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- [00:04]
UBS Narrator
Craft matters in small ways like how a coffee is brewed, and in not so small ways like how your money is cared for. Which is why for 160 years, UBS has elevated banking to a craft, tailoring unique strategies that combine human expertise with the latest technologies, all happening across 24 time zones and and 12 key financial hubs. With you at the heart of it all, UBS advice is our craft.
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Chris Chermack
You're listening to the Globalist, first broadcast on 25 March 2026 on Monocle Radio. The Globalist in association with U. Live from Midori House in London. This is the Globalist and I'm Chris Chermack. Coming up, they gave us a present and the President arrived today and it was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money. And I'm not going to tell you
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Gabriel Lee
what that present is, but it was
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Chris Chermack
a very significant prize. Gifts in the middle of war, we'll be assessing the prospects of peace in the Middle East. I'll be joined for the first half of the show by Hanna Lucinda Smith, our erstwhile Turkey correspondent. And we'll hear from the Wall Street Journal's Middle east correspondent as well. We'll also get the latest from two of the world's most reclusive leaders as Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko visits North Korea. We'll have Aviation News with Gabriel Lee. And then Monocle's Natalie Theodosi. You bring us news of a possible fashion and beauty merger?
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Natalie Theodosi
Absolutely, Chris. Two of the industry's most prominent groups, Poosh from Spain and Estee Lauder in the US have confirmed that they're in talks over a possible merger and we will discuss whether that's a good idea or not.
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Chris Chermack
Thank you very much. Natalie will also interview the head of Advertising Week as the creative industry gathers right here in London. And we'll have an interview with Argentina's Catriel and Paco Amoroso as well. That's all up ahead on the Globalist. Live from London. First, a look at what else is happening in the news. Meta has been ordered to pay $375 million by a jury court in New Mexico for violating consumer protection laws. Denmark parliamentary elections saw the ruling Social Democrats lose significant ground, though neither left or right blocs won a majority of parliamentary seats. And Sarah Mulally will formally become the Archbishop of Canterbury in a ceremony later today at Canterbury Cathedral. Stay tuned to Monocle Radio throughout the day for more on those stories. But first, I am delighted to say that right here in the studio, I'm joined by Hannah Lucinda Smith, our Former Istanbul correspondent, now Monocle contributor based in London. Hannah, our list will have heard you on our airwaves down the line before. What brings you to London?
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
Well, first of all, Chris, it's really lovely to be here in the studio. It's lovely to be back in London. Listen, I think one of the key skills of being a foreign correspondent is knowing when to leave your posting. I think there's a sweet spot, obviously when you first arrive in a place you know nothing about it. You have to sort of get your head around new languages, you know, political systems, events. And there comes a sweet spot where you sort of feel comfortable, but you've still got fresh eyes. But the more time goes on and I was in Istanbul for 13 years, so it was a very long time. And I think the time had come to let somebody else come in and see it with some new eyes.
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Chris Chermack
Well, and I understand as well that now you're in London, you're going to have a new book coming out in June as well. Is that part of your what you're gonna be working on over the next few months?
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
Yeah, absolutely. So this is another reason to come back is to kind of promote my new book. It's called Hinterlands. It's gonna be out in June. And it's very much a book that's relevant to what's happening now. It's a journey around some of the disputed territories, frozen con conflicts around the edge of Europe that have been reignited particularly by the West's new struggle with Russia, but also with Iran. So looking at places like Cyprus obviously, which has been drawn into the Iran war, also Syria, the Balkans, places in the former Soviet Union like Transnistria, disputed territory in Moldova and also in the Caucasus in Nagorno Karabakh.
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Chris Chermack
Well, we're excited to see that when it comes out. But Hannah, stay with us as we start our show Back in the region that you once called home because there have been a series mixed messages in the past 48 hours around whether Iran and the United States have any interest in ending their more than three week old war and even the extent of the talks that they've had to reach a resolution. There are reports suggesting that Pakistan could mediate between the two countries this week. And we're joined now as well by Benoit Foukom, Middle east correspondent of the Wall Street Journal. Benoit, thanks very much for coming on the show. You've been reporting on all of these back channel negotiations that taking place. How seriously should we take them?
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Benoit Foukom
Oh, thank you for having me first. Yeah, I mean in one way, the US is serious in attempting to stop the war using half a dozen back channels. The one that seems to be working is Pakistan. The issue they have is they made a 15 list of demands that are entirely incompatible with what Iran, even the starting points of Iran's conversation. They want basically to largely demilitarize and its nuclear program with zero enrichment against largely what Iran doesn't want, which is they want to keep enrichment. But most importantly, they think nowadays there's an invoice for the war, billions of dollars of destruction. They also show that they can control the Strait of Omriss. So they want some say in the future about how transit goes through. None of this is mentioned in the proposal. So at the moment, they're very far apart from each other. And the Iranians have told me also that they, they feel it could be a trap to kill Halibaf, the parliament speaker. So they haven't said yes to that meeting so far.
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Chris Chermack
And just to stay with you, Benoit, what about this supposed gift, as we heard Donald Trump talking about at the top of this show, we did see Iran saying that they would open the Strait of Hormuz to non hostile ships. Is that a significant development?
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Benoit Foukom
I mean, at the moment it's really about two vessels crossing already. Two non Iranian vessel tankers, typically. The one that he may be referring to seems to be an Iraqi oil tanker of 2 million barrels. That's not really mammoth compared to typically 20 million that cross, you know, every day. So that is not really a huge breakthrough. You'd have to see on a daily basis what Iran considers friendly tankers. We know the Chinese and the Indians have fit into that category, but not in large numbers. So it may be that not much has changed yet.
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Chris Chermack
Now, Hannah, to bring you in on this, I mean, these back channel talks were reportedly instigated by some of the other Middle east nations that are involved here. Turkey from where you were as well, Egypt meeting in Riyadh. How desperate are all of these countries to end this war?
