Culture Lounge by ASSOULINE

Episoade

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  The Decisive Moment with Glenn Spiro 17.09.2026 24min

  In this episode of The Decisive Moment, master jeweler Glenn Spiro reflects on a life shaped by risk, reinvention, and devotion to craft. He left school at 14, abandoned a budding child-actor career, and found jewelry almost by instinct, going on to pioneer titanium in fine jewelry with large, feather-light pieces women could finally wear with ease. He speaks to walking away from his own business to join Christie's, his creative director approach, the kinetic Papillon ring made famous by Beyoncé and now permanently in the V&A, and the family and resilience running beneath it all.
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  Wine & Cuisine with Jeannie Cho Lee & Chef Brian Kim 28.08.2026 34min

  In this episode of the Culture Lounge podcast, recorded at Assouline's New York headquarters, Jeannie Cho Lee, the first Asian Master of Wine, and chef Brian Kim, founder of Oiji Hospitality and chef-owner of the Michelin-starred Oiji Mi and bōm, come together to consider what it means to eat and drink beautifully today. Friends for more than a decade, they trace the winding routes that led each of them into food and wine against their parents' wishes, and the years spent learning the grammar of flavor: fermentation and the hundreds of kimchis that live in a Korean kitchen, acidity and tannin and the way a full-bodied red will keep chili burning on the palate twice as long.
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  Savoir Faire: The Impossible Collection of Wine 14.08.2026 11min

  In this episode of Savoir-Faire, Alex Assouline is joined by founders Prosper and Martine Assouline to revisit the Impossible Collection of Wine, ten years after its release. Together they explore treating a book as an object as much as a text, the painstaking process of hand-replicating vintage labels for the world's 100 greatest wines, and their collaboration with co-author Enrico Bernardo, the world's youngest "Best Sommelier in the World." They reflect on what makes a collection truly impossible, and why this title remains one of Assouline's most-collected.
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  The Decisive Moment with Ken Fulk 31.07.2026 26min

  In this episode of The Decisive Moment, designer Ken Fulk steps into the Assouline archive room in New York to trace the spark that turned a boy with illusions of grandeur into one of America's most theatrical creative minds. Fulk shares how every project begins with words, why he refuses to repeat himself, and the laundromat encounter that changed his life 35 years ago. A conversation about the moments, little and large, that make a life worth designing.
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  Beyond The Cover With Deborah Calmeyer "African Adventures" 17.07.2026 2min

  In this episode of Beyond the Cover, Alex Assouline sits down with Deborah Calmeyer, founder and CEO of Roar Africa, to explore the making of African Adventures. The word safari means "to journey" in Swahili, and that is the idea at the heart of the book: not a luxury trip, but a way of life. From the Victoria Falls to the Okavango Delta, the great migration to the mountain gorillas of Rwanda, this book sets out to capture the greatest safari on Earth through an authentic lens.For more inspiration, head to assouline.com. To learn more about African Adventures visit  www.assouline.com/products/african-adventures-the-greatest-safari-on-earth
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  Travel with Kevin Wendle and Karla Martinez de Salas 10.07.2026 27min

  In this episode of the Culture Lounge podcast, recorded at Assouline's Mexico City boutique, Karla Martinez de Salas, Head of Editorial Content at Vogue Mexico and Latin America, and hotelier Kevin Wendle come together to reflect on the cities that have shaped them, and the one that continues to captivate them both. From the meditative stillness of Kyoto to the effortless sophistication of Paris, and the unhurried ease of the Riviera Maya, they trace the places that have left their mark, and what each has taught them about the art of being somewhere fully. The conversation turns to the enduring magic of the Mexican capital, a place of relentless creative energy and deep cultural memory.
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  Beyond The Cover with Sam Robles "Football Roots" 03.07.2026 6min

  In this episode of Beyond the Cover, Brazilian photographer Sam Robles reveals the story behind Football Roots. A decade. Eighteen countries. One enduring idea: the game, in its purest form, begins long before anyone is watching. Robles spent nearly ten years documenting the football that never reaches broadcast television: children playing in alleyways, on dirt fields, between two rocks standing in for goalposts.For more inspiration, head to assouline.com, where culture meets luxury. To learn more about Football Roots visit ⁠https://www.assouline.com/products/football-roots-the-spirit-of-the-game
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  The Decisive Moment with Valentina De Santis 26.06.2026 22min

