Spotlight on France
An in-depth look at what makes this country tick.
Podcast: Revisiting dying with dignity, baking Christmas in August
A special summer episode, in which we update last October's conversation with Jacqueline Jencquel, a member of the French Association for the right to die with dignity (ADMD). She talks about planning her own death and what needs to change in French law. Also, from the archives, a look at pastry chefs preparing…
Podcast: Paris attacks verdict, quidditch in France, Haiti's 'independence debt'
Reflecting on the end of the trial of those involved in the 2015 Paris attacks; developing quidditch in France, where some are wary of a sport involving a broom between the legs. And the day that Haiti was forced to pay its former slave masters for its independence. The trial of the…
Podcast: France's healthcare crisis, 'deserting' agro-tech, fête de la musique
France's famously good public healthcare system is in crisis, as emergency services warn of shutdowns over the summer due to lack of staff. Graduates of prestigious AgroParisTech university make waves by turning their backs on an industry they say is "waging war on the living world". The annual Fête de la musique…
Podcast: Union of the left, SOS trees, celebrating Britain's 'francophile' Queen
A first-time candidate for parliament campaigns for the newly unified left. Why a Frenchman has set up camp in one of Gustav Eiffel's ancient plane trees. France marks the jubilee of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. One of the most interesting parts of the upcoming parliamentary elections in France is the way the…
Podcast: France's female PM, protecting Marseille's Calanques, Battle of Rocroi
Does France's new female Prime Minister mark a victory for feminism? Marseille's creeks (Calanques), faced with degradation, limit visitors. The battle in 1643 that shifted influence in Europe from Spain to France. Elisabeth Borne, the second female prime minister in France's modern history, bears the official title of "premiere ministre" the feminisation…
Podcast: Macron vs Le Pen, Mélenchon supporters protest, France's first elected woman
The two presidential candidates faced off in a three-hour debate Wednesday in which they tried to convince undecided voters. Did it work? Leftist Mélenchon voters on what to do in the second round. And the first woman elected to office in France in 1925. In the last leg of France's 2022…
Podcast: Yellow Vests' revenge, rising abstention, the end of France's brothels
Yellow Vest militants hope to vote Macron out of office. How younger generations are shifting their relationship to voting. And the WWI spy who lobbied successfully to shut down France's brothels in 1946. Candidates running in the first round of presidential elections this Sunday have made the rising cost of living…
Podcast: the hunting vote, France welcomes Ukrainians, non-binary Barthes
France's presidential candidates court the hunting vote; how France is welcoming Ukrainian refugees; and Roland Barthes – ahead of his time in thinking about non-binary identity and language. Hunting is France's third most popular pastime, after fishing and football, and the country's 1.1 million licence holders see themselves as a political force…
Podcast: far-right semantics, 'green' nuclear energy, French baby benefits
Dissecting the nationalist and racist language of presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, France's push to label nuclear energy as green. And the origins of family aid policies that have supported France's high birth rate for over 90 years. One of France's 12 presidential candidates is the unashamedly xenophobic, anti-Islam writer and political pundit…
Podcast: training French Imams, funding women's startups, journalist of the Revolution
Imams-in-training learn about the roots of their religion, and the specific French context of an 'Islam of France'. Breaking the glass ceiling as women entrepreneurs push for more startup funding. And the journalist who called on Parisians to rise up for democracy during the French Revolution. The French government has…
Podcast: Bullshit jobs, vegan eggs, women's lib appliances
Does French work culture tolerate bullshit jobs for the sake of work/life balance? Developing a vegan egg in a country with no strong vegan culture but an egg-heavy cuisine. How Moulinex helped free French women from their culinary shackles. When American anthropologist David Graeber coined the term 'bullshit jobs' in a…
Podcast: Paris Attacks trial drama, school bullying, French anti-intellectualism
France's biggest-ever court case continues with dramatic interventions from witnesses and defendents. A bill to criminalise bullying at school and university raises questions. The 19th century roots of growing anti-intellectualism in France. The trial of 14 men accused of taking part and planning the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks is now at the halfway point…
Podcast: Political swearing, Molière and women, King Behanzin's surrender
Which Macron vowed to "piss off" the unvaccinated and why? The 17th century female playwrights around Molière, as France marks his 400th anniversary with pomp and circumstance. The African kingdom that made France tremble in the 19th century, until its king surrendered. President Emmanuel Macron shocked France when he used a curse…
Podcast: Inclusive language, improbable roommates, the Dreyfus affair
Inclusive writing and gender-neutral language divide France. The merits of homesharing across generations. And the trial that started the Dreyfus affair, kicking off a left-right split that's still felt today. The recent addition of the gender-neutral pronoun 'iel', a contraction of "il" (he) and "elle" (she), into the Petit Robert's…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: Green hydrogen, sperm shortages and France's other revolution
A visit to the world's first green hydrogen production plant, in western France. Major delays in IVF for all women, months after legalisation. And the Canut revolt of 1831 – the first workers' protests of the industrial revolution. Is hydrogen the energy of the future? Some say the future is now…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: France's first Alzheimer's village, translation wars, Josephine Baker
An experimental centre near Bordeaux offers Alzheimer's sufferers more freedom and less medication; debate over whether a translator's identity matters following the Amanda Gorman controversy, and France honours Josephine Baker – performer, Resistance hero and civil rights activist – with a place in the Pantheon. The Covid pandemic showed the limits of caring for the…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: Returning African art, dying in dignity in France, Brassens at 100
How France is dragging its feet in returning African art and artefacts housed in its museums. An advocate of euthanasia talks about fighting for the right to die when and how she wants. And Georges Brassens, the "French Woodie Guthrie", continues to thrill with his free-spirited songs, full of word play, 100 years…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: LGBT conversion therapy, crack in Paris, training France's elite
A historic vote in parliament as French MPs unanimously approve a bill criminalising conversion therapy for LGBT+ people; no quick fix for Paris's growing crack cocaine problem; and the changing face of elite school ENA, founded 76 years ago this week. France made history this week when MPs from every political…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: Paris attacks trial, courtroom artists, Harkis to get reparations
How journalists are covering the 2015 terror attacks trial. The artists who have an important role in bringing French courtrooms alive. And France recognises Harkis' suffering, offering hope for reparations, nearly six decades after the end of the Algerian war of independence. Jihadists who planned and carried out the 2015 Paris…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: health pass protests, lavender beyond Provence, Canard Enchainé
Why are people protesting the Covid health pass in France? Challenging terroir by growing lavender outside of Provence. The birth of Le Canard Enchainé, the weekly that has brought down politicians and holds power to account. Spotlight on France is back! During the summer break the Covid health pass became an integral part of French…