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VBC Sounds Music Radio

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Podcasts Hello. Today we're

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in Greenland where locals

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longing for independence are

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apprehensive about President Trump's

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proposed takeover. In Lebanon

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we travel to the

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Hezbollah heartland where supporters

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are divided about the

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group's future. In the Vatican

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City, we hear how the

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Catholic Church copes with an

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ever-older cohort of cardinals. And

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finally, in France, an imagined

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dinner party tells the tale

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of the country's current political

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divisions. But first, after

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two years, the Civil War

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in Sudan may be edging

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closer to an end game.

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The country's military recently recaptured

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Khartoum after weeks of intense

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urban combat. Its rival,

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the paramilitary Rapid Support

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Forces, or RSF, had seized

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the city early in the war.

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The UN says more than 3.5

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million people have fled the

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capital since the conflict

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started. Many of those who

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stayed are now celebrating the

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end of RSF control, but the

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core of the city is in

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ruins. Barbara Platt- Usher ventured

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in with a Sudanese army convoy.

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I was in Sudan when the battle to

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take back the capital began last September.

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The army launched its offensive across the

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bridges over the Nile that connect the

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three cities which make up greater cartoon.

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And I was there again a few weeks

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ago when soldiers gathered for the final push.

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We were taken to a rallying point in

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the middle of the night. The troops were

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in high spirits, singing and chanting. But

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it was the destruction, not the

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military victory, that overwhelmed me when

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I finally entered the battered city

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center. Government Ministries, banks and

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towering office blocks stand blackened

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and burned. The tarmac at

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the international airport is a

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graveyard of smashed planes. Its

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passport and check encounters... covered

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in ashes. Everything eerily silent.

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We drove slowly, weaving around

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unexploded ordinance in the road. At

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one intersection, we passed body parts

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lying in a jumbled heap. This

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city might be rebuilt. I

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hope it's rebuilt, but the cartoon I

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knew is gone. I heard many stories

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about what happened when the paramilitary

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rapid support forces seized

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the capital from the

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army-led government two years

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ago. The RSF foot soldiers included

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a mix of tribal militias from

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the west of the country and

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foreign fighters from Chad and South

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Sudan, suddenly in control of one

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of the biggest cities in Africa.

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Let's start with the stories about

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mobile phones. They were a lifeline

2:43

to the outside world for civilians

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trapped in Khartoum and a prime

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target for RSF fighters. Heba Adrice

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refused to let go when they came

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for hers. They beat me up. They were

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children, younger than my boys, she told

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me, but I hugged it to my

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body and held tight. I heard

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stories about looting, again and again.

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First they came for the gold and

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cash, then the cars, then the

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televisions and appliances, until they were

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taking food off the table and

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salt out of the jar. They

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even took my torch, said Ichas

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Ali, a precious tool to navigate

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the permanent power cut. But not

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before they threatened to choke her eldest

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son to death if she didn't tell

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them where she was hiding her gold.

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She had no gold. She had only 25

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cents on her. They took that. They would

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come at night, jumping over walls, banging

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on doors, or they would walk straight

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into your home while you were sitting

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outside, one elderly man told me. There

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were stories of solidarity, too. A

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neighborhood watch that blue whistles or

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banged pots and pans when there

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was danger. Sometimes that stopped a theft,

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a rape, a rape, a killing. Sometimes

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it didn't. And there were many

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stories about death, measured by a

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graveyard in greater cartoon that

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greatly expanded after the beginning

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of the war. The morning I was

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there, Nassar Idris was burying

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his eight-year-old son, surrounded by

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the fresh graves of those killed

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in the shelling of a main market,

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120 bodies. Nearby was a mass grave

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of those killed when a missile struck

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a school, 15 bodies. We were told

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these were victims of RSF fire,

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but both sides had been condemned

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for war crimes. The army is

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accused of mass killings elsewhere. Mr.

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Idris's son died of a blood

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disease. He still had in his

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pocket the prescription which he hadn't

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been able to find for his boy.

