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- [00:04]
Georgina Godwin
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. You're listening to the Globalist, first broadcast on the 4th of November 2025 on Monocle Radio. The Globalist in association with U.
- [01:09]
William Yang
Hello.
- [01:09]
Georgina Godwin
This is the Globalist broadcasting to you live from Midori House in London. I'm Georgina Godwin. On the show ahead, you say Taiwan, they say Taipei. Possibly neither. Neither. There's Estonia. Moles calling the whole thing off when it comes to hosting a Taiwanese embassy in Tallinn. Then to California to hear from a communication consultant to the Democrats.
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Mark Edelman
The fact that we are doing this in the middle of the decade is unprecedented in every kind of way.
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Georgina Godwin
Mark Edelman talking about gerrymandering. And we'll hear more about changing congressional districts a little later in the show. We'll have a look through the newspaper front pages and then what goes up must come down. We'll hear about the rise in importance of stairs in the Thai retail industry.
- [01:56]
Damian Kulash
Plus we had a thing we did where we do a ridiculous boy band dance on stage at the end of our concert. It was basically a way to try to like diffuse the hipster tension.
- [02:08]
Georgina Godwin
Okay, go's Damian Kulash unpacks the enduring popularity of the music video. Then we focus on design with a roundup of news from the sector and a check in from Dubai's Design week. And finally, as the use of satellites, rockets. Space is running out of space. We'll examine innovative ways to clean up low ear Earth orbit. That's all ahead here on the Globalist. Live from London. First, a look at what else is happening in the news. US President Donald Trump has threatened to cut federal funding for New York City if Democratic candidate Zoran Mamdani wins today's mayoral election. Lockheed Martin says it's working to speed up the delayed deliveries of new F16V fighter jets to Taiwan after the island's defence ministry reported that the program had been pushed back because of production line relocations and supply chain disruptions. And veteran actress Diane Ladd, a three time Academy Award nominee known for her performances in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose has died aged 89. Do stay tuned to Monocle Radio throughout the day for More on those stories now. Plans for Taiwan to open a representative office in Estonia have stalled for two amid concerns about China's reaction and disagreement over the name of the office. Well, I'm joined now from Taipei by William Yang, senior Northeast Asia analyst for the International Crisis Group. And in Tallinn is Kadri Leek, who is an Estonian journalist and political analyst. Welcome to you both. Kadri, if we could begin with you. Estonia approved a Taipei office in principle. So what's the delay all about?
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Kadri Leek
As I understand, the problem is about the name. Apparently Taiwan wants it to be called Taiwan's representative office, whereas Estonia sticks to the name Taipei office. So hence the delay.
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Georgina Godwin
So William, why does the wording matter so much?
- [04:21]
William Yang
I believe from Taiwan's perspective, they view the example that Taiwan was able to open the office under the name of Taiwan in Lithuania in 2021 as partially like a diplomatic breakthrough. And they thought that maybe there is a little bit more appetite and bandwidth on the, you know, with regard to other Baltic states that would also allow Taiwan to replicate the same model. But I think apparently there has in fact been a, I think if anything, a concern or example that the Lithuania case has set up that sort of like prompted other Baltic states, I mean in this case Estonia, to exercise more caution when it comes to in the process of negotiating and approving the naming and also the final opening of the Taiwan office. But I think from Taipei's perspective, they wanted to see if they can just replicate the same model. But I think in this particular case, Estonia apparently has a little bit more concern about China's potential reaction and wants to avoid facing similar situations that Lithuania faced, which is very heavy economic backlash, coercion and also sanctions that came from the Chinese side.
- [05:47]
Georgina Godwin
Yeah, I mean, Kaji, tell us more about Lithuania. Lithuania, because there was tremendous backlash indeed.
- [05:54]
Kadri Leek
Lithuania allowed Taiwan to open an office under the name of Taiwan. That was in 2021. And China got very angry. They called back the ambassador, the status of the embassy was reduced and they imposed trade sanctions on Lithuania or trade stopped accepting exports from Lithuania. The economic blow was maybe not that heavy because none of the Baltic states trade with China that much. However, there was also an easy situation for Lithuania in the European Union. Lithuanians went ahead with that symbolic step, probably thinking it was beautiful and brave, but they didn't consult anyone in the EU ahead of time. And once they got into trouble with China about trade, they asked the EU to come to rescue because eu, as you know, is a trading bloc and all trade concerns also process and that quite understandably caused some displeasure in other member states. You didn't consult with us and now you ask us to help.
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Georgina Godwin
I wonder how this delay is being viewed in Taiwan. William.
- [07:18]
William Yang
I think the delay is basically being viewed as a reality check and also a wake up call with regard to the European countries general perception and also appetite for engaging with Taiwan. I think this is basically a reminder to the Taiwanese government that despite the, you know, case in Lithuania, it should be viewed as an isolated case rather than a trend, a larger trend that is emerging in, across the, you know, European Union. Because I think just like what Kadri just mentioned, my interaction and also conversations with European interlocutors in recent years also suggested that if anything, Lithuania's example actually sort of like pushed the rest of the European countries to realize that they need to actually exercise more caution when it comes to, you know, my deeper engagement with Taiwan. Especially when it, you know, involves a potential change in the names that might be viewed by China as walking away from the long standing One China policy. So if we look at Estonia's, you know, statement very carefully, they do emphasize that the approval of allowing Taiwan to open the office is in line with the long standing Taiwan China policy. That's very important and which means that that is basically essentially going to try to focus less on the symbolic side of the relationship and focus more on the substantive exchanges.
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Georgina Godwin
I mean Kaji, how much pressure could Beijing realistically apply on Estonia and what is the current relationship between China and Estonia?
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Kadri Leek
The relationship has again normalized because Estonia, what Estonia did Estonia, the Estonian president met with the dalai Lama in 2011 and that caused a backlash in relations with China. So there has been a slow normalization. Estonia has also upgraded its relations with Taiwan. There have been ministerial visits not meeting government members in Estonia. But Taiwan month foreign minister came to give a talk at a think tank and met with members of parliament. But yes, when it comes to the office, Estonia plans to stick to One China policy. Plus having Taipei office is a very widely established practice in, in all of eu. I mean in, in most countries there are Taipei offices. So it would be actually quite stupid of China to, to view that as an absence.
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Georgina Godwin
Yeah, that may be William. But if Estonia ultimately does agree, then just to a Taipei office, not a Taiwan office, will that still be viewed as progress?
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William Yang
I think Taiwan just have to, you know, I think rest with the reality and accept the reality that it shouldn't attach too much symbolic meaning to these relationship with European countries. Rather, I think like Kadri said, in fact Estonia and Taiwan has quite you know, increased the frequency of exchanges at the working level. There were delegations coming from Estonia focusing on digital exchanges and also cybersecurity exchanges. There are also potential for exchanges on how to defend critical infrastructure, especially under sea cable because both countries are facing similar challenges and risks and threats. So, you know, I think if Taiwan is able to set aside this symbolic part and really focus on the substantive engagement, there is actually, I believe, still a lot of, I think, appetite and also desire to deepen and broaden engagement with Taiwan if it doesn't need to really risk, you know, changing or challenging the long standing one China policy.
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Georgina Godwin
And Kaji, finally, I mean, we've heard about all these joint projects. How useful would it be then for both countries to have official representation in Tallinn?
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Kadri Leek
Well, I think for practical purposes, Taipei office would be, would be fine. And as just said, you can actually have all sorts of interactions under that banner. Plus Estebania actually has similar experience itself. Before Estebania became independent in 91, since 1990 or even 89, Estebania opened cultural institutes in, in EU member states. And Greens were also sort of shadow embassies. They were very useful, but Estonia didn't insist on the name. They all became embassies in late 91. However, they actually functioned as useful links before that. And I believe the same can be true about the Taipei office in Thailand if Taiwan accepts it.
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Georgina Godwin
Kadri, thank you. That was Kadri Leet, the Estonian journalist and political analyst, and William Yang, Northeast Asia analyst for the International Crisis Group in Taipei. This is the globalist. There's long been a strange tradition in the US of politicians being put in charge of redrawing a US State's congressional districts and favoring their own party's political fortunes in the process. Known as gerrymandering, the practice has gone into drive this year, openly supported by Donald Trump and being pushed in Republican controlled states to secure additional seats ahead of next year's midterm congressional elections. Democrats have now vowed to do the same in states controlled by their party. In California, Proposition 50 is a ballot measure that will be voted on today. It would allow Democrats to bypass an independent commission that draws the state's maps in order to enact a more Democratic friendly map instead. Mark Edelman is a long standing campaign and communications consultant to the U.S. democrats based in California. And he spoke to Monocle's Chris Chermac. Mark began by describing how the tradition of gerrymandering came into being.
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Mark Edelman
You know, there's a famous California leader named John Burton who recently passed away and had made a comment in the 1980s that it is almost like Picasso comes in and draws these districts. And as you look at the maps, as years have gone by, these districts have become so ornate looking and are literally carved around communities and neighborhoods that will certainly swing a district in one way or another. And this is something that is sort of part of our democratic system here in the United States, where states can propose district borders and contours and different states do it differently. So I don't want to get too specific, but often they go in front of the state legislature and if it passes there, it then can go to the governor's desk and get signed in. So it is very much a political tool. It is a sort of example of politicians picking their voters versus voters picking their politicians, which you could see a lot of people would have issues with.
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Damian Kulash
Mark, as you described there, this has been going on for a long time, but is there something different about this year before we even get to California? In the past, even if this was happening, it wasn't quite as open in terms of what people were trying to do with it. This is the year where you've had, say, US President Donald Trump specifically say that he wants states to redraw their maps in order to give his party more votes. Is that different from the past?
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Mark Edelman
It is in one major way. Congressional districts are drawn from population censuses. Right? We do a census every 10 years in the United States and those numbers are very much part of how we apportion congressional districts. And if you look at maps over the years, the census reflects population shifts. And so states will lose districts, states will gain districts. And this is never done in the middle of a decade. It is done in the first year of the decade, has been done like this for decades and decades and decades. The fact that we are doing this in the middle of the decade is unprecedented in every kind of way.
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Damian Kulash
It's unprecedented. And it has already started in other states, in Republican leaning states. And this does bring us now, though, to California and what's on the ballot this week. I wonder what the campaign has been like, if you could describe that, because this is all so complicated. But in some ways, I mean, it essentially boils down to a kind of child's playground school fight, doesn't it? Because, I mean, California is doing what it's trying to do is by nature anti Democratic and partisan. It wants Democratic legislators to be able to choose instead of an independent commission. The argument for it is, well, the other side did it first.
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Mark Edelman
Well, I would say this a couple things I. And I. What I would add is like, there is nothing less sexy than talking about congressional district apportionment. We need almost Aaron Sorkin to come in and write this to make it, you know, beautiful sounding and interesting and exhilarating, like a West Wing episode. The truth of it is, you know, look, Texas basically went ahead and has redrawn their map through their state legislature without the input of voters. And by doing that, they sort of started almost this kind of arms race to, you know, move across the country for states to try and figure out what they can do to improve their chances. California is a little different. What California has done is actually what I would argue the most Democratic, which they are bringing this as a proposition to the voters. The only way is for the voters of California to weigh in. And there has been a campaign front facing with Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, basically saying, this is something we have to do. This is something, while it is not in the world of norms that we have lived in over decades and decades, it is something that will try to at least start to even the playing field. And so voters weighing in on this versus what happened in Texas, which was really just the state legislature taking this sort of on themselves to do, and then the governor signing it into law, I think actually is a very important distinction. It also has put a lot of different characters into the mix. You've got Arnold Schwarzenegger, of course, former governor of California, worldwide global movie star, who has been out there lobbying and campaigning against Proposition 50, that this is not the way to save democracy. This is not the way to move forward and fight fire with fire. So a lot of people have a lot of different opinions on this. I would say instinctively, I probably would not be for Prop 50, but for the fact that all the norms of democracy right now are being test stress, test in a way that we have to think about things a little differently. And you know, sometimes to put it in medical terms, you almost have to kill the patient with chemo to save them from the cancer. And so I did vote for Prop 50. It's a very heady subject that I know historians will be wrestling with forever. And I don't have a good answer to this. But if the president is going to be playing in a different stadium, Democrats need to be playing at least the same game. And I do think that California is a very good example, again of bringing this to the voters and let them have their say about what they want, you know, the country to look like. What I will say is it is a tell to me that Donald Trump and Republicans think they have to change the rules in the middle of the game to ensure that they keep the House of Representatives in 2026. That, to me is not a sign of strength, it is a sign of weakness. And historically, the President's party often loses the House of Representatives in the midterms or at least loses many seats. And so like everything, I think that people are watching both in this country and from far away. All of our norms are being tested right now. And I think, you know, candidly, we've got to try some different things if we're going to preserve any sort of vision of what the United States of America is about.
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Georgina Godwin
The Democratic strategist Mark Edelman there in conversation with Monocle's Chris Chermack. Now. Still to come on the program, will.
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James Chambers
The duplex format pay off for high end fashion and fine jewellery in the same way as it has for laptops and smartphones at the Apple Store? Well, we won't have to wait too long to find out.
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Georgina Godwin
Upstairs, downstairs with Monocle's James Chambers, the this is the Globalist craft is a matter of perspective, a unique outlook, an obsessive attention to detail. With UBS's Chief Investment Office House View, 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. It's 22 minutes past seven here in London. I'm Georgina Godwin on the Globalist and joining me in the studio is Zoe Grunwald, who is Westminster editor at the lead. Zoe, Westminster is where all attention is on in Britain today because it's the budget and it looks looks like it's going to have fairly negative implications for U.S. taxpayers.
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Zoe Grunwald
Yes. So Rachel Reeves is delivering a speech this morning because there's been lots of speculation over tax rises in the forthcoming budget. So she has. The budget is on the 26th of November and they've already warned that it's going to focus on fairness and opportunity. In this speech this morning, Reeves is expected to cut to set out how she's going to bring down NHS waiting lists, the national debt and the cost of living. And we all think this is going to be done through tax rises. And the reason this is particularly poignant is because in the Labour government's manifesto they promised that they would not increase income tax, national insurance or vat. It looks like they might be pitch rolling this morning to break that promise, particularly around income tax. Now, I should say they aren't going to set out particular tax and spend pledges this morning. So there will still be plenty of speculation. But it does very much sound like they are preparing the public for some pain, for some promise breaking and hoping that the promise of improving public services and cutting national debt will keep people on board.
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Georgina Godwin
I mean, there has, as you say, been a great deal of speculation. How serious is this for Labour's future if they do in fact go back on this election promise?
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Zoe Grunwald
There's already been accusations of this Labour government flip flopping, as it's called, on various promises. But raising taxes at a time where people are desperately fed up with living standards, wage stagnation, housing, feeling like they are working hard for less is a very, very risky maneuver. Now, lots of economists will say this labor government has no other. No, has no other choice. The national debt is spiring, public services are in a dire state and they need to get revenue from, from somewhere. But I think unless you can show change and improve people's living standards within the next two and a half, three years, they're going to struggle at the next election if all they've done is taken more money out of people's pay pockets with nothing really to show for it.
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Georgina Godwin
Of course they would say that they are doing this for the good of the country. And somebody who's absolutely not acting in that way is Donald Trump, who is using his own power simply for his own gain and methods. He said that he endorses the apparent sexual offender, Andrew Cuomo in the New York mayor race, urging voters not to elect Zorin Ramdani. The election takes place tomorrow. He says he'll defund New York.
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Zoe Grunwald
Yeah, absolutely right. This is a intervention from Trump which is hardly unprecedented anymore. But is it extremely rare for a president to make this kind of intervention into something like this? He said it's going to be hard for him as president to give a lot of money to New York if Mamdani wins. Wins. He says if you have a communist running New York, all you're doing is wasting the money and you're sending it there. Now, I think we should say, obviously Mamdani is not a communist. He describes himself as more of a Democratic socialist. He compares himself to sort of Nordic politicians. But of course, threatening to withdraw money from New York is very much kind of in keeping with some of Trump's policies of late. Not, not least deploying the National Guard to Democratic led cities as part of this kind of, of quote, unquote. Crime crackdown and seeking to strip funding from jurisdictions that limit their cooperation and federal immigration authorities. This is kind of Trump's MO now is just to sort of bully and bluster and throw his weight around when he doesn't like his political opponents.
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Georgina Godwin
I mean, what's really quite funny about this is of course Cuomo doesn't want his endorsement. He's a long term Trump critic. He was a Democrat New York governor, and he said he's not endorsing me, he's opposing Mamdani.
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Zoe Grunwald
Yeah, absolutely right. I think even Cuomo can see through this. Mamdani absolutely has been very, very critical of it. And interestingly, Trump, although he is a Republican, declined to endorse the Republican candidate Sliwa, saying a vote for Curtis is a vote for Mandani. So he just seems to be sort of operating on personal vendettas and feelings rather than what you might imagine is his political allegiances.
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Georgina Godwin
And it seems to me he doesn't know New Yorkers at all. Because I think something like that is just going to make the whole city go well.
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Zoe Grunwald
Oh, absolutely. But I think at this point, you know, it does look quite likely that it is going to be Mamdani. So I think Trump is just kind of saying what he wants and hoping it will appeal to a various part of the Republican Party or his base, but actually knowing it won't have much impact in the long term.
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Georgina Godwin
Yeah. Now, terrible news coming out of Sudan. What's the latest there?
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Zoe Grunwald
Yes, so at least 36,000 people fled Sudan's Kordofan region since Saturday. This is after the capture of the city of El Fahsha, which neighbours Darfur just last week. This is a huge number. We already know that 65, 650,000 people have been displaced since the RSF's full takeover of El Fahshur. 200,000.
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Kadri Leek
This is.
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Zoe Grunwald
Sorry, this is on top of the 200,000 people who were killed in the Darfur genocide in the early 2000s. But this is obviously a new part of the conflict which erupted in 2023 when the RSF turned against the SAF, ripped up the agreement they had in government and are now fighting countrywide. And there have been horrible, horrible allegations that this is one of the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet right now. We've heard allegations of rape, ethnic cleansing, famine. I mean, it's just an extraordinarily horrific situation unfolding and over 12 million people have been forced to flee their homes since the conflict first started. There have been horrific images on satellite of blood spilled all over the streets in what looks like mass killings. I mean, it is extraordinary. This is unfurling right before our eyes.
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Georgina Godwin
It's a terrible, terrible situation, as you say. The UN says it is the worst humanitarian crisis and seemingly not very much is being done about it. Finally, some, well, some, some trivial news from Italy because this is a service which should be doing big, heroic things, but in fact, Italian firefighters are rushed off their feet, apparently, according to the Times, by Italians who've lost their key.
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Zoe Grunwald
Yeah. So this I thought was just quite an interesting story, really, about the changing demographics in Europe, but how that might actually impact public service delivery. So this is a story from Italy, particularly northern Italy, that the number of Italians calling the fire brigade after locking themselves out of their homes has risen sharply. And the fire chiefs say this is driven by its aging population. So the number of people stranded, saved by the fire brigade last year was more than 164,000 times last year, which was up from 136,000 since 2015. And they say it's because, in part, you have an older population. So the fire service won't come out if you just, just lock yourself out of your house. You have to get a locksmith. But if you are elderly or vulnerable or, you know, there is a child inside or something, they will come out. And they're saying that is increasing as older people are increasingly living alone and, you know, don't have access to the care that they once had.
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Georgina Godwin
Fascinating stuff. And of course, but much older population now in Italy, it is an aged population. Zoe, thank you very much indeed. That Zoe Grunwald, who's Westminster and editor at the Lead. You're with the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Now here's what else we're keeping an eye on today. US President Donald Trump has threatened to cut federal funding for New York City if Democratic candidate Zoran Mamdani wins today's mayoral election. Mamdani is ahead of Andrew Cuomo in the polls with Republican Curtis Sliwa trailing in third. Trump's pick, Cuomo, resigned from the governor post in 2021 over sexual harassment accusations. Lockheed Martin says it's working to speed up the delayed deliveries of new F16V fighter jets to Taiwan after the island's defense ministry reported that the program had been pushed back because of production line relocations and supply chain disruptions. Taiwan was, which faces growing military pressure from China, has long voiced frustration with repeated delays in US Supplied arms. The United States being its most significant international backer and weapons provider. And veteran actress Diane Ladd, a three time Academy Award nominee known for her performances in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, has died aged 89. Her daughter, actress Laura Dern, was beside her when she died at home in Ojai, California. She and Dern made history by both receiving Oscar nominations for Rambling Rose in the same year, the only mother daughter duo to do so. This is the Globalist. Stay tuned now for a look behind the headlines. Here's Monocle's James Channel Chambers on why stairs are becoming a key component of retail in Thailand.
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James Chambers
Climbing stairs may be a faff in many places, but in Asian cities where most of us live in apartments, they are a sign of luxury. The French jewelry brand Cartier has just opened a new boutique in Bangkok's Siam Paragon shopping mall, which is the commercial equivalent of the condominium. And the two story shop with its own internal staircase is being billed as a first of its kind for Thailand. These duplexes have become all the rage in luxury retailing and to keep up with the Cartiers, neighbouring boutiques are now undertaking their own renovations and the drive for more space is coming from the brands themselves rather than the landlords. Physical stores are by far the most important important sales channel in Thailand, and the European luxury houses require more room to pamper their top Asian customers with special experiences, intimate dinners and that all important ultra exclusive internal staircase. A similar shift is underway in Hong Kong where the landmark in Central is in the middle of a massive remodeling job, knocking through its ceilings to build more multi storey maisons for a handful of its top luxury tenants. Will the duplex format pay off for high end fashion and fine jewelry in the same way as it has for laptops and smartphones at the Apple Store? Well, we won't have to wait too long to find out. The first of these new Maisons are due to open in December. Amid this luxury scramble for stairs, one of this year's best retail spaces to open inside a luxury shopping mall is stepping in an entirely different direction down Market rather than up at the Emporium shopping mall, Siam Paragon's closest rival in Bangkok. Friend Friend is a duplex with a difference. The general store has commandeered two levels of the car park and made good use of the existing car ramp to connect the two floors, stocking a selection of designer furniture, homeware, kitchenware, hardware, house plants, magazines and vinyl. Customers are treated to sunlight, park views, plenty of exposed concrete and an invitation to idle away the day with a coffee or a bite to eat from the plant based kitchen. The concept for Friend Friend comes from one of the family members behind the mall group who own Emporium and know a thing or two about retailing. While luxury brands try to be both exclusive and accessible at the same time, creating cheaper products for the mass market and more roped off areas for top spenders, Friend Friend has delivered a genuine sledgehammer to the polished environment of the luxury shopping mall. For Monocle in Bangkok, I'm James Changing.
- [34:48]
Georgina Godwin
Thanks James. And you can find his column and more in the November issue of Monocle magazine on newsstands today. This is the globalist. Last week it was announced MTV, the world's first 24 hour music broadcaster, is to stop showing rolling music videos in the UK after almost 41 band most synonymous with the music video over the past couple of decades is OK Go, famous for creating elaborate one take wonders in London to collect the Icon award at this year's UK Music Video Awards, OK Go's frontman Damian Kulash joined Monocle's Tom Webb to look back and forward on his career making music and viral videos.
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Damian Kulash
Our audience right now are listening to.
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Tom Webb
Here It Goes Again.
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Damian Kulash
It's a song that so many people have such an affinity to and recognition with.
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Tom Webb
What were you thinking when you put.
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Damian Kulash
That music video together? What was your objective at the time? When we made the video for Here It Goes Again, the treadmill video, we were just trying to make something for this nerdy group of fans that we had stumbled into connection with for reasons that are too long and ridiculous to try to get into. We had a thing we did where we do a ridiculous boy band dance on stage at the end of our concert. It was basically a way to try to like defuse the hipster tension that was in indie rock rooms in the, in the early aughts, like it was basically cool to like smoke cigarettes and shuffle your feet. And we wanted music that felt like Queen or Cheap Trick or Joan Jett. Like we wanted people to feel fist pumping and have. And so it felt more punk than playing loud music to just be like, okay, and now we're going to do this ridiculous boy band dance. And that's something we had been doing for years. And when we came to our second album, which was the one on which Here It Goes Again appears, we knew that it was time to stop. We couldn't keep on ending our shows with this old song. So we came up with a new dance for a song called A Million Ways and a rehearsal tape of that got put online in the pre YouTube era and it had been downloaded like 300,000 times in a few weeks. And we realized, like, we've accidentally made a music video. And now that we have this connection to this sort of like this very direct connection to a fan base that isn't listening to, you know, modern rock radio and isn't reading Rolling Stone, they just, like, one thing we did, we're gonna make another thing for those people. But we didn't think of it as a music video. It was really just like, we'll do another ridiculous thing for those people. And so we went to my sister's house in Orland, where she lived at the time, and she was a professional ballroom dancer and this was her teaching studio. And we recorded this ridiculous thing on treadmills. And, you know, we thought it was kind of like a weird, modern way of making a music video, but we did not think it would ever be seen by anyone outside those few weird fans. And how was it seen by so many people? Because it's a very strange story. Is it true that Mr. YouTube himself asked for it directly?
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Tira Schubert
Yeah.
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Damian Kulash
Yeah. Well, Mr. YouTube himself, Chad, I presume he has a different email address these days, but one of the founders of YouTube had written saying, I've seen your stuff online, you should put it on my channel. And at that time, we didn't. There was nothing special about that. That was just some weird guy with a startup sending out cold calls. But we did, we lucked into it timing wise, that when it was time to put that out, that video, we needed a place to put it online. And YouTube had just started and streaming was itself a new idea. Like basically all video clips that people could access online before that were download things. And also, the way that you create.
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Tom Webb
Music videos has changed so much because.
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Damian Kulash
You literally just stuck a camera, a.
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Tom Webb
Static camera in the corner.
- [38:51]
Damian Kulash
Things have quite evolved for you in terms of your creative process. Yeah, I mean, I'd say that we happed into this style of filmmaking, or in filmmaking in general, in this weird way, because we're a rock band. Our instinct is to get on the stage and do the thing, you know, practice what we're going to do and then get the people in the room and do it. And it's very different from the normal process of filmmaking where the whole point is to sort of atomize this story that you have and figure out the best way to tell each beat of that moment and then cobble it together later. Like, what we were looking for is the event in the room that would have the most sort of joy and wonder and spectacle. To it and you just put a camera up, you know. And over the years we've realized that, like that initial instinct to just sort of document what we were doing, it speaks to the end viewer in a totally different way than normal film does like it. What it does is it does bring you in the room and it signals to you that this thing is real. And so now we think of our videos much less as kind of filmmaking endeavors and more sort of like it's almost like performance art. Like we're trying to figure out what is the most sort of joyful, awe inspiring, wonderful event we can make and is there a way to film it that will signal to people very clearly that this is a real thing and not filmmaking trickery?
- [40:21]
Tom Webb
And there is a new music video.
- [40:23]
Damian Kulash
For your new single. We just had a little listen of love.
- [40:26]
Tom Webb
The most spectacular music video that I.
- [40:29]
Damian Kulash
Actually saw long before I knew you. You are coming here. Incredible achievement. Kaleidoscope of mirrors and robotic arms. Please explain your new music and how.
- [40:40]
Tom Webb
You brought the visual along with it.
- [40:42]
Damian Kulash
Well, the song is called Love and it is about my children. I have seven year old twins and every parent will tell you some version of this, but seeing the world through their eyes and feeling their emotions about the world is one. One way that I. But there was one that I didn't expect, which was that emotions I'd had my whole life suddenly burst into new dimension. So I feel like I've been studying the little apartment of love for decades. And all of a sudden you have a kid and this like secret door opens up and there's an airplane hangar back there that's a whole new world of like a very familiar but different thing. And that's what that song is about, is about sort of like finding the sort of amazing depth of the world again through my children. And when I was cleaning up their toys one day, there was a mirror. The back of a book had a mirror on it for the toddlers to look at themselves in. And it was lying up against a mirror and I saw the reflection of a reflection of a reflection and was reminded of myself as a child standing between my parents two closet doors which opened out towards each other and had mirrors on them. And you could make the infinite hallway. And thought that's a really good metaphor for this feeling. You take two very simple things and out of them pops this like sort of infinite magic. And so I knew that we wouldn't be able to get all of the tricks we wanted to do with mirrors. All of the sort of amazing things that mirrors can do by hand because you need to be so exact. So I wrote to a friend who I thought might know some good roboticists and in fact he did. And we wound up spending three weeks in this gorgeous train station in Budapest filming 29 robots with dozens and dozens of mirrors. And it's basically, it's one long take where we go from sort of universe to universe in these kaleidoscopic worlds. And I'm really proud of it. It has the sense of spectacle and wonder that I hope is sort of common to our videos over the last 20 years. But I think it also has a different heartstring, tugging emotion to it, which is what I really wanted to get was a can you get that kind of homemade spectacle feeling and also have the depth of emotion that I think we often associate with like, you know, more produced stuff? I'm really proud of it.
- [42:54]
Georgina Godwin
That was OK go's frontman, Damien Kulash, with Monocle's Tom Webb. This is the globalist on Monocle. Radio, iq, EQ and AI. Three components key to the craft of innovation at ubs. Because to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving age, you need a partner with decades of experience, endless passion for the work and a finger on the pulse of leading technologies. Bridging human expertise with artificial intelligence, all to elevate you. UBS banking is our craft. Now let's get some news from the design world with some architecture in the mix too. And to do that, I'm joined in the studio by Tim Abrams, who's contributing editor to the Architectural Record. Good morning to you. To Tim.
- [43:54]
Damian Kulash
Good morning.