  In this episode of The Decisive Moment with Alex Assouline, Valentina De Santis, owner and CEO of Grand Hotel Tremezzo and Passalacqua, reflects on growing up inside a family legacy and the instincts that shaped her into one of hospitality's most quietly formidable leaders. Following Passalacqua's recognition as the best hotel in the world, De Santis speaks candidly about inheritance and intention, and why the pursuit of soul over scale is the only philosophy that has ever made sense to her.Tune in to our next episode on July 10th.
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  Beyond The Cover with Daniel Arsham "The Book of HOV" 19.06.2026 2min

  In this episode of Beyond the Cover, Daniel Arsham takes us beyond the pages of The Book of HOV Special Limited Edition, an exclusive collaboration between the celebrated visual artist and Assouline that extends the world of Jay-Z into an object of enduring significance. Arsham, who created the iconic "HOV Hands" sculpture for the Brooklyn Public Library exhibition, brings that same vision to one of the most celebrated books in Assouline's collection.For more inspiration, head to assouline.com, where culture meets luxury.To learn more about The Book of HOV Special Limited Edition visit assouline.com/the-book-of-hov-a-tribute-to-jay-z-ultimate
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  Savoir Faire: Football: The Impossible Collection 12.06.2026 9min

  In this episode of Savoir Faire, Alex, Martine, and Prosper pull back the curtain on Football: The Impossible Collection, a love letter to the world's most beloved sport and an object entirely worthy of it. Housed in a handcrafted clamshell case complete with a 3D sculpture of a football, every detail was chosen to capture the soul of the game. For more inspiration, head to ⁠assouline.com,⁠ where culture meets luxury. To learn more about Football: The Impossible Collection visit: ⁠assouline.com/products/venice-la-serenissima⁠.
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  Beyond The Cover with Claiborne Swanson Frank “Father and Child” 05.06.2026 3min

  In this episode of Beyond the Cover, Claiborne Swanson Frank takes us beyond the pages of Father and Child, a photographic exploration of modern fatherhood that captures the joy, tenderness, and profound connection between fathers and their children.For more inspiration, head to assouline.com, where culture meets luxury. To learn more about Father and Child visit assouline.com/products/lfather-and-child.
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  The Decisive Moment with Simon Kim 29.05.2026 21min

  In this episode of The Decisive Moment, Gracious Hospitality Management Founder and CEO Simon Kim reflects on the pivotal choice that transformed his career and the philosophy that continues to guide it. Following the success of COTE, the world’s only Michelin-starred Korean steakhouse, and COQODAQ, his Michelin Bib Gourmand–recognized fried chicken restaurant, Kim speaks candidly about ambition, identity, and the quiet power of remaining rooted in where you come from. Drawing from his experience building one of hospitality’s most distinctive voices, he explores why authenticity is not simply a personal value, but a business philosophy capable of shaping culture itself.Tune in to our next episode on June 12th.
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  Beyond The Cover with Alexandra Fairweather "Living With Chamberlain" 22.05.2026 3min

  In this episode of Beyond The Cover, we sit down with Alexandra Fairweather, daughter of John Chamberlain and Director of the John Chamberlain Estate, as she takes us Beyond The Cover of “Living with Chamberlain”—a vibrant tribute to the legendary artist. The book highlights his boundary-pushing vision, lasting collector relationships, and a body of work that remains as formidable today as ever.For more inspiration, head to assouline.com, where culture meets luxury. To learn more about Living with Chamberlain visit assouline.com/products/living-with-chamberlain.
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  Beyond the Cover with Marylin Fitoussi "Emily in Paris: The Fashion Guide" 15.05.2026 3min

  In this episode of the Beyond the Cover, Alex Assouline sits down with Marylin Fitoussi, the Emily in Paris costume designer, proclaims: “Books are the best accessories ever. So, less selfies and more books.”For more inspiration, head to assouline.com, where culture meets luxury. To learn more about Emily in Paris: The Fashion Guide, visit assouline.com/products/emily-in-paris-the-fashion-guide.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
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  Savoir Faire: Venice, La Serenissima 01.05.2026 8min

