Is it possible to simplify French spelling, which sometimes appears mainly designed to create problems? On some (failed) attempts to do so, an interesting if frustrating #frenchpodcast, broadcast most appropriately on April Fool's day. www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/...
I read two of these Wikipedia AI detection test articles and guessed both correctly, somewhat to my amazement - but it is a very disconcerting exercise. In the current climate I must say I cherish Wikipedia.
On the Commune de Paris as a civil war reflecting France's (ongoing?) social, economic and geographical fault lines: Michel Winock discusses the topic of his latest book in this #frenchpodcast. shows.acast.com/storiavoce/e...
I'm delighted that my latest article, on French colonial novels, is published open access. First-cousin marriage, anxiety about racial purity, femmes fatales, unhappy endings... and Propp-inspired analysis of character and function. @tandfresearch.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Is this really the oldest bookshop in the world ? The Livraria Bertrand in Lisbon.
The traditional spring tulip pilgrimage to the Botanic Gardens.
Within the Louvre there were once multiple smaller museums linked to France’s colonial past. On this and the origins of some other museums - Quai Branly and Guimet - a #frenchpodcast with Pierre Singaravélou www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...
Well this is nice: www.topuniversities.com/university-s...
What are the different scenarios for massive societal collapse, how likely are they, and what does societal collapse actually mean for ordinary people? Four podcasts from @ppfideas.bsky.social with Luke Kemp, author of Goliath's Curse. www.ppfideas.com/episodes/whe...
On the figure of the ‘jeune fille’ in fairy tales; it seems her awakening from sleep was once told as a paternal rape. #frenchpodcast www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...
#frenchpodcast on Antonio Gramsci’s writing in prison, his non-Stalinist communism and the rise of Italian fascism. www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/...
Turns out Balzac not only had a sense of humour but also a liking for dirty wordplay. Qui l’eût cru? #frenchpodcast with Laelia Véron www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...
The unicorn has an ancient and varied history, appearing in the Bible, in scenes of courtly love, and occasionally in cameo appearances in travellers’ tales, as told in this #frenchpodcast www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...
Green policies seem to have paid off in Paris 🌱🚴🏽♀️Source: POLITICO
A wonderful little exhibition at the Ashmolean, ‘In Bloom’, turns out to include some rather extravagant sexual organs, here represented in watercolour and in an enlarged papier mâché teaching model.
King Death, in this painting , appears to have his foot roughly in the vicinity of Greenland. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
Hubertine Auclert, feminist of the early Third Republic, wanted the vote, payment for domestic labour, feminine job titles and recognition of intersectional oppression of Algerian women. #frenchpodcast #FrHistory www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...
Le Petit Prince 80 years on: a children’s book for adults or an existential drama? #frenchpodcast with cool expressions such as ‘cucul la praline’ and ‘ tarte à la crème ‘. www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...
Faced with the looting of the Sudanese national museum, the project to create a virtual version is underway. Short #frenchpodcast www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...
A brutal invasion by a small number of men with superior military technology (iron, horses, gunpowder) - a grim story with a distinct lack of any pleasant or 'relatable' characters on either side - a 6-part series on the fall of the Incas. therestishistory.com/episodes/emp...
The French word 'sirène' is much more open in meaning than 'mermaid'; #Frenchpodcast from which I learned that the first sirens were women-bird hybrids (of course I should have remembered this from Homer). 🧜♀️ www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...
The 'writer's house' museum was, like so much else, a 19thC invention with - an important role in the definition (sometimes invention) of local identity. #Frenchpodcast www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...
Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, who believed colonialism was a force for good, led a mission to the French Congo to investigate rumours of abuse in rubber harvesting. He died on the way back and... his report was not published. Gripping #frenchpodcast #FrHistory www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/...
Tile, Safavid dynasty, Persia, 17thC (British Museum)
Should brothels be illegal, or do they protect women? Lively 6-part docudrama #frenchpodcast on the closure of the maisons closes in France after WW2. #FrHistory podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/a...
Needless to say I was completely hooked listening to this 8-part series on the Indian Uprising of 1857 ('Mutiny' would sound like something on a much smaller scale) from @willdalrymple.bsky.social and @anitaanand.bsky.social. Still my favourite podcast. podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/3...
Surprisingly gripping #frenchpodcast on how Bismarck used fake news & media manipulation to get the French to declare war in 1870. But is this really what set the stage for two world wars? High stakes claims. #FrHistory www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/...
