Episodes

  • The Real Making of Britain and France: A myth-busting, panoramic trip through time and space with our guest, the historian Graham Robb!

    The Real Making of Britain and France: A myth-busting, panoramic trip through time and space with our guest, the historian Graham Robb!
    Oct 24 2025
    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 tribes, hedgerows and standing stones, Ptlolemaic maps and the corporal punishment of saints with nettles. How did France gradually colonise itself into a centralised nation? How many beacons were needed to communicate from Cornwall to Sunderland? And what can you learn at ground level about two countries where so much of the past is visible in front of you?

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    58 mins
  • Rhyming Slang: A distinctly British and creative code that's definitely not 'brown bread'

    Rhyming Slang: A distinctly British and creative code that's definitely not 'brown bread'
    Oct 17 2025
    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 & Pearls?

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    58 mins
  • Brigitte Bardot: Top French Icon and The Face of France

    Brigitte Bardot: Top French Icon and The Face of France
    Oct 10 2025

    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?


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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • Giant Redwoods in the UK: A story of intrepid botanists and explorers, and a Victorian British craze

    Giant Redwoods in the UK: A story of intrepid botanists and explorers, and a Victorian British craze
    Oct 3 2025
    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. Alfred Hitchcock and a man called Sequoia are part of the cast.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • How to Eat Everything in Paris: Our guest, food writer Chris Newens, shares revelatory findings!

    How to Eat Everything in Paris: Our guest, food writer Chris Newens, shares revelatory findings!
    Sep 26 2025
    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.
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Conkers: from Victorian pastime to urban Battle Royale

    Conkers: from Victorian pastime to urban Battle Royale
    Sep 19 2025
    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.
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    1 hr
  • An Evening with Garlic & Pearls: where Muriel and Suzanne make their first live appearance!

    An Evening with Garlic & Pearls: where Muriel and Suzanne make their first live appearance!
    Sep 12 2025
    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.
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    46 mins
  • French Roundabouts: are they about safety, strategy or symbolism?

    French Roundabouts: are they about safety, strategy or symbolism?
    Sep 5 2025
    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.
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    57 mins