Our weekly quiz and what King Charles meant to say in Washington

Summary

The Monocle Daily — May 1, 2026 Episode Theme: Our Weekly Quiz and What King Charles Meant to Say in Washington

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Episode Overview

This edition of The Monocle Daily, hosted by Andrew Muller, combines sharp, humorous analysis of the week's top news with a lively Friday quiz, international reports, and a special focus on King Charles III’s visit to Washington, D.C. Music lovers are treated to a live in-studio session with country musicians Corb Lund and Hayes Carll. The panel includes regular contributors Rob Bound (from London) and Charlotte MacDonald Gibson (reporting from Washington, D.C.).

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Key Discussion Points

1. Review of the Week & The Friday Quiz

[03:04]

• Andrew Muller and Rob Bound dive into their weekly “not at all scripted” quiz, with a playful exchange and witty multiple-choice questions around art, world events, and global curiosities.
• The quiz sets the tone for the episode: engaging, international, and full of sly in-jokes.

Notable Quiz Segments & Quotes

• Venice Art Biennale Title (04:45):
  • Rob Bound: “What we learn from all of the above, Rob, is that you are wasted in this current role and should be writing copy for the Biennale. Or conceivably that nonsense they put on the labels on wine bottles.” [04:45]
• Singapore Tourist Incident (06:33):
  • The team uncovers a viral incident involving a French tourist in Singapore, accused of "taking a straw from an orange juice vending machine, licking it and then replacing it.”
• Brent Crude Classification (07:57):
  • “Brent crude, Andrew, I’m afraid to tell you, is considered sweet or light, which means it’s low viscosity and free flowing and it’s worth more than heavy crude.” — Rob Bound [08:31]
• Legendary Country Singer’s Vehicle (09:56):
  • David Allan Coe, the outlaw country singer, is humorously revealed to have supposedly lived in a hearse outside the Ryman Auditorium. “With most details of David Allan Coe’s life, we have David Allan Coe’s word for it. And that is not necessarily something I would have taken to the bank myself...” — Andrew Muller [11:07]
• Entrepreneur in Mandarin (12:17):
  • Playful attempts at Mandarin pronunciation leads to much laughter: “‘That’s a very good term to know as an entrepreneur because that means fraud. Another essential one… is ‘you’re fired.’” — Rob Bound [13:41]
• The quiz ends in a tie, showcasing the easy camaraderie and banter between the hosts.

2. King Charles III’s Washington Visit: What Did He Really Say?

[19:25]

• Charlotte MacDonald Gibson joins from Washington, D.C., to dissect King Charles’s well-received state visit during the week marking the 250th anniversary of American independence.

• Popularity and Irony: Despite the historical irony, Americans across political divides expressed enthusiasm for the royal visit.

  • Charlotte MacDonald Gibson: “It was really quite astonishing how good the reviews he got... there’s obviously a heavy irony there. But now... everyone’s just like, ‘oh, it was wonderful.’” [19:40]

Royal Attire and Subtle Messaging

• Discussion about Charles’s sartorial choices at Congress, which reflected an “English and aristocratic” tone while subtly adapting to the local political environment.
  • Rob Bound: "A well cut suit... has a different blousiness to it than there is to the sort of identical navy blue, white shirts and red ties of Trump and his, and his kind of cabinet...” [20:49]

The Speech’s Subtext (Checks and Balances)

• Charles worked several pointed references to the Magna Carta and the importance of executive power being kept in check.
  • Andrew Muller: “The brisk lecture on the perils of failing to restrain executive authority were really quite something in the current context.” [24:00]
  • Charlotte: “Three references to the Magna Carta... talking about how the foundation of the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances... Not lost on any of the papers here. But I think the big question is, was it lost on Trump?” [24:37]

3. “What We Learned” — Satirical News Recap

[25:33]

• A signature comedic review of offbeat world news highlights.
  • The “European Seagull Screeching Championship” in Belgium gets the classic Monocle comedic treatment.
  • Lengthy puns about seabirds and a pivot “seamlessly from seabird to cake”, as an array of Italian chefs set a new record for the world’s longest tiramisu in London.
  • Memorable joke: “So while we haven’t learned as such that the Seagull Screeching Championship judges were especially impressed by Ms. Grom Sportspersonship or sports gullship, whichever, we are going to assume that they were so we can commend her for not Ms. Bavian.” [30:48]

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4. In-Studio: Corb Lund and Hayes Carll

[32:42]

• Musicians Corb Lund and Hayes Carll join the show, sharing stories of their cross-border collaboration and the overlap (and divergence) in North American country traditions.
• Anecdotes include meeting at a poker game at a Canadian music festival. Hayes: “We met in a poker game in Dauphin, Manitoba... both of us found ourselves in it and that’s how we met.” [32:42]
• They discuss foundational influences: Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, Lucinda Williams, Kris Kristofferson, and even Slayer, before performing “Bible on the Dash” live in-studio.
  • Corb Lund: “I do have a Bible on the dash. Like every time I go across the border... it helps.” [35:32]
  • Hayes Carll: “Sometimes writing is an interesting thing... I’ve done them where I’m leading the ship and they’re serving more as an editor or a transcriber, or vice versa...” [36:18]

