The Debate

By FRANCE 24 English

The Debate episodes

May 11, 2020 Is France ready? Covid-19 lockdown loosened
The right to go get a haircut and the reopening of many shops are providing rays of hope after 55 days of total lockdown in France. But the easing of confinement raises fresh challenges: François Picard's panel agrees the nation will have to assess why it's so far behind its neighbours on testing, why its face mask stockpile got so badly depleted over the past decade, and whether the government did right in taking the calculated risk to re-open schools. It's the entire top-down system that's under scrutiny in the FRANCE 24 Debate.
42 min
May 07, 2020 Off script? The arts after Covid-19
Will the arts ever be the same again? The magic of digital technology has kept us connected to movies, music and TV shows during confinement, while distribution giants like Amazon have kept up supplies of books and CDs. But scrapped are the big summer music and theatre festivals. Can artists, producers and distributors hold out? Will Covid-19 finish off already struggling neighbourhood movie theatres? François Picard's panel reacts to the French president's promise of support for the industry and reflects on how confinement alters creativity.
42 min
May 06, 2020 Second wave? Iran eases Covid-19 lockdown
A choice between lives and livelihoods? Iranian authorities have gradually been easing confinement since April 11, this in a nation hit early and hard by Covid-19. Did they have to reopen mosques? Could they afford to keep the sanctions-squeezed country in lockdown and risk a complete collapse of the economy or does opening it up make it worse? Already there are signs of a resurgence of coronavirus. The show features Sanam Shantyaei's exclusive interview with a frontline medic in Tehran while Esfandyar Batmanghelidj and Behnam Ben Taleblu disagree on whether the US should ease sanctions.
42 min
May 05, 2020 Grounded? Air travel after Covid-19
Will air travel ever be the same? With Covid-19 stay-at-home orders killing business travel and tourism while authorities scramble to find ways to make flying safe again, when will the industry recover from what may turn out to be its worst crisis ever? Even if a vaccine and a treatment come sooner rather than later, will globalisation itself ever be the same? Will we still hop on a jet for a board meeting or take that cheap package holiday on a whim?
41 min
May 04, 2020 Who pays for it? Europe’s response to Covid-19 crisis
Is it already too late for the European Union to seize the initiative and prevent a repeat of the debt spiral triggered by the financial crisis in 2008? Former ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet and ex-Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis sharply disagree on whether there’s still time for the EU to reach a consensus and fill the global leadership vacuum in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Ann Pettifor, co-founder of Jubilee 2000, argues that the best way out of the crisis is to put citizens to work at decent wages.
44 min
April 30, 2020 Worth the risk? Sweden bets on herd immunity
Just how big a gamble did Sweden take when it bucked the trend in Scandinavia and opted never to lock down the country? Its death toll now far exceeds that of its less populated neighbours, with the virus most notably tearing through nursing homes. The payoff, argue the Swedes, is that more than an estimated one quarter of the population is now immune to the coronavirus. Herd immunity was never an option in France, where hospitals were quickly overrun with patients. In past pandemics, citizens never considered lockdown as an option. What can history teach us about the present crisis?
43 min
April 29, 2020 Covid-19 tracking apps: Easing lockdown, but on what terms?
Will tracking apps save the world or put humanity on the fast track to a surveillance state? Why has the French state delayed the roll-out of its plan? With citizens desperate to deconfine, talk turns to contact tracing. It will mean hiring an army of monitors to locate and isolate the infected and digital tracing to inform the public. But how do you prevent the system from getting hacked or governments from using the data to illegally spy on citizens?
43 min
April 28, 2020 Out of control? Covid-19 in Bolsonaro's Brazil
As Brazil's coronavirus death toll tops that of China, the pandemic could get much worse as the South American giant enters winter. Yet the country's president is still resisting social distancing while his supporters clamour for a reopening of businesses in states where governors have issued lockdown orders. François Picard's panel discusses how it's turned into a culture war that mirrors scenes witnessed in Donald Trump's United States and how in the midst of the crisis, there's talk of impeachment – amid accusations Jair Bolsonaro is trying to obstruct justice to protect his sons.
43 min
April 27, 2020 Locked down in the suburbs: Covid-19 puts strain on French 'banlieues'
While Paris hits the pause button, many in the densely-populated working-class suburbs north of the French capital still have to get to work. It's not just those in low-paid essential services jobs who're affected: many kids in the "banlieues" don't have access to online learning or depend on school for a proper meal. How can schools reopen on May 11? Can France use the crisis to truly address its inherent inequalities? President Emmanuel Macron himself acknowledged the accentuated inequality laid bare by the Covid-19 pandemic and appealed for the "building of new types of solidarity".
42 min
April 23, 2020 Ramadan 2020: How to practice faith in times of Covid-19
How to reconcile religion and the challenges of social distancing? As Muslims the world over embark on a month of fasting and prayer, what does it mean to attend mosque or to invite loved ones and good friends for the Iftar, the nightly breaking of the fast? As with other religions, we ask why most in the Muslim world are putting public safety before centuries-old rites and practice… while still some ignore the risk of Covid-19.
42 min

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A live debate on the topic of the day, with four guests. From Monday to Thursday at 7:10pm Paris time.

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