Monocle Magazine
Aug 15, 2016 | 3:18 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Lincoln, UK
Programs: BA Gold, TK, DL, IHG Diamond, HHonours Gold, Hertz Presidents Club
Posts: 497
Monocle Magazine
Often buy this when I see it at the airport before longer flights. I get the impression that the magazine wants to appeal to FT community. Do we have any readers here?
Sometimes it has some very interesting articles but sometimes it's so pompous it's unreal, like it was made purely for hipsters with money. It has an unhealthy obsession with all things Japanese and as a result everything Japanese is somehow better. That liveable city list really irritates me, I haven't spent a huge amount of time in Tokyo but how you can rate it as the top is just laughable.
Yet it does write about things which don't see in mainstream media anymore, just needs to takes itself a bit less seriously IMHO.
Sometimes it has some very interesting articles but sometimes it's so pompous it's unreal, like it was made purely for hipsters with money. It has an unhealthy obsession with all things Japanese and as a result everything Japanese is somehow better. That liveable city list really irritates me, I haven't spent a huge amount of time in Tokyo but how you can rate it as the top is just laughable.
Yet it does write about things which don't see in mainstream media anymore, just needs to takes itself a bit less seriously IMHO.
Aug 15, 2016 | 3:45 am
#2
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Exile
Posts: 16,063
I was interviewed for Monocle a few years ago when I was running Mogadishu Airport. I found the contributing journalists probably among the most professional and knowledgeable of any that I dealt with during my time in Somalia. For example, I did an interview with CNN the same week as the Monocle guys and it was night and day. CNN wanted quick quotes and something to support a story whose purpose they already seemed to have mapped out, while Monocle actually wanted to understand what was going on and then write the story.
That said, when I got my free copy of the magazine a couple months later, I found most of the other articles to be contrary to my tastes. Never bought a copy.
https://monocle.com/film/affairs/mogadishu-take-off/
https://monocle.com/magazine/issues/...o-67-take-off/
That said, when I got my free copy of the magazine a couple months later, I found most of the other articles to be contrary to my tastes. Never bought a copy.
https://monocle.com/film/affairs/mogadishu-take-off/
https://monocle.com/magazine/issues/...o-67-take-off/
Aug 15, 2016 | 3:56 am
#3
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: YTZ, YYZ, AMS
Programs: Platinum Zirconium in Life, aeroplan, FB, Avios, IHG
Posts: 609
I was first drawn to monocle because an airplane article and found it more interesting and dare I say actual journalism. But yes I do see the Hipster pomposity.
I was just flipping through the 2 (or 3?) magazines they have out for the summer and it looks greatly filled with airplane info. But the 13 price tag brought out the Dutch cheapness in me and left it on the shelf.
I was just flipping through the 2 (or 3?) magazines they have out for the summer and it looks greatly filled with airplane info. But the 13 price tag brought out the Dutch cheapness in me and left it on the shelf.
Aug 15, 2016 | 4:39 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: KL Platinum; A3 Gold; LH Senator
Posts: 30,598
Subscribed for a year. Not worth the outlay.
A local caf has a subscription so now I can read it for free anyway! Not that I ever really bother to do so.
A local caf has a subscription so now I can read it for free anyway! Not that I ever really bother to do so.
Aug 15, 2016 | 10:08 am
#5
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: K+K
Programs: *G
Posts: 5,080
Often buy this when I see it at the airport before longer flights. I get the impression that the magazine wants to appeal to FT community. Do we have any readers here?
Sometimes it has some very interesting articles but sometimes it's so pompous it's unreal, like it was made purely for hipsters with money. It has an unhealthy obsession with all things Japanese and as a result everything Japanese is somehow better. That liveable city list really irritates me, I haven't spent a huge amount of time in Tokyo but how you can rate it as the top is just laughable.
Yet it does write about things which don't see in mainstream media anymore, just needs to takes itself a bit less seriously IMHO.
Sometimes it has some very interesting articles but sometimes it's so pompous it's unreal, like it was made purely for hipsters with money. It has an unhealthy obsession with all things Japanese and as a result everything Japanese is somehow better. That liveable city list really irritates me, I haven't spent a huge amount of time in Tokyo but how you can rate it as the top is just laughable.
Yet it does write about things which don't see in mainstream media anymore, just needs to takes itself a bit less seriously IMHO.
it's just recycled garbage about how they would design a hypothetical artisanal cold brew cafe in helsinki/oslo/geneva/singapore and how NRT's airport planning compares to HKG
Aug 15, 2016 | 10:29 pm
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: London & Sonoma CA
Programs: UA Plat, MM *G for life, AY Plat, BA Silver
Posts: 10,536
I've always enjoyed Tyler Brulee's column in the FT and that has driven me to buy Monocle occasionally - indeed I have the July/August issue on my coffee table in California right now. I love their travel guides to HKG and NYC - they significantly improved recent visits.
But I really did not like him when I heard him present at a book signing at Daunts in London - he came across as smug and arrogant.
Incidentally the price is €12 not €13, but it's only 7.
But I really did not like him when I heard him present at a book signing at Daunts in London - he came across as smug and arrogant.
Incidentally the price is €12 not €13, but it's only 7.
Aug 16, 2016 | 2:26 am
#8
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: K+K
Programs: *G
Posts: 5,080
Does Tyler brul ever actually write anything in FT?
I thought he used each column as a blog to scribble about how he had flown last week from LHR/MAD/CDG to JFK/FCO/CPH in J/F and marveled at the refined dcor boutique clothiers offered at each location
I thought he used each column as a blog to scribble about how he had flown last week from LHR/MAD/CDG to JFK/FCO/CPH in J/F and marveled at the refined dcor boutique clothiers offered at each location
Aug 16, 2016 | 3:07 am
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: KL Platinum; A3 Gold; LH Senator
Posts: 30,598
Aug 16, 2016 | 3:22 am
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Lincoln, UK
Programs: BA Gold, TK, DL, IHG Diamond, HHonours Gold, Hertz Presidents Club
Posts: 497
My sentiment exactly, he comes across smug and arrogant in print and I thought he would be better in person.... perhaps not.
Some of his FT articles make some good points/observation but he can be so haughty it's ridiculous. I sometimes think it's a joke but I'm not sure.
I also think the magazine is almost completely devoid of all humour.
Some of his FT articles make some good points/observation but he can be so haughty it's ridiculous. I sometimes think it's a joke but I'm not sure.
I also think the magazine is almost completely devoid of all humour.
Aug 16, 2016 | 10:08 am
#12
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: AA Plat, UA 1K>Plat>moving to Silver
Posts: 2,279
I think it is an interesting magazine if you like design with a global emphasis, but I mainly picked it up because it was free here or there - I think I first got it in some airport lounges, and it did seem to have a lot of advertising from the airlines. But I haven't seen it in a long time, in a lounge or at an airport bookstore.
Of the FT column, I just remember some person wrote in to ask which UA business class flights would be worth taking on a trip to Asia. The answer was essentially "none". I get that, but at the same time, some of us have to fly US carriers sometimes for cost reasons, the 787s are not bad when working, and there are also a lot of worse carriers in Asia, so I thought that pretty snobby.
Of the FT column, I just remember some person wrote in to ask which UA business class flights would be worth taking on a trip to Asia. The answer was essentially "none". I get that, but at the same time, some of us have to fly US carriers sometimes for cost reasons, the 787s are not bad when working, and there are also a lot of worse carriers in Asia, so I thought that pretty snobby.
Aug 22, 2016 | 6:20 pm
#14
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SNA, LAX
Programs: BA Gold, KrisFlyer
Posts: 350
I really love Monocle, although I rarely have time to read the whole thing. It is a great airline read, except I usually have to lug it back home because I don't want to toss it. Monocle is really one of the most international publications out there with offbeat articles that you never knew you were interested in...such as airport operations in Mogadishu (see above). Monocle and the FT are really in another universe of excellence in publications IMHO.
Sep 7, 2016 | 8:04 am
#15
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Tokyo
Posts: 95
Often buy this when I see it at the airport before longer flights. I get the impression that the magazine wants to appeal to FT community. Do we have any readers here?
Sometimes it has some very interesting articles but sometimes it's so pompous it's unreal, like it was made purely for hipsters with money. It has an unhealthy obsession with all things Japanese and as a result everything Japanese is somehow better. That liveable city list really irritates me, I haven't spent a huge amount of time in Tokyo but how you can rate it as the top is just laughable.
Sometimes it has some very interesting articles but sometimes it's so pompous it's unreal, like it was made purely for hipsters with money. It has an unhealthy obsession with all things Japanese and as a result everything Japanese is somehow better. That liveable city list really irritates me, I haven't spent a huge amount of time in Tokyo but how you can rate it as the top is just laughable.
The rest is a bit of a mix depending where you are - it can be liveable (like the area around Chez Planesquid, hey we have a field opposite our house, and we're in Tokyo proper) but I wouldn't give it a generic rating of excellent.