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You're listening to the Monocle Daily, first broadcast on the 5th of September, 2025 on Monocle Radio. Another week in the life of President Donald Trump's second administration. 176 more to go. Japan tires of asking cyclists nicely to stop at red lights. And could your town be run any worse if a cat was in charge? I'm Andrew Muller. The Monocle Daily starts.
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FOREIGN.
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Welcome to the Monocle Daily, coming to you from our studios here at Midori House in London. I'm Andrew Muller. My guests Tom Webb and Henry King will discuss the day's big stories, though big may, on reflection, be doing some lifting there. We'll hear from the Venice Film Festival and from Monocle's Quality of Life conference in Barcelona. And we'll have our weekly wrap up of what we've learned. Stay tuned. All that and more coming up right here on the Monocle Daily.
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C
FOREIGN.
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A
This is the Monocle Daily. I'm Andrew Muller. And first to Washington, D.C. where it has been an eventful week in politics. Granted that it grows ever more difficult to recall the last one that wasn't. Those were the days, etc. Among other developments, President Donald Trump declared his intention to rename the Department of Defense the Department of War, a curious maneuver with the Nobel Peace Prize announcement just a few months away. Trump's approximately approximate British equivalent Nigel Farage made an appearance before a congressional committee which may not have gone quite as he hoped or planned. And it appears that the National Guard troops currently deployed on the streets of Washington, D.C. may have to find ways to look busy for a few more months yet. Well, I'm joined from Washington, D.C. by the journalist H.J. mai. H.J. let's start with the troops on the streets of your city. What is the latest with that? Somebody is trying to sue them back into barracks.
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B
Yeah, exactly. The D.C. attorney General filed a lawsuit yesterday basically accusing the National Guard troops of overstepping their authority and being engaged in domestic law enforcement, which obviously, as a military force, they are not supposed to do or are allowed to. And he filed this lawsuit just two days after basically a similar decision came down in California that ruled that the deployment of National Guard troops to LA during those protests surrounding some immigration enforcement operations was unlawful. And the ruling on that front also based on the fact that National Guard were engaged in law enforcement activities on.
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A
The streets of D.C. now, how noticeable are they? Because of course, Washington isn't completely unaccustomed to such spectacles because it hosts visits by senior foreign politicians. It hosts major events. I was there last year for the NATO summit. And there were barricades and Humvees and troops and so on. So it's not a completely unusual spectacle for Washington. But how odd does it look?
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B
Yeah, you're right. I mean, you know, for people who have been living here and who have gone through all those, you know, inaugurations, NATO summit, as you mentioned, it's not completely unheard of to have the National Guard here, even other military forces, but it's definitely visible, more visible than usual during this time of the year. It also depends where you are in the city. You know, they're very visible on the National Mall. You know, between all the historic Monum. They're also visible in some high crime areas. You see them there. And I'm sure you've seen that there are also a lot of National Guard troops who keep busy by, as Trump would call it, beautifying the city. We've seen National Guard troops being engaged in some landscaping here and there. So they're noticeable. But I think especially for a city like D.C. as you mentioned, it's not completely unheard of. And to my feeling here, it definitely has also a little bit decreased in terms of their visibility. I think a lot more of them on a daily basis stay at their barracks and at the bases that they are located on.
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A
Well, let's stay with military matters and this pitch to rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War. Is it clear what the rhyme or reason for that is?
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B
Not 100%. I think it goes back to, you know, Trump wanting to show the strength of the military, show that, you know, defense is apparently, you know, too passive in his opinion. You know, he wants to sound more active and more aggressive with renaming it to Department of War. You know, this is supposed to happen in a couple hours. You know, he has a schedule at 4pm so this will be three hours from now. He apparently makes the official declaration and signs an executive order. And, you know, it's not an official renaming, you know, just to. To put a caveat on that. So it's just a. Basically an executive order that would allow, you know, the referring to the Department of Defense as the Department of War and to, you know, Secretary Hexeth as the Secretary of War as a secondary reference, because for an official renaming, it would need congressional approval, I think if he really wants to do it, given, you know, how Republicans are listening to the President, I think it wouldn't be too complicated to actually officially rename it. But this at the moment is just so he and other government officials can officially refer to it going forward. But besides, you know, that it, in his opinion, I guess it shows more strength. You know, he hasn't really, hasn't really declared why he thinks this should be renamed. I mean, it has been the Department of Defense, you know, since 1947. Now, after World War II, before that, it was the Department of War. And I think during some of his remarks he mentioned, you know, when it was the Department of War, the US hasn't lost the war. But, you know, since it's been the Department of Defense, there have been a couple of, you know, not so nice entanglements around the world. And I think so maybe he wants to, you know, bring back that history of being successful when fighting wars.
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A
I mean, Trump has always had a manic aspect to his governance. We learned that in the first term and we've seen even more of it in this term. But is it too much of a reach to suggest that things have maybe kicked up a couple of notches since the Jeffrey Epstein scandal became a live issue again?
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B
No, I don't think so. I think you're spot on. It seems like the news output from the White House, from the administration has increased even more. It's like statements on a daily basis, you know, going back to maybe the National Guard deployment, you know, threatening cities around the country. You know, first obviously focused on Democratic run cities like Chicago and Baltimore. Just recently he mentioned, you know, New Orleans, which is in Louisiana, a Republican run state. You know, it's almost like, you know, he tries to overwhelm, you know, the news cycle with one outlandish remark after another. And I think, you know, the Epstein files and, you know, more and more releases coming out. And obviously there was just a hearing with some of Epstein's victims in Congress. I think that definitely has ratcheted up. And obviously now with Congress being back in session, this was the first week after the August recess, I think we can expect more of the same.
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A
Well, one of the things Congress thought it was worth their while doing was interviewing the leader of a small British opposition party. This being Nigel Farage, leader of Reform uk. Is that a common thing for congressional committees to do?
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B
I was not aware of that. So it was definitely interesting, you know, especially in, in the first week back that, you know, they held a hearing basically focused on, you know, if, if I think the title was Europe's Threat to American Speech and Innovation. It was certainly interesting, you know, to invite Mr. Farage and, and, you know, and as in the intro, as it was mentioned, I think it didn't really work out as, as Republicans. And that Mr. Farage have maybe hoped for at the beginning, he did get.
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A
Roughed up quite spectacularly, most notably by the Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin. But I was just after a measure of perspective here because Nigel Farage is very keen on selling himself on this side of the Atlantic as a trusted friend, confidant and advisor of President Trump. Is he actually much of a figure in the United States? Were the bars and clubs of middle America absolutely gripped by Farage's testimony?
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B
There's a clear answer to that, and that's absolutely not. No. You know, he's still here on this side of the Atlantic. You know, yes, people, you know, who involved in politics have certainly heard his name and know who he is. I mean, you know, he has been to CPAC here, to the conservative, you know, conference several times now that's held just, you know, annually outside of D.C. but no, this was not of all the, the hearings that have happened this week on, on the Hill. It was definitely not, you know, front and center. You know, I think, you know, a lot of people have seen, as you mentioned, that clip, you know, of that back and forth between him and Raskin and the introduction that Raskin had for him, which, you know, was quite noteworthy, calling him a, I think it was like a pro Putin loving free speech imposter or something to that degree. You know, maybe people have seen those clips on social media, but no, he has. It's not somebody, you know, that people, the average American would know.
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H.J. mai in Washington, D.C. thank you very much for joining us. You are listening to the Daily on Monocle Radio. You are listening to the Daily with me, Andrew Muller. And let's bring in today's panel. It's Monocle's deputy head of radio, Tom Webb and Monocle Radio's Henry King. Hello to you both.
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C
Hello.
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D
Hello.
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A
And Henry, goodbye. You are leaving us. You have been here as an intern slash researcher.
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D
I have.
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A
How has that been?
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D
It's been fantastic. Thank you, Andrew.
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A
Correct answer. Has it, I guess sort of inculcated in you an even more fervent desire to someday work in broadcasting?
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D
I think it has. I'm not quite sure what inculcated means. I'm not sure if it's been used in the 21st century yet, but I think yes, let's say yes on that one.
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A
Okay. Are you allowed let our listeners in on what might be next or are you not actually sure yourself?
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D
I'm not actually sure myself. I'm letting myself have a little look around. Promenade, shall we say maybe along Chiltern Street.
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A
Well, you do that and hopefully this will not be the last we have heard of you. Tom, you have been eating cheese off a conveyor belt.
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C
I did, yeah. A cheese restaurant called Pick and Cheese. It's a global restaurant.
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A
Is that a pun?
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C
It is. Pick and choose. Pick and cheese.
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I see what they've done. Sorry, it's been a long week.
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It's the first of its kind, if you imagine those Sushi confetti.
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A
The first of its kind. Okay.
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Rind. Well, I don't.
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No, I was just saying the first of its kind to me conveys a level of arguably misplaced optimism that there might be a second, third or fourth.
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C
No, I saw you looking for a pun. No, it's doing very well. In fact, they're opening in Berlin as well. So it's like sushi. The cheese goes round and round and round and you grab the cheese that takes your fancy. You do just eat cheese all night, which is not a great dinner.
