile to sort of cast an eye over because as you said, they're calling this a period of wrecking ball politics. They're saying that the US is among the most prominent of the countries trying to free themselves from the existing order and rebuild a more prosperous nation. As a result, the report says more than 80 years after construction began, the US led post1945 international order is now under destruction.
- [37:43]
Emma Nelson
Finally, we. Sorry to interrupt you. What are the plans for Monocle and the events surrounding our presence there this, this week, this weekend we.
- [37:53]
Anita Riota
As both a Sicilian and a producer, I will just tease that we have some very high level interviews coming in. I will not name names because that seems like playing with fire. But like you said, we are very excited. We are. We will have a lot of defense ministers come in, talk to us about what it means, this evolving security landscape. We are hosting an event this evening, the Monocle event. So if any listeners are in Munich, do drop us a. If you would like to join us. We have the Hitachi event with our partners, Hitachi Energy. And we will discuss, you know, unfortunately an agenda item that seems to be not high enough up on the list anymore these days. But the energy transition, how does that play in with our security concerns? How can we make sure that, you know, we have not taken our eye off this incredibly important ball?
- [38:48]
Emma Nelson
Monocle Radio's Anita Riota in Munich, we wish you the very best for the next couple of days. And we'll be checking in with the team out at the Munich security conference over the next few days. And programmes, you're listening to Monocle Radio. Now. Le Bistro Paul bayard in the 11th arrondissimo is perhaps one of the most beloved bistros in Paris. It opened in 1997 to much acclaim by the husband and wife duo Bertrand Auboyneau and Grenail Cadoret. Now a new book is out revealing some of the restaurant's most famed recipes. Le Bistro Polbert, French comfort food from the Parisian restaurant. Everything from beef tartare to creme caramel. It's all in there. And Monocle Radio senior correspondent Fernando Ascosto Pacheco heard from Bertrand to find out about the restaurant and the president.
- [39:45]
Bertrand Auboyneau
We like the idea that people try to do the receipts and we wrote them very simply. They are very simple receipts. There is no secret in that. The only thing is to find the right product at the right time to do it.
- [39:58]
Fernando Ascosto Pacheco
The right product is the secret. And I think you're lucky in France, I think is a good place for that. Right. So all the food produce you get do you get from the same people for years and years. So how does it work? Like when you buy kind of those ingredients, as you're just saying to me.
- [40:14]
Bertrand Auboyneau
Yeah, we're working with the same people for years. That's true. And we're always looking to buy it from directly to the farmers to the productors. And we do also a bit of ranges when we need it. But 90% of our suppliers are people we know where the animals are, breed and all that. Quite a lot of our vegetables are done in the farm we have in the Norman you.
- [40:42]
Fernando Ascosto Pacheco
That's great. I wonder if you could tell us, do you have like a favorite recipe or perhaps an iconic one? And I must add, I mean, I had the best Gr? Manier souffle that I had in my life actually at Pober. It was really fantastic. I almost went for a second, but then I was like, okay, Fernando, calm down.
- [41:00]
Bertrand Auboyneau
You know, I think the receipts I like to share the iconic recipe of the Palmer is the secoir. That's true. I love the way we do. We're doing the sauce also. I want also to have a lot of, how you say, sweet breads, pork head, all those sorts of things. Liver, kidneys. That's for us also very important.
- [41:26]
Fernando Ascosto Pacheco
Yes.
- [41:27]
Bertrand Auboyneau
It's not always the thing we sell the most, but for me it's really important because it's the base of the French cooking.
- [41:33]
Fernando Ascosto Pacheco
And I think people should have it more, you know. You know, and we should eat all parts almost of the meat.
- [41:38]
Bertrand Auboyneau
I think it's important to. When you kill an animal, it's important to eat all part of it. It's also a sort of politic position.
- [41:48]
Fernando Ascosto Pacheco
I agree 100%. And Bertrand, I want to ask as or besides the food, which is, you know, a reason for the success of a restaurant. So tell us a bit more because I feel like, you know, the importance of the staff. You know, there's other elements because they were funny, the waiters. There was a sense of, you know, I don't know, I think that's part of the appeal of a restaurant. Right? Wouldn't you say? So do you have perhaps you work with the same people since the beginning? Sometimes, of course, you have newer people as well. But tell us about the importance of the people.
- [42:19]
Bertrand Auboyneau
We have people working for 25 years with us. For example, the chef Thierry is there since 27 years. That makes also part of the bistro. A lot of people knows him. He comes in the place to say hello to people. We have also that in the. With the waiters. We have a waitress called Natalie, which she's with us since 15 years. Three weeks ago we were in New York with my wife and my daughter to do a pop up from Palmer and we had people, clients in New York saying, oh, how is Natalie now? Is she always with you? And that makes part of the business.
