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PODCAST

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.

news & politics

All Episodes

00:32:14

Podcast: Fighting drug crime, France's military...

Spotlight on France ·

2025/12/04

What France can learn from Italy's fight against the mafia as it tackles its growing problem with drug-related organised crime. A look at France's new military service. And wrapping Paris's oldest bridge, 40 years after it was transformed by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The recent murder in Marseille of 20-year-old Mehdi Kessaci, the younger brother of a well-known anti-drugs campaigner, has highlighted the growing problem of drug-related organised crime in France. The government has promised

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00:29:26

Podcast: Civil liberties vs terrorism, Pelicot trial...

Spotlight on France ·

2025/11/20

A decade after the 2015 Paris terror attacks, France continues to pass security laws, sometimes to the detriment of civil liberties. A feminist journalist's take on the Pelicot mass rape trial. And the auction of the Pascaline, one of the world's earliest calculators, is halted. Immediately following the Paris attacks on 13 November, 2015, the French government put in place a nationwide state of emergency, granting police exceptional powers to detain and search people suspected of links to

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00:31:58

Podcast: Brigitte Macron, lauding open-air markets,...

Spotlight on France ·

2025/11/06

How French media silence helped false stories claiming First Lady Brigitte Macron is a man to go viral. The unsung praises of France's street markets, which bring people together around buying and selling food. And France's short-lived colonial foray into Brazil. False claims that President Emmanuel Macron's wife Brigitte is transgender first emerged online in 2021. The story could have fizzled out. But pushed by the far right and conspiracy theorists, it's now reached half the world's population

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00:28:38

Podcast: Taxing the ultra-rich, last paperboy in...

Spotlight on France ·

2025/10/09

The proposal to tax the ultra-rich that could address some of France's budget woes. The last paperboy in Paris, who has been hawking newspapers for nearly 50 years, tells of challenges and successes from Pakistan to Paris. And the man who ended the death penalty in France enters the Panthéon. As French politicians remain deeply divided over how to address the country's growing deficit, one measure appears to unite public opinion across the political spectrum: the Zucman tax. Devised by 38-year-old

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00:32:10

Podcast: Gazans in France, saving and spending...

Spotlight on France ·

2025/09/25

France recognises Palestinian statehood but evacuations from Gaza are still suspended. French savings are at an all-time high, reflecting uncertainty about the future. And the story of the ten-day week put in place after the French Revolution. Evacuations from Gaza to France were suspended on 1 August after a Gazan student in Paris was found to have published antisemitic social media posts before her arrival. The suspension has left applicants for the largely state-funded Pause programme, which

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00:29:55

Podcast: PM woes, tourists 'overtake' Montmartre,...

Spotlight on France ·

2025/09/11

As France gets its fifth prime minister in three years, demonstrators who responded to a call to block the country talk about feeling ignored by the government. Residents and business owners in Paris' picturesque Montmartre neighbourhood hit out at overtourism. And the brutal history of France's colonisation of the Caribbean island of Martinique, one of five French overseas departments. For many critics of French President Emmanuel Macron, his nomination of close ally Sebastien Lecornu to replace

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00:28:55

Podcast: living in 50C, French egg shortages, Paris...

Spotlight on France ·

2025/07/03

As France heats up, an experiment simulating life in 50C aims to get people to take climate change more seriously. Faced with a growing demand for eggs, France looks for ways to boost homegrown production and halt the need for imports. And a look back at the first line of the Paris metro, which opened in 1900. France just experienced its hottest June since 2003, with several days of extreme heat at the end of the month that left two people dead and slowed the country down – halting work outdoors and

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00:28:15

Podcast: Assisted dying in France, Pagnol at Cannes,...

Spotlight on France ·

2025/05/22

As French lawmakers consider legalising assisted dying, a look at the citizen's assembly that carefully considered the issue. Also, a film about the writer – and filmmaker – Marcel Pagnol at the Cannes film festival, which is finally tackling sexual harassment in the industry. And the man who created the fête des voisins 25 years ago so neighbours get to know one other. French MPs are shortly to vote on whether or not to legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia. The draft legislation draws heavily

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00:34:33

Podcast: US science 'refugees' in France, doctor...

Spotlight on France ·

2025/05/08

France is opening its arms to foreign scientists, particularly from the US, as the Trump administration pulls back from climate research. French GPs and trainee doctors are up in arms over proposals to address 'medical deserts', which they say would make the problem worse. And as Europe marks the 80th anniversary of Europe Day, Algeria commemorates the 8 May, 1945 massacre of civilians by French colonial forces. Ever since US President Donald Trump started defunding and dismantling US scientific

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00:29:03

Podcast: War economy, France's supercomputers, La...

Spotlight on France ·

2025/04/10

A French-German weapons manufacturer ramps up production to meet the needs of France's war economy. An encounter with France's largest supercomputer dedicated to artificial intelligence. And how the Marseillaise national anthem has contributed to reinforcing French values and ideals. Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, President Emmanuel Macron said France was moving into a "war economy" – calling on weapons manufacturers in particular to produce more and more quickly. We

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00:29:08

Podcast: French wine in Africa, confronting obesity,...

Spotlight on France ·

2025/03/27

The Nigerian woman helping Bordeaux wine find new markets in Africa. Confronting France's fatphobia by classifying obesity as a disease. And the story of the French video game company behind the hit game Assassin's Creed. As French people consume less wine, and exports to China are slowing down, the wine industry – in Bordeaux in particular – is turning to new markets. Jan Van der Made meets Chinedu Rita Rosa who is helping Bordeaux winemakers shift their approach, to sell in Nigeria and other

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00:30:17

Podcast: Women wage outrage, farmers face organic...

Spotlight on France ·

2025/03/13

Despite a raft of laws and programmes in France to address the gender pay gap, women still earn less than men. Organic farmers try to adapt to a drop in demand for organic food. And the story of Ravel's Boléro – the world's most performed piece of classical music. There are some explanations for France's 22 percent gender pay gap – women work fewer hours on average and in lower-paid jobs. But even doing the same job and putting in the same hours, women still earn 4 percent less than men, and a

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00:33:14

Podcast: AI 'à la française', immigration fact vs...

Spotlight on France ·

2025/02/13

A French large language model adds European context and nuance to the dominant artificial intelligence being developped by US tech giants and China. Is France really being "flooded" with immigrants? The numbers say no, but the feeling remains. And the mixed legacy of a landmark law on disability and inclusion, 20 years later. Countries are looking for sovereignty in artificial intelligence and at a major AI summit in Paris this week, France and the EU backed a "third path" approach to AI – midway

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00:32:27

Podcast: Budget woes, medical cannabis stalled,...

Spotlight on France ·

2025/01/30

How France's budget cuts will impact development work abroad and civil society at home. An inconclusive medical marijuana experiment leaves patients in limbo. And how Jewish comedian Pierre Dac used humour in the Resistance. The government’s budget for 2025, if passed, will see public spending slashed by €32 billion. While most ministries are impacted, funding for public development assistance (PDA) is facing cuts of more than €2 billion – 35 percent of its budget. Coordination Sud, an umbrella

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00:34:50

Podcast: France Algeria fall out, land of dinosaurs,...

Spotlight on France ·

2025/01/16

A big freeze in Franco-Algerian relations as domestic politics drive international diplomacy. France is full of dinosaur bones, but short on paleongolotists to dig them up. And France's law decriminalising abortion turns 50. The often fraught relations between France and its former colony Algeria have hit an all-time low after a series of disagreements over Western Sahara, the detention of a French-Algerian writer and a French-Algerian blogger accused of inciting violence. Both countries have spoken

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00:31:02

Podcast: Renaming Tibetan art, Paris region's first...

Spotlight on France ·

2024/12/19

Tibetans question why a French museum has renamed its collection of Tibetan art. A group of neighbours south of Paris produce the region's first olive oil. And the independence of the Comoros, without Mayotte. Tibetans and Tibetan scholars are alarmed at how Paris' Guimet museum of Asian art has categorised its art and artefacts from Tibet. Tenam and other Tibetans in exile, who have been demonstrating regularly outside the museum, talk about the importance of using the name Tibet, and scholar Katia

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00:32:20

Podcast: Forgotten female war correspondent, lighter...

Spotlight on France ·

2024/12/05

Unearthing the story of the woman who documented Charles de Gaulle's liberation of Paris in 1944. The impact of climate change on alcohol content in wine, and how French consumers are reacting. And the reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral, five years after the fire. A few days before General Charles de Gaulle was due to make his triumphant entry into Paris, the three French war correspondents lined up to cover the event were captured. A young French-British journalist was chosen, in extremis, to

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00:31:30

Podcast: Dictionary wars, France digests Trump,...

Spotlight on France ·

2024/11/21

Controversy around the latest edition of the Académie Française dictionary. How France is processing the re-election of US President-elect Donald Trump. The first disaster to prompt waves of international solidarity. The Academie Française, guardian of the French language since 1635, has issued the 9th edition of its official dictionary, with 21,000 new words compared to the 8th edition of 1935. President Macron has praised the academy's steady pace, which "prevents it from giving in to the

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00:28:28

Podcast: France's packaging problem, spider crab...

Spotlight on France ·

2024/11/07

After a ban on single-use plastic food containers, France tackles shipping packaging in its fight to reduce waste. A stand-off between mussel farmers and spider crab fishers in Brittany. And the 1924 sardine strike that set the example for women demanding labour rights. France produces 2.2 million tonnes of plastic packaging a year, most of which does not get recycled. In the ongoing battle to reduce waste, a 2021 law is intended to phase out single-use packaging by 2040. We go to a packaging expo

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00:33:51

Podcast: French song's popularity abroad, screens in...

Spotlight on France ·

2024/10/10

Why songs in French are attracting new audiences in non-francophone countries. How are French schools using screens in classrooms? And the history of France's Nobel prizes. The Paris Olympic Games and Paralympics gave French-language songs huge exposure, adding new fans to the global audience already growing on streaming platforms. But what kind of music are non-French-speakers listening to and why? A new exhibition at the recently opened International Centre of the French Language asks the

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37 results

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