- [43:54]
Tom Webb
How are you doing?
- [43:55]
Georgina Godwin
I'm doing extremely well. Thank you so much for coming in to have a look through these lovely stories. You've chosen for us the first one about the Grand Egyptian Museum because of course we've just seen another phase of it open to the public.
- [44:07]
Tom Webb
Yes, after 20 years of construction, I think we can safely say that the Grand Egyptian Museum near Cairo is finally open. Which may seem like an incredibly long period of time for a museum museum to be built, but given the recent history of Egypt, coups, wars in neighboring countries, pandemic, of course, it's actually incredible that this repository of ancient history is finished at all. So yeah, over two decades after the begin, it is now packed with 100,000 artifacts, 12 exhibition galleries, more than 7,000 years of Egyptian antiquity, from pre dynastic times to the pre Roman era. It covers 120 acres and it's about the same size as the Vatican City.
- [44:51]
Georgina Godwin
Huge, huge thing and it cost a billion Dollars.
- [44:53]
Tom Webb
It cost a billion dollars. Yes. The money for this project is very interesting. It's coming from loans from the Japanese. And the idea is that the tourist industry, which has perhaps been lagging since the pandemic and since the aforementioned issues with neighboring countries, it is now designed fully to attract a global international tourist. It's interestingly separate. There's another project which is the capital, the new administrative capital, which is being built for the locals, which is funded by Arab money, which is. But this is the new project. This new museum is for a global international tourist.
- [45:38]
Georgina Godwin
It's right next to the pyramids. But when we say it took 20 years to build, when you consider how long the pyramids took to build, I think it's. It's absolutely nothing.
- [45:47]
Tom Webb
It's pretty. It's pretty. Pretty small beer in comparison. The incredible view, the money shot is from the top of the grand staircase. You've got frame view of the. Of the Grand Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Mankura. It's also, along with. It's very interesting also along with another project which is happening in Benin City in Nigeria, where. Which is the Museum of West African Art, which is being opened to rehouse the Benin bronzes or look after them, at least prove to the Western museums that there are places in which objects taken from Africa can be returned. The logic is now that this museum in Cairo is fully open, it can accept artifacts which were taken from Egypt in the 19th century. The Rosetta stone from the British Museum is one that's given it example of those very early days.
- [46:38]
Georgina Godwin
Yeah, just a note about the architecture of this, because, in fact, it was designed by the Irish architect Hannigan Penn, but he then really went on to have nothing to do with it.
- [46:48]
Tom Webb
Yes, 2003, they won the project. We were talking. So one of the interesting things about the museum is it looks like a project from the early 21st century. It looks like a Guggenheim in Bilbao. It's a kind of sculptural form on the edge of a city and wavy, curvy on the roofs with views to the exterior, to the money shots. But it's effectively. It's had no influence from the architects. It's been built by contractors, and we've been watching from the outside just waiting for it to complete. It's a wonderful project. The great hall that welcomes you when you arrive is truly fantastic. And the landscaping, the way it folds out into the landscape, it's really true to the original designs, although the architects haven't had much. Much to do with it since.
- [47:32]
Georgina Godwin
No, it sounds amazing. I must find a book festival in Cairo.
- [47:37]
Tom Webb
You should start one. I'm sure there are many of them there. It's a very literary culture, of course, as you know.
- [47:41]
Georgina Godwin
Yeah. Well, let's talk about another artistic building, this time in Paris.
- [47:45]
Tom Webb
Indeed, the Fondation Cartier has moved to a new base near, just behind the Louvre. The Fondation Cartier used to be in a purpose built Jean Nouvelle Building from 1984 on the boulder Leval de Raspaille in Paris. A sleek glass box which opened up into a garden. A beautiful building. And there the Fondation Cartier kind of helped create this model for big business or high cultural businesses in France to fund art, support art. I mean, without the Fondation Cartier there would be no fondation. Louis Vuitton Pinault, who has become a big provider and supporter of philanthropist of art, has been given a model. But the Fondation Cartier was able to create its own identity in the south of Paris. But now it feels that it's a confident cultural organization and has moved into the Grand Hotel du Louvre, which is just behind the Louvre Museum building was originally built for the Parisian exposition in the 19th century and then transformed into a department store and then later a couple antiques market. And now we're seeing, shall we say, the confidence of the institution as it becomes part of the firmament of French cultural institutions.
- [49:09]
Georgina Godwin
And it's got a pretty dynamic interior. It can be rearranged to give different types of exhibition space.
- [49:15]
Tom Webb
Indeed, one of the interesting things about the way architecture is moving, we're seeing buildings which have very classical exteriors, conserved exteriors or new exteriors in a classical form. But inside something dynamic and changeable is happening. The Sportsman Centre in Oxford, where I live, has just been opened and you suddenly see seven or different departments from the university all crammed into one space and lots of different cultural offerings. But then you also have, in Paris here you have an incredible situation where you. You have five mobile steel platforms that can be arranged in 11 different configurations to create dynamic and different types of exhibition space. So you have these conservative exteriors with loads and loads of stuff going on inside. That seems to be one of the dynamics where architecture is moving at the moment.
- [50:09]
Georgina Godwin
Well done, Cartier. Now let's have a look, a quick look at the International Architectural Drawing Prize.
- [50:15]
Tom Webb
This is an incredible, incredibly special prize actually. Several years ago, Ken Shuttleworth, known as Ken the Pen in his student days and latterly for his prodigious drawing skills, he founded a prize which is going from strength to strength Focusing on architectural drawing. Ken himself drew the Hong Kong Shanghai bank in Hong Kong and the Gherkin when he worked for Norman Foster. And now he is supporting the idea of architecture architectural drawing. It's taken a step back for the last year as the committee decided how they were going to deal with AI, they've decided just to remove all the categories. They used to be divided up between hand drawing, digital and hybrid. All the distinctions are now gone. Anything goes. Ken told me, he said the reason behind the decision. In the world we now live in, the pure hand pencil pen drawing is now almost always put through a digital format for color and toning. So everything's digital really. It's transferred digitally. There's always some digital treatment. This is just purely about ideas. And there's some fantastic different kinds of drawing in that prize. There's 18 different projects which have been shortlisted and there are an amazing tetrahedral design for a train station in Savannah, in Georgia, student project Sao Paulo State Art Gallery by Daniel Zamboni which is a kind of exploded Usborne guide style diagram which is hand drawn. A beautiful, a beautiful project. And the Dutch practice Inside out has been awarded for a composite, digital and hand drawn cross section of the activity in the top layers of soil. So you can see that the idea of architecture, the analysis, the way in which information is compacted into an easily readable form is being used across different disciplines and used to create information, rich.