Live Performance

• The episode concludes with a rousing live acoustic rendition of “Bible on the Dash” [37:12], followed by enthusiastic thanks and plugs for their upcoming tours.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “As usual for a Friday, we present our traditional, entirely unscripted quiz, though obviously the questions are written in front of us.” — Andrew Muller [03:04]
• On King Charles’s message: “He managed to get the Democrats to stand up and clap. You know, another one of Trump’s digs at his opponents there. But it’s very true. It’s very rare that you get... a whole chamber united behind the messages the King has brought.” — Charlotte MacDonald Gibson [22:42]
• “It’s amazing, Rob, how when you speak Chinese, it just sounds like sound files downloaded from the Internet.” — Andrew Muller [13:14]
• “We have long since learned, and were indeed reminded again this week, that the FBI has loads of time for this kind of thing, as actual threats to the President of the United States are famously unheard of.” — Andrew Muller in the “What We Learned” recap [26:00]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening & Intros: [00:00 – 01:29]
• Friday Quiz: [03:04 – 16:39]
• King Charles in Washington (with Charlotte MacDonald Gibson): [19:25 – 25:33]
• What We Learned – Satirical Weekly News: [25:33 – 32:42]
• Live Session: Corb Lund & Hayes Carll: [32:42 – 41:12]

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Tone & Style

The episode blends dry wit, world-weary satire, and intellectual banter. Muller and Bound riff off each other, creating a relaxed, unfiltered ambiance. Charlotte’s analysis from D.C. is sharp but congenial, and the musicians add a warm, Americana flavor to the close of the show.

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Who Should Listen

• Listeners looking for sharp global news with a humorous twist
• Fans of clever panel quizzes and cultural references
• Those curious about the subtleties of international statecraft (especially British in America)
• Lovers of live roots/country music sessions

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Whether you missed the show or want the highlights with all the best banter, this episode of The Monocle Daily serves up a classy, cosmopolitan recap of a week where even the King couldn’t resist slipping a few sly digs into the heart of D.C. Power—and then heading to enjoy some seagull screeching and record-breaking desserts.

Transcript

[A]

You're listening to the Monocle Daily, first broadcast on the 1st of May, 2026 on Monocle Radio. How much attention have you, or indeed we, been paying to the week's events? How much of a dash did King Charles cut in Washington? And an Albertan and a Texan make beautiful music together. I'm Andrew Muller. The Monocle Daily starts. Hello and welcome to the Monocle Daily. Coming to you from our studios here at Midori House in London. I'm Andrew Muller. My guests, Rob bound and Charlotte MacDonald Gibson will reflect on the week's events. We'll have our weekly wrap up of what we've learned, plus live music from Korb Lund and Hayes. Carl, stay tuned. All that and more coming up right here on the Monocle Daily. This is the Monocle Daily. I'm Andrew Muller. I am joined today, as is becoming usual for the Friday edition of the Daily, by my fellow contributing editor, Rob Bound. Rob, Good afternoon. Evening. Whatever it is we call this strange,

[B]

liminal space, it's not quite a witching hour. Sometimes it feels like it in Studio One. Here it is dark. It's a beautiful day out there in London. We're making the most of it by being here in the air conditioned coolness of Studio One. Subterranean Studio One. Andrew, have you had a wonderful week? We're going to be reviewing it later.

[A]

I have. I wasn't here last week.

[B]

No, exactly.

[A]

You were missed, as our bereft listeners doubtless apprehended.

[B]

I know. There was a bulging post bag. We got next door's letters. Anyway, tell us about your oracular spectacular in Delphi.

[A]

It was fun. We were at the Delphi Economic Forum. By me, I mean, we rather, I mean, myself and Anita Riota, producer of the Foreign Desk, one of our two producers. We go to that every year. That's our fourth year in a row. We had a special episode recorded at Delphi which went out last Saturday, still on the website. There will be more where that came from on tomorrow's episode of the Foreign Desk, including what was a weirdly melancholy conversation with Paul Dan, who was the director of Project 25 2025, one of the chief ideologues of Donald Trump's return. And he just seemed.

[B]

Why was he in a wan mood?

[A]

Yeah, just. He was just weirdly, weirdly crestfallen about how it had all gone. Almost as if hooking your ideological cart to a game show host with baked beans for brains was, was going to end badly.

[B]

I mean, here's the China shop.

[A]

Well, exactly.

[B]

Paul didn't like the kind of bull that he'd got running for it.

[A]

Indeed. But first of all, to reflect on the week's events with what is now our traditional Friday daily quiz, we have JAUNTY quiz MUSIC TO INTROD.

[B]

Righto. We need some. I mean, you've obviously got your glittery jacket, you've got your patent leather shoes on, you've had a shimmy down the illuminated staircase, hot top hat with flashing lights. And we might need some dancers in here, some headdresses, some feathery headdresses.

