Zelensky picks a new PM as protests erupt over cabinet reshuffle

Summary

The Globalist (Monocle)

Episode: Zelensky picks a new PM as protests erupt over cabinet reshuffle
First Aired: July 17, 2026
Hosts: Georgina Godwin, Fionnuala Sweeney
Key Guests: Jenny Mathers (Senior Lecturer in International Politics), Steve Crawshaw (Author/Journalist), Claudia Jacobs (Monocle), Karen Krizanovich (Film Critic)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the political turbulence in Ukraine following President Volodymyr Zelensky’s latest cabinet reshuffle, which triggered rare wartime protests in Kyiv. The team also reviews international headlines including Trump’s high-profile appearances at sporting events, US hostility toward the International Criminal Court, European reactions to Trump, shifts in UK leadership, the upcoming Israeli election, French cultural stories, and Christopher Nolan’s new film adaptation of Homer’s 'Odyssey'.

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Ukraine’s Cabinet Shakeup and Wartime Protests

Segment Start: 02:34
Guest: Jenny Mathers (Senior Lecturer, Aberystwyth University)

Key Points

• Background of the Reshuffle (03:50):

  • Zelensky dismissed both the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister, sparking speculation on whether the move was to refresh government dynamics or was motivated by dissatisfaction with individual performance.
  • The Prime Minister was seen as ineffective at dealing with parliament. The Defense Ministry change was rooted in deeper generational and strategic conflicts.

• Why was Defense Minister Fedorov Sacked? (04:38):

  • Fedorov, only 35 and in office for six months, was credited with modernizing battlefield tactics—prioritizing drone warfare and asymmetric strategies.

  • His approach clashed with Commander-in-Chief Syrsky (aged 60, Soviet-trained, favors traditional top-down military structure).

  • Fedorov’s removal ignited public anger, especially among military personnel who valued his modern initiatives.

    “Fedorov … is widely credited with really turning around Ukraine's fortunes on the battlefield... But the process of doing this has brought Fedorov into real conflict with the commander in chief who is of an earlier generation…”
    — Jenny Mathers [04:48]

• Impact and Public Backlash (07:34):

  • Protests are the largest since Russia’s 2022 invasion, reflecting deep distrust over wartime decision-making and government overreach.
  • Many see this as Zelensky siding with entrenched, traditionalist, and possibly corrupt elements within the Defense Ministry.

• Allegations of Personal Motive (08:47):

  • Zelensky is suspected of political self-preservation by dismissing popular and potentially rival officials, and of being tied to powerful economic interests.

• Reaction from Western Supporters (09:40):

  • Concerns are rising that Ukraine is veering from democratic principles.
  • Some reassurance as the new Defense Minister has a background in drone warfare, but the generational power struggle remains a point of tension.

• Does Ukraine Need a New Style of Government for War? (10:55):

  “There’s been a constant struggle … between what society wants… and what the government has been willing to give it… It’s really important for the government to be seen … making the right democratic decisions.”
  — Jenny Mathers [10:55]

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Trump, Sports, and the American Culture Clash

Segment Start: 12:09
Reporter: H.J. Mai

Key Points

• Trump’s Sporting Appearances (13:15):

  • Trump regularly attends major US sporting events as a form of populist outreach.

  • Unlike previous presidents who used sports for unity, Trump's approach is seen as polarizing and self-serving.

    “The problem with this president is that ... sport are supposed to represent... seems to be antithetical not just to everything that he has stated ... but the things that he has done.”
    — Harry Edwards, Sports Sociologist [14:20]

• Political Overreach and Backlash (16:00):

  • Trump intervened directly in sporting procedures, including pressuring FIFA for US team advantage.

  • His presence often provokes negative reactions, e.g., booed at NBA Finals.

    “There’s a considerable response to that kind of self interjection into sporting events by powerful people and it’s something that just kind of destroys the moment.”
    — Sports Commentator [17:01]

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Press Review: Global Justice, Britain & Israeli Politics

Segment Start: 18:29
Guest: Steve Crawshaw

International Criminal Court and US Politics

• US Hostility to the ICC (19:00, 21:03):

  • Trump administration and allies (notably Marco Rubio) push to dismantle the ICC, blaming it for attacking US sovereignty.

  • Critics argue US concerns are about shielding powerful individuals from accountability.

    "Trump's real administration... real goal is impunity."
    — Steve Crawshaw [19:46]

    “So really, the administration simply tells lies about the court.”
    — Steve Crawshaw [23:37]

• European Response to Trump (22:20):

  • Some hope Europe is beginning to resist US pressure, but real pushback remains timid.
  • Reference to Mark Carney’s Davos speech as a benchmark for European leaders challenging the US.

UK Political Transition

• Who is Andy Burnham? (27:16):
  • Burnham, the incoming UK PM, is an enigmatic figure with limited foreign policy experience, but noted communication skills and local popularity.
  • Transition following Keir Starmer's resignation; Labour prospects uncertain especially on migration, foreign aid.

Israel’s Divided Electorate

• Israeli Election Outlook (30:20):

  • Detailed reporting from Israel reveals Netanyahu’s bloc is favored by young voters; right-wing and religious sentiments rising.

  • Voices for change exist but are marginalized.

    “It's brilliant reporting, but it's also kind of depressing that we've seen 70,000 killed in Gaza, 2,000 Israelis dead... people are not really interested in what is a way of bringing the temperature down and finding a way forward.”
    — Steve Crawshaw [32:00]

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Featured Column: Andrew Muller’s Global News Review

Segment Start: 36:23

Humorous Takes

• Reflections on UK and US political absurdities (Nigel Farage vs. Count Bin Face, Trump $1 coin).
• Satirical remarks on Trump's "coin" honor and incoherent public statements.
• Wry commentary on British football optimism and Norwegian fan pedantry.

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French Culture Front: Art, Media Monopolies, Urban Life

Segment Start: 44:18
Guest: Claudia Jacobs

Noteworthy Stories

• Bayonne’s Flourishing Art Scene (44:47):

  • Regional French cities investing in culture, challenging Parisian dominance.

• Relay Newsagent Takeover (45:16):

  • Far-right mogul Vincent Boulaure’s acquisition turns train station newsstands into platforms for political influence.

    “It’s being described as the front line of his political crusade.”
    — Claudia Jacobs [45:30]

• Endless Renovations in Paris (47:08):

  • Iconic landmarks perennially under scaffolding due to preservation laws, reflecting ambition but practical challenges.

• Air Conditioning vs. Architectural Purity (49:24):

  • Residents face opposition when adapting their homes to heatwaves, as authorities defend the city’s historic look.

