Monocle 24 · Monocle 24: The Review

The Review - Edition 108

November 9, 2013·51 min·4 clips

Mark Mason uncovers how JFK kept his monogrammed handkerchiefs hidden to maintain an unknowable persona.

1. Monocle 24's 'The Review' (Edition 108) is a wide-ranging arts and culture programme covering JFK anniversary books, Finnish music, Taipei and Milan cultural picks, and a divided film review of Alfonso Cuarón's 'Gravity.' 2. Hosts Andrew Muller and Gillian Tobias present from Studio One at Midori House in London; guests include author Mark Mason, Music Finland's Riku Salomar, Milan editor Jaya Paliti of Flash Art International, and film critic Karen Krasanovich. 3. The episode's structural hook is the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963, used to examine what three newly published books reveal — and fail to reveal — about the man. 4. Mark Mason argues across all three books that Kennedy was 'unknowable, even to Jackie,' quoting JFK telling his wife: 'If I told you my thoughts, they wouldn't be mine anymore, would they?' 5. Thurston Clark's 'Last Hundred Days' is described as hagiographic — its subtitle 'an intimate portrait of a great president' — though Clark himself in a clip acknowledges JFK 'was a rather timid president for the first two years' before his 1963 civil rights and nuclear test ban speeches. 6. Mimi Alford's 'Once Upon a Secret' is Mason's surprise favourite: her memoir of a 1962-63 White House affair includes the detail that Kennedy never kissed her, and ends with her hearing of his death on the car radio on November 22 while driving with her fiancé. 7. Joseph P. Kennedy, JFK's father, is described on public record as having bought the Chicago vote that delivered the 1960 election — 'without him being corrupt, JFK would never have been president.' 8. Andrew Muller introduces the 'blood wagon' — the fourth or fifth car in every US presidential motorcade, which carries a supply of the president's own regularly refreshed blood for emergency use, a protocol begun immediately after election. 9. Two eerie details from Clark's book: Kennedy staged a mock assassination with ketchup for friends a few months before Dallas, and on a private visit to Arlington Cemetery 14 days before his death said 'it's so peaceful I could stay here forever.' 10. The broader Kennedy thesis offered is that his early death and deliberately opaque character allow each generation to project new meaning onto him, the same way one can keep re-staging Shakespeare. 11. Music Finland UK project manager Riku Salomar says Finnish music exports are currently worth about 35 million euros but that the government sees 'much more potential,' citing the gaming industry and country-brand effects alongside direct income. 12. Riku Salomar's three Finnish picks are: Sain Koz Tan (synth-pop duo featuring veteran DJ Jori Hulkkonen, described as Echo and the Bunnymen-ish), Phantom (jazz-singing over down-tempo beats, recently picked up by The XX on social media), and Jaco Eino Kalevi (a Helsinki tram driver and model, the first Nordic act signed to Domino Records' Weird World imprint). 13. The Ja Ja Ja Nordic music festival at the Roundhouse in Camden features acts from all five Nordic countries alongside Nordic food pairings matched to each artist. 14. In Taipei, the must-see event is Art Taipei 2013 at the World Trade Center — the longest-running art fair in Asia, now in its 20th year — alongside the documentary 'Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above,' described as the most widely released Taiwanese documentary in history. 15. In Milan, Jaya Paliti of Flash Art International highlights Andy Warhol's flower paintings and a glow-in-the-dark portrait of Jesus Christ at Palazzo Reale, sourced from the Peter Brant collection, plus a Dieter Roth retrospective of about 100 works at Hangar Bicocca. 16. Dieter Roth, born in Hanover but Swiss-based, who died in 1998, is described as 'one of the first to use found objects — specifically rotten food' — in his installations, shown at Hangar Bicocca's industrial space. 17. The film review of 'Gravity' is a genuine disagreement: Karen Krasanovich calls it as groundbreaking as 'Avatar' and a 'returned to form' for Alfonso Cuarón; Gillian Tobias calls it 'the most banal script' and says Sandra Bullock was 'like Miss Congeniality in a space suit.' 18. Both reviewers agree that George Clooney's character is a problem — making quips while 'floating in outer space, lost, about to die' — and that the film is primarily a technological showcase rather than an emotionally engaging work like Cuarón's 'Children of Men.' 19. The episode is conversational, discursive, and mildly witty — Muller riffs on conspiracy theories about JFK's killers including 'the Boy Scouts of America' and 'the Dallas chapter of Rotary' — with a consistent assumption that listeners are already culturally engaged. 20. Listeners who follow international arts, music discovery, and cultural commentary across film, fashion, and visual art will find the range appealing; those wanting in-depth analysis of a single topic will find the breadth shallow.

As heard by us

A brisk Monocle arts hour where JFK books, elder style, Finnish music and cinema become a snapshot of culture in motion.

Monocle 24's The Review - Edition 108 moves through culture with the feel of a sharp weekly salon, opening on the 50th anniversary rush of JFK books before turning to Taipei, Milan, fashion, Finnish music and film.

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Why you'd press play

You get JFK books, a fashion rethink on age, and Finland's music export pitch. One sitting.

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