  In this episode of the Culture Lounge podcast, we introduce Savoir Faire, a new series devoted to the rarest of arts: knowing exactly what to do, and doing it with intention. To open the series, Alex Assouline sits down with Martine and Prosper Assouline around a title that is, in every sense, a masterwork: Venice: La Serenissima. A portrait of the world's most alluring city, and an object worthy of it.For more inspiration, head to assouline.com, where culture meets luxury. To learn more about Venice, La Serenissima visit: assouline.com/products/venice-la-serenissima.
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  Interior Design with Stellene Volandes and Miles Redd 17.04.2026 21min

  In this episode of the Culture Lounge podcast interior designer Miles Redd and Editorial Director of ELLE Decor and Editor-in-Chief of Town & Country Stellene Volandes come together for a conversation as layered and considered as the rooms that inspire it. They trace the winding paths that shaped their careers, step inside the world of auction houses, and reflect on the objects we choose to live with, and why we choose them. Along the way, they indulge in a spirited fantasy: the legendary jewelry collections they would most love to call their own. 
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  The Decisive Moment with Martine Assouline 03.04.2026 15min

  There are conversations that inform. And then there are conversations that transform. Season Two of The Culture Lounge Podcast opens with the latter. Returning with a new series called The Decisive Moment, listeners are invited into something rarer than a typical interview: a genuine reckoning. Host Alex Assouline sits down with the visionaries who have shaped culture, art, and ideas, and asks the question that cuts beneath biography and achievement. The series opens with Martine Assouline, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Assouline, in a conversation as intimate as it is illuminating. Guided by instinct and a lifelong devotion to beauty, Martine reflects on the photography book that first ignited her ambition to become a publisher, the discipline required to capture the soul of a place rather than simply document it, and the painstaking, deeply personal process of designing each travel book cover by hand.Tune in to our next episode on April 17. 
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  Welcome to Season 2 20.03.2026 1min

  Hosted by Alex Assouline, the Culture Lounge podcast by Assouline launching on April 3 opens a new chapter, with new voices, new series, and an even deeper exploration of culture in all its forms.
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  Interior Design with Aerin Lauder and Alfredo Paredes 27.12.2024 21min

  “It’s so important to dream. And people always say, your life starts when your comfort level ends.” - Aerin LauderIn this chapter of Assouline’s Culture Lounge, we’re learning about interior design with the founder and creative director of global luxury lifestyle brand AERIN, Aerin Lauder, and former Ralph Lauren designer and current founder and creative director behind his namesake studio, Alfredo Paredes. Aerin and Alfredo share what it was like to leave established companies to start their own brands, explain their design processes, and chronicle finding design inspiration in places from Mexico City to the desert.1:56 - Childhood memories2:52 - Taking a leap of faith 6:06 - Falling in love with interior design7:53 - Aerin’s design process 9:55 - Alfredo’s design process 11:02 - Design choices that didn’t work12:15 - Teddy bears on mannequin heads12:59 - Favorite rooms at home14:10 - Finding inspiration in the desert and Mexico City15:39 - Advice for the next generation of interior designers16:34 - Memories of Estée Lauder as a grandmother and mentorStick around until the end for a fun bit of trivia about the design tricks practiced by ancient Romans.This episode concludes our first season of Culture Lounge. Thanks to all of you listeners for joining us as we’ve explored different corners of creativity across art, fashion, travel, cuisine, and more.Thank you as well to all of our guests who shared their time and expertise throughout the season.We hope you found inspiration, passion, and hopefully knowledge of something new. For more inspiration and a video version of this chapter, head to Assouline.com, where culture meets luxury.À la prochaine!
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  Cuisine with Mario Carbone and Jeff Zalaznick 13.12.2024 28min

  “Carbone is the show. It's not the dinner before the show.” - Jeff ZalaznickIn this chapter of Assouline’s Culture Lounge, we’re getting a taste of cuisine with renowned chef Mario Carbone and restaurateur Jeff Zalaznick. Mario and Jeff share how a joint love of Italian-American food led to the creation of Carbone, explain how the word “yes” is at the core of what they do, and describe the first meals that sparked their love of cuisine and the last suppers they dream of having.1:21 - Kindred spirits become business partners3:09 - Creating Carbone6:55 - Paying homage to Italian American restaurants7:40 - Captain Camp: How to serve a table at Carbone10:50 - Challenging fine dining trends 17:41 - The last suppers20:34 - The first meal that sparked a love of cuisine24:30 - Advice for wannabe restaurateursStick around until the end for a fun bit of trivia about the history of rainbow cookies.For more inspiration and a video version of this chapter, head to Assouline.com, where culture meets luxury.À bientôt!