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Film Review: Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey'

Segment Start: 51:45
Guest: Karen Krizanovich

Reception and Insights

• Nolan’s adaptation is compared to ‘Oppenheimer’ — thematically ambitious, playing with time and memory.

• Matt Damon’s portrayal of Odysseus is lauded as nuanced and vulnerable.

  “He’s a very likable, reliable hero, but he’s also very vulnerable… an amazing performance from him.”
  — Karen Krizanovich [53:32]

• Film is visually spectacular, shot on IMAX—recommended only on the big screen.

• Adaptation praised for accessibility and emotional depth.

  “This is event cinema, and you owe it to yourself to be part of the cultural landscape to see this film”
  — Karen Krizanovich [58:46]

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Notable Quotes

• Jenny Mathers on Ukraine’s Military Struggle:
  “A real worry… this could really torpedo Ukraine's recent rise… this is partly a power struggle about reform in the Ministry of Defense.” [06:31]

• Harry Edwards on Politics and Sports:
  "Once we're inside of the stadium, it becomes some people of all diverse backgrounds ... cheering for one side. So there's some unity in that.” [13:39]

• Steve Crawshaw on the ICC:
  “Trump has hated the International Criminal Court. He hates justice in general... The administration simply tells lies about the court.” [19:00, 23:37]

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Select Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:34 — Ukraine Cabinet Reshuffle & Protests
• 12:09 — Trump, Sports, and Politics
• 18:29 — Press Review with Steve Crawshaw
• 36:23 — Andrew Muller's Weekly Satire
• 44:18 — French Cultural News with Claudia Jacobs
• 51:45 — Christopher Nolan’s 'The Odyssey' Review

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Conclusion

A rich episode blending hard news on the pivotal shifts in Ukraine’s war leadership and democracy, cultural analysis of European politics, ongoing US spectacle with Trump, and an insightful celebration of contemporary art and cinema. The show’s conversational, analytical tone helps deliver context and clarity to events shaping Europe and beyond.

Transcript

[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.

[Georgina Godwin]

You're listening to the Globalist, first broadcast on 17 July 2026 on Monocle Radio. The Globalist in association with U.

[Commentator]

Hello,

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

this is the Globalist broadcasting to you live from Midori House in London. I'm Fionula Sweeney.

[Georgina Godwin]

And I'm Georgina Godwin. Coming up on today's show, Rare wartime protests in Kyiv after President Zelensky's cabinet reshuffle. We examine what's behind the top level reorganization and the growing political unrest.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

And the World cup final takes place this weekend, of course, in New Jersey in front of 80,000 fans, among them one particularly high profile politician. But is Donald Trump actually a fan?

[Commentator]

There's a considerable response to that kind of self interjection into sporting events by powerful people and it's something that just kind of destroys the moment.

[Georgina Godwin]

Plus will riffle through the newspaper front pages had to front where culture, construction controversy and air con collide. Andrew Muller casts his wry eye over the week and will navigate Homer's wine dark sea to ask what Christopher Nolan has made of the Odyssey, which weighs anchor in cinemas today. That's all ahead here on the Globalist with me, Georgina Godwin and me, Fionnuala

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

Sweeney, live from London.

[Georgina Godwin]

First, a look at what else is happening in the news. Iran says it's launched fresh attacks on US Facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait after a sixth consecutive night of American strikes. Donald Trump has accused China of interfering in the 2020 presidential election, despite a US intelligence assessment finding no evidence that Beijing affected the vote. And an Italian court has convicted 32 people over the 2018 Genoa Bridge collapse, including the former motorway chief who was sentence to 12 years. Do stay tuned to Monaco Radio throughout the day for more on those stories. Now Ukraine has a new prime minister, a new cabinet and a deepening political row after President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the defense minister, Mikhailo Fedorov. His removal has brought protesters out on the streets, prompted a senior Air force commander to resign and raise questions about how Ukraine should be governed as the war enters a new phase. Well, I'm joined now by Jenny Mathers, who's a senior lecturer in international Politics at Aberystwyth University. Jenny, it's always lovely to have you on the show. Why has Zelensky chosen this moment for his second major reshuffle in a year and the fourth since Russia's full scale invasion?

[Jenny Mathers]

So there's a lot of speculation about what is really driving this larger reshuffle. You know, some have argued that Zelenskyy just wants to refresh the faces that he wants to introduce and change. He wants to change the dynamic. You know, there's, there's that sort of general vibe, but there are also really specific issues around the two key posts that he is changing, the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister, where he seems to, in one case of the Prime Minister have seen a Prime Minister he doesn't think is very effective at dealing with parliament and wants to bring in someone who he feels to be better. And then for the Defence Ministry it's much messier. It's all about debates and dissension within the Defence Ministry about the direction of the war and emphasis and styles and generational clashes.

[Georgina Godwin]

Well, let's get into that a little bit more. Why do we know why the Defence Minister Fedorov's been sacked and also why his removals caused such anger.

[Jenny Mathers]

So Fedorov has only been in post for 6 months, but in that short time he is widely credited with really turning around Ukraine's fortunes on the battlefield. So, you know, we've seen Ukraine being much more effective at striking deep into the heart of Russia, really crippling Russia's oil industry infrastructure, causing it real problems and also going after the shadow fleet, which has been very effective. Now, you know, this is something that Ukrainians in general and, and military people in particular, people fighting on the front are, think is wonderful and they really are supportive of it. But the process of doing this has brought Fedorov into real conflict with the commander in chief who is of an earlier generation. He's 60, whereas Fedorov is 35. The commander in chief studied in Moscow in the Soviet times. And so he's brought in that much more sort of top down Russian attitude towards, you know, military command and priorities. So whereas Fedorov, it's emphasizing drones and asymmetric warfare and greater sort of ability of commanders on the front line to take their initiative. The commander in chief is really more interested in traditional top down methods of structure and also in the traditional sort of infantry, tanks, these kinds of ways of fighting wars.

[Georgina Godwin]

So that commander in chief is Oleksandr Syrsky. And Fedorov has really launched a Scathing attack on him, saying that he says instead of working out how to defeat Russia, he's figured out how to split the country. But clearly Zelensky is on his side. Has Zelensky picked the wrong side?

[Jenny Mathers]

This is what a lot of people are saying. And there's a real worry, I think, in Ukraine, and particularly among the ordinary people fighting in the war, that this could really torpedo Ukraine's recent rise in terms of its ability to affect change on the battlefield. So there's a real worry that that's what's happened. There's also concerns that this is partly a power struggle about reform in the Ministry of Defense, because the Ministry of Defense in Ukraine has long been a bastion of corruption, inefficiency, old fashioned ways of doing things. And there's been a real struggle really since 2014 to try and bring it into the modern era, bring in new ideas. And, you know, very deeply entrenched senior military officers have resisted that. So this is part of a bigger power struggle. And Zelensky appears to be saying that he is on the side of the more traditional folks in the Ministry of Defense. And that is not going down well at all.

