Monocle on Sunday, March 24, 2024: Emma Nelson, Nina dos Santos and David Bodanis on the weekend’s biggest talking points.
We also speak to Monocle’s editorial France and North Africa correspondent, Mary Fitzgerald, and our Vienna correspondent, Alexei Korolyov, for the latest on the Slovakia elections.
As a young star, she endured Hollywood’s brutal treatment of women. Now she’s putting her resilience and grit on full display.
Kate Winslet was standing in front of a microphone, breathing hard.Sometimes she did it fast; sometimes she slowed it down. Sometimes the breathing sounded anxious; other times, it was clearly the gasping of someone who was winded. Before beginning a new take, Winslet stood stock still, hands opening and closing at her sides; she looked like a gymnast about to bound into a floor routine. Every breath seemed high-stakes, even though she was well into a long day of recording in a dim, windowless studio in London.
France has often been the vanguard of leftist politics — but support in the streets doesn’t always translate to votes at the ballot box.
By Elisabeth Zerofsky
The signs that a protest is happening in Paris are nearly always the same: the quiet of blocked-off streets; the neat rows of police vans containing the gendarmerie stretching down the boulevard; the sound of drumbeats and whistles and the neon red flares that spit smoke into the sky. For six months last year, those signs were constant and ubiquitous, as furious, sometimes violent marches and general strikes protesting President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms brought Paris to a standstill. Students and activists, public-transit operators, custodial staff, medics, mechanics, teachers, oil-rig workers, writers and celebrities all gathered to rail against Macron’s plan to raise the national retirement age by two years, to 64.
France-Amérique Magazine – March 1, 2024 – The new issue features ‘Francophonie Month’ – The French-Speaking Cowboys of Louisiana.
Meet Drake LeBlanc, the French- and Creole-speaking cowboy, filmmaker, and cofounder of Télé-Louisiane; read our interview with Harvard professor Claire-Marie Brisson on the North American Francosphere; and discover why “Molière may be dead, but his language is alive and well.”
CYRIL DEWAVRIN – The American Dream of a Serial Bookseller
Founding a French neighborhood bookstore in New York City was the madcap challenge undertaken by this avid reader and busy entrepreneur. The Frenchman has just opened La Joie de Vivre near Chelsea, a space offering books in French and English, coffee, and pastries.
By Benoît Georges
Also in this issue, Albert Camus travels to America; former ambassador Gérard Araud analyzes the White House race and its potential consequences for France and Europe; and French soccer star and LGBTQ+ advocate Marinette Pichon discusses her U.S. career and her fight for equality in women’s sports.
ART VISION TV / C&B (February 11, 2024) – Running through the very heart of Paris, the Seine is the beating heart of the City of Light. Browse the bouquinistes along the its banks or simply enjoy the views from its many beautiful bridges.
Scotland: experience the UK at its most elemental with a trek across the frost-covered Highlands. St Vincent and the Grenadines: culture and conservation on a Caribbean island-hopping tour. Kyrgyzstan: the formidable Tian Shan mountains are home to one of the world’s most enigmatic predators. Canada: everything you need to know about planning a once-in-a-lifetime Canadian road trip. Berlin: the movers and shakers reinventing the German capital’s enduring arts and culture scene. Dubai: a hidden history lies behind the ultramodern facade of this grand and luxurious metropolis. Murcia: River rafting, bar-hopping and empty beaches in one of southeast Spain’s most overlooked regions. Bogota: Indigenous ingredients are king in Colombia’s fertile, mountain-bound capital. Hong Kong: In Asia’s ‘World City’ unforgettable stays come with dazzling dining options and skyline views.
Plus,France marks 150 years of Impressionism; music festivals in Petra and beyond; the flavours of West Bengal; Nashville for music-lovers; Zanzibar’s hotel scene; a family adventure in NorthQueensland; a city break in Dijon; a woodland stay in Beaulieu; top reads for 2024; and kayaking essentials.
We talk with author Dom Joly on travelling to Canada’s Fogo Island with a flat-earther, and Louis Alexander discusses running a marathon on all seven continents. In our Ask the Experts section, the experts give advice on unique safari experiences, travelling to Japan for cherry-blossom season, off-road bikepacking trails in the UK and the best group tours for wheelchair users. The Info celebrates 50 years of Bhutan opening its borders to international travellers, while Hot Topic explores the potential disruption caused by Iceland’s volcanoes and Report asks whether the aviation industry can really achieve net zero CO2 by 2050. Finally, photographer Josh Humbert talks about capturing Tahiti’s surfers for How I Got the Shot.
France-Amérique Magazine – December 30, 2023 – The new issue features ‘The Peak of French Chic’; A Century Ago – Inventing the Winter Olympics in Chamonix…
From Washington D.C. to New York City and from New Orleans to Paris, many philanthropic organizations continue to nurture the bonds connecting France and the United States through history, politics, economics, language, and culture.
The Globalist Podcast (December 21, 2023) –French president Emmanuel Macron faces a political crisis over a hardline immigration bill and Japan looks to formalise a policy change that will enable it to export several dozen Patriot missiles to the US.
Plus: the day’s newspapers, the latest headlines in the UAE and a review of the Christmas films that you need to see this year.
FRANCE 24 English (December 20, 2023) – With a thousand castles and almost as many churches, France’s south-western Périgord region is a paradise for lovers of ancient stones. Aude, 32, has inherited the fortress of Commarque.
The young Parisian left everything behind to protect this 12th-century monument. Gastronomy is also a key part of life in the Périgord. In this region that cherishes quality produce, chef Pierre Corre cooks black truffles like no one else.
RFI English (December 7, 2023) – 2023 marks the death centenary of Gustave Eiffel. To mark the occasion, an exhibition titled ‘Eiffel Higher and Higher is being held at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Savin Yeatman-Eiffel, who is exhibition’s curator and a descendant of Gustave Eiffel, spoke to RFI on this occasion.
Graphic design Patte&Besset, stamp “Fêtes du cinquantenaire de la tour Eiffel”, 1939, creation by Henri Cheffer (c) adagp Paris ; Stamp “Gustave Eiffel 1832 – 1923” creation by Marie-Noëlle Goffin.
The Globalist Podcast (December 5, 2023) – How the Israel-Hamas war is altering the political landscape in France, impacting US military aid to Ukraine and threatening to draw in more actors amid increasing tensions in the Middle East.
Also, papers, the latest on the Alaska Air-Hawaiian Airlines deal and business news.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious