John Lichfield's guest appearances

John Lichfield

Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Uncommon Decency

Kamala Harris

Donald Trump

Julie Smith

Greta Thunberg

John Townsend

Phil Jones

Chris Henry

James Logan

Bernie Sanders

Matt Bell

Sean Palmer

Brad Olsen

Jennifer Lopez

Jeff Bezos

Mike Williams

OwlTail

 In the spring of 2017, Emmanuel Macron upended France’s political system by breaking ranks with a socialist administration and running for President as the leader of a new party that bore his initials,  En Marche!  Five years after that victory, Macron has again triumphed against Marine Le Pen in the runoff of the presidential race. To be sure, turnout was historically low, and Le Pen climbed from 34% to 41.5% of the vote. Yet Macron is the only French president in 20 years to win a reelection bid. Furthermore, his towering standing in the French political landscape seems matchless. The two traditional governing parties—the center-right  Les Républicains  (LR) and the social-democratic  Parti Socialiste  (PS)—are both in utter shambles, whilst their fringe competitors—Le Pen’s  Rassemblement National  (RN) and Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s  La France Insoumise  (LFI)—are not perceived by most voters to be credible governing alternatives. With the field wide open, for now, for Macron’s lock on the Presidency, what’s next for the country? Will the near future see the beleaguered right and left rebuild themselves? Will Macron’s second term be more of the same? To discuss these questions and more, we are joined this week by  New York Times Magazine  contributing writer Elisabeth Zerofsky and veteran correspondent of all things French John Lichfield. This also happens to be our finale of season four, but do not worry, we will be back in September. Listen in to the end of the episode for a hint of what’s next for the podcast.   As always, please rate and review Uncommon Decency on Apple Podcasts, and send us your comments or questions either on Twitter at @UnDecencyPod or by e-mail at undecencypod@gmail.com. And please consider supporting the show through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/undecencypod.

In the spring of 2017, Emmanuel Macron upended France’s political system by breaking ranks with a socialist administration and running for President as the leader of a new party that bore his initials, En Marche! Five years after that victory, Macron has again triumphed against Marine Le Pen in the runoff of the presidential race. To be sure, turnout was historically low, and Le Pen climbed from 34% to 41.5% of the vote. Yet Macron is the only French president in 20 years to win a reelection bid. Furthermore, his towering standing in the French political landscape seems matchless. The two traditional governing parties—the center-right Les Républicains (LR) and the social-democratic Parti Socialiste (PS)—are both in utter shambles, whilst their fringe competitors—Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN) and Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s La France Insoumise (LFI)—are not perceived by most voters to be credible governing alternatives. With the field wide open, for now, for Macron’s lock on the Presidency, what’s next for the country? Will the near future see the beleaguered right and left rebuild themselves? Will Macron’s second term be more of the same? To discuss these questions and more, we are joined this week by New York Times Magazine contributing writer Elisabeth Zerofsky and veteran correspondent of all things French John Lichfield. This also happens to be our finale of season four, but do not worry, we will be back in September. Listen in to the end of the episode for a hint of what’s next for the podcast. As always, please rate and review Uncommon Decency on Apple Podcasts, and send us your comments or questions either on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/UnDecencyPod" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@UnDecencyPod</a> or by e-mail at <a href="mailto:undecencypod@gmail.com">undecencypod@gmail.com</a>. And please consider supporting the show through Patreon: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/undecencypod" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/undecencypod</a>.

60. Season Finale: Macron Forever! with Elisabeth Zerofsky & John Lichfield

In our electoral war room eight months ago, we at Uncommon Decency argued that the French political landscape ahead of the presidential race next May was ripe for a populist upset. In other words, that the scores of pollsters predicting a Macron-LePen runoff contest could be proved wrong by France’s ever so facetious electorate. That upset might just have a name now: Eric Zemmour. A former political journalist and a Tucker Carlsonesque talking head, the right-wing intellectual has published his third bestselling essay, his public meetings quickly morphing into campaign rallies. Of Algerian Jewish stock, Zemmour has found himself in the unlikely role of organic intellectual for the country’s nationalistic right. Though not officially in the running, his bid for the presidency is but a foregone conclusion. In the span of two months Zemmour surged from 5% in the polls to the high teens, making him a favorite to face off against Macron in the runoff. In the most Trumpian of ways, he keeps a near-monopoly on the airwaves by breaking up taboos and imposing his agenda, such as the borderline conspiracy theory of a great replacement of France’s white Christian population with a new brown and Islamic alien majority. Today we dive into the Zemmour phenomenon and gauge how far he can go with two veteran journalists, Anne-Élisabeth Moutet and John Lichfield. As always, rate and review Uncommon Decency on Apple Podcasts, and send us your comments or questions at @UnDecencyPod or undecencypod@gmail.com. Please consider supporting the show through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/undecencypod.