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A
Well, see this, this would be my quibble with it. I would not wish listeners to form the opinion that I am against cheese. I am, in fact, I would consider myself, Tom, broadly, in fact, actually quite fervently pro cheese. I would not want our listeners to go away from this broadcast thinking, God, that Andrew Muller at Monocle, he does not care for cheese, but there are limits. And you don't want it for like entree, main and dessert, but that is it.
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C
And if you want some greenery, you can pick a gherkin off the conveyor belt about it.
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Is this a riotously expensive evening?
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C
The cheese goes up in price. You can imagine the cheddars start around £4 and then you go into some Welsh cheeses around £8 a plate.
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A
Well, I, I think on that we just have to reflect, Tom, on what a friend we have in cheeses. Sticking with the subject sort of food on conveyor belts, we will go first to famously law abiding and orderly Japan, which is going to attempt to impose standards of behavior on that least ruly of modern urb tribes, I.e. cyclists from April next year. Japanese authorities have promised a hard line on the individually petty but cumulatively debilitating infractions routinely committed by cyclists. And a scale of punishments has been duly unveiled. Not the stint in the stocks being pelted with last week's turnips that some of us might prefer, but 12,000 yen, about €70 for using a phone while riding, 5,000 yen for riding fixies with no brakes, or 7,000 yen for running a railway crossing though that is imaginable. One of your self punishing crimes before anyone writes in. Yes, I know motorists can be obnoxious as well, but not one of them has ever threatened to stab me for walking on a footpath. And also I don't even have a driver's license. So I can regard this whole thing from the absolute pinnacle of the moral high ground. Tom, are you a cyclist?
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C
I am. I'm also a pedestrian.
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A
So are you then the kind of cyclist that actually stops at red lights and keeps off the footpath?
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C
Depends. If I'm on holiday. If I'm on a push bike, I'm very well behaved. If I'm on an electric bike, I just become an absolute asshole. I really do.
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A
No, well this actually is an interesting point because they do not appear as a long suffering pedestrian and frequent victim of these things either. The electric hire bike has just for some reason ruthlessly found its way into the hands of the most atrocious dickheads in any given jurisdiction. Or there, there is something about those machines that brings out the absolute worst in whoever is riding them. Do you think it's the latter?
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C
I do, I really do. As soon as I'm on one I just think I'm king of the hill and I just do whatever I want. I feel terrible about it, I really do. I can't help myself.
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I don't know why I'm laughing. You know, this is absolutely atrocious, Tom.
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C
But as I say, if I'm on a push bike, I'm so well behaved I will stop at red lights.
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A
Okay.
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C
There's no one crossing.
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Henry, are you a cyclist still?
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D
I'm not, I'm not a cyclistist. And especially not of those electric push bikes or electric bikes in London because they're really bloomin heavy. I mean I've seen so many stories about people like losing an arm or a leg, not quite losing, but maybe battering one. And they just don't look very fun. I mean everyone seems to be hefting them around. Or I go past and there's a whole rack of them just toppled over in the middle of the night and they're really annoying. I keep hearing the pinging late at night.
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Those are the stolen ones.
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These are the stolen ones. Well, clearly there's a lot around my area. But no, I'm not a cyclist myself.
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Tom, do you approve of the Japanese authorities preparing to take the hard line? I don't know why they're giving everyone till April. That's really weird. It's just like they say, like, you know what? For the next seven months, go nuts, do what you like, but come April, you're in trouble.
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C
See, I do and I don't. I agreed with the helmet one that came in last year. You have to wear a helmet or you get a fine.
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Nobody does.
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In Tokyo, they do. And I loved all the haircuts that came off the back of the new law, everyone cashing on on that. But I do and I don't. With the fines. The heaviest fine for smartphone users and then the lesser fine for crossing train tracks seems totally nuts.
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Yeah. As I insinuated, though, with the ones crossing train tracks, I kind of think you bought the ticket, take the ride.
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But the thing that I cannot get my head around is that people under the age of 13 and over the age of 70 are permitted to ride on sidewalks. And that just really gets to me. And you cannot get fines for going on the sidewalks either, unless. And it says here, except in malicious.
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Cases, I think you could classify all sidewalk riding as malicious. I agree. Except, and I am a reasonable man, I will make exceptions for young children trying to learn how to ride a bike. That's fine.
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Not me. No.
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A
Really. You're even more militant than I am. This is extraordinary. Tom. We are going to spend the rest of. We are going to spend all next week emptying our inboxes. You know, that's what's going to happen. Which does lead me to my next question, Henry, which is, it's clear, walking around London, you know, frequently having to dive for cover or take evasive action, that absolutely no effort is made to actually meaningfully police the behavior of cyclists is the reason for that. Do you think that authorities know how angry and furious cyclists are? And they don't want to spend their entire lives deleting emails from furious cyclists either.
