0:00

The briefing is brought to you in association

0:02

with the Sustainable Cities in Action Forum at

0:04

Expo City Dubai. The

0:07

Sustainable Cities in Action Forum at

0:09

Expo City Dubai is a place

0:11

for city leaders, developers, architects and

0:13

designers to come together and innovate

0:15

for the future of urban spaces.

0:18

It's an opportunity for the Global South to

0:20

convene in the Global South. It's

0:22

a test bed for real world solutions that

0:24

will shape the future of people and planet.

0:27

You can hear from the innovative thinkers and

0:29

inspirational voices that drove the narrative at this

0:32

year's edition by listening to Monocle's special episodes

0:34

of The Briefing, recorded live at Expo City

0:36

Dubai in March. Find and listen

0:38

to the shows now at monocle.com or wherever

0:41

you get your podcasts. The Sustainable Cities in

0:43

Action Forum 2024. Collaborate,

0:46

innovate, transform. The

0:48

Briefing is brought to you by the National

0:50

Space Agency. You're

0:56

listening to The Briefing, first broadcast on the 24th of April

0:58

2024 on Monocle Radio. It's

1:02

1900 in Beijing, 1400 in Kiev, midday here in

1:04

London and 7am in Washington DC. You're

1:09

listening to Monocle Radio. The briefing

1:12

starts now. Hello

1:26

and welcome to The Briefing, broadcasting to

1:28

you live from Studio One here at

1:30

Midori House in London. I'm Georgina Godwin.

1:33

Coming up on today's programme, we get

1:35

the details of the US aid package

1:38

approved by Congress last night as Chuck

1:40

Schumer, Majority Leader of the House, confirms.

1:43

A lot of people inside and outside the

1:45

Congress wanted this package to fail. But

1:47

today, those in Congress who stand on

1:50

the side of democracy are winning the

1:52

day. We'll have a round-up of

1:54

business news and we join celebrated novelist Monica

1:56

Arley as she reveals the shortlisted books of

1:58

the US aid package. the women's

2:01

prize for fiction. And the

2:03

painter Caravaggio died in mysterious

2:05

circumstances in 1610. We'll

2:08

hear all about his last painting, The

2:10

Martyrdom of St Ursula. There

2:12

is also an image of Caravaggio itself.

2:15

It seems like the last signature

2:18

in a painting and you

2:20

will see probably what is the

2:23

feeling of a man that is

2:25

probably ready to pass away. All

2:27

that right here on the briefing with me

2:30

Georgina Godry. Yesterday

2:35

the US Senate approved 95 billion dollars of

2:37

foreign aid

2:39

that includes military support for Ukraine,

2:42

Israel and Taiwan. President Joe Biden

2:44

is expected to sign the legislation

2:46

into law today. Well I'm

2:48

joined now by Paul Rogers, Open Democracies

2:50

and International Security expert. Paul thanks for

2:53

coming back on the show. Now this

2:55

was passed by the US House of

2:57

Representatives on Saturday, clearing the way for

2:59

a Senate vote. But it has been

3:01

delayed for months. Can you describe its

3:04

rather torturous route through legislation and why

3:06

there was a change of heart? It's

3:10

not easy I must admit but

3:12

certainly within Congress there were many

3:14

Republicans who were pretty bitterly opposed

3:16

to particular parts of it, especially

3:18

the aid to Ukraine. There were

3:21

various devices used to try and

3:23

delay it and even get rid of it. Ultimately

3:27

the essentially the speaker Mike Johnson was

3:29

quite crucial in this in the way

3:31

the whole thing was framed and

3:34

the Republican leader

3:38

also sort of tried to set

3:40

the sides at ease to some extent

3:42

within the Republican Party who is some

3:44

difficulty and tempers were really raised. One

3:47

of the reasons it eventually went through was

3:49

that it's in four parts as you

3:51

mentioned three of them Ukraine, Israel,

3:54

Taiwan. Then the fourth was

3:56

a rather openly worded section

3:58

which was really allowing the

4:00

possibility of banning TikTok of

4:02

the media sensation, unless

4:06

the ownership of it came into the United

4:08

States from China. And that was really a

4:11

softener for the hard right, if

4:13

you like. But the point is

4:15

that all four of those different scopes

4:17

were put into a single motion. So essentially,

4:19

it was a kind of take it or

4:21

leave it. And even if some of the

4:23

members of Congress, bitterly opposed some

4:25

bits, other bits they were quite happy with. So

4:28

this is the consequence of how it got through.