- [52:05]
Georgina Godwin
Drawings and who's putting all this together?
- [52:08]
Tom Webb
The architectural drawing prize is co created by Make Architects, which is Ken's practice, Sir John Soane's museum here in London and the World Architecture Festival which is taking place this year in Miami. So there will be an announcement of who the winner is coming up in the next month.
- [52:23]
Georgina Godwin
Excellent, Tim, thank you very much indeed. That's Tim Abrams. This is the Globalist list on Monocle Radio. Dubai Design Week is back for its 11th edition and the city is making a serious claim as the design capital of the Middle East. The UAE's design and furniture market is forecast to hit $35 billion by 2031, driven by rapid development, new communities and and a big influx of global residents. What began a decade ago as a small gathering now brings together 1,000 participants from 50 countries. And I'm joined now by the doyenne of it all. She is the director of Dubai Design Week, Natasha Karela. Natasha, welcome.
- [53:11]
Natasha Karela
Hi there. Thank you for having me.
- [53:13]
Georgina Godwin
How different does this edition feel to that very first year?
- [53:18]
Natasha Karela
I mean, I think in true Dubai style, it has evolved, evolved quite quickly. But I think still in a very thoughtful way. So we had our first edition in 2015 and there were about 35 participants and about 15,000 audience members who came. And we're sitting here now in our 11th edition. And as you mentioned, over a thousand participants now, architects, designers, creative practitioners, cultural institutions from over 50 countries, which I think again is quite reflective of, of the makeup of Dubai.
- [53:48]
Georgina Godwin
And what do you think is driving the region's design economy?
- [53:52]
Natasha Karela
I think it's a combination of different sort of stakeholders sort of supporting this ecosystem. I mean, as Dubai Design Week, we are just a humble sort of moment in the calendar where we bring all of these different sorts of stakeholders, as I mentioned, together. But it really is year round. So it's everything from incredible sort of academic institutions that have set up and have wonderful faculties, it's cultural institutions that have been exploding across different areas of the region. It's also the private sector. There's so much business happening here. There's a lot of mega projects too, and even government support when it comes to grants and even supporting events like Dubai Design Week. And what we're also seeing is a lot more when it comes to the manufacturing capabilities in Dubai. I think if you had to compare, you know, even just 10 years ago, there was more of a sort of import culture simply because of what was available here. But what's happening is that through this sort of increase in designers who are building and making of here, we're seeing those capabilities for manufacturing and producing also coming up at the same time.
- [55:01]
Georgina Godwin
I wonder what the clearest sign is that Dubai is actually exporting design ideas, not just importing talent.
- [55:08]
Natasha Karela
Well, we're seeing it across different sorts of like, designers. So, I mean, you have things like these individual designers who are now making a name for themselves, for themselves on the international stage, like Naljud Luta, who is an incredible Emirati designer who sort of takes a more contemporary design language when it comes to certain motifs. From here, we're seeing a lot of.
- [55:31]
Kadri Leek
Of.
- [55:32]
Natasha Karela
I mean, for me, I would even consider food as design. It's been incredible to see a lot of these homegrown businesses, something like being available in places like London and New York and of course, even businesses as well. And so I think that there's also this key kind of sensibility as well to appreciating a lot of the design here because it is very nuanced.
- [55:52]
William Yang
Right.
- [55:52]
Natasha Karela
So we see that when we talk about design in the Arab world, there's still a little bit of a flattening when it's Very, very nuanced.
- [56:00]
William Yang
Right.
- [56:01]
Natasha Karela
You know, when you look at the design language in Kuwait versus Bahrain, let alone across Saudi, there's so many different aspects to it. And I think people are starting to appreciate that and building that into the larger global design language.
- [56:12]
Georgina Godwin
I wonder how population growth is changing what designers there are making. I mean, this influx of global and mostly very wealthy people.
- [56:23]
Natasha Karela
Oh, yes, absolutely, we're seeing that. So we have our fair Downtown Design, which has over 300 participants or exhibitors this year. And that's everything from your international names like a Kohler or Poltrona Frau Cartel, as well as very kind of established regional designers and spaces. And what we're seeing is that at the end of the day, design is very subjective and tastes are very different. And because there's such a kind of vast makeup of different cultures and as you said, people coming in, what we're able to do is sort of offer those different sorts of aesthetics across, and it really does play out into it. And I think one thing I will say, though, that is very kind of marked is that we're seeing a lot of the young designers from here who are sort of shifting away from this idea of like, leaning into these maybe, I would say, stereotypical motifs or cliches when it comes to designing from the Arab world. And once you just stand on their own two feet in terms of what it means to design or have a practice for a language that speaks to on a global and even individual level.
- [57:29]
Georgina Godwin
So the theme is community this year. Can you unpack what that means in this context?
- [57:35]
Natasha Karela
So, I mean, obviously we're bringing a big community together, but I think what we try to do here, and we understand the privilege of the platform we have, is really bringing in different sorts of micro communities that make up Up Dubai because it's very layered. You know, sometimes we see kind of one side of things that maybe kind of get picked up from a mainstream level, but really it's such a plethora. As I said, there's over 200 nationalities here, and all of them looking to use design as an opportunity not just for innovation and problem solving, but it also becomes a tool for representation and cultural storytelling as well. So, for example, we have one popular up here by Bootleg Griot, who are these incredible sort of collective from Africa, and they're bringing together a big library of African literature, printed media, and music and creating these sort of safe spaces for people to engage with a different side of culture and a different community.
