Economist John Kenneth Galbraith deemed the US a society of “private opulence and public squalor” back in 1958.
Opinion: Naomi Xu Elegant
Monocle on Design May 21 2025

“The smartphone has become a repository of the self,” writes media scholar Nicholas Carr, “recording and dispensing the words, sounds and images that define what we think, what we experience and who we are.”

Used with consideration, smartphones can deepen our connection to the present
By Tom Vanderbilt
The Monocle Minute Monday 19 May 2025

“We also need to change the mindset that military means are a good and efficient way of resolving conflicts. There will never be peace as long as war makes more sense than talking”

Janne Taalas CEO of CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation
Monocle May 2025

“One of the biggest challenges for professional journalists in the digital era is adhering to the code of ethics and the law, while content creators don’t have any restrictions”
broadcaster Najwa Shihab
Monocle May 2025

“I quickly found there’s not always a right and wrong. Everyone has their own baggage, their own lens. Especially in a world of competing absolutes, we need to find our true north. That’s what I want to show in my books – that choice matters.”

Author Gracie Kim
30 with Guyon Espiner RNZ

China values soft power and stands ready to fill the vacuum that Trump is creating.

Joseph S. Nye was professor emeritus at Harvard University and author of several books including ‘A Life in the American Century’.
Monocle June 2025

“It’s impossible for all humans to be good, so we will always need security.”
Roberto Cingolani, CEO of Leonardo, Italy’s largest defence company.
Monocle, May 2025

“Are the city and country really more unsettled, or do we cope worse? … Unrest is of all times but the reactions now are more hysterical and there is less and less room for dissent. That worries me.”

Femke Halsema
Mayor of Amsterdam
Monocle May 2025

“As an architect, your practice isn’t about personal expression,” he said. “It’s about responding to the realities of a place, a culture, a moment in time. You can’t just replicate old ideas – you have to respond to today’s conditions.”

Manuel Cervantes
Architect
Monocle on Design April 30, 2025