Talking France

How France can revive village life and the historic menace lurking under French soil

Talking France

Published: 14 March 2025 at 07:30 Europe/London

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Episode notes

This week we look at how the international crisis is impacting France.

Is President Emmanuel Macron a war monger and making the most of it all to boost his flagging popularity as his critics say, or is he the right man at the right time to lead France and Europe through increasingly stormy waters. And we look at the battle for French public opinion between Macron and the country’s increasingly influential pro-Russian media baron.

We also find out about a move to allow rural French villages to open up new bars and cafes. Will they restore a vital social life to isolated hamlets or simply encourage alcohol abuse among locals.

We also explore how France helps its youngsters become culture vultures and why it's perhaps no surprise that bombs left over from the World Wars are still causing travel chaos decades on, not to mention injuries and even deaths.

And we find out why many Americans in France are angry right now and the reasons why many more of their compatriots are making the move across the Atlantic.

Host Ben McPartland is joined this week by the team at The Local France Editor Emma Pearson, journalist Gen Mansfield and politics expert John Lichfield.

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