[A]

Rob, we can just tell people we have. They're never gonna know. It's like we haven't pivoted to video. It's three questions each in turn. Who wants to go first?

[B]

Shall I kick off?

[A]

Go ahead.

[B]

Should I do it? Okay.

[A]

Just making it clear to our listeners there that this is, I assure you, completely unscripted.

[B]

So. But nonetheless, the questions, fortunately, are written in front of me, but only the answers to my own questions. So question one for you, Andrew Miller. The Venice Art Biennale starts next week with, as usual, a theme and title for the curated main show. These titles have a slight tendency toward the catch all. Towards catch all blandness. What is this year's title? Is it A, in Minor Keys, promising an exploration of the intimate and unsung and a reaction against the grandiose and bon bombastic. Is it B, incognito? A selection of works made by artists well known and not, but displayed without names and therefore reputations on display? A subtle inversion of art world power status. Is it C in the middle with you, a suggestion of the personal nature of art itself being unique to each viewer. And it's an unlikely fact that, yes, the curator was a Steelers wheel fan, or D, incandescent with rage. A selection of works by artists who've been invited to channel their righteous anger about whatever it is they wish. But it's likely to be the environment, trump billionaires and those really long dog leads that people seem to like these days. Is it A, B, C or D, Andrew?

[A]

I mean, I think what we learn from all of the above, Rob, is that you are wasted in this current role and should be writing copy for the Biennale. Or conceivably that. That nonsense they put on the labels on wine bottles. I think the thing there that sounds closest to a, what is fundamentally a bland mission statement with delusions of grandeur is a. Listeners cannot see me lofting my arms in triumph.

[B]

I feel like you've. Yes. Yeah. The victor resplendent. Andrew, well done, you. Yeah, you sniffed out the. The sort of almost corporate blandness of the title there. It can be all things to all artists.

[A]

Yeah, there is a. There's kind of. I mean I assume now most people are just getting chat GPT or similar to crank this stuff out. Which is kind of a shame because there always was a bit of an art to writing what is correctly constructed sentence of English which literally means nothing whatsoever.

[B]

Thanks very much. If any gallery is listening it's the usual communication.

[A]

Exactly. Reasonable rates etc. My first question to you Rob is an 18 year old French tourist was this week charged with committing public nuisance and mischief in famously well disciplined Singapore and is potentially facing two years in the hooscau of what is he specifically accused? Is it A incorrectly disposing of chewing gum? Is it B taking a straw from an orange juice vending machine, licking it and then replacing it? Is it C playing Johnny Halliday songs out loud on his phone on the bus Or D aggravated accordion?

[B]

These are excellent questions and excellent potential answers. That's an excellent question with brilliant answers. Well I mean the chew. I mean Singapore is famous for its policy on chewing gum. That's the first. That's the sort of. That's your. That's your Singapore 101. So I reckon it's something. I think it's something beyond that. I think aggravated accordion is too good to be true. That's the incandescent with rage answer. What was B again Andrea?

[A]

Taking a straw from an orange juice vending machine, licking it and then replacing it.

[B]

I think knowing the Asians attitude to. To. To sort of the mask wearing Asians attitude to sort of bacteria and germs. I'm going Andrew with B

[A]

nailed it like an idiot as well as an oaf. He inevitably obviously filmed himself doing it and put it on the Internet. Brilliant.

[B]

That'll learn him.

[A]

Yeah. One all. God, this is. We're off to a runaway start here.

[B]

I'm very much enjoying your multiple choices.

[A]

Yeah, I think we've discovered that works better.

[B]

Okay, question two for you Andrew. Brent crude has obviously been in the news again due to its fluctuating price. It's the name given to oil first drilled from an oil field in the North Sea in the early 1970s. But it's classified using what adjective? Brent crude. Is it A smooth, B sweet, C clean or D deep?

[A]

I have a vague idea. I know this because I have because the foreign desk been obliged to try and learn something about oil markets and now I've said that I'm obviously going to get it wrong and therefore demonstrate that I have learned nothing about oil markets.

[B]

Don't forget to tune into the foreign desk. Written by a man who knows exactly

[A]

authoritative I like to think.

[B]

What was A again smooth. You can have A smooth, B sweet, C clean or D deep.

[A]

I think it's A.

[C]

No

[B]

Brent crude, Andrew, I'm afraid to tell you, is considered sweet or light, which means it's low viscosity and free flowing and it's worth more than heavy crude. But it sounds almost. We've talked about the bump from wine bottles. That could be the sort of stuff that you would have on a sort of high grade olive oil. Right?

[A]

You could.

[B]

How do you like your crude oil, sir?

