The night the far right haunted French people’s sleep

On April 21, 2002, an earthquake shook France. The far right made it to the second round of the presidential election. It was a first in the Fifth Republic's history and the surprise was total. It triggered an unprecedented mobilization. Embodied in the person of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the far right frightened the French people, who massively rallied between the two rounds. 21 years on, French people have not forgotten that night when the cards were reshuffled and political life almost turned upside down. In this podcast, we talked to several people who were deeply affected by that night in April 2002. It left an indelible mark in their minds, and was a pivotal moment in their relationship with politics.Our guests: Nonna Mayer, CNRS researcher and specialist on the far right in France Béatrice Gurrey, senior reporter at Le Monde, in charge of political newsGuillaume Baudet, RPR activist during the 2002 presidential campaignSarah Kerrich, PS national secretary for the fight against the far rightThis episode was written, directed and produced by Cristina Coellen, Juliette Laffont and Sarah Miansoni, under the supervision of Lorraine Besse.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.