Sep 13, 2026 · 59 min · 13 segments
David Bodanis and Nina dos Santos join Emma Nelson to discuss the week’s biggest stories. Plus: Monocle’s Gulf correspondent on the Arab Media Summit 2026 and Tyler Brûlé brings us the latest from…
Tyler Brûlé
David BodanisGuestEmma NelsonHostNina dos SantosGuest
Inzamam Rashid
A while ago, I was speaking to a woman who is an air hostess on one of the Eastern Asian airlines, one of the famous ones.
And she said they have to smile at people, especially if they're rich, you know, business in first class.
And what they do, because it's so repulsive and irritating, they look just between the eyes, a drop above the nose.
So people think you're actually looking in their eyes and you can make yourself smile and they can't tell that you would rather die.
That's funny because that's a well-known communications technique that if you're trying to look at each other for a sustained period of time, you look at each other between the eyes because otherwise you will actually get the giggles, David.
I think one of the things that happens at airports is that nobody is the way that they are at home.
And suddenly you connect with a real person sitting next to you or occasionally an official.
But the rest of the time, if you're busy with, I don't know, consultants telling you to hurry up or people emphasizing fear on your social media feeds, you become this different person.
And there's a lack of patience as well, isn't there, Tyler, that when you have landed off a plane, you just want to get where you want to get to?
Of course, I think David's absolutely right that there is that sense of When you touch down, then we just need to keep moving forward.
And why is it taking so long for the bus to arrive at the outer terminal at the airline? I landed and didn't want to pay for a more expensive gate that I have to wait to then be, of course, you know, shuttled across five runways.
What you do, what you are doing, though, is keeping a very close eye on not an airport, but an airline.
A while ago, I was speaking to a woman who is an air hostess on one of the Eastern Asian airlines, one of the famous ones.
And she said they have to smile at people, especially if they're rich, you know, business in first class.
And what they do, because it's so repulsive and irritating, they look just between the eyes, a drop above the nose.
So people think you're actually looking in their eyes and you can make yourself smile and they can't tell that you would rather die.
That's funny because that's a well-known communications technique that if you're trying to look at each other for a sustained period of time, you look at each other between the eyes because otherwise you will actually get the giggles, David.
I think one of the things that happens at airports is that nobody is the way that they are at home.
And suddenly you connect with a real person sitting next to you or occasionally an official.
But the rest of the time, if you're busy with, I don't know, consultants telling you to hurry up or people emphasizing fear on your social media feeds, you become this different person.
And there's a lack of patience as well, isn't there, Tyler, that when you have landed off a plane, you just want to get where you want to get to?
Of course, I think David's absolutely right that there is that sense of When you touch down, then we just need to keep moving forward.
And why is it taking so long for the bus to arrive at the outer terminal at the airline? I landed and didn't want to pay for a more expensive gate that I have to wait to then be, of course, you know, shuttled across five runways.
What you do, what you are doing, though, is keeping a very close eye on not an airport, but an airline.
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