- [42:57]
Fernando Ascosto Pacheco
I agree. And it's interesting. I was going to mention the New York pop up. So is that your plan as well, to do more events like this, kind of spreading the word of Pober in other cities?
- [43:08]
Bertrand Auboyneau
Yes and no. I could say yes if I was 10 years. My age was not so advanced and now I'm a bit tired to do that. But it's always funny to do it. So we try to do it once or twice a year. In New York. We did it in the last three or four years. We did it in Brooklyn one time in New York, the city this time. We did also it in Montreal last year. So we try to do it once or twice a year. Also important for the chef who is coming with us to visit other countries to see how the customers are thinking about us and all that. That's really important.
- [43:47]
Fernando Ascosto Pacheco
And I wonder if, okay, the steak poivre, that's the iconic dish as well from Pobe. I mean, I wonder if you can share perhaps any other kind of recipe that you think you know. That's the one. If somebody want to try something at home, perhaps that's what they should go for.
- [44:02]
Bertrand Auboyneau
We did something very funny a few years ago. I have a friend which is a journalist in the States and she decided with all her followers to say, ah, we are going to do the iconic dish of Bistro Paul Bear next Saturday. And they had. She had thousands of people answering who tried from all the US And I think that was a really, I would say interesting and funny thing. If I had another, another receipt to do a bit iconic, I would do the servel de vaux, the braids of the vid which is becoming iconic. Also at the Bistro Pal Bear.
- [44:42]
Fernando Ascosto Pacheco
That's a good tip. That's a good tip. By the way, best friend, do you enjoy eating in other places in Paris? Do you still think Paris is the gastronomic capital of the world?
- [44:51]
Bertrand Auboyneau
Yeah, sure, sure. I think we are always looking for new restaurants, new place, new dishes. Every week or three or four times every month we try to do a new restaurant with my daughter and my wife and to see what's happening. It's a bit like a theatre scene and we are looking around for new ideas and what people are doing.
- [45:16]
Emma Nelson
The brilliant Bertrand Auboyneau talking to Monocle Radio's senior correspondent Fernanda Pacheco about Le Bistro Paul Bert and the book Le Bistro Paul French Comfort food from the Parisian restaurant is out now you're listening to the globalist.
- [45:34]
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- [46:09]
Emma Nelson
1645 in Tokyo. 8:45am in Zurich. Now let's have a roundup of cultural news from Japan. Kim Khan is a Japan Japan based translator and writer for publications including Nikkei and the National Geographic. And she joins me from our Tokyo studio. Good afternoon, Kim.
- [46:26]
Kim Khan
Hello, Emma.
- [46:27]
Emma Nelson
How's Kim? How's Kim? How's Tokyo looking? How's Kim looking? How's it all looking?
- [46:34]
Kim Khan
All in green today. Yeah, it's a really sunny day in Tokyo. We had a bit of snow at the weekend which was a surprise, but that's all melted now. Yes.
- [46:42]
Emma Nelson
That tiny bit of snow that deluged you when you were having your elections. It made for very beautiful pictures but probably quite hard to get to the polling booth. Okay, let's talk about what you have found in the cultural press at the moment. There's this astonishing story about. About a hunter who hunts down bears which is a problem in Japan at the moment and yet turns it into art.
- [47:12]
Kim Khan
Yeah, yeah. So this is Aoi Nagasawa. She's a 31 year old hunter slash artist. So she started. She's. Well, first and foremost she's a painter and got really into painting bears. Especially when she went to Ani Prefecture and met the Matagi people and tell.
- [47:34]
Emma Nelson
Us A little bit more about what happened.
- [47:37]
Kim Khan
So she actually went there in 2016, I think, in search of an angler because she was really into fish and fishing. And it just so happened that he'd unfortunately. Well, he'd unfortunately passed away several years earlier, but his family were there and they were all Matagi, and they run it, an inn which is actually sharing this Matagi culture. Matagi are hunter gatherers based in this very particular area in Akita Prefecture.
- [48:03]
Emma Nelson
Okay, just talk us through the whole Matagi culture as well. I mean, they're beautifully documented in images from Japan dating back centuries. Explain to us what this artist then did. So she goes and documents the Matagi people, but then she starts to hunt bears. And so talk us through what happens next.