In our electoral war room eight months ago, we at Uncommon Decency argued that the French political landscape ahead of the presidential race next May was ripe for a populist upset. In other words, that the scores of pollsters predicting a Macron-LePen runoff contest could be proved wrong by France’s ever so facetious electorate. That upset might just have a name now: Eric Zemmour. A former political journalist and a Tucker Carlsonesque talking head, the right-wing intellectual has published his third bestselling essay, his public meetings quickly morphing into campaign rallies. Of Algerian Jewish stock, Zemmour has found himself in the unlikely role of organic intellectual for the country’s nationalistic right. Though not officially in the running, his bid for the presidency is but a foregone conclusion. In the span of two months Zemmour surged from 5% in the polls to the high teens, making him a favorite to face off against Macron in the runoff. In the most Trumpian of ways, he keeps a near-monopoly on the airwaves by breaking up taboos and imposing his agenda, such as the borderline conspiracy theory of a great replacement of France’s white Christian population with a new brown and Islamic alien majority. Today we dive into the Zemmour phenomenon and gauge how far he can go with two veteran journalists, Anne-Élisabeth Moutet and John Lichfield. As always, rate and review Uncommon Decency on Apple Podcasts, and send us your comments or questions at <a href="https://twitter.com/UnDecencyPod" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@UnDecencyPod</a> or <a href="mailto:undecencypod@gmail.com">undecencypod@gmail.com</a>. Please consider supporting the show through Patreon: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/undecencypod" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/undecencypod</a>.

38. A Storm Named Éric Zemmour, with Anne-Élisabeth Moutet & John Lichfield

Charlie Hebdo

Thirteen men and a woman went on trial Wednesday in the 2015 attacks against the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper and a kosher supermarket in Paris that marked the beginning of a wave of violence by the Islamic State group in Europe.Seventeen people and all three gunmen died during the three days of attacks in January 2015. Later that year, a separate network of French and Belgian fighters for Islamic State struck Paris again, this time killing 130 people in attacks at the Bataclan concert hall, the national stadium, and in bars and restaurants.Those on trial in France’s terrorism court are accused of buying weapons, cars, and helping with logistics in the January 2015 attacks. Most say they thought they were helping plan an ordinary crime. Three, including the only woman accused, are being tried in absentia after leaving to join Islamic State.“The trial will establish and confirm that the two attacks were coordinated. One was an attack on freedom of expression and the other was against Jews because they were Jews,” Francois Hollande, who was then France's president, told RTL radio.The attacks from Jan. 7-9, 2015, started during an editorial meeting at Charlie Hebdo, whose offices had been unmarked and guarded by police since the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad years before. Brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi gunned down 12 people before carjacking a vehicle and fleeing. They claimed the attacks in the name of al-Qaida.Two days later, on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath, Amedy Coulibaly stormed the Hyper Cacher supermarket, killing four hostages and invoking the Islamic State group as the Kouachi brothers took control of a printing office outside the French capital. The attackers died that day during near-simultaneous police raids.It took days more for investigators to realize that Coulibaly was also responsible for the seemingly random death of a young policewoman the previous day.It took further weeks to unravel the network of petty criminals and neighborhood friends linking the three attackers. By then, Hayat Boumedienne, who was married to Coulibaly, had left for Syria with the help of two brothers also charged in the case. Most of the 11 who will appear insist their help in the mass killings was unwitting.“Since 2012, terrorism capitalized on the prevailing delinquency there is around these terrorists," said Samia Maktouf, a lawyer for one of the attack survivors. “They are not second fiddles, they are full accomplices."Despite a global outpouring of support, the attacks were also seen as a massive intelligence failure. French authorities ended a phone tap on one of the Kouachi brothers a few months before they stormed the editorial offices. At least one had trained with al-Qaida in Yemen and been convicted of an earlier terrorism offense. The brothers walked away from the carnage they had caused, escaping easily and drove through multiple dragnets before being trapped two days later.“The government failed. If the intelligence services had done their job, this would not have happened,” said Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, lawyer for the only defendant in court facing a life term. “The victims don't just want a guilty verdict, but real justice. The truth must come out.”The chief judge declined to rule on Coutant-Peyre's request for a delay in the trial to learn more about the sale of the weapons to the Kouachi brothers and Coulibaly. Investigators never determined who sold the weapons.Her client, Ali Riza Polat, is accused of serving as the link between the Kouachi brothers and Coulibaly. He was involved in each stage of the attack planning, according to the judicial investigation, organizing secure phone lines, checking the price of explosives and ammunition, and traveling with Coulibaly to Belgium.Wednesday's trial opened under tight security, with multiple police checks for the main courtroom and the overflow rooms. At nearby newsstands, the latest issue of Charlie Hebdo appeared, defiantly r...