[Georgina Godwin]

And clearly the public disagree. Tell us more about the protests.

[Jenny Mathers]

So these are the biggest protests really that Ukraine has seen since the mass invasion and similar in some ways to the protests that happened last summer about this time, which at that point were the largest that we've seen since the mass invasion. And in both cases there's strong concern about, you know, corruption. So last year the protests were really about attempts to bring the two independent anti corruption organizations directly under the President's control. And those were defeated in the end due to public protests. I think now there's a similar sense that, you know, Zelensky is overreaching, that the government isn't doing what the people want it to do. And, you know, civil society and ordinary people are very angry, including veterans and currently serving people in the army, that, you know, this is just the wrong direction. And so it's, it's very unusual in wartime for Ukrainians to come out on the streets like this because there's a strong impetus towards showing a united front supporting the government, even if you disagree with them on specific issues. But this is just seen as an issue it's too important for people to stay silent about.

[Georgina Godwin]

Right. Because they were actually accusing him of, of acting for personal political gain. Do you think there's any merit to that?

[Jenny Mathers]

Well, there have been really persistent kind of connections that have been drawn over the years between Zelenskyy and powerful economic actors and, you know, a number of close people to Zelenskyy have been dismissed or resigned under a cloud of corruption. And so, you know, there's a worry there, there's also a pattern that we're seeing of Zelenskyy dismissing officials who are popular, charismatic, who it's believed might perhaps pose a threat to him in a future presidential election. So, you know, you have a number of different things potentially going on here, including, you know, Zelenskyy's own personal political ambitions.

[Georgina Godwin]

So how do you think Ukraine's international partners read this? Upheaval. They're so important to the country. Are they going to be less supportive?

[Jenny Mathers]

I think they're worried, just as they were worried this time last year, that Ukraine might be going backwards away from a more democratic way of governing. I think now the worry is that Ukraine is finally on an upward trajectory in terms of the war itself, and there's concern that this might cause Ukraine to go backwards. So I think the Western supporters of Ukraine are going to be expressing their concerns now. Zelensky has now put forward somebody as an alternative or a replacement for the Ministry of Defence, who has a background in sort of drone use in. In the war as well. So the former head of the security services has been put forward as the. As the new Defence Minister. And so that will perhaps quiet some of those anxieties that, that, you know, Ukraine's strength in drones is not going to be completely undercut. But there are real questions about this sort of power struggle between the older generation in Ukraine's military, which is not proven to be terribly efficient or good at things it needs to do, and the younger generation, which has proved itself very much in recent months.

[Georgina Godwin]

And so, Jenny, finally, do you think that Ukraine's reached a point where winning the war or even fighting it, requires a different style of government from the one that got it this far.

[Jenny Mathers]

Well, I think there's been a constant struggle, really, in Ukraine over generations between what society wants and demands and what the government has been willing to give it. And, you know, many people thought that Zelenskyy was going to bring a really new approach, and in some ways he has. But I think there's still a lot of signs of old ways of doing things, old connections to powerful interests, apparently governing policy in ways that they shouldn't do. And I think both for the. In terms of the ability of Ukraine to continue to be successful in the war and in terms of Ukraine's credibility as a democratic Western partner, potential member of the eu, potential member of NATO. It's really important for the government to be seen to be listening to the people and to be seen to be, you know, making the right democratic decisions.

[Georgina Godwin]

Jenny, thank you very much indeed. That's Jenny Mathers, senior lecturer in international politics at Aberystwyth University. This is the Globalist.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

The World cup final, of course, takes place on Sunday when defending champions Argentina play the European title holder Spain. The match will be played in the New York New Jersey Stadium and will include a number of high profile musical acts among the 80,000 fans expected to attend. Is US President Donald Trump? Showing up at sporting events has become somewhat a habit of his during his second term. Washington based journalist H.J. mai looks at Trump's connection to sports.

[H.J. Mai]

Just weeks after his inauguration, President Trump went to the Super Bowl. While many presidents have used the NFL title game to reach tens of millions of TV viewers, Trump became the first sitting president to attend the big game. It was the kickoff to a sporting bonanza that included appearances at NASCAR's Daytona 500, the US Open tennis tournament, the Ryder cup, and two UFC matches.

[Andrew Muller]

What a scene with a sitting president coming to the Daytona 500 for only the third time in history.

[H.J. Mai]

In all, the president attended at least a dozen major sporting events in 2025, and despite the challenging geopolitical situation, he's on track for a similar number this year. He has been to the college football national championship game, an NBA Finals game, hosted a UFC fight at the White House, and now the World Cup. Using sports to connect with the American public is not unique to President Trump, of course, says sociologist Harry Edwards.

[Commentator]

I don't care how divided we are outside of the stadium. Once we're inside of the stadium, it becomes some people of all diverse backgrounds, ages, races, religions, and so forth, cheering for one side. So there's some unity in that.

[H.J. Mai]

Edwards is a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, and considered the father of the field of sports sociology. From Teddy Roosevelt to FDR and Barack Obama, many if not all American presidents have used sports and sporting events for their respective political purposes over the past century. The biggest difference between them and Trump, Edwards says, is that many of Trump's policies go against what sports stands for.

[Commentator]

The problem with this president is that the distance between the idealized values and sentiments that sport are supposed to represent and project. This whole institutional ideology of competitiveness, discipline, character, mental fitness, physical fitness, political acuity and religiosity seems to be antithetical not just to everything that he has stated over his two term presidency, but the things that he has done.

[H.J. Mai]

Trump had been an outspoken critic of athletes, in particular black athletes kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality during his first term in office. He often used derogatory language when speaking about those athletes.

[Donald Trump]

Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners when somebody disrespects our flag to say, get that son of a bitch off the the field right now. Out.

[Andrew Muller]

He's fired. He's fired.

[H.J. Mai]

This time around, it's the culture war issue of trans athletes in women's sports that have dominated political headlines for him and a large part of his supporters. Sports are about masculinity, says Edwards.

[Commentator]

The fact that the men's sporting events tend to emphasize and reiterate traditionally projected masculine characteristics and so forth. You know, the gridiron throwing the bomb, all of the words that are used to describe certain features of men's athletics, I mean, you have to go out of your way to miss them.

