Monocle on Sunday Global stories from Bangkok, Helsinki and Mipim
Mar 15, 2026
Petri Burtsoff, Helsinki correspondent covering Nordic security and local life. Tessa Szyszkowitz, European politics commentator with a focus on media and philosophy. Charles Hecker, analyst of geopolitics and media–military ties. Tyler Brûlé, on-location reporter from Bangkok on retail and culture. They discuss far-right rallies, supermarket culture and retail innovation, media–military tensions, sanctions evasion and urban mobility.
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Use Roadside Stores To Reduce Friction
- Retailers should create suburban 'roadside' formats to reduce friction for car-dependent shoppers and host local vendors to build weekend community occasions.
- Tyler Brûlé cited Uniqlo Roadside as a box-store concept that brings local coffee and stallholders to suburbs with complicated traffic.
US Media Facing Political Regulatory Pressure
- The US administration is exerting pressure on broadcasters and regulators, signalling a shift toward politicized oversight of mainstream media.
- Charles Hecker cites FCC chair Brendan Carr threatening license revocations and linked transactions favoring friendly owners as evidence of this trend.
Unchecked Presidential Messaging Reshapes News
- Direct, unfiltered presidential messaging via calls and surprise interviews is changing newsworthiness and straining fact-checking routines.
- Tessa Szyszkowitz and Charles Hecker note Trump phoning journalists at odd hours and producing a continuous stream of unchecked claims.