4:30

Interestingly, once it got through, his panacea

4:33

is passing through the Senate was extraordinary

4:35

as a vote of 79 to

4:37

18. So sort of four

4:40

to one pass. And incidentally,

4:42

there were two, I think there were

4:44

three members of Senate liberals who were

4:46

actually opposed to it, including Bernie Sanders,

4:48

that was on the grounds of the

4:51

support for Israel, that they feel is

4:53

actually wrong, because of the huge

4:55

loss of life that's being incurred in

4:57

the Israeli involvement in Gaza. So it's

5:00

a complicated story, but it cut through

5:02

a combination of sort of rather crude

5:04

politics, but it took six months to

5:06

do it. How much of

5:08

the package goes to Ukraine? And what

5:10

will it be used for? I noticed

5:12

that the US officials are urging Ukrainians

5:14

to use it to consolidate their lines

5:16

and hold tight rather than rush

5:19

another counter offensive. How will that

5:21

be achieved? Well, in

5:23

terms of the proportions of the

5:25

95 billion, in rounded terms, Ukraine has

5:28

61 billion, Israel

5:30

has 26 and a bit billion,

5:33

and Taiwan and sort of Southeast

5:35

Asia, West Pacific has 26 billion. So

5:39

Ukraine is overwhelmingly the largest bit,

5:41

essentially about two thirds. Interestingly,

5:43

most of the aid going to Ukraine

5:45

and Israel, in other words, most of

5:47

all of it is actually going to

5:49

be spent internally in the United States.

5:52

So in other words, it will be used

5:54

to buy arms to center these countries. And

5:56

in fact, one leading

5:59

senator, Mark W.

6:01

Mullen of Oklahoma actually made this point, and

6:03

it's one of the reasons why he was

6:05

prepared to accept it, because much of the

6:07

money doesn't even leave the country, although, of

6:10

course, the equipment does. But

6:12

essentially, Ukraine gets this. The opposition

6:14

to Ukraine getting the

6:17

money comes mainly from right-wing

6:19

Republicans, particularly in Congress, who

6:21

basically think this is an

6:23

unwinnable war. There has to

6:25

be a settlement. Many of them sort

6:27

of took the Trump line of being sort of quite

6:30

rather closer in some ways to the

6:32

Russian side, and they were

6:34

really of a mind to oppose it right

6:36

the way through. But they were in

6:38

a sufficiently small minority not to count. So

6:41

in a long answer to your quick

6:43

question, Ukraine is mostly

6:45

weapons, particularly anti-aircraft

6:47

weapons, but also some

6:50

modern systems as well for sort

6:52

of ground-to-ground fighting. And might

6:54

those weapons, particularly the

6:56

ATAKM 300 medium-range missile,

6:59

could those be a game changer for

7:01

Ukraine? It's a difficult one.

7:03

The ATAKM, as you say, is an

7:05

important weapon. It's an area impact weapon.

7:07

In other words, it can kill people

7:09

and damage so-called soft targets over wide

7:12

areas. And its range is much longer

7:14

than the current system they have. It's

7:16

about three times as long. But

7:18

it is an accurate system. So yes,

7:20

it doubt to be a game changer. We've

7:23

heard so many game changer reports

7:25

over the last two years. But

7:27

the reality is it pushes things a

7:29

little bit on the Ukrainian side, particularly

7:31

if they're trying to lay into targets

7:34

in, well, say, the eastern part of

7:37

Ukraine bordering on Russia, which Russia

7:39

controls, and in Crimea. But

7:42

the problem still remains with Ukraine. This

7:44

is a war which neither side can win, but neither

7:47

side will lose. And at some stage, it

7:50

has to end in negotiated settlements. And to

7:52

that extent, quite a lot of people privately

7:54

will agree with those Republican right wingers.