[H.J. Mai]

This is also the reason why we haven't seen Trump attend a WNBA Finals game or the Paralympics for that matter, he explained. Anytime a sitting president attends a sporting event, there's a chance it could backfire. When Trump attended Game 3 of this year's NBA Finals in New York, the crowd at Madison Square Garden booed him mercilessly. And even though the New York Knicks later celebrated their first championship in over 50 years, whether the team will accept their invitation to the White House is unclear at this point. President Trump, who is a known sports fan, also crossed a line in the mind of many experts and fans by inserting himself into the field of play. The most recent example is his call to FIFA president Gianni Infantino pressing the governing body to review the automatic red card suspension of US Men's national team striker Folorun Balogun, which ultimately worked. He also made headlines last year when he not only presented a trophy at the FIFA Club World cup, but remained on stage to celebrate with the players of Premier League club Chelsea.

[Commentator]

There's a considerable response to that kind of self interjection into sporting events by powerful people and it's something that just kind of destroys the moment. I think any outsider that interjects himself or herself into the normal processes and outcomes and can conduct and celebration at the end of a sporting event is

[H.J. Mai]

out of line, but that doesn't mean it won't happen again on Sunday. For Monocle, I'm HGMI in Washington.

[Jenny Mathers]

H.J.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

there, thank you so much. Indeed, this is the globalist.

[UBS Narrator]

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[Georgina Godwin]

It's 7:18 here in London. This is the Globalist on Monocle Radio. I'm Georgina Godwin and we'll continue now with today's newspapers. So joining us is Steve Crawshaw, who's an author, a journalist and formerly Human Rights Watch UK director. Steve, it's lovely to have you back in the studio.

[Steve Crawshaw]

Very nice to be here.

[Georgina Godwin]

I want to start off with this extraordinary story, much reported across different publications about the ICC and the fact that the US wants to withdraw from it and the extraordinary things they've said about the International Criminal Court.

[Steve Crawshaw]

It is a kind of baffling story. Well, it's not baffling because we have so much craziness that's coming out of Washington at the moment. Donald Trump has hated the International Criminal Court. He hates justice in general. The latest twist a bit earlier this week was an op ed in the Wall Street Journal by Marco Rubio where he was saying that basically this is how America must dismantle the court was his broadside. State Department put out statements similar and we've had a lot of backwash to that. In the meantime, he basically invents things. And one of the pieces I wanted to highlight was a piece by my former colleague at Human Rights Watch in the Guardian. Why does the US Want to dismantle the International Criminal Court?

[Georgina Godwin]

And this is Kenneth Roth by Ken

[Steve Crawshaw]

Roth, who was the executive director of Human Rights Watch until the couple of years ago. And Ken is quite right to describe it as nonsensical rationale in attacking the court and saying also quite rightly, that Trump's real administration, the Trump administration's real goal is impunity. And Ken Roth rightly dismantles every single element of Rubio's arguments, pointing out that they are basically just because they don't like the idea of accountability. Now, we kind of already know that to be true in any case, but it's interesting how, how brazen Marco Rubio and Trump behind him have been in that. I would love to think that finally, finally, I think we may have discussed this with you before. We will hear European governments actually stand up for the court that they created almost 30 years ago. But until now, they've been very, very wary of doing so, unfortunately, well, so

[Georgina Godwin]

Rubio said that police officers, border agents, whatever, could be dragged before an international court, tried by judges from random countries across the globe, found guilty under international laws we neither consent to nor control, and then imprisoned thousands of miles from America. As Roth points out, what.

[Steve Crawshaw]

None of this makes sense. It would be too long to go through all of the falsities that he has. But one of the points that Ken also makes, and quite rightly, is, like, when it was things that you liked, the idea of them being prosecuted, you're happy. So that was both. The Biden administration was very supportive on Ukraine, for example, but hated when it came to Israel. And that's the real problem for Trump, to some extent, previous administrations. But very strong here is what they really hate, is that the court has actually found its voice to not be frightened of prosecuting powerful people. And that's really what it comes down to. It's not, of course, these ordinary people they raise, as Putin and the Kremlin do, the idea that, oh, anyone might get touched at any point, actually, it's the people sending signals of what is so bad. Those are the people that may be responsible.

[Georgina Godwin]

So when you talk about Europe finding its voice and standing up to it, I mean, we've seen Mark Rutter, for instance, you know, slathering all over Trump. I mean, he's kind of. And, Fiona, I don't know what you think about this, but do you think, either of you, that we are at a position where Europe will finally stop trying to appease Trump and actually do something proper about it?

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

I tend to think that that's already beginning to happen. And I think Mark Carney's speech at the beginning of the year in Davos was really the benchmark for that. Myself, I don't know how you feel about it, but just when we talk about Marco Rubio writing in the Wall Street Journal, and you talk particularly about Ken Roth dismantling all his arguments, I just. The word that comes to mind is quote, unquote, alternative facts.

[Steve Crawshaw]

Yes, absolutely.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

It doesn't really matter.

[Steve Crawshaw]

Yeah, exactly. And that is quite odd. So the American debate is really hard to get past. It's interesting to see, like, oh, yeah, great, he said something without really dismantling those alternative facts. And I think you're right, and I do strongly agree. That famous Mark Carney speech, which kind of confronted things, and as he himself said, from a middle power. I mean, that was interesting as well. And you saw a little series of ripples in the days and weeks after that speech, where people said, yes, we too, are also a bit critical of Mr. Trump. But on some of the key things, they continue, I think, to fail to do it. So they find their voice, you know, on Greenland, rightly, they find their voice. On Ukraine, quite rightly. There are a couple of other things they will find their voices on. But on this issue of whether it is fine for a court to do what it was set up to do, which is to be blind, it doesn't care whether it's, doesn't care whether you're the best friend of Washington or whether your president is a permanent member of the Security Council. That doesn't matter. What matters? Have the crimes been committed? And crucially, which again, rudely, completely ignores, are you ready to prosecute those crimes or not? Because if you're ready to prosecute the crimes, it never comes to the icc. So really, the administration simply tells lies about the court. And I would love to hear what we never heard from the outgoing prime minister in Britain, the human rights lawyer himself. He never spoke up for the court, which a Labour government had helped to create 30 years ago. Will we see different with the new incoming prime minister, Andy Baker? No idea. But it's been bad so far.

[Georgina Godwin]

I mean, of course, there's problems within the court itself because of these sexual misconduct allegations against the head.

