What are some good radio shows to learn about French culture?

Reader Question: Can you recommend a good culture and talk-based radio station for high-level French speakers to learn more about France?

France is well-known for its cultural output, and is something many in the country take pride in. 

Therefore, it is easy to find radio stations and radio shows based on the topic, especially for those who have a good grasp of the language. 

Two radio stations that come to mind are France Culture and France Inter, both managed by Radio France, the national public radio broadcaster.

The former focuses mostly on cultural topics, including philosophy, history, literature, and science, with shows that are generally longer in length and take a deep dive into each of these categories. 

France Inter is more focused on daily news and interviews, but has a number of cultural shows, including interviews with authors and musicians. Both channels can be found on your radio, as well as online through the Radio France website, which also provides timetables.

Read more: Nine reasons to learn French

Podcasts are popular option 

Aside from the radio, podcasts are also an excellent choice for this topic. 

A wide variety of French-language podcasts, catered to native or fluent speakers exist, focusing on areas of history, philosophy, culture, and almost any other topic you can think of. 

More popular podcasts can have hundreds of episodes in a series, and some are even run by popular broadcasters, including France Culture. 

TV stations including ARTE, and newspapers including Le Figaro also have podcasts focused on art, culture, and philosophy. 

Podcasts from other people and groups can be found on streaming services including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, Audible, and many others. You can use the search functions on these sites to search for a topic in the French language.

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