7:56

They may be pro-Moscow in some ways

7:59

following the Trump- line. But the actually

8:01

the wall does have to come to an

8:03

end through negotiation. And in some ways, this

8:06

may produce a kind of

8:08

balance, which means that negotiations can happen.

8:10

But that's a very positive way of

8:12

looking at I have to say. And

8:14

Paul, what about aid to Israel? Well,

8:17

this, of course, is important for the

8:19

Israelis, we're in this quite extraordinary position

8:21

at the moment, that

8:23

the Biden is really putting a lot of

8:25

pressure on the Israelis to

8:28

get some sort of ceasefire at

8:30

least temporary and allow much more

8:32

aid into Israel, sorry, into Gaza.

8:35

But on the other hand, the United States

8:37

is also putting what, $26 billion of aid,

8:42

supplementary aid for weapons, very large

8:44

number of weapons into Israeli

8:46

hands. Now, to give you an idea, 26 billion

8:49

is about equivalent to one third of

8:51

the total defense spending of either Britain

8:53

or Germany or France. So dealing with

8:55

very large amounts of money, and it's

8:57

certainly true that Israel would sort of

8:59

have to find a way of bringing

9:01

the war to an end if the

9:03

United States pulled the plug. And so

9:05

you had this situation at the moment,

9:08

the United States wanting lots of aid to go

9:10

in, but also, in some ways

9:12

giving Israel the weapons, which produces a

9:15

greater need for aid. It's a crazy

9:17

situation. But that's because Biden in many

9:19

ways is trying to satisfy

9:23

two very different groups within the

9:25

body politic of the United States.

9:27

Paul, thank you very much indeed. That

9:29

was Paul Rogers there. Now here's Carlotta

9:32

Robello with the day's other news headlines.

9:35

Thanks, Georgina. The EU has

9:37

called on international donors to resume funding

9:40

to gather the largest UN agency. It

9:42

comes after a review found that Israel

9:44

had not provided evidence for its claim

9:46

that thousands of UNRAS staff were members

9:48

of terror groups. Several countries

9:50

had halted funding to the agency after

9:53

allegations that some employees took part in

9:55

the Hamas attacks on Israel. Australian

9:57

Police have arrested seven teenagers as per our.

10:00

The wave of counterterrorism raids

10:02

across Sydney claiming. It was

10:04

likely to use may have been

10:06

plotting and o'clock Police say the

10:08

suspects are believed to share a

10:10

religiously motivated violent extremist ideology. The

10:12

Rays are linked to last week

10:14

stabbing of a bishop which police

10:16

declared a terrorist attack and pro

10:19

Palestinian protesters have refused to disband

10:21

from Columbia University's main campus after

10:23

midnight deadline was set by the

10:25

institutions president. Demonstrators were warned alternative

10:27

options would have to be considered

10:29

for clearing the area On the

10:31

New York City campus is. An. Agreement.

10:33

Was reached A group representing.

10:36

Pro: Palestinian protesters said it would

10:38

not continue engaging in negotiations. Those

10:40

are today's headlines. Bucks you dirty?

