Gilets jeunes? France’s school protests

About this episode

<p>What started as a small protest about conditions of a school and of schooling has <u><a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2026/10/02/schoolyard-protests-are-setting-france-ablaze?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mushroomed</a></u>, and tapped into national anxieties that may prove hard to tame. In the context of the “Cornell 7” case we examine Title IX, the statute that should protect students—but that is failing. And how peddling superstitions to financiers is <u><a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/10/01/financial-astrology-is-a-serious-business-in-india?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">big business</a></u> in India. </p><p>Guests and host:</p><ul><li>Sophie Pedder, Paris bureau chief</li><li>Stevie Hertz, US policy correspondent</li><li>Abhishek Kumar, India writer</li><li>Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”</li></ul><p>Topics covered: </p><ul><li>France protests, French politics</li><li>Cornell 7, Title IX, sexual assault</li><li>India, finance, astrology, superstition</li></ul><p><em>Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—<u><a href="https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">subscribe to The Economist</a></u>.</em></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>