[Steve Crawshaw]

So this has come, this is really now coming to a head. So as you say, this has been bubbling, I can't say gently, but a little bit behind the scenes sometimes, or at least without the seeing the person most directly involved. So there have been very serious allegations against the chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Those who hate the court, of course, have suggested that somehow this makes the court's work itself invalid, which it does not. This is a completely different issue. So Khan has denied the allegations, but the person, the main complainant, has now more or less gone public, not with her second name, but with her first name, Sarah. She's given an interview, Christian Amanpour at cnn. And it's very, very powerful. I have to say, as she says, the pawing, the physical nature of it didn't start that way. It was like encroachments on the boundaries slowly, not just physically, but emotionally as well. She describes all of that stuff. And Kahn and his friends have used the media repeatedly in recent months. They have kind of dodged around the rules of how they can be heard, in other words, sticking very closely, no doubt, to the exact rules. But fundamentally, his voice has been heard saying, nonsense, nonsense, nonsense. And she now, instead of just being this Anonymous figure has come out as a real human being who says the assembly of State parties, so all of the members of the court, 125 governments, which, despite what Rubio and his friends say, are basically the main democracies of the world of that, all of the European Union, the UK and so on. Those will be deciding next week on his fate. He's at the moment suspended. It's very sad for it's clearly what has happened is it's denied, but the allegations are very serious. But in addition to that, it's really sad that all of this has of course damaging impact for the court. But we do have to remember the court is not just about the prosecutor. Everything that happens is looked at by other judges, the whole staff that are looking at these things. So his presence or absence is not really the main event here. Although those who hate the court will certainly want to bundle those two important stories together.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

You mentioned Keir Starmer there and of course, being a human rights lawyer, he is out of office by Monday and Andy Burnham does come in and there are some stories in the newspapers today about who is Andy Burnham. I mean, Mancunians will definitely know who Andy Burnham is and politicians from the 90s and the noughties will know Andy Burnham from his time in Westminster. But what can we expect on Monday when he, he, you know, slips in the door to number 10?

[Steve Crawshaw]

So I don't in any case claim to be a British politics expert. I watch it like, like everyone else does. But I think the short answer that is none of us actually know. And, and you say people in Manchester know, in a way they do. But there was. One of the most brilliant pieces that's been written on Burnham was a magazine cover story in the Financial Times a couple of weeks ago by the north of England correspondent Jennifer Williams, who, who basically laid out, she's been following him from Manchester for many years, including when at Manchester, even News and her piece laid out like there are so many different versions. He would do 180 degree spins on different things. And it's interesting now to see the different articles Burnham set for left wing revolt over Mahmoud is the front page main splash in the Times. Tax rise is the last thing Britain needs, says the Daily Telegraph. The Guardian has a piece about how every. Everything is in the black box and no one quite knows. So actually we've kind of seen the charm. We know he does charm, we know he does Oasis, we know all those kind of things. But what's actually going to happen, I think we have very, very little Idea.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

He did pay tribute to Keir Starmer for his foreign policy and this is the one area that people are suggesting that Andy Bona may not have experience of. He has been in the treasury, we know that, and he does know Westminster, but there is an inkling, and I'd be really interested in your opinion on this, that he might be trying to tie foreign policy and foreign aid in particular to how it affects the man on the street in Britain and why it is important. Is that a tough message to sell?

[Steve Crawshaw]

It's a really important message to sell and the thing is, this shouldn't be a cross party difficulty thing. So David Cameron, to be fair, was quite good sometimes at saying this is why these things. Former Conservative President, Minister, why AID actually matters. I think in general, as we all know, and this is kind of the reason why Keir Starmer went really, his inability to communicate absolutely basic things was truly terrible and it's kind of quite sad. And there's now everyone giving him the standing ovation to see goes and things were definitely achieved there, but he absolutely failed to communicate. So I think if there is somebody who can communicate the importance of some key moral issues, I do believe that Andy Burnham is able to do that. But what he is or is not ready to do, migration is another huge, huge question mark where the Tories did. They were always trying to sidle up to reform, in other words, further right if you like. And sadly, from my perspective, working previously as a human rights organization that dealt with refugees and migration, but even as a human being, it's been sad what Labour has done, what he will do, who knows? But can he communicate it if he decides to? Absolutely.

[Georgina Godwin]

So of course, Andy Burnham is coming in without an election, but none of us have decided that he should be there as Prime Minister. But Israel is going to have that choice very soon. Great piece in the new issue of Prospect about the Israeli election.

[Steve Crawshaw]

It really is a great piece. So it's a long piece by one of the Prospect senior editor, Alona Fariba, who herself previously worked for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, knows this story inside out and she traveled to Israel and did some brilliant, brilliant reporting of the different voices. It's brilliant reporting, but it's also kind of depressing that we've seen 70,000 killed in Gaza, 2,000 Israelis dead. And as she points out, well, she starts. The piece starts with a portrait from stuff, but early on in the piece she quotes a former head of the Israeli ngop Snow, Mossy Raz now and a former member of the Knesset quoting a poll of first time Jewish Israeli voters where 59% preferred Netanyahu's block of right wing religious parties. 75% respondents described themselves as right wing, 80% as religious. She travels the country and talks to different people. She's constantly hearing. She's meeting the people who do want change and who want a more decent country, who don't think that killing is the solution and who understand that for Israel itself something different is important. So she quotes one, for example, from a former Labor Knesset member. They killed a seven month baby. This is one particular incident. Even if we don't feel it, it corrupts the soul. I think even if we don't feel it is actually the most important phrase within that sentence. Because I certainly found when I was in Israel, when I was writing my book on war crimes and justice, that sense of like, yeah, tens of thousands may be dying, but who cares? So literally there was somebody's phone in a train when I was traveling one time was destroy Gaza. Human beings didn't matter. And she is finding that even now that people are not really interested. Too many people do not seem interested in what is a way of bringing the temperature down and finding a way forward. Instead, it's just tougher, tougher, tougher. And she ends up with some quotes just as she's leaving the country. Only be Bibi is the strongest leader in the world. The world isn't scared of us, but it's scared of Bibi. In other words, referring to Netanyahu and the idea that somehow he is admired around the world for being this strong man is as kind of delusional as we're hearing. Trump giving similar kind of narratives. And it's sad. We saw what he did to his trim, what they did to Trump. Again, says this same woman, she says a lot of people in the market where she is will vote for Netanyahu. It's not just us, many people. And then the final line of the piece, but not you, she says, I can see it on you. And I thought that was a really interesting. It was quite a moving piece where the reporter puts herself into the story, merely looking at the expression on the person's face. And that of course, is this very similar conversation you can imagine having in Trump's United States. You find a MAGA person and they look at the more liberal journalist who is appalled by what is happening to their country. And the MAGA person will go like, you are the problem, because you don't get it. And so that's what Alona Ferma had a very very interesting piece. And so much of the coverage, too often from abroad fails to acknowledge important Israel voices. And I think that's one of the great, great failings of the coverage we've seen in the past couple of years.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

And I think sometimes as well, we forget just how many constituents there are constituencies there are within Israel itself. I mean, there's a small left, but there's also orthodox, there are settlers, there are just right of center people. And it's very hard to bring them together in terms of defining one single voice in Israeli politics.

[Steve Crawshaw]

Exactly, exactly.

