La Culture Oui, But Why?

Francis Cabrel is a famous French singer, song writer and composer. He has been recognised as one of France most influential artists,  his work is influenced by other poets like George Brassens. many of his songs like Petite Marie or Je l'aime A Mourir are considered French classics. Over his 50-year career Francis Cabrel  sold more than 25 million albums. He was in residency at the Lycee Francais...

The title of the episode Vous n'aurez pas la Bretagne is the title of a play that will be shown in French on May 19 2025 at the Cultural Center of the Lycee Francais de New York and this Summer in France. At the center of the play are two women Anne de Bretagne and Anne de France who both compete for power and for a province, la Bretagne. Sounds familiar? In this episode we met with Director Valer...

In this episode opening season 5, the host Pascale Richard reflects on her work at the Cultural Center of the Lycee Francais de New York and talks about coming events including the fair En Francais oui But Why 

French writer Marie Darrieussecq was in New York for the publication of Sleepless in English.  She has been writing for nearly 30 years, since the publication of Pigtales in 1996, and most of her books are translated into English. She came to the Lycee Francais de New York to talk to the students about her book Being Here is Everything: The Life of Paula M. Baker.  The episode is mostly in French...

https://www.sweetcrudeband.com/ Sam Craft is the founder of Sweet Crude, an indie pop and rock band, formed in 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. In this sextet, Sam is the violinist and singer. Alexis Marceau is he lead singer and plays percussions.  Their songs combine English and Louisiana French, a dialect spoken by singer Alexis Marceau's family members. The band released their debut album, Créa...

French photographer Denis Darzacq was born and raised in Paris, a city in which he still lives and works today. He graduated from the ENSAD (French National School for Decorative Arts) in 1986 and started his photographic career following the French rock scene. In 1994, he began a series exploring the nocturnal life of Parisians titled "Only Heaven", which he exhibited at various photo festivals....

French jazz singer and 2023 Best Vocal Artist Camille Bertault, has released her fifth album. In this episode, she talks about her new work, her musicians, and her projects. She will be in concert on Thursday, January 18 at 6.30 pm at the Cultural Center of the Lycee Francais de New York. She will interpret songs from her new album  " Bonjour mon Amour " with her New York musicians Cameron Campbel...

Matthews Caws is the lead singer on songwriter for the Rock group Nada Surf which was started in 1995 in New York. Remember their title "Popular"? Nada Surf will be releasing its 9th album in the weeks to come and start touring Europe and the US. Matthews Caws is an alum from the Lycee Francais de New York and has something to say about bilingualism and creativity. He will perform at the Cultural...

French Professor of Orthopedic and Trauma surgery, Professor Saillant was dean of the faculty of medicine and head of the department of Orthopedic, trauma, and reconstructive surgery at the hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière in Paris. Professor Gérard Saillant is one of the most eminent sports medicine and spine surgery specialists. He is also President of the FIA ​​Medical Commission, President of the co...

French actress Elsa Zylberstein, starring in Simone, The Woman of the Century , is our guest for the first episode (Season 4) of La Culture Oui, But Why? Elsa Zylberstein began her film career in 1989 and has appeared in about 50 films. She won the César Award for Best Supporting Actress for I've Loved You So Long (2008). Recently, she played French politician and Holocaust survivor Simone Veil (1...

Actor Jean Reno, (His real name is Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiménez) was born in 1948 and raised in Morocco, then a French protectorate. Ever since appearing in The Big Blue in 1988, a cult movie by Luc Besson, he has worked in the U.S. and in France and in international productions, including Godzilla, The Da Vinci Code, Mission: Impossible, The Pink Panther, Ronin, Les Visiteurs, The Big Blue, or L...

Every morning on France Inter in MusicAline, music critic Aline AFANOUKOE welcomes her audience with her now famous "Holà Todos" and delivers her 3-minute-and-a-half vocal postcard on what is happening on the musical scene. We invited her to the Cultural Center of the Lycee Francais de New York, to emcee a concert of francophone voices that took place on March 20th, on the International Day of Fra...

