The MetroStop Podcast

THE DREYFUS AFFAIR – A NATIONAL RECKONING  Anatole France was one of the country’s most respected writers and he would become the conscience the Republic had been missing. We draw to the conclusion of the Affair.   What does it mean for France, for the Dreyfusards and for Alfred Dreyfus?  Sources and reading   Marie‑Claire Bancquart, Anatole France: La vie littéraire (1984)  Michel Winock, Le Sièc...

THE DREYFUS AFFAIR: DENIED BY A PRESIDENT   Felix Faure became President of the Republic in January 1895, just weeks after Alfred Dreyfus was convicted. He was elected because he was seen as safe and predictable. He was not a reformer. He was not interested in challenging institutions. He was not associated with any major scandals, yet at least.  Sam Aronow - The Dreyfus Affair    Félix Faure | Fr...

THE DREYFUS AFFAIR: THE SOCIALIST INTEREST  Jean Jaures is a political icon, remembered today as a socialist leader, a defender of workers, and one of the strongest advocates for Alfred Dreyfus.  Sources and Reading  Zeev Sternhell, Jaurès et la naissance du socialisme républicain (1983)  Harvey Goldberg, The Life of Jean Jaurès (1962)  Geoffrey Kurtz, Jean Jaurès: The Inner Life of Social Democra...

THE DREYFUS AFFAIR: J'ACCUSE! As the situation unfolded with Dreyfus and new evidence came to light, Zola reached his limit of what he could morally tolerate from the lying establishment. By this time, Emile Zola was already a very famous novelist, and he was about to expose the truth to a country that didn’t want to hear it.   Sources  Sam Aronow The Dreyfus Affair    Emile Zola Brittanica   CNRS...

THE CHAMPS-ELYSEE AND THE BELLE EPOQUE  In this BONUS episode, the Belle Epoque comes to life. The Third republic was a period of social and economic prosperity, and nowhere displayed this, quite like the most beautiful avenue in the world.   Sources  Belle Époque or the "Beautiful Age" in France   Paris Digest - Champs-Elysée Facts   Everything Explained - The Belle Epoque   French Moments- The G...

THE DREYFUS AFFAIR: CLEMENCEAU AND THE THIRD REPUBLIC  In Season 3 we visit five stations and five men whose lives intersected at the Dreyfus Affair.   Episode 1 sees George Clemenceau fighting for the newly established Third Republic, giving the foundation of a story of a scandal that divided France for nearly a decade.   Sources  Sam Aronow - The Dreyfus Affair   Georges Clemenceau summary | Bri...

I say it every week, we stop by stations named after artists, intellects, innovators; every station's name is a signal or memory pinned to a place.  Listeners have me asked about how the metro stations get their names, who decides and what the criteria are so, in this inter season -bonus episode, we find out.   Sources  Metro: where does the iconic white tiling found in every station come from? -...

Bobigny–Pantin–Raymond Queneau is a station at the north end of line 5.  Raymond Queneau believed words were toys—tools for invention and discovery. Philosopher, writer and co-founder of Oulipo, Queneau didn’t just write novels—he rewrote the very idea of what a novel could be.  Oulipo – Wikipedia   Wikipedia   Fnac   Site Gallimard   Radio France   Le petit lecteur   EBSCO Research Starter – Ouli...

Villejuif- Louis Aragon is the last eastern station on line 7.  He will reinvent himself again and again — Dadaist provocateur, Surrealist visionary, communist soldier‑poet, Resistance hero, loyal Party intellectual, and finally the man who questioned the very ideology he once defended.    Sources: Louis Aragon | Surrealist poet, novelist, playwright | Britannica   Courte biographie de Louis Arago...

Picpus is a station on line 6   Georges Courteline (1858–1929) was a French satirist, playwright, and novelist, famous for his biting humor and sharp critiques of bureaucracy and middle-class life.  25 juin 1929 : Mort de Georges Courteline | SavoirsetCulture.fr   Georges Courteline | Satirist, Playwright, Humorist | Britannica   Archives of Seine-et-Marne .  Libre Théâtre   EBSCO   L'Officiel des...

Goncourt is a station on line 11  The creation of the Académie Goncourt in 1900 was a response to the Académie Française. Edmond Goncourt had a vision in life that he only saw through in his death.  Sources:  Radio France   RFI   atlangue.com   Académie Goncourt   Académie française   La Croix   Radio France Internationale   Sortiraparis.com   France 24   Wikipedia   CNEWS   Herodote.net   Oxford...

Jasmin is a station on line 9   He is the people’s poet and his language—the lenga d’òc—is not a dialect to be dismissed, but a legacy to be sung.  Sources  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jacques-Jasmin   https://fracademic.com/dic.nsf/frwiki/842114   https://www.biographies.net/people/en/jacques_jasmin   https://www.britannica.com/topic/Occitan-language   Félibrige | Occitan culture, Proven...