[Georgina Godwin]

So, Steve, thank you very much. I'm so sorry we didn't have time to do that. The case of the White House teleprompter operator who was getting money for predicting what Trump said, Honestly, people can look that story up for themselves. But it is exactly what I said.

[Steve Crawshaw]

It is quite remarkable, isn't it? Shameless doesn't begin to get to it.

[Georgina Godwin]

Yeah. Steve Crawshaw, author, journalist and formerly Human Rights Watch UK director, thank you very much indeed. You're with the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Now here's what else we're keeping an eye on today. Iran says it attacked US Facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait after Washington struck dozens of military targets near Bandar Abbas and Qesham Island. The renewed fighting has again largely halted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and pushed up global energy prices. Donald Trump used a prime time address to release documents that he said showed Chinese interference in the century 20th 2020 presidential election. A US intelligence assessment found no evidence that China or any other foreign power altered registrations, ballots, counting or results. And an Italian court has convicted the former head of the country's main motorway operator and 31 others over the collapse of Genoa's Morandi bridge. Giovanni Castellucci was sentenced to 12 years for the 2008 disaster which killed 43 people. This is the Globalist. Stay tuned. Now let's join Andrew Muller as he reflects on the last seven days of global affairs.

[Andrew Muller]

We learned this week of the precise date upon which British listeners who have invested any amount of their national identity in some sense of the United Kingdom as a serious, dignified nation, should avert eyes and ears from all media.

[Claudia Jacobs]

I can't wait to try this guy. Tell me more.

[Steve Crawshaw]

This goes.

[Andrew Muller]

We Learned officially that August 13th is the date upon which Reform UK leader and man from whom the prudent would not buy a used car. Still less a pitch for reordering relations with Europe. Nigel Farage will re contest his seat of Clacton if Farage is Listening. It's in Essex. In a by election he occasioned, in an attempt to forestall further scrutiny of his intriguing financial arrangements. We learned, or at least inferred, that Farage had not taken this decision lightly, given that his victory in Clacton in the general election of 2022 had been his eighth attempt to acquire a seat in the House of Commons. Not that we doubt for one single second Farage's profound commitment to and deep seated concern for the people of Clacton. Seriously, if Farage is listening, it's about an hour and a half by train from Liverpool street heading east. And as we had already learned, given that every other major British party had declined to participate in this nonsense, and to the delight of bewilderment of foreign media, Farage's principal opponent will be one Count Bin Face.

[Steve Crawshaw]

He describes himself as an intergalactic space warrior. And behind this unusual character, you have John Harvey, who's a comedian, and he might well be, as you said, the only one standing against Nigel Farage in this by election. Because the other major parties are boycott the election, calling it a sham, saying it's yet another political move by Farage.

[Andrew Muller]

Yes. So we learned that on August 13, a tiresome attention seeking clown, the sort of witless, dreary novelty character embraced with wretched reliability by a perennial and pestilential cohort of tittering simpletons lurking among the English, paid far too much attention by a chronically trivial media, forever making a passion test of himself on election days will run against a man dressed as a bin. But. We had long since learned, of course, that electing celebrity buffoons to public office was not a malaise exclusive to this side of the Atlantic. Indeed, it is arguable that the United States gave everyone else the idea. Thanks, America. And we learned, as we recurrently do, that it was all going extremely normally.

[Claudia Jacobs]

Treasury Secretary Scott Besant revealed the first

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

images of a $1 gold coin featuring

[Claudia Jacobs]

President Donald Trump's face.

[Andrew Muller]

We learned at least that the honoree was appropriately humbled.

[Donald Trump]

It's very cute. They gave me a coin that's very unusual from what I asked.

[Commentator]

A gold coin?

[Donald Trump]

Yeah, a gold coin and a silver coin. It was very unusual. Unusual. But I was honored by it.

[Andrew Muller]

And while we fully expect to learn in due course that the Trump $1 coin will shortly do a roaring trade among Trump supporters at $4.99 per coin, or 3 for 20, 6 for 50, etc, we did learn that if any seeker of good luck does fling any of said coins into, for example, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool when and if there is ever any water in it again.

[Donald Trump]

This.

[Karen Krasanovich]

This is what the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool looks like. After much of the water has been

[Andrew Muller]

drained for repair, it might not be easy to retrieve them.

[Donald Trump]

Huh? Because when a little water touches the magnets, it doesn't work anymore. And you're riding. You're in the Atlantic Ocean with waves that are 60ft high and the Pacific Ocean with waves that are 70ft high. And they're talking about magnets. It makes you want to get sick.

[Andrew Muller]

We learned, yes, that magnets don't work underwater, despite what we may have been told over the years by divers, salvage workers, submariners and scientists. But what would any of those doofuses know? Am I right? All clearly in the pocket of big magnet. And we learn from the same characteristics. Focused, learned, and above all, comprehensible presidential disquisition of the real reason for shortcomings in attempts by the previous U.S. administration to stimulate domestic semiconductor manufacturing.

[Donald Trump]

And of course, the standards were so high, if you weren't transgender, as an example, you didn't qualify. So they'd get the money that hired. They'd look all over for transgender people to run the company. Large portions. They couldn't find them. They weren't into the chip making business, I guess, right?

[Andrew Muller]

Transgender transistor. Tomato, tomato. But we mostly learned, if we're really honest, how very annoying it is when the president schedules some dramatic announcement for Thursday evening DC time.

[Donald Trump]

And welcome back, everybody.

[H.J. Mai]

President Donald Trump says his Thursday primetime

[Donald Trump]

address will focus on free and fair

[Andrew Muller]

elections when you're writing a news review to air Friday morning UK time. So if he says anything really untowardly bonkers, we will be pretty cross. But we think we cover ourselves pretty well. If we just drop this in last

[Donald Trump]

election, did we kick ass? We won. That means we won three times in a row, as you know.

[Andrew Muller]

But we learned that the thing of claiming victory under dubious pretext appeared to be catching on. We learned that at least one England fan had failed to consider the prospect that football would not, in fact, at this time of asking, be coming home as such. We learned that a Sean Carrington of Wigan had spent a considerable sum getting tattooed on his right calf an image of the World cup trophy above the words England World cup Cup winner 2026. Though scrutinising the image, we see that room is available for the prefix non before winner, so he might be able to style that out. But if we learned something about the incorrigible optimism of the English, we learned much about the commendable pedantry of the Norwegians. We learned at least that one Norwegian Belgian fan, Emil Annes Lappen of Flurg, was disinclined to participate in his team's celebratory Viking Row because we learned this was just not how the Vikings propelled their longboats when they were sailing across the Atlantic.

[H.J. Mai]

They sailed, they didn't row. I thought that the idea was stupid.