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D
Maybe they do. Maybe they think they're a horde. They'll all turn up on their bikes outside their homes with flaming torch.
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A
But they might.
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D
They might. I mean, they're cyclists. Whoever knows? I will say on some of these blue ticket finds, I do think there's. There's a romantic element to some of these. I mean, you're not allowed to ride side by side anymore and you're not allowed to hold an umbrella. I feel like that's really. It's really sad. There's some things that just take out the romance.
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A
This is hitting two big red buttons for me. As regular listeners will be aware, my views on footpath riding cyclists are liberal compared to my views on people who brandish umbrellas on crowded streets.
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C
I have noticed. I walked through driving rain with Andrew, got absolutely soaked and I was holding my umbrella over his head and he was like, what are you doing? It's not even drizzling.
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Yeah, no, it is genuinely better to be absolutely sopping wet than the kind of person who carries an umbrella.
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C
This is a.
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A
This is an unshakable belief.
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C
I have to explain the blue tickets. You mentioned the blue tickets. There are blue tickets and red tickets.
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A
Oh, this is fun.
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C
Blue tickets are if you're just an annoying cyclist. A red ticket is if you're actually ca danger. And red tickets can actually result in being arrested.
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A
So they've borrowed something from football. There.
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C
There aren't such things as blue tickets.
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A
It's sort of like. It strikes me as the yellow to red card gradation is what I was swinging for there. But as. As Tom and I wearily resign ourselves to. And thing is like, Tom, you have the advantage that you're not on social media. I'm. I'm just not going to look. For about the next month, we will go to the United States, specifically the settlement of Somerville, Massachusetts, population 81,000. Hello to all our listeners in Somersville, Massachusetts. In what is either a symptom of a municipal tradition of insufferable whimsy or lead in the water pipes, Somerville has in recent weeks been gripped, it says here, by an election in which several cats and a couple of non feline candidates have been stumping to get elected mayor of a bike path or something. The US does have quite a tradition of this sort of thing. Dogs have served as mayor of Sunol, California and Cormorant, Minnesota, among other jurisdictions. And the citizens of la, Texas once elected a goat, which may not be the worst thing the citizens of Lajitas, Texas have ever done to a goat. Who would like at the table to be the first person to make a leaden joke about Americans electing worse things?
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C
You're really going for your email, isn't it?
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A
Yeah. I'm bored, Tom. I just want some attention.
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C
In answer to your question, I think it's quite amazing because there are people now voting for a communist party.
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A
He's one of the cats, a communist.
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C
Yes, sir. Freya is running for the Communist party, which I think is sensational. So I do think it is diversifying the election pool and I'm getting behind it.
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A
Henry, is it entirely clear to you what is going on here? I'm not sure how any cat or indeed other sentient creature can be mayor of a Bike path.
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D
I'm not quite sure. I've never heard of a mare of a bike path before or any kind of rules surrounding a bike path, as I mentioned with the bike paths earlier. But there's a weird thing with pets in the U.S. like you said, there was Maximus Mighty Dog Muller II, no relation, who in case you're wondering, is part of a dynasty. So that's being introduced into American politics now too. There was a one and his son, I guess his son. His daughter, I'm assuming it's a son, is now Max III who was sworn in on December 10, 2022. So there is a thing of pets as mayors, but maybe not for bikes. Pass.
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A
Yeah, I am just scrolling furiously to see if there is a result yet. I don't know why, I don't care. But there, there, there is supposed to, there is supposed to be an announcement of the winner today. Tom. I mean I guess what we're getting at here is that this, this is community building. It is people coming together to do something. Even if it is actually, possibly even, especially if it is something self evidently silly. There is nothing wrong with people gathering to create silliness. It's harmless, it makes people happy. Etc. But were something like this staged wherever you live, would you participate? Would you be volunteering to go out leafleting on behalf of some or other cat?
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C
I would. And it would be my cat. Cause my cat would win it. The cat that I own has been featured in the Guardian. It's called Meow Meow. It weighs a stone and a half, its sheer weight.
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A
Did you take it to the cheese conveyor belt?
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C
Open mouth? No, I think it's a really lovely thing and I think pets are a great leveler in politics. I used to work at the BBC and whenever there was an election, on the day of the election, election, you can't report anything except the whimsical and the bizarre. And it was. It's always pets at polling stations.
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A
Pets at polling stations is, is, is, is great. I mean that, that becomes a big thing on social media as well. Dogs at polling stations.
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C
It's wonderful. And no matter what party you support, you get behind the animal. And I, I think it's very sweet.
