Spotlight on France
Interested in France? Let us be your ears and eyes on the ground. Hosts Sarah Elzas and Alison Hird introduce you to the people who make France what it is, and who want to change it - to give you a fuller picture of this country at the heart of Europe. Spotlight on France is a podcast, in English, from Radio France International, out Thursdays.
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Podcast: Conserving a martyred village, abortion drug shortages, identifying HIV
The village of Oradour-sur-Glane continues to memorialise the massacre of 643 of its inhabitants by the Nazis in 1944. Are shortages of an abortion drug in France linked to the anti-abortion movement in the United States? And the French doctor who helped identify HIV in the early days of the Aids epidemic.01/06/202334:04 -
Podcast: French union paradox, Tintin today, first Miss France
Why French unions are so prominent despite record low membership. How Tintin defied critiques of racism, sexism and anti-Semitism to remain one of France's favourite comic strip characters. And the 1920 beauty pageant that evolved into Miss France, watched by millions each year.04/05/202327:48 -
Podcast: holding multinationals to account, Agent Orange on stage, ten years of gay marriage
France's pioneering 2017 law that made French-based multinational companies responsible for human rights and environmental violations wherever they do business. Also, a Franco-Vietnamese theatre director brings Vietnamese history to life on stage. And the first same-sex marriage remembered 10 years after it became legal.20/04/202333:15 -
Podcast: France and China, menstrual leave, the 'Picasso Papers'
France's evolving relationship with China; allowing women time off for period pain; and why artist Pablo Picasso never became French.06/04/202327:00 -
Podcast: testing French democracy, surviving eco-anxiety, naming children
Is the French government denying people their democratic rights by passing its controversial pension reform without a vote in parliament? No, says a constitutional expert, but it has led to a political crisis. Fighting eco-anxiety by searching out France's eco-optimists. And a Napoleonic law that limited how you could name your child.23/03/202328:13 -
Podcast: French farmers post-Ukraine, fast fashion fallout, Life of Jesus
How French farmers are adapting since the war in Ukraine halted grain and seed exports. Why we need to buy fewer clothes if we want the fashion industry to be sustainable. And the voice of Ernest Renan – one of the big thinkers of 19th century France, famed for his biography of Jesus.09/03/202329:00 -
Podcast: ChatGPT in French schools, Placard Man, first French pensions
How French educators are grappling with new AI-based technology, like ChatGPT, and how it will affect teaching, evaluating and learning. Voltuan, the most-recognised man on French demos, talks about life as a full-time activist. And the 17th century origins of France's pension system.09/02/202330:27 -
Podcast: Pension reform fury, employment after 55, Paris Peace Accords
A majority of French people disapprove of the government proposal to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64-years-old. Women could come off worse than men, and it will involve addressing senior employment, which France does not do particularly well. And how the Paris Peace Accords, marking a temporary end to the Vietnam war, were signed 50 years ago in the French capital.26/01/202329:43 -
Podcast: Senegalese riflemen, cryptocurrency woes, Napoleon III
Long-awaited recognition for France's colonial infantry corps. Who are the French victims of the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange? Napoleon III's transformation of France.12/01/202330:42 -
Podcast: Football frenzy, foie gras alternatives, Proust forever
Unpicking France's win against Morocco in World Cup semi-final; finding "ethical" alternatives to force-fed foie gras; and why it's worth reading Marcel Proust, 100 years after his death.15/12/202234:47 -
Podcast: abortion rights, living in a cemetery, Walt Disney's French connection
As France's parliament passes a bill that would enshrine the right to abortion in the constitution, a new film explores the time before it was legalised in 1975. The curator of Père Lachaise in Paris on life and biodiversity in France's most famous cemetery. And Walt Disney's 11th-century French roots.01/12/202222:54 -
Podcast: Bullfighting, civil disobedience, Vikings lay siege to Paris
A north-south divide over bullfighting, which holds an important cultural spot in many parts of southern France, but which opponents say is animal cruelty. A French climate activist on why blocking roads and interrupting opera performances is the only way to get attention. And the 9th-century Viking attack on Paris.17/11/202232:30 -
Podcast: NFTs in Paris, Simone Veil on screen, fingerprint technology
A Paris art gallery embraces NFTs as a new form of expression, that can also make collectors very rich. A biopic of Simone Veil disappoints critics but brings the life of an inspirational woman to a new generation. And the story of the "father of forensic science" whose landmark fingerprint technology caught a murderer for the first time in 1902.20/10/202234:26 -
Podcast: pregnant in parliament, opera in Paris' streets, Wallace fountains
As the French National Assembly gets younger and more female, some lawmakers say it's time MPs on maternity leave were replaced. Opera singers bring love, tragedy and dialogue to French city streets with free concerts in unexpected places. And the man behind Paris' Wallace fountains, which turn 150 this year.06/10/202227:29 -
Podcast: The royal spell, cancelling Russian culture, protecting journalists
France's fascination with Queen Elizabeth II and the British monarchy; being a Russian artist in France in the wake of the Ukraine war; a Parisien house marks two decades of helping journalists in exile.22/09/202226:33
Interested in France? Let us be your ears and eyes on the ground. Hosts Sarah Elzas and Alison Hird introduce you to the people who make France what it is, and who want to change it - to give you a fuller picture of this country at the heart of Europe. Spotlight on France is a podcast, in English, from Radio France International, out Thursdays.