[Andrew Muller]

If Norway is looking for someone to put on money, there he is. For Monocle Radio, I'm Andrew Mullop, Foreign.

[Georgina Godwin]

Thank you, Andrew. This is the globalist on Monocle Radio.

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[Fionnuala Sweeney]

It is coming up to 8:44 in Paris, 7:44 here in London. Let's find out what the main culture stories are in France. I'm joined now in studio by Monocle writer Claudia Jacobs. And Claudia, you've been hard at work this week on Monocle's Mediterranean newspaper.

[Claudia Jacobs]

That's right. We're just wrapping up our sort of seasonal special. We sort of head to Saint Tropez and to Portugal, the vineyards and to Rome. Yeah, it's been, it's been hard work.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

And any highlights from us from those that you can briefly tell us about?

[Claudia Jacobs]

Well, I did a story in Bayonne, which is sort of the city just 8 km from Biarritz in France. And it was fascinating to see how their art market is advancing in such a small secondary French city.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

And how does it do that? Why is it advancing in a small city?

[Claudia Jacobs]

So it's built this new museum which is basically what become the biggest sort of beaux art museum outside of Paris. It's on a massive renovation and it's sort of, I think, proving that you don't need to sort of be in Paris to experience the best in artwork that we have in Europe.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

Regionalization at work. So let's talk about what's happening with France's news agent. And many people in France will be familiar with the term brillay, I may not have pronounced it correctly, the train station news agent. But it's being bought now.

[Claudia Jacobs]

Yeah, it's sort of ubiquitous in French train stations. You know, if you like, the sort of British equivalent is W.H. smith, you know, the, you know, the purveyor of Newspapers and magazines. But it's been bought, it was bought in 2023 by a far right media mogul called Vincent Boulaure who acquired the group. And since then he's essentially used the shop front to sort of pursue his political agenda. So now you sort of, you see books on display by sort of our right presidential candidate Jordan Bardella and the former president Nicolas Sarkozy. And yeah, it's sort of, it's being described as the front line of his political crusade. And anyone passing one in a train station will have noticed that, the differences there.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

And it must be interesting to see what kind of impact that has, a trickle down impact day to day passengers. You know, walking past this, eventually it, it sort of seeps in a little like Fox News in America in the 90s and then became the main news station gradually every time.

[Claudia Jacobs]

Yeah, I mean he's, he's sort of a canny entrepreneur and businessman. You know, in the 90s, in the 80s, sorry. He turned his declining family paper mill towards sort of plastics and industrial products. And, and then in, in the 2010s he sort of sensed this shift from material objects to sort of the media landscape. And since then has worked as relay. He's also acquired the far right television channel CN News, which has given prominence to far right politician Eric Zemour, Canal plus, which has since shifted towards the right. And also Hachette Publishing Group, a move which has caused several authors to sort of quit in protest. And I think some worry that Boulog will be able to use these platforms to only finance films and novels that sort of, you know, are politically aligned with his thinking.

[Georgina Godwin]

I want to move on to opera now because the Palais Garnier, which is a Paris opera, has announced that it's going to extend its planned renovations. Now, to be clear, these don't start actually for several years, but they're going to take three years longer than initially planned.

[Claudia Jacobs]

Yeah, wrapping up in 2030. I mean, it's something I observed literally when I was in Paris a couple weeks ago. I was with a friend and I wanted to take them to the Opera House. And we walked past and it's sort of, it's covered in that, you know, and when Parisians do a renovation, they cover it in sheeting that looks like the building itself. And I was like, oh, it's shut. And it sort of occurred to me that it's a familiar feeling that I have when I'm in Paris. There seems to always be these sort of big landmarks which had always been renovated. I mean, the Grand Palais Notre Dame, the Pompidou center, now the Louvre Museum, which is sort of beset by maintenance problems. And I do think it's a site which modern day residents have become quite used to, you know, rightly or wrongly. But it's also a historical feature of the city. You know, it's a planned city. It was ripped down in the 19th century in an effort to modernize it and improve public health. And it's a reminder that, you know, Paris's architectural splendor doesn't come without considerable effort and money, But.

[Georgina Godwin]

So say that. But the city landmarks do always seem to be under construction.

[Claudia Jacobs]

Yeah, I mean, it's something that's sort of written into its legislation, sort of weirdly. I mean, there's a decree that requires building owners to restore their facades every 10 years. And structural alterations, even down to things like paint colors, require approval from specialized authorities, which are there to sort of preserve the Ousmania aesthetic. And, you know, metal working techniques and artisanal techniques are continuously employed to great effort to restore stone and architectural details. So it might be something that Parisians predictably moan about, but I think it is also a sign of its civic ambition, its desire to keep pushing, to keep making the city look the best it can possibly look. And that's something that comes from that grew during the Olympics and I think has only just continued.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

Paris, of course, has suffered, I suppose, the heat waves in Europe more than any other city, arguably. And of course, French Parisians are always trying to keep cool, and not just by jumping in the sand, but also now trying to change how their apartments are supplied with air. And that's kind of butting heads with France's state architects.

[Claudia Jacobs]

Yeah, I think there's a tension between practicality, how we adapt to cities warming up, and Paris really is very, very hot during the summer. But also, as we've just discussed, the architectural coherence of the city and how that is upheld. The estate architects, they're called the Architects des Batimes de France, abf, are really butting heads with Parisians who are just looking to make fairly adaptations to their apartments which will allow them to adapt to the heat. They're sort of being accused of breaking the harmony of Parisian facades. And they're there to safeguard what they term a visual cacophony, which I quite like that phrase. And it's been contentious. I mean, Parisians who have been rejected permission to change these zinc roofs that they have on their apartments to paint them white to reflect the heat. You know, they haven't been allowed to install roller blinds, shutters, air con units, all of these things. So this architecture company is now at the center of a row because people feel as though they're determined to maintain the harmony of these sort of urban landscapes. But it, you know, it makes it impossible to actually modify buildings and adapt them to modern day life.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

And that's, that's before going into the actual architecture of the building itself and trying to rewire this is just adding an air conditioning unit or as you said, putting different colour of paint on the roofs.

[Claudia Jacobs]

Exactly. It's purely about aesthetics at this point. And, you know, I think it's a reminder that France is known and celebrated, you know, Paris specifically for its beauty. I mean, it was, yeah, it was planned that way and it wants to uphold it, but this will have to be balanced with, you know, the demands of modern day urban life.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

Architects must be there hoping it's going to rain soon, otherwise it's never going to end. Yeah, but it's going to be an annual conference, presumably, and increase. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Thanks so much, Claudia. It's great to talk with you and good luck with Mediterranean and it's a wonderful publication and thank you for spending time with us here today.

[Claudia Jacobs]

Thank you.

