How France is dragging its feet in returning African art and artefacts housed in its museums. An 77-year-old activist 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 after his birth. The France-Africa summit, held regularly since the early 1970s, has long been seen as continuing 'Franceafrique' – the networks of influence France has in its former African colonies. This year's event, held in Montpellier, was different. Instead of African leaders, hundreds young people from across the continent interacted with President Macron. A key subject was the restitution of art and objects looted during the colonial wars. Laura Angela Bagnetto, host of the Africa Calling podcast, talks about France's commitment to returning objects, which many at the summit consider is going too slowly. She speaks with Nigerian cultural historian Oluwatoyin Sogbesan (@digiculture4art), who says all objects, no matter how ordinary, are important for African countries to connect to their history. (Listen @0') The issue of assisted dying, or euthanasia, has long been debated in France. It remains illegal here, despite recent efforts to pass laws to the contrary. Some people who want to end their lives, and have the financial means, go to neighbouring countries like Switzerland or Belgium, where assisted suicide is legal, though highly regulated. Jacqueline Jencquel, 77, a member of the French Association for the right to die with dignity (ADMD), talks about setting a date for her own death, counselling and advising others and why the law in France needs to change. Listen @15'10'') France is marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of singer-poet Georges Brassens, whose free sprit and way with words make him as popular as ever. (Listen @10'10'') This episode was mixed by Cecile Pompeani. Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, iTunes (link here), Google podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here), or your favourite podcast app.

Spotlight on France

Spotlight on France - Podcast: Returning African art, dying with dignity in France, Brassens at 100

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 party voted to ban conversion therapy for gay and transgendered people, a practice which the UN has compared to torture. Many victims in France suffer the scars of psychological trauma. Benoit Berthé (@TheSiward) co-founder of the collective Rien à guerir (Nothing to heal), talks about the satisfaction in helping getting attitudes to change in France and his own experience of being forced into psycho-spiritual sessions by his devout Catholic parents, who were persuaded he would happier as a heterosexual. (Listen @0'00) Paris is facing a new crack crisis, with groups of homeless addicts making life hell for residents and businesses in the city’s northeast and its surrounding suburbs. As the city and the national government throw responsibility for the problem back and forth, France’s approach to drugs and addiction is showing its limitations. Are addicts victims in need of medical treatment, or criminals in need of punishment? France’s 1970 drug law says both, which makes it difficult to put in place risk reduction programmes, like drug consumption rooms – that have been used elsewhere for decades. (Listen @18'35) France’s Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA), founded by Charles de Gaulle at the end of World War II, was an emblem of meritocracy at the outset. But the graduate school, famous for training presidents and senior civil servants in the art of governance, gradually became a symbol of elitism. Emmanuel Macron promised to close it in the wake of the Yellow Vest crisis, but has now settled for a reform and a change of name. (Listen @14'05) This episode was mixed by Cecile Pompeani. Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, iTunes (link here), Google podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here), or your favourite podcast app.

Spotlight on France - Podcast: LGBT conversion therapy, crack in Paris, training France's elite

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 attacks are being tried in France's biggest ever court case. Twenty people are on trial, including the only surviving member of the commando unit which killed 130 people in multiple attacks on the evening of 13 November 2015. Many more were injured and traumatised. Journalist Michael Fitzpatrick talks about the challenges of covering the historic nine-month trial, and resisting the temptation to let the accused take centre stage. (Listen @2'20) Cameras and audio recording equipment are not allowed in French courtrooms, so any visuals coming out of a trial are illustrations made by one of a few dozen courtroom artists working in France today. Joris Le Drain talks about using oil paint to honestly portray what is happening, and Dominique Lemarié compares her experience as a court artist in the US and in France over the last 40 years. (Listen @ 8'15) France has officially recognised and asked for forgiveness for the suffering of the Harkis, Algerian Muslims who fought with the French army during the 1954-1962 Algerian independence war and were then abandoned. President Emmanuel Macron's declaration, a few days before the annual Harki Day on 25 September, has broader ramifications for Franco-Algerian relations, and for the president himself. (Listen @19'25) This episode was mixed by Cecile Pompeani. Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, iTunes (link here), Google podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here), or your favourite podcast app.

Spotlight on France - Podcast: Paris attacks trial, courtroom artists, Harkis to get reparations

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 daily life. The government argues that encouraging people to get vaccinated against the virus is necessary to avoid future lockdowns. It seems to have worked: vaccination rates are up, and the fourth wave has remained under control in mainland France. But a small, but vocal, minority opposes the pass and have been protesting weekly since July. While the government and much of the media paints them as fringe anti-vaxers, the movement is broader than QAnon conspirationists and vaccine sceptics. We met people at a recent demonstration in Paris to hear why they are so opposed. (Listen @0'40'') France’s traditions are linked to the land – wine has its terroir, cheese has its protected appellation. Lavender has long been associated with the southern region of Provence, in the foothills of the Alps, north of Marseille. For two centuries the purple flower has been cultivated intensively for its oil, used in the perfume and pharmaceutical industry. In eastern Aveyron, some 250 kilometres to the west of Provence, sheep farmer Laurent Fages has discovered that the terrain in his area is also perfectly suited to growing lavender. (Listen @18'30'') The first issue of Le Canard Enchainé, one of France's last investigative newspapers, came out on 10 September 1915. It was aimed at countering pro-military propaganda being spread in mainstream media during WW1. Known for its independence, it remains a significant force in French public life. (Listen @14') This episode was mixed by Cecile Pompeani. Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, iTunes (link here), Google podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here), or your favourite podcast app.

Spotlight on France - Podcast: health pass protests, lavender beyond Provence, Canard Enchainé

Is Marine Le Pen's 'softening' of the hard-right National Rally the right strategy to win the presidency? The American who pioneered quinoa farming in France. How a tragic blaze pushed Napoleon to launch the Paris fire brigade. Turnout was massively low in both rounds of last month's regional elections, even amongst supporters of the hard-right National Rally, which had been predicted to win at least one region. Only thirty percent of RN voters showed up. When Marine Le Pen took the National Front from her father in 2011, she renamed it and rebranded it as a less radical party to try to broaden the support base. But it's a risky game. Political scientist Jean-Yves Camus (@jeanyvescamus1), a specialist of the hard right, says Le Pen's strategy could be backfiring, alienating some of the party's followers. (Listen @0'00'') Quinoa, a seed that is eaten like a grain, has been grown in the Andean region of South America for hundreds of years. The rest of the world "discovered" quinoa in the early 2000s, and global demand went through the roof, putting a strain on producers in Peru and Bolivia. Farmers around the world started thinking about how they could grow quinoa, and over the past decade France has developed a local production, becoming Europe’s largest producer. The bulk is grown in the Anjou, or Maine-et-Loire region in the west of the country, thanks to one man from Tennessee, Jason Abbott.(Listen @13'10'') The 8,500 firefighers in Paris' fire brigade, the sapeurs pompiers, are professional soldiers, part of military corps put in place by Napoleon after a tragic fire on 1 July 1810. (Listen @9'30'') This episode was mixed by Cecile Pompeani. Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, iTunes (link here), Google podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here), or your favourite podcast app.

Spotlight on France - Podcast: Le Pen's strategy, French quinoa, birth of the Paris fire brigade

The hijacking of France's regional election campaign, the fight to keep local languages alive and the first paid vacations for all in 1936. French people head to the polls on Sunday to decide what the country’s 18 regional councils will look like. The regions are intended to spread power away from Paris, using substantial budgets to run high schools, universities and contribute to public health infrastructure and tourism. And yet the 2021 campaigns have been focused on national questions of security and immigration. Political scientist Bruno Cautres (@BCautres) laments the lack of debate around the role of regions, especially in the wake of the Covid crisis, coming on the heels of the Yellow Vest protests. The increasing influence of Marine Le Pen’s hard-right National Rally on French politics is just one of the explanations. (Listen @3'30'') The French parliament in April approved a bill allowing primary schools to teach in one of France's 20+ regional languages alongside French. Finally getting state recognition for immersive teaching was warmly welcomed as an affirmation of regional identities, marginalised since the French Revolution imposed linguistic unity. But the bill has since been judged anti-constitutional because it breaches article 2, which states that the language of the Republic is French. Linguistic anthropologist James Costa (@seamasdubh) talks to David Coffey, host of the Paris Perspective podcast, about the thorny politics of language diversity in France. (Listen @18'36'') France's generous paid leave has its roots in the Front Populaire, which introduced two weeks of holidays for all French employees on 20 June 1936. But workers did not pack their suitcases right away. France had to develop a tourist and leisure industry to accompany the time off. (Listen @13'50'') This episode was mixed by Cecile Pompeani. Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, iTunes (link here), Google podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here), or your favourite podcast app.

Spotlight on France - Podcast: Regional elections, France's local languages, first paid holidays

A sufferer of chronic pain hopes to get relief using cannabis, as part of France's first ever experiment with medical marijuana. PSG striker Nadia Nadim on the thrills of playing to the crowds again. And Toussaint Louverture, the "black superhero" who defied Napoleon. France has embarked on an experiment with medical marijuana, to see how distributing and prescribing it could work, logistically. It is a step before full-scale drug trials that could lead towards legalisation, and is intended to allay concerns about the use of the drug, which remains illegal in France. Doctors like neurologist Didier Bouhassira are convinced of the beneficial effects of cannabis on a range of medical conditions. We meet one of his patients at the pain centre of the Antoine Pare hospital in Boulogne, west of Paris, who is desperate to join the experiment to ease her pain. (Listen @3'50'') French football fans are slowly being allowed back into stadiums, and players are looking forward to performing in front of big crowds again. We talk to Nadia Nadim (@nadia_nadim), a striker with the Paris Saint Germain’s women’s team. Born in Afghanistan, she came to Europe as a refugee and developed a passion for football in a camp in Denmark. As she publishes her memoir, Mon histoire (My story), she tells us about adjusting to life in France, and how, as a headstrong Muslim woman, she fitted into one of France’s top women’s teams. (Listen @20') Toussaint Louverture, born a slave in the French Caribbean colony of Saint Domingue, ended up leading a revolt that would lead to the independence of the island, known today as Haiti. But he paid the price, crossing the path of Napoleon Bonaparte. Toussaint Louverture was arrested on 7 June 1802, and deported to France, where he died in prison. (Listen @14'40'') This episode was mixed by Cecile Pompeani. Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, iTunes (link here), Google podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here), or your favourite podcast app.

Spotlight on France - Podcast: Medical cannabis, a refugee 'at home' with PSG, Haiti's superhero

How France is helping Sudan unearth its ancient kingdoms; the changing face of philanthropy in France; and Sophie la girafe, the iconic rubber teething companion, turns 60. For more than 50 years now, French archaeologists have been working with the Sudanese antiquities division to help excavate and preserve remarkable sites like the city of Meroe: the capital of one of the earliest and most developed states on the African continent. As in ancient Egypt, the Merotic kings and queens were buried in pyramids and more than 200 of them remain, some in ruins. Laura Angela Bagnetto, host of the Africa Calling podcast, recently visited the pyramids and met the head of the French section Marc Maillot. He talks about the latest fascinating dig in Meroe and France's role in helping keep Sudanese patrimony alive. (Listen @2'59'') When Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris went up in flames in 2019, more than €800 million in donations were pledged in just a few days; hundreds of millions from a handful of super-rich French magnates. Unlike the US, France is unaccustomed to such obvious displays of personal wealth and many people were surprised, even shocked. Anne Monier, researcher at the ESSEC Philanthropy Chair, talks about how philanthropy is indeed developing in France but in a different way from the US. Americans meanwhile are providing considerable donations to France in return for 'social capital' which for the happy few can mean a Legion of Honour. (Listen @17'43'') The first 'Sophie la girafe' rubber toy came out of the mould on 25 May 1961. 60 years later, she continues to be made the same artisanal way, and is coveted in France and abroad. (Listen @12'15'') This episode was mixed by Cecile Pompeani. Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, iTunes (link here), Google podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here), or your favourite podcast app.

Spotlight on France - Podcast: exploring Sudan's pyramids, philanthropy 'à la française', Sophie the giraffe

The young geeks revolutionising health data in France with Covidtracker. How the pandemic has boosted demand for home-grown flowers. And Charles Perrault, father of the fairy tale genre. Some ten million people a month visit Covidtracker, which takes the government's official Covid data and presents it in an engaging and easy-to-digest way. Set up a year ago by Guillaume Rozier, a young data wiz, 40 volunteers now keep the site running. Elias Orphelin (@eorphelin), a 22-year old marketing analyst, was one of the first to join Rozier in the adventure. He talks about helping his country by "making data speak" and how the independent, apolitical nature of their platform has boosted public trust in the vaccination campaign.  (Listen @2'45'') The Covid pandemic is transforming the French flower business. While the vast majority of flowers sold in France are imported from Holland, the first lockdown shut down transit routes and forced florists to turn to French growers. They're now seeing a boom in demand which they're struggling to meet. Florist Johanna Cacciamani, who sells only French flowers at her shop Fioretti, has seen her business grow and thrive during the pandemic. We accompany her to the Rungis wholesale market to buy flowers from local growers. (Listen @17'10'') Charles Perrault wrote the classic version of many of the world's most famous fairy tales in his 1697 book Histoires ou contes du temps passé, Stories or tales of times gone by, sometimes known as Mother Goose tales. The father of the modern fairy tale, whose versions of Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella are still popular, died on 16 May 1703. (Listen @13'35'') This episode was mixed by Cecile Pompeani. Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, iTunes (link here), Google podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here), or your favourite podcast app.

Spotlight on France - Podcast: France's Covid trackers, flowers go local, Perrault the fairy godfather

Two years after a fire destroyed the roof of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, archaeologists are digging through rubble to find clues to its history, and its restoration. On one of the most remote places on earth, preparations are underway for a virtual commemoration of the bicentennial of Napoleon's death. A century of La Vache qui rit cheese. The fire that destroyed the roof and spire of Notre-Dame de Paris on 15 April 2019 made headlines all over the world. Two years later, after debates over reconstruction, the cathedral is still under wraps, with work being done to depollute the site of the lead that melted from the roof, and secure it before the restoration and reconstruction begins. We visit the site where archaeologists and workers on ropes are sorting through tonnes of charcoaled remains of the timber frame, to extract anything that could give clues to the building's past, and inform its future. (Listen @1'42'') The tiny, volcanic island of Saint Helena is a British territory in the South Atlantic. But its most famous resident was Napoleon Bonaparte, who lived there in exile for five years before his death on 5 May 1821. Longwood, the house Napoleon occupied, is part of the French domains of Saint Helena, which have been managed by Michel Dancoisne-Martineau since the mid 1980s. He talks about living in one of the most remote places on the planet, and how Covid has interrupted plans for marking the bicentennial of Napoleon's death. (Listen @18'55'') On 16 April 1921, Louis Bel filed for a patent for his spreadable cheese, which has since travelled the world. La vache qui rit (The laughing cow) has become an international product, cropping up in the most unexpected of places. (Listen @11'52'') This episode was mixed by Cecile Pompeani. Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, iTunes (link here), Google podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here), or your favourite podcast app.

Spotlight on France - Podcast: Notre-Dame revisited, Napoleon on Saint Helena, laughing cow turns 100

A call for prisoner releases as French prisons, already overcrowded, face extreme restrictions to try and stop the spread of Covid-19 behind bars. Women sports journalists set their #MeToo ball rolling, denouncing sexual harassment in and out of the workplace. And Adrienne Bolland, the first woman to fly across the Andes, on 1 April 1921; no joke. France has been mostly spared the massive Covid-19 outbreaks in prisons seen in some other countries, but at the expense of inmates' freedoms, with huge additional restrictions placed on life behind bars. Prison controller Dominique Simonnot (@simonnot) is raising the alarm: the prison population is increasing as judges fail to use alternative methods of sentencing. She would like the government to allow prisoner releases, like it did during the first lockdown in March 2020. But just a year ahead of presidential elections, where security is a key issue, that is looking unlikely. (Listen @3'45) French women sports journalists are having a MeToo moment after TV documentary "I'm not a slut, I'm a journalist" revealed widespread harassment and sexism in the industry. The fact that only 10 percent of sports journalists are women is not helping the situation. Sarra Djehnoune, a founding member of Women sports journalists' collective (@DesJournalistes) which fights for better representation and against sexism in the profession, talks about her own experience in the macho world of sport and why it pushed her to cover other subjects as a journalist. (Listen @14'45) On 1 April, 1921, Adrienne Bolland became the first woman to fly over the Andes, from Argentina to Chile. She was the first ever female test pilot for aviator Rene Caudron, and was in South America to promote his planes. When her Caudron G3 touched the ground, Chileans greeted her as a hero. The French consul did not show up, thinking it was an April Fools' joke. It wasn't. (Listen @10'45) Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, iTunes (link here), Google podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here), or your favourite podcast app.

Spotlight on France - Podcast: Covid in France's prisons, sports journalists say MeToo, flying over the Andes

Young people are struggling with France's Covid restrictions, but some are pitching in to help. A sociologist talks about accusations of 'islamo-gauchisme' in universities, and why it is important for France to embrace the academic study of race and racism. And the complicated legacy of the Paris Commune, 150 years on. Young people in France have been hard hit by Covid restrictions. Forced into remote learning and struggling to find work, some are falling prey to depression and anxiety. There's talk of a 'lost' generation. Recognising the difficulty students are having to make ends meet as part-time jobs in restaurants and bars have disappeared, the government recently lowered the cost of meals in student residences to one euro. Some restaurants are pitching in as well. Mike Woods reports from Le Reflet, in Paris, which is producing cheap, restaurant-quality, takeaway meals for students. (Listen @0'00'') Islamo-gauchisme (Islamo-leftism) has entered, or re-entered, the French political landscape, after Higher Education Minister Fréderique Vidal called for a study to identify it in French universities. Academics studying race and racism have found themselves in the crosshairs, accused of tearing apart French universalism and importing ideas from the United States. Sociologist Sarah Mazouz (@mazouzsarah3) talks about the recent controversy around islamo-gauchisme, and what she considers an attack on anyone questioning French colourblindness. (Listen @15'50'') The City of Paris is marking the 150th anniversary of the Paris Commune, founded on 18 March 1871. More a working-class insurrection than a revolution, the Commune has a complicated legacy. Among the most famous 'communards' was Louise Michel, a revolutionary feminist who became an anarchist activist. (Listen @10'00'') This episode was mixed by Yann Bordelas. Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, iTunes (link here), Google podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here), or your favourite podcast app.

Spotlight on France - Podcast: France's lost Covid generation, 'islamo-gauchisme', the Paris Commune

Why is France's Covid vaccination drive lagging behind other countries? Also, French film and TV productions are booming, despite new restrictions on set to stop the virus spreading. A large-scale health survey of tens of thousands of French people yields troves of information. And Foreign Legion recruitment woes as the elite unit marks its 190th anniversary.  The French movie industry is booming, despite Covid lockdowns and the risk of transmitting the virus on set. The first Covid lockdown in March 2020 shut down productions in France, but since then filming has picked up speed. Some 450 productions have been shot in France since May 2020 (compared to 300 in 2019). But Covid has meant people work differently, and productions are more expensive. We hear from a nurse who is a Covid 'référent' on set. And assistant director Laure Monrréal describes how her work has changed over the last year, bringing new continuity challenges.  (Listen @6'40'') Scientists have found evidence Covid had been circulating in France before the first official case was identified in January 2020. One of the studies was based on testing blood collected by Constances (@constances_coho), an extensive, long-term health study of over 200,000 people in France. Started in 2013, Constances data has already yielded a trove of information about French people's health and habits. Co-founder Marcel Goldberg talks about what such a comprehensive study tells us about France, and how public health authorities use the data to drive policy decisions. (Listen @20'30'') France's Légion Etrangère, or Foreign Legion, was founded 190 years ago, on 10 March 1831, to support France's colonial incursion into Algeria. Made up almost exclusively of foreigners, this elite infantry unit has a reputation for giving criminals and outsiders a second chance. It has also attracted men from all over the world with the promise  of French nationality. (Listen @15'25'') As France marks the 30th anniversary of the death of singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, we look into how he played with incest and misogyny in his music. He could have been a ready target in the era of #MeToo and #MeTooInceste, but he's in fact more popular than ever. For more detail, find Alison's article on the subject here. (Listen @29'05'')   This episode was mixed by Cecile Pompeani. Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, iTunes (link here), Google podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here), or your favourite podcast app.

Spotlight on France - Podcast: Filming under a Covid cloud, surveying the French, the Foreign Legion

With ski lifts shuttered because of Covid, French ski resorts are taking a hit, along with the tens of thousands of seasonal workers they employ. A conversation about race in France and why a US-style Black History Month is needed, but difficult to put in place. And the story of Etienne Marcel, leader of the first French Revolution in the Middle Ages. France's ski industry is a big economic driver, providing the main source of income for some villages in the Alps and Pyrenees. But Covid has dealt them a severe blow. The government has ordered ski lifts to remain closed throughout the February school holidays when many people would usually head to the mountains. A visit to the upmarket Courchevel ski resort in Savoie, used to hosting a majority of skiers from abroad, shows the impact on local businesses and seasonal workers. (Listen @1'15'') February is Black history month in the US; the UK marks it in October. But celebrations of Black history have struggled to gain traction in France, despite its long history with Africa and the African diaspora. Maboula Soumahoro, a professor at the University of Tours, organised a French celebration of black history for several years. Author of a recent book, The Triangle and the Hexagon, a reflection on black identity, she talks about France’s problems in addressing race, and US influence both on France and her own personal history grappling with these issues. (Listen @14'50'') Etienne Marcel tried to take control of the French monarchy on 22 February 1358. He resorted to force after he failed to impose legal reforms. He died a traitor but today he is seen as a hero who resisted the monarchy. (Listen @9'35'') This episode was mixed by Yann Bourdelas. Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, iTunes (link here), Google podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here), or your favourite podcast app.

Spotlight on France - Podcast: Covid on the slopes, why France has no Black History Month

The French government wants to limit homeschooling in a bid to reign in radicalisation, but not all such families pose a threat to the Republic.  Also, a look at the shift in the French media's relationship with the banlieues, thanks to the Bondy Blog, founded during the 2005 riots. And the story of car maker André Citroën, who wanted to become the Henry Ford of Europe. The growing homeschooling movement in France is in the government's crosshairs. Charged with being a cover for indoctrinating children into radical Islamism, a bill going through parliament would drastically reduce the number of families allowed to homeschool. But the phenomenon remains marginal and the families' motivations are varied. We meet home-educator Anne Belléard, and her two children, to see how it is done. And we question whether the new law will serve its intended purpose. (Listen @0'20'') French media is now addressing the issue of police violence far more than it did 15 years ago, and this is partly thanks to the Bondy Blog argues its current head Latifa Oulkhouir (@LallaKhr). She talks about the birth of the blog during the 2005 riots in the working-class banlieues, and the impact it has had on mainstream media since then. (Listen @20'15'') France’s three car manufacturers were all founded by industrialists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Of the three, André-Gustave Citroën, born 5 February 1878, is arguably the most colourful, with a knack for invention and spectacular marketing techniques. (Listen @15'00) This episode was mixed by Cécile Pompéani. Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, iTunes (link here), Google podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here), or your favourite podcast app.

Spotlight on France - Podcast: Homeschooling in France, banlieues talk for themselves, birth of André Citroën

Interested in France? Let us be your ears and eyes on the ground. Hosts Sarah Elzas and Alison Hird take you beyond the baguette, to hear from 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 weekly podcast, in English, from Radio France International, out Thursdays.

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Spotlight on France

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