In this episode, we’re joined by our cultural correspondent to discuss the latest developments on the Louvre heist, the so-called budget “crisis,” social security, and layoffs in strategic sectors.

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On the 19th of October 2025, a group of unarmed thieves broke into the famous Louvre Art Museum, stealing several high-value pieces. It didn't take long for politicans in charge to deflect responsability for decades of underfunding, deferred maintence, understaffing and the poor working conditions which the labor unions have long denounced. Featuring our new culture correspondent, we discuss the daring robbery, the reactions to it, and our cultural obsession with art heists.

Thumbnail: Quirinale.it, Attribution, via Wikimedia Commons

In this special, we discuss the sudden collapse of Lecornu’s government following his announcement of the list of his (not-so-new) ministers. As Macron promises to appoint a new Prime Minister by Friday, we explore who that might be, what options the President of the Republic has, and speculate on the potential outcome of the next presidential election.

Since our last episode, President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister. While the mediasphere may have been caught off guard, our listeners weren’t—Marlon from Flep24 predicted it on our last episode. But who is Sébastien Lecornu? Why did President Macron choose him? And what does his appointment mean for France, as unions and grassroots movements prepare for strikes and protests tomorrow.

Unable to rally support for an unpopular budget proposal, French Prime Minister François Bayrou has decided to go out with a bang by invoking Article 49.1 of the Constitution. Guest Marlon Ettinger from the Flep24 podcast joins Patrick to unpack how we got here and to make predictions about what comes next.

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Immigration is an often misunderstood area of the law. In this episode, we outline the French immigration regime and discuss how it differs from that of the United States.

At its height, the French colonial empire was the second largest in the world. One of its legacies is Overseas France — parts of France scattered around the globe, from Tahiti in the South Pacific to French Guiana on the South American mainland. In the first of a series of episodes on this strange geographic anomaly that makes France the country with the most timezones in the world, we dive into the islands of the French Antilles: Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin, and Saint Barts.

On our first-ever crossover episode, we discuss the recent conviction of Marine Le Pen and several MEPs on charges of embezzlement, as well as the controversy surrounding her ineligibility to run for public office, with Marlon and Olly from the Flep24 Podcast. We explore whether this conviction amounts to "lawfare" and consider the potential impact it may have on French politics, particularly for the far-right in the 2027 presidential race.

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to the Flep24 (French Legislative Elections Podcast 2024) wherever you get your podcasts and consider finding them on patreon.

On this episode, we sit down with Jathan Sadowski from the podcast This Machine Kills to discuss his latest book, Mechanic and the Luddite: A Ruthless Criticism of Technology and Capitalism. We explore data capitalism, the impact of AI on labor and decision-making, rentierism, and whether Europe should join the tech hype cycle—as so many of its leaders seem eager to do.