PODCAST · news
So French!
by Stefan de Vries & Sara Bertilsson
The podcast from Paris about French current affairs, culture and politics. Hosted by Sara Bertilsson and Stefan de Vries
Episodes
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Valjean for President? Glucksmann, Mélenchon and Les Misérables
Raphaël Glucksmann isn’t even a Socialist Party member. Last Sunday, he won its primary anyway, with two-thirds of the vote, leaving the party’s own leader on 14 per cent. Stefan de Vries asks what is left of the French Socialists, why the “united left” never got to hold its own vote, and who...
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Bardella Under Fire, Macron’s Comeback Dream and Perfect Fries
France is simmering. In this episode, Sara and Stefan unpack the high-school protests spreading across the country: overcrowded classrooms, missing teachers, tense confrontations with police, and what young people are demanding for their future. They also discuss Mediapart’s reporting on alleged...
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Presidential Politics, Radio Silence and Céline Dion Fever
What happens when two minutes of political commentary send France’s biggest radio station silent? Sara Bertilsson and Stefan de Vries unpack the mounting pressure on French media—and what it reveals about power, politics and free speech in France. Their guest is Hind Ziane, geopolitical analyst…
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Back to School, Back to Le Pen: Season 7 Kicks Off
France is back from summer break, and so is its most wide-open presidential race in decades. Political scientist Damien Lecomte joins Sara and Stefan to explain why voters now fear Jean-Luc Mélenchon more than Marine Le Pen, and what that means for 2027. So French! is back for season 7! Sara and...
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France's Record-Breaking Heatwave and Climate Policy Failures
In this episode, Stefan and Sara discuss France's extreme heatwave, government responses to climate change, transparency issues in French politics, and upcoming French presidential elections. Stefan also tells how his journalistic nosiness led to a radical change in French public spending, or as...
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From Abuse to Arsène Lupin: France’s Dark Reality and Favourite Fantasy
This week on So French!, Sara Bertilsson and Stefan de Vries look at two sexual abuse scandals shaking France: the killing of 11-year-old Lyhanna and the growing allegations against singer and actor Patrick Bruel. What do these cases reveal about the failures of the French justice system, the...
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Cannes Fights Back Against France’s Right-wing Media Mogul
At the Cannes Film Festival, the biggest drama isn’t on screen. In this episode of So French, Sara Bertilsson and Stefan de Vries dive into the growing power of billionaire Vincent Bolloré over French media, cinema and politics. Can one media empire shape what Europe watches, thinks and creates?...
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The Presidential Circus Begins… and a War on Chicken
S06E11: One year before France’s 2027 presidential election, the race is already crowded with old political heavyweights, ambitious newcomers and oversized egos. Stefan and Sara discuss the return of familiar names like François Hollande, Dominique de Villepin and Michel Barnier, the chances of...
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Macron at 10, Local Elections and Céline-Mania
Ten years after the launch of En Marche, we take stock of the Macron era. What has Emmanuel Macron’s promise of a political movement “neither left nor right” truly delivered? Has France been transformed, or has it become more divided than ever? We also unpack the results of the latest local...
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Power Plays & Michelin Stars: France Between Politics and Pleasure
France heads to the polls and to the table in this new episode of So French. Stefan de Vries and Sara Bertilsson unpack the first round of the local elections, where nearly all races were decided in one go, yet the political landscape looks more fragmented than ever. Is this a preview of the 2027...
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From Nuclear Bombs to Tourism Booms
A very French week of Power and Pleasure! France had quite a week. Macron deployed the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean, reshaped France's nuclear doctrine, and floated the idea of extending the French nuclear umbrella to European allies, including the Netherlands. Is this...
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Trials, Files & Presidential Appetites
In Episode 7 of So French!, we return to the courtroom, where far-right leader Marine Le Pen is battling to preserve her political future. Prosecutors want her conviction in the European Parliament fake jobs scandal upheld, including a five-year ban from office. Yet they stopped short of…
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Habemus Budget and the rise of (another) Sarkozy
France finally has a budget and, for now at least, a government to go with it. In this episode of So French, Sara Bertilsson and Stefan de Vries unpack how Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu pushed the 2026 budget through parliament using the notorious Article 49.3, why the Socialists backed away...
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Macron's Last Act and Bye Bye Bardot
A new year, familiar chaos! In the first So French! episode of 2026, Sara Bertilsson and Stefan de Vries look back at a turbulent 2025 in French politics and ask what lies ahead in the final full year of President Emmanuel Macron. From collapsing governments and record-low approval ratings to…
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The XMas Edition: Dry Champagne & a Vegetarian Wolf
Christmas in France means lights, long dinners… and traditionally, plenty of wine. But something is shifting. In this festive Christmas edition of So French!, Sara Bertilsson and Stefan de Vries meet Sarah Missaoui, founder of Déjà Bu, Paris’s first alcohol-free bar and drinks cellar. As more...
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France’s Promises, Ukraine’s Empty Hands
This week, So French goes deep into one urgent question: what is France really doing in the war in #Ukraine — and what does it mean for #Europe’s future? Two major shocks landed almost at the same time: 🔹 Donald Trump’s surprise 28-point “peace plan” 🔹 A French-Ukrainian deal for up to 100…
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Compromise? Sorry. We’re French.
In this episode, Stefan and Sara delve into the complexities of French politics, exploring the cultural psyche that influences political behaviour, particularly the reluctance to compromise. They discuss recent developments, including Amsterdam's new parking regulations targeting French tourists,...
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France in Flux: Budgets, Bling, and the Bataclan Decade
Ten years ago today, So French! was born — just one week before the terror attacks that would forever change France. As we relaunch our podcast in a turbulent political and social landscape, Sara and Stefan look back at a decade of transformation: from terror threats to TikTok-era extremism, and...
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The One Where They Reunite
🎉 We’re Back! So French Returns After 5 Years 🇫🇷 After a five-year hiatus, So French is back — and celebrating 10 years since our very first episode! In this special relaunch, co-hosts Sara Bertilsson and Stefan de Vries reunite to reflect on the past decade of podcasting about life in France,...
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Paris, The City of Strikes
It's the seventh week of the National Strike. Will we see any major developments, or will the country stay chaotic over the next couple of days? What's at stake in the upcoming local Elections? Will the pension reform diminish Macron's chances? And who will become the next Mayor of Paris? A…
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How to survive the Strike of the Decade?
This week: Black Thursday is coming! On December 5, a national strike will paralyze the country. It could well last until the New Year. How to survive what could become the biggest strike in decades? Another black day for the French Army, when 13 soldiers died in a helicopter accident during an...
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Why the French are terrible at languages (and what they can do about it)
Parlez-vous franglais? The French are not known for speaking English fluently. Or any other foreign language. Our guest, Giuseppe Fantigrossi of the start-up Play2Speak, will tell us why that is the case, and more importantly: how the French can finally improve their foreign language skills. This...
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New York City bans foie gras, the French are hooked on Halloween
Seine-Saint-Denis is France's poorest district. In 2024 it will be the main site of the Olympic Games. This week the government presented a plan to improve life for its 1.6 million inhabitants. What are the challenges? And is the plan sufficient? Bad news for New York Foodies: in 2023, all foie...
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Why headscarves to the French are like red rags to a bull
Once every while debate rages in France about Muslim veils. This week another high-point was reached: the topic was discussed in no less than 85 (!) TV programmes, with 286 talking heads, not one of them being a veil wearing muslim woman... In the country that has 'Liberty' and 'Equality' in its...
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French Media go bananas about Chirac's death
Hosts Sara and Stefan are baffled by this week's media frenzy following former President Jacques Chirac's death. Why did French media go bananas with their coverage? They also discuss the fire at the chemical plant in Rouen. The aftermath showed once again that French citizens have very little...
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Back to School!
The schools have started again, the Rentrée is almost forgotten, yet the debate on how to reform the old fashioned and underperforming French education system is still raging. The OECD published a report comparing school systems around the World, and the French are not the best pupils. We go into...
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Threats and trees: Brazil gets personal with Macron
The crazy hot Europan Summer is over and that means we're back with So French! It is our fifth Season already. And we are recording in a brand new studio not far from the Eiffel Tower. In this week's episode: France is getting serious about violence against women, while Brazil is insulting…
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Bastille Day Edition - special Guest: Lindsey Tramuta
A special guest: Lindsey Tramuta, from Lost in Cheesland
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Baguette, bistro or bouquinistes?
Three French 'B’s' are competing for a spot on the World Cultural Heritage List. Will it be the baguette, the bistro or Paris’s bouquinistes that gets the official heritage stamp from Unesco's much-coveted seal of approval? We’ll try to make up our mind of what we think is the most important...
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After the fire, a flaming debate ignited on the future of the Notre-Dame
President Emmanuel Macron gave his first press conference since his election almost two years ago. We were there and give you a summary. The Notre-Dame trauma, turning into a Notre-Dame drama, with controversy regarding everything from the funds donated for its reconstruction, the state of the...
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So Fake! Macron fell on own sword while fighting
This week: While trying to fight fake news, Emmanuel Macron fell on his own sword. Facebook and Twitter suspended a European election campaign made by the French government because it broke the new French Fake News law. Our guest Jackson Webster, a cybersecurity expert at Legalcluster in Paris,...
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Summer or winter time? Chocolatine or pain au chocolat?
This week we try to find an answer to essential life questions like should we keep Summer Time or Winter Time? And do we say 'pain au chocolat' or 'chocolatine'? We also discuss the start of the conviction of the Cardinal of Lyon in a child's abuse case and Emmanuel Macron's start of the campaign...
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Säcrebleu! Scandinavian Cooks beat French Chefs
This week we talk about the controversy regarding French police’s non-leathal flash-ball weapons, about food and about France's entry for this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Episode S04E10
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S04E09 - The Grand National Debate: brilliant or blabla?
To satisfy the yellow vests, Emmanuel Macron launched his Grand National Debate. But will it be enough to calm down the profound anger in French society? In the mean time, Renault's CEO Carlos Ghosn is still in a Japanese prison, are the French smoking less and less and was the country eating a…
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S04E08 - Winter Writers: Agnès Poirier in Café de Flore
We are having a coffee with author Agnès Poirier in the fancy Café de Flore. She is a journalist and writer of “Left Bank”, a lively account of the intellectual and artistic life in post-war Paris.
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S04E07 - Yellow Vests, Red Anger
Yellow vest protests have disrupted more or less everything in France's everyday life. What happens now? Will the anger be back after Christmas? And in the middle of this, the environment weems to be the collateral damage. Over a million French now want to sue the government to force them to take...
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S04E05 - A Mysterious Birth Defect
The mystery of the babies born without arms. A new health scandal, and a possible cover-up by authorities? We’ll talk you through the story that’s grappling France. Emmanuel Macron took some rest, he was allegedly very tired. Yet, making fun of the President, is a lucrative business. Tens of...
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S04E04 - Macron’s Reshuffle and Mélenchon's Kerfuffle
At least ten people said 'non' to Macron, but after two weeks of looking for candidates, the French President finally managed to reshuffle his government. Police raided the offices of Les Insoumises, the left-wing party, and that didn’t go down very well with its leader Jean Luc Mélenchon... Will…
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S04E03 – Adieu Aznavour
This week two (former) interior ministers dominated the news. One of them resigning… twice! Triggering a new crisis in the already fragilized government The other one, taking off towards new horizons, in the south: Manuel Valls switched Paris for Barcelona Of course, we'll talk about the...
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S04E02 – Millionaires and Murderers in Monaco
While his former close aid Alexandre Benalla was being heard by the Senate, the French president came under fire (once again) for “his contempt towards the working class and unemployed”. No worries, it’s just “straight talk”, say his defenders. We also discuss the thriller-like case of the…
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S04E01 – Back To School
Your favourite podcast is back for a fourth season. We're back from the holidays and so is France. But getting up from the pool and back to school will come with some novelties for the country’s students. The typical French rentrée is not looking sunny for President Macron. He has had a rough...
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E57 – Summer Special 3: Pamela Druckerman (NYT)
In our third and last Summer Special, we sit down with Pamela Druckerman. She is a Franco-American writer living in Paris and the author of the international bestseller French Children Don't Throw Food. In her latest book, There are no grown-ups, she investigates life in her forties and wonders...
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E56 – Summer Special 2: Sophie Pedder (The Economist)
For our Summer Series we sat down with Sophie Pedder, the Paris Bureau Chief of The Economist. Over the last couple of years, she interviewed Macron several times. Her new book is called Revolution Française: Emmanuel Macron and the Quest to Reinvent a Nation. We had a very interesting and...
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E55 – Summer Special 1: Stephen Clarke – Vive la French Revolution!
It's Quatorze Juillet, France's national holiday! Reason for us to take the metro to Saint-Dénis, where all former French kings were buried. We are visiting this Paris suburb with our special guest, the excellent and funny writer Stephen Clarke, who knows a lot about the Revolution, about French...
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E54 – Vatican Visit and Vegans Revolt
Emmanuel Macron went to the Vatican, while French butchers were under fire. They ask for police protection because they fear vegan attacks. French police uncovered another terrorist plot. But this time one of the suspects is a former… police officer And the immigration has been has been…
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E53 – The Italian Job
France and Italy have traded insults, and that's not the first time this year. We’ll also talk about how Autolib, Paris’ famous car sharing programme, could end up being an expensive affair for the tax payer, and maybe seen scrapped all together… Speaking of tax money: a lot of presidential...
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E52 – Start-up Nation: Fact or Virtual Reality?
This week everybody around the world was talking about Spiderman, the new hero who saved a kid in Paris. And how are things going with Macron’s dream of France as a Start-up nation? We have a special guest, Abby Klein, host of the cool podcst Radical Departures. She will guide us through the…
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E51 – Wax Disaster
In our regular cheese update, we talk about the great French Camembert war! No cheesefire in sight, as purists defend a smelly national treasure. Our guest, Charles Wente (Senior Producer, France 24), will share his insightful perspective on this week’s topics. And if you thought Emmanuel Macron...
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E50 – A delicious wife and a resentful ex-President
This is our 50th Episode, and we thank you for listening to us. This week: * With strikes, bad approval ratings and a trolling former President all at once, Macron has little reason to celebrat his first anniversary. * We also talk about the Cannes Filmfestival and about the stratgeic interests…
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E49 – Macron's March For Europe
Is Macron the European Messias, or is nobody ready to give in to his whims? At home, the French President was not really bothered by all the strikes and protests. Is anyone actually working in France these days? We take a closer look at the very controversial reforms underway this spring With…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The podcast from Paris about French current affairs, culture and politics. Hosted by Sara Bertilsson and Stefan de Vries
HOSTED BY
Stefan de Vries & Sara Bertilsson
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does So French! have?
So French! currently has 79 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is So French! about?
The podcast from Paris about French current affairs, culture and politics. Hosted by Sara Bertilsson and Stefan de Vries
How often does So French! release new episodes?
So French! has 79 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to So French!?
You can listen to So French! on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts So French!?
So French! is created and hosted by Stefan de Vries & Sara Bertilsson.
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