10:42

No thanks He Carlotta When it's

10:44

time now for a business round

10:46

up with Victoria scholar had his

10:48

investments it interruptus investor Victoria. Thanks

10:50

for coming on the So let's

10:52

start with Tesla. I understand the

10:55

says said last night but that's

10:57

kind of cancer intuitive. Yes,

11:00

that's right, say we that says

11:02

and test that jump by more

11:04

than thirteen percent off trial as

11:06

helping to a best on that

11:08

the she has have a selling

11:10

investors a shrugging off assess quarter

11:12

miss in terms of profit and

11:14

revenues. Instead they were focused on

11:16

the electric vehicle. Make his plans

11:18

to accelerate the rollout of a

11:20

cheap a car with production of

11:22

new models been brought forward from

11:24

late Twenty twenty five to later

11:26

this year. Instead say you're almost

11:28

as clearly hoping that. A. Lower price

11:30

model lil boosie. Demand for electric vehicles

11:32

which have been slowing globally and he

11:35

was old is a close. Both Tesla

11:37

and X firmly Twitter own by the

11:39

same person Elon Musk A methods but

11:42

there was a report by Reuters earth

11:44

and or X with biscuits about sister

11:46

and and and on the excess had

11:49

voice Tesla said Reuters is lying on

11:51

on there on the on their exports

11:53

without pointing out any and actresses this

11:56

the sourcing failed. Us

11:58

or I think it'll musk is. The stranger

12:00

to controversy and he's also always very

12:02

happy to speak his mind that your

12:05

Via I think one of the issues

12:07

that Tessa say is that Elon musk

12:09

is spread to too thinly or he's

12:12

got other companies as well the boring

12:14

company Spacex another is so perhaps you

12:16

might have taken off the ball a

12:18

bit and that could be contributing to

12:21

buy a test. The shares have been

12:23

struggling so much this year. It's also

12:25

it's been dealing with stiff competition from

12:28

China, of course on board a slow.

12:30

And easy demands are and

12:32

pressures from higher interfaces. All

12:34

or let's have a look

12:36

at Guzzi. The parent company

12:38

carrying his plans today says

12:40

incurring of plans today. Oh

12:42

voices. While. It was

12:44

that it's first half profit as

12:46

gonna drop by between forty and

12:48

forty five percent which already sounds

12:50

pretty big, but as as he

12:52

even bigger than unless a pencil

12:54

then it also reported sales down

12:56

ten percent in the first quarter

12:58

and it's key luxury brand Gucci

13:01

suffered an eighteen percent slide in

13:03

sales. Now it's been struggling with

13:05

the difficult market conditions, particularly in

13:07

China where demand distance slowing down,

13:09

but it can't all be explained

13:11

away by China. I think there's

13:13

also the. It at the impact

13:15

of how fashionistas she stepped, preferences and

13:17

school. She was very much their brand

13:20

of the moment for quite a while,

13:22

but now it seems as though those

13:24

such nice as as moved on because

13:26

we seen the other luxury a conglomerate

13:29

like Lvmh and Hermes have held up

13:31

much much better than carrying not have

13:33

a look at Royal Bank, they reported

13:36

twenty eight percent slump in profits. Yes,

13:39

Outside and it is partly because Lloyds

13:41

did pretty well last year on the

13:43

back of rising interest rates which means

13:45

that you can earn more from loans.

13:48

but still, I did see a twenty

13:50

eight percent slump in his last quarter

13:52

pretax profit which was shortest on this

13:54

full costs less Interesting com which is

13:56

a measure of how much it earns

13:59

from loan said the how much it

14:01

pays out to save as also fell

14:03

sharply by about ten percent. or it's

14:05

been dealing with higher borrowing costs are

14:07

which means that there's less demand for

14:10

mortgage is not a business loans or

14:12

and also people have been shifting out

14:14

of cash in their current accounts and

14:16

moving more into savings instead. So Toys

14:19

is having to pay more interest to

14:21

customers on his savings products and are

14:23

they under pressure from politicians and Pups

14:25

regulators to to pass on interest rates

14:27

to say this at the same rate.

14:31

Yeah. Well this is always a

14:33

contentious issue because bank said typically

14:35

ah very quick to pass on

14:38

higher interest rates in the Bank

14:40

of England's to lend to or

14:42

to borrowers in terms of high

14:45

mortgage rates and hi business loans

14:47

but they're less quick to parcel

14:49

not benefits to people by putting

14:51

up that and their savings rates

14:54

say that is something that is

14:56

always a close a Boston monitored

14:58

like you say by regulators and.

15:01

Politicians Victoria thank you very much.

15:03

Indeed, you're listening to the briefing

15:06

on Monaco Radium. Super

15:15

to the precinct on monocle radius.