[A]

Yeah. No, I am disappointed by that. Well, it's now my turn to try to stump you redress the bal. There is. I'm just going to warn the producers now. There is a musical interlude. When I get to the end of the question, we can play the musical interlude while Rob ponders his answer. I think that is the smooth way to do this. Probably a discussion we should have had before the show started, but here we all are anyway. Question 2 Rob the legendary outlaw country singer David Allan Coe left us this week after 86 eventful years. Composer of among others, Take this Job and Shove It, Longhead, Redneck and the Ride. Coe first moved to Nashville in 1967 after being released from prison burglary mostly, where he claimed his songwriting had been encouraged by Screamin Jay Hawkins, who was in the next cell along. David Allan Coe lived for a time, so legend insists, in what kind of vehicle parked outside the Ryman Auditorium, then home of the Grand Ole Opry, possibly writing this song.

[C]

Loudmouth in the corner's getting to me talking about my ear earrings in my hair. I guess he ain't read the signs that say I've been to prison. Someone oughta warn him before I knock him off his chair. Cause my long hair just can't cover up my redneck.

[A]

Your choices, Rob. Did David Allen Coe, the inimitable David Allen Coe live for a period in A, an ambulance B a fire engine, C, a hearse D, a combine harvester.

[B]

Oh, this is so good. And by the way, just for the listening several. I love the way that you find any way to crowbar country western into this.

[A]

Oh, there's. There's much more coming at the end of the show.

[B]

But it was nice to hear a bit of a bit of now any anything that references how did you get My red neck is a perfect thing. I think he was cutting to the chase throughout what you described as an eventful career and was therefore living in a hearse.

[A]

Is technically the correct answer. And so obviously you get the point. The caveat is that with most details of David Allen Coe's life, we have David Allen Coe's word for it. And that is not necessarily something I would have taken to the bank myself, but you have the lead, Rob. 2:1. Pressure is on.

[B]

Just a small diversion. I know that producer Chris is going to get angry at me for this. Are you familiar with cocaine and rhinestones?

[A]

Well, I'm.

[B]

The podcast. I was gonna say, because I've got some rhinestones in my pocket.

[A]

Yes. No, I am not.

[B]

Okay. It's a very brilliant. It's a history, kind of a complete history of country music. An American podcast. I know we don't want to. We don't want to point customers away from Monocle Radio, but it is an excellent thing. If you liked the sound of Andrew's question too, then we, we, we point you in that direction. Okay. For you, Andrew, question three. This week, a Monocle team have been in Shanghai presenting the Entrepreneurs Life on stage. It's an idea based on a show right here on Monocle Radio. But what is entrepreneur in Chinese? Is it what? This is an international radio station.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, go on.

[B]

Okay. What is entrepreneur in Chinese? Is it A, is it B, is it C or D? I always, when I speak Mandarin, my voice goes up an octave. You noticed that?

[A]

Yeah. I mean, are we obliged to add the right of it? Because what little I do know of Cantonese does tell me that it is one of those languages where completely different meanings can be lent words or phrases on the merest inclination of accent. So a apologies to any of our Cantonese speaking listeners who we may.

[B]

Do you want to hear them again? Do you want to hear them?

[A]

Monumentally offended. Yes, I do want to hear them again.

[B]

So it's the word entrepreneur. I wonder what it might have in common with A, B, C or D?

[C]

Ni, beitie gula.

[B]

Which is it?

[A]

Yeah. It is amazing, Rob, how when you speak Chinese, it just sounds like sound files downloaded from the Internet. How do I pronounce it in Chinese? I think it's baby go.

[B]

Well, that is amazing.

[A]

For no reason whatsoever.

[B]

Absolutely right. You've nailed it there, Andrew. You've been hiding your Mandarin light under a bushel.

[A]

Yeah. What are the odds?

[B]

Do you want to know?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So a. That's a very good term to know as an entrepreneur because that means fraud.

[A]

Okay, good.

[B]

In Mandarin.

[A]

Fine line.

[B]

Another essential one. If you're discussing a contract, for example, is C. Moron.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And one essential once you've got your business up and running is D Ni Bay T. You're fired.

[A]

Rob Bound. Tempting fate there. Question three then and I think this, this is what is the score now? It's two each. Right. But you've got this one in hand.

[B]

I do, yeah.

[A]

So you could scoop it all up with a correct answer Here it is a short question and the question is this. Which native animal and symbol is being restored in the wild in the hills around its national capital? Is it A, the Kiwi to Wellington, B the Komodo dragon to Jakarta, C the striped hyena to Beirut or D the Mahor or screw horned goat to Islamabad?

[B]

I'm going for the. I'm going to keep it quick here. I, I don't think you'd. I mean it would be tempting to fit with a Komodo dragon. They're fairly lethal. I don't think Jakartans would deserve a Komodo dragon to be roaming around any mountain.

[A]

They are spectacular but you don't really want one in your backyard.

[B]

You don't really want one. You don't see them being walked on very leads, long or otherwise. No, I'm going to go with the screw thingy goat.

