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PODCAST

The Debate

FRANCE 24 English

A live debate on the topic of the day, with four guests. From Monday to Thursday at 7:10pm Paris time.

news & politics

All Episodes

00:41:52

The Tomahawks are coming? As Trump sours on Putin,...

The Debate ·

2025/10/16

Whenever Donald Trump boasts of solving eight wars in eight months, the US president always adds a sigh of regret and repeats that he thought Ukraine and Russia would be the easiest one to solve. He did it again at Monday's signing in Egypt of the plan to end the war in Gaza. So if rolling out the red carpet in Alaska and bringing Vladimir Putin in from the cold didn't work, what will? More pressure on Russia, it seems, with NATO allies like Germany pledging to purchase military hardware for Ukraine

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00:42:39

Gen Z's moment? From Nepal to Madagascar, youth-led...

The Debate ·

2025/10/15

Can we really draw a link between Nepal and Madagascar? Bangladesh and Peru? Indonesia and Morocco? Why are waves of defiance sweeping nations that are oceans apart? That defiance now bears a name: Gen Z protests. The generation born after 1997 has had its fill of corrupt elders clinging to power – and their offspring flaunting excess on social media. There too, new hashtags have taken root: nepo babies and nepo kids. The contempt of the ruling classes is as old as French queens quipping, “let them

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00:43:57

Second time a charm? French PM Lecornu offers...

The Debate ·

2025/10/14

Was it enough for France’s minority government to pass the first hurdle of a trigger-happy hostile parliament that can pass a vote of no-confidence at any time? Reappointed prime minister Sébastien Lecornu offering a suspension of Emmanuel Macron's flagship reform, the raising of the retirement age. We'll review the general policy speech of a Lecornu who this time at least made it to the National Assembly. Last week, his initial coalition government imploded spectacularly after a mere 14 hours.

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00:42:10

What's next after the Israeli hostages-Palestinian...

The Debate ·

2025/10/14

There are tears of grief, tears of anguish ... and on Monday, there are also tears of joy. For the first time in two years, Israelis and Palestinians are allowing themselves to exhale. We’ll discuss the return of the last hostages with our correspondent in Tel Aviv, the release of 2,000 prisoners from Israeli jails, the ramping up of aid into Gaza, and the silencing of guns. In a region accustomed to dashed hopes, could something positive emerge from what Donald Trump calls a peace deal? There was

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00:43:21

Bargaining and backstabbing: How to break France's...

The Debate ·

2025/10/08

Forty-eight hours after France’s new government collapsed after just 14 hours, caretaker Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is still trying to pull off the impossible and a strike a deal that can get a budget over the line before the end of the year and avoid a further spiralling of public borrowing costs. But for that, you need a compromise. To Lecornu's left, the Socialists want to go back on the 2023 pension reform; to the right, the conservative Les Republicains say "no way". We review the

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00:45:02

How has Israel changed? The open wounds of the...

The Debate ·

2025/10/07

On the second anniversary of Israel's worst day of bloodshed in its history, Hamas still holds hostages and Israel is still demolishing Gaza. Often during the past 731 days, panellists on this show have insisted it's impossible for the two sides to hear each other until the guns go silent. That's yet to happen. We ask about the faint hopes stirred by the US plan on offer, and about the impact of the longest war in Israel's history on its citizens, who are torn between those who support a defiant

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00:43:00

A mess of Macron's making? France in crisis as latest...

The Debate ·

2025/10/06

Emmanuel Macron has lost his third prime minister in the 16 months since he dissolved parliament and lost ensuing snap elections. Sébastien Lecornu has broken a Fifth Republic record by lasting just 27 days as head of government. We ask why Bruno Retailleau, the head of the Conservative Les Républicains party, first accepted to stay on as interior minister and then – faced with uproar in his own ranks – slammed the door 90 minutes later on Sunday night. As for the president, he's got three choices:

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00:44:02

Jail time for Sarkozy: Why the unprecedented sentence...

The Debate ·

2025/09/25

France's former leader Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to five years in jail for his part in the illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by Muammar Gaddafi's Libya. He'll do prison time, even during his appeal. That's on top of his electronic bracelet he wore in a separate case of eavesdropping on magistrates. "I'm innocent," insists the former conservative leader. Sarkozy still casts a long shadow over French politics and regularly advises current president Emmanuel Macron despite

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00:44:39

About-face on Ukraine? Trump surprises allies as he...

The Debate ·

2025/09/25

Donald Trump has surprised Ukraine and NATO allies with an apparent about-face on Russia at the annual opening of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. We ask why the US president suddenly thinks Kyiv can win militarily, the same Trump who up until now blamed both sides for the war and most recently assured that Russian drones fired into Poland might be a mistake. We also ask what concrete steps to expect for Ukraine, and also frontline NATO members like former Soviet state Estonia after

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00:46:50

No swaying Trump: What next for French-led...

The Debate ·

2025/09/24

A fleeting flicker of hope soon to be snuffed out, or are fault lines finally moving in the Middle East? Donald Trump is addressing the United Nations on the heels of the recognition of a Palestinian state by France, Britain and a host of others. The US president condemned the move and blamed everything on Hamas. Has he given up on his Gaza Riviera scheme? What's the alternative? Already on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron laid out steps for a two-state solution while Indonesian President

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00:44:50

Recognising Palestine: Will French-led diplomatic...

The Debate ·

2025/09/22

With Gaza under siege and the West Bank under threat, will the symbolic act of recognising a Palestinian state give its inhabitants reasons to hope or despair? Some 715 days since Hamas orchestrated the worst terror attack in Israel's history, what's clear is that Israel has since squandered sympathy with its incessant pummelling of Gaza and the unchecked land grabs by the state and Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Among the dozen nations recognising Palestine are former colonial powers Britain and

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00:44:40

The assassination of Charlie Kirk: What response to...

The Debate ·

2025/09/11

If Charlie Kirk wasn't previously a household name internationally, he is now. Across the United States, flags are at half mast on government buildings after an assassination that bears the markings of a professional hit job. It was US President Donald Trump himself who broke news of the death of the 31-year-old MAGA influencer, on Truth Social. We ask about the circumstances of the shooting at a university campus talk in Utah, measure the impact – Kirk's powerful messaging could made his

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00:44:53

Macron protégé Lecornu named to handle budget crisis...

The Debate ·

2025/09/10

First day on the job for a new French prime minister, and the long-announced date for a Yellow Vests-style day of protest against austerity. Sébastien Lecornu taking the handover from predecessor François Bayrou who also passed on the bigger political hot potato, that of a budget that still needs passing, Bayrou undone by an opposition-led parliament. 39-year old Sébastien Lecornu, unknown to many, yet he's been in every government since Emmanuel Macron’s second month in office back in

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00:44:52

Macron faces deepening French political impasse: But...

The Debate ·

2025/09/10

In 2017, he blew up the system. Now, can he keep it together? France's Emmanuel Macron had never run for public office before becoming president. And for a while, he seemed exempt from the crude reality of political horse-trading. Yet now, the same Macron who reigned supreme when he smashed the big tent centre-left and centre-right parties eight years ago is running out of road in his second term, with his baffling decision last year to dissolve parliament backfiring miserably and an even stronger

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00:54:18

French PM Bayrou loses confidence vote: What next?

The Debate ·

2025/09/08

French MPs voted to topple the government of Prime Minister François Bayrou on Monday after the PM surprised even his own allies by calling a confidence vote to resolve a months-long deadlock over his austerity budget. Bayrou will tender his resignation on Tuesday morning, plunging France into fresh political turmoil.

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00:44:02

Boots on the ground to stop Putin? 26 states commit...

The Debate ·

2025/09/04

Security guarantees for Ukraine have been agreed at the Paris meeting of the "coalition of the willing" to help Ukraine in its existential fight against Vladimir Putin's Russia. But how will Moscow respond? French President Emmanuel Macron said "we want fair, long-term peace" as he confirmed the announcement alongside Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. The latter, at war since Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, thanked the coalition partners for their backing and called

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00:39:55

"Unstoppable" China? Xi's show of strength alongside...

The Debate ·

2025/09/03

China has staged an impressive display of its military might to mark its Victory Day, a commemoration of the end of World War Two, which Beijing couches as its defeat of Japanese forces, and crucially fascism. Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, as head of the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army, spending on arms has more than doubled- some say quadrupled. And there was a clear message to the rest of the world in the display of weapons paraded through Tiananmen Square.

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00:42:09

French government again set to fall: Unpopular...

The Debate ·

2025/09/02

As Europe goes back to school, it already had plenty on its plate. Now – on top of inflation, extreme weather, the AI race, Russian threats and a no-longer-so-friendly United States, it's got a new worry: France. After last year's baffling dissolution that resulted in a hung parliament, the French prime minister's now got six days to convince the opposition parties that hold his fate in their hands that he was right to preempt a raucous showdown over his austerity budget and call a vote of

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00:43:43

Make Russia great again? Why Putin won't relent on...

The Debate ·

2025/09/01

"Yes, it was Russian troops that launched an unprovoked invasion – but it's the West that started the war in Ukraine." That's the long-repeated line spun again this Monday by Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in China. Repeat a lie often enough and people will believe it, goes the saying. But for Putin, this founding myth story is not a myth at all. Tried and true Kremlinologists insist that the ex-KGB agent genuinely feels grievance and genuinely believes in greater Russia's manifest

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00:46:05

Why the falling out? Trump-Modi relations strained as...

The Debate ·

2025/08/28

What's the US doubling of tariffs on India really all about? The Trump administration insists it just wants India to stop buying, then reselling, discounted Russian crude oil to bypass sanctions over Ukraine. New Delhi's imports of crude have indeed soared, but is that the only reason? Supporters of Kyiv say they wish Washington applied the same zeal to others like Turkey, not to mention the shadow fleets that ship Russian fossil fuels. We ask about New Delhi's muted reaction and why relations have

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196 results

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