From Monocle’s Quality of Life Conference in Istanbul, we hear insights from US submarine officer Taylor Sheppard on maximising quality of life underwater. Then: award-winning author, playwright and essayist Kate Mosse joins Vincent McAviney to talk about her research process and the release of the fourth and final part of her Joubert Family Chronicles series, ‘The Map of Bones’. Plus: writer at large for ‘The Nightly’ Latika Bourke looks back at the week’s news including the continuing conflict in the Middle East, Barack Obama’s comments on the US election and art protests.

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After a week of escalating tensions in the Middle East, Yossi Mekelberg, associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House, joins Emma Nelson to reflect on the week’s news from the region. Then: Monocle’s Helsinki correspondent, Petri Burtsoff, tells the story of a restored cultural icon in the city, and we learn about the future of digital art with the CEO of Lumen Studios, Jen Roebuck, and the director of The Lumen Prize, Gillian Varney.

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The 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly concluded this week but what did it achieve? What can we expect from Keir Starmer’s meeting with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday? And what is behind the surge in popularity of South Korean skincare in the UK? Georgina Godwin and international broadcast correspondent, Nina dos Santos, discuss this and more of the week’s news and culture. Plus: Monocle’s Gunnar Gronlid attends the opening of the world’s first commercial CO2 capture-and-storage facility in Norway, and we get the latest on The Book Hive, a UK-based independent bookshop and publisher, with the owner, Henry Layte.

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Author and political correspondent Tessa Szyszkowitz joins Georgina Godwin to talk about the pager explosions in Lebanon, seeing Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza in London and fashion at political conferences. Plus: Monocle’s Mae-Li Evans heads to Amsterdam for the Glue design festival and ‘Financial Times’ senior business writer Andrew Hill looks ahead to the 20th edition of the FT’s Business Book of the Year awards.

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Author Kate Kruimink joins Georgina Godwin to talk about her award-winning novella ‘Astraea’ and China Moses discusses her music ahead of the London Jazz Festival launch party. Plus: Charles Hecker on British diplomats accused of spying in Russia, soaring coffee prices in Italy and the 2024 Ig Nobel Prize.

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After the deadly school shooting in Georgia, United States, cultural historian Gavin Plumley and Georgina Godwin look at the judicial process in the country and the political impact of the shooting in an important election year. Across the pond in the UK, Oasis and Ticketmaster have been dominating headlines - Gavin and Georgina reflect on ‘dynamic pricing’, as well as a survey of Britain losing pride in its past and why this is actually encouraging. Plus: Monocle’s Andrew Mueller speaks to the President of Radio Free Europe about the vital work they do to bring uncensored news to countries like Ukraine, Russia, and Afghanistan.

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Why has Brazil banned X, formerly known as Twitter, and how will this ban actually work? Ozempic is in the news again but what’s the newly discovered potential benefit of the drug? And Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland is expected to make gains in two state elections tomorrow – what is the mood on the ground? Author and political journalist Terry Stiastny joins Georgina Godwin for this and more of the week’s news and culture. Plus: with Vinted and Depop encouraging more people than ever to sell their used items online, Bookshop.org has launched a used-book platform called Bookloop that aims to benefit indie bookshops and authors. Bookshop.org’s partnership manager Mark Thornton tells us more.

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The Democratic National Convention ended on Thursday; political analyst Charles Hecker returns to ‘Monocle on Saturday’ to discuss the highlights from the event and flick through the global papers. Plus: Bristol-born street artist Sickboy discusses the link between graffiti and political unrest, and music producer Oscar Osicki talks about translating different genres of music to film scores.

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