What keeps you up at night?

On January 12 2014, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France faced an unprecedented water issue: The pipes broke. Three levels were infiltrated by 25m³ of water. The crisis management unit activated the emergency plan, on a Sunday night, to evacuate 38 000 documents, some dating back to early centuries. We'll travel back to that night — and another nightmarish night of such scale — wading back through...

🎈On the night of June 23rd, 2016, Brexit marked the first-ever breakup in European Union history. After more than 40 years together in an emotional and dramatic turn, the UK dumped 27 member states all at once. Ouch.   🎤Even Michel Barnier, former Brexit negotiator and now the French Prime Minister, has likened it to a painful breakup. But this wasn’t just about a fractured relationship—it set o...

On June 9, 2024, the European Parliament saw a significant shift to the far right. This unprecedented gain was felt across the continent, but in France, the situation intensified. After the National Rally won more than 30% of the vote, President Macron made a decision that would significantly impact French political life—he dissolved the National Assembly. An unprecedented opportunity for the “Ras...

🎬✨On February 28, 2020, the César ceremony, the French Oscars, takes place in the Salle Pleyel (Paris). But this year's ceremony is not like any other. Roman Polanski, a Franco-Polish director convicted of rape, including that of a 13-year-old girl, is nominated 12 times.  🔎 Just after midnight, he is announced as the winner of the Cesar for Best Director. Immediately afterwards, the famous Fre...

What would you do if you were witnessing one of the worst earthquakes of the century? Or worse, if you got the news that your family was stuck in it while you were a nine-hour flight away with no means of contacting them? This episode starts at 4:17am in Turkiye on the 6th of February, when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the southern part of the country. For context - this is roughly the energy eq...

On November 5th, 2024, Americans headed to the polls in what many called one of the most pivotal elections in the country’s history. In Paris, the first results arrived just past midnight, setting the stage for night to remember.  From the charged atmosphere of Harry’s bar to the tense buzz of the France 24 newsroom, from student watch parties to a morning-after breakfast, this episode captures th...

This season on ‘The Night I Didn’t Sleep’, we bring you first-person accounts of watershed moments – from natural disasters to cultural shifts and political reckonings. Each a story that unfolded in the dead of night. The 6 episodes will be broadcasted every two weeks. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

📰 Mo Ibrahim is Anglo-Sudanese engineer, businessman and philanthropist. In 1998, he founded the mobile phone operator Celtel, a pioneer in providing borderless networks across 14 East African countries. At the time the company was sold seven years later, it counted 24 million subscribers --- that’s comparable to half of France’s population. The 3,4 billion dollars deal made him a billionaire. He...

📰 Anette Young, is a senior journalist and TV news presenter for France 24, as well as the creator and host of the @_51percent, a show about the most pressing issues affecting women around the world. She has previously worked as the Jerusalem correspondent for France 24 and as a reporter, editor and producer in your home country, Australia. She was awarded the gold medal in broadcast journalism i...

📰 Filippo Grandi is the head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, a UN agency headquartered in Geneva offering assistance to those forced to flee conflicts and persecution worldwide, such as refugees and forcibly displaced people, as well as people to whom nationality is denied. He previously served as the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Pal...

Doctor Jelani Cobb is Dean of Columbia Journalism School, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and board member for the American Journalism Project. His prioritization of access, diversity and democracy in journalism has led him to be @peabodyawards winner and @pulitzerprizes finalist. Historian and media specialist, Dean Cobb published books on a range of topics. He is a special...

On June 8th, 2023, the Israeli military raided Ramallah in the West Bank. Khaled Abu Qare was out in the streets.  He was used to the regular presence of the Israeli military during his time in East Jerusalem. But when he lived in Ramallah, just 18 kilometers away, he found himself unprepared for the raids. That is why when Khaled heard that the Israeli army was raiding his hometown, he decided to...

