Spotlight on France
An in-depth look at what makes this country tick.
Spotlight on France - Podcast: Migrants settle into rural life, local French politics on screen and Montgolfière's maiden flight
France has welcomed more than 8,000 refugees from Syria and sub-Saharan Africa so far this year. Where have they gone? As immigration is (again) becoming a hot-button political issue, we go to a small town in central France that has taken in 20 refugees to see how the situation is playing…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: France's gig economy, menstruation taboos and 130 years of the Moulin Rouge
French food culture has been profoundly changed by food delivery apps like Deliveroo and Uber Eats. Take-out is now a thing. It has brought a lot of new, part-time work for young bike courriers, who have started to organise to get better working conditions. We hear from a courrier about how…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: Notre Dame fallout, bears in the Pyrenees, and when France colonised New Caledonia
Seven months after the Notre Dame cathedral went up in flames, the focus has shifted to reconstruction and tackling lead contamination in the area. But there's human fallout too. With tourists unable to visit the Gothic wonder, local businesses have taken a hit. We hear how they're surviving with a…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: Scorched grapes, paying family caregivers, and France's love affair with McDonald's
The Languedoc Roussillon region produces good quality, reasonably-priced wine, but for how long? In June winegrowers were hard hit when temperatures reached 46 degrees Celsius, literally scorching the grapes on the vines. Extreme weather used to be the exception, now it's becoming the norm. We report from a village near Montpellier…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: French Communism is not dead, making a baby in Spain, and the dog who discovered Lascaux
Despite its association with Stalin and gulags, Communism is alive and kicking in France. The youth movement of the French Communist Party has 10,000 card-carrying members. Why does the party continue to charm, three decades after the fall of the Berlin wall? A young member tells us what lit the spark…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: sheep-shearing, spanking ban and France's obsession with spelling
Football gives way to sheep as France hosts the world sheep-shearing championships, a first in mainland Europe. Men and women share with us their passion for the sport. Also, French winegrowers become the latest victims of climate change, losing vineyards in last week's heatwave. And parliament bans spanking children, but…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: French football fans turn to women, homeopathy under attack, and radicalisation in the public sector
French football fans are getting hooked on the women's game, as the World Cup draws in new audiences, but the gender pay gap is as wide as ever. Also, homeopathy is in the crosshairs, as a medical council questions its efficacy. We hear from a doctor about her holistic approach…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: France's vaccine sceptics, compulsory national service, and Sarkozy to go on trial
France is the world's most vaccine-sceptic nation. How did that happen? Also, a pilot of Macron's Universal National Service to replace the military service: enthusiastic teenagers join, but not everyone shares their excitement. Plus, France prepares to put a former president in the docks, for the first time. And the story of the…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: banlieue Gay Pride, women's football in France, the greening of Macronism
The origins of women's football in France and how the language is trying to keep up with game. Also, the first gay pride march in poorer working-class suburbs known as les banlieues aiming at fighting growing homophobia. Plus, A&E hospital workers at breaking point opt to strike. And can the…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: D-Day civilians speak, wolves in the firing line, football fever
D-Day commemorations have understandably given pride of place to war veterans, but we hear from civilians in Normandy on the receiving end of the Allied bombing. Should nature run its course? France has upped quotas for culling wolves as their numbers increase but striking a balance between protecting farmers' livestock…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: Opioid addiction, French youth for climate, press freedom under threat
French health officials are concerned about the increase of the use and abuse of opioid painkillers. Unlike in the US, it's not a crisis - yet. Also, a student of environmental science talks about his conversion to climate activism, and how young French people are embracing the global Youth for…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: Right to die, mental fallout at France Telecom, and rejecting your religion
A growing number of French Catholics are asking to be de-baptised in the wake of sex abuse scandals in the Church. Also, France is not enthusiastic about this weekend's EU elections, which some parties say have become a race between president Emmanuel Macron and the far-right National Rally. And, a…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: Yellow Vests on the campaign trail, France unprepared for climate change, and Cannes
This week, the Yellow Vests get political: We meet a DJ running for a seat in the European parliament in next weekend's election. He's enthusiastic, but can the party federate the movement? Also, France is not prepared for the effects of climate change, says a new Senate report. The authors…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: France Telecom in court, France's largest Facebook group and what to do with children of jihadis?
Executives of France Telecom (now Orange) are in court, accused of driving employees to suicide ten years ago. We talk about the clash of public versus private work cultures in France. Also, a mind-boggling 34 parties or groups are fielding candidates to sit in the European Parliament - what does…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: May Day protests, Leonardo da Vinci and French cheese labelling wars
Who is attacking whom? May Day protests get complicated. Also, alcohol consumption in France is not going down and doctors blame the wine lobby. And, Leonardo da Vinci's French connections. Plus, cheese wars: who gets to define a label? Paris bouquiniste booksellers struggle to stay in business. And… a bit…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: Scrapping France’s elite training school, teaching the Holocaust, and the origins of La Marseillaise
How do you teach about the Holocaust when the survivors are dying? A teacher talks about this tricky period of history. Plus, an interview with political pundit Rokhaya Diallo on breaking the mould and making her way into the French public sphere. Also, why does it matter that Macron wants…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: Rebuilding Notre Dame gets political, French presidential powers, and village politics
This week we look at democracy in France: a conversation about the power of the French presidency and how French people trust their mayors more than other politicians. We meet a local councillor in a small village, who talks about his role on the very basic levels of French representative…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: Women journalists club together, CBD cannabis in France, and a different kind of strike
France wants lower taxes concludes the Prime Minister as the Great national debate, organised in answer to the Yellow vest protests, comes to an end. Officially, two million people participated. We look into those numbers. Also, the refugee crisis is over, but there are just as many migrants sleeping rough…
Spotlight on France - Podcast: French apples and Brexit, slavery reparations, and is Macron burning out?
Our first episode of a revamped Spotlight on France! Each week Sarah Elzas and Alison Hird bring you closer to this country and its people. This week, is president Macron on the brink of burnout? Michael Fitzpatrick talks about the case of a judge who asks for the least possible…