Guy De Launey
@guydelauney.bsky.social
Balkans Correspondent 📹 BBC News, 🖋️ Monocle
Presenter 🎙 Monocle Radio
Moderator ⚖ at large
Presenter 🎙 Monocle Radio
Moderator ⚖ at large
My Bluesky followers have finally ticked over to the 5.9k mark. This took many months, in comparison to the first 5.8k, who came very quickly. Of course I would like to have more followers and engagement. Any thoughts on why the slowdown, and what I could do about it? And is it me, or Bluesky?
November 5, 2025 at 10:11 AM
My Bluesky followers have finally ticked over to the 5.9k mark. This took many months, in comparison to the first 5.8k, who came very quickly. Of course I would like to have more followers and engagement. Any thoughts on why the slowdown, and what I could do about it? And is it me, or Bluesky?
At Novi Sad railway station, ahead of the commemoration for the 16 people who died in last year's canopy collapse in Serbia's second city. With camera crew Bata.
November 1, 2025 at 9:30 AM
At Novi Sad railway station, ahead of the commemoration for the 16 people who died in last year's canopy collapse in Serbia's second city. With camera crew Bata.
Boing, boom tschak! Looks like the new, expanded lineup is heading on tour. @notpodium.bsky.social should approve.
October 20, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Boing, boom tschak! Looks like the new, expanded lineup is heading on tour. @notpodium.bsky.social should approve.
Screen grab, with the campionissimo on the left and me in the middle. I appear to be smiling. Which, believe me, was some achievement given the gradients.
October 13, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Screen grab, with the campionissimo on the left and me in the middle. I appear to be smiling. Which, believe me, was some achievement given the gradients.
Wish me luck - I'm about to take on Tadej Pogačar up one of Slovenia's toughest climbs. It will be an unequal contest.
October 12, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Wish me luck - I'm about to take on Tadej Pogačar up one of Slovenia's toughest climbs. It will be an unequal contest.
The mountain was living in my head. So I just had to climb it. The leg test ahead of Sunday's Pogi Challenge proved positive. The world's greatest male cyclist will be chasing me and hundreds of other hopefuls up Slovenia's toughest climb, Krvavec. Stand by for stories, if I survive.
October 9, 2025 at 9:06 AM
The mountain was living in my head. So I just had to climb it. The leg test ahead of Sunday's Pogi Challenge proved positive. The world's greatest male cyclist will be chasing me and hundreds of other hopefuls up Slovenia's toughest climb, Krvavec. Stand by for stories, if I survive.
Three years ago today, I saw De La Soul in Liverpool, ticking off a very large entry on my gig bucket list. Look at that set-up - a nine-piece band. Other hip hop acts take note - you can do better than a backing track and an empty stage (Tyler and Travis, I'm looking at you). Vale Dave/Trugoy.
July 31, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Three years ago today, I saw De La Soul in Liverpool, ticking off a very large entry on my gig bucket list. Look at that set-up - a nine-piece band. Other hip hop acts take note - you can do better than a backing track and an empty stage (Tyler and Travis, I'm looking at you). Vale Dave/Trugoy.
It's the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre. In neighbouring Bratunac, which is majority-Serb, photos of Serbs who died between 1992-95 have been placed at the side of the road. A Serb politician asked me why Bosniaks only talk about Bosniak victims, never Serbs. Genocide denial spreading.
July 11, 2025 at 3:15 PM
It's the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre. In neighbouring Bratunac, which is majority-Serb, photos of Serbs who died between 1992-95 have been placed at the side of the road. A Serb politician asked me why Bosniaks only talk about Bosniak victims, never Serbs. Genocide denial spreading.
Just a regular morning at Paris Gare de l'Est.
June 18, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Just a regular morning at Paris Gare de l'Est.
Final Monocle Daily of the week! Tom and Elliot have got that Friday feeling...
June 13, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Final Monocle Daily of the week! Tom and Elliot have got that Friday feeling...
Another Monocle Daily coming up! Stand by...
June 12, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Another Monocle Daily coming up! Stand by...
Brace yourselves! About to go live on the Monocle Daily, with Elliot at the controls and Tom in the producer's chair.
June 11, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Brace yourselves! About to go live on the Monocle Daily, with Elliot at the controls and Tom in the producer's chair.
Odd that there is a qualifier in front of "popular music". For an artist who had 3 US number one pop hits, plenty of top 10s, was a proper multimedia phenomenon and resolutely refused to have his music put in any one "bag". Sly and the Family Stone's influence was much broader than implied here.
June 10, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Odd that there is a qualifier in front of "popular music". For an artist who had 3 US number one pop hits, plenty of top 10s, was a proper multimedia phenomenon and resolutely refused to have his music put in any one "bag". Sly and the Family Stone's influence was much broader than implied here.
Brian Wilson (of The Beach Boys) used to have a health food shop called The Radiant Radish. You could nick that.
May 17, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Brian Wilson (of The Beach Boys) used to have a health food shop called The Radiant Radish. You could nick that.
Would help, wouldn't it? Between universities, BBC World Service and the cultural sector, that's a *massive* amount of income and influence for the UK. But they always seem to get overlooked amid culture war nonsense about fishing. Perhaps they're just too big - like Yoshitomo Nara's puppy.
May 13, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Would help, wouldn't it? Between universities, BBC World Service and the cultural sector, that's a *massive* amount of income and influence for the UK. But they always seem to get overlooked amid culture war nonsense about fishing. Perhaps they're just too big - like Yoshitomo Nara's puppy.
To mark VE Day, here's my Dad. Talking to a younger relative back in 2015 on his 90th birthday in Trieste, where he served during WW2. During minesweeping operations in the Adriatic, his boat, the HMS Aries, came a cropper. There's a reason they got double tots of rum on minesweepers.
May 8, 2025 at 4:06 PM
To mark VE Day, here's my Dad. Talking to a younger relative back in 2015 on his 90th birthday in Trieste, where he served during WW2. During minesweeping operations in the Adriatic, his boat, the HMS Aries, came a cropper. There's a reason they got double tots of rum on minesweepers.
Yeah, I always call it "kecks" (as in the Liverpudlian for trousers), but recall that the official pronunciation is potentially problematic.
April 19, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Yeah, I always call it "kecks" (as in the Liverpudlian for trousers), but recall that the official pronunciation is potentially problematic.
Another ice cream van. Filmed where I'm from.
April 16, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Another ice cream van. Filmed where I'm from.
And then there's this, which I got on CD when it first came out. I was living in Japan, where it was released as "Young Ideas". Turns out it sounds fabulous through a half-decent hifi, rather than the boom box I had at the time. Who'da thunk it, eh? Bologna souvenirs & enduring listening pleasure. 👇
April 16, 2025 at 4:33 PM
And then there's this, which I got on CD when it first came out. I was living in Japan, where it was released as "Young Ideas". Turns out it sounds fabulous through a half-decent hifi, rather than the boom box I had at the time. Who'da thunk it, eh? Bologna souvenirs & enduring listening pleasure. 👇
So much good stuff, but you have to choose. I flicked through the racks of new vinyl, but ended up in the back room with the used LPs and bargains. And let serendipity take its course. I'd lost track of Richard Hawley for a while. But for €19, I'm back in. This is a total cracker. 👇
April 16, 2025 at 4:33 PM
So much good stuff, but you have to choose. I flicked through the racks of new vinyl, but ended up in the back room with the used LPs and bargains. And let serendipity take its course. I'd lost track of Richard Hawley for a while. But for €19, I'm back in. This is a total cracker. 👇
Found myself staying round the corner from this enticing establishment in Bologna the other week. Inside, it's everything you'd want from a record shop. New releases, plenty of catogue, used section and some bargain bins. And here's why physical media beats streaming (for me, anyway)... A short🧵 👇
April 16, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Found myself staying round the corner from this enticing establishment in Bologna the other week. Inside, it's everything you'd want from a record shop. New releases, plenty of catogue, used section and some bargain bins. And here's why physical media beats streaming (for me, anyway)... A short🧵 👇
And did I make the coffee? Eh, figure the water's hot enough.
April 16, 2025 at 12:13 PM
And did I make the coffee? Eh, figure the water's hot enough.
Dropped ground coffee on the kitchen floor. Scraped most of it up. All went a bit Keith Haring.
April 16, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Dropped ground coffee on the kitchen floor. Scraped most of it up. All went a bit Keith Haring.