[Georgina Godwin]

Christopher Nolan's film the Odyssey opens in cinemas today, taking on a poem composed roughly 2,700 years ago, one of the founding texts of modern civilization. Homer's original runs to over 12,000 lines across 24 books and its hero doesn't even appear until book five. That hero, of course, Odysseus, who's been away from Ithaca for 20 years, 10 fighting in Troy and another 10 trying to get home. So the poem moves backwards and forwards in time and Odysseus is not always a reliable narrator. And that sounds exactly right for Nolan, the director of Memento, Inception and Oppenheimer. And now of course, the Odyssey. So with us to discuss this is Karen Krasanovich, who's a film critic critic and a regular Monocle Radio contributor. Karen, it's great to have you back. Where would you say that the Odyssey sits within Nolan's body of work? How would, how would you compare it to his other films?

[Karen Krasanovich]

A lot of critics are dealing with the fact that he's. It's very, very similar to a lot of his other films because it deals with time and loss and there is a backwards and forwardness that you mentioned. But most, most critics are comparing it to Oppenheimer. It is that kind of scale May, without the cleanliness of the story. Because this is, you know, he doesn't actually include all of the books. There was a little bit of skipping around, but yeah, it fits very nicely and some are saying it's his best.

[Georgina Godwin]

So in the poem, the first description of Odysseus is polytropus, which has been translated as many sided, wily, complicated. What kind of Odysseus has Matt Damon, who plays the role creator?

[Karen Krasanovich]

I think Matt Damon's a wonderful choice because of course, Nolan was saying, well, we've got Bourne, we've got the action. He's played that and he's also played parents and all that. He's a very likable, reliable hero, but he's also very vulnerable. He's the kind of guy that you'd look at and you'd think he would never make a bad decision, he would never lie. And yet he does. And so it really plays with our conception of what we saw Matt Damon in before and what he's capable of. And this is an amazing performance from him.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

I seem to recall Matt Damon once in an interview saying that the only thing he would drop everything for, and he's spoken about this in couples therapy with his wife, is if Christopher Nolan called and said, I have a film for you to do. And I think Christopher Nolan brings out the best in him. He's a favorite of the director. And Karen, critics seem to be speaking with one voice about this film, that it is a masterpiece, but not to do injustice. Original, of course. Would you say that there's something for everyone here?

[Karen Krasanovich]

I think people should see it, yes. And I think you should see it. Not on your phone.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

Well, I was about to say it, yeah. It could only be seen on the big screen.

[Karen Krasanovich]

Well, it's. Every film is best on the big screen. It really is. I mean, this film is the first feature film entirely shot on IMAX 15, 70, 70 millimeter film. There are only 41 cinemas in the world that are capable of really showing this format to its fullest extent. And I would encourage anybody, because I saw it in imax, but I would encourage everybody to see it on the best screen you can. And is there something for everyone? Yes. Even if you're resistant. And I've seen quite a few people going, it's not relevant. I haven't read it. I don't know anybody that's read the Odyssey. It is a lasting story because it contains so much of what a lot of our drama and comedy as well has included.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

And, you know, in terms of sticking to the script, as you pointed out, I mean, no less a classicist than Mary Beard wrote in the Times that it was a brisk, pacey, contemporary film and actually praised Christopher Nolan for giving people a great introduction to Homer. So maybe that's the point that if you haven't read it, it might encourage you to read it or at least you will have knowledge of it, I think.

[Karen Krasanovich]

So Actually it made me go into my library and I discovered I had three copies of the Odyssey and I

[Donald Trump]

have read them before.

[Karen Krasanovich]

But I mean, it's great that Mary Beard said this and also there, there is a. That actually was in the Iliad. So he's really done his homework and made this beautiful arc of a story.

[Georgina Godwin]

So Homer's moral world in the Odyssey is built around hospitality and the restoration of order at home. That's really his key message. What is Nolan trying to say to us? Is this much more explicitly about the damage that men bring home from war? Is this turning the message into something that modern audiences would identify with?

[Karen Krasanovich]

Oh, that's very astute, actually. Yes, it is, it is. And it also is about the conscience of Odysseus where he realizes, I don't want to spoil anything, but where he, he does take on what he has done in war and he does confront this. And it's. I mean, I was. I mean, it's a three hour movie. I've only seen it once, I have to say. Well, it's 173 minutes and I was in tears actually. And some of the, the performances are very moving because it's almost. And likening it again to Oppenheimer, it is almost like the death. You know, this is, this is the decline of the laws of the gods.

[Georgina Godwin]

So the original Odyssey, it's funny, it's playful, it's often also very erotic, which is one reason why I love it, deviant that I am. Did you find it sexy, the film?

[Karen Krasanovich]

Well, you know, I mean, I was looking where he gets trapped with Calypso for seven years and Calypso is, you know, Charlize Theron and she's amazing and he has to make love to her for so. Oh, poor Odysseus. But you know, in the, in the book it is against his will. And also unlike Samantha Morton, I won't say much about this, she plays Circe and Cersei is not so sexy, not as model like, but she. He also has sex with her in the book for a year and that isn't mentioned. But there's a lot also how Samantha Morton turns his men into pigs. Is. Anybody that likes American Werewolf in London will be very pleased.

[Georgina Godwin]

Oh, I love that. Film and just tell us about Cyclops. Do we see the gory gouging out of the eye and do we see people being eaten? You know.

[Karen Krasanovich]

You know. Yeah, you do.

[Steve Crawshaw]

And it's.

[Karen Krasanovich]

I was actually not. Don't hide behind your fingers. Come on. It. The. The cyclops scene is shocking and it's. It's alarming and you feel like you're in a different. You feel like you're almost in a different film. You're in a horror film suddenly. But. But this is true to the book. There is one pun for those that are looking for the pun in the cyclops. It's been left out. So don't look for it where they say, no, man. No, man. That has been left out. Yes.

[Georgina Godwin]

Oh, you see, that's disappointing, I think. But anyway. But so basically your verdict, Karen, we should go and see Odysseus.

[Karen Krasanovich]

This is event cinema, and you owe it to yourself to be part of the cultural landscape to see this film and be able to have an informed opinion when everybody's.

[Georgina Godwin]

Thank you very much indeed. That's Karen Krasanovich there. And that's all we have time for today. Thanks to our producers, Chris Chermack, Anita Rio and Hassan Anderson, and our researcher Kele Martin, studio manager Elliot Greenfield, with editing assistance from Mariela Bevan.

[Fionnuala Sweeney]

After the headlines, there's more music on the way. The Briefing is live at midday. In London, the Globalist returns at the same time on Monday. I'm Vanilla Sweeney.

[Georgina Godwin]

And I'm Georgina Godwin. Goodbye.

[UBS Narrator]

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