France in focus

Oct 21 2024 24 ep. 11 mins 210
France in focus Podcast artwork

An in-depth look at the political and social events shaping France. Monday at 3:45pm Paris time.

RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


Meeting France's UFO detectives

Oct 21 2024 11 mins  
Is there anybody out there? In France, an organisation exists whose sole role is to answer this question. The GEIPAN, part of the French space agency, decodes dozens of cases each year. They try to find rational reasons to seemingly impossible sightings. In most cases they succeed, but a total of 99 phenomena remain unexplained to this day. Our reporters Joanna Cockerell and Sylvai

The rooftops of Paris with the zinc craftsmen of the sky

Oct 14 2024 10 mins  
Paris’s slate-grey zinc rooftops are a key part of the French capital’s visual identity. They have long inspired painters and filmmakers and only exist thanks to the expertise of the roofers who install and maintain the galvanised metal covering many of Paris’s buildings. Their expertise could soon be included in UNESCO's intangible heritage list, as the profession adapts to

French music flexes its muscles abroad

Sep 30 2024 12 mins  
French-language music took centre stage during the Paris Olympics, with giant karaokés, star-studded ceremonies and a medley of styles and sounds. Boosted also by TV series, online streaming and a 30 percent increase in French music exports, Francophone songs are on a roll. In this week’s France in Focus, we take a deep dive into the French music scene and look at whether it can

French maternity care: A postcode lottery?

Sep 24 2024 12 mins  
For several decades now, France has been struggling with doctors leaving rural areas and people there not being able to access medical care. Maternity wards are also part of this trend, with 30 percent of them shutting down over the past 20 years. The health ministry wants to pool resources into larger, better-equipped maternity wards to protect patients’ safety, but medical team

The other D-Day: France's forgotten colonial troops and the Provence landings

Sep 16 2024 12 mins  
It's one of the untold stories of World War II: how France whitewashed its colonial troops during the liberation from Nazi rule. On August 15, 1944, experienced fighters who came from all corners of the French empire landed in southern France and won key battles to liberate the nation. But because of the colour of their skin, up to 20,000 African riflemen were replaced by untrained

Remembering Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, France's flying storyteller

Sep 02 2024 12 mins  
A pilot, writer and illustrator, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry penned "The Little Prince", which has been translated into nearly 600 languages. The Frenchman disappeared 80 years ago during a World War II reconnaissance flight. His death long remained a mystery. FRANCE 24's Aurore Cloé Dupuis, Natacha Vesnitch and Sonia Baritello explore the thousand lives of Saint-Exupéry.

Paralympic Games: Three French athletes on their arduous journey to gold

Aug 26 2024 11 mins  
The Paralympics kick off this Wednesday in Paris and to mark the opening of the Games, our reporters went to meet the French athletes who have brought home gold medals from previous editions of the event. They tell us about the challenges they faced, the obstacles they overcame and their hopes for the 2024 Paralympics. FRANCE 24's David Gilberg and Aurore Dupuis report.

France's crème de la crème: Celebrating 100 years of "artisan Olympics"

Jul 15 2024 12 mins  
2024 marks the centenary of Meilleur Ouvrier de France, or MOF. It is often referred to as the “Olympics of French artisans,” a grueling competition where only the very best can achieve victory. Some of France’s top chefs, such as Paul Bocuse, have been honored with the award and are entitled to wear the coveted tricolour chef collar. However, chefs are not the only ones who

French politics: Working with the enemy

Jul 01 2024 12 mins  
On June 9, French President Emmanuel Macron took France by surprise. He dissolved the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, sending the French to the ballot boxes for snap parliamentary elections. After his party's poor showing in the first round of voting, the president could find himself in a scenario known as "cohabitation", where the president and prime minister com

Racism, ruin & resounding success: The epic life of French author Alexandre Dumas

Jun 25 2024 12 mins  
In this week's show, we retrace the turbulent life of 19th-century French writer Alexandre Dumas. The wildly successful mixed-race author faced racism, financial ruin and ghostwriter allegations during his lifetime. It was only 132 years after his death that his remains were laid to rest at the Pantheon mausoleum, in 2002. We retell the story of how the man behind "The Count of Mon