15:17

This week the National Gallery in

15:19

London has opened it's one painting

15:22

exhibitions care of that year's final

15:24

work, the Martyrdom of a Sealer

15:26

from Sixteen Ten. The painting is

15:28

well known to the world and

15:30

his travels and been exhibited widely.

15:32

Spot: people are homeless nothing about

15:34

his current owner the largest bank

15:36

in Italy And Kisses some Polo

15:39

Mckenna Coppola who's directors, Cultural Development

15:41

Tools and Sisters some Paolo Spot

15:43

by Missouri House to talk. To

15:45

Monica's Tom Web about the history of

15:47

that collections and how it came into

15:50

existence. The. Idea is to

15:52

be a culture of player. But.

15:54

What I want to undermine is that

15:56

to be in a cultural brave from

15:59

the point of view the private company.

16:01

Supporting. The

16:03

cultural public institutions,

16:06

And. The. It definitely needs that

16:08

is. Probably. The most important

16:10

com to be worldwide. For

16:12

it's a irritated. For.

16:15

His. Probably. Collections.

16:18

And probably sort of the network of

16:20

the museums all across it. But it's

16:22

and these what they want to underline.

16:25

Being a private company. Bought

16:27

behaving like her. The

16:29

cultural. Intermission institution know

16:31

that leads is very nicely to

16:33

why you are here is in

16:36

London. Can you give us a

16:38

purpose of your visit Please Yes

16:40

First of on I was like

16:42

to thank God we see now

16:44

the the Director of National Gallery

16:46

and this the National Gallery itself

16:48

us who we are Friends, The

16:50

Lady Tyler the hell out of

16:52

friends with National Gallery across the

16:54

years and the I think that

16:57

it's It's really meaningful to be

16:59

here because of their diversity. And

17:01

thinking about this exhibition nice

17:04

that very will come. Free.

17:06

Exhibition dedicated to the Last Covergirl.

17:09

Because. Of the University of

17:11

National Gallery. On made the. With

17:14

the painting. From. Gallery

17:16

thought yeah. Owned. By

17:19

a private company that has become

17:21

a culture of play, it means

17:23

a lot to us for sure.

17:25

but also to demonstrate our art

17:27

and culture is the the way

17:30

of be not only of the

17:32

public bodies. Aura. Public

17:34

Museums. But. Also it's

17:37

we have been of the

17:39

companies of countries and been

17:41

here to be as guests

17:43

at the anniversary of one

17:46

of the most important museums.

17:48

In the word this talking

17:50

about as an Italian asked

17:53

this I think it's a

17:55

very meaningful. Things. to

17:57

status and also reason for

17:59

him inviting people to go to National

18:01

Gallery and to visit

18:04

the dialogue between the two

18:06

paintings by Caravaggio,

18:08

one from Gallery Italia and the

18:10

other one from National Gallery. So

18:13

it's referred to as a single painting

18:16

exhibition, but that's simply because

18:18

they've already got one. So

18:21

people can expect two. Yeah, exactly.

18:23

It's an exhibition dedicated to the

18:26

last moment of Caravaggio. The last

18:28

Caravaggio is exactly the last moment

18:30

in his life. And

18:33

the paintings themselves and the

18:36

dialogue between the two paintings set

18:39

up at the National Gallery gives

18:42

us probably the feeling

18:44

about that moment that Caravaggio was

18:46

living. And also the strength,

18:48

the power of that image. I think

18:51

it will be a very appreciated

18:53

exhibition. What we called in

18:55

Italy, a small exhibition, but

18:58

meaningfully, for sure. And

19:00

for the purposes of this medium, it's

19:03

radio. Can you paint us a picture of

19:05

the last Caravaggio? It's one of the most

19:07

striking images I've seen. Yeah,

19:09

it's really difficult to

19:12

use the right words to

19:14

talk about that painting and

19:16

that image. Well, the

19:18

strength of Caravaggio and the power of

19:20

Caravaggio was to go directly to the

19:23

point. The message is clear.

