RFI

Artificial intelligence is everywhere in France but who's using it, and how? We also look at its impact on translators and how they're striving to keep humans at the helm. And Nadia Boulanger – the pioneering French composer and conductor who taught generations of musical greats.

AI is widely used in France, despite many peoples' misgivings. Tech consultant Frederic Cavazza says adoption is being driven by individuals, rather than a coherent or systemic approach. That results in a paradox: the technology is everywhere, but guidance and confidence in it is lacking. (Listen @2'40'')

One field that is heavily impacted by generative AI in France – and the non-English-language world – is translation. Low-cost translation agencies are increasingly using machines to deliver first drafts and relying on humans for ungratifying, poorly paid "post-editing". But translators are fighting back. The En chair et en os collective and the recently-launched STEF union for translators in publishing marked last week's World Translation Day with symbolic strike action. They gathered to find collective ways of keeping humans at the heart of the translation process, including an initiative to "sabotage" the post-editing system. (Listen @17'50'')

The story of French musician Nadia Boulanger, a talented composer and the first woman to conduct some of the world's top orchestras. Today she is best remembered for teaching an extraordinary number of the 20th century's most famous musicians, from Aaron Copland to Philip Glass, Burt Bacharach and Quincy Jones. (Listen @10'30'')

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompeani.

Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, Apple podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app.

This week is the final Sound Kitchen program, and it’s a doubleheader: you’ll hear the answers to TWO quiz questions, as well as TWO “Listeners Corner’s” with Paul Myers, plus a special musical choice from me to you. Just click the “Play” button above to join the feast!

Hello everyone!

As noted on the show, I am retiring on 1 October, and today’s show is our last meal together. Unfortunately, The Sound Kitchen is retiring too – I will not be replaced.

We’ve had a great time together all these years, haven’t we?

Click here to listen to past Sound Kitchen podcasts.  

I know you will all stay loyal to RFI English – our service has so much to offer. We’re small, but my colleagues are firebrands!

For example, we have wonderful podcasts: Spotlight on France, with journalists Alison Hird and Sarah Elzas; Melissa Chemam’s insightful Spotlight on Africa, and our International Report, usually sent to us by one of our foreign correspondents. We also have an award-winning bilingual series – an old-time radio show, with actors (!) – to help you learn French, called Les voisins du 12 bis.

Remember, podcasts are radio, too! As you see, sound is still quite present in the RFI English service.  Please keep checking our website for updates on the latest from our team of journalists. You never know what we’ll surprise you with!

To listen to our podcasts from your PC, go to our website; you’ll see “Podcasts” at the top of the page. You can either listen directly or subscribe and receive them directly on your mobile phone.

And don’t forget, in addition to our audio bilingual series, you can also learn French through our website “Le Français facile avec rfi”. In addition to online lessons, there are news broadcasts in slow, simple French, with exercises to practice what you’ve heard.

Go to their website and get started! At the top of the page, click on “Test level”, and you’ll be advised on the best-suited activities for your level, according to your score.

Do not give up! As Lidwien van Dixhoorn, the head of the “Le Français facile” service, told me: “Bathe your ears in the sound of the language, and eventually, you’ll get it”. She should know – Lidwien is Dutch and came to France hardly able to say “bonjour,” and now she heads this key international award-winning RFI department – so stick with it!

For the quiz on 7 February: I asked you a question about the 68th annual Grammy Awards that took place on 1 February. You were to re-read our article “French DJ wins Grammy for Lady Gaga remix” and send in the answer to this question: Which six artists were given “Lifetime Achievement” awards?

The answer is, to quote our article: “On Saturday evening, Nigeria's Fela Kuti was posthumously awarded a lifetime achievement award, becoming the first African artist to receive the distinction.

The king of Afrobeat was one of several artists to receive the award, including Cher, Whitney Houston, Carlos Santana, Paul Simon and Chaka Khan.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, suggested by RFI Listeners Club member Alan Holder from the English Isle of Wight. Alan’s question was: “What would be your ideal gift from your best friend or spouse? Why?” 

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Mohamed Elsayed Abd Elraheim from Elsharkya, Egypt. Mohamed Elsayed is also this week’s bonus question winner.

Also on the list of lucky winners are RFI Listeners Club members Hans Verner Lollike from Hedehusene, Denmark; Helmut Matt from Herbolzheim, Germany; Kashif Khalil from Faisalabad, Pakistan, and last but not least, gentle Debashis Gope from West Bengal, India.

Congratulations winners!

For the quiz on 14 February: That week, I asked you a question about the Benin Bronzes, the trove of Nigerian sculptures and artifacts that were looted by colonial powers.

One of the most well-known organizations working for the return of these works is in Nigeria: it’s the National Commission for Museums and Monuments – the NCMM- which requested the return of bronzes from Britain that were looted from the Kingdom of Benin during the British Benin Expedition of 1897. Some of the sculptures date to the fourteenth century, but the bulk of the collection dates to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

And that week, the NCMM had a win, as my good colleague Melissa Chemam noted in her article: “Cambridge University museum set to return Benin bronzes to Nigeria”.

You were to re-read Melissa’s article and give the details of the artefacts to be returned. What did Melissa name in her article about the Benin Kingdom artworks that went home to Nigeria?

The answer is, to quote Melissa: “Among the returned bronzes that will travel in the coming months are wood and ivory sculptures, as well as commemorative heads of King Oba and Queen Mother Lyoba Idia.

The term ‘Benin bronzes’ refers to objects crafted from brass and ivory as well as bronze, which were seized during the colonial-era military expedition.”

The bonus question you answered that week was: “What do you know after all these years? What have you found are important life truths?

The winners are: Faithful RFI Listeners Club member Jayanta Chakrabarty from New Delhi, India. Jayanta is also the bonus question winner.

Also on the list of lucky winners are RFI Listeners Club member Nasyr Muhammad from Katsina State in Nigeria, as well as RFI English listeners M. Ganesan from Goa, India, and three listeners from Bangladesh:  Rafiq ul Islam from Naogaon, as well as Abdul Mannan and Mahfuza Akhter, both from Chapainawabganj.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Minor Swing” by  Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli, performed by the composers with Le Quintette Hot Club de France; "Water No Get Enemy" by Fela Kuti, performed by Fela Kuti and Africa ’70; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer;  “L'hymne à l'amour” by Edith Piaf and Marguerite Monnot, sung by Edith Piaf, and “I Wish You Love” by Charles Trenet and Léo Chauliac, performed by Laufey with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hugh Brant.

With much affection from The Sound Kitchen team – Erwan Rome, Paul Myers, and yours truly, Susan Owensby - fare thee well!

With its strong commitment to secularism, France is not an obvious place for Pope Leo XIV to stage an appearance, but his visit is drawing interest from Catholics and non-Catholics alike. After nearly disappearing from France, vultures are making a comeback, but their return has created new tensions with farmers. And France's revolutionary first divorce law from 1792.

Some 800,000 people have signed up to see Pope Leo XIV on his first official visit to France, a secular country where the Catholic faith no longer dominates. Francois Mabille, head of the Geopolitical Observatory of Religion at the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs, looks at why France is of interest to the Vatican, and young people of different religions talk about what Pope Leo means to them. (Listen @0'00)

Vultures all but disappeared from France by the 1940s as people sought to eradicate the scavenger birds. A programme to reintroduce the four European vulture species to the Grands Causses plateaux in the southern Massif Central has been sucessful – so successful that some farmers say there are now too many. We visit a vulture feeding station to explore the close relationship between vultures and agriculture, and the tensions that arise with the return of wild species. (Listen @20'00)

In 1792, France introduced one of Europe’s first and most liberal divorce laws, as part of a broader revolutionary effort to enact liberté, egalité et fraternité in the family itself. (Listen @14'00)

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompeani.

Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, Apple podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app.

This week on The Sound Kitchen it’s a doubleheader: you’ll hear the answers to TWO quiz questions, as well as TWO “Listener's Corner" with Paul Myers, and of course, Erwan Rome’s “Music from Erwan”. So sit down, relax, and join the banquet! Just click the “play” button above to join the feast.

Hello everyone!

As noted on the show, I am retiring on 1 October. Unfortunately, The Sound Kitchen is retiring too – I will not be replaced.

We’ve had a great time together all these years, haven’t we?

Click here to listen to past Sound Kitchen podcasts.  

I know you will all stay loyal to RFI English – our service has so much to offer. We’re small, but my colleagues are firebrands!

For example, we have wonderful podcasts: Spotlight on France, with journalists Alison Hird and Sarah Elzas; Melissa Chemam’s insightful Spotlight on Africa, and our International Report, usually sent to us by one of our foreign correspondents. We also have an award-winning bilingual series – an old-time radio show, with actors (!) – to help you learn French, called Les voisins du 12 bis.

Remember, podcasts are radio, too! As you see, sound is still quite present in the RFI English service.  Please keep checking our website for updates on the latest from our team of journalists. You never know what we’ll surprise you with!

To listen to our podcasts from your PC, go to our website; you’ll see “Podcasts” at the top of the page. You can either listen directly or subscribe and receive them directly on your mobile phone.

And don’t forget, in addition to our audio bilingual series, you can also learn French through our website “Le Français facile avec rfi”. In addition to online lessons, there are news broadcasts in slow, simple French, with exercises to practice what you’ve heard.

Go to their website and get started! At the top of the page, click on “Test level”, and you’ll be advised on the best-suited activities for your level, according to your score.

Do not give up! As Lidwien van Dixhoorn, the head of the “Le Français facile” service, told me: “Bathe your ears in the sound of the language, and eventually, you’ll get it”. She should know – Lidwien is Dutch and came to France hardly able to say “bonjour,” and now she heads this key international award-winning RFI department – so stick with it!

For the quiz on 24 January: I asked you a question about the Africa Cup of Nations, and an article sent to us by Paul Myers, who was there. You were to re-read his article “Senegal outwit Morocco to claim 2025 Africa Cup of Nations”, and send in the answer to this question: At the 2026 World Cup, which took place in the United States, Mexico, and Canada in June, in which group did Morocco play, and in which group did Senegal play?

The answer is, to quote Paul’s article: “Morocco will play in Group C against Brazil, Scotland and Haiti.

Senegal will feature in Group I with France, Norway, and the team that emerges from the intercontinental play-off in March.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “What is your favorite day of the year? Why? What is it about that day that makes it your favorite?”

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Dipita Chakrabarty from New Delhi, India. Dipita is also the bonus question winner.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Muhammed Naved, a member of the International DX Radio Listeners Club in West Bengal, India; Muhammad Abdullah, a member of the RFI Online Visitors Club in Sahiwal, Pakistan; RFI Listeners Club member Rodrigo Hunrichse from Bio-Bio, Chile, and last but not least, RFI English listener Sakila Musarrt from Chapainawabganj in Bangladesh. 

Congratulations winners!

For the quiz on 31 January: You were to listen to our podcast “Spotlight on France”, the brainchild of my colleagues Alison Hird and Sarah Elzas. I hope you listen to it regularly, it’s really quite good.

On their programme number 138, Alison reported on La Ménardière, an alternative living arrangement for seniors in the village of Bérat, close to the southern French town of Toulouse. The aim of the project is for seniors to live and grow old together, contributing to society for as long as possible, and to delay – or avoid – the moment when people are forced into institutional care.

The answers you were to send in were: How many residents can live at La Ménardière, and what is the selection process?

The answer is, to quote Alison: “La Ménardière can house up to 20 residents. The selection process to become one is rigorous. Candidates stay for trial weekends and, if they decide to join, they must then complete a six-month probation period.”

The bonus question you answered that week – suggested by Murshida Parvin Lata, the co-chairman of the Sonali Badhan Female Listeners Club in Bogura, Bangladesh – was: “Which daytime temperature do you prefer: cold or hot? Why?”

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Father Steven Wara, who lives and serves in the Cistercian Abbey in Bamenda, Cameroon. Father Steve is also the winner of this week’s bonus question.

There’s long-standing RFI Listeners Club member Zenon Teles, who is also the president of the Christian – Marxist – Leninist – Maoist Association of Listening DX-ERs in Goa, India, as well as another faithful Sound Kitchen listener – and club member – Radhakrishna Pillai from Kerala State, also in India.

Moving over to Bangladesh, Anjana Parvin – she’s the secretary of the very active Shetu RFI Listeners Club in Naogaon. And last but not the least, club member and my fellow dinosaur, Alan Holder, from England’s Isle of Wight.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Take the A Train” by Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington, performed by Duke Ellington and his orchestra; the “AFCON 2025 Official Intro Theme – Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025” by Othmane Laaouina; “What a Wonderful World” by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss, sung by Louis Armstrong; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Étincelles”, Op. 36, No. 6 by Moritz Moszkowski, played by Alexander Zhou.

I’ll talk to you next week, 26 September, for our final Sound Kitchen together. You’ll hear the answers to the questions about the Grammy Awards Lifetime Achievement Awards and the Benin Bronzes, as well as your responses to the bonus questions on "The Listener’s Corner" with Paul Myers, so be sure and tune in.

Until then, fare thee well!

A climate expert experiences eco-anxiety firsthand after living through France's hottest summer on record. France tries to find its place in the new space race. And the story of the earliest known photograph still visible today.

Eco-anxiety is on the rise in France after a summer of unprecedented heatwaves led to wildfires, scorched crops and the deaths of at least 7,000 people as well as livestock and birds. Juliette Decq, a climate adaptation consultant, says fear is a normal response to the reality people are now facing. A mother of two young children, she experienced that reality firsthand when her own home became unsafe. She talks about her anger over France’s lack of preparedness, not least in schools, but also about the solidarity she witnessed in her local community as they helped people protect themselves. Eco-anger, she says, can be a force for change. (Listen @0')

Historically a leader in Europe’s space programme, France is reassessing its role in space. Although French astronaut Sophie Adenot is currently on the International Space Station, France’s space ambitions haven’t focused on human space flight. But as the US and China ramp up their Moon missions and space becomes increasingly industrialised, France is looking to find its place. Space policy analyst Xavier Pasco explains how Europe is positioning itself as a regulator in a rapidly changing sector that has, until now, remained largely unchecked. (Listen @20'10'')

French inventor Nicéphore Niépce took the earliest surviving photograph in July 1827: a scene from a window that might have taken days to make. He fell into obscurity, and the photo itself was lost. Now it's returning to France, as part of a celebration of 200 years of photography in his honour. (Listen @14'15'')

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompeani.

Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, Apple podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app.

This week on Spotlight on Africa, we're heading to Zambia, where general elections are set to take place on the 13th August. Voters will go to the polls to elect a president, members of the National Assembly, councillors and council chairs. Incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema has already picked up endorsements from within his own camp, the UPND Alliance, the coalition that's held power since 2021. So what's at stake, and who's in the running?

This week on the podcast, we're heading to Zambia, which is gearing up for elections next month and is now in full campaign mode. Two of our RFI colleagues, Yang Mei and Igor Strauss, travelled to Zambia recently for in-depth reporting on four years of Hakainde Hichilema's rule, and his chances of re-election.

In power since August 2021, "HH", as he's most often called, is a businessman, farmer and politician, and the seventh president of Zambia.

General elections are due to be held in the country on 13 August 2026 to elect a president, members of the National Assembly, councillors and council chairs.

The year ahead for African democracy: who is going to the polls in 2026?

Hichilema has received endorsements from some members of the UPND Alliance, including from the leaders of the Party of National Unity and Progress and the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy.

According to an opinion poll conducted by a University of Zambia demographer, Hichilema is set to be re-elected, leading with 60 percent of the vote, while the combined opposition would take 35 percent.

Zambia's Hichilema sworn in, becoming rare opposition president in southern Africa

Our colleagues Yang Mei and Igor Strauss bring us some of the interviews they gathered on the ground, so join us as we hear from ordinary Zambians, as well as from leading journalist Joseph Mwenda, editor-in-chief at News Diggers, who has led multiple investigations into the current government's relations with China; and from Robert Mwale, an economist and Lead Public Finance and Economic Governance Researcher at the Centre for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD).

Among the issues at stake are a lack of freedom of expression, but also a legacy of economic growth, driven in no small part by China's heavy involvement in the economy.

Thanks to our reporters, Igor Strauss and Yang Mei, for their work and insight, and thank you for listening.

This is the last episode of the 2025–26 season. We'll be back in September with another one.

Spotlight on Africa is produced by RFI's English language service. This episode was mixed by Erwan Rome.

This week in Spotlight on Africa, we look at climate change, environmental justice and the challenges of adaptation. While Europe's heatwaves make headlines, temperatures are also climbing across Africa, with parts of the Sahel approaching 50°C. West Africa is also experiencing severe flooding caused by climate change. Yet Africa is also a source of innovation and solutions, as we'll be discussing today.

Heatwaves in Europe are getting a lot of attention from the media, as they break records, but temperatures are also on the rise in Africa, with 50°C reported in the Sahel since March. And West Africa is facing unprecedentedly violent floods, especially in Ghana, parts of Nigeria and in Côte d'Ivoire. All due to global warming and climate change.

Severe flooding leaves a trail of death and destruction in West Africa

But if Africa is often seen as a victim of climate disasters - it’s also the source of solutions. 

Climate change is directly linked to oil and other fossil fuel use, which also causes environmental pollution.

In May 2026, Shell and other major oil companies held their annual general meetings, a tense moment for the victims of decades-long pollution by the companies. In the case of Shell, it might be able to shed its duty to clean up the region by selling some of its assets to another group named Renaissance.

Ahead of and after the annual meeting, local communities in Nigeria organised to act, as they see a critical opportunity to amplify scrutiny of Shell's continued fossil fuel expansion. The goal is to show the company's failure on climate accountability and environmental justice.

The pollution also affects other parts of Africa, and many actors, investors and campaigners are organising to make their demands heard.

A month after the Africa Forward summit in Nairobi, and ahead of the 11th Global Summit on Climate Change in Paris on 30-31 July 2026, this week we hear from three people building the future.

Does the Africa Forward summit signal a fresh start?

Emem Okon is the executive director of Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre – a frontline leader on gender, oil pollution and community rights in the Niger Delta. She tells us how the communities are fighting for accountability.

Yuma Sasaki, from Japan, is Dodai's CEO, working from Addis Ababa. Dodai is an electric mobility company based in Ethiopia. They recently raised $13 million (the largest fundraiser ever in Ethiopia) to scale up electric bikes.

Ethiopia, like Kenya, has emerged as a hub for electric vehicles given progressive government policy. It was the first country in the world to ban the import of fuel vehicles.

With abundant and cheap hydropower, Ethiopia could make e-bikes commercially advantageous as well as environmentally beneficial.

Meet the Kenyans on a roll, manufacturing the electric vehicles of the future

And Bim Adisa, CEO of Beacon Power Services, explains how artificial intelligence can help improve the reliability of electricity grids. Lagos-based BPS helps operators stabilise electricity grids – already impacting over 100 million people worldwide, including in West Africa.

This episode was mixed by Erwan Rome.

As France's record-breaking heatwave last week raises questions about how the country will have to adapt to a warming climate, we look at what that could mean for French culture. We also explore the country's growing interest in fitness – driven in part by its most popular YouTuber – and examine how the Grand Mosque of Paris, which marks its centenary this year, became both a symbol of Islam in France and a recurring source of political tension.

France has just endured one of the most intense heatwaves in its history. Record 43C temperatures put the country's schools, hospitals and transport to the test and caused at least 1,000 heat-related deaths. Climate risk expert Antoine Poincaré, head of the Apave Climate School, argues France has little choice but to adapt to a hotter world. It will mean making difficult political choices and rethinking everything from schools to Champagne, croissants and even the postcard image of Paris. Listen @0')

Working out has never been a particularly French pastime, until recently. Around six million people in France have gym memberships and the numbers are rising, driven largely by younger people. Christophe Andanson, who founded one of France's first gyms in the early 1980s, welcomes the trend. He and coach Aurélien Broussal-Derval attribute some of the growing popularity of fitness to social media influencers, notably Tibo InShape, France's largest YouTuber. (Listen @19'40'')

The beauty of the Grande Mosquée de Paris belies controversy. Since it opened in July 1926, the mosque has been a flashpoint for tensions over colonialism and France's relationship with Islam. (Listen @14'45'')

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompeani.

Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, Apple podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app.

This week, Spotlight on Africa turns to the Great Lakes region. First, a new Global Witness report reveals how coltan is being smuggled out of the Democratic Republic of Congo, amid the ongoing conflict in the east, through Rwanda and on to companies worldwide. Then, artist Grada Kilomba discusses her journey to create a unique monument for Paris commemorating the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

 

This month, a new report from the NGO Global Witness has revealed how coltan is being smuggled out of the Democratic Republic of Congo and sold to companies worldwide via Rwanda, amid the devastating conflict in the country's eastern provinces.

Coltan, short for columbite-tantalite, is a mineral from which the metals tantalum and niobium are extracted, both classified as critical raw materials by companies from the United States, the European Union, China and Japan.

The report finds that conflict minerals from the war-torn east of the DRC are present in everyday technology products made by major global companies. It also links the illegal trade to Rwandan firms and to leading international brands including Amazon, Ericsson and Sony, which source minerals from eastern DRC.

The trafficking is linked to the M23 militia, accused of widespread sexual violence, summary executions and torture.

It took the British non-governmental organisation more than a year of documentary and field research to establish the exploitation network.

A separate Global Witness investigation from April 2025 had already revealed that coltan linked to the conflict in eastern DRC had likely entered the European Union market through international commodities trader Traxys. Earlier reports had also implicated companies including Apple, dating back to 2022.

For this latest investigation, the NGO spent months cross-referencing its findings with surveys conducted by the United Nations and other non-governmental organisations.

Alex Kopp, the report's author and an expert at Global Witness, is our first guest.

DRC takes on Apple: can conflict mineral mining be stopped?

Rwanda monument

The artist Grada Kilomba was commissioned to create a monument for the city of Paris commemorating the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

The monument comprises two black brass steles bearing an engraved tribute to the hundreds of thousands of men, women and children massacred between April and July 1994.

It was unveiled in the heart of Paris on 2 June 2026, in the presence of the two countries' presidents, Emmanuel Macron and Paul Kagame.

France and Rwanda unite to honour genocide victims with Paris monument

Kilomba is a Portuguese artist of African heritage, with roots in São Tomé and Angola.

Raised in Portugal, she has worked in Germany, Brazil, England and beyond, using performance and installation to explore the history of African and black people across centuries and continents, including the slave trade.

She was selected through a rigorous process to design this monument, the first of its kind in France. She travelled to Rwanda to meet survivors and conduct her own research before completing the project, titled "The Archive".

Her creative process led her to reflect on France and Europe's responsibility in the tragic events.

Grada Kilomba is the second guest in this episode.

 

 

This episode was mixed by Vincent Pora.

The murder of a young girl has sparked a reckoning with France's failures to investigate and prosecute violence against children. A historian's take on bringing Charles de Gaulle to the big screen. And how France's legal recognition of animal sentience has yet to guarantee the welfare of farm animals.

The murder of a child in south-west France has caused outcry after it emerged that the chief suspect was previously accused of raping and sexual assaulting other children – but had never been charged, or even interviewed by police. Child welfare advocates and feminist groups have started weekly demonstrations outside the Justice Ministry, demanding stronger action against systemic failures to investigate, prosecute and convict child abusers. Steffy Alexandrian and Arnaud Gallais, who both founded child protection groups after being sexually abused, describe their experiences with the justice system and why an overhaul is long overdue. (Listen @3')

On 18 June 1940, a then little-known general made a radio broadcast from London to German-occupied France to rally the French resistance. Few heard his call, but the speech would launch Charles de Gaulle on the path to becoming one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century. Eighty-six years later, de Gaulle is back in the spotlight thanks to the blockbuster biopic La Bataille de Gaulle. Historian Julian Jackson – whose acclaimed biography, A Certain Idea of France, inspired the film – talks about the delicate process of bringing history to the screen, the general's love-hate relationship with Winston Churchill, and why his warnings about Europe's dependence on America still resonate. (Listen @18'40'')

In July 1976, France passed a landmark law for animal rights: Article L214 of the Rural Code, which recognised animals as “sentient beings” with needs that humans had to respect. Fifty years later, animal studies specialist Émilie Dardenne says it has not stopped sometimes shocking cruelty in France’s massive farming industry. (Listen @12'40'')

Episode mixed by Jeremie Boucher.

Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, Apple podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app.