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
Well, look, I don't think there are any countries in the Middle east, bar perhaps Israel, that really want another war. You know, this is a region which has been scarred for decades by conflict, but in particular, Turkey is in a really, really difficult position with this Iran war. Not only does it border Iran and it has the possibility, the danger of having a new refugee movement coming over its border should this war go on and spread and intensify, but also it's in this kind of difficult because it does have relations with Iran, but it's Also a NATO member. And we've seen already a couple of Iranian missiles being fired towards the Injilik air base close to Adana. They were intercepted by Patriot missile defense systems. So, you know, Egypt also has had incredible problems because of the war that's been going on in Gaza as well. There is really no country in the Middle east that wants to see this war go on and escalate.
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Chris Chermack
And Benoit, I mean, the fact that this has gone to Pakistan, then as the possible mediator, what do we make of how effective Pakistan could actually be? And just tell us what we're expecting when how these talks might occur.
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Benoit Foukom
I mean, it was first of all, why Pakistan? I mean, that did surprise a lot of people. They were present on the sidelines in the previous talks that were interrupted by the war. I mean, we know they went to Oman. We know they went to, that's one place. We know for sure they were on the sidelines. But the advantage they have in a way is not being the previous backed channels, not being Qatar, not being Oman. That's kind of a fresh set of pair of eyes in that process. What they expect is if the Iranians agree to meet, whoever agrees to meet, maybe just Arakshi, the Iranian Foreign minister, it would be at the moment in Islamabad, there were talks that it would be at the end of the week. I haven't heard that's been approved from the Iranian side. But what we have seen, unfortunately with the previous round of negotiations is they can also be brutally interrupted by a new resumption of conflict. So it's a bit of don't hold your breath too much.
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Chris Chermack
Well, absolutely. And Hannah, I mean, at the same time as we're hearing about these potential negotiations, there are also these reports that the Pentagon is preparing to send thousands more troops, even ones that could potentially invade Carg Island. We have been here before, as Benoit alludes to there, there were talks before this conflict started that then, well, ended quite abruptly. I mean, will Iran trust that these are any more serious?
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
I doubt it. I mean, Iran would say that. You know, it has a lot of reasons not to trust the US and Israel and not many reasons to trust it. Of course, when this war started, one of the things that Trump said was we're not going to hit energy installations. That has happened. If we go back even further, if we look back to the nuclear deal that was set up under President Obama a decade ago, that was then ripped up, you know, from Iran's point of view, every promise that the US has made or every deal that has been done has been ripped up. So from their standpoint, why should they trust that these talks would go anywhere, particularly when, as you say, there are also reports that US Troops, thousands of US Troops, are preparing to go to the Middle East.
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Chris Chermack
BENOIT when it comes, though, to the negotiations, I mean, there were some reports that even the vice president, J.D. vance, could be involved, of course, an interesting choice given that he's probably been opposed to this war from the beginning. You mentioned Iran's parliamentary speaker as well. If it is that kind of level, I mean, or put it this way, is it likely at this point that it will be that kind of level of talks?
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Benoit Foukom
I mean, first of all, yes, there is a really question mark on the Iranian side, whether they can send a parliament speaker when pretty much all of their leadership is a target, at least the top level political and military leadership. And remember, he's a former Revolutionary Guard commander, so that's one. And then, of course, if it happens, then Vance has more chances to go. He's been wanting to be involved for a long time. I know he wanted to meet Larijani before. We know that he spoke to the Omani foreign minister hours before the strikes, telling him he's not supporting the war. He's clearly someone who has voiced opposition for a long time against this conflict, not during the war, but before. So that could be promising. The issue is, again, do the Iranians want to send one of their top leaders when they're on the hit list? And the other question is, is a pragmatist? KHALIBA but the new commanders, I have a national security advisor. The commanders of the IRGC are much more radical than the people who were killed before them and who they replaced. So that's going to be a much tougher negotiation than any previous.
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Chris Chermack
HANNAH just finally on this, you heard Benoit at the start say how far apart these sides are on any 15 point plan. Do we get the sense at this point that either side really wants to end this war? Or to put it another way, is either side willing to actually make the concessions needed for this war to end?
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
I mean, I think this is all about appearances, right? When you go into negotiations, you want to appear that you are in a position of strength. So I think what neither side wants to do is to make it seem like they want to end the war. Both sides want to make it seem as if they are in a position of strength and that they are, in fact, winning this war. And that's what both sides will claim. And, you know, in Iran's case, you also have the domestic considerations as well. There is no way that the Iranian regime would want in any sense to give the impression that it is going cup in hand to the US and to Israel. So, you know, it's kind of a little bit of a diplomatic dance, isn't it? Even if talks are going to happen, even if they are going to come to the table, both sides want to show that they're the ones who are kind of leading what's happening.
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Chris Chermack
Benoit Foucault, Middle east correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. Thank you very much for joining us, Hannah. Lucinda Smith, stay with us. This is the Globalist. It is 1614 in Pyongyang, 714 here in London. Let's turn to North Korea now, which is welcoming a first time guest today in the form of the Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. The visit comes just a few days after North Korea's Kim Jong Un won elections in his country, claiming victory by a margin of 99.93% that even Lukashenko will be jealous of. He only won 86.82% of his vote last year. Kim Jong Un has also sought this week to reaffirm his right to nuclear weapons in light of the war in Iran. And I'm joined now here in the studio by John Everard, former British ambassador to Belarus and to North Korea. Still with me is Hannah, Lucinda Smith as well. John, I mean, this story is tailor made for you.
