France

As the first round of the French presidential election draws near, it seems commentators everywhere are holding their collective breath. Most are all too willing to point out the close parallels between far-right candidate Marine Le Pen’s and Donald Trump’s populist insurgencies, but just as many are equally unwilling to believe the same could happen […]

Just after the third presidential debate, I called my grandfather, curious about his reaction to President-elect Donald Trump’s victory. As I typed Paris’s area code into my phone, my grandfather’s voice echoed in my head. I pictured the ultra-conservative 72-year-old yelling “crooked Hillary!” in his thick French accent as though he coined the saying. I […]

A new gesture called the “quenelle” has been making its way into the pictures of French adolescents, writers, and footballers alike. The quenelle is almost militaristic in appearance, and unlike typical poses such as the thumbs up, it carries an implicit political message, though the meaning of that message is still unclear. It has been […]