Christine Orban: Inside the Heart of Princess Diana - 249 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
MISS SPENCER. Christine Orban is a French writer who was born and raised in Casablanca, Morocco. She lives in Paris and is the author of more than twenty bestselling novels. Her recent book titled “Mademoiselle Spencer” is about Diana, Princess of Wales. It will be published In Italy as “La Signorina Spencer” by Libreria Pienogiorno on July 31st 2025. “Diana thought she was chosen by a man in love, but she was chosen by an institution at work!” “She eclipses her husband; the revenge is not calculated.” “I cannot live without...
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International Comfort Food & Social Media Fame: Jeremy Scheck’s Culinary Journey - 248 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
COOKING SMARTER. Jeremy Scheck has charmed a new generation of home cooks with his simple tasty recipes and reliable culinary know-how. He is the author of ScheckEats―Cooking Smarter: Friendly Recipes with a Side of Science and has been featured on the Today show, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, BBC Radio, People, and Access Hollywood, among others. A graduate of Cornell University with a double major in Spanish and Italian, and significant coursework in food science, Jeremy was brought up in Washington D.C. "The book evolved into being accessible more broadly and not...
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Barry Diller: Either You Are or You Aren’t – A Life of Bold Decisions - 247 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
WHO KNEW. Barry Diller is an American businessman and philanthropist who recently published his life story in his book Who Knew with Simon and Schuster. The chairman and senior executive of IAC and Expedia Group, he founded the Fox Broadcasting Company with Rupert Murdoch and USA Broadcasting. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1994. Barry Diller is married to the fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg. "You fake it until you make it" "It became the number one network, and when there were only four networks that was some achievement." "Serendipity struck...
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David McDermott on Living in the Past: I Time Traveled Through Art - 246 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
A TRYST WITH TIME. David McDermott is an artist whose work has been exhibited internationally since the 1980s. In his experiments with time he emphatically insists on the beautiful and the miraculous, looking beyond the promises of techno-modernity and mirroring themes of 19th century artists’ rejection of the Industrial Revolution. “This old-fashioned concept of moving forward in time and abandoning the past, abandoning civilisation to move forward, it’s a very outdated concept.“ “Right now, my painting’s a rebellion against modern art.“ “I’m very interested in my...
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Hope, Friendship, and Faith: A Life of Service with Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe - 245 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
IN CONVERSATION WITH CARDINAL TIMOTHY RADCLIFFE : A LIFE OF HOPE AND HUMANITY. Timothy Radcliffe OP is an English priest who served as Master of the Order of Preachers from 1992 to 2001. He is the only friar of the Dominican Order's English Province to hold the office of Master-General. Created a Cardinal by Pope Francis in 2024, he took part in the recent Conclave to elect Pope Leo XIV, the first American Pope. "What really sustains me all my life has been friendship.” "You meet people as a fellow seeker after meaning, because every human is really in the depths of their being a seeker.”...
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From Antiques to Albany: Lucy Moore on Christopher Gibbs - 244 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
THE CHRISTOPHER GIBBS AESTHETIC. Lucy Moore is an author and historian, well-known for her engaging biographies, including of the dancer Nijinsky, the politician and rake Lord Hervey, and three generations of Indian princesses in Maharanis. She wrote Anything Goes: A Biography of the Roaring Twenties and the widely acclaimed In Search of Us: Adventures in Anthropology. As Editor of the book Christopher Gibbs: His World she sought to create an enduring memorial to Christopher Gibbs, the renowned British antiques dealer, decorator, and quintessential English...
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Inside the Mind of a True Original: Why Rolf Sachs Refuses to Copy - 243 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
ALWAYS ON A ROLL. Rolf Sachs is an artist born in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1955 who works across a diverse range of media, from photography, painting, sculpture and installation, to interiors and set design. In 2018 he moved to Rome where he opened a new studio in 2020. From July 17, 2025 to October 25, 2025 the Kunsthalle Schweinfurt in Germany presents Rolf Sachs: be-rühren, his most comprehensive institutional exhibition to date. The title be-rühren is a wordplay on the German verb ‘to touch’, and captures Sachs's focus of a deeply empathetic and sensory...
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The Future of Travel with David Prior - 242 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
BUILDING EXPERIENCES FOR LIFE STORIES. David Prior is a travel writer, editor, and the founder of Prior, a travel and media company that curates immersive journeys and offers custom travel planning. He was formerly a contributing editor at Condé Nast Traveler and Vogue Living, and his work has appeared in various publications like T: The New York Times Style Magazine and WSJ. “Australia is the most visceral example of humans’ connection to the power of the land.” “PRIOR has a very global reach and attracts a certain type of person.” “If you want to be involved in...
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Sir John Chipman on the New Global Threats: We Are Not Ready for What’s Coming - 241 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
WORKING FOR GLOBAL SECURITY. Sir John Chipman KCMG is Executive Chairman of The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). As former Director-General and Chief Executive of the IISS he directed its growth globally as the world’s premier institute providing facts and analysis on international security issues. He developed the IISS role as a convener of vital inter-governmental summits, conceiving and establishing two regional security institutions under IISS auspices: in the Asia-Pacific the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue hosted by Singapore, and in the Middle East the...
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Piers Secunda Turns War Zones into Art - Here’s Why It Matters - 240 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
PORTRAYING THE DESTRUCTION OF CULTURE. Piers Secunda studied painting at Chelsea College of Art in London. Since the late nineties he has developed a studio practice using paint in a sculptural manner, rejecting the limitations imposed by the canvas. Piers’ work examines some of the most significant subjects of our time, such as the deliberate destruction of culture. “I make the work so that in the future people can learn from them” “Sometimes people come into art galleries and see my work and cry” “The bottom line is a level of awareness”
info_outlineEDUCATING THE CONSUMER ABOUT COFFEE AND TEA. DAVID VEAL has been deeply involved in both the coffee industry and the tea industry for over 40 years. He is the former Executive Director of the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe and is currently Executive Director of The European Speciality Tea Association, a position he took up in May 2019.
“There is a commonality between tea and coffee, and that is education.”
“We’re all about promoting speciality tea and fostering a speciality tea community worldwide.”
“The path that speciality tea is taking is similar to the one that speciality coffee took, but about 20 to 30 years behind.”
• David Veal has over 42 years of experience in the coffee and tea industries, initially working in the coffee sector and later becoming the executive director of the European Speciality Tea Association.
• Coffee originated in Ethiopia and spread to other regions like Indonesia, India, and Brazil. There are two main varieties of commercially grown coffee - robusta and arabica, with arabica being the higher quality.
• The coffee industry has seen a cultural revival in recent decades, with the rise of coffee shop chains like Starbucks making coffee a more sophisticated and social drink.
• Tea has a much longer history, with origins in China thousands of years ago. It is deeply ingrained in the cultures of countries like China, India, and the UK, where it is a popular daily beverage.
• The tea industry faces challenges similar to coffee, with a divide between mass-market, low-quality tea and the speciality, high-quality tea market. Factors like climate change and an ageing workforce are also impacting tea production.
• Proper brewing methods, water quality, and education about the nuances of different teas and coffees are important for consumers to appreciate the full flavour profiles of these beverages.
• Overall, both the coffee and tea industries are evolving, with the speciality and premium segments offering opportunities for growth and appreciation of these complex and culturally significant commodities.