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John Everard
Well, that's right. I think I'm the only person to be ambassador in both places. I claim my unique spot in world history. And of course, it's a fascinating visit. Remember the build up back in January last year, Lukashenko said summit with Kim Jong Un and within hours Kim Jong Un's sister come out and said not on your Nelly, no, this isn't going to happen. But they appear to have. They met together in Beijing and the great sort of party there in September. But I think the two really interesting parts of this visit, firstly, he's talking about expanding bilateral relations. What bilateral relations? Trade appears to consist of the bearishs sent the North Koreans containers of beef which come to several hundred thousand dollars, less than a million dollars worth. And there's talk about cooperation over some factory refurbishment and so on, dairy cooperation. But you're talking very, very here. Lukashenko talks about expanding treaty relations between the two countries. So he's going to sign a treaty. Okay, but what's this got to say? The whole thing gets a little bit ethereal, I think drawing the camera back a bit. The really interesting point about this visit is the timing 19 March, John Cole, President Trump's special envoy to Belarus, goes to minsk. Successful visit, two hours with Lukashenko. 250 political prisoners released. Okay. And next day John Cole tells the media that he's talking about a possible visit to Washington by lukashenko. So a 180 degree turn here by the Trump administration. Days later, against previous denials, it is announced that Lukashenko is going to Pyongyang to discuss non existent bilateral relations, possibly a treaty, vanishingly small trade. Is this really just a coincidence or is Trump trying to use Lukashenko to get Kim Jong Un on side again? Of course, the two men have had this rather complicated on off relationship for a long time. And it may be that Trump is looking firstly for a distraction from the war in Iran, which some have suggested isn't quite going according to plan. And Cuba doesn't look like it's going to fall after all. So you try North Korea maybe. Lukashenko is in Pyongyang now. His 767 has touched down. Big smiles, handshakes, all down the tarmac, straight into talks with Kim Jong Un. Let's see what comes out.
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
John, I'm really interested. These are two extremely difficult, extremely closed countries that you were posted to. How did you get pigeonholed as the ambassador being sent to these kind of places?
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John Everard
I didn't duck fast enough. I mean I volunteered for Minsk to the astonishment of everybody else. It turned out the Foreign Office had rung around all kinds of people saying, is there anybody out there stupid, stupid enough to take this job on until finally they conned me into it. And I think once I'd done that, my card was marked, I did Minsk. I went from mint from the flesh pots of Minsk to the bright lights of wartime Sarajevo, which to set up an office, then the freezing cold. And from that point onwards the Foreign Office decided this man can't be let near civilized countries. They gave me a break in Uruguay, which is great, but otherwise it was Minsk, wartime Bosnia, North Korea, you know, I was what they call a dirty diplomat. I did all the sort of the stuff in places that nobody else, no sane person wants to go.
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Chris Chermack
Was Uruguay in the middle there sort of a break between them?
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John Everard
That's right, yes. They decided to give me a break. So I spent three years in glorious Uruguay. Fantastic countries. Sorry, I stand a bit like the Uruguayan tourist board, don't I? The beaches are amazing and stinking rich. I mean people forget, you know, this is the land of the five pound cup of coffee. It's expensive, it drips cash and people are all terribly, terribly. It's like a kind of social. Huge expansion of Tunbridge Wells. And I was running a stately home. I mean, Downton Abbey, eat your heart out. The British residents in Uruguay, because of course, we used to run the country, if it was effective, a British colony for many, many, many years. It's huge with massive grounds, tennis court, private swimming pool and everything. And had butler under butler, gardener, housekeeper. I mean, you know, the kind of stuff you only ever dream of doing in any other walk of life. They gave me three and about the eyes of the that. Then they sent me back to Pyongyang. News business as usual.
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Chris Chermack
I want to get back briefly, though, John, to what you were talking about with Donald Trump there, because that is fascinating, if that is the reality. We saw that, of course, in Donald Trump's first term, this rapprochement with North Korea, I mean, just how likely is that?
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John Everard
Now, that's the. Wouldn't we all like to know the answer to that question? How likely is it they had a good relationship that fell apart in February 2019 at the Hanoi summit where Donald Trump actually walked out of the negotiation. It turned out the North Koreans just weren't able to do a deal. And people who are in the room tell me that when that happened, literally the blood drained from Kim Jong Un's face, he actually went white. And they sort of exchanged letters since, but he'd been very uneasy. Ever since then, Trump has occasionally flashed signals that he's up for a renewed relationship. And the North Koreans have responded very cautiously when they slam South Korea, which is a kind of North Korean national sport, they've been very careful not to attack Trump personally. They've been very rude about the US Invasion of Iran. Well, surprise, surprise. But they haven't actually mentioned Trump in that context. So they've been carefully leaving the door ajar in case anybody wants to deal with them that they might be interested in. And North Korea faces the big problem, that it knows it's got this very warm, very lucrative relationship with Russia going at the moment, but that is unlikely to outlast the war in Ukraine. Once Russia no longer needs this great supply of North Korean munitions, troops, rockets, all this kind of stuff, it's likely to drop North Korea like a hot potato. And North Korea therefore needs a plan B. Perhaps, just perhaps, Lukashenko's visit is part of initial negotiations towards that.
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
I'm interested in Lukashenko and where he stands because actually, before the Ukraine war kicked off, before those elections, which ended in kind of very violent repression, of protesters. He was kind of independent minded. He is no lackey of Putin, or at least wasn't. And you know, relations with the EU were improving at some point. Do you think that he has changed as a leader or do you think he is still some kind of, you know, as you say, somebody who could be used by somebody like Trump?
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John Everard
I think he's somebody who could be used by Trump, but also Trump is somebody who could be used by Lukashenko. Lukashenko is cunning. I mean, he's not a great intellectual and his concern for sort of human rights is sometimes lacking, but he's not stupid. He frequently has outmaneuvered Putin. The one time I've actually seen Putin look shaky was coming out of the first meeting with Lukashenko at the beginning of the Ukraine war. The two had a heart to heart conversation and Putin literally came out trembling. Heaven knows what Lukashenko did to him, but it was what we call in diplomacy, a full and frank exchange of views. Lukashenko is no fool. Before the disastrous 2020 elections where he had to summon Russian aid through gritted teeth, but he had to do it. He was carefully balancing his foreign policy. Close relations with the eu, as you say. We have to pinch yourself to remember that in 2020. I forget now, there were actually joint NATO Belarusian exercises. You know, it was, this thing was actually going somewhere. The outreach from the United States meanwhile to Belarus has gone on quietly in the background. It seems to be drowned out by noise from other stories. But John Cole has been there several times. This is not the first time he's met Lukashenko. He succeeded in getting some quite high profile prisoner releases. Lukashenko of course was released last year and Lukashenko is now talking about doing a grand deal with the United States. No comment on that yet from the White House, but that would be typical Trump to offer an all embracing deal to a prior state. Bring them in, bring them back into the US orbit and take it from there.
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Chris Chermack
Deals with North Korea and with Belarus. John Everard, former British Ambassador to Belarus and North Korea thank you very much for joining us. Still to come in the program, we
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Catriel and Paco Amoroso
are always trying to make different genres of music and trying new things. And this time we have more people with their eyes on us. So it will be like more pressure.
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Chris Chermack
The Argentine singers Catriel and Paco Amoroso speaking with our own Fernando Augusto Pacheco shortly. This is the globalist
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UBS Narrator
craft is a matter of perspective, a unique outlook, an obsessive attention to detail. With UBS's Chief Investment Office Houseview, we're focused on identifying the Latest investment opportunities and market risks to help you achieve your financial goals. So you get the big picture broken down into thought provoking insights delivered daily and curated by over 200 globally connected, locally active analysts. UBS banking is our craft.
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Chris Chermack
Well, let's continue now with today's newspapers. And still with me right here in the studio is Monocle contributor Hannah Lucinda Smith. Hannah, there's lots that we could talk about in the world. I mentioned at the top of the show. Meta. This is one of the big non conflict stories of today.
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
Yeah, this is, you know, on the front page in several newspapers today. Unsurprisingly, Meta fined $375 million by a court in New Mexico which found that it has knowingly harmed children's mental health with its social media platforms, which of course include Instagram, Facebook and also WhatsApp. Now, the new Mexico's Attorney General, Ral Torres, said Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew. Now that is fairly damning, isn't it?
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Chris Chermack
That is fairly damning. Meta, of course, denies all of this, is going to appeal it in part because of course they don't really want the well to open the floodgates, do they?
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
Yeah, but you know, I really do feel, Chris, that the floodgates have, have been opened already or are opening. There's also a second trial that Meta's facing in Los Angeles at the moment, similar trial, the jury are currently deliberating. And of course this also comes on top of the new law that was brought in in Australia recently where they, you know, brought in age limitations for social media platforms. British government is also discussing something similar. And of course, we've also had a string of revelations from former Meta and Facebook employees about what was going on inside the company and the fact that the company did know about the kind of impact that the use of these platforms has on teenagers. So I think there's really kind of growing pressure now against Meta.
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Chris Chermack
Well, and of course we've also seen governments restricting access to social media for teens as well. So this really is a sort of awkward game at this point.
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think, you know, you can say, well, how easy is this to enforce? You know, teenagers, as smart as they are, find a whole raft of ways to get around those kind of age restrictions. But I think the important thing is the kind of message that it's sending. Governments are beginning to take action against these platforms. Whereas once governments were very keen to talk to people like Mark Zuckerberg to get him on side and to kind of use Facebook and platforms like it as a way to win support. Now I think the tables have turned and they are moving more towards regulation of these platforms.
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Chris Chermack
Well, let's move on to another story, an exclusive in the Financial Times. The German manufacturer of cars is, well, not looking at cars only anymore.
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
Yeah, this is quite an astonishing story on the front of the FT today. This is Volkswagen, obviously, you know, a huge German car manufacturer is mulling a shift to defense production in one of his factories. This is a factory in Germany, Osnabruck. It is currently struggling. It's a factory that's under threat of closure. 2,500 people are employed there and they are currently in talks with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, which is the Israeli company which makes Israel's Iron Dome. That defense system, which of course has been deployed rather a lot in, in recent months. The plan is to convert this factory to making components for that system.
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Chris Chermack
It is interesting that VW is doing this. Volkswagen is doing this. You point out that this is because they're struggling in part, which they have been as well, but also shows that European companies are maybe shifting more, even companies you wouldn't expect back to do defense.
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the defense industry as a whole is absolutely booming, of course, because of, you know, everything that is going on in the world. And I think, you know, this is really, really symbolic of a kind of, you know, shift in the economics of Europe as well.
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Chris Chermack
Well, finally you bring us some fun news of a Lithuanian oak tree that has won a special title, the European Tree of the Year.
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
Absolutely. European Tree of the Year contest it is.
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Chris Chermack
Chris did not even know this existed, I have to admit.
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
Well, it is the Eurovision for trees. It's a Eurovision style contest. You have live voting. You can watch it on YouTube if you so wish. And like Eurovision, it's attracted some controversy. So the winner this year is. Yeah, a Lithuanian oak tree, a 400 year old oak tree in the Lao Kai district. I have a, if I've said that correctly, in Lithuania, knocking Poland off its post. It's Polish trees that have been winning it for the past four years. This is a competition that's been going on for 15 years. Poland has been dominating and there have been accusations of some not entirely fair voting. There's a Polish Instagram page which has been encouraging people to vote en masse. And this year, as a result, the voting system was changed. Now, now more weight is given to the smaller countries and as you can imagine, all kinds of controversies. Poland is not happy about this at all.
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Chris Chermack
All kinds of controversies. I mean, such a sad story that even a European Tree of the Year contest could be dogged by electoral controversy.
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
Yeah. Well, I think, you know, this also probably tells us something about the state of Europe at the moment. Just as, you know, controversies within the Eurovision Song Contest are symbolic of, you know, wider political disputes. I think we have something similar here going on as well.
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Chris Chermack
Well, congratulations to Lithuania. Are we inclined to visit the tree? Is this going to boost tourism, do we think to Lithuania?
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Hannah Lucinda Smith
I had a good old look at the tree this morning if you're interested, the articles in Politico Europe. It is a very impressive tree. It's a beautiful, beautiful tree, I think. Should I be in the region? I'm definitely going to make the effort to go and see it.
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Chris Chermack
400 year old tree, Hannah. Lucinda Smith, Monocle Contributor, thank you very much for joining us us throughout the first half of this show. You're with the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Now here's what else we're keeping an eye on today. The United States has reportedly sent a 15 point plan for a ceasefire to Iran via intermediaries, but is also considering sending thousands more troops to the region as the war continues. Tehran has denied any talks with the US Are taking place, but meanwhile said it would allow non hostile ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Denmark's parliamentary elections saw the ruling Social Democrats lose significant ground, but neither the left nor right blocks winning a majority of parliamentary seats. Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen has declared that she is ready to continue governing, but the outcome of coalition talks is uncertain. Ghana and the European Union have agreed a security partnership, the first such deal between the EU and an African nation. Islamist militants have been active in neighboring countries across the West African region, but Ghana has remained mostly unimpacted by the violence. And Sarah Mulally will formally become the Archbishop of Canterbury in a ceremony later today at Canterbury Cathedral. She will be the first woman to lead the Anglican church and its 85 million followers around the world. Although her appointment did spark controversy among some African and Asian nations, Russians who had briefly considered setting up their own faction. This is THE Globalist. Stay tuned. It is coming up on 7:32 here in London where Advertising Week Europe is currently taking place at 180 Studios. The gathering is about more than just advertising, though. It's focused on the creative economy and how it's changing our everyday lives. Well, joining me now is Ruth Mortimer, global president of Advertising Week. Ruth, thanks very much for coming on the show.
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Ruth Mortimer
Thanks so much for having me.
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Chris Chermack
So give us the details, the spiel, if you will. First of all, what happens at Advertising Week Europe?
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Ruth Mortimer
So everything we do at Advertising Week is about business and culture coming together. So we have thousands of people, we have around 400 speakers, we have 200 talks, and we're there to figure out what next. Everything's changing so quickly. If you don't know, the advertising space actually lost around 15% of its headcount last year. People are moving into new jobs. Transitioning AI is disrupting everything. So an event like Advertising Week is where we get together to talk about what's next and how we're going to handle it.
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Chris Chermack
AI is disrupting everything everywhere. Tell us a little more about how exactly it's disrupting advertising.
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Ruth Mortimer
So I think one of the ways that AI is disrupting advertising is it's automating lots of processes that used to take people a very long time to do, which means often it's a very efficient thing. You're able to create ads more easily, you have access to new tools that mean that people with less experience can create ads. But that can also be problematic for the workforce, because if you don't have that training early on in what makes a great ad, how are you going to later on be one of the people who knows and can judges what good quality is?
- [34:06]
Chris Chermack
And I understand you've also been looking into kind of more broadly the UK's changing attitudes towards AI, how people are using it in their everyday lives. Tell us about that.
- [34:18]
Ruth Mortimer
That's correct. Later today on stage, we're going to be unveiling some research. So I don't want to. I don't want to spoil everything, but one of the big insights was people feel incredibly differently about them using AI. AI, they're massively in favor of that. A huge majority of people do use AI in their jobs already, but what they don't like is where they don't know AI is being used on them. They don't like receiving information, copy any sort of creative product where they don't know that AI has been used. So I think what we're going to see is an era where there's a real fight for transparency in how AI is being used.
- [34:56]
Chris Chermack
Used. That is very interesting, Ruth. I mean, is that a kind of lesson that even the advertising world would should take on board in terms of the limits of how you use AI in your field?
- [35:08]
Ruth Mortimer
Absolutely. I think advertising for a long time has been regulated. We have the Advertising Standards Authority. There are very clearly claims you can make and claims you cannot make. I wouldn't be surprised if in the next few years we see much clearer guidelines about, about how you must flag that AI has been used in videos. How you must flag if someone is an AI creator or influencer rather than a human influencer. People are positive about AI, but they want to know where it's being used.
- [35:38]
Chris Chermack
Now, Ruth, moving away from AI, I did look, look at your lineup for Advertising Week Europe and what struck me was you also have a panel on good old fashioned networking. How important is that still for the industry? Industry?
- [35:52]
Ruth Mortimer
You know what? Human, human interaction is still always going to be the most important thing. I think sometimes people look too much to the big tech companies in Silicon Valley and believe that every job will be a kind of process driven output job. But actually there's so much of work which is about relationships, who you meet, who you know, who you like working with. And so networking is essential. We actually have a whole stage called the Workshop, which is just dedicated to your careers, your worksh upskilling yourself and making sure that at the end of the day you leave as somebody with more, more to offer.
- [36:30]
Chris Chermack
Well, and also I see from your list that you're going to have a couple of entertainers there as well. Graham Norton is going to be there. Alan Carr is going to talk about the economy of funny. Tell us how that fits into Advertising Week.
- [36:45]
Ruth Mortimer
So one of the things we always believe is that people really appreciate education much more when it comes with entertainment. We want people to leave Advertising Week having learned some really great lessons, but also we want them to leave talking about it, buzzing, feeling like this wasn't a normal day in the office. So people like Graham Norton and Alan Carr tell stories about creativity, about culture. We also have the rapper gigs today. We'll have the footballer and pundit, Daniel Sturridge. We tell stories about culture because that's really crucial for advertising too, and also
- [37:21]
Chris Chermack
because I understand that this Advertising Week Europe isn't really just about advertising, as I said at the outset. Tell us more about how this is looking at the broader creative economy.
- [37:34]
Ruth Mortimer
Yeah, absolutely. So one of the big areas that Advertising Week is looking at this year is actually the creator economy. We have a creator lounge where creators can make contact event. We have a creator track. We're running a live competition where a creator can actually win live at the event by submitting a brief and then competing on stage to actually win a live contract, a real piece of business with a brand. So we, we try to talk about not just advertising, but the creator economy, the tech economy. The media economy, because all these things are so closely interlinked. Nothing works without the other.