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A
Uh, Henry, have you ever, or would you ever participate in such nonsense if it occurred in your neighbourhood?
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D
I think I would. I mean for this election I'm voting for. If I can vote. Or maybe, maybe I'll get done for electric. I'm voting for Minerva. Cause her policy is crime in all letters.
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A
No other abstract are we clear whether Minerva the cat is broadly for it or broadly against it?
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D
I don't think that's relevant, Andrew. I think for or against, I'm for Minerva.
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C
My vote goes to the youngest candidate in the race, which is Ernie.
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A
That's an excellent name for a cat.
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C
And the tagline's better because it's Ernie for mayor. Feel the Ernie. Bernie Sanders, did he go for Feel the Burn?
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A
Yeah, he did. Yeah. Actually, yeah. Okay. I, I, if anybody in Somerville, Massachusetts is listening while they try to make up their mind, I think, if I may speak for the organization, Tom, that Monocle Radio endorses Ernie for mayor of Somerville. Bike Path in Massachusetts. Tom Webb and Henry King, thank you both for joining us. You're listening to the D Daily. You're listening to the Daily on Monocle Radio. And to Barcelona now, where the Monocle Quality of Life Conference is once again in full swing. And I'm joined from it by our executive producer, Carlotta Rebello, our Europe editor at large, Ed Stocker, and our head of radio, Tom Edwards. Hello to you all.
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E
Hola.
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A
Hello.
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F
Good evening, Andrew.
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G
Hola.
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A
Okay, one of you speaks the language. That's just showing off. Carlotta. Carlotta, you can therefore go first. How has today been so far?
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E
Well, I can tell you we're all in tears right now. Not because of disappointment, but rather it was such a moving end to this year's main conference. We had the Castellieres, the Gran Villas joining us today, and it was just, just an amazing set for those listeners who do not know. We feature them in the magazine, actually. And this is the amazing Catalan tradition of building human towers. And we had 70 of them to close off the show today, building two human towers and seeing, you know, the community, the effort, the coming together, and all the little children climbing to the top, unfurling a banner saying, gracias. We got us volunteers out, Andrew. Very emotional.
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A
Carlotta, how high are the ceilings in the venue? How tall were these towers?
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E
8 meters, 10 meters, maybe?
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F
I was going to say probably 7 to 8 meters. Andrew. So a good couple of stories. It's an absolutely astonishing thing to behold, and it's sort of metaphorical overload about community and support and building from a strong base and foundations and all the rest of it. It sort of amazingly summed up lots of the narratives about what real quality of life should and could mean.
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A
Well, on that note, Tom, you are, of course, a QOL conference veteran. How has the Barcelona iteration been different to the others?
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F
Well, I think it's interesting, maybe I'm Just overwhelmed with emotion. Andrew, watching these kids performing these incredible acrobatic feats, it might be the best yet. And I think it's interesting because the different cities that you alight in show different faces to the world and you had the sort of, the unpredictability and the sort of febrile atmosphere of Istanbul last year. But you know, Barcelona is a city that does lots of things very, very well and it's been a real celebration. There's been something really remarkable about it. And you know, it's the 10th edition now. We've not got too shabby at putting these things together ourselves. And so. So there's very little fats, very lean operation. I think people I don't know, Ed, if you'd agree with me, have been treated something that's jam packed with value, with surprises, with excitement, with innovation. I don't know, from my jaundiced viewpoint, I think it was possibly the best yet.
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H
Well, I haven't been to every single. I wasn't in Istanbul last year, so I haven't been to everyone. But I do think it is the best one. It's been super slick, everyone's been on point. Amazing mix of conversations and yeah, I. And just a way to close it. I mean, literally the audience were all standing up and applauding. People just now at the bar, you know, it's just recently ended, were saying, you know, one woman just said that that's literally the best thing I've ever seen. And yeah, I'm not sure why I felt so emotional because I was trying to be like, I was trying to fight back at the tears, but I don't know. But like. And also Andrew, the youngest person who was there today who went to the top, was five years old, which is kind of amazing. I have a five year old. I don't think he'd be that nimble. I noted they're all girls as well. I think they're just better at that.
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E
But Ed, you've been. Throughout the day while we've been in the conference hall, you know, from session to session, you've been here at the radio desk also speaking to many of our speakers. What have been some of the highlights of the people you spoke to today?
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H
It was really great to speak to the mayor of Cape Town. You of course were on stage with him.
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E
How amazing is he?
