Marguerite Yourcenar entered the Académie Française in 1981, the first woman to be admitted. Her novel Memoirs of Hadrian, published thirty years earlier, is ‘often considered the best French novel of the 20th century’, as Joanna Biggs wrote in a recent issue of the LRB. In this episode of the podcast, Joanna joins Tom to discuss Yourcenar’s life and work, a ... Show More
May 20
A Rough Guide to Money Laundering
More than 90 per cent of transactions in the UK are now cashless, yet there is more cash in circulation than ever before. In the UK, there’s about £1300 circulating for every individual; in the US it’s more than $7000, and the majority of this exists in the highest-denomination b ... Show More
46m 22s
Feb 2025
Casanova, l'amour à Venise (1/3)
Si sa vie a tout d’une légende, Giacomo Casanova a bel et bien existé. Au XVIIIe siècle, ce libertin irrésistible partage la couche de plus d’une centaine de femmes. Mais sa destinée ne se limite pas à ses conquêtes : de conseiller d'un roi à prisonnier dans la plus cruelle des c ... Show More
34 m
Nov 2013
Albert Camus - The Outsider
One hundred years after his birth this month’s World Book Club, will be discussing Albert Camus' seminal novel The Outsider with his acclaimed biographer Oliver Todd, and Professor of French at Sheffield University, David Walker. And appropriately the programme comes from the hea ... Show More
53m 21s
Oct 2024
La légende noire de la reine Margot (2/4)
Coquette, Marguerite sait comment plaire et collectionne les amants. Sa vie sexuelle sulfureuse provoque le scandale à la cour, mais aussi en Europe. Visionnaire, la reine Margot va avoir une grande influence sur la mode de l’époque.
"Secrets d'Histoire" est un podcast d'Initial ... Show More
28m 3s
Nov 2024
Harriet Constable in “les Rencontres” — CHANEL Literary Rendezvous at Rue Cambon
<p>Listen to author and critic Erica Wagner in conversation with Harriet Constable, writer of “The Instrumentalist”, her first novel published by Bloomsbury in 2024, in which she retraces the story of musical prodigy Anna Maria della Pietà, student of Antonio Vivaldi. Through thi ... Show More
39m 45s
Jun 2022
Agnès Desarthe : “La solution est toujours dans les livres, très rarement dans la vie”
Cette semaine, dans Fracas, on veut vous faire découvrir une sélection d'épisodes de notre podcast Le Book Club, ayant un rapport avec la parole et le langage.Agnès Desarthe est autrice et traductrice. Elle a publié en 2021 L'Éternel Fiancé.En parallèle de l'écriture de son derni ... Show More
18m 39s