- [38:16]
Chris Chermack
Ruth Mortimer, Global President of Advertising Week, thank you very much for joining us today. We'll let you get back to Advertising Week Europe. This is the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Well, it's time now for a roundup of all things aviation on today's show. There's a lot of them in these tricky times for travel. And I'm joined now by Gabriel Lee Monicles, transport correspondent. Gabe, did I sum that up about right? It's not an easy time for aviation.
- [38:49]
Gabriel Lee
Oh, yeah. Very complicated time on multiple fronts. It's quite special.
- [38:53]
Chris Chermack
So tell us first of all generally about some of the airspace restrictions we're seeing due to the Middle east conflict. Tell us about some of the bottlenecks that have been developing.
- [39:04]
Gabriel Lee
Yeah, this is really interesting because, you know, you already had various sort of airspace bottlenecks around that region before the whole Iran one thing started up and that has just made things so much worse. So obviously very difficult for the, the Gulf carriers. A lot of them have had to severely reduce capacity. They are flying now, but, you know, in a reduced way and some much more than others. So Emirates has sort of been at the top of that chart of sort of recovering something like 60% of of its flights at this point. But it's very tricky. And because the airlines there used to be this narrow corridor, you'd fly down Iraq over the Gulf. For airlines going between Europe and anywhere east, basically that's now effectively closed. And so you see certain places where there are very narrow bands where aircraft can fly through. For example, the air traffic control systems in the Republic of Georgia have been getting a really crazy spike in terms of traffic. This is really a noticeable thing. Otherwise, you know, you have many more aircraft going south via Saudi. So avoiding the sort of the Gulf region. This is increasing flight times, but it's also increasing congestion and workload on those who have to manage these airways.
- [40:13]
Chris Chermack
And tell us about. I understand there's also been some GPS jamming.
- [40:17]
Gabriel Lee
Right. So the GPS jamming has been a growing problem for civil aviation in recent years, mostly around the Ukraine conflict. So you see a lot of that happening close to Ukraine, but also in the Gulf and, and more and more so now, whereas you saw it sort of in certain isolated areas before, now it's just all over the place. So you see on, for example, if you look at Flight Radar 24, where a lot of people are looking at this, how the airspace restrictions are developing where aircraft are flying, you'll see aircraft taking insane routes, as if they suddenly turned on a dime and flew north and then flew south and did a zigzag. And this is all because of GPS jamming in the area. It messes with the system signal. The aircraft themselves know where they are. They have other systems they can use. But in terms of what we see, it looks as if aircraft are doing crazy things. You basically can't rely on what you see on a, on a flight tracking service in that area. And if you see crazy routes, it probably is that.
- [41:14]
Chris Chermack
Now, Gabe, to move to the other side of the Atlantic to the United States. I mean, we've seen so much disruption there as well, because there is this partial shutdown of Homeland Security, affecting TSA hours and hours of lines. But one of the interesting aspects, as if to get things moving, Delta has suspended special congressional desk service to try and move things along here.
- [41:40]
Gabriel Lee
Yeah, I quite like this move. Yeah, as you say, Delta has this special, special services. It has a special reservations line which is apparently remaining open. But everything about taking Congress members through airports, escorting them special services for them is, is getting temporarily shut down. And I really like this move because yes, they say it's in order to reprioritize resources towards at least trying to move the needle a little bit to get our people moving, our regular passengers, but really it's also rightfully so, a snub of Congress who can't seem to get things together to make this happen and pay the TSA agents. It's just an insane situation. And what we're seeing there is just, I think it's really embarrassing for the
- [42:18]
Chris Chermack
US it is an insane situation. Just tell us more about what we've been seeing in the U.S. i mean, hours of late lines.
- [42:25]
Gabriel Lee
Yeah. All these videos coming out of people waiting in the queue for, for security, and they're, they're out to sort of the, you know, the overflow parking lot, you know, in the early hours of the morning, because it's going to take them three or four hours to get through. And this is also, of course, this is a nightmare for passengers, but this is also a huge mess for airlines which, you know, their passengers aren't showing up to the aircraft on time. And it's nothing, it's nobody's fault except for the government, just a big mess. And then this move to put ICE agents into the airports, as if that would help something. And we've seen all these other new videos now of them doing absolutely nothing, standing around, not making any effect. So, yeah, it's very sad. To see, actually.
- [43:02]
Chris Chermack
It is sad. We'll see whether Delta has an effect on lawmakers coming together. But another story you brought for us, Gabe, from Italy Airlines joining the Star Alliance. This is ITA Airways, which rose out of the ashes of Alitalia.
- [43:16]
Gabriel Lee
Yeah, a bit of good news. Well, nothing, nothing terrible happening there. This is a nice moment for ITA Airways, which, this is interesting because Lufthansa Group has taken a stake in that airline. Italian government still owns the majority, but, but it's now a member of Lufthansa Group. And this is a big acquisition for Lufthansa which, which has a lot of airlines around, around Europe. It's a big deal for them to get this. And as part of that changeover of ownership, they are being added to the Star alliance, which of course Lufthansa is one of the sort of key members of. And they're also sort of launching their first Heathrow Rome route starting next week, actually this weekend. And they'll be joining Star alliance next week in a special ceremony in Rome. So it's, you know, it's happy days for them. They're, they're, they're doing their best to sort of, yeah, build a, build a solid airline there.
- [44:06]
Chris Chermack
Gabe, what kind of, what kind of benefits do they get from joining Star alliance in Lufthansa? How much does that typically help in airline?
- [44:14]
Gabriel Lee
I mean, they get, you know, Starlines is very big, right. So you have, you have a lot of potential for sort of picking up connecting traffic, feeding traffic into other connecting airlines, more streamlined routes, that kind of thing. I think really the winner here is Lufthansa because they actually carry a lot of traffic in and out of Italy to other points via, via Germany. So as a result, having an airline having the main sort of flag carry of Italy under their wing, it just helps them to sort of consolidate that power in the region. And yeah, for everyone, it's generally considered a win because they can just sort of streamline things more between the airlines and fight the competition better.