Season 3 Episode 4 Annie St Pierre and the Cirque du Soleil The Cirque du Soleil was in residence at the Lycee Francais de New York with our first graders. We decided to interview Annie St Pierre, one of the company's artistic directors who came from Montreal, on this extraordinary company and what it means to work there. Her bio: After ten years of professional study in classical ballet at Les Gr...

Jazz Musician Oran Etkin was our Artist in Residence at the Lycee Francais de New York with our third graders, together with percussionist Sasha Berliner. Born in Israel, Oran moved with his family to Boston when he was five and started taking instrument lessons. At fourteen, he studied clarinet with Yusef Lateef and George Garzone. He attended Brandeis University and the Manhattan School of Music...

Fencing Champion Laura Flessel began fencing at age six and quickly became a very talented fencer. She progressed quickly and became the champion of Guadeloupe. She won her first world stage success in 1995, After her gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics and her victory at the 1998 World Cup, she became the eighth French fencer and the first woman to win the Olympic and World Champion titles. Sh...

On November 6, 2022, French-born Karine Jones, mother of 4 and a parent at the Lycee Francais de New York, run her 7th New York marathon. She tells us about her passion, about this 51st edition with high temperatures and humidity, and gives tips and advice to those who want to try it. In French Share your comments by email at lacultureouibutwhy@yahoo.com

La Culture Oui, But Why? is starting its third season with a new format. The podcast will sometimes be in French, sometimes in English, depending on our guest's native language. Let me know if you like it or not at lacultureouibutwhy@yahoo.com Image by Serge Bloch Music by Maxime Boublil

French Writer Marc Levy was invited to the Lycee Francais de New York as part of an artist-in-residence project. He spent a week with the 8th graders on the Power of Imagination. Marc Lévy is a French novelist whose books have been translated into over forty languages. He is the most widely read French author in the world. New Yorker at heart, Marc Levy chooses the Big Apple as the backdrop of man...

Laura Nsafou is our guest for this episode. Also known as  Mrs Roots , she is a French blogger and author and artist in residence at the Lycee Francais de New York. Founder of the Afrolab workshop, Laura is the author of the eleven-times reprinted picture book  Comme un million de papillons noirs  ( Like A Million Black Butterflies ) published at Editions Cambourakis, A mains nues  (Editions Synap...

In this new episode of our bilingual podcast, as we celebrate Earth Day with climate change on our minds, we invited an alum from the Lycée Francais de New York, Charles Cohen (Class 2015) who decided to study forestry at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and now works in the wilderness in Canada. He tells us about his choice, about his life among the trees far from his early youth b...

In this podcast, French editorialist, book writer, filmmaker, anti-racist and feminist activist Rokhaya Diallo talks about racism in France as well as the idea of race and her interpretation of the concept of laicité as stated by a 1905 law in France. Writing regularly for the Washington Post , Rokhaya has also been invited to join Georgetown University's gender and justice initiative as a researc...

The Future of Fashion In this episode, we talk about fashion and its future with Blandine Velin, Director of Insights and Innovation for a major French fashion brand in New York. As the fashion season starts, we look at how pandemics changed the sector by creating another lifestyle. Are fashion shows still relevant? And will the metaverse revolutionize our closets? We also invited Chloe, a student...

Wes Anderson's movie, The French Dispatch, was filmed in Angoulême, France. In fact, Angoulême, presented as "a fictional French town in the '50s", is one of the film's main characters. The movie was released in 2021 and French composer Alexandre Desplat who created the music score for the film is one the nominees for the 2022 Golden Globes. We decided to virtually transport ourselves to Angoulême...

"Built from his own experiences, Stéphane has developed the concept of "gathering opposites." In a French context where social cohesion is increasingly crumbling, he bridges the gaps in the community by activating two powerful levers to peaceful coexistence: dialogue across differences and our desire to help each other."( Ashoka Foundation) Artist, Film Director ( A Voix Haute), Social entrepreneu...

Mahen Bonetti,  Founder and Executive Director of  the African Film Festival is our special guest of La Culture Oui, But Why? and she also participates in a panel on cinema organized by the Cultural Center of the Lycee Francais de New York on November 9, 2021. Mahen Bonetti was born in 1956 in Sierra Leone to a family that has experienced the ups and downs of post-colonial politics. She talks abou...