Professor Eugene Rogan: The Arabs - How the Modern Middle East Was Shaped- 269 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Release Date: 01/18/2026
Professor Eugene Rogan: The Arabs - How the Modern Middle East Was Shaped- 269 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
HISTORIAN OF THE ARABS. Professor Eugene Rogan is Director of the Middle East Centre at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford. He has a B.A. in economics from Columbia, and an M.A. and PhD in Middle Eastern history from Harvard. Among many other titles, he is author of which has been translated into 18 languages and was named one of the best books of 2009 by The Economist, The Financial Times, and The Atlantic Monthly. “The Arab peoples were never reconciled to being colonised by the British and French.” “The idea of...
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Is Design Art? Inside the Gallery Shaping the Icons of the 21st Century: Clémence and Didier Krzentowski - 268 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
VISIONARY IN DESIGN. Clémence and Didier Krzentowski founded Galerie kreo in 1999. Today Galerie kreo is located in a very beautiful building in 31 rue Dauphine in the centre of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. It is a gallery of 20th and 21st century design and they are preparing a very important exhibition that will take place at Christie's in Paris from January 14 to January 28, 2026, when they will present the masterpieces of their collection, 65 iconic pieces from the gallery. “We call ourselves a research laboratory, because the idea is not to produce just another chair or table, but to...
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Marco Delogu on Facing Antonello da Messina as a Photographer - 267 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
INTIMATE DIALOGUES WITH ANTONELLO DA MESSINA. Marco Delogu is an acclaimed Italian photographer, publisher, and cultural director whose work focuses on portraits of groups sharing common languages and experiences. He served a successful four year term as the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in London from 2015 to 2019, noted for his innovative approach as the first photographer leading such an institute. Since 2022 Delogu is President of the , an instrumental body of the city of Rome that manages an integrated system of cultural spaces and events,...
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"Identity Is Something You Choose” — Simone Fattal on Art, Exile, and Belonging - 266 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
MANIFESTATIONS OF THE VOYAGE. Simone Fattal is a Lebanese-American artist. Born in 1942 in Damascus, she was educated in Beirut and Paris, studying philosophy at the École des Lettres and the Sorbonne, as well as archaeology at the École du Louvre. Simone Fattal and Etel Adnan (1925–2021) were life partners for 49 years, artists who shared a profound creative, political, and personal connection. Their multidisciplinary work spans painting, sculpture, poetry, and publishing. “We have to ask the women prisoners to write the poems. Which they did, and I transcribed...
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What It Means to Be Jewish Today: The Chief Rabbi of Rome - Riccardo Di Segni - 265 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
COMMITTED TO DIALOGUE. Riccardo Di Segni is the Chief Rabbi of Rome and director of the Italian Rabbinical School since 2001. He is a retired medical doctor specializing in radiology, and as Vice President of the National Committee for Bioethics (Comitanto Nazionale per la Bioetica) in Italy combines his rabbinical duties with his background in medicine. Di Segni is an author whose work focuses on religious, historical, and cultural aspects of Jewish life. “Despite everything, Judaism endures.” “It is the world that is changing, not just Israel.” “My mother always told me,...
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Gildo Zegna on Building a Family Empire That Lasts Four Generations - 264 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
THE GOLDEN FLEECE OF ZEGNA. Ermenegildo “Gildo” Zegna is Chairman and CEO of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group, founded in 1910 as a textile company by his grandfather and namesake in Trivero, Italy. Under his leadership, the Group has strengthened its position in high-end menswear and has grown into one of the leading global companies in the luxury sector. In 2011, Zegna was awarded the title of Cavaliere del Lavoro (Knight of Labour) by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano. In 2021, the Ermenegildo Zegna Group was listed on the New York Stock...
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Why Culture Matters More Than Ever - Cardinal Tolentino de Mendonça’s Call to Humanity - 263 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
José Tolentino de Mendonça is a theologian, university professor, and one of the most original voices in modern Portuguese. Born in the island of Madeira in 1965, today he is Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, an administrative unit of the Roman Curia. He is Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Institute for Christian Archaeology and a Bishop since 2018. From 2018 to 2022 he was Librarian of the Holy Roman Church. He was made a Cardinal in October 2019. “The common thread running through my story is the importance of attention to culture, dialogue, and the power of...
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Inside Global Power: Giuliano da Empoli on Trump, Putin & the New Tech Elites - 262 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
MPERIAL PLAY. Giuliano da Empoli was born in 1973. He is an Italian and Swiss writer and political scientist living in France. He was a senior advisor to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. His debut novel The Wizard of the Kremlin became an international bestseller and was translated into 35 languages. A 2025 film version stars Jude Law as Vladimir Putin. His latest book The Hour of the Predator is currently France’s best-selling non-fiction title. “These characters could originate from a Machiavelli book or a Roman history book.” “The predator’s political...
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Mishal Husain: The Art of the Interview in an Age of Noise - 261 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
A JOURNEY THROUGH JOURNALISM. Mishal Husain is a celebrated British journalist who joined Bloomberg from the BBC, where she presented its leading news programme Today on BBC Radio 4 for over a decade. Before joining Today in 2013, she was an anchor on the international news channel BBC World News. In 2024 she was awarded the Charles Wheeler Award for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism by the British Journalism Review. Mishal has written a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller family memoir, Broken Threads: A Family From Empire to Independence, and The Skills: How to Win at...
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Architecture as a Language - Sean Griffiths on Cities, Power & Design - 260 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
MODERN ARCHITECT. Sean Griffiths is Professor of Architecture at the University of Westminster and former Visiting Professor of Architectural Design at Yale University. His current architecture and design practice Modern Architect was founded in 2014 and has worked largely on residential, commercial and public art projects. Previously Sean Griffiths was a founding director of the internationally renowned art/architecture practice FAT, where he won many design awards. FAT represented the UK at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2014. “I was really thinking I would pursue a career...
info_outlineHISTORIAN OF THE ARABS. Professor Eugene Rogan is Director of the Middle East Centre at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford. He has a B.A. in economics from Columbia, and an M.A. and PhD in Middle Eastern history from Harvard. Among many other titles, he is author of The Arabs: A History which has been translated into 18 languages and was named one of the best books of 2009 by The Economist, The Financial Times, and The Atlantic Monthly.
“The Arab peoples were never reconciled to being colonised by the British and French.”
“The idea of united Arabs has been enormously appealing to Arab peoples right through the 20th century.”
“Almost all the governments right through the Middle East are nation states governed by constitutions. The opposition is Islamist, but not the form of government.”