- [58:35]
Georgina Godwin
And finally, Natasha, what is the future? How do you See the future for Dubai Design Week.
- [58:41]
Natasha Karela
I think for us, we want to continue expanding our kind of collaborative approach. There are a few. It's been so lovely to see that there's kind of different design weeks popping up around the region. We have Cairo Design Week this year. Amman Design Week returns next year after a six year hiatus. In Saudi, there's Tanwing Design Week. We're creative partners with them. And even if in Doha you have the Design Doha Biennial, and I think, you know, I get asked a lot like, oh, what does this mean for Dubai Design Week? But actually we need more of this because we all sort of have the same kind of mission and drive and actually we're very collaborative. So I think it's kind of building on that and also really cementing what it means to look at design represented from the larger global South.
- [59:26]
Georgina Godwin
Natasha, thank you very much indeed. That's Natasha Karella, who's director of Dubai Design Week. This is Monocle Radio. Space is running out of space. Satellites are multiplying fast. Debris is mounting and collision risks are rising. The European Space Agency says it wants to be debris neutral by 2030, clearing as much junk as it puts up there. Well, can we keep low Earth orbit safe before it turns into a celestial scrapyard? To find out, I'm joined by Tira Schubert, who is a fellow of the Royal Astronom Society and an ambassador for the Science Museum. Tira, it's always lovely to have you on the show. Why is space filling up and how serious are collision risks?
- [60:42]
Tira Schubert
Well, yes, there are serious collision risks, but space is filling up because we've been sending things into space since the Sputnik satellite in 1957. And at the moment there's about 25,000 things flying around there in low Earth orbit, at middle Earth orbit and the high Earth orbit as well. And the belief is that by depending on whose chart you want to look at, by 2030 there could be 60 or 70,000 bits of satellite satellites whizzing around there. So it's a very crowded place.
- [61:19]
Georgina Godwin
The European Space Agency says it wants to be debris neutral. What does that mean and how does the tech work? How do you remove a satellite?
- [61:29]
Tira Schubert
Well, that is something that you could make your fortune on. Debris neutral is, I think, a good goal. But 2030 might be a very ambitious deadline. There's different companies that are creating different solutions you could remove. And some of them, they sound rather James Bondy. There's one company, a Japanese one, astroscale, who's using, looking at magnetic removals you'd Actually pull the bit of debris or the old disused satellite and then pull it down, grab it by magnets, pull it down into the point that it gets grabbed by Earth's gravity and then it comes through the atmosphere and burns up. That creates other problems. There's also a company called Remove Debris, it's a British one, they use a harpoon and then a net and they do the same thing. But the contract has gone to a company called Clearspace, it's a Swiss company, and they have a large device with four claws and then it comes and grabs the space satellite, the space debris or the satellite and then pulls it down to the point that it gets pulled into Earth's gravity and burns up. Very James Bonding.
- [62:54]
Georgina Godwin
Absolutely. I wonder if there is cooperation within the space industry to sign up to this space neutral debris neutral pledge.
- [63:03]
Tira Schubert
Well, that's a big problem because the answer is no. The European Space Agency is leading on it and other space agencies and private operators are not, don't have it as high on their agenda. And the problem is that a lot of the debris problem has been created because not only do you have all those satellites up there, but you have more than you have hundreds of millions bits of debris from things like in 2007, the Chinese shot down one of their old satellites to make sure they had the technology to do it. And then the Russians did it to one of their old spy satellites, big Cosmos satellites that look like a big old clunky car. They shot that down in 2021 creating millions of bits of debris and, and the astronauts on the International Space Station had to shelter in their so called lifeboats to make sure that they weren't hit. Satellites have to maneuver all the time to avoid this debris. And then there is the collisions that just have happened naturally.
- [64:01]
Georgina Godwin
And are there regulations?
- [64:04]
Tira Schubert
Very few regulations because the space law is a very interesting bit of the legal world and the treaties that are out there, many of them have not been signed by the Russians and particularly by the Chinese who are going to be some of the big. They're one of the biggest space powers out there.
- [64:24]
Georgina Godwin
And do we reach a point then where launches need to be capped?
- [64:28]
Tira Schubert
Well, many people would say that we need to cap the launches, but our dependence on satellites increases all the time. We're using a satellite right now. People are listening to us through communication satellites. And then there's the satellites that do time syncing for the financial and banking world looking at helping weather prediction, the GPS that we use all the time. And then there's the spy satellites and the defense satellites. We're increasingly dependent on space.
- [64:57]
Georgina Godwin
Absolutely. So do we need to start drafting parking permit rules for Mars?
- [65:04]
Tira Schubert
Well, I think that everywhere the humans go, they do leave rubbish. And there is a fair amount of rubbish on the moon, actually. Mars is unscathed. There's probably only a few hundred bits of rubbish on Mars. But the problem is, is that if you launch a satellite and it was going, it had died and it hadn't come down naturally, you hadn't programmed that in, I wouldn't be allowed to grab your satellite and pull it down into Earth's gravity because it's still owned. It still is owned by whoever launches it and you need their legal permission.
- [65:38]
Georgina Godwin
Extraordinary. So, I mean, a real minefield.
- [65:41]
Tira Schubert
Yeah, it is a real minefield and we've got to sort it out before we are just living in a cage of metal objects flying around at 10 times the speed of a bullet.
- [65:51]
Georgina Godwin
Oh, Tira. Thank you. That's Tira Schubert, who's fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and an ambassador for the Science Museum. And that's all we have time for on today's program. Thanks to our producers, Vincent McEvinney, Tom Webb and Chris Chermack, our researcher Joanna Moses and our studio manager, Lily Austin, with editing assistance by Christy Evans and Hunter Wang. After the headlines. There's more music on the way and the briefing is live at midday in London. The Globalist will return at the same time tomorrow. And if you're looking for some entertainment, do dip into our archives. Lots and lots of programmes there for you to listen to at a timing of your choice. I'm Georgina Godwin. Thanks for listening. With ubs, you have a truly global partner incorporating new technologies, innovative approaches and unexpected opportunities, leading you to 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.