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H
He's so great. And also, obviously I did a bit of research, of course, because I'm a professional ahead of speaking to him on the radio. But it was just really great to hear in more detail, some of the, the things he's doing. And one of the things you picked up on on stage about how there were all these municipal swimming pools that, that were just in need of redoing and reopening to the public, they've been sort of fallen into disrepair. And the fact that he sort of got the funds to redo them and he's reopened all but one, I think 37 out of 38, so that, you know, Cape Towners from every socio economic strata are able to enjoy cooling off in a swimming pool come the summer. Yeah, a really inspiring guy. And you know, I said to him, you know, I said to him actually on the radio, I said, you're not all politician, not all politicians are in it for the right reasons. He took that pretty well and made it pretty clear that he was in it for the right reason. And I believe him.
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E
You know, one of the surprises was not just the Castels, but also we innovated in our own concierge, didn't we, Tom? And we had the actual concierge from the Mandarin Oriental Barcelona joining us on stage.
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F
There was quite a lot of this Carlotta. And then people got to wander up and ask a question. There was a bit of this.
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E
They're very impatient.
- [28:44]
F
I'm thinking of Andrew Muller getting one of these bells or klaxons. And when you're becoming inexcusably tedious, just sounding that out through the studios in Midori House to ring you off air. Would you be into that, Andrew, or should I leave that here in Barcelona?
- [28:57]
A
Tom, I have, as you well know, been agitating for many, many years for a gong here in the studio to deal with exactly the circumstances you describe. But Tom, to come back to you, the conference is not over today. Despite what would sound like the climactic presentation of the human scaffolding you were discussing, there is tomorrow to come as well. What lies ahead?
- [29:21]
F
Well, Andrew, what lies immediately ahead is this evening. First things first, my friend. There will be plenty of jocularity and joy. We have some lovely dinner ahead and there may or may not be some dancing. I won't be throwing any shapes on the dance floor, as you can well imagine. But yeah, then tomorrow it just goes into a new and different dimension. We have special guided tours, special access for our lucky delegates and team to some incredible cultural, artistic and business venues across the city. And we'll find time for some delicious brunch. Andrew as well, I know you're not a brunch fan, but you know, after the night that we've got ahead of us. I think it will be needed. Carlotta's got a view on this.
- [30:02]
E
And for listeners who might be feeling, you know, they're missing out and now they're regretting not buying a ticket to Barcelona. If the coverage today on Monocle Radio wasn't enough, well, tomorrow at the brunch ad La Fabrica, we will be doing a special edition of Comfort Corner, which will be hitting your inboxes very soon.
- [30:18]
F
Oh, yeah, special edition bell sounded as well.
- [30:22]
A
And there will, of course, be much more from Monocle's Quality of Life conference across all our radio shows and newsletters in coming days, and I should imagine most of next week. But for the moment, from Barcelona, Tom Edwards, Carlotta Rebelo and Ed Stocker. Thank you all for joining us. You're listening to the Daily on Monocle Radio. And to Venice now, where the film festival of that name is underway once again. And I am joined from it by the film critic Karen Krasanovich. Karen, how has it been going? I mean, films at Venice always have to struggle with the fact that they're almost certainly not going to be more interesting to look at than the city outside.
- [31:08]
G
Well, that's why they put it on the Lido. They keep you, they keep you away from where all the tourists are and where all the campanines and the Doge's palace and all the Florians, they keep you away from there. We're over on a very skinny island across from Lagoon and it's a famous sort of beach place, so a lot of families in Italy will have a place here and then they can rent them out to journalists at very, very high cost.
- [31:35]
A
We are awaiting the awards over the weekend. I believe tomorrow they're likely to be distributed. But does it strike you that there are any obvious contenders?
- [31:45]
G
I've been talking to a lot of people because very few people have written up their, their raps yet. And of course, the awards haven't happened, but not really. Although one is standing out and that is the Voice. The voice of. Here, let me get this right, because I get this wrong all the time. The voice of. Where's my notes Sash? Yeah, that's good. Hang on. It is actually. I want to get. Of Hiram Raja. Yes, yes.
- [32:15]
A
And this, this is a, this is a definite contender.
- [32:18]
G
Absolutely, yes. A Hindra job. There you go. Definitely. It's 89 minutes long. It's made by a Tunisian filmmaker and it's also backed by a big, big names like Alfonso Cuaron, Akeem Phoenix, his wife Rooney Mara and Brad Pitt's Plan B. So there's heavy hitting, getting Hollywood money behind this film. And it deals with something was sent out over, over social media last year, which is the recording of a five or six year old girl who's trapped in a car in a war zone in northern Gaza. And it deals with the rescuers trying to get clearance so an ambulance can go in and rescue her. Now, the less you know about this, this film, the better. But I'm just going to say that it's. They use the real voice messages from the little girl and it's pretty harrowing. Even though it's a relatively short film, it's very emotional and if you're already, I mean there were actually marches here, pro Palestine marches here a few days ago. So a lot of the critics are saying that it could be handled a little more delicately and other critics are saying, no, it's handled perfectly. Well. So it's quite contentious. But I think it's going be one that everybody's going to be talking about this year.