19:26

And the realistic way of talking

19:28

about people, their lives, I think

19:30

it's one of

19:32

the most interesting way

19:34

of painting, of one of the most

19:37

famous artists across

19:39

the years. And the martyrdom

19:42

of San Torsolla is

19:44

his last painting. And

19:46

there is also an image of Caravaggio

19:49

itself. It seems like the

19:51

last signature in

19:54

a painting. And you will

19:56

see probably what is the feeling of a

19:58

man that I don't Know. the

20:00

know how. Is probably ready

20:02

to pass away and so it's

20:04

the another reason to God and

20:07

I saw guide to visit Division

20:09

and it's quite a large. The

20:12

same thing very very valuable. yeah

20:14

hello. how are you transposing across

20:16

the world? One good question, it's

20:19

always the season madam move in

20:21

that once of out. Especially

20:23

when know we're talking about

20:26

the really available lots of

20:28

up and of course we

20:30

need the expertise of the

20:32

selected companies that are allowed

20:34

to move. want some of

20:36

like that and also moving

20:38

a painting that the is.

20:41

A. Painting. Under. The

20:43

console of the government what we called the

20:45

need any siblings and then says you have

20:47

to be allowed to move that painting. Even

20:50

if you oughta movie need to

20:52

for a culture reason even if

20:54

you are talking about the. Culture.

20:56

A nice at these exhibitions and sont

20:59

but of course we're talking about the

21:01

culture of us said. That

21:03

the of course it's as the

21:05

is so muna market value. Bastard

21:08

because of it's importance. it's culture

21:10

import of us assault. You have

21:12

to be that station and than

21:15

the painting says. Travels.

21:17

We'd we'd the accordion dismiss

21:19

with that we the person,

21:21

the data and involved in

21:23

that been essential to debate

21:25

The aunt uncle source that

21:27

authorize every single him seem

21:29

it is dedicated to painting

21:31

says opening. Of. Courses, the

21:33

bosses and also when the a

21:35

to need to be on on

21:38

the was. Always. The

21:40

best of the Rise of. From galleries

21:42

idea of courses that skyn

21:45

ceased. That. The Museum and

21:47

the the operator of National Gallery

21:49

in that setting up a dc

21:51

be seen from the visitors. were

21:53

spoken about logistics why didn't we

21:55

talk about what else you've got

21:57

coming up beyond the last caravan

22:00

perhaps you've got a new exhibition coming up

22:02

in Naples. What does 2024

22:04

look like for the rest of

22:06

the year? Well, of course, I

22:08

need probably more than one hour

22:10

to talk about things that

22:13

are going to happen in

22:15

the Galleria d'Italia in Milano,

22:17

Torino, Naples and Vicenza. For

22:20

sure, let me tell you that with

22:22

National Gallery, I think it's

22:25

important to share this information.

22:27

We are welcoming to painting

22:29

by Velasquez from National

22:31

Gallery itself because

22:33

of this friendship. The idea

22:36

is to offer to

22:38

visitors of Galleria d'Italia in

22:40

Naples something that comes

22:43

from London. The idea in

22:45

friendship is, of course, to share things,

22:48

also to share works of art. And

22:50

what we call the guest of honor

22:53

is another small way of

22:55

promoting art and culture, also

22:57

talking about Velasquez and its

23:00

journey to Naples. And

23:02

what we have found in

23:04

our archive was, of course,

23:06

documents related to his journey

23:08

to Naples and to the building, the

23:11

Banco Di Napoli. And so it's

23:14

important to keep on working

23:16

with the cultural institutions such as the

23:18

National Gallery in London. Michaela

23:20

Coppola speaking to Monocle's Tom Webb.

23:22

You're listening to the briefing on

23:24

Monocle Radio. Now

23:32

the Women's Prize Trust, the UK

23:35

charity which creates equitable opportunities

23:37

for women in the world of

23:39

books, announced the shortlist for the

23:42

2024 Women's Prize for Fiction today.

23:44

Now in its 29th year and

23:47

sponsored by Audible and Bailey's, the

23:49

Women's Prize for Fiction shines a

23:51

spotlight on outstanding, ambitious original fiction

23:54

written in English by women from

23:56

anywhere in the world. The

23:58

Chair of the Judges, Monocle, The his debut

24:00

novel Brick Lane was nominated for the

24:02

Booker Prize. Still ends meet to discuss

24:04

the Listener moniker. It's wonderful to have

24:06

you on this programs. I wonder if

24:08

you could tell me about this? The

24:10

overall. Seal of these final

24:13

six book. Us

24:15

The Well. I mean that each and

24:17

original a unique set. quite hard to

24:20

some them up but overall I would

24:22

say that they call a testament to

24:24

the tower of women's. Rights Haggis.

24:27

That gloriously compelling narrative

24:29

with untenable characters' Exquisite

24:33

praise. Emotional,

24:35

fast, and originally flights.

24:38

And so the human Condition and now

24:40

this is a spread of nationalities Irish,

24:42

American, British, and Us. has friends that

24:44

have a look at summer at the

24:46

people on the shortlist. We saw this

24:48

of course a very well known and

24:50

accomplished novelist and thus on and right.

24:52

tell us a little bit about the

24:54

Rent, the Ren. Well. If

24:56

it excludes the miss, the

24:58

frequently fraught relationship between Carmel

25:00

and Had Dogs and now

25:03

am so long subtypes reign

25:05

over the entire family. By

25:07

co most famous poet for

25:10

the still. And

25:12

en to rights it quits it.

25:14

Sentences or be that's orange juice.

25:16

Take see a fake. Such a

25:18

range of emotions, trauma, Anger, resentment,

25:21

even find it's but also

25:23

cheap. Really? Into depicting the

25:25

river of loves that slave beneath

25:28

the old. It's really a dazzling

25:30

achievements and a book. Brothers nice.

25:33

But. Last night it's by Adam

25:35

C. B can assure them some

25:37

and it's an account of the

25:39

Sri Lankan Civil War that really

25:42

centers and women's experiences. the would

25:44

say the tackiness of course she.

25:46

She has four brothers they all

25:48

have bright it says ahead of

25:50

them Sassy The South is to

25:53

time. it's become a doctor and

25:55

ambition actually that she fulfills despite

25:57

the war that breaks out that.

26:00

It had proposed to com each

26:02

a very different way to Los

26:04

de Har because of the conflict.

26:06

it's as say arraying if a

26:08

deeply me the novel that bears

26:10

witness to the suffering and the

26:13

brutality of all sides. It's and

26:15

fencing and it's commitment to the

26:17

complexities and have a clear right

26:19

moral scrutiny. and I promise you

26:21

that if you read that you

26:23

would never suggest her. Some.

26:26

Stunning praise and these we go amounts

26:28

of The Australian right across a truck

26:30

Grenville. Now this is her a book

26:32

or is comes blisters on Monday Before

26:34

we discuss it at It's It's interesting

26:36

to note that actually this is published

26:39

by Can Get so that since independent

26:41

publisher it's nice to see independence there

26:43

and I know to that it's it's

26:45

actually it's edited by Allah. What the

26:47

Tama? Ah so I and I think

26:49

the editors all has a have a

26:51

very big role to play in the

26:54

Stanley. Absolutely, I'm in agony.

26:56

I don't know how long caped been

26:58

working with that. Such a red secede.

27:00

She published many novels to see, so

27:02

she's pretty safe. Bet a when us as

27:04

the women's price. I don't think she's. Also

27:07

been shortlisted privacy as well. So

27:09

of the books are Restless, don't

27:11

Johnny Moon That. It's

27:13

based on the authors his grandmother's

27:16

life that it begins on a

27:18

sheep farm and New South Wales

27:20

that eighty nights he wants. And

27:22

it's only it's a brilliant threats

27:24

he fights constantly against the constraints

27:26

placed on far from women in

27:28

a man's world. and she pays

27:31

a really high price for have

27:33

nonconformity she didn't She built the

27:35

fitness, she loses everything she spoke

27:37

to start hope us that she'd

27:39

nasa lose says have fighting Spare

27:41

a sudden We as such. As. We

27:43

all sat in love with Dolly. Isabella

27:46

Hum and the Cizre any her second book

27:49

but she has been out of of

27:51

one many of awards previously foot foot for

27:53

that for that says but which was the

27:55

Parisians this was called and said ghost

27:57

tell us about it. when

27:59

agility story of Sonia, who is

28:01

a British Palestinian actor who goes

28:04

to visit her sister in Israel,

28:06

I mean, actually to try to recover

28:08

from a doomed or failed love affair. But

28:10

while she's there, she's persuaded to

28:12

join a local theatre troupe that's

28:14

attempting to stage a production of

28:17

Hamlet in Arabic in the

28:19

West Bank. And it's just

28:21

an exquisite piece of storytelling. It weaves

28:24

history and politics and

28:26

family with a really

28:28

profound meditation on the purpose of

28:30

art. I mean, you know, why

28:32

bother staging a production of Hamlet

28:34

in Arabic? And she asks really

28:37

deep questions about that. It's nuanced,

28:39

it's multi-layered, it's gorgeously

28:42

written. And yeah, it's a fantastic achievement.

28:44

We come on to another Irish novelist

28:46

like I. Ann Enright. This is Claire

28:49

Kilroy. Her book is Soldier Soldier. Tell

28:51

us more. So it's

28:53

addressed to a new mother, by

28:56

a new mother, to her infant son. And

28:58

she thinks of herself as a

29:01

wounded soldier and as her little

29:03

boy, as a little sailor.

29:05

And it examines unexpected

29:08

grief about the life

29:10

that she's lost and

29:12

explores kind of the brutal

29:14

banal issues of childcare and the overwhelming

29:17

love that she experiences. It's raw,

29:19

it's funny, it's angry. It's a

29:21

novel that provokes a huge range

29:23

of emotions in the reader. And

29:25

we were all bowled over by

29:27

it. And the final book

29:30

is actually a debut novel. Tell us about River

29:32

East, River West. It's

29:34

set in Shanghai in the mid 2000s.

29:36

And it opens with a wedding. 14 year

29:40

old Alva is absolutely horrified

29:42

that her American mother Sloan is

29:45

marrying Lu Fan, who's a local

29:47

businessman. And the narrative then flips

29:49

between Alva and Lu Fan and

29:51

goes back in time. And it

29:54

brings to life a whole sweep

29:56

of Chinese history and society from

29:58

the Cultural Revolution onwards. about

30:00

reinvention. It's an inversion of the

30:02

usual cross-cultural or immigrant

30:05

story and it's

30:07

original, it's funny and it's

30:09

sometimes really heartbreaking as well.

30:12

And Monica, I know that the Women's

30:14

Prize Trust do all sorts of events

30:17

around these books. There's a fantastic email

30:20

list that goes out and encourages people to

30:22

join in in various ways.

30:25

It's a really a big way to get

30:27

people reading and not just writing and I

30:29

know there's various other prizes, of course, there's

30:32

a non-fiction prize too now and various things

30:34

for writers who are developing work. Just

30:37

bringing all this together, for you as judges

30:39

sitting there as a panel, how hard was

30:41

it to make that choice of the final

30:43

six? Oh, it was incredibly

30:45

tough. I mean, we had a fantastic

30:47

long list of 16 novels and getting

30:51

it down to just six was really

30:54

tough. But I'm incredibly proud of and

30:56

excited about the six titles that we've

30:58

chosen. I mean, of course, we

31:01

all have to lose ones that we love

31:03

along the way, but I think we've got

31:05

the right short list in the end. Monica

31:07

Ali, thank you very much indeed. Monica is

31:09

a writer and a judge of the Women's

31:11

Prize for Fiction and the final winner will

31:13

be announced on June 13th. And

31:16

that's all for this edition of The

31:18

Briefing, which was produced by Tom Webb.

31:20

Our researcher was George Ruskin and our

31:22

studio manager was Lily Austin. The

31:24

briefing is back tomorrow at the same time. I'm

31:27

Georgina Godwin. Goodbye and thanks

31:29

for listening.