[A]

The screw horned goat.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It is not the screw horn goat. I mean for a start there are not really hills around Islamabad. There are spectacular mountains in Pakistan but they are a bit closer, bit closer to Afghanistan. Khyber Pass, Himalayas vicinity. I have driven through the Khyber Pass once but I did not regrettably see a markor or screw horned goat. I do commend listeners to pictures of them on the Internet. They're excellent. Now the answer and before I reveal it, we, we have a sound file of the creature in question.

[B]

Sounds like me speaking Mandarin.

[A]

It does, but. So that obviously wasn't a Komodo dragon or a striped hyena. It was the kiw which is being reintroduced to the hills around Wellington. The capital Kiwi project, it says here, has now released 250 birds. They are protected by 5,000 traps, mostly to catch stoats which are obviously not native to New Zealand. New Zealand also has embarked, it says here, on a predator eradication project. It is seeking to wipe out feral cats, rats and Australian possums which by curious trans Tasman quirk are protected by law in Australia.

[B]

Right.

[A]

You absolutely cannot screw around with opossums in Australia. In New Zealand they will serve them to you in pies.

[B]

Well, load up the 12 boar which is Outrageous.

[A]

That means the quiz is an honourable draw.

[D]

Rob.

[B]

Oh, Andrew. Well, it's been wonderful doing business with you as ever. Do we get the. That was thoroughly enjoyable today. Do we get the. Do we get the quiz music as an outro as well? I don't know.

[A]

I mean, I think we can get the quiz music as an outro presently. But I am informed that we are to stall for a bit, Rob, because we are having trouble finding our next guest. I. I don't know. We can.

[B]

By the way, can I go on? I was going to ask you but I know this. I don't want to do a spoiler for the look your. Your week in review we learned but I know that was on the Globe list this morning. Shall I give you the question I was going to ask you?

[A]

Go on, please.

[B]

Okay. This week witnessed the the coronation of a new champion at an unusual event place in the small coastal town of Dipane in Belgium. Was that event A the Benelux Walking on Sharp Pedals Iron Man? Was it B the Muscles and Muscles Weekender at which bodybuilders engage in a bivalve based eating competition? Was it C the European Seagull Screeching Championships or was it D Tintin to the top, the culmination of international heats of a giant quiz based on Erge's internationally beloved character Tintin.

[A]

I know the answer to this obviously because it does feature spoiler alert in this week's what We Learned monologue which is coming up towards the end of this show. It is the Seagull Screeching championship which the what We Learned monologue usually does a thing on most years just because it's really silly. There's lots of funny noises and it does tee you up. Lots of seagull related wordplay however. What was the fourth one again? The Tintin sounding one.

[B]

Tintin to the Top. The culmination of international heats of a giant quiz based on Eger's internationally beloved character.

[A]

See, I would participate in that and I would quite fancy.

[B]

You'd be quite good.

[A]

Yeah. Were you ever a Tintin fan?

[B]

I wasn't a huge Tintin but I mean one man's Captain Haddock is another man's Snowy.

[A]

The possibly exciting news is that we do now have our next guest which means we need the theme tune, the unmistakable irrepressible theme tune to the segment we frequently mispronounce as the Aesthetathist. The first thing I do when I invent my time machine, Rob, is I am not going to do the thing that people always say they will do and deal with the baby Hitler in the cot. I'm going to go and find the first person who decided to play the bass with their thumb and forcibly stop them. We are joined now for this segment from Washington D.C. by the reporter and monocle contributor, Charlotte MacDonald Gibson. Charlotte, welcome to the program.

[D]

Hi. Hi. Glad to be here.

[A]

We are talking about a recent, very recent Visitor to Washington D.C. i. E. King Charles III. We will be looking into what he wore and why he wore it. On your side of the Atlantic, did he get generally good reviews?

[D]

I mean, it was really quite astonishing how good the reviews he got where I wasn't quite expecting it. One of those things that always kind of shocks me as a Britain, America, how much love there is for the royal family here. Especially, you know, this is the 250th year anniversary of independence and getting rid of a British king. So, you know, there's obviously a heavy irony there. But now, I mean, it's like across the board, if you look at the Democrats, Republicans, personal friends, you know, everyone's just like, oh, it was wonderful. So yeah, I was, it's been a great success and you know, to such an extent that I was quite surprised. Ethics of its been.

[A]

I mean, Charlotte is quite right, Rob. It is really weird that the Americans went to all the trouble of staging a revolution 250 or so years ago so that they, and I've already done several variations on this joke, so let's get it over with so that they would never again be subject to the whims and caprices of a plainly deranged tyrant who believed themselves themselves above the law. But what did you make of what he wore? Because whatever you may think of the monarchy, Charles is a generally well dressed fellow. But there, there is something specifically English and aristocratic about it, isn't there?