- [33:41]
A
It has obvious contemporary relevance. Is that usually an advantage at the Venice Film Festival where the big prizes are concerned? Is it a festival that likes to think of itself as making a statement?
- [33:53]
G
That's a very good question. And I think, I mean Berlin likes to make a statement and I think Venice likes to point up quality. I always think of Venice, unlike can, can is blingy and shiny. Venice tries to talk about, about worthwhile films but also very quality films that could be just entertainment. And this one I think is very relevant. And yes, so I think that that balances the, the relatively even competition films, like 21 competition films that come in all different shapes and sizes.
- [34:25]
A
Have you had any personal favorites which may or may not win awards, but you just left the theater thinking, golly, that was a good film film.
- [34:33]
G
Yes, I, well, it could be the curse of being American, I think. But I really loved Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt in the Smashing Machine, Benny Safdie's boxing mixed martial arts drama. And people are saying to me, oh, it's conventional, it's conventional, but it's really not. He has, he's wearing a lot of prosthetic makeup and he also is very buff. I mean, he's bigger than he usually is to play this. This character is a real life person and it's a wonderful story and it doesn't go where you think it's going to go. And he had a 13 minute ovation and was in tears. And this is a man that's gone from Being a real life wrestler to being kind of an action hero to being a comedy guy. And now he's going into drama. I think I love this film a lot. I think it's going to be a real winner. It's very entertaining, but also has a necessity.
- [35:28]
A
Another film which I have read a bit about, which does also appear to have a message and some contemporary revelance is, is the new Catherine Bigelow one. It's been, it feels like a few decades since nuclear apocalypse films were voguish, but she's trying to bring it back.
- [35:45]
G
Well, and she really has. They're calling it nerve wracking, a nerve wracking thriller drama which is pretty close to a number. It is A House of Dynamite is a tremendous film and it looks at nuclear. It looks at. If a warhead was shot, we don't know from whom because that, that information was missed. And if we were unable, we. I'm just saying people that are able to do this, in this case America, if we were unable to shoot it down. And it takes the story from three different viewpoints and it's, it's incredibly upsetting. It's also very, it really makes you think. And there's no, I think the statement here is, is just, you know, we, we are living in a much more dangerous era than we think we are. But it's typical of Kathryn Bigelow to sort of take something that you might think, oh, this is a male topic, you know, war and all these, you know, the, the, you got the beast, the president's car and the football, you know, which has all the, it's the big briefcase that has all the nuclear information in it that follows them around. You know, you think, oh, well, she's. But she just takes this information. You don't feel stupid. You get everything and you get to follow it. And it's, it's a tremendous piece of filmmaking.
- [37:02]
A
And just finally, is there anything you're still especially looking forward to that you haven't quite caught up with yet?
- [37:08]
G
First, right now I'm trying to get a ticket to the. It's called the silent friend. It's 2 hours 27 minutes by Ildeko and. And yet this is the big. There are two Hungarian movies here. This is one of them. It tells a story of a big tree through, told through different. Three different eras, so three different time zones around the tree. And it has Leah Seydoux, a wonderful cast. And this is one of the hot tickets. So it's the last film tonight. Yeah. So. And then we get the awards tomorrow. So we shall see.
- [37:42]
A
I sympathize with all the critics trying to rise above puns about wooden performances. Karen Krasanovich, thank you for joining us. That was Karen Krasanovich at the Venice Film Festival. Finally, on Today's Daily, it's time for our weekly recap of what the last seven days have taught us.
- [37:58]
E
There'll always be an England.
- [38:03]
A
We learned this week startling amounts about the interior decoration, colour scheme, preferences of UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
- [38:12]
G
We actually have Union Jack bunting on our garden shed at the moment. I've got St. George's flags. I've got St. George'S bunting. I've got got the Yorkshire Rose bunting as well. I've got Union Jacks flags and tablecloths. We've got the.
- [38:27]
A
We learned that this extremely normal and entirely plausible outburst was apparently going to be emblematic of the UK government's response to a widespread outbreak of social media encouraged flag hoisting in one of the UK's four constituent nations. In some parts of England, everywhere you look, there are St. George's and Union Jack flags. We learned further that the Prime Minister, S K Starmer, was equally determined to pretend that he enjoyed nothing more of an evening than sitting down with his family to watch the flag, perhaps with dinner on their laps. I always sit in front of a Union Jack. I've been doing it for years and it attracted a lot of comment when I started doing it. And in our flat, which is upstairs from here, as you know, we've got the St. George's flag in our flat. We learned, however, upon researching and contemplating the matter further, that there was far more going on here than can really be adequately conveyed in what is essentially a whimsical news review.
