Talking France27 Aug 2025

Does France realise the 'imminent danger' it's in?

So summer's almost over, but it's been an eventful one in France. We'll bring you up to date with what's been happening. But the thrust of this week's episode and the reason we've started the new series a week earlier than planned is that France has, once again, been plunged into, yep you can guess what I'm going to say next: a new political crisis.

The country is facing "great danger" says the PM Francois Bayrou, but is the country listening to him? We'll get all the news and analysis on the latest turmoil to hit Emmanuel Macron's government and find out what's going to happen next.

And one of the big subjects our team has been covering in recent weeks has been a major change to France's citizenship rules that has left a lot of readers anxious.

We'll explain all.

They say never change a winning team, so for this new series I've decided to stick with the same line up that has made Talking France THE podcast to listen to if you're interested in France... With me once again will be Editor Emma Pearson, journalist Gen Mansfield and French politics guru John Lichfield. Ben McPartland is your host.

Thanks for joining us for a new series of Talking France.

We hope you all had a fantastic summer wherever you were.

As a reminder, just in case you might have forgotten during the heatwaves, this is a podcast produced by the team at The Local France, thanks to our paying members, so if you like what you listen to, please sign up via The Local.fr and help keep Talking France going.

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Carte de séjour misery, French data centre battlegrounds and Brittany runs low on tap water

Up for discussion this week is the weather, will a town in rainy Brittany run out of water. What’s the situation like everywhere else? Will we all be forced to limit our showers to three minutes soon?...

30 Sep 30min

French fuel prices risk autumn unrest and the real danger posed by Le Pen

Among the words on everyone’s lips this week in France is - petrol, well and diesel. Yes fuel prices have reached record high levels in France. We’ll get the latest on what the government is doing, wh...

23 Sep 38min

Could France really favour the French over foreigners and who derailed the Normandy train?

This week we dig into one of Marine Le Pen's contentious proposals and find out whether the far right leader would actually be able to favour French citizens over foreign national residents if she bec...

16 Sep 36min

$New tipping culture drives the French mad and far-right fractures deepen$

New tipping culture drives the French mad and far-right fractures deepen

On the show this week we'll delve into the almighty squabble that ended with the Eiffel Tower closing this week after angry staff walked out.We’ll also look at the growing split in the French far righ...

9 Sep 33min

Le Pen's 'vile' election pledge and why French cheese could lose its taste

This week we look ahead to the 2027 presidential election which is edging closer. A new poll this week suggested there's only one winner, but could Marine Le Pen trip herself up before she gets over t...

2 Sep 40min

Food prices, strikes: How the hellish summer has hit life in France

Summer is thankfully almost over and September is upon us, which means it's time for a new series of Talking France.Thanks to you all for tuning in to this podcast, which is produced by the team at Th...

25 Aug 27min

France ravaged by climate crisis as wildfires and drought blight summer

You are listening to a special summer episode of Talking France podcast and it's a pretty solemn episode too given France is in the midst of unprecedented heatwaves, drought and devastating wildfires....

29 Juli 20min

Heatwaves, wildfires and border delays: What to expect in France this summer

In this week’s episode of Talking France we’ll look ahead to the holiday season in July and August and spell out exactly what you can expect in France this summer from the weather outlook and wildfire...

9 Juli 17min