SPOTLIGHT ON FRANCE

A look at the use of force by French police, as weekly Yellow Vest protests continue. The legacy of feminist cartoonist Claire Bretécher in the male-dominated world of French BD. And how, in the wake of US tariffs,  getting a label can help you stand out in France's competitive wine market.   After teenager Lilian Diessé was hit and disfigured by a rubber bullet fired by police during a Yellow Vest protest in Strasbourg last year, his mother is still trying to get justice. Investigators concluded that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but they closed the case without identifying the officer who fired the shot. The case draws attention to the use of force by police during Yellow Vest protests. Since the movement began in November 2018, more than 500 demonstrators have been injured in violent clashes between police and protesters. Some have lost eyes or hands because of police use of controversial flash ball riot guns. We hear from Flaure Diessé and ask whether the police are using excessive force and what is the government doing to address it.  (Listen @0'00) Cartoonist Claire Bretécher, who died this week, played an important role in making comics, or bandes dessinnées, a respected adult literary genre in France in the 1960s and '70s. She also introduced female characters and social satire into what was a very male-dominated world at the time. We talk about her life and work and critiquing the bohemian bourgeoisie, who we now know as les bobos. (Listen @9'33) Labels have become increasingly important for wine in France, reassuring customers over a bottle's authenticity and the methods used to produce what's inside. As wine exports take a hit in France because of US tarrifs, Brexit and the slowing of the Chinese economy, winemakers at the Wine-Paris Vinexpo trade fair are under pressure to stand out. Annick Jourdan, of the Domaine Jourdan in the Loire valley, talks about working naturally, and the growing importance of organic and other such labels for her customers. (Listen @13'32) Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on iTunes (link here), Google podcasts (link here), or your favourite podcast app.

Finding work in France when you're over 60 is tough, but a team of "senior" Space Cowboys is proving they can be an added value. Also, how the new Citizen Climate Assembly is putting participative democracy into action. And 70 years of the minimum wage in France which protects people from poverty. The government's pension reform plan seeks to get people working longer. But as only one in three people over the age of 60 are in work in France, the reform risks keeping them unemployed for longer. Assystem, a French engineering firm, is convinced that "senior" employees are worth betting on, and has created the "Space Cowboys", a team of experts in their 50s and 60s whose savoir faire is proving an added value, not a burden, to the company. We talk to its founder Hubert Labourdette (@hlaburdette) and Space Cowboy Andrew Whiting. (Listen @0'00) The Great Debate, which followed the yellow vest protest movement, didn't come to much, but there's more hope for the Citizen Climate assembly, introduced by President Macron this year. 150 randomly-chosen French people are thrashing out proposals to try and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 per cent compared to 1990 levels. The government has promised to take their suggestions on board. Climate activist Mathilde Imer (@MathildeImer) is on the steering committee and says this kind of participation on a national level is close to revolutionary. (Listen @14'30) France's very first minimum wage, the SMIG, was introduced 70 years ago. on 11 February 1950. It's now called the SMIC, but the principle of ensuring a basic minimum revenue to keep working people out of poverty remains the same. 13.5 percent of the workforce in France, or 2.3 million people, earn the SMIC today. (Listen @11'15) This episode was mixed by Erwan Rome. Subscribe to the Spotlight on France podcast on iTunes (link here) or Google podcasts (link here).

British ex-pats in France feeling insecure as Brexit finally happens, raising horses to be wild in one of France's most desolate areas, how the Michelin star was born, and would rebel writer Camus be out protesting pension reform? France has the second largest British community in Europe after Spain, with around 200,000 citizens. Some already have French nationality, but those who don't are nervous about Friday's Brexit. While the terms on which British people will be allowed to remain in France are still being worked out, we hear from ex-pats in the town of Eymet in the Dordogne region, where a tenth of the 2,600 residents are British. They came for the climate and quality of life, but are now wondering what the future has in store. (Listen @ 0'00) The Larzac, a plateau in Lozère in south-western France, the country's least populated area, is home to three dozen Przewalski horses. The breed originated in Mongolia and had become virtually extinct by the 1960s. But since 1993, 89 have been transferred from France to their natural habitat in Mongolia. Zeenat Hansrod travelled to the area around the Le Villaret village to see the horses, meet the Takh association running the operation, and discover one of France's last wild open spaces. Read more here. (Listen @8'20) Albert Camus, the Franco-Algerian writer, philosopher and journalist, died 60 years ago this month in a car accident. He won a Nobel prize for his writing, but was also known for his political activism in favour of the oppressed and the working class. As France is in the throes of protests over inequality and fears of an over-liberal pension reform, Camus seems as relevant as ever. Historian Vincent Duclert, who has recently published a book on Camus, reflects on the writer as a working class hero and the importance of his Algerian roots. (Listen @20'20) As the Michelin guide announced its starred restaurants this week, we look back on 120 years of the little red guide, which has its roots in the birth of France's car culture. (Listen @16'00) Episode mixed by Nicolas Doreau. Subscribe to the Spotlight on France podcast on iTunes (link here) or Google podcasts (link here).

As a French priest goes on trial for sexually abusing minors, one activist says the problem is widespread in France, and addressing it is a feminist issue. Also, how French prisons became laboratories for home-grown jihadism, which lead to the 2015/16 terrorist attacks. And, when Charles de Gaulle resigned from power, the first time. The ex-Catholic priest Bernard Preynat is in court this week for sexually abusing boy scouts in the 1970s and 80s. Bishop Philippe Barbarin, Preynat's superior, was convicted of covering up the alleged crimes last year. We speak with  journalist Christine Pedotti (@PedottiC) about the French Catholic Church's systemic problem with sex abuse. For her, addressing the problem is a feminist issue. (Listen @3'28) Even after the fall of the Islamic State 'caliphate' in Syria and Iraq, jihadism is being reconfigured in French prisons. Social sciences researcher Hugo Micheron (@MicheronH) spent five years doing fieldwork for his book Jihadisme français (French jihadism) interviewing some 80 convicted or suspected jihadists. He tells us about how jihadist ideology has developed in France over last 20 years. (Listen @13'24) And, Charles de Gaulle, who saved France from the Nazis, resigned from power on 20 January 1946, for the first time. He did it again two decades later. We look at how the war hero gradually fell out of touch with contemporary France. (Listen @9'26) Subscribe to the Spotlight on France podcast on iTunes (link here) or Google podcasts (link here).

Why many French people continue to support strikes against changes to the pension system, freedom of expression in France five years after the Charlie Hebdo killings, and the blind teenager who invented braille.  France is in the throes of its longest continuous transport stoppage for decades, forcing commuters in Paris and other large cities to walk hours to get to work. Yet despite the chaos, a majority of the French still support train and metro workers who are striking against a massive overhaul of the pension system. Everyone will be affected and the government says it will be fairer. But many are sceptical. We hear from people who are worried or indifferent but above all confused over the proposed changes and we speak to economist Anne Eydoux about why the reform raises so many concerns. (Listen @0'00) Five years ago, on 7 January 2015, Islamist  extremists attacked the offices of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people, including 8 journalists. The attacks shook France to its core and in the following days millions of people joined solidarity rallies, coining the phrase 'I am Charlie'. We look back at that time and reflect on what remains of the solidarity and the freedom of speech the terrorists tried to kill. (Listen @18'06) And the remarkable story of child genius Louis Braille whose six-dot reading and writing invention changed the lives of blind people the world over.  (Listen @13'57)