- [44:54]
Chris Chermack
And just finally, Gabe, you also have a story about a very little known Uzbek airline that's launching flights to New York.
- [45:01]
Gabriel Lee
Yes, I love this one because it's this airline that even most sort of people like me who love airlines may not have heard of. And I don't know how to pronounce its name, but it looks like Canot Shark. It's a great name. They have very small airline and suddenly they're launching flights to New York. Interesting about this also is that there is already a service from Uzbekistan to New York. Uzbekistan Airways also serves this route. And I don't know exactly what led to this happening and why they need two of these and why, why cannot. Shark sees an opportunity here. But one thing I speculate is that maybe because Uzbek, Uzbek Airways, I mean, Uzbek Airlines can take Russian airspace on the way to the US this cuts down journey times, and especially with these bottlenecks going by the Middle east, where many connecting passengers would have previously traveled through, it's just sort of the moment to seize this chance to launch this nonstop and pick up passengers who might not have great options otherwise at the moment.
- [45:54]
Chris Chermack
Gabriel Lee, Monocle's transport correspondent, thank you very much for joining us here with Monocle. Radio,
- [46:04]
UBS Narrator
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- [46:41]
Chris Chermack
Now to news from the world of fashion. The American cosmetics giant Estee Lauder has confirmed that it's in talks to merge with the Spanish brand Pouj, owner of Jean Paul Gaultier and Ries Van Noten, among others. The partnership would create a $40 billion company that would combine designer clothes with makeup and cosmetics. Well, here to tell us all about it, I'm delighted to say I'm joined right here in the studio by Monocle's fashion director, Natalie Theodosi. Natalie, great to have you on the show.
- [47:10]
Natalie Theodosi
Thank you for having me. As always, a pleasure.
- [47:13]
Chris Chermack
So what do we know about this merger so far?
- [47:16]
Natalie Theodosi
So there are no details. The two companies have just confirmed that there are discussions happening, but no confirmation that this is going ahead. It is a very interesting move because both Pouge and Ester Lauder have been experiencing some slowdown. Their share prices are going down. So I guess this is a way for them to tackle that issue. And I guess also anticipating further slowdown in consumption, given what's going on in the world and the war in Iran. That's a way to combine resources and join forces. But what I found interesting was that the reaction wasn't exactly positive from both markets, Spain and US.
- [48:00]
Chris Chermack
Yes, exactly. Although interestingly, maybe it seemed like the reaction was a little bit better for Pugsch than it was for Estee Lauder. What does that tell us exactly?
- [48:08]
Natalie Theodosi
So after the announcement, the push share prices actually went up by 13%, while the American analysts didn't have as positive of a sentiment when the announcement took place and that sent the Estee Lauder share price tumbling down. What they were saying is that, that Estee Lauder has been because it has been struggling for a while and it has laid out a restructuring strategy called Beauty Redefined. Their take was that this isn't part of that strategy. It might slow it down and it's going to cost quite a bit. So they would rather see someone like Estee Lauder instead of buy a big conglomerate like Pooj, do more strategic acquisitions with fast growing brands, smaller beauty companies and focus on its expertise, which is cosmetics. While Pouj is more about perfume and in a small portion of Designer ready to wear as well. With having acquired brands like Dries Vanoten and Nina Ricci in Spain, on the other hand, it seems like there's more positive sentiment and people are saying that combining the portfolios in these different areas of expertise could be a positive thing. It's all a wait and see. There's nothing confirmed. But if it went ahead, I think the dynamics of the beauty industry in particular would really change.
- [49:36]
Chris Chermack
How exactly would they change? What's your sense of what Estee Lauder might want to do with this? I mean, if you're mentioning there that they had a different strategy that doesn't match this, then does this mean they have maybe, even though we don't really know details, a new strategy going forward?
- [49:52]
Natalie Theodosi
I think there would be big leadership changes which are already happening, but that would really transform the dynamics. And also we would see much more focus on perfume, which is what Poosh does so well. They've had enormous success with some of the perfumes, especially of the Spanish brand Carolina Herrera. So I think they would try, I think, to benefit from that business and learn from what Pooch has been doing.
- [50:18]
Chris Chermack
And is that something that, despite what the analysts say, do you think could work? Would it make sense for Estee Lauder to particularly maybe focus on the perfume side of things?
- [50:28]
Natalie Theodosi
You know what I think actually for Estee Lauder, perfume would make sense and it could be quite lucrative. It could give them another category to really grow with. My concern, so to speak, would be more for Poosh because it's an independent family business that has done really well for itself recently, had some slowdowns in, in recent years, which is normal given what is going on in, in, in the market. But overall they've had a lot of success and, and being independent, they've been independent for around 112 years, I think has huge benefits and it's allowed them to be more experimental, to buy smaller scale, more artisanal brands like Dries Van Noten, which is from Belgium. It's not so mainstream and grow it at a healthier pace. And I think if you merge with a company as big as Estee Lauder, you don't have the luxury of doing that.
- [51:25]
Chris Chermack
Just finally, Natalie, what do you make of these mergers in general? I mean, some fashion houses are struggling in this moment. There's a lot of outside pressures as well. Do you expect to see more mergers going forward? Is it a way for some of these fashion houses to consolidate, save costs?
- [51:43]
Natalie Theodosi
I think there has been more movement in the beauty sector, but in fact, that what is going on in the market and the slowdown has kind of put a stop and a pause to a lot of these mergers. There's less money to go around, so people are more cautious and investing less so actually, my feeling is that we'll be seeing less of this. And even if Pooj and Estee Lauder decide to go ahead, it's going to take a very long time and there will be a lot of, of antitrust issues and a lot of kind of paperwork that they will have to go through for this to be approved.
