He's the controversial poet-provocateur idolised as France's biggest literary export, holding up a mirror to the grim truths of contemporary France. Michel Houellebecq's eighth book "Anéantir", which translates as "Annihilate", hits bookshelves this Friday with a massive print run of 300,000 copies.

Maaza Mengiste's Booker Prize-shortlisted novel "The Shadow King" is set during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1935 and casts light on the women soldiers that history forgot. As the book is translated into French, the Ethiopian-American author joined us to tell us more about her work and why women are so often written out of the history books.

Film critic Lisa Nesselson speaks to Eve Jackson about the week’s film news, including the new Paris-set and female-led spy thriller "The 355" starring Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o and Penélope Cruz, as well as the French-language adaptation of Philip Roth's 1990 novel "Deception" directed by Arnaud Desplechin, plus the Icelandic nature vs nurture film "Lamb" starring Noomi Rapace.

When he's not busy writing, directing and acting, he's the wonderkid of the Parisian theatre scene. Alexis Michalik dazzled critics with his plays "Le Porteur d’Histoire" in 2013 and "Edmond" in 2016 – the word-of-mouth hit that revisits the life of the creator of "Cyrano de Bergerac" and won some of France's most prestigious awards.

Atanaz is a French hip-hop artist whose family stems from the French West Indies. During his time in New York, he studied the American hip-hop business model in parallel to law. He popped by FRANCE 24 to talk to Marjorie Hache about his new album "Vivre," which very much reflects the mood – and hope – for a post-pandemic world.

His images capture the universality of the human experience, in expressive portraits, breathtaking landscapes or arresting scenes of photojournalism. Steve McCurry's image of a young Afghan girl made the cover of National Geographic in the 1980s, catapulted him to fame and brought the plight of the country's refugees to the world's attention. As his body of work is brought together for a retrospective at the Musée Maillol in Paris, the photojournalist gives us his take on the current situation in Afghanistan, why children are naturally photogenic and how he finds inspiration in the people he photographs.

Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu has gained international fame through her roles in award-winning French series "Call My Agent" and "Emily in Paris", both binge-worthy shows that are available on Netflix. She popped by the FRANCE 24 studios to discuss the reprise of her role as the aloof Parisian boss of Emily Cooper, an ingenuous Chicago native who moved to Paris without speaking a word of French. Alison Sargent and Marjorie Hache also discuss the "Sex and the City" spin-off "And Just Like That..." and some other Christmas treats available on streaming platforms.

The wait is over for fans of Marvel super hero Spiderman. The Tom Holland-fronted film has been generating as much built-up excitement as the arrival of an old beardy man in red suit on Christmas Eve. We take a closer look.

In this edition of Encore!, the king of African pop Youssou Ndour speaks to us about his new album "Mbalax", in which he goes back to his roots. We also talk about the quest to award UNESCO World Heritage status to Congolese rumba. Plus, we visit a Paris exhibition where 20 artists explore the African philosophy known as Ubuntu – a concept embodied by the likes of Aimé Césaire, Fela Kuti and Nelson Mandela.

The young trio known as Howlin' Jaws have been making music since high school and are very much a part of France's rockabilly garage scene. Band members Djivan and Lucas popped by the FRANCE 24 studio and told Marjorie Hache about their first longplay album "Strange Effect" and their ambitions for 2022.