France special: Best in sunny reads, surf and skincare

Could the circular economy be the answer to climate change? Monocle’s correspondent in New Delhi, Lyndee Prickitt, meets India’s foremost expert on the circular economy, Shalini Goyal Bhalla. She is the managing director of think-tank International Council for Circular Economy and has written books on the subject. She tells us about the opportunities that moving towards a circular model would provide for business and innovation, as well as the planet.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We head to the southwest coast of France to meet two surfers-turned entrepreneurs. Plus: Fernando Augusto Pacheco shares his top beach read and we get summer skincare tips from world-renowned aesthetician Sophie Carbonari.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Monocle’s Gregory Scruggs reports from Los Angeles, where wildfires devastated communities earlier this year. He meets the brothers behind Crest Real Estate, a property firm taking a thoughtful approach to help the city recover.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former chef Amelia Christie-Miller has long been obsessed with brands that have the power to shape consumer behaviour. In 2021 she created Bold Bean Co to change the perception of beans, encouraging people to see them as more than a mere pantry ingredient. In this conversation with Monocle’s Tom Edwards, Christie-Miller discusses how she disrupted the food industry by shifting age-old narratives – through everything from her product and marketing strategy to workplace culture – and converted fatigued consumers into loyal customers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

James Vowles, Atlassian Williams Racing team principal, stops by Midori House ahead of the British Grand Prix to discuss the F1 team’s progress, decision-making under pressure and long-term thinking on and off track.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We meet Sally Boddington, co-founder of British fashion brand White Coco. Since launching in 2012, she has opened three shops and expanded her range. Boddington discusses growing the business and the value of collaborations.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Charles Landry is an international adviser on the use of imagination and creativity in urban change. He has written many books on the subject, including ‘The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators’. His work seeks to help cities unlock their potential and become resilient, self-sustaining places. In this episode he speaks to Tom Edwards about how intentional design can nurture culture in a city.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thomas Flohr, founder and chairman of Vistajet, talks about building a global business aviation company, breaking industry convention and what’s next on his radar. Plus: highlights from the Paris Air Show.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stephen Bates shares how a series of serendipitous eureka moments led to the creation of Rheon Labs, a smart-materials company developing energy-absorbing technology to better support and protect the body.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When it comes to good leadership, professor John Amaechi knows a thing or two. Amaechi is an organisational psychologist and founder of APS Intelligence, a consultancy dedicated to helping organisations cultivate high-performance, ethical workplace cultures. He also happens to be a former basketball star and the first Briton to ever play in the NBA. John Amaechi talks to Tom Edwards about the moments in his life that have taught him about the importance of being able to lead people to positive change, the current challenges to DEI initiatives, and why being the driving force behind positive friction can be the way to make progress.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.