Thirteen men and a woman went on trial Wednesday in the 2015 attacks against the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper and a kosher supermarket in Paris that marked the beginning of a wave of violence by the Islamic State group in Europe. Seventeen people and all three gunmen died during the three days of attacks in January 2015. Later that year, a separate network of French and Belgian fighters for Islamic State struck Paris again, this time killing 130 people in attacks at the Bataclan concert hall, the national stadium, and in bars and restaurants. Those on trial in France’s terrorism court are accused of buying weapons, cars, and helping with logistics in the January 2015 attacks. Most say they thought they were helping plan an ordinary crime. Three, including the only woman accused, are being tried in absentia after leaving to join Islamic State. “The trial will establish and confirm that the two attacks were coordinated. One was an attack on freedom of expression and the other was against Jews because they were Jews,” Francois Hollande, who was then France's president, told RTL radio. The attacks from Jan. 7-9, 2015, started during an editorial meeting at Charlie Hebdo, whose offices had been unmarked and guarded by police since the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad years before. Brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi gunned down 12 people before carjacking a vehicle and fleeing. They claimed the attacks in the name of al-Qaida. Two days later, on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath, Amedy Coulibaly stormed the Hyper Cacher supermarket, killing four hostages and invoking the Islamic State group as the Kouachi brothers took control of a printing office outside the French capital. The attackers died that day during near-simultaneous police raids. It took days more for investigators to realize that Coulibaly was also responsible for the seemingly random death of a young policewoman the previous day. It took further weeks to unravel the network of petty criminals and neighborhood friends linking the three attackers. By then, Hayat Boumedienne, who was married to Coulibaly, had left for Syria with the help of two brothers also charged in the case. Most of the 11 who will appear insist their help in the mass killings was unwitting. “Since 2012, terrorism capitalized on the prevailing delinquency there is around these terrorists," said Samia Maktouf, a lawyer for one of the attack survivors. “They are not second fiddles, they are full accomplices." Despite a global outpouring of support, the attacks were also seen as a massive intelligence failure. French authorities ended a phone tap on one of the Kouachi brothers a few months before they stormed the editorial offices. At least one had trained with al-Qaida in Yemen and been convicted of an earlier terrorism offense. The brothers walked away from the carnage they had caused, escaping easily and drove through multiple dragnets before being trapped two days later. “The government failed. If the intelligence services had done their job, this would not have happened,” said Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, lawyer for the only defendant in court facing a life term. “The victims don't just want a guilty verdict, but real justice. The truth must come out.” The chief judge declined to rule on Coutant-Peyre's request for a delay in the trial to learn more about the sale of the weapons to the Kouachi brothers and Coulibaly. Investigators never determined who sold the weapons. Her client, Ali Riza Polat, is accused of serving as the link between the Kouachi brothers and Coulibaly. He was involved in each stage of the attack planning, according to the judicial investigation, organizing secure phone lines, checking the price of explosives and ammunition, and traveling with Coulibaly to Belgium. Wednesday's trial opened under tight security, with multiple police checks for the main courtroom and the overflow rooms. At nearby newsstands, the latest issue of Charlie Hebdo appeared, defiantly r...

John Lichfield: Charlie Hebdo terror attack suspects go on trial in Paris