[B]

Well, I think yes. And I mean, I'm sure Charlotte will have some of the press notes on this from the pool on exactly what the, what the King was sporting and at each of the events that he attended during his week in America. But I think for his address to Congress and that's the talking of the aestheticist Charlotte, this is, we're going to be talking about the kind of classic image that is on actually it's on the tile for the Monocle Daily, if people are listening to this in the podcast version and it's on monocle.com, it was across all the newspapers this week when the King addressed Congress and was, was essentially somewhere between a ruling monarch and Barry Crier was really kind of coming up with some, some fairly decent scripture jokes as part of his speech. And he's wearing an Anderson shepherd chalk striped blue suit, as we were saying in the office upstairs. Andrew, it also looks like you mentioned that it looked slightly like it had fairly recently been in a Corby trouser press in a Washington hotel. It does. But yeah, I think it looks slightly like although he looked aristocratic and quite regal, he was also slightly dressing down to, to talk to Congress. I don't know about that, but do you know what I mean? There was, It's a well cut suit is a thing that has a different hang and a different fall to it. A different, there's a different blousiness to a well cut suit than there is to the sort of identical navy blue white shirts and red ties of Trump and his, and his kind of cabinet we see here in front of us. This, this, this is the iconic image, Charlotte, of the very high deus, the ray high lectern, Charles standing behind it with Vance and Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House behind them, not knowing quite what face to make. How do you read that image and the faces that Johnston and Vance are having to make the sort of semiotics of this performance?

[D]

Charlotte, I would say Johnson always has that same sort of slight smirk on his face. Whatever, whatever he's doing. So for him, that's kind of the mask of Mike Johnson. So I don't know if we can read much into that, but, you know, the fact that they're standing and that they're. Of course, of course they are. He's just given a historic speech to Congress. It's been very popular. They are representing the Trump administration. Of course they're going to stand and clap, but of course, what we can't see in this image, what King Charles will be looking out on from where he is standing is the Democrats and the Republicans, everyone standing up and clapping because his address to Congress got a rapturous reception from Democrats and Republicans. Trump himself, after the speech, he wasn't there for the speech, but after the speech he made a point of saying it was a great speech and he said he was jealous because he managed to get the Democrats to stand up and clap. You know, another one of Trump's digs at his opponents there. But it's very true. It's very rare that you get in this incredibly, incredibly divided time in Washington, it's rare that you get a whole chamber united behind the messages that the King has brought. And that's why it was very clever, really, because it had something in there. The messages, the hidden messages were there for the Democrats, the messages there for the Republicans. It had everything really.

[A]

Well, Charlotte, on that subject of the subtext of Charles speech, has American media quite yet spotted all of them? Because he did do that thing that the British in general often do, if I may say so, of being not entirely straightforward in what they're saying to the extent that you often don't kind of figure out just how grandly you've been insulted until several hours later because the brisk lecture on the perils of failing to restrain executive authority were really quite something in the current context.

[D]

Yes, exactly. There's three references to the Magna Carta which you slipped in there and talking about, you know, how the foundation of the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances. So, you know, it was subtle, but it was also slightly spelled out there as well. And it was all that. It's funny you asked about whether the US Media has picked up on these, and that's a resounding yes, not least because so much of the US Media has a huge British presence. And if you look at the Wall Street Journal or the New York Post, their editors are all British. So there has been a British takeover as the US Media. So it was not lost on any of the papers here. But I think the big question is, well, was it lost on Trump, perhaps because he just thought it was the most wonderful visit. He was is full of crazy with his usage, which is surprising considering there were quite a lot of digs at him in that speech. So, I mean, I think this is the question, did President Trump get it?

[A]