Victor Hugo is a station on line 2   A literary force in French culture and politics, Victor Hugo’s speeches against poverty, censorship, and execution became the moral backbone of Les Misérables. Published in 1862, It became a sensation all over Europe and America transforming political battles into timeless literature.    Victor Hugo: Life, Political Career, & Major Works   Victor Hugo: An I...

Alexandre Dumas is a station on line 2   Alexandre Dumas didn’t just write heroes—he performed them. He was Edmond Dantès in exile, Athos in elegance, d’Artagnan in bravado.    The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss | Goodreads   https://historychronicler.com/thomas-alexandre-dumas-a-life-of-daring-and-glory/   https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/T...

Rueilly- Diderot is a station on line 8 and line 1.   Denis Diderot was no ordinary philosopher. Provocative, and endlessly curious, with a writing style that danced between satire, dialogue, and philosophical paradox. He was the beating heart of the Enlightenment-voluble, passionate, and utterly uncontainable.    Catherine & Diderot — Harvard University Press   Denis Diderot (Stanford Encyclo...

Voltaire is a station on line 9  Writer and Philosopher, Francois-Marie Arouet lived through Enlightenment Europe, known more famously as Voltaire.     Virgil | Biography, Aeneid, & Facts | Britannica   Voltaire | Biography, Works, Philosophy, Ideas, Beliefs, & Facts ...   Voltaire - World History Encyclopedia   Voltaire | World History - Lumen Learning   10 Voltaire Accomplishments and Ac...

In season 2 of Metro Stop Podcast, we will be stopping by 16 Century and then passing through two stations celebrating two architects of the enlightenment.  Then some of the most celebrated writers in French history, whose influence has rippled through pop culture to this day.   In this introduction, I give some historical context to the age of enlightenment.  Sources:   The Enlightenment (1650-18...

Malakoff – Rue Etienne Dolet is a station on line 13   Etienne Dolet became one of France’s first martyrs of free thought.   Sources:  Calvinism in France and the Netherlands – Wilcuma   The Long, Forgotten Reformation in France | Desiring God   Luther and Calvin - Lutheran Reformation   The Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther, Calvinism, And European Upheaval   Étienne Dolet | Humanist, Transla...

In the 1840s, as revolution simmered and foreign armies loomed, Paris built a colossal ring of stone and earth - Thiers Wall.  This is more than a story of urban planning; this is the memory of a Paris that once feared both the world outside and the fire within. This is a story of invasion, revolution, war and class divide.  In this episode we are covering multiple stations all around the city Por...

Rol Tanguy is on line 6 at Denfert Rochereau  Who was Rol Tanguy?   This is the final episode of Season 1  France Today - Women of the Resistance   History Hit - Women of the French Resistance   Paris in World War II - Wikipedia   The Liberation of Paris - The National WWII Museum   Liberation of Paris - Wikipedia   During World War II, the Liberation of Paris ... - Smithsonian Magazine   Paris is...

A summary of the events of the Paris Occupation and Liberation.   Moral and Historicals Reckonings of Vichy France   This has been Metro Stop, thank you so much for listening and I will be back with a new season, and we will explore more of the main characters of the Paris Metro, one station at a time.   

Rol Tanguy is on line 6 at Denfert Rochereau  Who was Rol Tanguy?   This is the first episode in a two-part finale  Compagnons du Tour de France   On This Day February 1934   Stavisky Affair   Non Intervention Agreement   Battle of the Ebro   Military History Cecile Rol Tanguy   Le Maitron Rol Tanguy   Le Maitron Cecile Rol Tanguy   Music by Martaan Schellekens Titled Reminiscing  Additional Music...

Trinitie- D'Estienne D’Orves is a station on line 12  Who was D’Estienne D’Orves? Sources and Links   Portrait of D'Estienne D'orves   Final Letters   D'Estienne D'Orves Chemin de Memoire   Museum of the Resistance D'estienne D'Orves Organiser of Nemrod    Music by Martaan Schellekens Titled Reminiscing  Additional Music by ArcSound 

Charles Michels is a station on line 10  Who was Charles Michels?   Sources and Links   Reflections on the French Resistance    Museum of the Resistance - Charles Michels   Le Maitron - Charles Michels   Music by Martaan Schellekens Titled Reminiscing  Additional Music by ArcSound 

Corentin Cariou is on line 7 and Corentin Celton is on line 12  Who were the two Corentins?   Sources and Links  Le Maitron - Corentin Cariou   Le Maitron - Corentin Celton   Lettre de Celton Corentin– Le Mont-Valérien   Music by Martaan Schellekens Titled Reminiscing