- [52:25]
Chris Chermack
Monaco's fashion director, Natalie Theodosi. Great to have you on the show. Thank you. You're listening to the Globalist on Monaco Radio. And finally on today's show, let's hear from one one of the most exciting musicians from Latin America, the Argentinian duo Katrio and Paco Amoroso. They're back with a new album, Free Spirits, which also features British musician Sting playing the tongue in cheek role of their spiritual mentor. Monocle Radio's Fernando Augusto Pacheco met the duo at their album listening event in East London.
- [53:02]
Catriel and Paco Amoroso
I think after the tiny desk, we realize that, that people want our more different and musical approach. So we have like the trust of everybody to, I don't know, add the strings in some of the song to explore more all the palette of styes that we like and we can do. And of course the, the pop elements and the structures, it's always there. But I think that it's our more, more eclectic album.
- [53:36]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
Of course, I must ask you guys about the collaboration with Sting, which is so surprising as well and, and fantastic. So how did it work? Who approached who?
- [53:46]
Catriel and Paco Amoroso
We met Sting one year ago in Buenos Aires when he came to play. So of course having Sting there, we asked him a lot about, hey, how you, how do you deal with all this true life you have like been doing this for years and years and years. How you deal with your wife, with your kids, with not being in home and all of this. He's like a mentor to us because he really give us a lot of advice. We were made in the album and we made this song. We say, okay, this will be a really good one first thing. So we, we asked him if he want to collaborate with us and he said yes. And the next day, day we went to the studio and he recorded with his shoes out, like all do you expect about him? So we are very happy with him and all the things that we. We do for us in our life and in this album.
- [54:43]
Chris Chermack
No, don't give up yet. Even Jesus had his bad days. Yes, even Jesus follow Jesus.
- [54:55]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
You could feel it's a perfect match. Even with his face, you know, and in the video and the way. It was the right match, in a way.
- [55:02]
Catriel and Paco Amoroso
Yeah, he's a master. He's a master to us. We are fans. No, we. We have his music in our DNA.
- [55:11]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
What I like about the music that you two do, it's, it's. It's definitely out of the box because, you know, there's pop, there's trap, there's electro, there's traditional rhythms, you know, Is that the case? I mean, tell us what, what was the strongest influence for this album? Because listening to the tracks, there's some songs for the dance floor, but others, they're a bit more chilled. Some are even bossa vibes, even.
- [55:33]
Catriel and Paco Amoroso
I think if you've been listening Kato and Paco before, I think we are always trying to make different genres of music and trying new things. And maybe this time we have more people with their eyes on. On us. So of course it will be like more pressure. But I think we did the right thing, like doing in this way, trying to make all the music that we like. And when we are in the studio, we say, okay, today we should go in this direction. And why we don't try to put an orchestra on it. So I think all the craziness and all the crazy ideas that we have, like we could do it in, in free spirits.
- [56:20]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
Fantastic. I was going to ask you guys as well about Argentinian music, because I think first, I think it's been very exciting looking at Argentina in the last years. There are a lot of new artists. Of course, you guys, you know, always an inspiration. How do you feel looking at Argentina? Buenos Aires. Do you feel it's an exciting moment for Argentinian music?
- [56:42]
Catriel and Paco Amoroso
Yes, yes. We had a lot of colleagues. I really like the underground music The Argentinian underground music.
- [56:49]
Hannah Lucinda Smith
Because the underground in Argentina is so
- [56:51]
Catriel and Paco Amoroso
interesting because they don't have the pressure to say things that make happy the people. I think. No, not like us. And they are so true. The music of the past, we like a lot of rock and all. All the music that is amazing on the. Like the underground now. Yes. I think the young artists like in Argentina and everywhere you can find amazing music on the underground. And we want to take advantage of this opportunity and this note to say to the people that support you're local artist.
- [57:28]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
Yes, I support that idea full heartedly. And my final question to both of you. You know, I liked so many songs in the Alba I was writing down because I don't have the names yet. But I love the second one. It touched my heart. I don't know why. Maybe you know, but. And I love the.
- [57:44]
Chris Chermack
The.
- [57:44]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
The sixth song as well.
- [57:46]
Catriel and Paco Amoroso
Yes. Memoir. Yeah, I'm Dying. It's very chic.
- [57:48]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
It's very nice there. Nice, nice with Fred again.
- [57:51]
Catriel and Paco Amoroso
What.
- [57:51]
Fernando Augusto Pacheco
I know you can't choose your favorite, but is there a song that is special to both of you or.
- [57:55]
Catriel and Paco Amoroso
Well, it's crazy because when. When you made an album, maybe one day in the studio for. I don't know how was that session? Maybe you love that one song. And when. When you listen and listen and new songs appear like that idea, which is my favorite change all the time. But for us it's very amazing to hear what people like because everyone love a different song and we love that you picked these two. I really like the second too. I want to tell you the truth. I hear the song and it make me cry a lot of times. I don't like to cry a lot, but I have this sense because it's about babies and getting old and it's with Shock Black. That is my. My. I'm a huge fan of SH Block, you know, and it made me cr.
- [59:02]
Chris Chermack
That was Catriel and Paco Amoroso. Their new album Free Spirits is out now. You can listen to the full interview with Fernando Augusto Pacheco on the Monacle Weekly. That's all the time we have for today's program. Thanks to our producers Anita Riota and Angelica Jobson, our researcher and Lise Maynard and our studio manager Christy o' Grady with editing assistance from Jack Jewers. After the headlines. There is more music on the way. The briefing is like live at midday in London, the globalist Back at the same time tomorrow. I'm Chris Chermack. Thanks for listening.
- [59:42]
UBS Narrator
With ubs. You have a truly global partner incorporating new technologies, innovative approaches, and unexpected opportunities, leading you to exchange insights that help answer the questions that matter. Delivered with passion, care, and unmatched expertise. Because it's about rising with the dawn each day, knowing that we can do even better. That's what banking is to us. Not just work, but a craft. UBS advice is our craft.