Episodes

  • The Flâneur: Why The French Walk More Slowly Than The British

    The Flâneur: Why The French Walk More Slowly Than The British
    Mar 27 2026
    Monocles and canes at the ready! Muriel traces the 19th-century origins of a familiar and somewhat raffish figure of Frenchness. Part boulevardier, part dandy, part poet, the flâneur is a leisurely observer of the urban landscape. But where did he come from? What is his legacy? And can there be such a thing as a British flâneur?

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    56 mins
  • Daffodils: The poetic icon that means booming business for Britain

    Daffodils: The poetic icon that means booming business for Britain
    Mar 20 2026
    Suzanne explores the British adoration of the yellow, trumpet-like, optimistic daffodil, the harbinger of spring. The evocative words of William and Dorothy Wordsworth, poetry and prose, bracket this episode, in which we discover that daffodils are also about economics. The UK cultivates 90% of the global daffodil supply. The numbers are staggering: hundreds of millions of flowers are grown annually and must all be harvested by hand. But how? We also meet a bunch of Victorian daffodil obsessives, from Scottish enthusiast Peter Barr, whose quest for seeds took him, astride a donkey, all over the Pyrenees, where he was mistaken for a bandit; Reverend George Herbert Engleheart, clergyman and father of the modern daffodil; and Quaker plantswoman Sarah Backhouse – aka 'The Genius' – who turned daffodils pink!

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    44 mins
  • The Café Waiter: Working-class hero? Towering figure of haughty Frenchness?

    The Café Waiter: Working-class hero? Towering figure of haughty Frenchness?
    Mar 13 2026
    Café waiters are omnipresent in French life and in French culture as a sort of regiment – serried ranks of men in their black-and-white uniform with tremendous esprit de corps. But who are they really, Muriel asks, and how did they become such stock figures of Frenchness, and even objects of study for French philosophy? What makes a good café waiter? Is it to do with natural ability, physical fitness, French reserve, or the joys of performance? What is the etiquette of interacting with a café waiter? And what are the rules of the traditional café waiters race?

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    53 mins
  • Cagoules: The Great British Cover Up

    Cagoules: The Great British Cover Up
    Mar 6 2026
    How to solve a problem like the British weather? It's easy if you invent the right British garment with a French name, whose origins and evolution Suzanne unveils: it's a story of ancient hooded spirits, anoraks, Royal Marines, the great outdoors, textile manufacturing, fashion and practicality, and – in a surprising twist – anti-Republican conspiracies in 1930s France.

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    52 mins
  • Bad Eggs and Dark Horses: French Baddies in Film!

    Bad Eggs and Dark Horses: French Baddies in Film!
    Feb 27 2026
    Muriel unravels the reasons why so many film villains happen to be French. From dissolute sophisticates to duplicitous manipulators and downright sadistic megalomaniacs, what do these colourful imaginary French figures tell us about Frenchness?

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    54 mins
  • Urchin Rebel Bonds With Wild Kestrel: Ken Loach's Kes – Quintessential British Film

    Urchin Rebel Bonds With Wild Kestrel: Ken Loach's Kes – Quintessential British Film
    Feb 20 2026
    Suzanne explores a masterpiece which is 'like being knocked out' – a cri de coeur about downtrodden youth, devastating tragedy and the tyranny of class. But Ken Loach's Kes is also a dream of escape, wondrous lyrical beauty and the call of the wild. And what of A Kestrel for a Knave, the film's source novel, and its revered author Barry Hines? What do they tell us about how a story rooted in South Yorkshire working-class experience, once told in print and film, gave a whole community their voice and also reached universal resonance?

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    51 mins
  • A Very French Scandal: Naked Woman at Picnic! Manet’s revolutionary Déjeuner sur l'herbe

    A Very French Scandal: Naked Woman at Picnic! Manet’s revolutionary Déjeuner sur l'herbe
    Feb 13 2026
    Muriel examines a madly famous succès de scandale. What’s going on in Edouard Manet’s 1863 painting of an outdoors scene featuring four people, one of whom is stark naked? Is it a riddle? A transgressive prank? Napoleon III guest stars as the originator of the offbeat Salon des Refusés, and an enigmatic life model breaks the fourth wall.

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    58 mins
  • The Guinness Book of Records: Superlative feats! Nature's wonders! Fun for dictators!

    The Guinness Book of Records: Superlative feats! Nature's wonders! Fun for dictators!
    Feb 6 2026
    Suzanne tells Muriel a very British story of surprise global success, which began at a shooting party in 1951 with a dispute over the speed of a golden plover. A dramatic cast of fact finders and record breakers includes Guinness Brewery managing director Sir Hugh Beaver, identical twins of exceptional retentive memory Norris and Ross McWhirter, and Presidents of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and his son Sherdar. What made the Book such a success? What challenges did it face? And where in the world has the highest concentration of white marble buildings?

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    59 mins