Podcasts by The Thing About France
The Thing About France is a podcast where cultural figures explore the fascinating and complicated relationship between France and America.
Further podcasts by Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the U.S.
Podcast on the topic Bücher
All episodes
Pamela Druckerman from 2020-09-22T14:11:30
Eight years ago, an American writer named Pamela Druckerman emerged on the national and international scene wearing a beret –– some...
ListenGraydon Carter from 2020-09-08T21:27:47
Hearing from Graydon reminded me of the good old day...
ListenWilliam Middleton from 2020-08-25T13:46:43
I knew about William Middleton from the biography—or double biography, rather—he wrote of the great F...
ListenLauren Collins from 2020-08-11T13:00
I first met Lauren Collins about fifteen years ago, when we were both working at The New Yorker. I noticed her immediately—The New Yorker can be a quiet place, but she was frie...
ListenThomas Chatterton Williams from 2020-07-28T14:37:15
Thomas Chatterton Williams, the extraordinary expat writer, cultural critic, and James Baldwin scholar, has lived in Paris for a decade. Thomas grew up in the U.S. surrounded by books and libera...
ListenJohn von Sothen from 2020-07-14T12:30
John von Sothen is an American magazine writer based in Paris, where he’s lived since 2002. He dabbles a little in French TV and comedy, too. When I started talki...
ListenBob Wilson from 2019-11-21T19:02:45
One steaming hot July morning, our team piled into a car to the Hamptons, in Long Island. No, we weren’t going to the beach, or to someone’s luxurious mansion––even better––we were headed to The...
ListenRick Moody from 2019-11-07T20:33:17
At the French Embassy we have an award called the Arts and Letters Award, where we effectively “Knight” people for their contributions to French culture. When author Rick Moody was nex...
ListenKatherine Fleming from 2019-10-24T15:03:01
Katherine Fleming, provost of NYU, is living proof of the merits of international exchange. She’s one of the leaders of the academic world in the United States, and her humor, which is as sharp ...
ListenJoe Melillo from 2019-10-10T18:11:59
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) has hosted some of the most amazing French performances on both sides of the Atlantic, from Les Fêtes Vénitiennes by Les Arts Florissants to mesmerizing conte...
ListenGloria Steinem from 2019-09-26T15:15:02
Gloria Steinem is a household name in the United States, yet she is less known in France. Some might even call her the Simone de Beauvoir of America. We were fortunate to have Gloria and her fri...
ListenDaniel Rose from 2019-09-11T14:58:22
All of New York seems to be talking about the new restaurant, Le Coucou, by chef Daniel Rose. Fortunately, Daniel’s son and Bénédicte’s daughter attended the same...
ListenDarren Walker from 2019-07-24T14:50:28
We first collaborated with Darren Walker, the passionate and articulate President of the Ford Foundation, on a groundbreaking exhibition entitled Posing Modernity: The Black...
ListenAdam Gopnik from 2019-07-02T23:11:57
The amazing thing about Adam Gopnik, staff writer for The New Yorker, is that he knows more about France than many French people. It’...
ListenMickalene Thomas and Racquel Chevremont from 2019-06-21T23:46:55
Visual artist Mickalene Thomas seems to have artwork everywhere, from the Moody Arts Center in Houston to the Brooklyn Museum and Paris.
One morning in ...
ListenJonathan Galassi from 2019-06-12T14:29:17
Jonathan Galassi has been at the helm of the legendary publishing house Farrar, Straus & Giroux—one of the most literary publishers in the U.S.—for ...
ListenAdam Weinberg from 2019-05-29T19:23:46
Adam Weinberg is the Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art—one of the most important museums in the United States. I met him when I first a...
ListenClaire Messud from 2019-05-15T19:24:54
When I started as Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy, everyone told me that I had to meet Claire Messud—that she was quintessential Francophil...
ListenLiesl Schillinger from 2019-05-03T23:15:44
I met Liesl Schillinger, the literary critic and translator, 11 years ago. I had just been appointed as a negotiator for France at the UN Security Council in New Yor...
ListenDavid Sedaris from 2019-03-29T00:09:11
David Sedaris––one of the best-known American humor writers and radio personalities––has written extensively about his time in France. Listen
Dee Dee Bridgewater from 2019-03-28T23:05:12
Dee Dee Bridgewater is a star in France. With three Grammys and a Tony Award under her belt, she represents the quintessential American jazz singer in my country. This talented ...
Listen