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Intisarsuliman lost her son in the

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chaos as the army closed in

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on an outlying district of Khartoum.

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RSF fighters appeared suddenly, panicked and

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paranoid, and shot him in the back. She

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knew them, had tried to talk them down

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before. At that time, an RSF soldier told

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her, we came for death. We are people

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of death. But she dared to tell them.

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This is not the place for death. They

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have gone now, and there's space

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for other stories. I feel like I've

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been recreated, said Osman El Bashir.

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His eyes lighting up with the

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new reality, after recounting what he'd

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lived through. There is freedom from

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fear. We finally feel safe enough

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to sleep now, many women told

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me, after lying awake at nights

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afraid of looters. It's like trying

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to learn how to live again,

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said Duatarek, a pro-democracy activist who

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took part in the movement that

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in 2019 toppled the former military

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leader, Omar al-Basir. We feel

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liberated, we feel light, even the

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air smells different. But she has questions

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about what will happen to

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the freedoms gained during that

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peaceful revolution, before it was upended

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by the war. The military is firmly

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back in power now, this time

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with popular appeal. Soldiers are heroes.

5:45

Soldiers are heroes. It's trendy

5:47

to take photographs of little

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boys holding guns, not always

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toy ones. It's too early to answer

5:54

such questions. The war isn't

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over. But for now, for some in

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cartoon, it feels like... it is. The eyes

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of the world have turned to Greenland

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this year as Donald

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Trump has made aggressive

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overtures about taking over

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the semi-autonomous Danish territory.

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He insists that Washington

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needs control of the

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island to maintain, in

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his words, world peace,

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warning he wouldn't rule

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out military force to

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achieve his goal. Last

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week, during his own

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visit, Vice President Jady

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Vance reiterated the claim

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that American stewardship was the

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only thing that could protect

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Greenland from the threat posed

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by China and Russia. Andrew

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Harding traveled to the capital

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Nuke. The icebergs were stranger than

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I'd imagined. I was expecting

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solemn giants, statuesque blocks of

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white. But here they were,

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frolicing in the wide fjord

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that runs past the town

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of Nook. Bright blue, mouthwash

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blue, small, and madly sculpted

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like exotic moorangs, racing past

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the shoreline, drawn by a

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cold grey tide out towards

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the sea, then back again.

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Then a shard of low sunlight

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broke through the clouds. It

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was all rather miraculous, and

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Greenland was just getting

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started. Next came a partial

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solar eclipse. And then, after

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dark, the northern lights appeared.

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An impossible green shimmer in

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the night sky, like a curtain

7:29

being drawn beside the stars. I

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know, I'm starting to sound like

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a tourist. But Greenland has that

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effect. It is nature at its

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most insistent, grabbing you by the

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elbow from the moment you land

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at nukes new airport. In fact,

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it starts before you land.

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from the plane, it's hard to

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judge the scale of what you're

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looking at. A vast ice sheet,

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the size of Mexico, like an

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endless white eiderdown, and then a

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sudden ridge of mountain peaks, huge.

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or maybe tiny, breaking through the

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snow. And yes, it is cold

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here, minus 17 as I write

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this, moving towards minus 30 tonight.

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Outside our hotel, the town of

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Nook is an ice rink. There

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was a sudden unseasonal thaw last

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week. Everything melted, then froze again.

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Acres of blue ice broke off

8:20

from the glassier at the top

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of the fjord and briefly clogged

8:25

up the whole bay. Nuke is the

8:27

biggest town in Greenland. Population

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almost 20,000. There's an old

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town of brightly painted wooden

8:34

houses, now surrounded and dwarfed

8:36

by modern apartment blocks, stylish

8:38

administrative buildings, and a busy

8:41

shopping centre. There's even a

8:43

ski slope on the hill

8:45

behind the airport, with three

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draglifts, busy at weekends. And

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then there's the harbour. a crush

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of small fishing boats trapped

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by chunks of ice and

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larger trawlers busy unloading sacks

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of frozen shrinks on the key

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side. We stood, stamping our feet

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in the cold early one morning,

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watching three fishermen trying to get

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their boat out to sea to

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catch Halibut, gunning the engine to

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nudge the reluctant ice aside, then

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leaning out to push the blocks

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past with a broom. They weren't overly

9:17

keen to talk to us. There

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have been a lot of foreign

9:21

journalists here recently and it feels

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like people in nuke have had

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their fill of questions. Our guide

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to nuke is a soft-spoken man

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called bien, born here to Danish

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and Inuit parents, a lover of

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Greenland's long dark winters and of

9:36

summer treks when the sun never

9:39

quite sets. We came across bien

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online where he runs his

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own plane spotters channel on

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YouTube. He's been busy recently

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filming American military aircraft bringing

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in kits and armored cars

9:51

ahead of a planned visit

9:53

by the US Second Lady,

9:55

Ushavans. As you may have heard, that trip

9:57

was cancelled at the last minute. it.

10:00

When the White House finally

10:02

realized that Greenlanders weren't too

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thrilled by Donald Trump's menacing

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claim that he intended to

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seize to annex their island.

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Imperialism might seem like a thing

10:13

of the past, but Greenland is

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particularly on edge right now, as

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it seeks to shake off centuries

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of political and cultural domination by

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Denmark. He doesn't want to repeat

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the experience with America. One

10:26

pensioner I met in nuke told

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me that Donald Trump's comments made

10:30

him shrivel inside. He said he

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felt like he imagined Ukrainians must

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have felt just before the Russian

10:37

invasion. I have great-grandchildren,

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he went on. I fear for them.

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On a particularly cold evening, after

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sliding along the pavements to a

10:45

local restaurant, we were warned that

10:48

a snowstorm might be blowing in. The

10:50

young waiter started explaining why no

10:52

one locks their cars in nuke. The

10:54

storms... come quickly explained. The temperature

10:57

can drop suddenly and visibility vanishes.

10:59

If you're caught outside you need

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to be able to take shelter

11:04

immediately, which is why people leave

11:06

their cars open for everyone's safety.

11:08

It's a tradition that speaks

11:11

to Greenland's particular sense of

11:13

both vulnerability and solidarity. There

11:16

are big challenges here, alcohol, drugs,

11:18

suicide, but there's also

11:20

a palpable tradition of

11:22

togetherness of togetherness. Will it

11:25

survive the pressures of

11:27

a complex journey towards

11:30

independence, of collapsing glaciers,

11:32

of American encroachment, of

11:34

giant companies pushing for

11:37

mining rights beneath the ice?

11:39

Outside my window the icebergs glide

11:41

past, a few nudged ashore by

11:43

the current, sit blue and beautiful

11:46

in the fading light. Andrew

11:48

Harding Israel recently carried

11:50

out its first strikes

11:53

on Beirut since the

11:55

ceasefire with Hezbollah came

11:57

into force last November.

11:59

a Hezbollah storage facility

12:02

and response to rockets

12:04

fired into northern Israel, though

12:06

Hezbollah denied any involvement. The

12:08

ceasefire put an end to

12:10

13 months of intense conflict,

12:12

which saw Israel retaliate against

12:15

Hezbollah after it launched attacks

12:17

on Israel in support of

12:19

Hamas. Several senior Hezbollah leaders

12:21

were killed, leaving the group

12:23

in its weakest position for

12:26

years. Hugo Bachega visited Hezbollah's

12:28

strongholds to explore the

12:30

impact on the ground.

12:32

There is a question I'm often

12:34

asked here in Lebanon. Can, will

12:36

Hezbollah disarm? In many ways, the

12:38

answer to that will determine the

12:41

future of the whole country, which

12:43

for years has been paralyzed by

12:45

a seemingly never-ending cycle of crises.

12:47

And the latest of those was

12:50

the devastating war between Hezbollah

12:52

and Israel. Hezbollah, which means

12:54

party of God, remains the most

12:56

powerful group in Lebanon. In the

12:58

West, many countries describe it as

13:01

a terrorist organization. Here, though, Hezbollah

13:03

is more than a militia.

13:05

It is also a political

13:07

party with representation in Parliament

13:09

and a social movement, with

13:11

significant support, especially among Shia

13:13

Muslims. In many places, the group acts

13:16

almost as if it's the government.

13:18

a state within a state in a

13:20

country where the official leadership has

13:22

been effective for a long time.

13:24

Its influence, however, is seen

13:26

and felt well beyond its space

13:29

across the country. Hezbollah has been

13:31

left battered in the conflict.

13:33

Many of its leaders were

13:35

assassinated, including longtime chief Hassan

13:38

Asrala. Hundreds of its fighters

13:40

have been killed, much of its

13:42

arsenal destroyed, and many of its

13:44

communities now lying ruins. I traveled

13:47

to southern Lebanon, which is the

13:49

heartland of the country's Shia Muslim

13:51

community and of Hezbollah. To visit

13:53

this part of the country as a journalist,

13:55

you need to ask the group's permission. In

13:58

towns and villages, there are posts with

14:00

the faces of Hezbollah leaders

14:02

and our fighters killed in

14:04

combat, celebrated locally as martyrs

14:06

of the resistance. I went

14:08

to Gifakila on the border with

14:11

Israel. This was once a quiet

14:13

town of 15,000 people stretching through

14:15

a valley. Today, there's nothing

14:17

left standing. It was as if

14:19

a powerful earthquake had hit. At

14:21

the top of piles of broken concrete

14:24

and twisted metal, there

14:26

were bright yellow Hezbollah

14:28

flags. Hezbollah flags. Residents

14:30

were returning to see if there was

14:32

anything they could salvage. Many had

14:34

lost their homes, businesses, belongings, everything

14:37

they had following the Israeli bombardment.

14:39

Hezbollah has given some money to

14:41

help people pay for rent or

14:43

buy new clothes or furniture. But

14:46

the war has been costly and

14:48

the group's funds are limited. There

14:50

has been no promise from Hezbollah

14:52

to rebuild houses or compensate

14:55

businesses that have been destroyed.

14:57

Something supporters may have previously

14:59

expected, as part of the

15:01

own written agreement for their

15:04

loyalty. I met a woman called Alia,

15:06

who had come with her three daughters,

15:08

aged 18, 14 and 10. I noticed

15:10

that the youngest was wearing a badge

15:12

with a picture of Hasan Nazrala.

15:14

With everything around her turn to rubble,

15:17

Ala told me how at first she

15:19

only recognized her old home because of

15:21

the remains of a tree in the

15:24

garden. She looked at the ruins,

15:26

and pointed out. what was left.

15:28

This is the couch. There, the curtains.

15:30

That was the living room. That's

15:32

my daughter's bicycle. As you can

15:34

see, there's nothing to recover,

15:36

she told me. She was concerned she

15:39

wouldn't be given money to

15:41

rebuild her home or compensation

15:43

for the losses in the

15:45

family's shop, which had also

15:47

been destroyed. Alia, however,

15:49

remained defiant. Hezbollah, she

15:51

told me, had to survive. This isn't

15:54

surprising. For many Hezbollah is a

15:56

fundamental part of their lives, even

15:58

part of their identity. But there

16:00

have been whispers of discontent within

16:02

the group's ranks recently, and not

16:05

only because of the lack of

16:07

financial support for the people. Some

16:09

believe Hezbollah miscalculated by entering

16:12

a conflict with Israel, made huge

16:14

mistakes, and that the whole Shia Muslim

16:16

community in Lebanon is suffering as a

16:18

result. Also in the South, I met

16:20

a supporter who is now critical of

16:22

the group. He didn't want me to

16:25

reveal his name, a sign that

16:27

these are discussions that remains sensitive

16:29

here. He told me, if Hezbollah don't

16:31

do a proper reassessment of the

16:33

situation and how to move forward,

16:36

they will destroy themselves and harm

16:38

us along the way. I asked him

16:40

what he expected Hezbollah to

16:42

do. He told me the group's

16:44

weapons and fighters should be

16:47

incorporated into the state. This is

16:49

a huge thing for a Hezbollah

16:51

supporter to say, because armed resistance

16:53

is in the group's DNA.

16:55

Essentially, the whole reason for

16:58

its existence. Its military capabilities

17:00

have been greatly reduced, but

17:02

any discussions about disarmament

17:05

are likely to be long, difficult.

17:07

Pushing the group too hard, too

17:09

quickly, could result in even more

17:11

violence. And this is a country

17:13

where people still remember the 15 years

17:16

of civil war, which ended in 1990.

17:18

Hezbollah is under pressure. Its

17:20

backer, Iran, may not be willing

17:23

to help it, at least for

17:25

now. And Lebanon's international allies say

17:27

there will be no financial help

17:29

if the government doesn't curb

17:31

Hezbollah's power. And so, whenever I

17:34

get asked about what Hezbollah might do,

17:36

I don't have a clear answer. Change

17:38

may be inevitable, though that

17:40

still comes with risks. Many people

17:43

here are tired of conflict,

17:45

including Hezbollah supporters. But there

17:47

are plenty too who still

17:49

believe in the group, its purpose and

17:51

the role it plays. which means

17:54

that for Lebanon

17:56

this crisis isn't

17:58

over. Pope

18:00

Francis, now 88 years old,

18:03

is back home after a

18:05

five-week stay in hospital, after

18:07

falling ill with double pneumonia.

18:09

He remains visibly frail and

18:12

faces a prolonged period of

18:14

convalescence. And amid uncertainty about

18:16

his long-term ability to continue

18:19

governing the Catholic Church, questions

18:21

are being asked about a

18:23

possible successor. David Willy,

18:26

who has reported five successive

18:28

papersies for the BBC, notes

18:30

that while Pope Francis revealed

18:32

some years ago that he

18:34

first wrote a resignation letter

18:36

at the start of his

18:38

pontificate in case of declining

18:40

health, for the moment it

18:42

remains in a drawer. The day after

18:44

Pope Francis' return to his

18:47

modest two-room home next door

18:49

to St Peter's Basilica, now

18:51

fully equipped for emergencies with

18:54

life-saving hospital gear, I listened

18:56

as the Vatican-staged and interesting

18:58

public debate. The subject was

19:00

how increasing longevity in the

19:03

developed world may affect the

19:05

future leadership of the Catholic

19:07

Church. They invited a Nobel Chemistry

19:10

Prize winner, born in India,

19:12

who has made groundbreaking discoveries

19:14

in life sciences, to join

19:17

a panel of doctors and

19:19

senior clerics, to discuss the

19:21

of increasingly long yet suffering

19:24

lives upon church governance. Dr.

19:26

Rongakrishnan said that greater longevity

19:28

and declining birth rates mean

19:30

the creation of a two-tier

19:33

society, where people in well-off

19:35

countries live longer and more

19:37

privileged lives. But even he

19:39

who's spent a lifetime researching

19:41

the aging process declined to

19:44

say when we may be

19:46

able to delay increasing cellular

19:48

malfunction as we age. I remember

19:50

covering the surprise election to the

19:53

papacy of Carol Voitua from Poland

19:55

back in 1978 when he was

19:57

still a relatively young and vital

19:59

job. leader under 60 years of

20:01

age, and then, again, watching him

20:04

during the last 10 years of

20:06

his papacy, as he became increasingly

20:08

disabled and had to be wheeled

20:10

around when he travelled. They used

20:12

to hide him from photographers as

20:15

he was hauled up into his

20:17

Vatican charter planes on a cargo

20:19

lift when he could no longer

20:21

climb the aircraft's stairs, a very

20:24

sick man. Down the centuries, election

20:26

to the papacy has usually been

20:28

regarded as a job for life,

20:30

but it was Pope Benedict who

20:32

broke the mold when he announced

20:35

suddenly in 2013 to a shocked

20:37

Catholic world that he was stepping

20:39

down at the age of 85

20:41

for health reasons. He had secretly

20:44

created a private rest home for

20:46

himself, securely situated inside Vatican territory,

20:48

where he managed to live comfortably

20:50

for another nine years, among his

20:52

books and papers, looked after by

20:55

a small team of devoted helpers.

20:57

He also invented for himself a

20:59

brand new title, that of Pope

21:01

Emeritus, and continued to wear his

21:03

white robes of office, even though

21:06

his successor, Pope Francis, was living

21:08

only just down the road. The

21:10

age cutoff of 80 years, limiting

21:12

the power of cardinals from around

21:15

the world to vote in the

21:17

election of the next Pope, dates

21:19

back only just over half a

21:21

century. Yet when Pope Francis dies,

21:23

there will be almost as many

21:26

cardinals over the age of 80,

21:28

coming to Rome to discuss the

21:30

future of their church, despite being

21:32

disqualified by reasons of age from

21:34

voting for his successor, as there

21:37

are qualified lelectres. Most of today's

21:39

cardinals, both those below and those

21:41

above the age of 80, have

21:43

been chosen by Pope Francis himself,

21:46

so it might be assumed that

21:48

his successor will carry on pursuing

21:50

his policies of reform and renewal.

21:52

The main reason for continuing uncertainty

21:54

about when or if Pope Francis

21:57

might decide to resign is that

21:59

Rome is currently celebrating a Jubilee

22:01

year, a Catholic tradition dating back

22:03

centuries in which the faithful are

22:06

called upon to visit Rome. Easter

22:08

celebrations this year mark the culmination

22:10

of a new massive flow of

22:12

pilgrims and tourists to Rome. Already

22:14

the state visits to the Vatican

22:17

plan for King Charles and Queen

22:19

Camilla in early April has had

22:21

to be postponed indefinitely, and uncertainty

22:23

over whether Pope Francis will be

22:25

able to greet pilgrims during Easter

22:28

has been compounded with new worries

22:30

over the tiny Vatican City State's

22:32

finances, seriously in the red. Although

22:34

the Vatican insists that Pope Francis

22:37

remains mentally lucid and continues to

22:39

make new appointments and to conduct

22:41

important church business as he convalesces

22:43

inside his new cocooned home, it's

22:45

clear we're now entering another pre-conclave

22:48

period of deep discussions about how

22:50

to deal with the growing problems

22:52

of an ancient institution. And finally

22:54

to France, where this week a

22:57

court blocked the far-right politician Maureen

22:59

Le Pen from standing in the

23:01

next presidential election. Miss Le Pen

23:03

was found guilty of using EU

23:05

parliamentary money to pay staff from

23:08

her national rally party. The ruling

23:10

has split France down the middle,

23:12

and rather like the election of

23:14

Donald Trump and Brexit before it,

23:16

the issue has opened political schisms

23:19

between friends and family members. Our

23:21

Paris correspondent, Hughes Gofield, summarizes the

23:23

national mood by setting a scene

23:25

being played out in homes up

23:28

and down the country. There are

23:30

lots of rights and wrongs in

23:32

the lapem affair. The trouble is

23:34

no one agrees what those rights

23:36

and wrongs are. So, in the

23:39

interest of strict BBC neutrality, I'm

23:41

reporting a dinner-table conversation. at some

23:43

fictional neighbours of mine in the

23:45

Paris suburbs. Monsieur and Madame Roche

23:47

in their 60s detest Marie Nippen.

23:50

They grown-up children, Roger and Madeline,

23:52

find their parents loathing of Marie

23:54

Nippen to be excessive and for

23:56

their part they're quite open to

23:59

voting for the National rally leader.

24:01

The discussion takes place on Monday

24:03

evening. Just after Marie Nippen has

24:05

appeared on the TV news, angrily

24:07

announcing what she calls the political

24:10

decision by a judge to cut

24:12

her out of the race for

24:14

the presidency. "'Madame Roche.' "'Hoe, that's

24:16

wiped the smile off her face!

24:19

What did she expect? Break the

24:21

law? You get punished. Why should

24:23

she think she should be treated

24:25

any differently, just because she's a

24:27

big-shot politician? There she goes again,

24:30

moaning about how they've all got

24:32

it in for her. "'Mayn't madame

24:34

La Pen, you brought it on

24:36

yourself!' "'Rogie, her son,' interrupts. "'But,

24:38

ma' ma' more, I think you're

24:41

missing the point here. broken the

24:43

law technically, and if she has,

24:45

she should be punished. But the

24:47

point is that the judge has

24:50

gone out of her way to

24:52

damage Marine Lipen politically. The judge

24:54

wasn't under any obligation to bar

24:56

her straight away, before she's even

24:58

had a chance to appeal. But

25:01

she did, and if you ask

25:03

me, that was Tertelamore over the

25:05

top. Miss Eureausch. No, Roger, I

25:07

think you're missing the point. Did

25:10

you see the evidence against Le

25:12

Pen? It was a whole corrupt

25:14

system she was running, taking European

25:16

parliamentary money that was supposed to

25:18

go to pay parliamentary assistance, and

25:21

using it to pay who? Her

25:23

dad's bodyguard, her secretary? It was

25:25

corruption, pure and simple. And she's

25:27

the one who's always rarely against

25:29

the corrupt elites. Give me a

25:32

break. Madeline speaks now. How can

25:34

you be so naive? You remember,

25:36

my friend Ameli, who did an

25:38

internship at the Parliament in Strasbourg?

25:41

She says they're all at it.

25:43

They've all got their noses in

25:45

the trough. Do you think parliamentary

25:47

assistants are just neutral bureaucrats processing

25:49

bits of paper? Of course they're

25:52

not. They're activists for whatever party

25:54

they're working for. And the party

25:56

for— whatever it is, is effectively

25:58

getting their work for free. I

26:00

don't see that there's any huge

26:03

difference between that and what the

26:05

national rally did. It's just that

26:07

they got punished because everyone hates

26:09

them in the EU." Roger joins

26:12

in. Exactly! And what do we

26:14

have now? The woman who everyone

26:16

could see is the most popular

26:18

single figure in French politics is

26:20

suddenly banned from running to be

26:23

president by an unelected judge. How

26:25

convenient! Madame! Oh, there's nothing stopping

26:27

the national rally putting forward another

26:29

candidate, you know. That young guy

26:32

can't stand him. Jordan, Jordan, Bardell,

26:34

a ridiculous name. If he's as

26:36

great as everyone says he is,

26:38

let him run." "'Rogie.' "'Mamor, you

26:40

know very well that a presidential

26:43

election in France is a personal

26:45

encounter between a man or woman

26:47

and the people. That's what the

26:49

goal said, isn't it?' "'Marie' "'Marine

26:51

the pen as a personal rapport

26:54

with millions of French voters. It's

26:56

her they want!' Monsieur. Well, they

26:58

can keep her as far as

27:00

I'm concerned, her and her obsession

27:03

with immigration. She's her father's daughter,

27:05

all right. Good riddance, I say.

27:07

Madeline. Oh, for God's sake, Dad,

27:09

madam, don't talk to your father

27:11

like that. Roger, but we're sick

27:14

of you foisting your has-be-hipy views

27:16

on us." At that point, there's

27:18

a knock on the door, and

27:20

a shabby Englishman, to see what

27:22

all. Ah, it's you. It's you.

27:25

Maybe you can adjudicate. Who's right?

27:27

Was what happened to Marina Penn

27:29

an affront to democracy or the

27:31

just punishment of a corrupt politician?

27:34

Shabby Englishman. Don't ask me. I'm

27:36

just the guy who ends up

27:38

telling the story. Hughesco Field and

27:40

that's all for today, but you

27:42

can hear more dispatches on the

27:45

From Our Own Correspondent Podcast on

27:47

BBZ Sounds. We'll be back again

27:49

next Saturday morning. Do join us.