Charlotte MacDonald Gibson in Washington, D.C. rob Bound here in the studio. Thank you both for joining us. You are listening to the Daily on Monocle Radio. And time now for our weekly calculation of what the last seven days have taught us. We learned this week of further depths to the depravity of former FBI Director James Comey. Well, quite. And to think he was once here at Midori House to record episode 201 of the Big interview. Honestly had no idea of the risk we were running allowing such a vicious miscreant into the building. I was investigating repeatedly. I had the Internal Revenue Service, our tax collector, perform on me the most intrusive audit that there is. Someone said it's like an autopsy without benefit of death. And at the end of that, they owed me $347. Turns out I had overpaid my taxes. We learned anyway that Comey was to be indicted once again. By the U.S. department of justice over seashell, Though he did not seem to us like someone with a guilty conch ence. No, but seriously, we learned that it is an extremely grave matter and in no respect and by no means just incredibly stupid. In 2025, Comey posted cool Shell Formation on my beach walk, the numbers 8, 6, 47 arranged on sand, interpreted by some as an old slang term 86 for get rid of and 47 referring to the president. We learned further from Comey's successor as America's top cop and sentient thousand yard stare Cash Patel that in making this important and above all necessary case, his G men had labored long and diligently. As the Attorney General indicated, this has been a case that's been investigated over the past 9, 10, 11 months. These cases take time. Our investigators work methodically. So we learned that the Feds had spent the thick end of a year gazing at an Instagram picture of assorted mollusks, determined to see in them evidence that their old boss's recent reinvention as a crime novelist was in fact a devious diversion from his real plans to become a 21st century John Wilkes Booth. Which all sounds terrifically plausible. Still, we have long since learned, and were indeed reminded again this week that the FBI has loads of time for this kind of thing, as actual threats to the President of the United States are famously unheard of. But sticking with the subject of total wastes of everyone's time, Yes, we learned that it was once again European Sea Screeching Championship week seems to come round earlier every year. Am I right? We learned that this year's iteration of the contest had been held once again in the Belgian settlement of d', Paines, possibly pronounced de Panneur, but really, who cares? Otherwise renowned for nothing at all, more than 70 contestants faced off at a Belgian pub to decide who can best mimic the bird's distinctive shriek. Competitors from 15 countries apparently took part in the sixth edition of the event. They've been doing this for years. Indeed they have. You might even say they've flocked there. And indeed, grateful we are once again for an easy couple of minutes of silly clips and leaden sneering, escalating to some or other seabird related pun by way of payoff. You might say that one good turn deserves another. Anyway, we learned that this year's European Seagull Screeching champion was one Karine Gronhoff, Pulse of Oslo. Who might be one of these? Whatever, We learned, if we're honest, that actually this year the European Seagull Screeching Championship was not optimally timed for this the what we Learned news review on Monocle Radio because it was owned by Only last week that we fired off pretty much all our Seabird related material on that bloke running for parliament in Scotland dressed as a gannet. We've kept that clip though. Good to know for next time someone seeks public office while dressed as a gannet. Or maybe even when a gannet seeks public office, we frequently do worse. So while we haven't learned as such that the Seagull Screeching Championship judges were especially impressed by Ms. Grom Sportspersonship or sports gullship, whichever we are going to assume that they were so we can commend her for not Ms. Bavian. Is that anything? Was that a barrel being scraped? Was it? Well. And we further learned that for the second week running the what We Learned weekly news review on Monocle Radio would have to pivot seamlessly from CBIR to cake from whereas last week it was gannet costume clad office seeker to crown jewels trifle hurlers. You can find it on the website if you missed it. This week it is gull impersonators to record breaking confectioners. We learned that 100 Italian chefs had gathered at Chelsea Town hall in London equipped with 20,000 eggs and 15,000 ladyfinger biscuits, among other ingredients for the important work of assembling the world's longest tiramisu. Let's have some silly Italian music. We learned that this vital mission had been triumphantly accomplished, the previous mark of 273.5 meters being comprehensively eclipsed by a new record of 440.6 metres. We learned, frankly, not for the first time of the acclaim and renown often, if inexplicably enjoyed by those who break one of those world records which is there for the taking for anyone who can be bothered and therefore asked our colleagues to have a bash at this one that is the world's longest tiramisu themselves. Absolutely sure. There is no way they will have misconstrued our instructions. World's Longest Tiramisu team let's have look a it. Outstanding work everybody. You're listening to the Daily with me, Andrew Muller. Finally on today's show, not only did we recently welcome back to Midori House the Canadian country star Corb Lund, he brought along his Texan compadre Hays Carl. The pair have been touring Europe together. Before they played us the theme tune of the Bible on the Dash tour. We talked of how their partnership had gestated and I began by asking how they met.

[E]

We met in a poker game in Dauphin, Manitoba. There was a music festival going on that we were both playing. Afterwards, somebody threw together a card game and both of us found ourselves in it and that's how we met.

[F]

Dumped off all our money to my ex.

[A]

Yeah. I have to ask though, Hayes, because I've played poker with Korb and came off much the worse for it.

[E]

How did you do that night? I don't think either one of us did very well, but.

[F]

At all.

[E]

Yeah, we played a lot of cards over the years, though, and he's a better player than I am, for sure.

[A]

Have you found over the years you've known each other and indeed worked together, as we will shortly be hearing evidence of that there is much of an overlap in the country traditions you come from. Again, it's that whole quite a long way from each other thing.

[F]

Yeah, for sure.

[E]

I think so. I think. I mean, we have a lot of similar foundational artists. It branches off in different ways. We just did a record store thing.

[F]

Would you. Let's tell them what we picked.

[E]

Well, let's see. The three records I picked to talk about were Townes Van Zant Live at the Old Quarter, John Prine's self titled first record, and Lucinda Williams Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. And Korb picked a Christofferson record and

[F]

then Slayer, Raining Blood.

[A]

Solid country gold.

[F]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[F]

It's a foundational worker for me.

[E]

I missed out on the metal stuff.

[F]

Metal years.

[E]

Yeah. And you're into a lot of the old cowboy music.

[F]

They didn't have my favorite record of all time, starting when I was 10 years old, and to this day is Marty Robbins. Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs. My grandfather used to sing some of those songs before I even knew they were on a record. And so that's still my favorite.

[A]

You cannot argue with Gunfighter Ballads and trail songs by Marty Robbins. It's fantastic. But you're here because you're touring together and you have been for a while. Do you both find the shows, I guess, vastly different from playing in front of a band of your own? There's a lot more. Having seen now one of the shows, there's a lot more storytelling.