On July 12th 1998 France won the world cup. 3:0 against Brazil, and on top of that, in the home stadium in Paris. It was a night of ecstatic celebration for all of France. This episode of “The Night I Didn’t Sleep” recreates the events of this night which would go down in the history books. But with the French national team being more diverse than ever before, this world cup was more than just a s...

On April 21, 2002, an earthquake shook France. The far right made it to the second round of the presidential election. It was a first in the Fifth Republic's history and the surprise was total. It triggered an unprecedented mobilization. Embodied in the person of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the far right frightened the French people, who massively rallied between the two rounds.  21 years on, French people...

December 12th, 2015. The newly adopted Paris Agreement makes headlines across the world. 196 delegations managed to adopt a legally binding agreement to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees celsius. It was a diplomatic success that left its mark on the people who participated.  Alexandre Ziegler, chief of staff of the French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who presided over COP21, and Pau...

On April 23rd, 2013, France legalised same-sex marriage. The adoption of this law followed several long days and sleepless nights of debates in Parliament, making it the seventh longest-debated law in the Fifth Republic in France. Ten years later, this episode of national history has left its mark on French society, mainly due to the fierce opposition it unleashed, both in the Assembly and in the...

Almost two years ago Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which destroyed tens of cities and killed thousands of civilians. But the war didn’t start on February 24th 2022 — it started 9 years ago.  In November 2013, a popular uprising known as the Euromaidan revolution erupted after Ukraine’s government traded an EU agreement for closer ties with Russia.  Two pivotal bloody nights in...

What goes on in the heads of leaders faced with the world's major challenges? What keeps them up at night? How do they fall asleep when they have so much responsibility? How do they get to sleep when there is so much at stake? What gives them insomnia?   International leaders and decision makers are invited into the studios of the Sciences Po School of Journalism. We believe that students will be...

Louise Mushikiwabo is the 4th Secretary-General of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF). Previously served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Rwanda from 2009 to 2018. She also served as Government Spokesperson. She had previously been Minister of Information.  🔈📣What goes on in the heads of leaders faced with the world's major challenges? What keeps them u...

South Korean diplomat and renowned political leader, she served as the Foreign Minister between 2017 and 2021, and was the first woman at this position in the country.  She started her career as a journalist at the Korean Broadcasting System’s news bureau. She then held various high-rankingroles at the United Nations, including the position of Senior Advisor on Policy to UN Secretary-General Anton...

Maria Ressa is an acclaimed Filipino and American journalist. In 2021, she won the Nobel Prize, alongside Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, in recognition of her efforts to safeguard freedom of expression. In 2012, she co-founded Filipino news website Rappler. She documented government wrongdoings, such as extrajudicial killings perpetrated during Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drugs c...

Anne Poiret is a French journalist and documentary filmmaker, recognized for her extensive work on the aftermath of armed conflicts. In her films, she sheds the spotlight on the human and political repercussions of war and of post-war reconstruction. She covered the Middle East, South Asia, Africa, and most recently, Ukraine. In 2007, her documentary about the murder of 17 humanitarian workers in...

Souleymane Bachir Diagne is a Senegalese philosopher  and Professor of French, and Chair of the Department of French and Romance Philology with a secondary appointment in the Department of Philosophy, at Columbia University. His work is focused on the history of logic and mathematics, epistemology, the tradition of philosophy in the Islamic world, identity formation, and African literatures and ph...

Arancha Gonzalez is the Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po and a lawyer who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation in the Spanish Government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez from 2020 to 2021.   🔈📣What goes on in the heads of leaders faced with the world's major challenges? What keeps them up at night? How do they fall asleep when they...

Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados and lead Head of Government within Caribbean Community (CARICOM) with responsibility for the Single Market and Economy.    🔈📣What goes on in the heads of leaders faced with the world's major challenges? What keeps them up at night? How do they fall asleep when they have so much responsibility? How do they get to sleep when there is so much at stake? What g...