- [48:26]
Kim Khan
Well, yeah, so she. Her first day, she's come to meet this person and unfortunately he passed away a couple of years prior. And she stayed at this inn and they were, well, the Matagi. We're matagi. This is our culture. And she was really interested and they were like, do you want to just pop into the van with the leader of the Matagi people tomorrow? And she told me, when I spoke to her, she was like, I don't know why I did it. I just did it it. And she became really, really good friends and developed this really beautiful connection with them and then started to get really interested in hunting herself. And then a few Years later, in 2020, I think during COVID she then got her own hunting license.
- [49:05]
Emma Nelson
And then what did she do? Because obviously she's creating art, but at the same time, there is this sheer brutality to what she actually does.
- [49:14]
Kim Khan
Yeah, yeah, that's a good way to put it. And I think the Mitagi culture, and I think this is especially what's appealed to Aoi in particular, is that it's a real celebration of the sort of beautiful biodiversity that we have in the mountains. That they have in the mountains, especially where she's from, which is a super wild and remote. So, yeah, they. I think it's. Well, it's brutal on one hand, but then on the other, at the end of every hunt, which actually really only happens a couple of times, times, three or four times a year, to my understanding, they'll all say a prayer to the mountain goddess. And then everybody really divides up absolutely everything that has been hunted or even foraged. Everyone divides it up really equally.
- [49:57]
Emma Nelson
Okay, let's head ourselves back to Tokyo for the ICC exhibition. Media art.
- [50:04]
Kim Khan
Yeah, yeah. So I went there on Tuesday, Thursday, I went there on Tuesday to the icc. It's A really great, great gallery about media art run by NTT Communications, which is a large network provider in Japan. This is not an advert, by the way. It just so happens to be one of my favorite places in Tokyo to see art and media art in itself. And at the moment they've got this really great exhibition by Mikami Seiko. Unfortunately passed away about 10 years ago now. But they've got this exhibition called Towards a Marcelium of Perception and. And she's got. Showing some of her works from a few years, a few years back.
- [50:43]
Emma Nelson
Talk us through Mikami Seiko.
- [50:46]
Kim Khan
Well, she's. Well, she was really interested in media art in itself, especially the way that we see things. And she said really famously, like the eyes are not just there for seeing, you can also hear with your eyes. And so I was actually. Yeah. So this exhibition itself has a few large scale for the rare because they're really, really big. So it's quite hard to show them all at once. But it's got together a few large scale pieces that she's done. And I'll give you an example which is the eye tracking informatics. You're kind of like strapped to this chair and they put the goggles on you and then it traces your eyes and then wherever your eyes are looking it kind of relays that to the screen.
- [51:30]
Emma Nelson
And the thinking behind it. And just looking at what she does, does is this idea that the way that you connect and form relationships with the outside world is, is actually down to the very act of perception. So that's why they sit you on a chair and do things to you. And she talks about the crossover between the ear and the eye and, and, and the touch as well. So talk us through that a bit more.
- [51:52]
Kim Khan
Yeah, so I think you've got. So for example you'll be like moving or. So one of the exhibitions, I think it was a desire of codes. So she used this, that. Well, this is not the ear and the eye really. This is more about moving. But she uses that too. So you'll be in a giant room, it's a really, really large hall. And then she tracks. She's got these, I can't count, hundreds of sort of CCTV cameras. And they track all your movements as you're walking around. And as you're walking it goes click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click. And you can kind of hear everything. Well, I guess that's with your ears, you can kind of hear your sound because it's kind of following what is you as you're walking around and it's relayed on the screen as well. So lots of, lots of layers to each piece of hers, I think.
- [52:38]
Emma Nelson
And a quick talk, a quick chat about the cherry blossom forecast. How's it looking?
- [52:43]
Kim Khan
I guess it's actually, it's quite early. Blooms all around this year, I think. Let me have a look. Yeah, we've got a Sendai Tokyo's a few days early, so that's expected to be in bloom on full bloom on the 20th of March.
- [52:58]
Emma Nelson
Okay, so things are happening earlier then.
- [53:01]
Kim Khan
Yeah, happening earlier. I think it's because we're supposed to have quite a warm March. We'll see how that goes.
- [53:07]
Emma Nelson
Kim Khan, thank you so much for joining us on the line from our studio in Tokyo. Kim is a writer and translator. You're listening to the Globalist on Monocour Radio. Finally today you may have spotted that we have teams both in Munich, but also in Milan this week. Monocle in Milan airs from 9am London time, 10am if you're listening in the Italian city, behind the microphone this week is Monocle's Europe editor at large, Ed Stocker. And he joins me now to tell us what's happening in today's program. A very good morning to you, Ed. How's your, how's your view today? Because it's rather wonderful.
- [54:11]
Ed Stocker
You know, the view is normally very wonderful. I'm a bit jealous because I think Andrew Miller is going to get lots of sunshine when he's presenting next week. And we'll be waxing lyrical about the awesome alpine views today. I'm sad to say. It's very drizzly and literally we have cloud enveloping the 47th floor of Allianz Tower. So I actually cannot even see the city of Manaan right now. But I'm sure it will clear up.
- [54:35]
Emma Nelson
Your imagination will do the trick. Okay, tell us what's been getting everybody excited where you are.
- [54:42]
Ed Stocker
There has been a lot going on. There's just so much to pack in in these games. So yeah, briefly some highlights from yesterday. 21 year old American Jordan Stoltz won the thousand meter men's final in speed skating and actually sent an Olympic record. He stole it from Dutchman Jenning Debou. He was a favorite, Stoltz, but he had to come behind in order to win. But he is clearly a phenomenon. Just 21 years old. He made his debut in Beijing in 2017. So obviously a long career ahead of him there. And then what else should we move on to? Ice dance?
- [55:25]
Emma Nelson
Yes, please. I was watching it last night and gosh, it Got a bit fraught, didn't it?
- [55:31]
Ed Stocker
What were your thoughts? I'm going to turn the question on you.
- [55:33]
Emma Nelson
Oh, I was just looking at the Brits who never get anywhere and this is. Well, they do, they do pretty well. But we'll, we'll come to that. But you need to, you need to lay out the story, the background as to why there was so much angst when it came to ice, when it came to dance.
- [55:48]
Ed Stocker
Yeah, well, Exactly. So the U.S. pair, shock and Bates were the favored couple. They're actually married off the ice. And they ended up winning silver with the French pair. Basically the French pair, who have not been dancing for very long, managed to win the gold. And there was a bit of controversy. We've been talking about it here at Monocle actually about, about whether they should have won or not. Obviously it was extremely close and some people have different views, so obviously they've got it. France came first, the US came second and Canada came third. As you mentioned, there was heartbreak for Fear and Gibson, the British couple, Team GB couple. Unfortunately, there was a tripping mistake which meant they fell outside the medals. They were hoping to be. Be the first British ice dance pair to win a medal since Torville and Dean. We all remember them back in 1992 when they got a bronze. And so really, yeah, more, more heartbreak for Team GB in these Winter Olympics. They are yet to win a medal. There've been a lot of nearlys, almost not quite so far in lots of things from being on the snow to curling. We'll have to wait and see. There's still a long way to go in these games. Let's hope the medal standing improves. At the moment, Norway are leading the board with Italy, the host nation, in third.
- [57:22]
Emma Nelson
Okay, the Finns cross as well.
- [57:25]
Ed Stocker
The Finns across as well. Yeah, ice hockey. So here in Milan still, you know, there are a couple of titans who were playing yesterday in ice hockey. Sweden and Finland both, you know, pretty good at the sport. But there was a shock defeat for Finland. Slovakia stormed was a pretty action packed, fast game. Slovakia ended up beating Finland 4 2. And Italy, who are not a particularly strong team in the ice hockey, also gave sweet Sweden a run for their money. They scored the first goal, in fact, but ended up losing in the end. Sweden prevailed 5:2. So an interesting day in the hockey ed.
- [58:11]
Emma Nelson
We have 10 seconds to find out what's going on in your program today.
- [58:15]
Ed Stocker
Oh my gosh. We've got a former Italian figure skater. It's quite a sporty program today. We've got someone We've got someone from Barnico, they're incredible, incredible bar in Milan. We've got someone from Canada, hockey to talk about hockey, to keep the theme of hockey. And I'm probably out of time, but there's lots more. Tune in in just over an hour's time.
- [58:36]
Emma Nelson
Thank you so much. Ed Stocker there joining us from Allianz Tower in Milan for more of our coverage from the Winter Olympics. Join Monocle in Milan with our everyday this week and next live as as ed said from 9am London time, 10am if you are in Milan and you can listen live on Monocle Radio or wherever you get your podcasts afterwards, it's well worth it. But that's all the time we have for today'. Warmest of thanks to all my guests and to the producers, Angelica Jobson, Carlotta Rubella and Rima Takahashi. Our researcher is Anneliese Maynard and our studio manager is Christy o'. Grady. After the headlines, more music on the way. The briefing's live at midday here in London. The Globalist is back at the same time tomorrow, but for now, from me, Emma Nelson, Goodbye. Thank you very much for listening.
- [59:25]
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