- [39:30]
G
Is there by any chance a recent foreign desk explainer which might unpick the subtext of this brouhaha?
- [39:38]
A
Glad you asked why. Yes, yes there is. It's explainer number 482-which-went live earlier this week and which you can find on Monocle's website or wherever superior podcasts are downloaded.
- [39:52]
C
Just get on with it.
- [39:54]
A
Anyway. In the United States. Oh no, pace yourselves. In the United States we learn something of the terrifying threat posed by radioactive ships. Shrimp. We learned this from second best ever US Senator John Kennedy, that is the no relation incumbent elected by the people of Louisiana in 2016 and for some reason re elected in 2022. Although in fairness, only the second weirdest person called Kennedy at large in the present administration. He has not, to the best of our Knowledge ever sawn the head off a whale and strapped it to a roof rack. And we learned that Senator Kennedy had brought props, if arguably not his marbles.
- [40:40]
I
This is a photograph of the alien from the movie Alien.
- [40:47]
A
Do please go on.
- [40:49]
I
This is what you could end up looking like if you eat some of the raw frozen shrimp being sent to the United States by other countries.
- [41:02]
A
Right?
- [41:02]
I
O Now let me tell you what.
- [41:04]
A
I'm talking about, please.
- [41:06]
I
If you eat it, why could you in. How could you end up looking like the alien in the Alien?
- [41:12]
A
What's our next question?
- [41:14]
I
Because the shrimp was radioactive. I kid you not.
- [41:18]
A
We learned, however, and this may be a lesson specific to people composing wry sidelong looks at the week's events, how annoying it is that the Senator wasn't as alarmed about the possibility of radioactive cod or perhaps haddock as a punchline about fish and chips was right there. And we couldn't come up with anything nearly as satisfying pertaining to shrimp. But sticking with the subject of odd looking toxic orange creatures which have emerged from murky depths to command the political center stage, we learned more of the determination of US President Donald Trump to unleash the mighty military he commands upon enemies foreign and domestic, not merely upon Venner's Venezuelan boats, which may or may not have been crammed to the gunnels with cocaine, but we'll never know. Now.
- [42:06]
G
President Trump confirmed that the US launched a strike in the southern Caribbean against a Venezuelan vessel that was allegedly carrying.
- [42:13]
A
Drugs, but also women, holding a press conference attempting to remind everyone of those files. The President definitely isn't mentioned extensively and repeatedly in when it had already happened.
- [42:27]
E
This woman.
- [42:30]
G
Abused children.
- [42:32]
A
We did learn when we looked into it, because we did like that, that the U.S. air Force might not have been scrambled specifically to interrupt the victims of the President's good friend Jeffrey Epstein. It was apparently a tribute to a Polish F16 pilot killed in a recent accident staged in honour of Polish President Karol Novrocki, who was visiting the White House at the time. Which is, in fairness, quite a decent gesture. And the whole thing is what what we can be. But hope will serve as a sobering reminder that not everything is what you might want it to look like. Can I get some? General muttered agreement. Knitting seamlessly together this week's themes of arguably misplaced national pride. Marauding marine creatures, things that fly and annoying squawking we learn something of the extraordinary celebrity end endowed in this the 21st century by an ability to mimic a seagull that was an actual seagull, by way of establishing a benchmark. We learned that the English seaside settlement of Western Super Mare had drawn inspiration from the heroic endeavours in seagull Mimicry of 11 year old Cooper Wallace, current reigning European goal screeching champion, having lifted the title in the Belgian town of La Panne, which translates from the Belgian as the pan, probably in 2024 with this effort, and defended it earlier this year with this this. If that doesn't make anyone sufficiently proud to spray paint a St. George's cross on their nearest roundabout, what will, etc. Once again you see how cleverly these monologues are stitched together. Anyway, we learned that the arguably under occupied burghers of Western Super Mare had instituted their own gull screeching top tournament and invited Cooper Wallace to choose the winner as they clearly believe that one good turn deserves another. Wow. And that is all for this edition of the Monocle Daily. Thanks to our panelists today, Tom Webb and Henry King, also Monocle's team at the Quality of Life Conference in Barcelona and our guests H.J. mai and Karen Kraz. Today's show was produced by Tom Webb and researched by Henry King. Our sound engineer was Mariella Bevan. I'm Andrew Muller here in London. The Daily is back at the same time on Monday. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend.