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Talking France
'On the brink': Why French high school revolt is not the only problem facing France
Season 23, Ep. 7
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Welcome to a new episode of Talking France, a special episode it turns out, because we find ourselves in the midst of a new major protest movement in France.
This one is being led by high school students, who are fed up with the state of the education system and fear they don’t have much future ahead of them. Their movement, which has seen lycees blockaded, is supported by students, parents, teachers, unions and several political parties.
In the last week or so we’ve seen thousands of young people arrested, we’ve had hundreds of school students, education staff and police officers left injured as violence and vandalism has flared at flash points throughout the country.
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This week we’ve seen tens of thousands take to the streets in a mass demonstration as well as the president calling emergency meetings with his ministers.
This wasn’t meant to be a special episode but these student uprising has caught us by surprise and so we need to breakdown what’s going on, what’s caused it and find out where it’s heading.
To do that I’ll call on the team at The Local France Emma Pearson and Emma Albright, our French politics expert John Lichfield and as well as French education expert and author Peter Gumbel. I’m Ben McPartland your host.
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32:25||Season 23, Ep. 10Has calm returned to the streets of France? Can shopkeepers and store owners remove the wooden barricades and metal shutters? What further protests are planned? Will high school students peacefully return to the classrooms next week as the government and the president desperately hope?Or are we heading for weeks of unrest up until Christmas?We’ll try to answer these questions in this week’s episode.Be ready for what's next in France: Listeners can join The Local France for €29.99 / year - introductory offer.And if any members can help us further and would like to make a donation, you can get more information here - just scroll to the bottom.And we’ll look at why France’s newest motorway has taken so long to open and why motorists in the south west are vowing not to use it.And we’ll look at the fine tradition of Halloween in France and some of the spooky and not so spooky things you can do this year.Host Ben McPartland is joined by The Local’s own team of sorcerers Emma Pearson, Emma Albright and John Lichfield.9. What's next for France as disorder and debt plunge country into crisis?
38:46||Season 23, Ep. 9In recent days the country has been hit by widespread looting, violent clashes between rioters and police, street protests and just scenes of chaos and conflict.And the fear is there’s more to come. Not just this weekend, but in the months ahead as we get closer to the presidential election next spring.Be ready for what's next in France: Listeners can join The Local France for €29.99 / year - introductory offer.And if any members can help us further and would like to make a donation, you can get more information here - just scroll to the bottom.We’ll unravel what happened, look ahead to what could still happen yet and explain some of the French protest slogans that have emerged in recent weeks.And as well as the demonstrations and disorder on the streets France is also embroiled in a crisis of debt, the combination of which, experts say is unprecedented.We’ll try and explain just how bad things are.But despite all that, most of life in France is going on as normal this autumn, including some fantastic food festivals all over the country. We’ll give you a taste of the best ones.Host Ben McPartland is joined by the team at The Local France Emma Pearson, Emma Albright and French politics expert John Lichfield.8. The perils of French lovers and Le Pen's plan for a 'foreigner tax'
38:34||Season 23, Ep. 8This week we’ll bring you up to date with what some of the French presidential candidates want to do with us foreigners - whether tax us more for working here or just keep us out altogether.We’ll also hear why the grand old Parti Socialiste won’t have a candidate in next year’s election for the first time since the start of the Fifth Republic in 1958.We’ll get the latest on the high school student protests and whether the Gilets Jaunes are making a comeback on Saturday plus we’ll explain the pitfalls and even perils of moving to France to set up home with a French partner. Let’s face it , it doesn’t always work out as planned.REMEMBER: Listeners can join The Local France for €29.99 / yearWe’ll try and explain a huge cyberattack on French supermarkets this week that led to millions of euros of food being chucked away and just how to pronounce big brand names in French. No, the French don’t say Ikea, LinkedIn or Uggs.Host Ben McPartland is joined for this episode by the usual suspects from The Local France Emma Pearson, Emma Albright and politics expert John Lichfield.6. Carte de séjour misery, French data centre battlegrounds and Brittany runs low on tap water
30:20||Season 23, Ep. 6Up for discussion this week is the weather, will a town in rainy Brittany run out of water. What’s the situation like everywhere else? Will we all be forced to limit our showers to three minutes soon?We’ll get the latest analysis on French politics from whether the government can do anything to quell anger around fuel prices or will it all feed Marine Le Pen’s populist campaign and whether shocking anti-semitism allegations directed at her number 2, Jordan Bardella could undermine her run for the Elysée in any way.Problems with carte de séjour renewals give many foreign residents sleepless nights; We ‘ll get the latest on moves to ease the crisis and hear from several readers who have been badly impacted.REMEMBER: Listeners can join The Local France for €29.99 / yearPlus we’ll find out about where the battlegrounds are in FRance over the planned construction of controversial data centres.And if a French person ever says sorry to you - we’ll tell you how to respond.Host Ben McPartland is joined by Emma Albright from The Local France and our French politics expert John Lichfield, plus Katy Wright who’ll join us from Brittany.5. French fuel prices risk autumn unrest and the real danger posed by Le Pen
38:47||Season 23, Ep. 5Among the words on everyone’s lips this week in France is - petrol, well and diesel. Yes fuel prices have reached record high levels in France. We’ll get the latest on what the government is doing, where the shortages are and whether the crisis could lead to social unrest and even the return of les Gillets Jaunes - remember them? They could be back.We’ll also run you through the key numbers of the Pope’s historic visit to Paris this weekend, but should he be allowed to say mass on the Champs-Elysees in secular France?JOIN THE LOCAL - Talking France special offer - 50% off - Pay just €29.99/yearWe’ve got a great interview with a civil liberties expert to hear about the potential dangers posed by Marine Le Pen and her party and we’ll look at whether competition on the rails in France will bring down the prices of train tickets - including on the eurostar.And we’ll explain how to use capital letters in French - it’s not as obvious as you think.I’m Ben McPartland and I’ll be joined for this episode of Talking France by the team at The Local Emma Pearson, Emma Albright and politics expert John Lichfield, plus journalist Katy Wright in Brittany and special guest, the civil liberties expert Rim Sarah Alouane4. Could France really favour the French over foreigners and who derailed the Normandy train?
36:09||Season 23, Ep. 4This week we dig into one of Marine Le Pen's contentious proposals and find out whether the far right leader would actually be able to favour French citizens over foreign national residents if she became president.We'll also find out why French schools are struggling to give students a good education and look at the strange story of a train derailment in rural Normandy that left dozens injured. Was it really sabotage and who could have caused it?Listeners can join The Local for just €29.99 / year. Join today and support Talking France (and get access to scores of weekly articles)We'll also hear about the best films France has to offer and why foreign movie lovers are drawn to them, and we'll bring you some French language tips that will come in handy in bars and restaurants.Host Ben McPartland is joined this week by the team at The Local France - Emma Pearson, Emma Albright and politics expert John Lichfield as well as by Katy Wright in Brittany and special guest and French film expert Manon Kerjean.3. New tipping culture drives the French mad and far-right fractures deepen
33:39||Season 23, Ep. 3On the show this week we'll delve into the almighty squabble that ended with the Eiffel Tower closing this week after angry staff walked out.We’ll also look at the growing split in the French far right.Just everything was looking plain sailing for Marine Le Pen on her quest to take the Elysée Palace, could infighting and power struggles undermine her chances?Listeners of Talking France can take advantage of a special half price introductory offer to get access to all the articles on The Local France - and support the podcast at the same time! Join now for just €29.99/year.We'll also find out why French people are up in arms about a new tipping trend and what local authorities are doing to enable people to enjoy a mosquito-free apero each day. Can a mayor's bid to ban mossies really work?And we'll bring you the low down on the French word flipping trick known as verlan - and importantly can non-native speakers like us, actually use it?Host Ben McPartland is joined by the team at The Local France, Emma Pearson, Emma Albright and politics expert John Lichfield.2. Le Pen's 'vile' election pledge and why French cheese could lose its taste
40:50||Season 23, Ep. 2This week we look ahead to the 2027 presidential election which is edging closer. A new poll this week suggested there's only one winner, but could Marine Le Pen trip herself up before she gets over the line?We'll hear about her latest effort to win voters which has been described as "vile" by some and "populist grandstanding by others".We'll also find out whether the locals in Brittany, Normandy and other regions of France really do hate Parisians - and why might that be?Plus we'll bring you a warning over why your French cheese could taste a little different this autumn.Listeners of Talking France can get access to all the articles on The Local France news site for just €29.99 a year. Join now.Host Ben McPartland is joined by The Local's Emma Pearson, journalist Katy Wright in Brittany and our French politics expert John Lichfield in Normandy.