Perspective

It's now been 20 years since Recep Tayyip Erdogan rose to power in Turkey. Either way you look at it, he has undeniably transformed the country. For his supporters, he has turned Turkey into a regional powerhouse and rolled back secularism often associated with the West. But for critics, he has put the country on a more Islamist, even authoritarian path. Claude Guibal is a journalist specialised in the Middle East and creator of a podcast series on the Turkish president. She joined us for Perspective.

The dismantling of the Jim Crow segregation system in the United States and the suffragette movement giving women the right to vote are just two examples of mass changes brought about through civil disobedience. For a growing number of activists, confronting climate change is no different. Many argue that only civil disobedience campaigns will spur the radical changes necessary to prevent irreversible disaster. Oscar Berglund is a researcher and lecturer at the University of Bristol specialised in civil disobedience and climate activism. He joined us for Perspective.

In Nigeria, a phrase is said to be used by some older people to describe the younger cohort. They call them the "coconut head generation": an insult meaning lazy and apathetic. Our guest, filmmaker Alain Kassanda, has taken that name for his documentary, which goes a long way to show quite the opposite: how many young Nigerians are politically involved and fighting for more for their country. It focuses on the lives of students at the country's oldest university, in Ibadan. Alain joined us for Perspective, along with the film's visual director, Obayomi Anthony Ayodele.

Jake Adelstein, the author of Tokyo Vice and the creator of its television series, has released a new book that delves deeper into his experiences in Japan. Tokyo Detective follows Adelstein's life as a private detective in the country, investigating the mafia who have evolved into legitimate businessmen. While his original book chronicled his 12-year journey as an American reporter for a Japanese newspaper in Tokyo, this new work offers a more nuanced perspective of Japanese society's underbelly. Recently published in French, the book will be available in English next year, coinciding with the second season of the Tokyo Vice series. Adelstein spoke to Perspective about his latest work.

It is crucial week for the future of the French government’s plans to reform the pension system.  Another huge strike is planned by the unions for Tuesday, and any significant dip in the number of people taking part in demonstrations will weaken their cause. If the numbers hold up, will the government offer an olive branch to try to calm the situation? For the unions, however, olive branches will not be enough: they want the plans to be simply withdrawn, or at least paused. For Perspective, we spoke to Richard Werly, France correspondent for the Swiss newspaper Blick.

Rose Valland was one of the most highly decorated spies during World War II, credited with playing a leading role in saving thousands of looted artworks during the Nazi occupation. She was a Parisian art historian who spied on powerful Nazi leaders such as Hermann Göring over a period of four years. Rose's information enabled soldiers to know what to look for when recovering the stolen artworks. But she remains a relatively unknown figure in popular culture. Journalist Michelle Young is aiming to change that. She has uncovered more information about Rose's life, and her new book "The Art Spy" tells that story. She spoke to FRANCE 24’s Gavin Lee for Perspective.

Taha Siddiqui is an award-winning former FRANCE 24 journalist who fled Pakistan after escaping a kidnapping attempt. He's now exiled in France and has since discovered he's on a kill list in Pakistan and can never return to his home country. In 2020, Taha opened a bar in Paris to help people in exile like himself, called The Dissident Club. That's also the name of his autobiographical story, which has just been published in France – not as a traditional first-person account, but in comic book format. He spoke to Gavin Lee on Perspective.

The Gulag is synonymous with some of the worst mass human rights abuses of the 20th century, and also some of the lesser known. As many as 24 million people were imprisoned and some 1.6 million killed in the Soviet prison system. But no one was ever held accountable for the crimes, begging the question of how the legacy of the Gulag has impacted modern-day Russia. Michaël Prazan's book "Varlam" retraces the story of Russian writer and Gulag survivor Varlam Shalamov. The author joined us for Perspective.

For all the good that social media has done, it's become increasingly difficult to ignore its dark sides. Many studies show links between heavy social media use and a decline in mental health. Isa Watson had her own reckoning with the dangers of relying on the virtual world for validation. To counter the more toxic aspects of social media, she founded Squad, a mobile application centered on nourishing friendships. The US entrepreneur has now written a book entitled "Life Beyond Likes: Logging Off Your Screen and Into Your Life". She joined us for Perspective.

After getting a law degree, Michael Sengazi began to dabble in theatre and ultimately decided to ditch his future career as a lawyer to become a stand-up comedian. While his parents were initially a bit upset about seeing their law school investment used to tell jokes, he eventually won them over – along with all of Burundi. As the fifth child in a family of seven kids, with a Burundian father and Rwandan mother, family is one of Sengazi's favoUrite subjects. He also tackles taboo topics like sex, though he says there are some subjects he refuses to joke about. While in Paris to perform as part of the Africapitales festival, he joined us for Perspective.