[F]

Yeah, we both play with our bands a lot and that's super fun. It's really a fun thing to play in front of a rock and country band and control the room and stuff, but this is a way to. And we also both do solo shows where we just play acoustically and tell stories, but doing it Together is super fun because it's just bounce off of each other and we don't have a set list or we don't have any plan really. We just sort of wing it every night.

[A]

On the subject of being on the road, the song you're about to play for us is about existence and it's a song you recorded together a while ago now. And it's one of those songs which I liked for a lot of reasons. But one of the reasons was that it taps into my pet theory about the overlap between country music and journalism, which is the great country songs always have a great title. You can always kind of tell from the title what the thing is about. Like, you can tell from a newspaper headline this is what the story is, but it tells you not too much. You want to hear the rest of it? The song's called Bible on the Dash. Listeners should already be getting the gist of this. How did this song happen? And is it a true story story?

[F]

I started the song and I have a really slow writing process sometimes. I. I hardly ever write a song in an afternoon. It's always like months and months. So this one is an extreme example because I had the chorus and one verse for like two, three years, and I just couldn't figure out how to make it land. And then I was at Hayes's place in Austin and one night and just showed it. We just finished in an hour, kind of. I mean, it's funny, it works that way because you can struggle with something and all it takes sometimes is a fresh set of eyes, right? And it's like, why you do this? And you're like, yeah, why don't do that? Boom, done. But yeah, I mean, it's kind of tongue in cheek, but I mean, I. I do have a Bible on the dash. Like every time I go across the border, I got. I got a Bible up there and I got my cowboy hat and. Traditional country music, sir, like, for real, like, that helps. Do you remember when we wrote that or finished it?

[B]

Yeah. Do you.

[F]

What was your memory of that?

[E]

I remember you came over, sitting on the porch, drinking.

[F]

Was it that Mexican house with all the.

[E]

Yeah, yeah, the very strange haunted house

[F]

I used to live.

[E]

What I remember was. I remember Merle Haggard coming up as some kind of reference point in the melody or something like that. But, yeah, I remember loving the idea. And you had the bulk of the work done. I just. Sometimes writing is an interesting thing. Like different roles, co writing, you know, I've done them where I'm leading the ship and they're serving more as an editor or a transcriber or vice versa. Or sometimes you're both on the same page and equally sort of contributing ideas and. And I just learned to go with whatever's working at that time.

[F]

Yeah, there's lots of different formulas for it, but.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Corb, London, Hayes, Carl. Thank you. Let's hear it.

[C]

Tonight Stand in Tulsa, pull night and headed west Brady grabbed the Gideons from the hotel in the desk and we said, what's the matter, brother? Are you worried about your soul? He said, better safe than sorry Boys, that's just how I roll we hit the road of feeding Cool as cross the stairs and ash overflowing with the spirit and the Bible on the dash well, we pulled the whole thing oh for the flashing red and blues Police came to the window we said, have you heard the news? He said, don't get smart with me, boy why you doing 95? My foot is heavy with redemption I'm just blessed to be alive he said, I oughta pull you outta there Beat you black and blue I placed my hand upon the Good Book and said what would Jesus do? It's better than insurance registration online Better than these fake IDs I keep on buying Even better than an envelope stuffed with cash Always said it saved me that old Bible on the dash. Round these parts that hair alone will make probable calls if you're moving through my county you'll obey my earthly laws well, we did our best to quote some holy writ chapter and verse what kind of music you boys make? We say Christian music, sir. Plead thought about it, contemplate it Twirled his cop mustache all right, you boys be careful now. Just don't drive quite so fast it's better than insurance registration online Better than and these fake IDs I keep on buying Even better than an envelope stuffed with cash they always said it's sa and I don't Bible on the dash. Crossing at the border A few months later we heard Freeze. Pull it over there, son we're gonna do some search and see yeah, maybe if we'd been more famous Instead just move along if he'd have seen us on the TV or if we'd had his single songs he's just about to ask us where's the money, Guns and hash I was hoping that it saved me that old Bible on dash well, his hand was on his pistol and his dog was on his leash and a shepherd he was keeping a pretty close sight we got a list we're gonna look at See if We can't find your names we got parabolic laser beams here's everything you say we got ultraviolet X where's it can see right through your bus I said look out man the government drones got an eye on all of us it's better than a green card it's better than a lion Better than these work these Jesus, they make me keep buy Even better than an envelope stuffed with cash Lord, I'm at the border with the Bible on the T.

[F]

Something like that Bible

[A]

on the dash Korb Lund and Hayes Carl right here in Studio one at Midori House. Both Korb and Hayes have newish or imminent albums out now or now abouts. Though you should obviously listen to everything both of them have recorded if you already haven't. Both are on tour individually over coming weeks in Canada and the United States. You can find the dates on their respective websites. That is all for this edition of the Monocle Daily. Thanks to our fellow contributors Rob bound and Charlotte McDonald Gibson in Washington, DC. Today's show was produced by Chris Chermack. Our sound engineer was Mariella Bevan. Amandra Muller here in London. The Daily Record returns at the same time on Monday. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend.