This summer I’m featuring a few guest posts from fellow francophile bloggers. Below you’ll find an interview that centers on the remarkable life of the Marquis de La Fayette. Known in the United States as Lafayette, the young French marquis played a pivotal role in helping America defeat the British…
Since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, people around the world have found myriad ways to show their support for the besieged European nation. The French are no exception. The day after Putin’s first attack, the Eiffel tower was illuminated in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. A week later, Notre Dame…
We can argue about whether editorial cartoons make us laugh or cry, but the best among them should make us think. Here are some of my favorites from France which take aim at Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine and the West’s counter-reaction. See Also Masterful Street Artists Across France Hail…
Sunday, November 7, marks what would have been the 108th birthday of Nobel Prize winner, Albert Camus. During World War II, Camus joined the French Resistance, a movement dedicated to overthrowing the Germans. Camus lent his genius to the clandestine effort by working as a journalist and underground newspaper editor.…
Since last month’s calamitous evacuation from Kabul, I’ve wondered what happened to the French journalists, NGOs, citizens, members of the military, and diplomatic corps that were stationed there. This week I came across an eye-opening interview with the French ambassador to Afghanistan, David Martinon, printed in Le Monde. Rather than…
When Biden announced in April that he was upholding Trump’s agreement to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, I decided that I would check out War, by bestselling author Sebastian Junger. I’ve long known of Junger’s work as a war correspondent, and I was glad to finally give this book…
With Mother’s Day on the horizon, I thought I would welcome my first guest author to my blog: my mother, Georgia Neubrecht. My mom passed away nearly 19 years ago, just a few months before my twin daughters were born. I’ve tried to instill in my children the values that…
This week I re-watched an unforgettable film that I discovered in 2013 while writing a paper on Algeria. La Bataille d’Alger, released in 1966 and banned in France for more than 5 years, is a remarkable movie, by Italian journalist and filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo. The screenplay, written by Yacef Saâdi,…
