Garlic & Pearls

Oh là là! From the Belle Epoque to the Jazz Age rose famous French brothels such as Le Chabanais, the One Two Two or the Sphynx. This vanished world, its outlandish themed rooms and enigmatic army of female denizens, live on in the iconography that they inspired and that remains forever wedded to French identity. The future Edward VII guest stars as a designer of unusual furniture.  Hosted on...

Suzanne illuminates the origins and meaning of hallmarking, which began in the 13th century under Edward I – aka Edward Longshanks – as part of his wider effort to stabilise the kingdom by means of statutes. Though the French king Louis IX appears as a guest star, this is a case of Britain being far more systematic and precise than France while, in typical British fashion, devising a resilien...

Muriel goes back to school to explore how in France the spelling test called  la dictée  became the backbone of French education. Who introduced it and why? Is it fascistic or democratic? And how did a school exercise become a beloved popular cultural event shared by the nation? It's a very Gallic tale of Republican alphabetisation, unification and nation-building, and Muriel joins...

In our last episode of 2025, Suzanne and Muriel consider soberly which is more atmospheric and replete with the spirit of Christmas - is it Dickens with Michael Caine and a cast of Muppets, or is it a pivotal bit of melodrama in Victor Hugo's social saga? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cheers! Santé! Suzanne retraces the history of a 1970s Soho brainwave of deliciousness and Muriel obeys the traditional Pavlovian call of Champenois fizz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Suzanne brings a whole lotta Christmas to the table and parses the delights of the double issue of the Radio Times; Muriel unpacks a cult French sitcom about two contrasting lifestyles of the bourgeoisie Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Suzanne makes a compelling case for the evocative beauty of In the Bleak Midwinter and its landscape imagery infused with spirituality; Muriel wonders how Minuit, Chrétiens, a rousing carol authored by a Socialist firebrand and a stage composer, made it into the French Catholic choral canon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Muriel and Suzanne are swapping seasonal treats: masses of cheerful multicoloured candy vs a handful of meticulously crafted products of the terroir. Both delicious, but what do they say about the British and the French at Christmas? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Suzanne takes a punt at the 2025 Christmas No1 and crowns 1984 as the very best vintage of British Christmas charts; Muriel explains how and why the French Christmas No1, a 'secular carol' by venerated crooner Tino Rossi, remains unchanged since 1946. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which Suzanne unearths the story of a major British hobby and its relationship with landscape and the romance of the past. Why are the British obsessed with metal detecting? What is their Arthurian code of practice? What are portable antiquities? Who are the night hawkers? What does all this reveal about British attitudes to liberty, in stark contrast to France? Includes helpful pointers about...

Muriel tackles an awkward truth: the French may love rigour and rationality – France is the nation of Descartes, after all – but they are also susceptible to the allure of psychics, the alignment of the stars, and angels calling on the phone from beyond. How has this survived the advent of the Enlightenment and the Revolution? And what does it mean in terms of our relationship to super-forecasting...

In which Suzanne investigates profound differences between our two cultures by asking why the British tax year is not, like in France, aligned onto the calendar year. The answers, which astonish Muriel, are deeply rooted in Britain's relationship to the Continent. It's a story of mathematics and astrology, Popes, bishops and archbishops, Catholicism and the Reformation, and, of course, Acts of Par...

In the second half of our theatrical diptych, Muriel tells Suzanne about the 'atomic bomb' of the French theatre, an experimental Absurdist masterpiece by Romanian-French playwright Eugène Ionesco that became a classic of the French stage. It has neither plot nor psychology – only a lot of uneasy comic momentum, poking fun at the bourgeoisie. But how has it lasted so long? And why is it about Brit...

Suzanne and Muriel consider the brilliance, longevity and significance of Agatha Christie's murder mystery play The Mousetrap, which has been running since 1952. Set in a country house isolated by bad weather, the play is a model of distinctly British sweet-and-sour eruption of violence in a cosy setting, and replete with red herrings and eccentric characters. The police inspector arrives on skis!...

It's Halloween and Muriel encourages Suzanne to think about the Gallic bones displayed and staged in the Paris Catacombs in a neo-classical early-19th-century mise-en-scène at once macabre and meditative. We also discover a contemporary underground scene of fun-loving secret explorers and hear about the time Suzanne dug up a medieval monk in Hampshire. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy f...

Following on from his book The Discovery of France, Graham Robb has produced another fascinating work of exploration, The Discovery of Britain. Graham's observations are rooted in extensive travel all over both countries on a Victorian invention, the bicycle, reconnecting with old pathways, landscapes and forgotten people. He shares with Suzanne and Muriel what he discovered about nomads and tribe...

Would you Adam and Eve it? Suzanne tutors her 'old China' Muriel in a coded language that is full of wit, inventions and surprises. Rooted in old street cant and secret words identified in the 1850s, rhyming slang expresses the earthiness and supple playfulness inherent in the ways in which the British use their language. Does a French equivalent exist? And what's rhyming slang for Garlic &am...

Where Muriel explains the mythology of the actress, singer, animal activist and all-round contrarian. How did Bardot re-invent French femininity for the 20th century? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is there a Californian landscape growing in Britain to the tune of half a million Giant Redwoods? Suzanne recounts the 19th-century story of adventurous plant collectors, explains how the seeds they brought home went to create the Victorian British landscape that surrounds us, and imagines a dizzying future, 3,000 years away, where thriving Redwoods reach colossal maturity in the British Isles. Al...

Muriel and Suzanne hop around the arrondissements of Paris explored by Chris Newens in his food memoir Moveable Feasts, comparing and contrasting cuisines, history, sociology and atmosphere. They also learn the logistics of making your own Belleville-style doner kebab. And what is the etiquette of eating brunch at a sex club in Pigalle? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Where Suzanne ushers in autumn and educates a baffled Muriel in the great British game of conkers, at once nostalgic, ruthlessly competitive and controversial. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As guests of the Durning Library at the Lambeth Readers and Writers Festival, Muriel and Suzanne discuss Frenchness, Britishness and their podcast adventure. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Muriel introduces Suzanne to the surprisingly whimsical world of French roundabouts. Why does France have so many? Why are the rules so maddening? And are they eyesores or ornaments? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Camans at the ready! Suzanne and our special guest from the Isle of Skye, the skipper, photographer and shinty player Izzy Law, delve into the origins of the ancient Highland game of shinty or camanachd, evoking close historical ties between Irish and Scottish kingdoms and the hardy nature of a game that was traditionally played as a warm-up before battle between chieftains and clans and also used...

Suzanne and Muriel thread their way through how the British and the French apologise and ask for forgiveness. What does it reveal about attitudes to personal space, guilt and pleasure? Which nation is more courtly? Why do the British say sorry all the time? How aggressive is passive aggression? And who, ultimately, gets it right about manners – Tatler Magazine or the Académie Française? 17th-...